AU2006200947B2 - Supportive Nursing Garment with Privacy Layer - Google Patents

Description

06 Mar 06 01:4p Caseyj Plant Hire 0359981144 p.

3 0 0 cN SSUPPORTIVE NURSING GARMENT WITH PRIVACY LAYER

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to nursing garments worn by women during Spregnancy and breastfeeding.

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o BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Pregnant and breastfeeding women usually wear nursing bras under separate outer garments during the day to accommodate the typical increase in breast size during pregnancy and breastfeeding. During the night it is also more comfortable to sleep with the additional support of a bra. Typically women wear either a nursing bra, a sports crop bra, or a shelf bra which is built into an outer garment.

Nursing bras include cups that may be opened from the front to expose the breasts for nursing, and therefore these are the most convenient to use whilst breastfeeding. Once opened, the nursing cup of a traditional nursing bra exposes the majority of the breast to allow for breastfeeding; however this leaves the top of the breast exposed even when the baby is attached. The outer garment must also be lifted to expose and midriff before the bra can be accessed, and many women find it uncomfortable to breastfeed in public in this type of bra. Nursing bras are generally designed for day wear and cannot be comfortably worn while sleeping as they are often made from non-elastic or lacy fabrics with bulky fasteners at the back.

Sports crop bras and shelf bras are usually constructed from a front and back panel of stretch fabric and can be pulled over the head without the need for COMS ID No: SBMI-02872286 Received by IP Australia: Time 13:27 Date 2006-03-06 06 Mar 06 01: 2 4 p Cases Plant Hire 0359981144 p.4 -2fasteners to do them up at the back. However most of these types of bras, C excluding the Glamourmom patent: WO 02/30221 A2, lack the drop down cup O for breastfeeding, and all lack the support and breast separation of traditional nursing bras.

O As a nutritional scientist I have spent years looking at ways to reduce childhood C obesity and evidence suggests that breastfeeding may be protective against the o development of childhood and adolescent obesity. Breastfeeding is also C protective against a number of childhood illnesses, and may be protective against chronic conditions such as Type 1 diabetes and asthma.

There are many factors that determine whether a woman will decide to breastfeed. Often the decision is made long before they are even pregnant based on information gathered from family and peers. Breastfeeding in public is not generally seen as socially acceptable behaviour and many women feel intimidated and embarrassed. A need therefore exists for a nursing garment for pregnant and breastfeeding women that combines comfort and nursing functionality with breast support, modesty and aestheticism.

COMS ID No: SBMI-02872286 Received by IP Australia: Time 13:27 Date 2006-03-06 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nursing garment comprising: a breast support; a privacy layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support; a pair of shoulder straps, each strap connected to the privacy layer; the privacy layer having a nursing flap positioned over each breast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant; wherein the breast support is releasably detachable from the privacy layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap thereafter covers the breast from view while nursing the infant.

The nursing garment may further comprise a back panel having side edges connected to respective side edges of the breast support and respective side edges of the privacy layer.

Each shoulder strap may be connected at one end to an upper edge of the privacy layer and at another end to an upper edge of the back panel.

The nursing garment may further comprise a band extending around the torso of the user, the band being connected to a lower edge of the back panel, a lower edge of the breast support and a lower portion of the privacy layer.

Each of the shoulder straps may be connected to the upper edge of the privacy layer by one or more hooks.

The breast support may have an eyelet to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooks thereby allowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

The breast support may be formed as a pair of cups and a base panel, each cup attached to the base panel.

m:\reo\letters\2006\september504865res1 reo.doc The eyelet of the breast support may be located at an upper portion of each cup to enable either cup to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

The nursing garment may be made of soft, elastic and stretchable fabric, such as spandex (or elastane), polyester, cotton or blends thereof which eliminates the need for fasteners at the back of the garment and is designed to be pulled over the head. Once the nursing cup has been opened the privacy layer may be lifted to allow the baby to attach and then pulled back over the top of the breast whilst breastfeeding so that the entire breast is obscured.

m:\reo\letters\2006\september\504865res1 reo.doc 06 Ma 06 01: 2 4 p Caseyj Plant Hire 0359981144 p.s -4- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described solely by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a nursing garment of the 0 present invention; 0 C Figure 2 is a front view of the privacy layer of the garment; RFigure 3 is a front view of the shaped breast support; and C RFigure 4 is a front view of the back breast support of the garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS A nursing garment 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes three main components; namely a shaped breast support 108, a back panel 116, and a privacy layer 106.

The shaped breast support 108 is a breast conforming layer configured to provide breast support. To optimise breast support, each cup of the shaped breast support is made from an upper panel 1 10 and a lower panel 112 sewn together to form the cup shape. The two cups are then stitched into a base panel 114 which holds them in place over each breast. This method is often used in traditional bra cups, as best seen in Figure 3, and need not be further described herein.

The nursing garment 100 is assembled by sewing the side edges of the shaped breast support 108, the privacy layer 106, and the back panel 116. The lower edge of the breast support 108, privacy layer 106, and back panel 116 are connected to the elastic torso-encircling band 118. The shaped breast support 108 is therefore overlapping the privacy layer 106.

COMS ID No: SBMI-02872286 Received by IP Australia: Time 13:27 Date 2006-03-06 06 Mar 06 01: 2 5 p Casej Plant Hire 0359981144 p.

7 0 0 The privacy layer 106 is a T-shaped layer that is attached by the lower edge to the elastic torso-encircling band 118, and by the top edge of each cup to a pair of v.Q shoulder straps 126 via a hook 124. Specifically, the shoulder straps 126 include moving sliders (not shown) to enable adjustment of the length, thus adjusting the overall size of the bra cups. Moving sliders are widely used in garments such as lingerie and need not be further described herein.

N Releasable eyes 122 are attached to the upper edges of each cup of the shaped v.0 O breast support 108 at positions overlapping corresponding hooks 124 that 0 N permanently attach the privacy layer 106 to the shoulder straps 126. As best seen in Figure 1, in use a wearer releases one of the hooks 124 from a corresponding eye 122 to allow one side of the shaped breast support 108 to fold downward to expose a nursing flap 120. The nursing flaps 120 then fold upwards to allow nursing.

The embodiment garment of the present invention described above combines a supportive nursing garment with a privacy layer for discrete breastfeeding. It is designed to stretch and be pulled over to ensure maximum comfort.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment described above is intended only to serve as an example and that many other embodiments are possible with the spirit and the scope of the present invention. The nursing garment may be constructed on its own or as a shelf bra as part of an outer garment. Further, the configuration the shoulder straps is not limited, and may be alternatively implemented in other configurations such as a halter neck or a Y-back. Finally, the releasable connection between the bra cups and the shaped breast support is not limited to hook and eye fasteners, but may be alternatively implemented using conventional releasable fasteners, such as hoop and loop fasteners (or Velcro).

COMS ID No: SBMI-02872286 Received by IP Australia: Time 13:27 Date 2006-03-06

Claims (11)

1. A nursing garment comprising: a breast support; a privacy layer disposed between breasts of a user and the breast support; a pair of shoulder straps, each strap connected to the privacy layer; the privacy layer having a nursing flap positioned over each breast, each nursing flap able to be lifted individually to provide access to a breast for nursing an infant; wherein the breast support is releasably detachable from the privacy layer to enable lifting of the nursing flap and the nursing flap thereafter covers the breast from view while nursing the infant.

2. A nursing garment according to claim 1 further comprising a back panel having side edges connected to respective side edges of the breast support and respective side edges of the privacy layer.

3. A nursing garment according to claim 2 wherein each shoulder strap is connected at one end to an upper edge of the privacy layer and at another end to an upper edge of the back panel.

4. A nursing garment according to claim 3 further comprising a band extending around the torso of the user, the band being connected to a lower edge of the back panel, a lower edge of the breast support and a lower portion of the privacy layer.

A nursing garment according to claim 4 wherein each of the shoulder straps are connected to the upper edge of the privacy layer by one or more hooks.

6. A nursing garment according to claim 5 wherein the breast support has an eyelet to enable releasable attachment to the one or more hooks thereby allowing the breast support to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap. m:\reo\letters\2006\september\504865res1 reo.doc

7. A nursing garment according to claim 6 wherein the breast support is formed as a pair of cups and a base panel, each cup attached to the base panel.

8. A nursing garment according to claim 7 wherein the eyelet of the breast support is located at an upper portion of each cup to enable either cup to fold downwardly and provide access to the nursing flap.

9. A nursing garment according to claim 8 made of a stretchable material to avoid the use of fasteners in the back panel such that the garment is placed around the torso after being looped over the head of the user.

A nursing garment according to claim 1 that forms part of another garment, such as a singlet, shirt or dress.

11. A nursing garment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this twenty-second day of September 2006 Helen La Fontaine Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO m:\reo\leters\2006\september\504865res1 reo.doc