Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 A' Design Award de Ferro in Disseny de Roba de Seguretat i Equips de Protecció Personal Competition Category.

FerroEquip de Protecció· 2017

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex

by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Client: Battle Sports Science

A' Design Award de Ferro Winner in Equip de Protecció Category

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The Design

About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex

El Nutty Buddy Flex és una copa protectora esportiva per a atletes masculins. La copa segueix una forma anatòmica i es fabrica mitjançant emmotllament per injecció, amb una closca de policarbonat i un sobremoldejat d'elastòmer termoplàstic. La vora tova d'elastòmer s'estén al llarg de les zones laterals, de manera que el contacte amb la pell queda esmorteït i es permet un ajust més còmode durant el moviment corporal actiu. Les forces d'impacte s'absorbeixen i es distribueixen de manera més uniforme per l'os púbic i els teixits tous. S'ofereixen tres talles, i la copa s'adapta a pantalons esportius i suspensoris ja existents.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Ferro

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex és un guanyador del guardó A' Design Award de Ferro, un reconeixement prestigiós concedit a bons dissenys que compleixen els requisits professionals i industrials esperats de creacions ben dissenyades. Els guanyadors de Ferro demostren una gran habilitat, una alta especialització, una comprensió experta i la capacitat creativa dels seus creadors. Es preveu que Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex sigui una creació molt apreciada, admirada i estimada que és pràctica i innovadora. Aquest disseny guanyador del guardó A' Design Award de Ferro integra les millors pràctiques del sector i té característiques tècniques competents lligades al coneixement i al talent. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Copa Protectora Esportiva Nutty Buddy Flex és respectat per la seva minuciositat i està pensat per oferir millores en la qualitat de vida que ajuden a fer del món un lloc millor.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The Nutty Buddy Flex is a redesign of the original, anatomically-shaped athletic cup design. The original polycarbonate cup had a thin co-molded soft polymer perimeter edge to cushion the contact between the cup and the skin. The new Flex cup increases the content of the soft polymer edge to include the side areas on the cup, permitting a more comfortable fit during dynamic body movements. This Flex cup redesign absorbs and more evenly distributes impact forces to the pubic bone and soft tissues
Dimensions & Packaging: The cup comes with 3 different sizes.
Hog (small): 6.8x4x2.2 inch, Trophy (medium): 7x4.1x2.4inch, Mongo (large): 7.2x4.3x2.5inch
Tags: Nutty Buddy, Anatomical Cup, Killer Whale Cup
Production Technology: This cup was made by PC injection mold with TPE overmold.
Polycarbonate (Sabic 124R-701) for the cup and Thermoplastic Elastomer (GLS 1040X-1) overmolding for the flex side. OM 1040X-1 is a medical compliant overmolding TPE with very good adhesion to PC or ABS-based plastics.
Design Challenge: After 5 years of use, feedback and surveys, we knew which areas needed improvement. Taking those areas – 1) added comfort 2) more flex 3) increased ventilation 4) greater security of location – and turning them into CAD design was one of the most challenging tasks. At the same time, we needed to maintain structural integrity and superior protection.

In addition, collecting human body data and defining different sizes of cup were a challenge. The head and tale part rubber were pilled off from the cup body after several months of use. The designer added some contacts and punched holes on the over molding part, so the inner and outer rubber were connected together. The tale part was broken by the high impact of water surface from a water ski jumper. The designer added 3 ribs inside of the tale part, and also added circle rings in the center of cup to increase the durability.
Research: The difficult nature of observational research to get the measurements required the development of multiple sized vacuumed formed shells that were used to obtain user size and comfort feedback. Then, the designer collected and organized the human body data from the shell selections based on Large, Medium, and Small. Next, different sizes of prototype models were 3D-printed and tested by users. Again, feedback received from professional baseball players allowed the designer to modify the final shapes and sizes for each cup category.
Inspiration: The redesigned Flex cup continues to follow the anatomically-correct shape of the human male’s anatomy using the design principle of Form Follows Function. The original Nutty Buddy design has been on the market for seven years. Inventor and pitching coach Mark Littell has received feedback from players about possible revisions to the original cup. The Flex redesign is in response to the users’ comments and feedback and to give athletes increased range of motion and added comfort.
Project Duration: The redesign process started in July of 2014 and finished in February of 2015 in Arizona. After the design work, it took 8 months from the start of manufacturing to reach the market.
Operation Flow: The Flex cup high impact resistant polycarbonate material protects the male wearer’s genitals from external impact forces. The soft rubber wing provides cushioning comfort and absorbs any impacts. This cup can be easily installed into existing sport pants and jock straps.
Patents: Patented. Patent No: US 7,004,921. Mark Littell. 2006 & US 7,670,309. Mark Littell. 2010
Team Members: Designer: Professor, Dosun Shin
Designer: Former MLB Player and Pitching Coach, Mark Littell
Image Credits: Professor Dosun Shin, 2017