U.S. patent application number 13/200195 was filed with the patent office on 2013-03-21 for garment for practical and convenient manipulation.
This patent application is currently assigned to Shadiah Salem. The applicant listed for this patent is Shadiah Salem. Invention is credited to Shadiah Salem.
Application Number | 20130067633 13/200195 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47879187 |
Filed Date | 2013-03-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130067633 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Salem; Shadiah |
March 21, 2013 |
Garment for practical and convenient manipulation
Abstract
A garment suitable for practical and convenient manipulation by
a wearer of the garment is presented, wherein the garment includes
a front panel, back panel, and a first and second sleeve. A
plurality of releasable fasteners are located along a first and
second sleeve. A plurality of releasable fasteners begin at a
starting point corresponding to a wrist of a person and ascend to
an ending point corresponding to an upper portion near a neck of
the person. The plurality of releasable fasteners are located at a
distance apart from one another to enable a gap to exist between
each releasable fastener. As a result, a surface underneath the
garment is accessible as a function of the existing gap between
each releasable fastener. Portions of the garment are detachable as
a result of a positioning of the plurality of releasable fasteners
and upon selection by a user.
Inventors: |
Salem; Shadiah; (Garland,
TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Salem; Shadiah |
Garland |
TX |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Salem; Shadiah
Garland
TX
|
Family ID: |
47879187 |
Appl. No.: |
13/200195 |
Filed: |
September 21, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
2/102 ; 2/114;
2/69 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A41D 13/1245
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
2/102 ; 2/69;
2/114 |
International
Class: |
A41D 13/12 20060101
A41D013/12; A41D 1/04 20060101 A41D001/04; A41D 1/00 20060101
A41D001/00; A41D 13/00 20060101 A41D013/00 |
Claims
1. A garment structurally suitable for practical and convenient
manipulation by a wearer of the garment, wherein the garment
comprises: a front panel covering the wearer's chest region; a back
panel covering the wearer's back region, wherein the back panel is
attached to the front panel along a first and second seam located
on a left and right side of the wearer, wherein the front panel is
securely connected to the back panel along the first and second
seam located on the left and right side of the wearer; a first
sleeve joined to the front panel and the back panel; a second
sleeve joined to the front panel and the back panel; a middle
section on the front panel, wherein the middle section is separated
down a middle of the front panel, wherein the middle section is
removeably joined by a middle fastener, wherein the middle fastener
extends up to the wearer's neck region; and a plurality of
releasable fasteners located along the first and second sleeve,
wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners as located on the
first and second sleeve begin at a starting point corresponding to
a wrist of a person and ascend to an ending point corresponding to
an upper portion near a neck of the person, wherein the plurality
of releasable fasteners are located at a distance apart from one
another to enable a gap to exist between each releasable fastener,
wherein a surface underneath the garment is accessible as a
function of said existing gap between said each releasable
fastener, wherein portions of the garment are detachable as a
result of a positioning of the plurality of releasable fasteners
without requiring complete removal of the garment, wherein
detaching the portions of the garment is achieved by selecting a
particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners to provide
exposure to a desired region associated with the wearer.
2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the wearer is provided an option
to expose certain regions underneath the garment by making a
selection of the plurality of releasable fasteners while keeping
the middle fastener in various stages of closure to provide more
coverage to a middle region of the wearer.
3. The garment of claim 1, wherein the desired region includes a
left and right shoulder region of the wearer; a right arm region of
the wearer, a left arm region of the wearer, a chest region of the
wearer, a back region of the wearer, and a neck region of the
wearer.
4. The garment of claim 1, wherein the detachable portions of the
garment are selected as needed by an operator of the garment to
provide exposure to the desired region on the wearer.
5. The garment of claim 1, wherein the operator of the garment is
separate from the wearer of the garment.
6. The garment of claim 1, wherein the garment is adjusted by
opening the particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners
to accommodate a device attached to the wearer.
7. The garment of claim 6, wherein the device attached to the
wearer is a medical device for administering health care to the
wearer.
8. The garment of claim 1, wherein a plurality of identifiers is
located next to the plurality of releasable fasteners located on
the garment, wherein the plurality of identifiers provide a unique
identifying characteristic for assisting the operator of the
garment to correctly match the plurality of releasable fasteners by
identifying a pair of corresponding identifiers with the
corresponding releasable fasteners.
9. The garment of claim 8, wherein the plurality of identifiers
comprise a series of shapes, colors, numbers, or a combination
thereof.
10. The garment of claim 1, wherein the garment is both lightweight
and additionally provides warmth to the person wearing the
garment.
11. The garment of claim 1, wherein the garment is composed of
material and pieces whereby the garment includes metal in either
the material, the plurality of fasteners, or a combination
thereof.
12. The garment of claim 1, wherein the garment is worn over
apparel provided to a medical patient and does not obstruct medical
devices attached to the wearer.
13. The garment of claim 1, wherein the person is able to wear the
garment in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, wherein the
garment is devoid of any metallic pieces.
14. The garment of claim 1, wherein a functional pocket is included
on the middle section of the front panel, wherein the functional
pocket is partially removable to access an underlying surface
beneath the garment, whereby partially removeable comprises being
securely attached by at least one side of the functional pocket to
the garment, but whereby the functional pocket may be detached from
all of the remaining sides to access the underlying surface of the
garment.
15. A garment structurally suitable for easy and practical
manipulation by a wearer of the garment, wherein the garment is a
vest-like garment, wherein the garment comprises: a front panel
covering a wearer's chest region; a back panel covering the
wearer's back region, wherein the back panel is attached to the
front panel along a first and second seam located on a left and
right side of the wearer, wherein the front panel is securely
connected to the back panel along the first and second seam located
on the left and right side of the wearer; a left portion covering
the wearer's left shoulder region; a right portion covering the
wearer's right shoulder region; a middle section on the front
panel, wherein the middle section is separated down a middle of the
front panel, and wherein the middle section is removeably joined by
a middle fastener, wherein the middle fastener extends up to the
wearer's neck region; and a plurality of releasable fasteners
located along the left portion and the right portion of the
wearer's shoulder regions, wherein the plurality of releasable
fasteners as located on the along the left portion and the right
portion of the wearer's shoulder regions begin at a starting point
corresponding to a beginning of a left shoulder and of a right
shoulder of a person and ascend to an ending point corresponding to
an upper portion near the wearer's neck region, wherein the
plurality of releasable fasteners are located at a distance apart
from one another to enable a gap to exist between each releasable
fastener, wherein a surface underneath the garment is accessible as
a function of said existing gap between said each releasable
fastener, wherein portions of the garment are detachable as a
result of a positioning of the plurality of releasable fasteners
without requiring complete removal of the garment, wherein
detaching the portions of the garment is achieved by selecting a
particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners to provide
exposure to a desired region associated with the wearer.
16. The garment of claim 15, wherein the vest-like garment
comprises a garment with no sleeves covering a right arm or a left
arm of the wearer.
17. A method for making a garment structurally suitable for
practical and convenient manipulation by a wearer of the garment,
wherein the method comprises: providing a front panel covering a
wearer's chest region; providing a back panel covering the wearer's
back region, wherein the back panel is attached to the front panel
along a first and second seam located on a left and right side of
the wearer, wherein the front panel is securely connected to the
back panel along the first and second seam located on the left and
right side of the wearer; providing a first sleeve joined to the
front panel and the back panel; providing a second sleeve joined to
the front panel and the back panel; providing a middle section on
the front panel, wherein the middle section is separated down a
middle of the front panel, and wherein the middle section is
removeably joined by a middle fastener, wherein the middle fastener
extends up to the wearer's neck region; and providing a plurality
of releasable fasteners located along the first and second sleeve,
wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners as located on the
first and second sleeve begin at a starting point corresponding to
a wrist of a person and ascend to an ending point corresponding to
an upper portion near a neck of the person, wherein the plurality
of releasable fasteners are located at a distance apart from one
another to enable a gap to exist between each releasable fastener,
wherein a surface underneath the garment is accessible as a
function of said existing gap between said each releasable
fastener, wherein portions of the garment are detachable as a
result of a positioning of the plurality of releasable fasteners
without requiring complete removal of the garment, wherein
detaching the portions of the garment is achieved by selecting a
particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners to provide
exposure to a desired region associated with the wearer.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the wearer is provided an
option to expose certain regions underneath the garment by making a
selection of the plurality of releasable fasteners while keeping
the middle fastener in various stages of closure to provide more
coverage to a middle region of the wearer.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the desired region includes a
left and right shoulder region of the wearer, a right arm region of
the wearer, a left arm region of the wearer, a chest region of the
wearer, a back region of the wearer, and a neck region of the
wearer.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the detachable portions of the
garment are selected as needed by an operator of the garment to
provide exposure to the desired region on the wearer.
21. The method of claim 17, wherein the operator of the garment is
separate from the wearer of the garment.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the garment is adjusted by
opening the particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners
to accommodate a device attached to the wearer.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the device attached to the
wearer is a medical device for administering health care to the
wearer.
24. The method of claim 17, wherein a plurality of identifiers is
located next to the plurality of releasable fasteners located on
the garment, wherein the plurality of identifiers provide a unique
identifying characteristic for assisting the operator of the
garment to correctly match the plurality of releasable fasteners by
identifying a pair of corresponding identifiers with the
corresponding releasable fasteners.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of identifiers
comprise a series of shapes, colors, numbers, or a combination
thereof.
26. The method of claim 17, wherein the garment is worn over
apparel provided to a medical patient and does not obstruct medical
devices attached to the wearer.
27. The method of claim 17, wherein the person is able to wear the
garment in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, wherein the
garment is devoid of any metallic pieces.
28. The method of claim 17, wherein a functional pocket is included
on the middle section of the front panel, wherein the functional
pocket is partially removable to access an underlying surface
beneath the garment, whereby partially removeable comprises being
securely attached by at least one side of the functional pocket to
the garment, but whereby the functional pocket may be detached from
all of the remaining sides to access the underlying surface of the
garment.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Illustrative Embodiments
[0002] The disclosure relates generally to a garment intended for a
human wearer. The garment allows for easier access to the limbs and
region of the human wearer's upper body based on an improved
garment design. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a
garment whereby the garment is connected by releasable fasteners
that are conveniently located throughout the garment to allow for
easy opening and closing of the garment around a human wearer. This
garment is not limited in use, but it is especially useful for
those wearers who may be undergoing medical treatment requiring
medical and/or rehabilitative devices to be located or attached to
the human wearer's upper body torso. Further advantages of the
invention are disclosed herein.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Patients in a hospital environment have long lamented that
the garments provided by hospitals do not provide adequate warmth
or comfort to the patient. Hospitals instead require their patients
to exchange their own garments for hospital gowns and apparel. The
clothing provided by the hospitals tends to be made of very thin,
flexible material that provide only basic coverage of the human
wearer's upper and lower half. Typically, hospital apparel tends to
be too light weight. Most patients end up feeling very cold and
inadequately covered. Hospitals and other medical care centers are
well-known for having very low temperatures and being very cold.
Usually this is because they are focused on maintaining as much as
possible a sterile, hygienic environment, and lower overall
temperatures assist in keeping bacteria and other less sterile
organisms to a minimum. Furthermore, a paramount concern to all
involved in the medical care of a person over that of a patients'
comfort is the ability for the medical staff to quickly gain access
to the patient's limbs and body in order to provide fast and
effective care and attention in critical situations. Since the
medical staff must be able to quickly access a patient's limbs and
body, a patient is often left uncovered or hardly covered at all
with any blankets or significant source of warmth. In such
situations, a patient experiences additional discomfort from his or
her illness as well as the fact that the patient is physically
uncomfortable due to their lack of warm coverings and experiencing
cold throughout their body.
[0005] In most medical situations, such as in a hospital or similar
situation where medical care is being administered to a patient,
various medical devices, including various tubes and wires are
attached to a plurality of parts of a patient's body. These
assorted tubes and wires are sensitive to too much manipulation.
Indeed, their functionality can be hampered when patients cover
themselves with too many sweaters, robes, jackets, and similar such
apparel in order to feel warm and comfortable in a hospital
environment. Of primary concern to the medical staff is the proper
functioning and care of these medical devices, so as to provide the
necessary health care to the patient. However, there is still a
need to provide a patient with some warmth and comfort that is
commonly felt by wearing some type of sweater or covering.
[0006] Various attempts to improve the warmth and comfort of a
patient in such a scenario have been provided in the past. However,
these attempts fail to provide a complete solution to the
above-mentioned problems. The types of garments provided in the
past usually have to be worn independently of the gowns and apparel
that are typically provided by the hospital to the patients. Some
existing attempts to solve this problem include garments that
pre-locate the medical devices underneath the altered garments.
However, these previous embodiments are significantly lacking and
critical inadequacies and problems still exist with these attempted
solutions.
[0007] Because of the inadequacies of previous attempts at this
issue, most hospitals and locations providing medical care have
entirely failed to adopt these previous embodiments and offer them
as alternative garments to their patients. Indeed, a major reason
why medical care establishments have failed to adopt some of these
previous designs is that hospitals and other medical care
establishments have already expended a significant amount of
investment in the current gowns and garments provided to patients.
A great deal of time, money, and training is spent by the medical
staff becoming familiar with the apparel currently provided that
are designed to allow for quick and easy access to a patients
limbs, front, back, and neck. The currently existing alternatives
to the commonly used gowns and apparel in hospitals fail to take
this fact into consideration since they do not allow for use of
existing gowns and clothing invested into by the hospital or
medical care facility. It is highly unlikely that the medical care
establishments will forego the lightweight, quick to open and close
gowns and garments that are provided to the patients currently
based on the significant amount of investment already placed in
such items. The problem thus remains that patients still require
more coverage and warmth that will also be accommodating of
currently distributed hospital and medical apparel to patients.
SUMMARY
[0008] According to one illustrative embodiment, a garment that is
structurally suitable for practical and convenient manipulation by
a wearer of the garment is presented. The garment includes a front
panel covering a wearer's chest region, a back panel covering the
wearer's back region, wherein the back panel is attached to the
front panel along a first and second seam located on a left and
right side of the wearer, wherein the front panel is securely
connected to the back panel along the first and second seam located
on the left and right side of the wearer. A first sleeve is joined
to the front panel and to the back panel. A second sleeve is joined
to the front panel and to the back panel. A middle portion of the
garment is included, wherein two portions of the middle section are
fastened by a middle fastener, wherein the middle fastener extends
up to the wearer's neck region. The garment further includes a
plurality of releasable fasteners located along the first and
second sleeve, wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners as
located on the first and second sleeve begin at a starting point
corresponding to a wrist of a person and ascend to an ending point
corresponding to an upper portion near the wearer's neck region,
wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners are located along the
first and second sleeve at a distance apart from one another to
enable a gap to exist between each releasable fastener, wherein a
surface underneath the garment is accessible as a function of said
existing gap between said each releasable fastener, wherein
portions of the garment are detachable as a result of a positioning
of the plurality of releasable fasteners without requiring complete
removal of the garment, wherein detaching the portions of the
garment is achieved by selecting a particular set of the plurality
of releasable fasteners to provide exposure to a desired region
associated with the wearer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] For a more complete understanding of this disclosure,
reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings and detailed
description, wherein like reference numerals represent like
parts.
[0010] FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a garment suitable
for convenient and practical manipulation with a plurality of
releasable fasteners located throughout the garment allowing for
detaching portions of the garment without entirely removing the
garment from a wearer and concurrently providing easy access to the
wearer of the garment in accordance with an illustrative
embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a pictorial representation of a garment with a
plurality of releasable fasteners and a plurality of identifiers
located next to the plurality of releasable fasteners in accordance
with an illustrative embodiment of the disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of a garment, whereby
portions of the garment are detachable by selecting a particular
set of the releasable fasteners, whereby medical devices attached
to the body of the wearer are not obstructed by the garment in
accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a pictorial representation of a garment that is
detachable on either side of the garment in accordance with an
illustrative embodiment of the disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation illustrating the
detachability of the garment exposing a desired region of the
wearer while still allowing for the majority of the wearer's body
to be covered by the garment in accordance with an illustrative
embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 6 is another illustrative embodiment of how the garment
may be detached along both sleeves and still fastened by the middle
fastener of the garment in accordance with an illustrative
embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a garment for convenient and practical
manipulation that is a vest-like garment with a plurality of
releasable fasteners located along the left and right shoulder to
the upper portion of the neck region of the wearer in accordance
with an illustrative embodiment; and
[0017] FIG. 8 is a vest-like garment wherein portions of the
garment are detached without removing the entire garment in
accordance with an illustrative embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] A garment for accommodating devices, particular medical
devices, is presented herein. There is a critical need for a
garment that can be used to provide warmth and coverage to
patients. An ongoing problem is how to provide sufficient warmth
and comfort to persons undergoing medical treatment and medical
care while still allowing for easy access to the patient. Easy
access to the patient is needed since various medical devices are
commonly attached to a patient undergoing medical care and
treatment and the garments currently provided fail to allow for
such easy, access or any substantial warmth and comfort to the
patient. Most medical apparel tends to come in the form of thin,
cotton gowns with various ties and buttons. The medical apparel
does not provide adequate warmth to a patient, especially
considering the fact that the patient is in a cold, low temperature
room or due to illness, may not have a properly regulated
temperature, and that such facilities keep the temperature very low
to prevent growth of bacteria and preserve greater sanitation.
[0019] Additionally, there are various locations on a patient's
body that need to be routinely and readily accessible to medical
care staff who must be able to administer critical lifesaving
support to the patient and therefore cannot be impeded by too many
blankets or articles of clothing. In many medical and health
related scenarios, a variety of medical devices have to be attached
to a patient in order to provide this critical healthcare and
medical support. These medical devices are usually sensitive to too
much manipulation and cannot handle the weight of too much clothing
or objects located over these medical devices since such items
would interfere with the proper functioning of these medical
devices. Thus, a patient covered with heavy blankets or traditional
examples of robes and sweaters risks hindering quick access to his
or her body by the medical staff and also risks negative
interference with any medical devices attached to his or her body
that may be dislodged or impeded due to the heavy blankets or
traditional examples of robes and sweaters currently available.
[0020] In terms of important regions that should be quickly
accessible to medical staff when dealing with a patient, the
important regions tend to be the wrists, arms, neck, chest, back,
and shoulder regions of the patient. These regions all provide
ports and important access points to various veins, arteries, and
body parts that medical staff must be able to access to administer
medicines, fluids, and critical health care related services. For
example, the medical caretaker or hospital staff has to be able to
access the veins in the forearms or at the wrist or the back of the
hand in order to insert an intravenous line (also known as an IV).
Intravenous therapy is often used to to correct electrolyte
imbalances, to deliver medications, for blood transfusion or as
fluid replacement to correct, for example, dehydration. Compared
with other routes of administration, the intravenous route is the
fastest way to deliver fluids and medications throughout the body.
Some medications, as well as blood transfusions and injections, can
only be given intravenously. However, a common problem is that
while the patient would like to be able to wear more layers of
clothing on top of hospital administered gowns and garments, the
potential for these garments to impair proper use and placement of
the IV usually prevents the patient from being able to wear
multiple layers of regularly available pieces of clothing over
their hospital administered gowns and garments. Therefore, the
patient must endure both physical illness and physical discomfort
due to lack of coverage by the familiar articles of clothing and
coverings.
[0021] Therefore, there is still a desperate and real need for a
garment that may be used to deliver both warmth and comfort without
obstructing access to a human wearer's body, especially when the
human wearer of the garment is receiving urgent or ongoing medical
attention and has various medical devices attached to their person.
There is a need for a garment that is capable of practical and
convenient manipulation to provide a solution to this problem.
[0022] In accordance with an illustrative embodiment, a garment
that is structurally suitable for practical and convenient
manipulation by a wearer of the garment is presented. The garment
includes a front panel covering a wearer's chest region, a back
panel covering the wearer's back region, wherein the back panel is
attached to the front panel along a first and second seam located
on a left and right side of the wearer, wherein the front panel is
securely connected to the back panel along the first and second
seam located on the left and right side of the wearer. A first
sleeve is joined to the front panel and to the back panel. A second
sleeve is joined to the front panel and to the back panel. A middle
portion of the garment is included, wherein two portions of the
middle section are fastened by a middle fastener, wherein the
middle fastener extends up to the wearer's neck region. The garment
further includes a plurality of releasable fasteners located along
the first and second sleeve, wherein the plurality of releasable
fasteners as located on the first and second sleeve begin at a
starting point corresponding to a wrist of a person and ascend to
an ending point corresponding to an upper portion near the wearer's
neck region, wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners are
located along the first and second sleeve at a distance apart from
one another to enable a gap to exist between each releasable
fastener, wherein a surface underneath the garment is accessible as
a function of said existing gap between said each releasable
fastener, wherein portions of the garment are detachable as a
result of a positioning of the plurality of releasable fasteners
without requiring complete removal of the garment, wherein
detaching the portions of the garment is achieved by selecting a
particular set of the plurality of releasable fasteners to provide
exposure to a desired region associated with the wearer.
[0023] FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a garment suitable
for convenient and practical manipulation with a plurality of
releasable fasteners located throughout the garment allowing for
detaching portions of the garment without entirely removing the
garment and still providing easy access to the wearer of the
garment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. FIG. 1
depicts garment 104 as seen from the front when looking at a person
wearing garment 104. FIG. 1 depicts a person wearing garment 104
which is an altered garment meant to provide comfort, warmth, as
well as easy access to a body of the person wearing garment 104.
Wearer 146 is a person modeling the use of garment 104. Garment 104
may be worn by wearer 146, whether wearer 146 is a child or an
adult. Garment 104 may be designed to accommodate a variety of
sizes, heights, shapes, and genders represented by wearer 146.
Wearer 146 will often be wearing garment 104 in medically related
situations wherein wearer 146 is also receiving health care in a
hospital, hospice, or any other location where one may receive
medical care. Accordingly, wearer 146 may often also be a patient
at a facility. However, the uses for garment 104 are not solely
limited to medically related scenarios. One of ordinary skill in
the art may envision alternate uses and possibilities for garment
104. Indeed, garment 104 is intended to be convenient for use at
all times. Garment 104 may serve as both a fashionable and fun part
of wearer 146's everyday wardrobe, yet garment 104 may also be used
to accommodate and assist when wearer 146 is receiving medical
treatment and requires an item of clothing that may be worn over
hospital administered gowns or simply to cover his or her own
body.
[0024] In FIG. 1, garment 104 is located over underlying clothing
102 Underlying clothing 102 may be any type of clothing or apparel.
In a hospital setting, underlying clothing 102 will be a piece of
clothing that is typically provided and sanctioned by the
administering hospital, whereby this piece of clothing will most
commonly be some sort of hospital gown. Hospital gowns as provided
by most hospitals tend to be made of a thin, cotton material as
shown. Such gowns also tend to be short and stop above the knee as
shown in this illustrative example in FIG. 1. Often times, such
hospital gowns are short sleeved or have no sleeves at all since
the primary concern to nurses and physicians is to be able to
access the neck, arms, chest, back, and wrists of the wearer very
quickly and efficiently. To facilitate ease of access to the torso
and body of the wearer, some models of hospital gowns exist whereby
the ties are located at the top of the gown and are easy to untie
and get to a patient's back, chest, shoulders, or upper torso.
[0025] Garment 104 is worn over underlying clothing 102 in FIG. 1.
However, it is to be noted, that garment 104 may be worn over any
type of apparel or combination of garments in a variety of
situations. FIG. 1 is merely exemplary and not exhaustive of the
uses and functions of garment 104. Underlying clothing 102 may be
any combination of articles of clothing including shirts, pants,
jackets, dresses, pajamas, and any other piece of clothing
typically worn by people. In some scenarios, wearer 146 may choose
to wear garment 104 directly over wearer's 146 torso without an
underlying article of clothing, such that a person's upper body is
entirely exposed under garment 104 without any obstruction or
covering to a wearer's body. In fact, in some situations, hospitals
may require that garment 104 be worn directly over a patient's
naked body without any additional underlying clothing, such as
underlying clothing 102.
[0026] Garment 104 in this illustrative embodiment includes a front
panel, a back panel, wherein the front panel and back panel consist
of material joined at various attachment points. Garment 104 may be
comprised of a variety of material, including but not limited to,
fleece, cotton, polyester, silk, linen, or a combination or any
blend thereof. In a preferred embodiment, garment 104 is made of
fleece and is entirely free of any metal in any of the material or
the attaching pieces used to hold the material together such as
zippers, snaps, buttons, or fasteners. In an illustrative
embodiment, garment 104 is entirely devoid of any metal located in
the fasteners, pieces, or material of garment 104. Fleece is a type
of fabric that is usually a soft, bulky deep-piled knitted or woven
fabric. It is used for clothing and blankets chiefly, and provides
both softness to the wearer as well as added warmth, since the
material is usually wool. However, garment 104 is not limited in
any way to use to fleece and may be composed of a variety of
materials, such as cotton, silk, polyester, or any combination
thereof or other materials known to one of ordinary skill in the
art. An additional advantage of garment 104 is that garment 104 may
be worn during medical testing in machines that do not permit the
presence of any metal on a person such as, when undergoing testing
in an MRI machine, as further discussed below.
[0027] Garment 104 includes two long sleeves on both the right and
left arm of wearer 146. Left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132 are
attached to front panel 148 and back panel 150 of garment 104. Left
sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132 refer to wearer 146's respective
left and right side. Left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132 on
garment 104 provide greater coverage and warmth to wearer 146 since
the material associated with left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132
extends down the full length of the arm and stops at or above wrist
138. Left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132 represent a first and
second sleeve joined to front panel 148 and back panel 150 of
garment 104. Front panel 148 is the material associated with
garment 104 located on the front portion of garment 104. Back panel
150 is the material associated with garment 104 located on the back
portion of garment 104. Back panel 150 may not be entirely visible
in FIG. 1 according to this view, but is nonetheless present on
garment 104 since garment 104 is a two-sided garment covering
wearer 146's torso on the front and back side.
[0028] Front panel 148 and back panel 150 are joined along right
side 134 and left side 136 of wearer 146 along a seam joining front
panel 148 and back panel 150. Garment 104 includes the right and
left side of wearer 146. Front panel 148 and back panel 150 may be
joined through various joining means one of ordinary skill in the
art would be familiar with, such as sewing, gluing, fastening, or
any other similar means of joining material together.
[0029] Middle section 154 is located on front panel 148. Middle
section 154 is separated down a middle of front panel 148. Middle
section 154 is removeably joined by middle fastener 128, wherein
middle fastener 128 extends up to the wearer's neck region and ends
thereabout. In FIG. 1, middle fastener 128 is displayed as a zipper
extending from the lower bottom of garment 104 to the top of
garment 104, ending at wearer 146's neck 142. Middle fastener 128
may be any type of fastening device, including but not limited to
zippers, buttons, and snaps. In some embodiments, the fasteners may
also be made of Velcro or a combination of Velcro and other types
of fasteners, including zippers, buttons, and snaps.
[0030] Left sleeve 122 has a plurality of releasable fasteners
located along left sleeve 122 and extending up to neck 142 of
wearer 146. A plurality of releasable fasteners 106, 108, 110, 112,
114, 116, 118, and 120 are located on left sleeve 122. Left sleeve
122 ends at wrist 138 of wearer 146. A plurality of releasable
fasteners is comprised of a collection of openable fasteners used
to open and close material from one side of left sleeve 122 to the
other side of left sleeve 122. A fastener is a joining device
appropriate to fasten material together. A releasable fastener may
include but is not limited to a variety of fasteners including
snaps, buttons, hooks, eye and ball hooks, and many more such
fasteners available and known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In a preferred embodiment, the releasable fasteners as used in
garment 104 do not contain any metal so as to enable a patient to
continue wearing garment 104 even when the patient is undergoing
tests in a machine that does not allow the patient to have any
metal on his or her clothing. For example, releasable fasteners may
be made entirely of plastic. However, it is to be noted that, in
some embodiments, there may be metal fasteners or metal included in
the garment as whole.
[0031] FIG. 1 is meant to be illustrative but is not exhaustive of
the total number of fasteners that may be used along left sleeve
122 or right sleeve 132. A plurality of releasable fasteners may be
located through various portions of garment 104 as needed. Garment
104 is capable of manipulation in a multitude of ways by the
operator of garment 104 in order to provide varying degree of
coverage to the person wearing the garment 104.
[0032] Releasable fasteners placed along the right and left sleeve
in garment 104 are spaced at a distance apart from each other. Gap
144 on garment 104 is illustrative of the distance between
releasable fastener 114 and 116. Gap 144 allows access to the
surface underneath garment 104. Left sleeve 122 and right sleeve
132 thus have both releasable fasteners located down each sleeve
that are placed at a distance apart in order to enable gaps, such
as gap 144, to exist on left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132. This
enables the person who is wearing garment 104 to be able to wear
garment 104 even in a hospital setting which requires a patient's
torso, including a patient's arms, to be easily accessible to
doctors, nurses, staff, and all other medical care takers. It is
important that wrist 138 is accessible since many important medical
devices are attached at a person's wrist. Blood pressure is
commonly taken by inflating a cuff around a patient's arm. Garment
104 allows easy and convenient access to the arms without
obstructing any blood pressure equipment used.
[0033] Releasable fasteners 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, and
120 may all be opened independently of each other to provide more
or less room around a medical device that is located on a patient's
arm. The fasteners still allow medical caretakers to access
underlying clothing 102 as well or to wearer 146's body underneath
gown 102. By placing the releasable fasteners at a distance from
each other, a gap is purposefully created between each releasable
fastener such that the gap may be used to accommodate a medical
device or for other attachable item to wearer 146 through this
existing gap.
[0034] In another embodiment, the gaps in between the releasable
fasteners may be more visible or less visible depending on the type
of fasteners utilized on garment 102. In some embodiments, the
fasteners may be made of Velcro or a combination of Velcro and
other types of fasteners, including but not limited to, buttons,
snaps, and zippers. The manner in which the material utilized for
garment 104 lays on wearer 146 and the type of fasteners used, may
make the gaps, such as gap 144, more or less visible from the front
or side.
[0035] In another embodiment, the gaps between the releasable
fasteners may include another portion of underlying material
filling in between the releasable fasteners. Thus, material may
extend in between one fastener to another fastener in place of the
empty space i.e. gap, such as gap 144. The underlying material in
between the gaps may be the same color as the overlying layer from
garment 104 or may be a different color. In such embodiments,
garment 104 may be further accommodated to suit medical devices or
other items in order to access the underlying surface of wearer 146
so that the material in between the releasable fasteners in such an
embodiment may be partially removeable to accommodate any medical
devices that need to be attached directly to wearer 146.
[0036] In a preferred embodiment of garment 104, a patient is able
to continue wearing garment 104 even when the patient is placed in
a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, which is a medical
imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal
structures. An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field to align
the magnetization of some atoms in the body, and radio frequency
fields to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization.
MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of
the body, which make it especially useful in imaging the brain,
muscles, the heart, and cancers. However, typically, patients
complain that they feel very cold and uncomfortable when undergoing
tests in the MRI machine since the patients are required not to
wear any clothing or items that contain any metal since this would
interfere with the proper functioning of the MRI machine.
Therefore, most garments that may provide some warmth such as
sweaters or vests or coats to the patient, may not be worn by the
patient in the MRI machine since a large percentage of them include
some metal in the zippers, buttons, or similar type fasteners.
Alternatively, garment 104 allows the wearer to wear garment 104
over any underlying clothes or gowns and since in a preferred
embodiment garment 104 is free of metal, the patient should
experience more comfort, warmth, and overall satisfaction even when
undergoing tests in an uncomfortable machine such as an MRI
machine.
[0037] While there may be embodiments whereby garment 104 is made
entirely without metal, there may also be other embodiments where
metal may be included in garment 104. Such a garment 104 may be
worn in a variety of circumstances. Current technology for MRI
testing typically does not allow for any type of metal to be
located on the patient or the clothing worn by the patient while he
or she is undergoing MRI testing. However, as technology
progresses, MRI machines may allow for testing while the patient
has some metal on his or her person and/or clothing. Thus, garment
104 may include metal in the fasteners or even the material to be
worn for the convenience of wearer 146. As technology develops,
garment 104 may also even be worn while wearer 146 is undergoing
testing in a MRI machine, even if garment 104 includes metal. Thus,
garment 104 may be devoid of metal or may include metal depending
on the uses of garment 104 for wearer 146.
[0038] Garment 104 in FIG. 1 is presented as having pockets and a
middle section that is closed with middle fastener 128. FIG. 1
attempts to illustrate that garment 104 may be made to look as
ornate and fashionable and comfortable as possible, and may include
common design elements normally seen in one's clothing, such as
pockets, buttons, collars, and can come in a variety of colors and
styles. Garment 104 is intended to provide the patient with a
greater feeling of dignity and comfort by providing patient with a
garment that can be worn in any setting, including a hospital
setting, but where the patient still retains a sense of modesty,
comfort, and style. Therefore, garment 104 inventively and
effectively allows for ease of access to the wearer's body, which
is often critical to receiving care in a medical situation, as well
as provides a comfortable and appealing garment that patient would
want to wear. These illustrative embodiments of garment 104
described herein will be embraced by hospitals, clinics, schools,
parents, and people of all ages for a variety of situations, and
especially for those receiving critical, medical care as well.
[0039] In this illustrative embodiment, right shoulder region 124
and left shoulder region 126 are located on the shoulders near a
person's neck and covered in a plurality of releasable fasteners.
The plurality of releasable fasteners located along right shoulder
region 124 and left shoulder region 126 may be opened independently
of the other. In FIG. 1, right shoulder portion 124 and left
shoulder portion 126 of garment 104 are portrayed as closed, but in
the following figures, one will see embodiments whereby these
portions of garment 104 may be opened and detached from wearer 146,
but without having to remove the entire garment 104, simply by
selecting the plurality of releasable fasteners that extend from
neck 142 to the top of left sleeve 122 and right sleeve 132 for
releasing. In FIG. 1, garment 104 includes enough material to
extend all the way up neck 142 of wearer 146. Garment 104 is
portrayed herein as a long-sleeved, turtle neck, whereby
turtlenecks are articles of clothing that includes material
encircling or covering a wearer's neck. Garment 104 may be designed
to provide a varying degree of warmth and coverage to wearer 146.
In a preferred embodiment, garment 104 is a turtleneck. However,
garment 104 may also have less coverage of a wearer's neck as seen
in FIG. 4.
[0040] Garment 104 includes a decorative and functional pocket 130.
Pocket 130 is displayed in garment 104 as including decorative
lines thereon. It is important to note that garment 104 may be
covered in a variety of designs, colors, shapes, and made in a
variety of styles so as to be trendy as well as functional. In
another embodiment, the functionality of pocket 130 may be
increased by allowing access to the underlying surface of wearer
146. Pocket 130 may be fully or partially removable to facilitate
further attachments and/or medical devices. Pocket 130 may be
removable by attaching pocket 130 to garment 104 by a plurality of
releasable fasteners that connect pocket 130 to the surface of
garment 104. As needed, a user of garment 104 may choose to
completely remove pocket 130 from garment 104 at will in order to
allow greater access to the underlying surface beneath pocket 130.
When wearer 146 desires, he or she may then re-attach removable
pocket 130 in such an illustrative embodiment when less access is
needed to the underlying surface beneath pocket 130. Other pockets
that are located throughout garment 104 may also be functionally
removable by attaching them with a plurality of releasable
fasteners that may be adjusted by the wearer as needed. Any of the
pockets on garment 104 may be made partially or fully removeable.
If they are partially removeable, the pockets may be securely
attached on one side of the pocket and then made removable by being
attached on the remaining sides with a plurality of releasable
fasteners.
[0041] In a preferred embodiment, pocket 130 may be only partially
removable. In such an embodiment, pocket 130 is hinged at one side
and attached to garment 104 by at least one side. Pocket 130 in
such an embodiment may be opened to access the underside of garment
104 or to access the surface of wearer 146. Such an embodiment with
a partially removable pocket 130 is useful because it allows pocket
130 to stay attached to garment 104, which avoids the possibility
of losing the pocket or that the pocket may become dirty. However,
since pocket 130 is partially removable, pocket 130 does not
obstruct any medical devices that need to be attached to wearer
146, thus allowing convenient access to a caregiver to wearer 146.
Thus, pocket 130 may be opened on a variety of sides except for one
side which will remain securely attached to garment 104. All sides
but one of pocket 130 may be detached from garment 104 and then
re-attached as desired by an operator of garment 104 or wearer 146.
Thus, pocket 130 may be opened and lay flat yet still attached to
garment 104, so that the underside of the garment through pocket
130 may be accessed as needed. Pocket 130 may be partially
removeable and may be attached to garment 104 using typical
attachment methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art
including sewing, gluing, fastening pocket 130 on at least one side
to garment 104.
[0042] In a preferred embodiment, garment 104 is ideally made of
lightweight fleece material so as to provide a comfortable, sporty
feel to garment 104. Fleece is a type of fabric that is usually a
soft, bulky, deep-piled knitted or woven fabric used chiefly for
clothing or blankets. Garment 104 is thus appealing to both
children and adults since garment 104 is seen as being a regular
piece of clothing with decorative embellishments and designs such
as pocket 130. However, garment 104 is also very useful in its
function, especially in scenarios where wearer 146 must provide
access to his or her underlying surface beneath garment 104 in a
fast and timely manner, such as in situations where medical care is
administered to wearer 146.
[0043] The manner in which garment 104 may be worn is unique and
novel for wearing such a garment. A garment such as garment 104 may
be worn by completely unfastening the plurality of releasable
fasteners and then placing garment 104 in such a state with all of
the plurality of releasable fasteners opened around wearer 146's
body. At that point, an operator or wearer 146 may proceed to
fasten the releasable fasteners as desired to enclose the desired
regions of wearer 146 that an operator or a wearer cares to enclose
and to cover. Thus, the structure and design of garment 104 enables
the garment to be administered in a way that is more practical and
convenient to the needs of wearer 146.
[0044] FIG. 2 is a pictorial representation of a garment 104 that
focuses on the left sleeve in accordance with an illustrative
embodiment. Garment 104, middle fastener 128, and underlying
clothing 102 are already described above as seen in FIG. 1. Right
shoulder portion 124 and left shoulder portion 126 are additionally
as described in FIG. 1.
[0045] FIG. 2 includes top attachment 202 and 210. Top attachment
202 and 210 are releasable fasteners corresponding a top part of a
releasable fastener located on top panel 218 of the left sleeve on
garment 104. Top attachment 202 and 210 are illustrative of how
releasable fasteners as seen by releasable fasteners 106, 108, 110,
112, 114, 116, 118, and 120 may be placed and may function on
garment 104. Top attachment 202 and top attachment 210 are
fasteners that may serve to partially close the material for a
sleeve on garment 104, without preventing complete access to a
patient's underlying arm. In FIG. 2, underlying clothing 102, is
visible underneath garment 104. Both the lower half of underlying
clothing 102 is visible to the human eye in FIG. 2 and portions of
underlying clothing 102 are visible through the gaps on the right
arm as well as left arm. In FIG. 2, top panel 218 of the left
sleeve and bottom panel 220 are not fastened together. By
unfastening the plurality of releasable fasteners located on the
left sleeve, the wearer's arm is made accessible for any necessary
care or to accommodate any associated medical devices that can be
located along wearer 146's arm. Releasable fasteners 202, 204, 210,
and 212 may be plastic snaps in a preferred embodiment.
[0046] As illustrated in FIG. 2, top attachment 202 corresponds to
bottom attachment 204. Top attachment 210 corresponds to bottom
attachment 212. Once top attachment 202 or top attachment 210 is
connected or fastened to bottom attachments 204 and 212, the sleeve
will resemble left sleeve 122 as seen in FIG. 1, in that there will
be small gaps in between each releasable fastener, through which
can be seen wearer 146's underlying clothing and arms. Therefore, a
gap in between, such as gap 144 as seen in FIG. 1 would be present
between the closed releasable fasteners.
[0047] Furthermore, in FIG. 2, a plurality of identifiers as
represented by 206, 208; 214, and 216 have been placed adjacent to
the plurality of releasable fasteners located on this left sleeve
in FIG. 2. Identifiers 206, 208, 214, and 216 serve to assist in
joining the releasable fasteners to each other. Identifiers 206,
208, 214, and 216 assist a user in joining the releasable fasteners
to the corresponding fastener. For example, identifier 206 located
next to top attachment 202 is in the shape of a triangle. In
parallel, identifier 208 is in the shape of a triangle and is
located on the other half of the sleeve. Identifier 206 and 208
thus correspond to one another on this sleeve and assist the user
in properly joining releasable fasteners 202 and 204 to each other.
Similarly, identifier 214 and identifier 216 are both in the shape
of a square and assist the user to recognize how to attach top
attachment 214 to bottom attachment 216. These identifiers assist a
user and avoid the difficulty in correctly matching the plurality
of releasable fasteners to each corresponding pair since they
provide a visual reminder about the proper corresponding pair.
[0048] Identifiers 206, 208, 214, and 216 may include a combination
of visual elements and come in a variety of shapes and colors.
Identifiers 206, 208, 214, and 216 may further include numerical
symbols such as the Roman numeral numeric system, the Arabic
numeric system with ten digits commonly used and known as 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, or any other numeric system. FIG. 2 is
illustrative and not exhaustive of all the types of identifiers
that may be used. In FIG. 2, identifiers presented include a
variety of well known and recognizable shapes, including but not
limited to, triangles, squares, rectangles, hearts, and circles.
Further embodiments of identifiers may include animated cartoon
figures, text, graphics, colors, or any combination thereof.
[0049] Identifiers 206, 208, 212, and 214 may be located next to
any releasable fasteners as needed to assist an operator and/or
wearer of garment 104. For example, identifiers, such as
identifiers 206, 208, 212, and 214 may be placed next to shoulder
releasable fasteners as well as exemplified by shoulder releasable
fasteners 124 and 126 in FIG. 1.
[0050] Identifiers, such as 206, 208, 214, and 216 may be designed
to be located on either a top portion of material next to a
releasable fastener or on the underlying portion of the material
next to a releasable fastener. Thus, identifiers, such as
identifiers 206, 208, 214, and 216, may or may not be directly
visible to a viewer looking at garment 104 unless the fastener is
closed or open. FIG. 2 is an illustrative embodiment only and not
meant to limit alternative embodiments. In FIG. 2, identifier 206
is located on the underlying portion of top panel 218 next to
releasable fastener 202. Corresponding identifier 208 is located
next to releasable fastener 204 on a top portion of panel 220.
[0051] In some embodiments, identifiers may be visible on both the
top and underlying portion of material and visible from both the
top and bottom to a viewer. Identifiers, such as 206, 208, 214, and
216, may be applied by sewing or stamping or a variety of
techniques and combinations so as to apply a useful identifier to
garment 104.
[0052] In other embodiments, identifiers, such as identifiers 206,
208, 214, and 216, may be located as needed throughout garment 104,
next to any releasable fastener. Identifiers may be in a variety of
styles and shapes. Additionally, garment 104 may have a variety of
decorative features and embellishments as seen by pocket 130.
Pocket 130, as previously described, in FIG. 1 may be a decorative
pocket as well as functional.
[0053] In FIG. 3, a pictorial representation of a garment is
presented whereby portions of the garment are detachable by
selecting a particular set of the releasable fasteners, whereby
medical devices attached to the body of the wearer are not
obstructed by the garment in accordance with an illustrative
embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation
illustrating garment 104 from FIG. 1 on wearer 146. As seen in FIG.
3, garment 104 has a plurality of releasable fasteners 306, 308,
312, 314, 316, and 318. A particular set of the releasable
fasteners has been selected so as to allow convenient manipulation
of garment 104 as needed by the wearer. This particular set of
releasable fasteners, 306, 308, 312, 314, 316, and 318, have been
disconnected so as to allow for greater exposure to the neck
region, upper torso, and right arm of the wearer of garment 104 in
FIG. 3.
[0054] In FIG. 3, examples of medical devices attached to the
wearer are presented. These examples are meant to be illustrative
only and not exclusive. Medical device 326 is a type of intravenous
line that is connected to the body of wearer 146. As presented
herein, medical device 326 is connected to the left arm of the
wearer. Medical device 326 is connected to the wearer's left arm,
without being obstructed by garment 104, since the garment has been
manipulated to allow medical device 326 to be attached to the arm,
but still providing warmth and comfort to many portions of wearer's
upper torso. Garment 104 may be conveniently and usefully
manipulated by selecting a particular set of the plurality of
releasable fasteners located throughout garment 104. Medical device
326 would be in a real world scenario connected to wearer 146 by a
professional knowledgeable in the application of medical device
326. As a general concept, intravenous lines are usually attached
to patients receiving medical treatment in order to administer
medicines, fluids, and/or nutritional components. Intravenous (IV)
lines may be applied by knowledgeable medical staff whose job
includes selecting the appropriate IV insertion point on a human
body.
[0055] Medical device 324 is displayed as connected to wearer 146's
chest. It is meant to be exemplary of a medical device commonly
known as a Hickman line. A Hickman line is also a type of
intravenous catheter most often used for the administration of
chemotherapy or other medications, as well as for the withdrawal of
blood for analysis. Hickman lines may remain in place for extended
periods and are used when long-term intravenous access is needed.
The insertion of a Hickman line is usually done under sedation or a
general anesthetic by a radiologist or surgeon. It involves two
incisions, one at the jugular vein or another nearby vein or
groove, and one on the chest wall. At the former entrance incision
site, a tunnel is created from there through to the latter exit
incision site, and the catheter is pushed through this tunnel until
it "exits" the latter incision site. The exit site is where the
lumens are seen as coming out of the chest wall. The catheter at
the entrance site area is then inserted back through the entrance
site and advanced into the superior vena cava, preferably near the
junction of it and the right atrium of the heart. The entrance site
is sutured. The catheter at the exit site is secured by means of a
"cuff" just under the skin at the exit site, and the lumens are
held down otherwise by a sterile gauze or dressing centered on the
exit site, which also serves the purpose of preventing potential
contamination at the exit site. Therefore, the catheter is secured
to a person's chest. In FIG. 3, medical device 324 is presented as
being attached to wearer 146's bare chest as would be the case if a
Hickman line was inserted according to the aforementioned
procedure. Medical device 324 is meant to illustrate that many
medical devices require a great deal of effort to insert and
maintain on a patient. Thus, the medical care staff's primary focus
is to ensure that these devices are not unnecessarily interfered
with or obstructed. FIG. 3 shows medical device 324 being fixed to
the bare chest of wearer 146 and covered by a sterile gauze.
[0056] Typically, a patient who has had a medical device such as
medical device 324 inserted into their body is not provided
adequate clothing to cover his or her body. As it is a complicated
and involved procedure to attach the medical device to a person,
the medical staff do not want anything to tamper or interfere with
the operation of such a medical device. Therefore, patients are
usually not encouraged to wear too many articles of clothing or
blankets that may weigh down heavily on top of the medical device,
such as medical device 324. However, garment 104 provides a
tremendous solution to this problem. Garment 104 allows wearer 146
to have a light weight and warmth providing article of clothing
without interfering with medical device 324.
[0057] As seen in FIG. 3, the positioning of various detachable
releasable fasteners along the right and left sleeves and up to the
shoulders of wearer 146 enables a portion on the front panel of
garment 146 to be detached from the body of wearer 146 without
having to entirely remove garment 104.
[0058] Middle fastener 304 is an example of middle fastener 128 as
seen in FIG. 1. Middle fastener 304 is portrayed herein as a zipper
holding both sides of middle section together with the zipper fully
fastened and reaching all the way up to the neck of wearer 146. The
plurality of releasable fasteners located along the right shoulder
regions of wearer 146 and also a select set of releasable fasteners
located along wearer 146's left arm are unfastened to allow garment
104 to remain partially open around medical device 324. Note that
releasable fastener 318 next to the wrist on the left arm of this
wearer is portrayed however as fastened, further indicating how
garment 104 may be manipulated by an operator and/or wearer to
provide as much coverage on wearer 146 as desired. FIG. 3 is meant
to be illustrative of how a wearer, such as wearer 146 of garment
104 may utilize the features of garment 104 to accommodate medical
devices attached to a wearer's person without obstructing any of
these medical devices. As previously described, the variety of
fasteners located throughout garment 104 provide useful, practical
function to wearer 146 to accommodate a variety of medical devices
existing under certain conditions that may be attached to wearer
146.
[0059] FIG. 4 is a pictorial representation of a garment that is
detachable on either side of the garment in accordance with an
illustrative embodiment of the disclosure. In FIG. 4, wearer 146 is
portrayed wearing garment 104 over underlying clothing 102, as
previously described in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, an alternate
presentation of middle fastener 428 is presented as compared to
middle fastener 128 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, middle fastener is
presented as a series of buttons aligned down the center of the
front panel of garment 104. An additional variation in FIG. 4 is
that garment 104 is not extending all the way up to wearer 146's
neck region but rather stops in a V-neck just under wearer 146's
neck. FIG. 4 illustrates further various uses and designs for
garment 104.
[0060] FIG. 4 includes a plurality of opening and releasable
fasteners that begin from the wrist of the wearer of garment 104
and ascend all the way to the neck of the wearer of garment 104.
Underlying clothing 102, as already described in FIG. 1, is also
visually perceptible underneath garment 104. In FIG. 4, the upper
left shoulder and chest 406 corresponding to wearer 146 is
accessible without entirely removing garment 104; whereby top left
upper panel 402 is disconnected from bottom left upper panel 404.
Additionally, the plurality of releasable fasteners located on the
shoulders of garment 104 are the same as the plurality of
releasable fasteners located on the left and right sleeve of
garment 104.
[0061] It is to be noted that identifiers, such as identifiers 206,
208, 214, and 216 as previously described in FIG. 2, may be
included along any of the illustrative garments 104 included in
FIGS. 3 and 4 at the various plurality of releasable fasteners
displayed in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 to provide further assistance to a
user in matching the corresponding pairs of releasable
fasteners.
[0062] In FIG. 5, a pictorial representation is presented
illustrating the detachability of the garment exposing a desired
region of the wearer while still allowing for the majority of the
wearer's torso to be covered by the garment in accordance with an
illustrative embodiment. Wearer 146 is wearing garment 104 whereby
back panel 510 is still positioned and providing coverage to the
back and neck of wearer 146 while portion 508 of front panel 502 is
seen as detached from wearer 146's body. A particular set of
releasable fasteners corresponding to this region has been selected
so as to enable portion 508 to be disconnected from back panel 510.
However, garment 104 did not have to be entirely removed in order
to facilitate portion 508 from being removed. Middle fastener 504
is fully fastened as are the plurality of releasable fasteners
displayed a long wearer 146's right and left sleeves. Releasable
fasteners on left sleeve 506 are fully fastened to provide greater
coverage to wearer 146's arm. FIG. 5 further illustrates the
usefulness of garment 510. Garment 104 is unlike existing articles
of clothing currently available in that the pieces of material are
connected around central portions of the upper body that may be
released as needed to provide greater access to a wearer.
[0063] FIG. 6 is another illustrative embodiment of how garment 104
may be worn by wearer 146. In FIG. 6, left sleeve 606 and right
sleeve 608 are part of underlying clothing 102. Underlying clothing
102 may be illustrative of a hospital gown or other such article of
clothing commonly provided by hospitals and medical care
facilities. Garment 104 is worn over underlying clothing 102.
[0064] FIG. 6 illustrates another view of how garment 104 may be
worn that is different from the previous views provided in FIGS.
1-5. The view of garment 104 in FIG. 6 is enabled by selecting a
particular set of releasable fasteners that allow garment 104 to be
worn in such a manner as desired by an operator of garment 104
and/or wearer 146.
[0065] Front panel 602 of garment 104 is presented in FIG. 6. In
FIG. 6, Left sleeve 606 and right sleeve 608 of underlying clothing
102 are not covered by the right and left sleeve of garment 104. By
detaching all of the releasable fasteners normally located along
the right and left sleeve of garment 104, left sleeve 606 and right
sleeve 608 of underlying clothing 102 are not covered by the
sleeves normally provided by garment 104. As a result, in FIG. 6,
both sleeves of garment 104 are presented as hanging loosely around
wearer 146. Thus, an operator or the wearer of garment 104 may
determine the quantity of material of garment 104 he or she chooses
and which portions of garment 104 to cover the wearer's body at any
given time. Middle fastener 604 is displayed as being completely
fastened all the way up to a neck region of wearer 146. In FIG. 6,
Garment 104 herein allows wearer 146 the option to provide greater
exposure to wearer 146's arms.
[0066] FIG. 7 presents a garment for convenient and practical
manipulation that is a vest-like garment with a plurality of
releasable fasteners located along the left and right shoulder to
the upper portion of the neck region of the wearer in accordance
with an illustrative embodiment. Vests are articles of clothing
whereby sleeves are usually not included. A vest typically provides
coverage to the front and back of a wearer's torso. Vests may also
include a turtle neck option whereby a wearer's neck is also
covered by material joined together on the vest.
[0067] In FIG. 7, wearer 146 is portrayed as wearing underlying
clothing 102 beneath garment 704. Underlying clothing 102 is
portrayed as including right sleeve 706 and left sleeve 716.
Underlying clothing 102 is presented as an article of clothing with
a right and left sleeve that is visible beneath garment 704.
Underlying clothing 102 may be a hospital gown as typically
provided in hospital settings.
[0068] Middle fastener 708 is portrayed as a zipper that is
completely fastened from the bottom of garment 104 up to a neck
region of wearer 146. However, middle fastener 708 may include a
variety of fasteners known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Releasable fasteners 710, 712, 714 are illustrative of releasable
fasteners that may be used on garment 704. Releasable fasteners
located on a left shoulder and on a right shoulder of garment 704
provide means to manipulate garment 704. The releasable fasteners
allow for portions of material on garment 704 to be detached from
wearer 146's body as desired. Garment 704, the vest-like embodiment
of garment 104, may also include a functional pocket, such as
pocket 130 from FIG. 1. Such a pocket in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 may or
may not be completely removable to allow access to the underneath
portion of the pocket.
[0069] In this illustrative embodiment of garment 704, a vest-like
garment provides some coverage and some warmth to wearer 146, but
is even more light weight that a full sleeve embodiment of garment
104 as previously presented in FIGS. 1-6, as seen by garment 104 in
FIGS. 1-6.
[0070] FIG. 8 further presents a vest-like garment wherein portions
of the inventive garment are detached without removing the entire
garment in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. FIG. 8
further demonstrates the functions and uses of a vest-like garment
such as garment 704. Garment 704 in FIG. 8 resembles garment 704
from FIG. 7.
[0071] In FIG. 8, garment 704 is shown with a plurality of
releasable fasteners including 810 and 812, located along the
shoulder regions of garment 704. Middle fastener 806 is portrayed
as completely fastened. By detaching the plurality of fasteners
located along the shoulder regions of garment 704, portions of the
front panel of garment 704 are detached and hang loosely away from
wearer 146's body. FIG. 8 is a further example of the illustrative
benefits and advantages of garment 704, which is a vest-like
garment meant for the convenient and practical manipulation to the
satisfaction of the wearer such as wearer 146.
[0072] The illustrative embodiments presented herein include a
garment for practical and convenient manipulation. Furthermore, a
method for utilizing this garment is presented herein as well,
whereby for the method for making a garment structurally suitable
for practical and convenient manipulation by a wearer of the
garment includes providing a front panel covering a wearer's chest
region. The method further comprises providing a back panel
covering the wearer's back region, wherein the back panel is
attached to the front panel along a seam located on a left and
right side of the wearer, wherein the front panel is securely
connected to the back panel along the seam located on the left and
right side of the wearer. Furthermore, a first sleeve joined to the
front panel and the back panel, a second sleeve joined to the front
panel and the back panel, and a middle section on the front panel
is provided, wherein the middle section is separated down a middle
of the front panel, and wherein the middle section is removeably
joined by a middle fastener, wherein the middle fastener extends up
to the wearer's neck region.
[0073] Additionally, a plurality of releasable fasteners located
along the first and second sleeve, wherein the plurality of
releasable fasteners as located on the first and second sleeve
begin at a starting point corresponding to a wrist of a person and
ascend to an ending point corresponding to an upper portion near a
neck of the person, wherein the plurality of releasable fasteners
are located at a distance apart from one another to enable a gap to
exist between each releasable fastener, wherein a surface
underneath the garment is accessible as a function of said existing
gap between said each releasable fastener, wherein portions of the
garment are detachable as a result of a positioning of the
plurality of releasable fasteners without requiring complete
removal of the garment, wherein detaching the portions of the
garment is achieved by selecting a particular set of the plurality
of releasable fasteners to provide exposure to a desired region
associated with the wearer.
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