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Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup) by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup) by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe in Kayan Kariya Competition Category.


Baƙin ƘarfeKayan Kariya· 2017

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup)

by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Client: Battle Sports Science

Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe Winner in Kayan Kariya Category

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The Design

About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup)

Nutty Buddy Flex kofin kariya ce ta wasanni da aka tsara don 'yan wasa maza. Kofin yana bin siffar jiki ta dabi'a kuma an yi shi ta hanyar injection molding, tare da harsashi na polycarbonate da murfin waje na thermoplastic elastomer. Gefen elastomer mai laushi yana miƙewa tare da sassan gefe, don haka hulɗa da fata yana da laushi kuma yana ba da damar dacewa mai daɗi yayin motsin jiki mai aiki. Ana ɗaukar ƙarfin tasiri kuma a rarraba shi daidai gwargwado a kan ƙasusuwan pubic da laushin nama. Ana ba da girma uku, kuma kofin yana dacewa da wandunan wasanni da abin kariya na jock straps da ake da su.

The Recognition

About the Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe

Zanen Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup) ya lashe Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe, wata karramawa mai daraja da ake bai wa kyawawan zane-zane waɗanda ke cika buƙatun ƙwararru da masana'antu da ake tsammani daga ƙirƙire-ƙirƙire da aka tsara da kyau. Waɗanda suka lashe kyautar Baƙin Ƙarfe suna nuna babban ƙwarewa, ƙwarewa ta musamman, fahimtar ƙwararru da ikon ƙirƙira na masu ƙirƙirar su. Ana sa ran zanen Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup) ya zama ƙirƙira da ake girmamawa sosai, ake sha'awa da ƙauna wacce ke da amfani kuma mai sababbin abubuwa. Wannan zane da ya lashe Kyautar A' Design Award ta Baƙin Ƙarfe yana haɗa mafi kyawun ayyukan fannin kuma yana da halayen fasaha masu cancanta da ke da alaƙa da sanin yadda da baiwa. Ana girmama zanen Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Aikin Kariya na 'Yan Wasa (Athletic Protective Cup) saboda cikakkiyar kulawarsa kuma an tsara shi don ba da ingantuwar rayuwa da ke taimakawa wajen mai da duniya wuri mafi kyau.

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

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