TO SUPPORT GARMENTS

This invention relates to an underwire casing component, an underwire casing assembly comprising such an underwire casing component, a support garment comprising such an underwire casing assembly, and a method of manufacturing an underwire casing component.

Support garments incorporating an underwire form a large and increasingly popular sector of apparel.

The or each underwire in such garments is recognised as being a critical component in terms of the comfort and safety of a wearer. Typically the or each underwire is secured within an underwire support garment by an underwire casing assembly.

Conventional underwire casing assemblies utilise a knitted tube which includes a series of low melt yarns. Melting the yarns causes the knitted structure to fuse together. The fused knitted structure is highly resistant to puncturing by an underwire enclosed therein, and so "poke-through", i.e. protruding of an underwire through the casing assembly is virtually eliminated. As a result the safety and comfort of a wearer is much improved over earlier underwire casing assemblies.

However, one drawback with such conventional underwire casing assemblies is that wearers still experience a degree of discomfort. This is because, as shown in Figure 1 , the cross-sectional shape of an underwire 10 is discernable through the conventional underwire casing assembly 12. Such an arrangement leads to a localised application of the load l_u generated by the underwire 10 on the wearer's body 14. As a result the load L _B applied to a wearer's body is relatively concentrated and hence sufficiently large to cause discomfort.

There is, therefore, a need for an improved underwire casing component which is more comfortable to wear, when incorporated into an underwire casing assembly, than conventional underwire casing assemblies. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an underwire casing component comprising an elongate casing body having a first region which in use lies adjacent to a wearer's body and a second region which in use lies spaced from a wearer's body, the first region including a plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members to distribute the load imparted by an underwire on the casing body.

Distributing the load imparted by an underwire on the casing body distributes the load applied to a wearer's body, and so avoids the localised application of a load which occurs in conventional underwire casing assemblies. Avoiding the localised application of a load on a wearer's body means that a wearer's body experiences lower applied forces, and so the support garment or other item in which the underwire casing component of the invention is incorporated is comfortable to wear.

Preferably each reinforcing member has a greater degree of rigidity than the adjacent casing body.

Such a feature allows each reinforcing member to define a structural element which has a desired load bearing characteristic.

Optionally at least one reinforcing member is or includes a plastics structure.

The plastics structure can be or include a thermosoftening plastic or a thermosetting plastic.

The plastics structure may also be defined by a plurality of thermo-fused plastic yarns.

The foregoing features are each readily manufacturable using, e.g. an in-line process which causes minimal disruption to existing manufacturing steps.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention at least one reinforcing member is or includes a more densely knitted or woven portion of the casing body. A more densely knitted or woven portion of the casing body represents an alternative construction to the aforementioned plastics structure which may also be readily achieved with only minimal changes to an otherwise conventional manufacturing process for producing underwire casing components. Preferably the first region includes a plurality of discrete laterally extending reinforcing members. The provision of discrete reinforcing members, i.e. reinforcing members that are separate from one another, helps to maintain flexibility of the casing body so that it is able readily to conform to the normally curved shape of an underwire. In another preferred embodiment of the invention at least one reinforcing member extends substantially perpendicularly to the length of the casing body. Such an arrangement helps to maximise the extent to which the or each such reinforcing member distributes the load imparted by an underwire for a given width of first region. Optionally at least one reinforcing member extends at an inclined angle relative to the length of the casing body. Having one or more reinforcing members extend at an inclined angle relative to the length of the casing body helps to minimise the potential cross- sectional area of such a reinforcing member lying at a cut end of the casing body. Such a reduction in the potential cross-sectional area of a reinforcing member lying at the cut end of the casing member decreases the risk of a large portion of reinforcing member causing discomfort to a wearer.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention the casing body is defined by an elongate tape.

An elongate tape is readily manufacturable, and is well-suited to the in-line formation of an underwire casing assembly including an associated underwire during manufacture of an underwire support garment. Preferably opposite edges of the tape are secured to one another to form a casing tube. The formation of a casing tube permits the insertion and retention of an underwire in the underwire casing component, e.g. before construction of a support garment.

In a still further preferred embodiment of the invention the casing body is defined by an integrally formed casing tube. Formation of such a casing tube can help to reduce the need for subsequent assembly steps during, e.g. the manufacture of a support garment.

Optionally the reinforcing members lie on an inner surface of the casing tube. Providing reinforcing members that lie on an inner surface of the casing tube helps to ensure that the reinforcing members do not come into direct contact with a wearer's body, and so further reduces the risk of discomfort. A region of the outer surface of the casing tube lying opposite the reinforcing members may be cushioned. Cushioning such a region helps to further improve the comfort of a wearer.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an underwire casing assembly comprising an underwire casing component as described hereinabove having an underwire received within the casing tube thereof.

The load imparted by the underwire in such an underwire casing assembly is distributed over a wearer's body, and so the wearer experiences a greater degree of comfort than with conventional underwire casing assemblies. According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a support garment comprising an underwire casing assembly as described hereinabove. The support garment of the invention shares the advantages associated with the underwire casing assembly, as mentioned above. According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing an underwire casing component comprising the steps of:

(a) providing an elongate casing body having a first region which in use lies adjacent to a wearer's body and a second region which in use lies spaced from a wearer's body; and

(b) forming a plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members in the first region to distribute the load imparted by an underwire on the casing body.

The method of the invention produces an underwire casing component having very desirable comfort characteristics for the wearer of an underwire casing assembly in which it is incorporated.

Optionally forming a plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members in the first region includes thermoforming one or more plastics structures to define respective reinforcing members.

Such plastics structures define structural elements which have desirable load bearing characteristics Preferably thermoforming one or more plastics structures includes melting a plurality of thermo-fusible plastic yarns. Melting a plurality of thermo-fusible yarns may be readily achieved in an in-line manner during a manufacturing process, e.g. by ultrasonic welding.

Providing an elongate casing body may include providing a tape and securing opposite edges of the tape to one another to form a casing tube. Such a step is readily incorporated into the in-line formation of an underwire casing assembly including an associated underwire during manufacture of, e.g. a support garment.

There now follows a brief description of preferred embodiments of the invention, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional underwire casing assembly;

Figure 2(a) shows a perspective view from a first side of an underwire casing component according to a first embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2(b) shows a perspective view from a second side opposite the first side of the underwire casing component shown in Figure 2(a);

Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view from a first side of an underwire casing component according to a second embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4(a) shows a schematic perspective view from a first side of an underwire casing component according to a third embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4(b) shows an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 4(a);

Figure 5 shows a schematic, partially-sectioned, perspective view of the underwire casing component shown in Figures 4(a) and 4(b) formed into a casing tube;

Figure 6 shows a schematic perspective view of an underwire casing component, according to another embodiment of the invention, which is defined by an integrally formed casing tube;

Figure 7(a) shows a schematic, partially-sectioned, perspective view of an underwire casing assembly according to a first embodiment of the invention, the casing assembly incorporating the underwire casing component shown in Figures 4(a), 4(b), and 5;

Figure 7(b) shows a partially-sectioned plan view from above of the underwire casing assembly shown in Figure 7(a); and Figure 7(c) shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the underwire casing assembly shown in Figure 7(a).

An underwire casing component according to a first embodiment of the invention is designated generally by the reference numeral 20.

The underwire casing component 20 includes an elongate casing body 22 which is defined by an elongate tape 24, and in particular a knitted elongate tape 24. In other embodiments of the invention (not shown) the casing body 22 may be defined by another form of tape 24, e.g. a woven tape.

The casing body 22 has a first region 26 which in use lies against a wearer's body 14 and a second region 28 which in use lies spaced from a wearer's body 14.

The first region includes a plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members 30. Each reinforcing member 30 has a greater degree of rigidity than the adjacent casing body 22.

In the embodiment shown each of the reinforcing members 30 has a plastics structure 32, and in particular a plastics structure 32 formed from a thermosoftening plastic. One example of a suitable thermosoftening plastic is a polyamide such as nylon or a nylon derivative. The inclusion of other thermosoftening plastics in each plastics structure 32 is also possible, as is the inclusion of a thermosetting plastic. The plastics structure 32 of each reinforcing member 30 is defined by a plurality of thermo-fused plastic yarns (not shown). The plastic yarns, e.g. polyamide yarns, are incorporated into the knitted structure of the elongate tape 24.

In other embodiments of the invention (not shown) one or more of the reinforcing members 30 may be or include a more densely knitted or woven portion of the casing body 22.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 2(a) and 2(b) each end of each reinforcing member 30 is joined to an end of an adjacent reinforcing member 30 so as to form a continuous group 34 of reinforcing members 30. Each of the reinforcing members 30 also extends laterally at an inclined angle relative to the length of the casing body 22. More particularly, in the first embodiment each reinforcing member 30 extends at an angle of approximately 45° to the length of the casing body 22, with adjacent reinforcing members 30 extending substantially perpendicularly to one another.

A first side 36 of the casing body 22, on which the reinforcing members 30 are located, includes a fold formation 38. This assists in folding the casing body 22 when forming it into a casing tube during subsequent processing of the underwire casing component 20 (see below).

A second side 40 of the casing body 22, which lies opposite the first side 36, includes a region lying opposite the reinforcing members 30 which is cushioned, i.e. the second side 40 of the casing body 22 includes a cushioned region 42 which lies opposite the reinforcing members 30. In the embodiment shown the cushioned region 42 is defined by a plurality of loops 44 which extend from the second side 40. Other types of cushioning are also possible.

An underwire casing component according to a second embodiment of the invention is designated by the reference numeral 50, as shown in Figure 3.

The second underwire casing component 50 shares a number of features with the first underwire casing component 20 and these are designated by the same reference numerals.

The second underwire casing component 50 differs from the first underwire casing component 20 is that the reinforcing members 30 are discrete from one another and each extends substantially perpendicularly to the length of the casing body 22. A third underwire casing component 60 is shown in Figures 4(a), 4(b) and 5.

The third underwire casing component 60 is similar to the first second underwire casing components 20; 50 and shares a number of features with each. Such common features are designated by the same reference numerals. In the third underwire casing component 60 each of the discrete reinforcing members 30 is, however, inclined at an angle of approximately 80° to the length of the casing body 22. In other embodiments of the invention the discrete reinforcing members 30 preferably extend at an angle of at least 45° to the length of the casing body 22, and preferably less than or equal to 90° relative to the length of the casing body 22. More preferably the angle of inclination of each reinforcing member 30 relative to the length of the casing body 22 has a lower limit of approximately 65° and an upper limit of approximately 85°.

A benefit of having each reinforcing member 30 extend at an inclined angle to the length of the casing body 22 is that any cross-section 62 of a reinforcing member 30 generated by bisecting an end of the casing body 22 is likely to be relatively small compared to, say, the length of the same reinforcing member 30.

In this way only a small cross-section 62 of relatively rigid reinforcing member 30 is ever likely to be exposed at either end of the third underwire casing component 60, as shown in Figure 4(b). First and second opposite edges 64, 66 of the casing body 22, i.e. the elongate tape 24, can be secured to one another to form a casing tube 68, as shown in Figure 5.

The casing tube 68 is formed such that the reinforcing members 30 lie on an inner surface 70 of the casing tube 68.

In other embodiments of the invention the casing body 22 is defined by an integrally formed casing tube 72, e.g. a casing tube which is knitted or woven as a single element, as shown in Figure 6. In such embodiments the reinforcing members 30 again lie on an inner surface 70 of the integral casing tube 72.

Figures 7(a) to 7(c) show an underwire casing assembly 80 according to an embodiment of the invention.

The underwire casing assembly 80 incorporates the casing tube 68 shown in Figure 5 which is formed from the third underwire casing component 60 shown in Figures 4(a) and 4(b). The underwire casing assembly 80 includes a conventional underwire 10 which is received within the aforementioned casing tube 68.

In use of the casing assembly 80 each reinforcing member 30 acts as a structural element, e.g. a beam, to support the underwire 10 and so distribute the load l_u generated by the underwire 10 across the width of the casing assembly 80.

As a consequence the distributed loads l on a wearer's body 14, as illustrated schematically in Figure 7(c), are each much smaller than the localised load L _B applied to a wearer's body by a conventional underwire casing assembly 12 (as shown in Figure 1 ). The underwire casing assembly 80 of the invention is, therefore, more comfortable to wear than the conventional underwire casing assembly 12.

The underwire casing assembly 80 mentioned above, as well as other underwire casing assembly embodiments of the invention, may be incorporated in a range of support garments such as brassieres. The underwire casing assemblies may also be incorporated within, e.g. articles of swimwear, nightwear, and sportswear.

The aforementioned underwire casing components are manufactured by:

(a) providing an elongate casing body 22 which has a first region 26 that in use lies adjacent to a wearer's body 14 and a second region 28 which in use lies spaced from a wearer's body 14; and

(b) forming a plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members 30 in the first region 26 to distribute the load l_u imparted by an underwire on the casing body 22.

The plurality of laterally extending reinforcing members 30 are created by thermoforming a plastics structure 32 to define each reinforcing member 30. In particular each plastics structure is formed by melting a plurality of thermo-fusible plastic yarns (not shown). Ultrasonic welding may be used to melt the yarns, as desired. Such a step has the additional benefit of creating a visible pattern 46 on the second side 40 of the casing body 22, as shown in Figure 2(b).

The provision of a visible pattern 46 acts as a readily identifiable discriminator to a potential wearer seeking, e.g. a support garment which incorporates an underwire casing component 20; 50; 60 that includes the reinforcing members 30 of the invention. The casing body 22 is provided in the form of an elongate tape 24 and opposite first and second edges 64, 66 of the tape 24 are secured to one another to form a casing tube 68.