Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 A' Design Award Wesi in Desain Sandhangan Pangayoman lan Piranti Pelindung Pribadi Competition Category.
WesiPiranti Pelindung· 2017
Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel
by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell
Client: Battle Sports Science
A' Design Award Wesi Winner in Piranti Pelindung Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #55726The Design
About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel
Nutty Buddy Flex minangka cangkir pelindung olahraga kanggo atlet lanang. Cangkir kasebut ngetutake wangun anatomis lan digawe kanthi injection molding, nganggo cangkang polikarbonat lan overmold elastomer termoplastik. Pinggiran elastomer sing lembut mbentang ing sisih-sisih area, saengga kontak karo kulit dadi luwih empuk lan pas sing luwih nyaman bisa dirasakake nalika awak gerak aktif. Gaya benturan diserep lan disebar kanthi luwih rata ing balung pubis lan jaringan lembut. Ana telung ukuran sing kasedhiya, lan cangkir iki cocog kanggo dilebokake ing celana olahraga lan jock strap sing wis ana.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award Wesi
Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel menang A' Design Award Wesi, pangenalan sing prestisius sing diparingake marang desain sing apik sing nyukupi kabutuhan profesional lan industri sing dikarepake saka ciptaan sing dirancang kanthi apik. Pemenang Wesi nuduhake katrampilan sing gedhe, spesialisasi sing dhuwur, pangerten ahli lan kapasitas kreatif para penciptane. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel dikarepake dadi ciptaan sing dihargai banget, dikagumi lan ditresnani sing praktis lan inovatif. Desain sing menang A' Design Award Wesi iki nggabungake praktik industri sing paling apik lan nduweni ciri teknis sing kompeten sing disambung karo kawruh lan bakat. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Cangkir Pelindung Olahraga Fleksibel diajeni amarga ketelitiane lan dirancang kanggo nyedhiyakake paningkatan kualitas urip sing mbiyantu ndadekake donya panggonan sing luwih apik.
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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