US3030962A - Brassieres - Google Patents

Description

April 24, 1962 A. GARSON BRASSIERES Filed Jan. 15, 1961 INVENTOR. firffiur 60/1507? OZZM ATTORNEY 3 ,eaasez Patented Apr. 24, 1962 ice 3,030,962 BRASSERE Arthur Garson, 941 Park Ave., New York, NY. Filed Jan. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 82,585 4 Claims. (Cl. 123-45) The present invention relates to brassieres, and more Ispecifically to brassieres which are intended to be worn Without shoulder straps and which are completely selfsupporting without the need for auxiliary supporting means.

While strapless brassieres have been known in the art for quite some time, more often than not, these have not been entirely satisfactory in being totally self-supporting and in giving firm support to the breasts of the wearer. The most common way of making an allegedly selfsupporting brassiere is by incorporating a plurality of stays or bones extending between the upper and lower contour edges of the respective breast cups. These stays or bones have not provided the most satisfactory results, but more important, the provision of a plurality 'of stays within a breast cup causes some discomfort to the wearer and renders the cost of making such brassiere rather high. This is so because the stays, in order not to cause too much irritation to the wearer, must be firmly secured between a pair of layers so that there is no direct physical contact between the stays and the wearer.

The present invention provides a self-supporting strapless brassiere which overcomes the aforementioned inconveniences and difiiculties of the prior art.

In accordance with the present invention, each breast cup is made in the conventional manner but there is stitched thereto along the inner surface thereof, a pair of oppositely disposed open-ended side portions. ese side portions are made of a stiff, but flexible, plastic material to define stiffening members at the opposite sides of each breast cup. These stiffening members impart to the entire breast cup more than suflicient rigidity to make the entire brassiere self-supporting. What is of great importance, however, is that these stiffening members do not affect the central portion of the breast cup which houses the predominant part of the wearers breast, especially the part that would normally be irritated by any rough surface. Additional stiffening sections may be provided outwardly of the breast cups, as well as therebelow for providing further support to the brassiere.

It is therefore an object or" the present invention to provide a strapless self-supporting brassiere of generally improved construction.

Another object is to provide a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which is provided with a pair of spaced side portions defining means for imparting selfsupporting characteristics to the brassiere.

Another object is to provide a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which is provided along the inner surface thereof with a pair of spaced side portions defining means for imparting self-supporting characteristics to the brassiere, said side portions being made of a stiff, but flexible, plastic material.

Another object is to provide a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which is provided with a pair of Spaced side portions defining means for imparting selfsupporting characteristics to the brassiere, said brassiere also having side parts outwardly of and below the breast cups made of a stiff, butfiexible, material.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection Withthe accompanying illustrative drawings.

. to be sufficient.

In the drawings: 1

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the brassiere'in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view showing the inside ofla part of the brassiere which includes one breast cup, on a greatly enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 33 of FIG. 1, on a greatly enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 4+4 of FIG. 1, on a greatly enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of the inside surface of the entire brassiere in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a section taken along line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a brassiere It in accordance with the invention. Brassiere 10 comprises a pair of breast cups 12 and 14 which are mirror images of each other and a description of only one of them is therefore deemed Breast cup 12 is definedby upper contour edge 16 and lower contour edge 18 and is made up in a conventional way by three sections 20, 22 and 24, respectively. As best shown in FIG. 2, each breast cup is provided along the inner surface thereof with 'a pair of side portions which define stiffening members 26 and 23, respectively. stiffening member 26 is a threesided part made of stiff, yet fiexible, plastic material and is secured to the inside of the breast cup along only two of its three sides. More specifically, the first side is secured in juxtaposed relation to upper contour edge 16 of breast cup 12 by means of line of stitching 30, the second side is secured in juxtaposed relation to lower contour edge 18 by means of line of stitching 32, and the third side remains unsecured to the breast cup but may be provided with a soft material such as felt, as indicated by numeral 34. stiffening member 28 is in-allrespects similar to stiffening member 26, being a mirror image of the latter.

The stifiening members 26 and 28 are shaped so as to conform to the conical shape of the side portions of the breast cup when they abut the latter, and to such end, it will be understood that the unsecured or free edges of stiffening members 26 and 28 are arcuate. Thus, it is seen that stiffening members 26 and 28 define means which are disposed at opposite sides of the breast cup for imparting rigidity to the entire breast cup and thereby make the latter self-supporting. Due to the fact that each of stiffening members 26 and 23 has an unsecured side, these members define, in conjunction with the associated breast cup, a pair of laterally spaced pockets, as indicated by numerals 36 and 38 in FIG. 3. In this connection, and for purposes of explanation, member 28 is shown in FIG. 2 and in FIG 3 as being spaced from the breast cup itself, thereby better illustrating pocket 38, as in FIG. 3. These pockets may be used, if desired, for retaining a pad which might be inserted in the breast cup, and pads so retained can be easily replaced or removed. It will be noted that members 26 and 28 which provide the supporting means for the breast cup do not interfere with the central portion thereof and therefore do not come into contact with the more sensitive parts of the wearers breast.

Breast cups 12 and 14 are secured along their lower contour edges, respectively, to a continuous elongated member 40, preferably made of rubber, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Member 40 extends between the two breast cups, outwardly thereof, and includes back portions 48 and 50, respectively, as best seen in FIG. 5. The free ends of member 40 are provided with eyes 52 and hooks 54, respectively, for releasable and adjustable secu rement to each other when brassiere 10 is worn.

The elastic nature of member 40 permits the brassiere to be worn snugly around the wearer, with a small degree of tension applied thereto. The force caused by such tension is transmitted to the stiffening members 26 and 28 of the breast cups and cooperate with the latter to impart to the respective breast cups an upright disposition whereby the breast cups are fully supported and the entire brassiere is self-supporting.

It is desirable, for the purpose of even more increased support to the breast cups, to secure onto the brassiere, in superposed relation with member 40, additional stiffening sections made of a plastic material which is stiff, but flexible, similar to the material used in stiffening members 26 and 28. More specifically, there may be provided a pair of generally L- shaped sections 56 and 58, and, as best shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, section 56 is disposed outwardly and partially below breast cup 12. Section 58 is constructed similarly to section 56 and is disposed outwardly and partially below breast cup 14. These two sections 56 and 58, due to their relative stiffness, impart to the brassiere additional self-supporting characteristics to dispense with the necessity of having auxiliary means for the support thereof. If desired, a section 60 also made .of stiff, but flexible, material may be provided between breast cups 12 and 14, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

It is thus seen that the brassiere 10, as described above, is a self-supporting strapless brassiere whose characteristics fulfill the objects of the invention as previously set forth. More specifically, the brassiere according to the invention, is totally self-supporting without requiring auxiliary shoulder straps and without requiring the use of bones or stays. This self-supporting feature is accomplished by the provision in each breast cup of a pair of laterally spaced side stiffening members which impart rigidity and upright self-supporting characteristics to the breast cup. These stiffening members do not interfere with the central portion of the breast cups so as not to come into contact with the more sensitive parts of the wearers breasts. In addition, other stiffening sections may be provided outwardly of the breast cups, as well as therebetween, for added self-support. An elongated continuous one-piece elastic member defines the basic member to which the cups are attached and to which an additional stiffening section may also be stitched.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described, and that in the illustrated embodiment certain changes in the details of construction and in the form and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the underlying idea or principles of this invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each breast cup being provided along the breast confronting surface thereof with a pair of laterally spaced side portions made of relatively stiff, but flexible material, said spaced portions defining stiffening members and imparting to said breast cups sufficient rigidity whereby said brassiere is self-supporting without requiring auxiliary supporting means, said stiffening members being adapted to be in surface-to-surface contacting relation with a wearers breast but being laterally spaced from each other so as not to interfere with the central part of the breast cup which is adapted to be in surface-to-surface contact with the more sensitive part of a wearers breast, each of said stiffening members being a three-sided piece secured to the associated breast cup along two of its three sides only, leaving one side free whereby a pocket is defined between each stiffening member and the breast cup to which it is secured, and additional sections secured onto said body encircling member, disposed outwardly of said breast cups, and made of relatively stiff, but flexible material which cooperate with said stiffening members for imparting to said brassiere additional self-supporting characteristics.

2. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each breast Y cup being provided along the breast confronting surface thereof with a pair of laterally spaced side portions made of relatively stiff, but flexible material, said spaced portions defining stiffening members and imparting to said breast cups suflicient rigidity whereby said brassiere is self-supporting without requiring auxiliary supporting means, said stiffening members being adapted to be in surface-to-surface contacting relation with a wearers breast but being laterally spaced from each other so as not to interfere with the central part of the breast cup which is adapted to be in surface-to-surface contact with the more sensitive part of a wearers breast, each of said stiffening members being a three-sided piece secured to the associated breast cup along two of its three sides only, leaving one side free whereby a pocket is defined between each stiffening member and the breast cup to which it is secured, and additional sections secured onto said body encircling member, disposed outwardly of said breast cups, and made of relatively stiff, but flexible material which cooperate with said stiffening members for imparting to said brassiere additional self-supporting characteristics, said additional sections comprising a pair of sections symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of said brassiere and in abutment with the breast cups, respectively.

3. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each breast cup being provided along the breast confronting surface thereof with a pair of laterally spaced side portions made of relatively stiff, but flexible material, said spaced portions defining stiffening members and imparting to said breast cups sufficient rigidity whereby said brassiere is self-supporting without requiring auxiliary supporting means, said stiffening members being adapted to be in surface-to-surface contacting relation with a wearers breast but being laterally spaced from each other so as not to interfere with the central part of the breast cup which is adapted to be in surface-to-surface contact with the more sensitive part of a wearers breast, each of said stiffening members being a three-sided piece secured to the associated breast cup along two of its three sides only, leaving one side free whereby a pocket is defined between each stiffening member and the breast cup to which it is secured, additional sections secured onto said body encircling member, disposed outwardly of said breast cups, and made of relatively stiff, but flexible material which cooperate with said stiffening members for imparting to said brassiere additional self-supporting characteristics, said additional sections comprising a pair of sections symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of said brassiere and in abutment with the breast cups, respectively, and a single section disposed between the breast cups and in abutment therewith.

4. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each breast cup being provided along the breast confronting surface thereof with a pair of laterally spaced side portions made of relatively stiff, but flexible material, said spaced portions defining stiffening members and imparting to said breast cups suflicient rigidity whereby said brassiere is self-supporting without requiring auxiliary supporting means, said stiffening members being adapted to be in surface-to-surface contacting relation with a wearers breast but being laterally spaced from each other so as not to interfere with the central part of the breast cup which is adapted to be in surface-to-surface contact with the more sensitive part of a wearers breast, each of said stiffening members being a three-sided piece secured to 5 the associated breast cup along two of its three sides only, leaving one side free whereby a pocket is defined between each stifiening member and the breast cup to which it is secured, additional sections secured onto said body encircling member, disposed outwardly of said breast cups, and made of relatively stiff, but flexible material which cooperate with said stiffening members for imparting to said brassiere additional self-supporting characteristics, said additional sections comprising a pair of sections symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of said brassiere and in abutment with the breast cups, respectively, and a single section spaced from said additional sections and References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,628,357 Sider Feb. 17, 1953 2,854,984 Rosenthal Oct. 7, 1958 2,880,732 Smith Apr. 7, 1959 2,992,646 Weinberg July 18, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,178,092 France Dec. 8, 1958

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