Underwear abstract
Underwear having a midriff encircling portion, which is bounded
at the time with an elastic waistband. At the crotch area, the midriff
portion is divided into a left leg member and a right leg member.
A vertically-extending central axis is defined between the crotch
area and the waistband, in alignment with the user's umbilicus (belly
button). The front portion of the underwear contains a flap opening
which is offset from the central axis. A vertical guide line extends
along the central axis to aid the user in properly maintaining the
offset positioning of the flap opening. The front portion of the
underwear may also have a multi-layer panel to absorb post-urination
drainage.
Underwear claims
What is claimed is:
1. Loosely fitting underwear for a male, said underwear comprising:
a piece of material formed to define a midriff encircling portion
having an upper opening for receiving a torso and two bottom openings
for receiving legs, said midriff encircling portion having a front
surface and a back surface, a central axis defined along a vertical
axis and being aligned with the wearer's belly button; a guide line
extending along said central axis and being formed on said front
surface of said piece of material; an elastic band bound along the
top of said midriff encircling portion; and a flap opening in said
front surface of said piece of material allowing the wearer to urinate
by inserting his penis therethrough, said flap opening being horizontally
offset from said central axis to prevent the wearer's penis from
accidentally protruding through said flap opening.
2. The claim as recited in claim 1, wherein said flap opening is
horizontally offset to the wearer's right of said central axis.
3. The claim as recited in claim 1, wherein said guide line is
formed from a plurality of symbols.
4. The claim as recited in claim 1, wherein said guide line is
formed from a word.
5. The claim as recited in claim 1, wherein said guide line is
formed from a linear trademark.
6. The claim as recited in claim 1, wherein said front surface
contains a panel having multiple layers of materials sufficient
to absorb post-urination drainage.
7. The claim as recited in claim 6, wherein said panel is formed
horizontally offset from said central axis.
8. The claim as recited in claim 6, wherein said panel is formed
horizontally offset to the wearer's left of said central axis.
9. The claim as recited in claim 6, wherein said panel is formed
from the same type of material as said piece of material.
10. Loosely fitting underwear for a male comprising: a piece of
material formed to define a midriff encircling portion having an
upper opening for receiving a torso and two bottom openings for
receiving legs, said midriff encircling portion having a front surface
and a back surface, a central axis defined along a vertical axis
and being aligned with the wearer's belly button; a flap opening
in said front surface of said material allowing the wearer to urinate
by inserting his penis therethrough; an elastic band bound along
the top of said midriff encircling portion; and a guide line extending
along said central axis and being formed on said front surface of
said piece of material.
11. The claim as recited in claim 10, wherein said guide line is
formed from a plurality of symbols.
12. The claim as recited in claim 10, wherein said guide line is
formed from a word.
13. The claim as recited in claim 10, wherein said guide line is
formed from a linear trademark.
14. Loosely fitting underwear for a male comprising: a piece of
material formed to define a midriff encircling portion having an
upper opening for receiving a torso and two bottom openings for
receiving legs, said midriff encircling portion having a front surface
and a back surface, a central axis defined along a vertical axis
and being aligned with the wearer's belly button; a flap opening
in said front surface of said material allowing the wearer to urinate
by inserting his penis therethrough; a guide line extending along
said central axis and being formed on said front surface of said
piece of material; an elastic band bound along the top of said midriff
encircling portion; and a panel with multiple layers of fabric sufficient
to absorb post-urination drainage formed on said front surface of
said piece of material.
15. The claim as recited in claim 14, wherein said flap opening
is horizontally offset from said central axis.
16. The claim as recited in claim 14, wherein said panel is formed
horizontally offset to the wearer's left of said central axis.
Underwear description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to men's underwear. More
particularly the invention relates to underwear with an offset flap
opening and alignment guide.
There are primarily two types of men's underwear, briefs and boxer
shorts. While briefs fit tightly and are generally only available
in unadorned white cotton, boxer shorts fit loosely and are available
in a wide variety of colors and patterns. Due to the loose fit and
style, many men prefer boxer shorts.
A drawback of boxer shorts, however, is the low absorption of liquids.
Even in healthy males (and not referring to persons suffering from
incontinence), a small amount of urine remains temporarily in the
urethra after urination. A portion of this urine may drain from
the urethra into the underwear. With boxer shorts, this drainage
tends to reach the outer surface of the user's pants by capillary
action, thereby causing embarrassment.
Another shortcoming of boxer shorts is the central positioning
of the flap opening. During even normal activities, the flap opening
tends to gap, thereby creating an opening through which the user's
penis may protrude. This causes discomfort for the user and exacerbates
the post-urination drainage problem mentioned above, which also
embarrasses the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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 an improved men's underwear
that prevents accidental protrusion of the user's penis through
the flap opening, as well as controlling post-urination drainage.
The present invention provides underwear having a midriff encircling
portion, which is bounded at the top with an elastic waistband.
At the crotch area, the midriff portion is divided into a left leg
member and a right leg member. A vertically-extending central axis
is defined between the crotch area and the waistband, in alignment
with the user's umbilicus (belly button). The front portion of the
underwear contains a flap opening which is offset from the central
axis. A vertical guide line extends along the central axis to aid
the user in properly maintaining the offset positioning of the flap
opening. The front portion of the underwear may also have a multi-layer
panel to absorb post-urination drainage.
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
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including
the best mode thereof, to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set
forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification, including
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a person wearing the underwear
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of a person wearing the underwear
of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3A is a front view of the underwear of FIG. 1 with a first
guide line design;
FIG. 3B is a front view of the underwear of FIG. 1 with a second
guide line design;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the underwear of FIG. 3A along
line 4--4; and
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the underwear of FIG. 2 along
line 5--5.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification
and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features
or elements of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Reference is made in detail to presently preferred embodiments
of the invention, 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 by 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.
The present invention provides underwear 10 having an offset flap
opening 12 with a guide line 14. By way of example, the present
invention is discussed in terms of loose-fitting underwear, such
as boxer shorts. It should be understood by one of ordinary skill
in the art, however, that elements of the present invention may
be adapted in briefs, boxer briefs and the like.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a user wearing underwear 10 on his body 2. Underwear
10 has a midriff encircling portion 16 that is bounded along its
top with an attached elastic waistband 18. At the crotch area 20,
midriff portion 16 is divided into a left leg member 22 and a right
leg member 24. A line extending substantially vertically between
the crotch area 20 and waistband 18 defines a central axis. The
central axis intersects waistband 18 approximately in the area near
the user's umbilicus 4 (belly button).
Underwear 10 has a flap opening 12 for removal of the user's penis
(not shown) from underwear 10 during urination. Flap opening 12
is offset from central axis to prevent the user's penis from accidentally
protruding through flap opening 12 during normal activity. While
flap opening 12 is shown for access of a user's right hand, it should
be appreciated that flap opening 12 could be reversed about the
central axis for access by a user's left hand. The exact distance
that flap opening 12 is offset differs, depending upon the size
of underwear 10. One of ordinary skill in the art should understand
that the offset distance should be sufficient to prevent accidental
protrusion of the user's penis through flap opening 12. It should
also be appreciated the inner edge of flap opening could also be
offset from the central axis to increase the durability of underwear
10.
In order to properly maintain the offset positioning of flap opening
12, underwear 10 has a guide line 14 as best seen in FIGS. 3A and
3B. Guide line 14 extends vertically between crotch area 20 and
waistband 18. Guide line 14 should be aligned with the central axis
to maintain the proper offset of flap opening 12. Guide line 14
may also be aligned with the user's umbilicus 4 (belly button).
Instead of using a line as shown in FIG. 3A, guide line 14 may be
formed by letters (such as a word), numerals, symbols and the like.
For example, the user's name or a trademark could be used to form
guide line 14 as seen in FIG. 3B.
In order to control the problems of post-urination drainage, front
portion of underwear 10 has a panel 26 with multiple layers of fabric
to absorb post-urination drainage. While many different types of
fabric could be used to form panel 26, preferably the same type
of fabric is used for the entire underwear 10, including panel 26.
Since the penis generally hangs to the left of the central axis,
panel 26 is positioned substantially left of the central axis. As
the user's penis comes into contact with panel 26, any post-urination
drainage is absorbed by panel 26.
In operation, the user will put on underwear 10 and position guide
line 14 in alignment with the central axis. With guide line 14 positioned
along central axis, flap opening 12 is offset from central axis
to prevent accidental protrusion of the user's penis through flap
opening 12. After urinating, panel 26 will absorb any post-urination
drainage which occurs.
It can thus be seen that the present invention provides an underwear
having novel properties. While preferred embodiments of the invention
have been shown and described, modifications and variations may
be made thereto by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing
from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition,
it should be understood that aspects of the various embodiments
may be interchanged both in whole or in part. Furthermore, those
of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing
description is by way of example only, and is not intended to be
limitative of the invention. |