ATHLETIC PROTECTOR SYSTEM

An athletic protector system includes a protective cup, a pre-conformed cooling liner, and an outer rim. The protective cup includes a base with a peripheral rim. The protective cup is configured to receive and secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto. The cooling liner includes a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge is configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim. The outer rim is configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim.

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Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application 61/843,938, filed Jul. 9, 2013, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to an athletic protector system including a protective cup with cooling features. In particular, the present invention relates to an athletic protector system for human genitalia or other body parts including a protective cup, a pre-conformed contoured cooling liner, an outer rim, and an optional ventilation feature.

BACKGROUND

Athletic systems provide a removable, solid, generally rigid cup for protection of human genitalia. These protective cups are typically used in conjunction with a wearable garment designed to support and secure the cup. Conventional protective cups may include a cushioned perimeter and a hard shell with a plurality of holes for flow- through ventilation. These athletic systems are used in various sporting and medical applications to improve the mobility and comfort of the user while shielding their genitalia from impact and injury. However, such protective cups typically lack supplemental cooling features.

For medical rehabilitation after surgery or injury to the genital area, such as resulting from a vasectomy or other testicular procedures, cooling of the genital area promotes healing while decreasing discomfort and swelling. Recovery instructions often recommend use of a cooling pack placed in the front of an undergarment to provide a cooling effect to the genital area. Athletes involved in strenuous sporting activities such as football, soccer or baseball also find improved comfort in a cooling effect to the genital area.

Existing genitalia cooling systems may include an athletic support garment with a pocket for receiving a removable cooling pouch. However, these systems do not provide adequate shielding protection or cooling to the genital area. Further, the cooling pouches used in these systems lack a pre-conformed contoured shape, such as an elongated cup-shape. The known cooling pouches are not manufactured as pre-conformed to the elongated cup-shape of human genitalia, do not uniformly distribute the cooling medium in their deformed state when used, and cannot be evenly, closely attached to a standard shaped athletic protective cup. To increase the therapeutic and comfort benefits of a protective cup, there is a need to provide a compact, pre-conformed cooling liner. There is also a need for an athletic protector system including a protective cup with a pre-conformed contoured cooling liner, and having an optional ventilation feature that overcomes these drawbacks.

SUMMARY

An athletic protector system is disclosed according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a protective cup, a pre-conformed cooling liner, and an outer rim. The protective cup includes a base with a peripheral rim. The protective cup is configured to receive and secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto. The cooling liner includes a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge is configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim. The outer rim is configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim.

In one embodiment the disclosed invention includes an athletic protector system including a protective cup, a pre-conformed cooling liner, and an outer rim. The protective cup includes a base with a peripheral rim. The protective cup is configured to receive and selectably secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto. The cooling liner includes a peripheral edge. The peripheral edge is configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be selectably coupled to the peripheral rim. The outer rim has an interior portion and an exterior portion. The outer rim is configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and is further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim. The exterior portion of the outer rim includes a finger tab which allows the outer rim to deform when a user deflects the finger tab toward an interior of the system to release the outer rim from the peripheral rim.

In one embodiment the disclosed invention includes a method for assembling an athletic protector system. The method includes obtaining a protective cup having a base with a peripheral rim and obtaining a cooling liner having a peripheral edge, the peripheral edge being configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim. The method also includes obtaining an outer rim configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim. The method further includes configuring the protective cup to receive and secure the cooling liner and the outer rim. The method additionally includes positioning the cooling liner against the protective cup, coupling at least a portion of the peripheral edge to at least a portion of the peripheral rim, and coupling the outer rim to the peripheral rim to secure the cooling liner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features of the inventive embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the embodiments relate from reading the specification and claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are front and rear perspective views respectively of an athletic protector system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1C is a top plan view of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 1D is a bottom end elevation view of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 2 is a side view in section of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 4A is a rear view of the protective cup of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 4B is a side view of the protective cup of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 5A is a rear perspective view of a cooling liner of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 5B is a top plan view of the cooling liner of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 is a side view in section of the cooling liner of FIG. 5B;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the of the cooling liner of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 8 is a top view of an outer rim of the athletic protector system of FIGS. 1A and 1B; and

FIG. 9 is a side view in section through the outer rim of FIG. 8.

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the discussion that follows, like reference numerals are used to refer to like structures and elements in the various figures.

The general arrangement of an athletic protector system 10 is shown in FIGS. 1A through 1D and 2 through 9 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Athletic protector system 10 includes a protective cup 12, a cooling liner 14 and an outer rim 16. Protective cup 12 is configured to receive and generally permanently or selectably couple to cooling liner 14 and outer rim 16. The coupling may be made by any suitable device, such as by fasteners, snaps, pins, rivets, adhesive, welding, friction fit, a hook-and-loop type closer such as Velcro® available from Velcro Industries of Willemstad in the Netherlands, or molding.

Referring again to FIGS. 4A and 4B, protective cup 12 includes a base 18 and a peripheral rim 20. Base 18 may further include one or more optional vents 22, of any suitable size and shape. Base 18 includes a front exterior surface 24, a rear interior surface 26 joined by a generally circularly shaped curved edge 28. The base 18 may have a predetermined shape, for example an elongated, generally concavo-convex shape, such that front exterior surface 24 is generally convex and rear interior surface 26 is generally concave. In some embodiments the optional vents 22 may be generally triangularly-shaped and operate to allow air to flow between front exterior surface 24 and rear interior surface 26. Base 18 is generally triangular in shape and includes a top portion 30, an opposing bottom portion 32, and spaced-apart, opposing side portions 34. Top portion 30 is generally wider than bottom portion 32, and both the top portion and the bottom portion are generally coplanar. Each side portion 34 curves toward the front of base 18, and extends from the top portion 30 to the bottom portion 32. Vents 22 are preferably disposed at the side portions 34, generally adjacent peripheral rim 20. Peripheral rim 20 is preferably integral to curved edge 28, but may be a separate piece that is attached to the curved edge. The cross section of peripheral rim 20 is generally circular, but may be any suitable shape configured to selectably attach to outer rim 16. Peripheral rim 20 includes one or more first fasteners 36 configured for selectable coupling to cooling liner 14 and to outer rim 16.

Protective cup 12 and outer rim 16 may be made of any suitable rigid, semi-rigid, or flexible material. For example, in some embodiments of the present invention, protective cup 12 is made from any suitable relatively rigid, high-impact resistant material such as plastic, metal, or a composite, sufficient to protect a user's genital or other bodily area from outside impacts. Suitable plastic material may include, without limitation, low or high density polyethylene, thermoplastic rubber (TPR), and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).

Referring again to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6 and 7, cooling liner 14 includes a generally concave, generally flexible or semi-rigid exterior covering 38 joined to a generally convex, generally flexible or semi-rigid interior covering 40. Interior covering 40 may be either permanently or selectably attached to exterior covering 38 to form an enclosure that is configured to receive and contain a cooling material 42. The attachment may be any suitable type, such as by ultrasonic welding, heat sealing, fastener or adhesive. Alternatively, the cooling liner 14 may be made of a unitary construction. In an alternative embodiment, cooling liner 14 may be a single sheet that is attached to the rear interior surface 26 of protective cup 12, or manufactured as an integral part of the protective cup, and configured to form an enclosure to receive and contain the cooling material 42.

Exterior covering 38 of cooling liner 14 includes an exterior shell 39 and a peripheral edge 44, while the interior covering 40 includes an interior shell 41 and a peripheral lip 46, the peripheral lip being attached to the exterior covering adjacent to the peripheral edge. The interior shell 41 may be further attached to the exterior shell 39 by at least one spot weld 48. The spot weld 48 may be made by any suitable attachment, such as by welding, sealing, adhesive or fastener. The cooling liner 14 is configured to maintain a generally uniform thickness of the cooling material 42 inside the cooling liner.

The cooling liner 14 may be configured to be pre-conformed and contoured to a shape to generally match and attach to the contoured shape of the adjacent protective cup 12. The exterior shell 39 and the interior shell 41 may include a pre-conformed cup-shape that is an elongated, generally convex and concave shape, respectively. In one embodiment, in use, the athletic protector system 10 may be positioned with the top portion 30 adjacent the top area of the human genitalia, and the bottom portion adjacent the bottom area of the human genitalia. The pre-conformed cup-shape provides structural support to the cooling liner 14, such that it generally maintains its shape in use and thus provides generally uniform cooling without applying undue pressure upon the adjacent human body part, which may be sensitive, for example, after a surgical procedure. The pre-conformed cup-shape embodiment does not require that a human body part be used to deform and contour the shape of the cooling liner. In some embodiments, cooling liner 14 may be configured to be flexible and conformable in use to the contoured shape of the adjacent protective cup 12 and to the contoured shape of the adjacent body part.

In some embodiments of the present invention the exterior shell 39 may be configured to be pre-conformed and contoured to match a generally smooth rear interior surface 26 of the protective cup 12, and the interior shell 41 may be configured to be pre-conformed and contoured differently to match the convoluted shape of the adjacent body part, such as human toes, for example. Alternatively, the interior shell 41 may be configured to be a generally concave or other suitable shape, and configured to be conformable in use to the contoured shape of adjacent human genitalia or other select body part. In an alternative embodiment, the cooling liner 14 may be configured to be a predetermined thickness that generally allows for an air gap between the interior covering 40 and adjacent human genitalia or other body part. In one embodiment the athletic protector system 10 or the cooling liner 14 may be configured to be custom pre-conformed to match the shape and contours of the user's body part.

The peripheral edge 44 of cooling liner 14 may be configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim 20 and may be further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim. As shown, the peripheral edge 44 is configured to be pre-conformed as a generally semi-circular shape through its cross-section. The peripheral edge 44 includes at least one receptacle 50, the receptacle being configured to be selectably coupled to the corresponding at least one first fastener 36. In one embodiment, the first fastener 36 includes a protrusion 52, and the at least one receptacle 50 includes an aperture 54 configured to receive the protrusion therethrough. Each of the top portion 30, the bottom portion 32, and the spaced-apart side portions 34 of protective cup 12 may include one or more protrusions 52. The peripheral edge 44 is shown as continuous, but may also be formed as one or more separate portions or tabs. The peripheral edge 44 is shown removably secured intermediate the peripheral rim 20 and the outer rim 16, but alternatively, may be coupled to at least one of the peripheral rim 20 and the outer rim 16. In an alternative embodiment, the peripheral edge 44 includes an elastic edge (not shown), the elastic edge being configured to bias the peripheral edge toward the peripheral rim 20 when the athletic protector system 10 is assembled.

The exterior covering 38 and interior covering 40 of cooling liner 14 may be made of any suitable flexible or semi-rigid material that is preferably light weight and easily cleaned, such as plastic, rubber, or flexible polypropylene. In one embodiment, the cooling liner 14 is configured as an enclosure that includes one or more selectably sealable ports (not shown) to allow filling and discharging of the cooling liner with cooling material 42. In one embodiment, the cooling liner 14 may include a removable insulating layer (not shown) adjacent the exterior covering 38. In one embodiment, the cooling liner 14 may include one or more vent openings or cut-out portions (not shown) that align with the vents 22 of the protective cup 12. In one embodiment, athletic protector system 10 is configured for use with an athletic support garment (not shown) configured to receive and removably secure the athletic protector system.

The cooling material 42 may be any suitable chemical composition capable of phase-change for producing a cooling effect, and may remain flexible after freezing, such as a gel, for example. Suitable chemical compositions may include, but are not limited to, a mixture of a super absorbent polymer, such as poly acrylate or carboxymethyl cellulose, for example, polypropylene glycol, and water; or a mixture of ammonium nitrate and water. The cooling material 42 may be a material capable of producing a cooling effect after chilling and a heating effect after warming of the cooling liner 14. Preferably, cooling liner 14 also retains flexibility after freezing. Alternatively, cooling material 42 may include water or other substance that becomes rigid after freezing. Alternatively, the cooling liner 14 may instead be configured to produce a heating effect for the body part area. The cooling liner 14 may be a removable cold pack or heat pack that is rechargeable, replaceable, or capable of activation through a chemical reaction. In one embodiment, the protective cup 12 is configured to accept and secure one or more additional cooling liners 14 inside or adjacent to the protective cup. The additional cooling liners 14 may be stacked or layered adjacent one another and may be configured to couple at their peripheral edges 44 to peripheral rim 20 and outer rim 16.

Referring again to FIGS. 8 and 9, the outer rim 16 is configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim 20 and further configured to be generally permanently or selectably coupled to the peripheral rim. As shown, outer rim 16 is configured to be pre-conformed as a generally semi-circular shape through its cross-section and includes a channel 56 configured to match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim 20 and/or match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral edge 44. The outer rim 16 may be coupled to the peripheral rim 20 by any suitable device, such as by fasteners, snaps, pins, rivets, adhesive, welding, friction fit, a hook-and-loop type closer such as Velcro® available from Velcro Industries of Willemstad in the Netherlands, or molding. The outer rim 16 is additionally configured to be generally permanently or selectably coupled to the peripheral edge 44 of the cooling liner 14. The cross-sections of peripheral rim 20, peripheral edge 44 and channel 56 may be any suitable shape, including, but not limited to a “V” shape, square, oblong, and polygonal shapes.

The outer rim 16 may include at least one second fastener 58 configured to attach to the corresponding first fastener 36 of the peripheral rim 20. The second fastener 58 includes a port 60 configured to receive the corresponding protrusion 52 of first fastener 36. The outer rim 16 includes an interior portion 62 and an exterior portion 64, the exterior portion including a finger tab 66. Finger tab 66 may extend from exterior portion 64 adjacent to the top portion 30. Finger tab 66 operates to allow the outer rim 16 to deform when a user deflects the finger tab toward the interior of the athletic protector system 10 in order to release the outer rim from the peripheral rim 20. In an alternative embodiment the outer rim 16 may be made from a resilient or deformable material, and may include any suitable impact absorbing material, such as rubber, foam, gel, and gel-filled nodules.

Athletic protector system 10 may be assembled by first placing cooling liner 14 within protective cup 12 so that their matching contoured forms align, and aligning and coupling protrusions 52 to corresponding apertures 54 such that peripheral edge 44 is adjacent to peripheral rim 20 and exterior shell 39 is adjacent to rear interior surface 26. Next, the user may position outer rim 16 adjacent the peripheral rim 20 so their matching contoured forms align. Finally, the user aligns and couples protrusions 52 to corresponding ports 60 to bring channel 56 adjacent the peripheral edge 44 and attach to peripheral rim 20, thus securing the cooling liner 14. The coupling may be continuous along the peripheral rim 20 or may include one or more portions of the peripheral rim. Athletic protector system 10 may be disassembled by performing the steps in reverse, and using the finger tab 66 initially to release outer rim 16.

In preparation for use of the athletic protector system 10, the cooling liner 14 may be chilled by placing the cooling liner into a freezer or refrigerator device, or by packing with ice or other cooling packs inside a cooler. Alternatively, the entire athletic protector system 10 may be chilled. The user retrieves the chilled cooling liner 14 once it has reached a desired temperature or frozen condition, and assembles the athletic protector system 10 as described above. In use, in one embodiment, the user inserts the athletic protector system 10 into a genital pouch of a not-shown support garment with the cooling liner 14 facing the adjacent human genitalia and moves the athletic protector system into the desired position. After use for the desired period, the user then removes and disassembles the athletic protector system 10 to remove the cooling liner 14 as described above. The user may then insert a replacement pre-chilled cooling liner 14 and either dispose of or clean and/or re-activate the used cooling liner 14 for reuse. Alternatively, the user may remove the used athletic protector system 10 and insert a replacement pre-chilled athletic protector system.

Although shown in one embodiment with an elongated, generally concavo-convex shape to match the male genitals, in alternative embodiments, the athletic protector system 10 may have various other shapes as suitable for use with various other human or mammal body parts. As non-limiting examples, the athletic protector system 10 may have other shapes suitable for use as elbow pads, knee pads, head pads, hand pads, foot pads, or breast pads. Alternatively, the base 18 may have an elongated, generally convexo-concave shape, with the front exterior surface 24 being generally concave and the rear interior surface 26 being generally convex. Such an athletic protector system 10 having a generally convexo-concave shape may be used for example to provide relief from hemorrhoids or for therapy after various other surgeries. In one embodiment, the athletic protector system 10 may include one or more straps or adhesive configured to attach the system to a corresponding body part (not shown). In one embodiment, the athletic protector system 10 may include a plurality of pieces selectively or hingedly joined together, such as including two protective cups for example, that may be used to partially enclose and conform to a body part, such as a hand or foot. With reference to FIGS. 1C and 1D, non-limiting examples for dimensions in one embodiment of athletic protector system 10 may include a length “L” of about 7.8 inches, a height “H” of about 2.8 inches, and a width “W” of about 4.2 inches.

While this invention has been shown and described with respect to a detailed embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of the claims of the invention.

Claims

1. An athletic protector system, comprising:

a protective cup having a base with a peripheral rim;
a cooling liner having a peripheral edge, the peripheral edge being configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and further being configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim; and
an outer rim configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and further configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim,
the protective cup being configured to receive and secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto.

2. The athletic protector system of claim 1, wherein the cooling liner further includes a generally flexible exterior covering and generally flexible interior covering, the interior covering being attached to the exterior covering to allow the cooling liner to receive and contain a cooling material.

3. The athletic protector system of claim 2 wherein the exterior covering includes the peripheral edge and the interior covering includes a peripheral lip, the peripheral lip being attached to the exterior covering adjacent to the peripheral edge.

4. The athletic protector system of claim 2 wherein the interior covering is further attached to the exterior covering by at least one spot weld.

5. The athletic protector system of claim 2 wherein the cooling liner is configured to maintain a generally uniform thickness of the cooling material inside the cooling liner.

6. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein:

the base of the protective cup has a predetermined shape; and
the cooling liner is configured to generally pre-conform to the shape of the base of the protective cup.

7. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the cooling liner includes a pre-conformed shape that is an elongated, generally concavo-convex shape.

8. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the cooling liner is configured to be selectably coupled to the peripheral rim.

9. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the outer rim is configured to be coupled to the peripheral rim and to the peripheral edge.

10. The athletic protector system of claim 9 wherein the outer rim is configured to be selectably coupled to the peripheral rim and to the peripheral edge.

11. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the protective cup is configured to selectably secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto.

12. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the peripheral edge is secured intermediate the peripheral rim and the outer rim.

13. The athletic protector system of claim 12 wherein the peripheral edge is selectably secured intermediate the peripheral rim and the outer rim.

14. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the cooling liner is generally flexible when frozen.

15. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein the protective cup includes at least one vent.

16. The athletic protector system of claim 1 wherein:

the peripheral rim includes at least one first fastener; and
the peripheral rim includes at least one corresponding second fastener,
the at least one first fastener being configured to be selectably coupled to the corresponding at least one second fastener.

17. The athletic protector system of claim 16 wherein the peripheral edge includes at least one receptacle, the receptacle being configured to be selectably coupled to the corresponding at least one first fastener.

18. The athletic protector system of claim 17, wherein:

the at least one first fastener includes a protrusion;
the at least one receptacle includes an aperture configured to receive the protrusion therethrough; and
the at least one second fastener includes a port configured to receive the protrusion.

19. An athletic protector system, comprising:

a protective cup having a base with a peripheral rim;
a cooling liner having a peripheral edge, the peripheral edge being configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and further configured to be selectably coupled to the peripheral rim; and
an outer rim having an interior portion and an exterior portion, the outer rim being configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim and further configured to be selectably coupled to the peripheral rim, the exterior portion including a finger tab,
the protective cup being configured to receive and selectably secure the cooling liner and the outer rim thereto, and
the finger tab allowing the outer rim to deform when a user deflects the finger tab toward an interior of the system to release the outer rim from the peripheral rim.

20. A method for assembling an athletic protector system, comprising the steps of:

obtaining a protective cup having a base with a peripheral rim;
obtaining a cooling liner having a peripheral edge, the peripheral edge being configured to generally match a contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim;
obtaining an outer rim configured to generally match the contour of at least a portion of the peripheral rim,
configuring the protective cup to receive and secure the cooling liner and the outer rim;
positioning the cooling liner against the protective cup;
coupling at least a portion of the peripheral edge to at least a portion of the peripheral rim; and
coupling the outer rim to the peripheral rim to secure the cooling liner.
Patent History
Publication number: 20150018744
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 3, 2014
Publication Date: Jan 15, 2015
Inventor: Michael R. Reed (Wichita, KS)
Application Number: 14/323,020
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: With Rigid Cup (602/72)
International Classification: A41B 9/12 (20060101);