Groin Area Shield

Abstract

An athletic garment for protecting genitals of a user includes shorts having a pair of leg receiving portions and a flap defining a pocket centered in a groin region. The pocket extends in front of a portion of each of the leg receiving portions. A protective shield is disposed within the pocket and includes an arch portion and left and right wings extending laterally outward from opposing sides of the arch portion. The left wing extends over a portion of one of the leg receiving portions and the right wing extends over a portion of the other of the leg receiving portions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An athletic garment for protecting a groin region of a user comprising:
 shorts including a pair of leg receiving portions and a flap defining a pocket centered in the groin region and extending in front of a portion of each of the leg receiving portions; and   a protective shield disposed within the pocket that includes an arch portion, and a left wing and a right wing extending laterally outward from opposing sides of the arch portion, the left wing extending over a portion of one of the leg receiving portions and the right wing extending over a portion of the other of the leg receiving portions.   
     
     
         2 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein the protective shield further includes raised ribs extending between the arch portion and each of the left and right wings to increase stiffness of the shield. 
     
     
         3 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein each of the left and right wings further includes at least one corner portion connected to each of the left and right wings by a living hinge. 
     
     
         4 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein each of the left and right wings are shaped to extend across an anterior portion of a user's thigh muscle. 
     
     
         5 . The athletic garment of  claim 4  wherein each of the left and right wings are shaped to extend across at least a portion of a sartorius muscle of the user's thigh. 
     
     
         6 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein each of the left and right wings includes and arcuate portion contoured to match a shape of a portion of a user's thigh. 
     
     
         7 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein each of the left and right wings includes a pair of corner portions that are each attached by a living hinge, wherein the corner portions are flexibly connected to an intermediate portion of each of the wings. 
     
     
         8 . The athletic garment of  claim 1  wherein the arch portion defines an upper side, the left wing defines an upper side, and the right wing defines an upper side, and wherein the upper side of the left wing and upper side of the right wing is lower than the upper side of the arch portion. 
     
     
         9 . An athletic protection device comprising:
 a protective shield for protecting male genitals, the shield including an arch portion shaped to protect the genitals and a pair of wings extending from opposing sides of the arch portion to engage a thigh of a user.   
     
     
         10 . The athletic protection device of  claim 9  wherein the protective shield further includes raised ribs extending between the arch portion and each of the wings to increase stiffness of the shield. 
     
     
         11 . The athletic protection device of  claim 9  further comprising shorts including a pair of leg receiving portions and a flap defining a pocket centered in a groin region and extending in front of a portion of each of the leg receiving portions, wherein the protective shield is disposed within the pocket with each of the wings extending in front of a portion of one of the leg receiving portions. 
     
     
         12 . The athletic protection device of  claim 9  further comprising shorts including a groin region and a pair of leg receiving portions, wherein the arch portion is centered over the groin region and each of the wings extends partly across one of the leg receiving portions. 
     
     
         13 . The athletic protection device of  claim 12  wherein the wings are attached to the leg receiving portions with a hook and loop fastener. 
     
     
         14 . The athletic protection device of  claim 9  wherein each of the wings includes at least one corner portion attached by a living hinge, wherein the corner portions are flexibly connected to an intermediate portion of each of the wings. 
     
     
         15 . The athletic protection device of  claim 9  wherein each of the wings includes an arcuate portion contoured to match a shape of a portion of the thigh. 
     
     
         16 . The athletic garment of  claim 9  wherein each of the left and right wings are shaped to extend across an anterior portion of the thigh. 
     
     
         17 . The athletic garment of  claim 9  wherein each of the left and right wings are shaped to extend across at least a portion of a sartorius muscle of the thigh. 
     
     
         18 . The athletic garment of  claim 9  wherein the arch portion defines an upper side, the left wing defines an upper side, and the right wing defines an upper side, and wherein the upper side of the left wing and upper side of the right wing is lower than the upper side of the arch portion. 
     
     
         19 . A protective shield for male genitals comprising:
 an arch portion shaped to shield the genitals; and   left and right wings extending from opposing lateral sides of the arch portion, the left wing being shaped to be held against a left thigh of a user and the right wing being shaped to be held against a right thigh of the user, wherein an impact to the arch portion is transferred to a first impact flow path extending between the arch portion and the right wing, and to a second impact flow path extending between the arch portion and the left wing, wherein the impact force applied to the arch portion is transferred along the first flow path into the right thigh and is transferred along the second flow path into the left thigh.   
     
     
         20 . The athletic garment of  claim 19  wherein the arch portion defines an upper side, the left wing defines an upper side, and the right wing defines an upper side, and wherein the upper side of the left wing and upper side of the right wing is lower than the upper side of the arch portion.