Athletic Protective Breast Cup

Abstract

A protective cup to be worn in women athlete's sports bras to protect against injury and pain from a contact in an aggressive sport. is disclosed. The Unstoppable Protective Cups can be slipped into the athlete's favorite sports bra, go virtually undetected, easy to run in with a flexible cut-out to absorb a blow. They are also lined with softer material to protect the breast from injury further and be worn with comfort.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A protective breast cup, comprising:
 an outer shell having a curvature dimensioned and configured to contain a breast of a wearer;   multiple interior flexural slots disposed in a spaced apart relation to define multiple major flexural regions of the outer shell, the multiple major flexural regions oriented to flex the outer shell radially inwardly about an apex of the outer shell responsive to an impact force exerted on the outer shell;   a cushioned liner disposed over an interior surface of the outer shell; and   at least one protrusion defined on an outer surface of the cushioned liner configured to protrude through respective one of the multiple interior flexural slots.   
     
     
         2 . The protective breast cup of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a central void portion; and   the multiple interior flexural slots intersect with the central void portion.   
     
     
         3 . The protective breast cup of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple interior flexural slots extend from a top end region of the outer shell and downwardly to a bottom end region of the outer shell, wherein terminal ends of the multiple interior flexural slots terminate spaced apart from a peripheral side edge of the outer shell. 
     
     
         4 . The protective breast cup of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a top flexural region disposed across an upper aspect of the outer shell and defined between an upper terminal end of the multiple interior flexural slots and an intermediate portion of the multiple interior flexural slots.   
     
     
         5 . The protective breast cup of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a lower flexural region disposed across a lower aspect of the outer shell and defined between a lower terminal end of the multiple interior flexural slots and an intermediate portion of the multiple interior flexural slots.   
     
     
         6 . The protective breast cup of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 multiple lateral flexural regions disposed between the upper flexural region and the lower flexural region.   
     
     
         7 . The protective breast cup of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a lateral flexural slot that is generally vertically aligned at a lateral aspect of the outer shell, inwardly spaced from a peripheral side edge of the outer shell.   
     
     
         8 . The athletic protective breast cup of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a plurality of nubs that protrude beyond an outer surface of the outer shell.   
     
     
         9 . A protective breast cup, comprising:
 an outer shell having a curvature dimensioned and configured to contain a breast of a wearer;   a plurality of interior flexural slots disposed about the outer shell, each of the plurality interior flexural slots extend through the outer shell, the plurality of interior flexural slots having terminal ends proximal to a peripheral edge of the outer shell;   multiple major flexural regions defined between the plurality of interior flexural slots, the multiple major flexural regions oriented to flex radially inwardly responsive to an impact force exerted on the outer shell; and   one or more supplemental flexural regions defined by a supplemental flexural slot generally aligned with ends of the internal flexural slots.   
     
     
         10 . The protective breast cup of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a cushioned liner covering an interior surface of the outer shell.   
     
     
         11 . The protective breast cup of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 at least one protrusion of the cushioned liner extends through at least one of the plurality of flexural slots.   
     
     
         12 . The protective breast cup of  claim 11 , the cushioned liner further comprising:
 a plurality of nubs on the at least one protrusion extend beyond an outer surface of the outer shell.   
     
     
         13 . A breast cup, comprising:
 an outer shell having a curvature dimensioned and configured to contain a breast of a wearer;   a central void portion defined through the outer shell proximal to the apex and positioned to overlie a nipple of the wearer, when worn;   a plurality of flexural slots radially disposed about the outer shell, the plurality of flexural slots extending from a position proximal to a peripheral edge of the outer shell to a position proximal to the central void;   a plurality of flexural regions defined between the plurality of flexural slots and the central void, the plurality of flexural regions formed as plates oriented to flex inwardly about the central void portion in response to an impact force exerted on the outer shell.   
     
     
         14 . The protective breast cup of  claim 13 , the plurality of flexural slots further comprising:
 an interior flexural slot that defines a top flexural region disposed above the central void portion, a lower flexural region disposed across a lower aspect of the outer shell, and a lateral flexural region disposed on opposed lateral sides of the outer shell.   
     
     
         15 . The protective breast cup of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 an outer flexural slot defined along a line between ends of the interior flexural slot, the outer flexural slot defining supplemental flexure region.   
     
     
         16 . The protective breast cup of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a cushioned liner an interior surface of the outer shell.   
     
     
         17 . The protective breast cup of  claim 16 , wherein a peripheral edge of the cushioned liner overlies a peripheral edge of the outer shell. 
     
     
         18 . The protective breast cup of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 at least one protrusion from the cushioned liner extends through at least one of the plurality of flexural slots.   
     
     
         19 . The protective breast cup of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a plurality of nubs disposed at the ends of the at least one protrusion.