Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid in Disinn ta' Ħwejjeġ tas-Sigurtà u Tagħmir Protettiv Personali Competition Category.

ĦadidTagħmir Protettiv· 2017

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika

by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Client: Battle Sports Science

Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid Winner in Tagħmir Protettiv Category

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The Design

About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika

Test tal-Ktieb: In-Nutty Buddy Flex hija tazza protettiva atletika għal atleti rġiel. It-tazza ssegwi forma anatomika u hija magħmula permezz ta' inġezzjoni tal-mudullar, b'qoxra tal-polikarbonat u sopramudullar ta' elastomer termoplastiku. It-tarf artab tal-elastomer jestendi tul iż-żoni tal-ġenb, sabiex il-kuntatt mal-ġilda jkun imrażżan u tingħata forma iktar komda matul il-moviment attiv tal-ġisem. Il-forzi tal-impatt jiġu assorbiti u mqassma b'mod aktar ugwali tul l-għadma pubika u t-tessuti rotob. Jingħataw tliet daqsijiet, u t-tazza tidħol f'qalziet tal-isport u f'ċinturini protettivi (jock straps) diġà eżistenti.

The Recognition

About the Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika huwa rebbieħ tal-Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid, rikonoxximent prestiġjuż mogħti lil disinji tajbin li jissodisfaw ir-rekwiżiti professjonali u industrijali mistennija minn ħolqien imfassal tajjeb. Ir-rebbieħa tal-Ħadid juru l-ħila kbira, l-ispeċjalizzazzjoni għolja, il-fehim espert u l-kapaċità kreattiva tal-ħallieqa tagħhom. Huwa mistenni li Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika ikun ħolqien imqabbar ħafna, mammirat u maħbub li huwa prattiku u innovattiv. Dan id-disinn rebbieħ tal-Ħadid jintegra l-aħjar prattiki tal-industrija u għandu karatteristiċi tekniċi kompetenti marbuta mal-għarfien u t-talent. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Funzjoni Primarja: Tazza Protettiva Atletika huwa rispettat għall-eżattezza tiegħu u mfassal biex itejjeb il-kwalità tal-ħajja u jgħin jagħmel id-dinja post aħjar.

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