US2580264A - Method of forming artificial breasts - Google Patents

Description

1951 M. A. WRIGHT ETAL 2,580,264

METHOU 0F FORMING ARTIFICIAL BREASTS Filed NOV. 25, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l %,Z J INiiElYTORS. 501 42? ATTCI RN EYB Dec. 25, 1951 wm -r E 2,580,264

METHOD OF F ORMING ARTIFICIAL BREASTS Filed NOV. 23, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVNTORS.

dies, fiamva ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 25, 1951 METHOD OF Mildred A Wr ghtand Dora FORMING ARTIFICIAL E ates, B v r,

Application November 23, 1949, Serial No. 128,974

v breast to the body of a woman inorder to take the place of a breast that has been removed, as by u ery. 7 a

Another objectfofjth'einvention is to provide 10 through the finished artifioiahbreast:

a method of and m eansffor designing an artificial breastso thatitwill have the exact shape and oontouras the natural breastfthe artificial breast being constructed of light weight material and adapted to be re'adily ol'eane'd withsoap' and l water, and wherein'thejartificial breast formed by the m'ethod of the present invention will give the wearer the same breast appearance as she possessed before one of the'breas'ts' was removed.

7 Still another objector the invention is to pro- .vide a ethodoffiand Iri'eaii'sYor "forming an artificial, breast whereby the' 'comple'ted artificial breast can be'comfortably worn for an indefinite length of time without irritating th'womans or girls skin, and whereiff the artificialbreast-- Will not deteriorate-during"use?' ,A Other objects advantages of the invention' will be; apparent during the course of the following description,

v, Inth e accompanying drawings forming a part of this applicationfandin which-like "numerals have eenius'ed to designate like parts through- ..Qu 'fihfilfi fi ff N 1 4 Ffg ure 1 s a front elevational view showing a woman w th one of her breasts removed, as from a mastectomy;

Figure 2 isa front elevational view showing a plasten-of-Paris bandageapplied to the womans st; A I I I iff'ffq v i ur taken n th line offi qr 2 hrqu bhe he liquid 'rubber coating or casing applied to the inn rs rfa of th 3 Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken F gure Bis a vertical 'sectiona able material;

iew showing v"the sin of Figure 7 filled with a solid mom "throughthe rubber lining or casing which has bee m ved rown Claims. (CI. 31)

F-igure ertical sectional VIBW' showing "the mOdel QfFi'gureEB cuthout.so.:,.as to conform body"; v v. I I

Figure 1G is a vertical seotionalviewrshowing the nextst'ep, wherein:a-liquidirubberiback member is applied to the rear surface of the cut-away model?" 3 3' ii 1125.: "Figure "11 is a verticalfisectional'e:view taken in shape to scars and the like on the womans Referring in detail'zito thedrawing sy thereiis shown a method "of iand means:- for forming an artificial breast which; is? adaptedvto be: usedto i "replaoe a breast that has 1 been removed, *as by surgery; Thus," referring'tot Figure lrthereais "show'nfa portion of faerwomansbody-A0 which includes a' normal'or-r natural rightbreast-i 'l ;;;the

other or left'breast having beenprevious1y:r.emoved, the soars i2 being an indication of "the position that "the left breast formerly; occupied. Bil 'n'deansof the'p'resent invention; an artificial breast is "providedwhereby a" womanis body-will have a natural appearance so that the :woman 'an' live a normal life :vvithout feeling :sel-f-con- -seious as a"result' of=*thelos's of the breast; To fo'rm'the"artificial' breast, the first step isto has the sameinnerashape as the exterior of the I right breast il, l figureiaz;

The nextstepfriin iormingh artiflmalbreast Q is to rmove-"the hardened' CaSkOle-IIIOIG: 15. from the natural breast: :"l and then: a acoatingr of Y quick-drying liquid latex rubber isiwpainted {on theinside of the hardened mold 14"; as shown in Figure "5, and the coating .of rubber assumes the so -same shapeas'gethe; interior :of theimold l hich isthe same shape as the exterior of the natural A-fter the rubber coatinflias eas est -vided a flexible .oasing 'or tlining' :I hand iihiisioasing I5 is removed from the interior of the mold I4, the casing I5 being shown in vertical section in Figure 6. The casing I5 includes the projecting tip I6 which is the same shape as the nipple on the natural right breast II, and the remaining portion of the casing I5 is also of the same shape and appearance as the breast I I. The casing I5 also is provided with a depending flange portion I! for a purpose to be later described.

The next step in forming the artificial breast is to turn the casing I5 inside out, or in other words, the casing I5 is reversed so that it assumes the shape shown in Figure 7, and the flexible casing is now designated by the reference character I8. It will be seen that by reversing or turning the casing I5 inside out so as to provide the casing I8, the casing I8 will now have a configuration that corresponds exactly to the shape of the left breast that was removed from the womans body, as by surgery.

Next, the casing I8 is filled with a moldable material, so that a solid plaster model I9 is provided, as shown in Figure 8, the model I9 having the same configuration as the casing I8. The casing I8 is flexible, but the casing I8 also has sufiicient rigidity so that it can be used to mold the plaster model I9.

The next step in the formation of the artificial breast is to remove the plaster model I9 from the casing I8 and then the rear surface of the model I9 is cut away, as at 29, so as to compensate for any of the scars I2 that are on the wornans body. In other words, the rear surface of the model I9 is sculptured so that it conforms exactly in shape to the portion of the womans body that the left breast was removed from, Figure 9. Then, a coating of liquid latex rubber is applied to the cut-away rear surface of the model I9 and the coating forms a back member 2 I which has the same configuration as the scarred portion of the womans body, Figure 10.

After the back member 2| has dried, the model I9 is removed from the casing I8 and the casing I8 is filled with a suitable flexible material, such as ground sponge rubber 22, Figure 11. Then, the back member 2| is secured to the casing I8 by cement or glue, so that the sponge rubber 22 will be prevented from accidentally coming out of the casing I8. Finally, the coating of cement or glue is applied to the back member 2| and the completed artificial breast, indicated generally by the numeral 23, is attached to the womans body I0, so that the womans body appears natural.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that a method of and means for forming an artificial breast has been provided. By means of the present invention, an artificial breast, such as the breast 23, can be formed which will have the exact shape or configuration as the left breast that was re moved, as by surgery, from the womans body.

The method of the present invention is similar to the method employed by orthopedic and dental surgeons when a patient is fitted for a prosthesis. In other words, an impression is first taken of the natural remaining breast II by means of the plaster of Paris bandage, so that the mold I4 is formed, whereby a perfect impression of the part to be substituted is obtained. Instead of applying the plaster of Paris around the remaining breast II, the plaster of Paris could also be applied over the breast to be amputated. The moist plaster of Paris assumes the shape or contour of the chest and then the quick-drying latex rubber is applied or painted on the inside of the hardened mold I4, so as to obtain the casing I5 which, when turned inside out, forms the casing I8 that has the same contour as the breast that was amputated. The casing I8 is used to shape or form the plaster model I9 and after the plaster model I9 has had its rear surface sculptured so as to conform in shape to the scars or irregular formations on the womans body, the model I9 is removed from the casing I8, and the casing is filled with ground sponge rubber 22. Then, the casing I8 and back member 2| are connected together, as by cement, and the artificial breast is cemented or otherwise secured to the womans body, as shown in Figures 12 and 13. The method of the present invention can be used in forming either the right or le t breast replacement. The ground sponge rubber 22 provides the necessary weight and feeling of gland tissue, and the drooping artificial breast molds itself to any brassiere cup in the same manner that the natural breast molds itself.

The artificial breast of the present invention can be worn for an indefinite period of time without causin any discomfort to the user, and further. there will be no skin irritation, nor will there be any deterioration of the material either from wear or from the salt of perspiration. The artificial breast may be worn in swimming under a strapless brassiere without any absorption of water. and the artificial breast may be readily cleaned with a mild soap and water, so as to insure proper personal cleanliness. Further, the artificial breast of the present invention will not be pulled out of position when the arm is raised or'with any movement of the body, and the artificial breast is individually designed to fit the scar tissues and may be Worn in any type of brassiere, since it molds itself to the cup thereof.

The artificial breast of the present invention has perfect contour, insures definite nipple alignment, is of proper weight and the artificial breast can be easily cleaned. It will be noted that during the previously-described steps of forming the artificial breast 23, a flange 22 is provided and the flange 24 helps to maintain the artificial breast in its proper position.

iVhat is claimed is:

1. The method of making an artificial breast to be used to replace a breast that has been removed from a womans body, comprising the steps of forming, a mold that has the same configuration as the remaining natural breast on the womans body, then forming from said mold a flexible casing having the same configuration as the mold, next turning said casing inside out so as to provide a casing having the same shape as the breast to be replaced, then forming a solid model from the casing in its last-named reverse position, applying a resilient coating to the rear surface of the model so as to provide a back member, and removing said casing and back member from said model, next filling said casing with a flexible material, securing said back member and casing together, and finally securing said back member to the womans body.

2. The method as described in claim 1, and further including the step of cutting said model away so as to compensate for scars-and the like on the womans body. r

3. The method of providing an artificial breast for a womans body so as to provide areplacement for a breast that has been amputated, comprising the steps of forming a plaster of Paris mold from the remaining breast, next making a flexible casing from said mold so that the casing has the same configuration as the mold, removing the casing from the mold, reversing the casing,

of the model, filling the casing with a resilient material, then securing the back member to the casing, and finally securing the back member to the womans body.

4. The method of making an artificial breast to be used to replace a breast that has been removed from a womans body, comprising the steps of forming a mold that has the same configuration as the remaining natural breast on the womans body, then forming from said mold a casing having the same configuration as the mold, next turning said casing inside out so as to provide a casing having the same shape as the breast to be replaced, then forming a model from the casing in its last-named reversed position,

applying a coating to the rear surface of the model so as to provide a back member, and removing said casing and back member from said model, next filling said casing with material, securing said back member and easing together, and finally securing said back member to the womans body.

MILDRED A. WRIGHT. DORA E. GATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Martin Feb. 15, 1938 Gottlieb July 16, 1940 Kunkel July 22, 1947 Wilkenfeld et al. Feb. 10, 1948 Number

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