Two Piece Hospital Gown

Abstract

An improved disposable two-piece hospital gown which may be inexpensively produced from sheets of cloth or paper material. The blouse is formed of a single sheet of material, initially of rectangular shape that is cut and folded, with adhesive or Valcro bands serving to fasten the sides of the blouse together. The material cut out of the neck section of the blouse remains attached to the front of the blouse and serves as a bib. The pants section of the gown is formed of two separate sheets of rectangular material that are identically cut and notched, so as to fasten together in the crotch section of the pants, with Velcro straps or adhesive means employed to fasten the sides of the pants together.

Description

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

My invention relates to a two-piece disposable hospital dressing gown which may be inexpensively constructed of cloth or paper sheet material. The advantage of my invention is that the simplicity, and inexpensive construction of the gown eliminate the costly laundry expenses of conventional hospital gowns.

A further advantage of my invention is that the two-piece gown may be readily fastened about or removed from a patient, and particularly from a patient who may be physically disabled.

A further advantage of my invention is that the inexpensiveness of the materials and of the construction employed permit for more frequent changing of the hospital gowns of patients, when they have become soiled.

The two-piece hospital gown of this invention may be made in a variety of sizes to fit patients of various ages. The blouse section of the gown is formed of a single sheet of rectangular proportions of cloth or paper material that is precut so that when the blouse section is suitably folded, the sides may be strapped about each other by means of adhesive straps, Velcro self-adhering straps, or by other simple fastening means. The material that is cut out of the neck section of the blouse remains attached to the upper forward section of the blouse so as to serve as a bib.

The pants section of the blouse is formed of two rectangular sheet sections of material that are cut and notched so as to interlock with each other about the crotch section of the pants, with each of the two sections wrapping around one leg of the wearer and fastened in place by adhesive straps, Velcro straps or other simple fastening means.

The shape of the blouse and of the pants eliminates all waste of material when the sections are formed initially from rectangular shaped sheets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of two sheets of material, indicating the cut and fold lines of the sheets prior to their being formed into the pants of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the two sections making up the pants, in the partially folded condition prior to being joined together;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the two sections making up the pants, initially attached to each other;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the finished pants section of the gown;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a sheet of material showing the cut and fold lines prior to being formed into a blouse section;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the blouse section partially folded so as to become a blouse section; and

FIG. 7 is the finished blouse section of the gown.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIGS. 1-4 illustrate the pants 10 of the gown, which as shown in FIG. 3, is made of two similar shaped sections 20L and 20R, each of which is cut and folded from a single sheet 15 as shown in FIG. 1.

For ease in describing the design, the terms up and down, horizontal and vertical, right and left will be employed to designate positions when the sheet 15 has been formed into a pants leg that is oriented in the normal position in which the pants are worn by a person who is standing up.

FIG. 1 shows a view of the sheet of material 15 from which a single pants leg 20 is formed. The FIG. 1 is viewed from the inside surface of the pants leg into which it will be shaped. Sheet 15, which may be of paper or of cloth material, or may be also formed of a multi-layer or composite material, is of general rectangular proportions with a top edge 12 and a bottom edge 11 being of equal length, and both being longer than the equal length sides 26 and 25.

Three vertical fold lines 16, 18 and 19 are marked to separate specific sections 51, 52, 53 and 54 of sheet 15, but it is to be understood that the sheet 15 after being cut, as described below, is folded in a general circular fashion so that these fold lines 16, 18 and 19 do not represent actual creases in the final pants leg 20. Sheet 15 is cut along solid line 14 and curved line 22 so as to form a shaped tab 55, which rises above a horizontal fold line 17. Curved cutting line 22 joins vertical cut line 14. The cut line 13, 14 and 22 starts at the mid-section of the sheet 15 at the top edge 12 and is initially curved along cut line 13 at an obtuse angle to edge 12, but then forms vertical cut line 14 which leads vertically to join curved cut line 22 in the general mid-section of the sheet 15. Cut line 22, cut line 14 and cut line 13 are continuous and basically permit folding a tab section 57 about the upper section of vertical fold line 16, and the folding of a tab 55 about horizontal fold line 17, but these cut lines do not separate the sheet 15 which remains one continuous section, except where so cut.

Tab section 57 terminates at its lower outer extremity in a tab 56 with the vertical edge of tab 56 being denoted by numeral 74 and with the vertical edge of the material previously adjacent to tab 56 being denoted by numeral 64 in FIG. 1. The cut line 13, 14 and 22 in the material may be more generally described as a vertical cut taken at the middle of the upper edge 12 and running more than half of the width of the sheet in a vertical direction and then curving to form a U-shaped cut 22 which rises vertically up towards the top edge for a distance to again gradually curve 180.degree. in the form of an inverted U with cut 22 continuing vertically towards the bottom edge 11 of the sheet to terminate at the same distance from the bottom of edge 11 is the distance of the joint of cut 22 with cut 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, two identical sections of cut sheets 15 are assembled together with tab 55 of each sheet bent away from the convex exterior surface of the sheets when they are curved so as to each form a leg.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the two separate sections are folded upon themselves so as to become the individual leg members 20L and 20R of the pants 20. The overlapping edge sections may be held together by adhesive tapes 31 and 32 at the rear of pants leg 20L and adhesive strips 33 and 34 at the rear of pants leg 20R, with additional adhesive strips 35 being employed to join the two pants legs together in the assembled condition. Alternately, the edges of each pants leg, and the joints between the two pants legs, may be held in place by sheets of Velcro material where one section of a Velcro material is fastened to one of the pieces to be joined together and the mating section of the Velcro material is fastened to the other section that is to be joined to the first, with the Velcro material being formed in the shape of protruding hooks and eyes so that the mating pieces of Velcro grip each other, but may be readily separated when desired.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, tab section 55R is folded over tab section 55L, in the assembled mode, so as to form the bottom of the crotch section of the pants 20. Edge 64L serves as an openable fly with the tape 35 fastening the edges 64L over the front section of pants leg 20R. Each pants leg 20L and 20R is separately folded about itself, with one pants leg 20L fastened by section 54L and edge 25 folded over section 51L and edge 26 and maintained in place by external tapes 31 and 32 fastened to the external surfaces of the sheet. Pants leg 20R is folded about itself, with section 51 and edge 26 being on the outside of section 54 and edge 25 and similarly held in place by external adhesive strips 33 and 34 or by other fastening means. Tab 55L of pants leg 20L may be folded inside of the formed pants leg 20L, with tab 55R of pants leg 20R folded about fold line 17R externally of the pants leg 20R so that when the two pants legs are assembled together, tab 55R is folded over tab 55L.

The front section 57R of pants leg 20R, fits inside of the front section 53L of pants leg 20L and serves as a reinforcement to the front of the assembled pants leg 20. The back section 57L of pants leg 20L fits inside of the back section 53R of pants leg 20R to serve as reinforcement in the back area of the finished pants 20. Back section 53R of pants leg 20R may be taped over and fastened to back section 51L of pants leg 20L.

Edge section 64L which was formed by cut line 14 serves as an openable fly when the adhesive strap 35L fastening the two front sections together is loosened.

Once the two sections 20L and 20R have been assembled together, they may be handled as a unit prior to being worn, and it is to be noted that there is no waste material when each pants leg is formed of a rectangular sheet of material of the appropriate size.

The blouse 80 is similarly formed from a rectangular sheet of material with a central section 82 of generally eliptical shape cut from the material along its periphery so as to form a bib section 81. Bib section 81 remains attached by a small fold line 88 which interrupts the cut line 86 leaving an opening 82 to serve as the neck section of the blouse 80. Each shoulder section 90 of the blouse is folded and creased so as to form a tab about the shoulder. Adjacent to each shoulder tabs, the material is cut from the outer edges towards the creased tab to join a perpendicular cut line so as to form a finger member 91 which may be fastened to the blouse by means of adhesive bands 35 so as to hold the creased tabs 90 in place. The sides 95 of the blouse are fastened over each other by tape sections 35.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.

Claims

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A hospital gown which is formed of sheet material of two-part construction comprising

a blouse section which is formed from a sheet of material in which a neck opening is formed together with

a pants section which is formed from two similar rectangular sheets, each of which is cut and shaped to form a pants leg, such that two pants leg sections are joined together in interlocking fashion and without waste of any material to form a completed pants, where

each said rectangular sheet is bound by a top edge, two side edges and a bottom edge, with a slit formed in the sheet that extends from the mid section of the top edge of the sheet to the mid section of the sheet, said slit joining a curved slit which bounds an inverted U-shaped section of sheet that is joined to the rectangular sheet along a crotch line generally parallel to the top and bottom edges of the sheet, said U-shaped section forming a tab when folded about said crotch line, with

each said pants leg section formed by folding a said sheet about an axis parallel to the two side edges of the sheet, with the side ends bounded by the side edges of the said sheet joined together, such that the bottom edge of the sheet is formed in a continuous closed loop and the top edge of the sheet is formed in an open U-shaped configuration;

said pants section being formed by the joining together of a first and a second such pants leg section, with the two joined sections oriented together along their respective crotch lines to form a common crotch line, and with the top edges of both pants leg sections lying on a common plane, and interlocked by the tabs of both sections folded about the common crotch line so that the tab of a first leg section is folded over the common crotch line of both sections with said tab overlying the folded tab of the second leg section which is bent inside the second leg section, and with the adjacent sides of each pants leg section, that are bounded by the top edges of each pants leg section and by the adjoining edges of the slit in each pants leg section, fastened together in overlapping configuration to form the upper front and upper rear sections of the pants section, with the said upper front and upper rear sections being reinforced by the overlapped sections of sheet.

2. The combination as recited in claim 1 in which adhesive tapes are used as fastening means to join the overlapping sections of the pants section so that the size of the assembled pants section is adjustable in girth, and adhesive tapes are used as fastening means to join the side ends of each pants leg section together in overlapping fashion so that the girth of each pants leg section is adjustable.