U.S. patent application number 11/304840 was filed with the patent office on 2007-06-14 for patient gown.
Invention is credited to DavidH Berman, Ronnye B. Shamam.
Application Number | 20070130668 11/304840 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38137779 |
Filed Date | 2007-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070130668 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Berman; DavidH ; et
al. |
June 14, 2007 |
Patient gown
Abstract
A patient gown includes a garment having an access opening
overlying a portion of a patient's body when worn; and a drape
attached to the garment for movement between a covered position in
which the drape covers the access opening to conceal, and maintain
patient privacy of, the portion of the patient's body, and an
exposed position in which the drape is uncovered from the access
opening to expose, and enable access to, the portion of the
patient's body. The patient's modesty is maintained while at the
same time allowing unfettered access by a health care professional
to different portions of the patient's body. The gown is medical
personnel convenient especially for medical procedures, while
retaining wanted coverage of the patient so as to avoid
embarrassment due to unavoidable, undesired exposure of the body of
the patient.
Inventors: |
Berman; DavidH; (Rye Brook,
NY) ; Shamam; Ronnye B.; (New York, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KIRSCHSTEIN, OTTINGER, ISRAEL;& SCHIFFMILLER, P.C.
489 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK
NY
10017
US
|
Family ID: |
38137779 |
Appl. No.: |
11/304840 |
Filed: |
December 14, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/114 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 13/1236
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
002/114 |
International
Class: |
A41D 10/00 20060101
A41D010/00 |
Claims
1. A patient gown, comprising: a) a garment constituted of a soft,
flexible sheet material and having an access opening overlying a
portion of a patient's body when worn; and b) a drape constituted
of a soft, flexible sheet material and attached to the garment for
upward movement from a covered position in which the drape covers
the access opening to conceal, and maintain patient privacy of,
said portion of the patient's body, to an exposed position in which
the drape is uncovered from the access opening to expose, and
enable access to, said portion of the patient's body, the drape
constituting a panel having an upper edge sewn along a generally
horizontal seam along the garment above and spaced from the access
opening, the panel being freely suspended from the upper edge
entirely over the access opening in the covered position, the panel
having reinforced edgings at opposite sides thereof to maintain a
shape of the freely suspended panel in the covered position.
2. (canceled)
3. (canceled)
4. (canceled)
5. The gown of claim 1, wherein the drape is generally rectangular
in shape.
6. (canceled)
7. The gown of claim 1, wherein the access opening bounds a
predetermined area, and wherein the drape has an area greater than
said predetermined area.
8. The gown of claim 1, wherein the access opening is bordered by a
border edging to maintain the access opening constantly open.
9. The gown of claim 8, wherein the border edging is
circumferentially complete.
10. The gown of claim 1, wherein the garment has a front side, and
wherein the access opening is located on the front side of the
garment.
11. The gown of claim 10, wherein the access opening overlies at
least one of upper and lower regions of said portion of the
patient's body.
12. The gown of claim 11, wherein the at least one of the upper and
lower regions of said portion of the patient's body is a chest
area, and wherein the access opening is a generally circular area
overlying and exposing the chest area in the exposed position.
13. The gown of claim 11, wherein the at least one of the upper and
lower regions of said portion of the patient's body is a groin
area, and wherein the access opening is a generally U-shaped area
overlying and exposing the groin area in the exposed position.
14. The gown of claim 1, wherein the garment has a rear side, and
wherein the access opening is located on the rear side of the
garment.
15. The gown of claim 14, wherein said portion of the patient's
body is a buttocks area, and wherein the access opening is a
generally U-shaped area overlying and exposing the buttocks area in
the exposed position.
16. The gown of claim 1, wherein the garment has a front side and a
rear side, and wherein one of the sides is split to comprise split
sides, and wherein the access opening and the drape are located at
the other of the sides of the garment, and wherein the split sides
are tied together with a tie.
17. The gown of claim 1, wherein the garment is constituted of a
sheet cloth material and has a neck opening, a pair of sleeve
openings, a front side and a rear side, and wherein the access
opening and the drape are located at one of the sides of the
garment.
18. The gown of claim 1, and another access opening overlying a
different portion of the patient's body when worn; and another
drape attached to the garment for movement between another covered
position in which the other drape covers the other access opening
to conceal, and maintain patient privacy of, said different portion
of the patient's body, and another exposed position in which the
other drape is uncovered from the other access opening to expose,
and enable access to, said different portion of the patient's body.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to gowns and like
wearing apparel for wear by a medical patient in a doctor's office
or hospital while going through one or more various medical
diagnostic procedures involving examination by health care
professionals.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Patients in hospitals, clinics, or doctors' offices are
typically provided with gowns in an effort to help patients
maintain their privacy and modesty during examinations. A much used
and well known gown has a split-open, dual rear section back, a
solid-closed front, and dual short sleeves, made of a single sheet
of cloth material. The gown is secured by drawing together one or
more vertically spaced-apart ties that extend from opposite edges
of the two rear sections of the split-open back, and by tying the
drawn ties into bows.
[0005] However, such tie-bow coupling only pulls the opposite edges
of the two rear sections together in the regions of the ties. Open
gaps inevitably are formed between the spaced-apart ties, and
portions of the patient's body are visible through these gaps. Many
patients, for the sake of vanity, warmth and modesty, must manually
hold the opposite edges of the two rear sections together to close
these open gaps, thereby making the experience of wearing these
gowns not only embarrassing, but also uncomfortable. Yet, such a
split-open back gown does allow health care professionals ready
access to the rear of a patient's body for performing various tests
and examination procedures, e.g., a colonoscopy, but again at the
cost of compromising patient modesty and comfort.
[0006] Also, the solid-front gown is not well suited for breast or
vaginal examinations by an OB/GYN health care specialist. These and
other examinations such as a total general physical or abdominal
organ examination may require total or partial removal of the gown
and, in many cases, the gown is actually worn backwards such that
the split-open back of the garment covers the front of the patient.
However, as before, the inevitable open gaps, this time at the
front of the patient, compromise patient modesty.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Objects of the Invention
[0007] Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to
provide an easy to manufacture, patient gown, which provides both
ready access to portions of a patient's body to health care
professionals and maintains the patient's modesty, vanity and
comfort.
[0008] Another object of this invention is to provide a comfortable
patient gown that is patient-considerate and health care
personnel-considerate and accords unrestrictive selective access to
one or more portions of the patient's body for medical examination
purposes and other procedural purposes.
[0009] Still another object of this invention is to enhance
personal modesty absent in known medical patient wearing
attire.
Features of the Invention
[0010] In keeping with these objects and others which will become
apparent hereinafter, one feature of this invention resides,
briefly stated, in a patient gown, comprising a garment having an
access opening overlying a portion of a patient's body when worn;
and a drape attached to the garment for movement between a covered
position in which the drape covers the access opening to conceal,
and maintain patient privacy of, said portion of the patient's
body, and an exposed position in which the drape is uncovered from
the access opening to expose, and enable access to, said portion of
the patient's body.
[0011] In accordance with one feature of this invention, the drape
is a panel mounted on the garment above the access opening for
movement between said positions. The garment and the drape are each
constituted of a soft, flexible sheet material. Preferably, the
drape is generally rectangular in shape, has peripheral edges, at
least one of which has an edging, and has an upper edge sewn along
a generally horizontal seam along the garment above the access
opening. The drape is suspended from the upper edge entirely over
the access opening in the covered position. The drape has an area
greater than a predetermined area bounded by the access opening,
which is preferably bordered by a border edging to maintain the
access opening constantly open.
[0012] Still another feature of this invention resides in the
garment having a front side, and the access opening being located
on the front side of the garment and overlying at least one of
upper and lower regions of said portion of the patient's body. For
example, the at least one of the upper and lower regions of said
portion of the patient's body may be a chest area, and the access
opening is a generally circular area overlying and exposing the
chest area in the exposed position. As another example, the at
least one of the upper and lower regions of said portion of the
patient's body may be a groin area, and the access opening is a
generally U-shaped area overlying and exposing the groin area in
the exposed position.
[0013] The garment also has a rear side, and the access opening may
be located on the rear side of the garment, for example, at the
buttocks area, in which case, the access opening is a generally
U-shaped area overlying and exposing the buttocks area in the
exposed position.
[0014] Either of the front and rear sides may be split to comprise
split sides. In that case, the access opening and the drape are
located at the other of the sides of the garment, and the split
sides may be tied together with a tie. Preferably, neither side is
split, and both sides are solid, so that the garment may be donned
by being slipped down over the head of the patient. Of course, the
garment is preferably constituted of a comfortable, flexible sheet
cloth material and has a neck opening and a pair of sleeve
openings.
[0015] The gown may additionally be provided with another access
opening overlying a different portion of the patient's body when
worn, and another drape attached to the garment for movement
between another covered position in which the other drape covers
the other access opening to conceal, and maintain patient privacy
of, said different portion of the patient's body, and another
exposed position in which the other drape is uncovered from the
other access opening to expose, and enable access to, said
different portion of the patient's body.
[0016] In all of the above-described embodiments, the patient's
modesty is maintained while at the same time allowing unfettered
access by a health care professional to different portions of the
patient's body. The gown is medical personnel convenient especially
for medical procedures, while retaining wanted coverage of the
patient so as to avoid embarrassment due to unavoidable, undesired
exposure of the body of the patient.
[0017] The novel features which are considered as characteristic of
the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims.
The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its
method of operation, together with additional objects and
advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following
description of specific embodiments when read in connection with
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a patient gown having
upper and lower drapes in their respective covering positions in
accordance with one embodiment of this invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a broken-away perspective view of the gown of FIG.
1 with the upper drape raised to its exposed position;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a broken-away perspective view of the gown of FIG.
1 with the lower drape raised to its exposed position;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of patient gown having a
lower drape in its covering position in accordance with another
embodiment of this invention; and
[0022] FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the patient gown of
FIG. 4 with the lower drape raised to its exposed position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] Reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1 generally identifies a
patient gown comprising a garment 12 having a neck opening 14,
a-pair of sleeves 16 having sleeve openings 18, a front side 20,
and a rear side 22. As shown in FIG. 2, an upper, generally
circular, access opening 24 overlies an upper portion of a
patient's body, i.e., the chest area, when worn; and as shown in
FIG. 3, a lower, generally U-shaped, access opening 26 overlies a
lower portion of the patient's body, i.e., the groin area, when
worn. The upper access opening 24 has a circumferentially-complete
border edging 28, and the lower access opening 26 has a generally
U-shaped border edging 30, each edging being a doubled-over piece
of the front side, or perhaps a separate material, to reinforce the
respective access opening and maintain it in a constantly open
position.
[0024] In accordance with this invention, a drape is attached to
the garment for movement between a covered position in which the
drape covers the access opening to conceal, and maintain patient
privacy of, said portion of the patient's body, and an exposed
position in which the drape is uncovered from the access opening to
expose, and enable access to, said portion of the patient's body.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, an upper drape 32 is shown in FIG.
1 in the covered position concealing the chest area of the patient,
and in the raised, exposed position in FIG. 2 exposing the chest
area of the patient. In the same embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, a lower
drape 34 is shown in FIG. 1 in the covered position concealing the
groin area of the patient, and in the raised, exposed position in
FIG. 3 exposing the groin area of the patient. Although the upper
and lower drapes 32, 34 are shown in the same embodiment, it will
be understood that a particular gown may, and often is, provided
with only one access opening and its corresponding drape.
[0025] The front side 20 of the gown of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3
is solid, while the rear side 22 is shown as being split into two
rear sections having ties 36. This need not be the case, and the
rear side can also be made solid, in which case, the gown is
preferably donned by being slipped down over the patient's
head.
[0026] The gown of the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 is analogous to the
first embodiment, except in the following respects. First, it is
the rear side 22 of the gown of the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 that is
solid, while the front side 20 is shown as being split into two
front sections having ties 36. As before, the front side can also
be made solid.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 5, a lower, generally U-shaped, access
opening 38 overlies a lower portion of the patient's body, i.e.,
the buttocks area, when worn. The lower access opening 38 has a
generally U-shaped border edging 40. The edging 40 is a
doubled-over piece of the rear side, or perhaps a separate
material, to reinforce the lower access opening and maintain it in
a constantly open position. In the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5, a lower
drape 42 is shown in FIG. 4 in the covered position concealing the
buttocks area of the patient, and in the raised, exposed position
exposing the buttocks area of the patient.
[0028] The gown itself is preferably of one-piece construction and
made of a fabric, paper, cotton, cotton blend, or other natural or
synthetic cloth. The gown may be left plain or colored, or
preferably imprinted with a pattern.
[0029] Each drape 32, 34, 42 is a panel mounted on the garment
above the respective access opening 24, 26, 28 for movement between
their respective covering and exposed positions. Preferably, each
drape is generally rectangular in shape, although other shapes are
contemplated, e.g., circular or oval. Each drape 32, 34, 42 has
peripheral edges, preferably reinforced by respective edgings 44,
46, 48 to maintain their shape. Each drape 32, 34, 42 has
respective upper edges 50, 52, 54 sewn along a generally horizontal
seam along the garment above the respective access opening 24, 26,
28. Each drape is suspended from its upper edge entirely over the
respective access opening 24, 26, 28 in the covered position. Each
drape has an area greater than a predetermined area bounded by the
respective access opening to insure privacy.
[0030] In all of the above-described embodiments, the patient's
modesty is maintained while at the same time allowing unfettered
access by a health care professional to different portions of a
patient's body. The gown is medical personnel convenient especially
for medical procedures, while retaining wanted coverage of the
patient so as to avoid embarrassment due to unavoidable, undesired
exposure of the body of the patient.
[0031] It will be understood that each of the elements described
above, or two or more together, also may find a useful application
in other types of constructions differing from the types described
above.
[0032] While the invention has been illustrated and described as
embodied in a patient gown, it is not intended to be limited to the
details shown, since various modifications and structural changes
may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the
present invention.
[0033] Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal
the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying
current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications
without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art,
fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or
specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations
should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and
range of equivalence of the following claims.
* * * * *