Hospital gown

Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved garment for use by patients receiving treatment in a hospital. The disclosed gown provides the patient with greater comfort and reduced incidence of embarrassment by covering the patient's body still while allowing easy access thereto, to facilitate the administration of medical treatment. This device is particularly beneficial to modest patients who feel uncomfortable during hospital stays because of hospital gowns that do not adequately close and thereby expose various portions of the patient's body. In the preferred embodiment, the hospital gown of the present invention has an open front, a partially open back, and a plurality of hook and loop-type fastening strips to ensure adequate closure of the garment.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority of Provisional Application 60/179,152 filed Jan. 31, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Any person who has had to spend time in the hospital is aware of the degrading and humiliating experience it can be because of the embarrassment caused by having to wear the usual hospital gown. Many people react adversely to their hospital stays because they recall how hospital gowns do not close properly, especially in the back, often leaving their buttocks and other portions of the body exposed. In order to reduce or eliminate this embarrassment and to provide for a more fashionable and versatile hospital gown capable of easy design adaptation for wearing by both men and women, I have invented a hospital gown depicted in the attached drawings and disclosed in further detail herein below. This disclosure is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the full scope of my invention, as variations and modifications of the design and procedures within the scope of the invention disclosed in this application will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.

[0003] The gown according to this invention is a one-piece gown with either a lapel-type collar or a mandarin-type collar, that is split all the way down the front. The back of the gown is split down to a point approximately eight inches from the bottom hem in back. The sides of the gown in front are brought together and attached by three short pieces of fabric-based hook and loop fastener, such as VELCRO® brand fastening materials, or the like. The fasteners can be snaps or other equivalent fasteners, including conventional ties, although hook and loop fasteners are preferred.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] FIGS. 1A and 1B are front and back views, respectively, of a man wearing a hospital gown in accordance with this invention having a lapel collar.

[0005] FIGS. 2A and 2B are front and back views, respectively, of a woman wearing a hospital gown in accordance with this invention having a mandarin collar, in which the gown is shown in outline form so that the relationship between the fasteners and anatomical features of the woman's body will be apparent.

[0006] FIGS. 3A and 3B are front and back views, respectively, of the gown shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, with color or printing on the gown as further disclosed below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] As depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the hospital gown of this invention is a short-sleeved single-piece garment having a lapel collar. The garment is shown with three hook and loop fasteners in front and four hook and loop fasteners in back. The number of fasteners in the back can be varied depending on the size of the garment to be made. I contemplate that gowns in accordance with this invention will be made in nine different sizes, three for children, three for adult females and three for adult males. Obviously, the garments for children can contain even fewer than the depicted number of fasteners, provided that the fasteners are suitably positioned so that maximum concealment of the body while the gown is being worn is possible, consistent with the needs of hospital staff to open the gown for medical and other purposes. The gowns can be made of fabric or paper, or any other suitable material for hospital gowns.

[0008] Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the gown 10 is divided into a first half 14 and a second half 16 by means of a vertical slit extending from the bottom hemline 19 on the front side of the gown 10, through the top neck opening 12 and extending down the back side of the gown 10 to a point above the bottom hemline 19. The area between the terminus of the vertical slit and the bottom hemline 19, on the backside of the gown 10, defines a seam 18 that joins the first half and the second half of the gown 10. Further, armholes 11 may be included in the gown 10. To securely close the gown 10 in a manner that provides easy access to the patient's body to medical personnel, the vertical slit may be closed with fastening devices such as “Velco”, i.e., hook and loop fastening strips that are detachably attached to one another. Other fastening devices such as buttons, snaps, and hook and eye devices are suitable for use as well.

[0009] As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the fasteners on the male gown are located at approximately the middle of the chest, the navel and slightly below the pubic area, so that there will be maximum coverage. Likewise, the fasteners shown on the back of the gown are located just below the neck, in the middle of the back, just above the buttocks and just below the buttocks in order to provide maximum concealment while the gown is closed. One or more of the fasteners may be omitted or moved if desired by the user. Making the gown in one piece makes it easier to keep the back of the gown closed and thus to avoid embarrassing exposure of the buttocks and other portions of the back. The hook and loop fastener strips shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B can be of the same length or of different lengths, depending upon the order of the end user. It is preferred that the hook and loop fastener strips on the front of the garment of FIG. 1A be approximately one inch in length, while the fasteners for the back should be approximately four inches in length for maximum security.

[0010] The hospital gowns of FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B are sized more appropriately for women and may have flaring at the hips and tucking at the waist in order to provide a more comfortable conformity of the garment to the shape of the patient, as desired. It is, of course, within the scope of the invention not to include any such tapering. As depicted in the drawings, the female garment has fasteners slightly above the breasts, at approximately navel height and just below the pubic area in order to provide maximum privacy on the front of the garment while allowing for opening of the garment by disengaging of all or fewer than all of the fastening strips for medical and other purposes.

[0011] The back views shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B demonstrate that the bottom end of the opening of the gown in back is approximately eight inches above the bottom hem of the garment, so that the bottom of the back opening of the garment comes approximately half-way between the buttocks and the knees of the wearer. As depicted in FIGS. 2B and 3B, the hook and loop fasteners are shown as being located just below the collar, in the middle of the back, just above the buttocks and just below the buttocks. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B show an upright or mandarin collar, although the lapel-type collar shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B may also be used on the female gowns according to this invention. Other collar styles as will be readily apparent to persons skilled in this art may also be employed.

[0012] An advantage of this invention is that the substrate materials for the gowns may be easily printed or otherwise patterned prior to fabrication. For example, children's gowns may be mint or pink in color and may be illustrated with toys or the like. Female gowns may be pink with appropriate pictures for women thereon, while the male gowns may be colored light blue or other appropriate colors for males and have appropriate pictures on them such as golf clubs, footballs and the like. The process for printing these patterns and colors may be carried out on computer driven, wide-format ink jet printers readily available in the market for printing designs and patterns in six to eight colors. Once the material for making the gowns has been appropriately printed, the material for the gowns may be die-stamped for each size and type, the arms machine sewn thereon and the hook and loop fastener strips can be placed by machine in accordance with usual manufacturing practices in the garment industry.

[0013] It should be apparent from the above disclosure that this invention provides an easy way for hospitals and other such institutions to provide garments for their patients to wear which make their hospital or other institutional stays more pleasant. The use of appropriately placed fasteners on the front and back of the garments, coupled with the closure of the rear of the garment for a distance above the lower hem, produce a garment which is easy to manufacture, and thus inexpensive, while being appreciated by patients. It is well known that happy patients make fewer complaints about their hospital stays, enjoy more uneventful convalescences and lodge fewer complaints and claims against hospitals and other institutions.

Claims

1. A garment comprising:

a hospital gown having a front side, a back side, a bottom hemline, and a top neck opening;

a vertical slit extending from the bottom hemline of the front side of the hospital gown, through the top neck opening, and terminating at a point above the bottom hemline of the back side of the hospital gown thereby dividing the hospital gown into a first half and a second half;

a seam portion joining the first half of the hospital gown and the second half of the hospital gown defined by the area of the hospital gown between the terminus of the vertical slit and the bottom hemline; and

a plurality of fastening devices for detachably attaching the first side of the hospital gown and the second side of the hospital gown.

2. The garment of

claim 1 further comprising a waist region, the waist region being tapered to conform to the waist of a female patient.

3. The garment of

claim 1 further comprising a hip region, the hip region being flared to conform to the hips of a female patient.

4. The garment of

claim 1 wherein the hospital gown comprises a textile fabric.

5. The garment of

claim 1 wherein the hospital gown comprises paper.

6. The garment of

claim 1 wherein the fastening devices comprise hook and loop strips.

7. The garment of

claim 1 wherein the fastening devices comprise buttons.

8. The garment of

claim 1 wherein the fastening devices comprise snaps.

9. A garment comprising:

a hospital gown having a front side, a back side, a bottom hemline, and a top neck opening;

a vertical slit extending from the bottom hemline of the front side of the hospital gown, through the top neck opening, and terminating at a point above the bottom hemline of the back side of the hospital gown thereby dividing the hospital gown into a first half and a second half;

a seam portion joining the first half of the hospital gown and the second half of the hospital gown defined by the area of the hospital gown between the terminus of the vertical slit and the bottom hemline; and

a plurality of hook and loop fasteners for detachably attaching the first side of the hospital gown and the second side of the hospital gown.