Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 Fera A' Design Award in Dezajno de Sekureca Vestado kaj Persona Protekta Ekipaĵo Competition Category.

FeroProtekta Ekipaĵo· 2017

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno

by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Client: Battle Sports Science

Fera A' Design Award Winner in Protekta Ekipaĵo Category

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The Design

About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno

Libroteksto: La Nutty Buddy Flex estas sporta protekta ingveno por viraj atletoj. La ingveno sekvas anatomian formon kaj estas farita per injekt-muldado, kun ŝelo el polikarbonato kaj termoplasta elastomera surmuldaĵo. La mola elastomera rando etendiĝas laŭ la flankaj areoj, tiel ke kontakto kun la haŭto estas amortizita kaj pli komforta ĝustigo estas ebligata dum aktiva korpa movado. Trafaj fortoj estas absorbataj kaj distribuataj pli egale trans la puban oston kaj la molajn histojn. Tri grandecoj estas proponataj, kaj la ingveno taŭgas en ekzistantajn sportajn pantalonojn kaj atletajn zonojn.

The Recognition

About the Fera A' Design Award

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno estas gajninto de la Fera A' Design Award, prestiĝa rekono donata al bonaj dezajnoj, kiuj plenumas la profesiajn kaj industriajn postulojn atendatajn de bone dezajnitaj kreaĵoj. La Feraj gajnintoj montras grandan lertecon, altan specialiĝon, spertan komprenon kaj kreivan kapablon de siaj kreintoj. Oni atendas, ke Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno estu tre estimata, admirata kaj ŝatata kreaĵo, kiu estas praktika kaj nova. Ĉi tiu dezajno gajninta la Feran A' Design Award integras plej bonajn industriajn praktikojn kaj havas kompetentajn teknikajn karakterizojn ligitajn kun scipovo kaj talento. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Ĉefa Funkcio: Sporta Protekta Ingveno estas respektata pro sia zorgemo kaj estas dezajnita por provizi plibonigojn de la vivokvalito, kiuj helpas fari la mondon pli bona loko.

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