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Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2017 A' Design Award Beusi in Alat Pelindung Competition Category.


BeusiAlat Pelindung· 2017

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik

by Dosun Shin and Mark Littell

Client: Battle Sports Science

A' Design Award Beusi Winner in Alat Pelindung Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #55726

Colors

The Design

About Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik

Téks Buku: Nutty Buddy Flex téh cangkang pelindung atlétik pikeun atlet lalaki. Cangkang ieu nuturkeun wangun anatomis sarta dijieun ku cara injection molding, ngagunakeun cangkang polikarbonat sareng overmold tina elastomer termoplastik. Sisi elastomer anu lemes ngalegaan ka bagian samping, ku kituna kontak jeung kulit jadi leuwih empuk sarta nyayogikeun kanyamanan anu leuwih hade waktu gerakan badan aktif. Gaya hentakan diserep tur disebarkeun leuwih rata dina tulang kemaluan sareng jaringan lemes. Disayogikeun tilu ukuran, sarta cangkang ieu bisa dipasang kana calana olahraga jeung jock strap anu geus aya.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Beusi

Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik mangrupa juara A' Design Award Beusi, pangakuan anu bergengsi anu dipasihkeun ka desain alus anu minuhan sarat profésional jeung industri anu diharepkeun tina kréasi anu dirarancang alus. Para juara Beusi nunjukkeun kaahlian anu hébat, spésialisasi anu luhur, pamahaman ahli jeung kamampuh kréatif para kréatorna. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik diharepkeun jadi kréasi anu dihargaan, dikagumi jeung dipikanyaah anu praktis jeung inovatif. Desain juara A' Design Award Beusi ieu ngalebetkeun prakték pangalusna industri sarta ngabogaan ciri téknis anu mampuh pakait jeung pangweruh praktis jeung bakat. Nutty Buddy Flex Athletic Cup Fungsi Primér: Cangkang Pelindung Atlétik dihormat pikeun katelitianana sarta dirarancang pikeun méré paningkatan kualitas hirup anu mantuan ngajadikeun dunya tempat nu leuwih hadé.

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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