Underwear   

SUMMARY

The present invention generally relates to female\'s underwear. More particularly the invention relates to underwear worn during a women\'s menstrual cycle or episodes of urinary incontinence.

Typically, women find an old, unassuming pair of underwear to wear during their menstrual cycle. Placing a sanitary pad inside the underwear is a true guessing game and usually requires removing the pad and realigning it to ensure coverage of discharge. Placement of a sanitary pad or incontinence pad actually becomes a science of position. Where should it go? If it is placed too high, leakage may occur in the back part of the underwear. If is placed too far back, too low, leakage may occur in the front part of the underwear. Removing the pad, usually affects the adherence of the sticky tape which can lead to the pad sticking to itself, bunching up in the users underwear, or the inability to re-adhere to the underwear. In these situations, the user has to start over and use a new pad which can lead to economical hardship if the user has to continuously purchase a new package of sanitary pads.

A drawback of conventional women\'s underwear is the lack of addressing issues related to placement of a sanitary pad during a women\'s menstrual cycle. Currently, market selection does not provide any options to assist women. Trial and error is the present solution to this monthly event in a women\'s life. With the underwear currently available, the potential of drainage reaching to the outer surface of the user\'s pants is high, thereby causing embarrassment, discomfort, a feeling of wetness, and thoughts that everyone will notice.

A second drawback of conventional women\'s underwear is properly identifying which way is front or back. Often times, the underwear is very uniform and identification of the front versus back is done by the label in the back of the underwear. The new wave of label marking is via iron-on labels. These iron-on labels can eventually wear off making identification more challenging than before. Prior to putting on a pair of underwear, the user usually has to hold up the underwear to identify the front of the underwear.

The present invention recognizes and addresses various drawbacks of prior art constructions and methods. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel, non-obvious, unique and different women\'s underwear that reduces the likelihood of menstrual leakage to the outer surface of the user\'s pants.

The present invention has been accomplished to provide a pair of underwear, which eliminates the guessing game for placement of a sanitary pad or incontinence pad. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which gives comfortable wear.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which provides young ladies going through puberty a unique tool to guide them in properly positioning a sanitary pad which will make them feel more secure and comfortable.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which provides a color coded identifier for various sizes of sanitary pads. This color coded identifier correlates with the colored packaging of the different sizes of popular, commercially available sanitary pads.

An even further object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which allows easy removal of a used pad and quick, uncomplicated, proper positioning of a new pad.

Even still another object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which gives a simple guideline for all females, including those with special needs, physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities. Visually impaired females can feel for the identifier inside of the underwear.

An even still further object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which circumvents the question of “Which way is the front?” With the identifier placed in the front section, this eliminates any contemplation regarding this question. This will particularly enhance independence in those with special needs, physical, mental or cognitive disabilities and visual impairments as they can easily identify which direction is front.

Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pair of underwear for women, which provides an ideal option for those hospitalized, living at skilled nursing homes, and/or rehabilitation centers.

Personal hygiene is a major part of Activities of Daily Living (ADL\'s). This life skill is taught early in one\'s life. As a young lady approaches the onset of her menstrual cycle, which is occurring as early as age 10 or 11, she is wondering what will happen, what to expect, how to deal with it, or maybe she is still wanting to go outside to play with her friends. Either way, her menstrual cycle will happen. At this age, development of self identity is taking shape. All females want to have a feeling of cleanliness, especially during that time of the month. Reducing, if not eliminating accidental leaks is what this present invention recognizes and addresses.

Discussing the changes that females are going thru during this transition is essential. Many times, females do not have anyone to reach out to and discuss vital issues like this. The education system may be a person\'s only resource especially if one does not have a parent, or is being raised by a single father, or parents may not know how to talk with their daughter about this subject. Many parents are not comfortable discussing this issue. This invention realizes this short coming and could be an avenue to openly discuss such an important time in a women\'s life.

Moreover, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a novel, non-obvious, unique and improved comfortable pair of underwear which can be used for proper securement of a sanitary pad or incontinence pad.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The present invention provides underwear having a torso encircling portion, which is bounded at the top with an elastic waistband. The encircled portion is secured at the sides with a sewn stitch or Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) type material. At the hip region, the torso portion is divided into a left leg section and a right leg section forming a crotch area between the legs. Elastic encompasses the right and left leg sections. A horizontally positioned semi-circle or curved guideline is defined at the middle part of the front section to aid the user in properly positioning a sanitary pad or incontinence pad.

Other objects, features and aspects of the present invention are achieved by various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed elements, which are discussed in greater detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment of the conformable pair of underwear constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing the item of FIG. 1 in combination with a sanitary pad.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed plan view of the combination of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a front inside section and a front inner insert for a pair of underwear according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pair of underwear according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate form of the underwear according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is made in detail to presently preferred embodiments of the new and improved comfortable pair of underwear, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit thereof. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment.

Referring to the drawings there is shown an item of underwear 10 comprising a front section 11, a back section 13, which are connected to provide a waist part 21 and a crotch area 20, the crotch area 20 extending from front to back in use between a wearer\'s legs. The front 11 and back 13 sections provide openings 25, 26 for the user\'s legs. The middle section 12 is companioned by an elongate insert 14, with the attached identifier 17, of overlapping material extending from the front 11 and back 13 sections through the middle section 12.

One of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the insert 14 with the attached identifier 17 should be sufficient to ensure proper placement of a sanitary pad 18. It should also be appreciated there could also be multiple identifiers 17 at various levels to increase the usability of underwear 10.

In order to properly maintain the positioning of a sanitary pad 18, underwear 10 has an insert 14 as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. Insert 14 curved horizontally extends across front section 11 from one thigh region 15 to the other thigh region 27, right and left respectfully, through middle section 12 into back section 13. Attached to the forward end 16 of insert 14 is the identifier 17. Insert 14 is a second piece of fabric attached to the inner aspect of underwear 10. Instead of using a line as shown in FIG. 3, identifier 17 may be formed by letters (such as a word), numerals, symbols and the like. For example, the size of the sanitary pad, overnight or regular, or a future proposed trademark could be used to form identifier 17 as seen in FIG. 4.

In accordance with the invention there is provided an inside lining part, the insert 14 which completely or substantially covers the crotch area 20 and extends to the front 11 and back 13 sections, where ends of forward end 16 of insert 14 is connected by a line of stitching, to the identifier 17 and rearward end 19 is unattached to back section 13. The insert 14 has sides 24, 28 which extend front to back and which are configured generally to conform to the shapes of the usually elasticized, sides of the middle section 12 and may extend outwardly beyond the ends of the crotch area 20. Identifier 17 is connected by a line of stitching to the front section 11. The sides 24, 28 of insert 14 are also connected by stitching to the middle section 12 of the underwear 10. Along with attached insert 14, the thigh regions 15, 27 are elasticized 22.

In this example, the insert 14 is made of cotton, a cotton blend material or a similar comfortable material, but may be made of another material which absorbs any potential discharge, leakage of fluid from user\'s menstrual cycle or urine due to incontinence. Additionally, insert 14 may consist of extra padding to add extra protection against accidental leaks.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3 (image is magnified to show detail), the attached sanitary pad 18, is placed for optimal positioning directly underneath the designated identifier 17 guide line.

Identifier 17 is formed from sewn in piping tube, decorative stitching, bias tape, any type of markings, stains, drawings, imbedded markings, markings requiring an iron, and/or fabricated material. Identifier 17 is not limited to the aforementioned markings. Identifier 17 does not present unsightly or unattractive lines in any outer garment clothing as it is positioned on the inside of underwear 10. The stitching for identifier 17, on the outside of underwear 10, is a decorative curved stitch extending horizontally across front section 11 from one thigh region 15 to the other thigh region 27, right and left respectfully.

Identifier 17 piping tube is made of a soft, flexible white cord enclosed in a comfortable cotton material. Enclosure keeps piping in place with a standard straight sewn in stitch.

Identifier 17 is color coded for various sizes of sanitary pads thus correlating with the colored packaging of the different sizes of popularly used and commercially available sanitary pads. For example, an orange identifier for overnight sized sanitary pads.

Per user\'s preference, underwear 10 may be utilized with sanitary pads that have side wings and those without side wings and/or maxi sanitary pads or thin sanitary pads.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, instead of the sides 23, 29 of the front section 11 being stitched together on the inside, a Velcro (Registered Trade Mark) type material may close the sides 23, 29 to provide effortlessness during dressing or removing underwear 10. Thereby, promoting convenience and ease of usage for those infirmed, physically, mentally or cognitively challenged. Healthcare providers will find this modification immense as it will help employees to situate undergarments on patients.

Referring to FIG. 6, part of a modified item of underwear (10) is illustrated. Similar parts to these in the preceding figures are labeled with the same reference numbers, with brackets ( ) added.

In addition to identifier (17), a second (30) or third identifier (31) may extend horizontally curved across front section (11) from one thigh region (15) to the other thigh region (27), right and left respectfully. Identifier (30) provides a guide line located approximately one-fourth to one-half of an inch lower than identifier (17) for placement of a regular sized sanitary pad. Identifier (31) provides a guide line located lower in underwear (10) in the middle section (12) for purposes of a smaller pantiliner type sanitary pad. Identifiers (30) and (31) will be a different color than identifier (17) and will correspond to commonly worn, commercially available, sanitary pads. Identifiers (30) and (31) will be formed from sewn in piping tube, decorative stitching, bias tape, any type of markings, stains, drawings, imbedded markings, markings requiring an iron, and/or fabricated material. The rearward end (19) of the insert (14) may include a separate identifier (32) as well. Identifiers (30), (31) and (32) are not limited to the aforementioned markings.

Although the invention has been described particularly for use by women during menstruation, the invention may be used by an incontinent person for example. In any event, the item of underwear 10 may be worn with or without the sanitary pad 18.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and the manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.