Counterbalance system for women's bras

Abstract

Counterbalancing apparatus, systems and methods that balance breast weight load to a user's back. A body portion is supported along the user's back, and a plurality of pockets reside one the body portion. Elongated flexible connector straps extend up from the body portion, over the shoulders, and connect to a bra cup. One or more weights retained within the plurality of pockets pull the bra cup portion upward and lift up the breasts. The weight measure of these weights is substantially equivalent to a combined breast weight measure to equilibrate the breast weight to the combined weight measure across the user's body to correct for breast weight load imbalance at the user's front and improve posture.

Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A counterbalancing system for balancing breast weight load to a user's back, the system comprising:
 a body portion adapted to be supported along the user's back;   a plurality of pockets residing across said body portion at said user's back;   elongated flexible connector straps that extend up from the body portion, up and over the user's shoulders, and connect to a cup portion that retains the user's breasts;   one or more weights retained within one or more of said plurality of pockets pulling the cup portion upward and lifting the user's breasts up,   wherein the one or more weights having a combined weight measure substantially equivalent to a combined breast weight measure of the user's breasts, thereby equilibrating said combined breast weight measure and said combined weight measure across the user' body to correct for breast weight load imbalance at the user's front.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further including a pair of lateral straps extending from the body portion that wrap around the user's rib cage to secure the counterbalancing system to the user's body. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  further including shoulder pads adapted to be positioned on the user's shoulders, the connector straps being slideable over the pads to reduce friction over the user's shoulders. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the connector straps are substantially non-stretchable when connected to the body portion. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  further including fasteners connected to a distal end of each of the connector straps, whereby the cup portion is part of a bra and the fasteners connect the connector straps to the cup portion of the bra. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the body portion is a component of a harness having said fasteners connected at the distal end of the connector straps, the harness further including a pair of lateral straps extending from the body portion that wrap around the user's rib cage to secure the harness to the user's body. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the body portion is a component of a bra having the cup portion. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the body portion is a component of a top worn by the user, said top including the cup portion as a component thereof. 
     
     
         9 . A counterbalancing system for balancing breast weight load to a user's back, the system comprising:
 a body portion adapted to be supported along the user's back;   a plurality of pockets residing across said body portion at said user's back;   a pair of elongated connector straps extending upward from the body portion, up and over the user's shoulders, and connecting to a cup portion of a bra that is retaining the user's breasts;   a pair of lateral straps extending from the body portion for wrapping around the user's rib cage to secure the body portion to the user's body;   one or more weights retained within one or more of said plurality of pockets residing on the body portion,   wherein the one or more weights having a combined weight measure substantially equivalent to a combined breast weight measure of the user's breasts so that said one or more weights pull down on the pair of elongated connector straps which in turn pull up on the cup portion to lift the breast and correct for breast weight load imbalance at the user's front by equilibrating weight load at the user's back.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the bra is an otherwise conventional bra separate from the body portion and pair of elongated connector straps. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the bra has bra straps between the cup portion and a rear portion adapted to extend over the user's shoulders, and wherein the connector straps are slideable over the bra straps to reduce friction over the user's shoulders. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the body portion includes fasteners for removably attaching sides of the body portion to sides or rear portions of the bra without substantially constraining the force of the body portion on the cup portion of the bra. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9  further including shoulder pads adapted to be positioned on the user's shoulders, the connector straps being slideable over the pads to reduce friction over the user's shoulders. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the shoulder pads include one or more layers selected from the group consisting of an outer cloth material layer, a foam pad layer, and a silicone pad layer. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the connector straps are substantially non-stretchable when connected to the body portion. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the plurality of pockets each have a size sufficient to allow two or more of said weights to be provided and retained therein. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the pair of elongated connector straps and the pair of lateral straps are adjustable in size to accommodate different sized body types. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the one or more weights are composed of a flexible material, with each weight having a weight measure ranging from about 0.25 pounds to about 1.0 pounds. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the one or more weights are provided in the plurality of pockets whereby a first half of the weights reside in a first pocket aligned with a first breast, and a second half of the weights reside in a second pocket aligned with a second breast, thereby counterbalancing the weight load of both breasts to the weights at the user's back to correct posture and lift the breast weight off the shoulders, back, neck and chest of the user. 
     
     
         20 . A method for counterbalancing breast weight load to a user's back, the user wearing a bra having a cup portion retaining the user's breasts, the method comprising:
 providing a body portion adapted to be supported along the user's back, the body portion having a plurality of pockets residing thereon;   providing a plurality of weights;   determining a breast weight of the breasts and a number of said plurality of weights that will have a weight load substantially equivalent to the breast weight;   inserting one or more of said plurality of weights based on said determined number thereof into one or more of said plurality of pockets residing on said body portion;   extending a pair of elongated connector straps connected to the body portion up and over the user's shoulders;   connecting the pair of elongated connector straps to the cup portion of the bra retaining the user's breasts;   pulling up the cup portion to allow the body portion having the one or more weights residing in said one or more pockets to fall back behind the user's back;   wrapping a pair of lateral straps extending from the body portion around the user's rib cage to secure the body portion to the user's body,   whereby the one or more weights pull down on the pair of elongated connector straps which in turn pull up on the cup portion to lift the breast and correct for breast weight load imbalance at the user's front by equilibrating weight load at the user's back.