U.S. patent application number 11/202051 was filed with the patent office on 2007-02-08 for disposable protective garment.
Invention is credited to Kenneth Makowka.
Application Number | 20070028343 11/202051 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37716238 |
Filed Date | 2007-02-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070028343 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Makowka; Kenneth |
February 8, 2007 |
Disposable protective garment
Abstract
An emergency protective garment covers a wearer who must remove
clothing to go through a decontamination process. Tear-away strips
around garment openings and the garment length allow the wearer to
fit the garment to the wearer's size. A continuous perforated seam
separates the single-paneled body such that the garment can be
removed without re-contaminating the wearer.
Inventors: |
Makowka; Kenneth; (Wilton,
CT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
24IP LAW GROUP USA, PLLC
12 E. LAKE DRIVE
ANNAPOLIS
MD
21403
US
|
Family ID: |
37716238 |
Appl. No.: |
11/202051 |
Filed: |
August 11, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60600549 |
Aug 11, 2004 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/48 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 2500/52 20130101;
A41D 2400/52 20130101; A41D 15/002 20130101; A62B 17/001 20130101;
A62B 17/006 20130101; A41D 13/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
002/048 |
International
Class: |
A41D 13/04 20060101
A41D013/04 |
Claims
1. An improved disposable protective garment formed from a single
piece of material having an exterior, an interior, a top edge, a
bottom edge, the improvement comprising: at least one opening for
fitting the garment over a human body; and at least one tear away
opening strip with a perforated edge, adjacent to the at least one
opening wherein the tear-away opening strip is separated from the
garment by tearing the strip away at the perforated edge, adjusting
the size of the opening.
2. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 1 wherein
the at least one opening comprises a neck hole.
3. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 1 wherein
the at least one opening comprises a neck hole and two arm
holes.
4. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 1 further
comprising at least one tear away length strip with a perforated
edge, adjacent to the bottom edge of the garment, wherein the tear
away length strip is separated from the garment by tearing the
strip away at the perforated edge, adjusting the length of the
garment.
5. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 2 further
comprising at least one tear away length strip with a perforated
edge, adjacent to the bottom edge of the garment, wherein the tear
away length strip is separated from the garment by tearing the
strip away at the perforated edge, adjusting the length of the
garment.
6. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 3 further
comprising at least one tear away length strip with a perforated
edge, adjacent to the bottom edge of the garment, wherein the tear
away length strip is separated from the garment by tearing the
strip away at the perforated edge, adjusting the length of the
garment.
7. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 4 wherein
the at least one tear away length strip adjacent to the bottom edge
of the garment measures six inches between the bottom edge and the
perforated edge.
8. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 1 wherein
the material is low-density polyethelene.
9. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 8 wherein
the material comprises polyethelene having a thickness ranging from
2.0 to 3.0 millimeters.
10. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 4,
comprising at least a first and second tear away length strip with
perforated edges wherein: the first tear away length strip is
adjacent to the bottom edge of the garment, and the second tear
away length strip is adjacent to the first tear away length
strip.
11. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 10, wherein
the at first and second tear away length strips measure six inches
in width.
12. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 2 further
comprising: a continuous perforated seam extending from the neck
hole to the bottom edge, wherein the garment is opened by
separating the continuous perforated seam.
13. The improved disposable garment of claim 1, wherein the at
least one ear away opening strip has a uniform thickness of one
inch.
14. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 2 further
comprising: a continuous perforated seam extending from the neck
hole to the bottom edge, wherein the garment is opened by
separating the continuous perforated seam.
15. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 4 further
comprising: a continuous perforated seam extending from the neck
hole to the bottom edge, wherein the garment is opened by
separating the continuous perforated seam.
16. An improved disposable protective garment formed from a single
piece of material having an interior, an exterior, a top edge, a
bottom edge, a neck hole, and a body opening extending from the
bottom edge through the interior of the garment, the improvement
comprising: a continuous perforated seam extending from the neck
hole to the bottom edge, wherein the garment is opened by
separating the continuous perforated seam.
17. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 16, further
comprising instructions printed on the garment exterior.
18. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 16 wherein
the material is low-density polyethelene.
19. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 18 wherein
the material comprises polyethelene having a thickness ranging from
2.0 to 3.0 millimeters.
20. The improved disposable protective garment of claim 14 further
comprising arm holes.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/600,549 entitled
"Disposable Protective. Garment," and filed on Aug. 11, 2004 by
inventor Kenneth Makowka.
[0002] The above cross-referenced related application is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0003] Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] 1. Field of the Invention
[0005] The present invention relates to devices, systems, and
processes useful for covering the human body, and more
particularly, during an emergency response situation or
contamination event.
[0006] 2. Brief Description of the Related Art
[0007] A contaminating event occurs when a person is exposed to
harmful chemicals, biological agents, or other toxins. The anthrax
exposures in Washington D.C. during the fall of 2002, where people
working in post offices and government buildings were potentially
exposed to dust carrying anthrax, is a primary example of a
contaminating event. Chemical or toxic spills are examples of other
contaminating events that potentially affect both employees and
emergency rescue workers.
[0008] When a contaminating event occurs, a person exposed to
harmful chemicals or other toxins must go through a decontamination
process. Typically, the contaminated person must be stripped of all
garments and washed down. Studies have shown that removing
contaminated outer garments also removes between 70 to 80% of the
contaminating substance. Decontamination areas are often outside in
a public place, and often affect a large amount of people at one
time. As a result, the contaminated people have to remove their
clothing in a public area. Thus, what is needed is a covering that
allows people to cover themselves while removing their clothing
before going through the decontamination process and while
proceeding through the decontamination process.
[0009] Mass produced, disposable garments can also be difficult to
size. In a contamination event, all types of people from adults to
children, and people of all shapes and sizes may be affected. Yet,
if the garment is not a decent fit, the person wearing the garment
may still be quite exposed. Moreover, people tend to be scared and
confused in such situations, and keeping the process simple and
organized is very important to control the emergency area. Thus,
people going through decontamination should be able to quickly
obtain a fitted garment with as little time and/or confusion as
possible.
[0010] Although prior systems, methods, and devices generally
functioned well and provided advantages over prior systems,
methods, and devices, they do not provide a garment which can be
used in a decontamination environment while protecting the modesty
of the wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] According to a first aspect of the invention, a disposable
garment for use in an emergency environment is provided. Another
aspect of the present invention is to provide a garment with means
for fitting the garment to the size of the wearer. Still another
aspect of the present invention is providing for the removal of the
protective garment without further spreading contaminating
substances.
[0012] Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be
regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set
forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be
obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The invention of the present application will now be
described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments of
the apparatus and method, given only by way of example, and with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0014] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an emergency protective garment in
accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Referring to the drawing figures, like reference numerals
designate identical or corresponding elements throughout the
several figures.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 1, an emergency protective garment in
accordance with the present invention is illustrated. The garment
10 is formed in one continuous piece, having a top 20, bottom 30
and sides 40. The garment 10 is cut from a material, preferably a
low-density polyethelene ("LDPE") ranging from 2.0 to 3.0
millimeters thick. Perforated edges are stamped into the material
during the manufacturing process. Optionally, instructions, written
and/or pictographic, on how to use the garment may be printed
directly on the garment, with the material being able to accept and
retain ink.
[0017] The garment generally has a front and back (not shown) that
lay along the wearers chest and back, respectively. Similar to
other garments, such as shirts, dresses, ponchos, and the like,
which slip over the wearer's head, the garment 10 is open inside,
allowing the wearer's body to fit in the interior, between the
front and back of the garment 10. Various openings allow the
garment 10 to be slipped over the body of a wearer. A neck hole 26
allows a wearer's head to pass through the top 20 side. Armholes 46
allow the wearer's arms to pass through the sides 40 of the
garment. A bottom opening (not shown) is continuous from the bottom
side 30 through the interior of the garment 10.
[0018] The wearer places his or her head into the bottom opening,
and through the neck hole 26, and slides the garment 10 downward to
cover the body. Once the garment 10 is in place, the wearer can
remove his or her clothing while under the cover of the garment 10.
Once all the clothing is removed, the wearer can extend his or her
arms through the armholes 46 and freely move about.
[0019] In order to more effectively fit the garment 10 to each
wearer's size, several tear-away strips 22, 24, 32, 24, 42, 44 are
preferably situated adjacent to each opening. Each tear-away strip
is attached to the garment at a perforated edge, so that the strip
can be easily torn off and discarded. The arm 46 and neck 26
openings are sized for a smaller wearer. If a larger wearer needs
to fit into the garment 10, he or she simply removes strip 22
and/or strip 24 and strip 42 and/or strip 44 as needed. Using the
strips to adjust the openings prevents gapping where the wearer's
body would be exposed to view. The length of the garment 10 is
sized to initially fit the taller wearer, and cover the wearer down
to about knee length. If a wearer is shorter, especially in the
case of children, he or she can simply remove strip 32 and/or strip
34 to shorten the garment 10. Shortening the garment 10 not only
fits the garment to the wearer, but also prevents the bottom 30
from dragging along the ground and being further contaminated.
Using the tear away strips allows every person to be handed the
same garment, and the confusion with trying to sort different sized
garments, hand out different sizes, and get the right size, is
completely avoided. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill
in the art that a tear-away strip may optionally be placed at one
or more of the openings.
[0020] Preferably, the garment 10 is cut to measure approximately 3
feet across, i.e. between sides 40, and 4 feet from front to back.
This size provides sufficient room to accommodate sizes from adult
extra-small to size 3X in known clothing size conventions. Tear
away strips 32, 34 adjacent to the bottom side 30, are preferably
measure six inches in width measured in the direction of arrow C.
The tear away opening strips 22, 24, 42, 44, preferable have a
uniform thickness of one inch measured along arrows A and B.
[0021] Once the wearer has the protective garment 10 on, and all
his or her clothing removed, he or she can shower and otherwise go
through the decontamination process. Once the wearer has been
decontaminated, he or she will most likely need to go to another
facility for medical testing. Yet, the protective garment 10 may
simply be wet and may carry some residual contamination. Thus, it
may be desirable for the wearer to change into another protective
garment or other clean garments. Yet, the wearer must be careful
not to come into contact with any of the residual
contamination.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 2, to remedy this situation, the garment
10 of the present invention is formed with a continuous perforated
seam 50 along one of the sides 40. The continuous perforated seam
50 extends from the neck opening 26 to the arm hole 46 and from the
arm hole 46 to the bottom side 30. An emergency response worker,
preferably wearing gloves, can pull the garment 10 apart along the
continuous perforated seam 50, pull the garment 10 away from the
wearer's body, and dispose of the contaminated garment 10 without
the wearer ever having to touch the garment 10.
[0023] While the invention has been described in detail with
reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to
one skilled in the art that various changes can be made, and
equivalents employed, without departing from the scope of the
invention. Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by
reference herein in its entirety.
* * * * *