Medical garment
Medical garments are disclosed, which are configured to minimally expose a patient. One embodiment, among others, includes a medical garment that is improved by providing a front opening, and a flap that substantially covers the front opening. The front opening is located near the chest area. The front opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The flap also includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion of the flap is connected to the upper portion of the front opening in a hinge-like fashion. The flap is configured to open at the lower portion. In another embodiment, among others, the improvement on the medical garment comprises at least two openings: an upper front opening, and a lower front opening. The upper front opening is located near the chest area, while the lower front opening is located near the abdomen area. In this embodiment, the medical garment further comprises an upper flap that is configured to substantially cover the upper front opening, and a lower flap that is configured to substantially cover the lower front opening. A method of manufacturing a medical garment is also presented. One embodiment of the method comprises the steps of providing a selectably-openable upper front opening and a selectably-openable lower front opening. The selectably-openable upper front opening is located near the chest area of the medical garment, while the selectably-openable lower front opening is located near the abdomen area of the medical garment. The selectably-openable upper front opening is substantially covered by an upper flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the upper front opening. The selectably-openable lower front opening is substantially covered by a lower flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the lower front opening.
The present disclosure relates generally to medical equipment and, more particularly, to medical gowns.
BACKGROUNDMedical garments, such as medical gowns that are used for patient examination, are relatively ubiquitous in hospitals and doctor's offices. These garments are normally intended to provide some degree of modesty for the patient, in order to minimize exposure and, hence, the degree of discomfort that a patient may have during the course of, for example, a physical examination.
In order to minimally expose the patient, various hospital gowns have been proposed. Examples of such gowns include designs by Wheeler-Dickson (U.S. Pat. No. D478,203), Truitt (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,086), Belcher (U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,083), Gordon (U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,173), and Cohen (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,930,161 and 5,097,536). While these gowns may reduce exposure to a certain extent, these gowns nevertheless have various shortcomings. In view of these shortcomings, a need exists in the industry for an improved medical garment.
SUMMARYSeveral embodiments of the invention include medical garments that are configured to minimally expose a patient. In that regard, one embodiment, among others, includes a medical garment that is improved by providing a front opening, and a flap that substantially covers the front opening. The front opening is located near the chest area. The front opening includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The flap also includes an upper portion and a lower portion. The upper portion of the flap is connected to the upper portion of the front opening in a hinge-like fashion. The flap is configured to open at the lower portion.
In another embodiment, among others, the improvement on the medical garment comprises at least two openings: an upper front opening, and a lower front opening. The upper front opening is located near the chest area, while the lower front opening is located near the abdomen area. In this embodiment, the medical garment further comprises an upper flap that is configured to substantially cover the upper front opening, and a lower flap that is configured to substantially cover the lower front opening.
In accordance with another embodiment, a method of manufacturing a medical garment is presented. In that embodiment, the method comprises the steps of providing a selectably-openable upper front opening and a selectably-openable lower front opening. The selectably-openable upper front opening is located near the chest area of the medical garment, while the selectably-openable lower front opening is located near the abdomen area of the medical garment. The selectably-openable upper front opening is substantially covered by an upper flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the upper front opening. The selectably-openable lower front opening is substantially covered by a lower flap, which is configured to selectably open and close over the lower front opening.
Other systems, devices, methods, features, and advantages will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSMany aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While several embodiments are described in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limit the invention to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents.
As noted above, while various medical garments exist in the industry, those medical garments provide deficient coverage of a patient, thereby often unnecessarily overexposing a patient. Various embodiments of medical garments are shown with reference to
As shown in
In addition to the securing mechanism 130, 135, which closes the upper flap 115 over the upper front opening, the garment 100 can also include a holding mechanism 140 that is configured to hold the upper flap 115 open above the front opening 110. Similar to the flap securing mechanism 130, 135, the flap holding mechanism 140 can be fabricated of Velcro®. In that regard, the flap securing mechanism can be one strip (or patch) of Velcro® that is secured to the exterior bottom of the upper flap 115, with a mating Velcro® counterpart 140 located toward the upper portion of the front opening 110. Thus, when the upper flap 115 opens upward from the bottom, the Velcro® strips (or patches) 140 releasably mate with each other, thereby exposing one or both of the patient's breasts.
Unlike other medical garments, such as the Wheeler-Dickson gown or the Belcher garment, in which a flap opens from the top and falls downward, the upper flap 115 of the medical garment 100 in
As shown in
In the embodiment of
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in the embodiments of
While various portions of medical garments have been described as upper, lower, front, and back portions, it should be appreciated by those having skill in the art that these terms, in medical parlance, can also be referred to as superior, inferior, ventral, and dorsal, respectively.
Although exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, or alterations to the invention as described can be made. For example, while the left side and right side are referenced from the perspective of the patient, it should be appreciated that the drawings can just as easily be referenced from the perspective of the physician without detrimentally affecting the scope of the disclosed embodiments. Also, while the garments have been shown in a preferred embodiment, where the ties are in the back, it should be appreciated that the garments can just as easily be donned from back-to-front, thereby securing the ties at the front of the patient, rather than the back. For those embodiments, it should be appreciated that “front” and “back” can be interchanged, and “dorsal” and “ventral” can be interchanged. All such changes, modifications, and alterations should therefore be seen as within the scope of the disclosure.
Claims
1. A medical garment having an improvement, the improvement comprising:
- a front opening located near the chest area, the front opening having an upper portion, the front opening further having a lower portion; and
- a flap configured to substantially cover the front opening, the flap having an upper portion, the flap further having a lower portion, the upper portion of the flap being hingedly connected to the upper portion of the front opening, the flap being configured to open from the lower portion of the front opening.
2. The garment of claim 1, further comprising:
- means for releasably securing the flap in a closed position when the flap is substantially covering the front opening.
3. The garment of claim 1, further comprising:
- a flap securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the flap in a closed position when the flap is substantially covering the front opening.
4. The garment of claim 3, the flap securing mechanism being one selected from the group consisting of:
- velcro;
- a buttoning mechanism;
- a zipper;
- a hook-and-eye fastener;
- snaps;
- adhesive; and
- a combination thereof.
5. The garment of claim 3, the flap comprising:
- an exterior side; and
- an interior side having a first portion of the flap securing mechanism, the first portion of the flap securing mechanism being located toward the lower portion of the flap.
6. The garment of claim 5, the garment further comprising:
- a second portion of the flap securing mechanism, the second portion of the flap securing mechanism being configured to releasably mate with the first portion of the flap securing mechanism, the second portion of the flap securing mechanism being located toward the lower portion of the front opening.
7. The garment of claim 1, further comprising:
- a flap holding mechanism configured to hold the flap open above the front opening when the flap is in an open position.
8. The garment of claim 7, the flap holding mechanism being one selected from the group consisting of:
- velcro;
- a buttoning mechanism;
- a zipper;
- a hook-and-eye fastener;
- snaps;
- adhesive; and
- a combination thereof.
9. The garment of claim 7, the flap comprising:
- an interior side; and
- an exterior side having a first portion of the flap holding mechanism, the first portion of the flap holding mechanism being located toward the lower portion of the flap.
10. The garment of claim 9, the garment further comprising:
- a second portion of the flap holding mechanism, the second portion of the flap holding mechanism being configured to releasably mate with the first portion of the flap holding mechanism, the second portion of the flap holding mechanism being located toward the upper portion of the front opening.
11. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction.
12. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured to substantially expose the entire front opening when opened in the substantially vertical and upward direction.
13. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured to open in a substantially oblique and upward direction.
14. The garment of claim 1, the flap being configured to expose a lateral portion of the front opening when opened in the substantially oblique and upward direction.
15. A medical garment having an improvement, the improvement comprising:
- an upper front opening located near the chest area;
- an upper flap configured to substantially cover the upper front opening;
- a lower front opening located near the abdomen area; and
- a lower flap configured to substantially cover the lower front opening.
16. The garment of claim 15, further comprising:
- an upper flap securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the upper flap in a closed position when the upper flap is substantially covering the upper front opening.
17. The garment of claim 16, the upper flap securing mechanism being one selected from the group consisting of:
- velcro;
- a buttoning mechanism;
- a zipper;
- a hook-and-eye fastener;
- snaps;
- adhesive; and
- a combination thereof.
18. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction.
19. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to substantially expose the entire upper front opening when opened in the substantially vertical and upward direction.
20. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to open in a substantially oblique and upward direction.
21. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to expose a lateral portion of the upper front opening when opened in the substantially oblique and upward direction.
22. The garment of claim 15, further comprising:
- a lower flap securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the lower upper flap in a closed position when the lower flap is substantially covering the lower front opening.
23. The garment of claim 22, the lower flap securing mechanism being one selected from the group consisting of:
- velcro;
- a buttoning mechanism;
- a zipper;
- a hook-and-eye fastener;
- snaps;
- adhesive; and
- a combination thereof.
24. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction.
25. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to substantially expose the entire lower front opening when opened in the substantially vertical and upward direction.
26. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in a substantially oblique and upward direction.
27. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to expose a lateral portion of the lower front opening when opened in the substantially oblique and upward direction.
28. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and downward direction.
29. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and downward direction.
30. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap being configured to open in a substantially lateral direction.
31. The garment of claim 15, the lower flap being configured to open in a substantially lateral direction.
32. The garment of claim 15, the upper flap comprising:
- a left flap; and
- a right flap.
33. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction, the right flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and upward direction.
34. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in a substantially-oblique upward and rightward direction, the right flap being configured to open in a substantially-oblique upward and leftward direction.
35. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and downward direction, the right flap being configured to open in a substantially vertical and downward direction.
36. The garment of claim 32, the left flap being configured to open in a substantially lateral direction, the right flap being configured to open in a substantially lateral direction.
37. The garment of claim 32, the left flap partially overlapping the right flap.
38. The garment of claim 15, further comprising:
- an upper back opening; and
- a lower back opening.
39. A method of manufacturing a medical garment, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a selectably-openable upper front opening located near the chest area of the medical garment, the selectably-openable upper front opening being substantially covered by an upper flap, the upper flap being configured to selectably open and close over the upper front opening;
- providing a selectably-openable lower front opening located near the abdomen area of the medical garment, the selectably-openable lower front opening being substantially covered by a lower flap, the lower flap being configured to selectably open and close over the lower front opening.
40. The method of claim 39, further comprising the steps of:
- providing an upper securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the upper flap to cover the upper front opening when the upper flap is closed; and
- providing a lower securing mechanism configured to releasably secure the lower flap to cover the lower front opening when the lower flap is closed.
41. The method of claim 39, further comprising the steps of:
- providing an upper holding mechanism configured to releasably secure the upper flap to cover the upper front opening when the upper flap is closed; and
- providing a lower holding mechanism configured to releasably secure the lower flap to cover the lower front opening when the lower flap is closed.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 13, 2004
Publication Date: Feb 16, 2006
Inventor: Chndi Nwawka (Dacula, GA)
Application Number: 10/917,655
International Classification: A41D 10/00 (20060101);