Protective Outer Garment For Wheelchair Occupant
An outer garment suitable for use by a wheelchair occupant that may be put on or taken off by an individual without requiring an undue amount of assistance. In one example, the garment takes the form of a “full-front, half-back” coat that fits as a single piece over an individual's head. The two sections are permanently joined along shoulder seams around the neck, outer arms and cuff regions, so that the garment is completely in place when put over an individual's head. A suitable type of releasable attachment (e.g., zipper, hook-and-loop, snaps, and the like) is used secure the sleeves in place and join the front and back sections along the side seams.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/077,202 filed Sep. 11, 2020, as well as U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/195,286 filed Jun. 1, 2021, wherein both provisional applications are incorporated herein in their entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present invention relates to the design of outer garments and, more particularly, to outer garments particularly well-suited for an individual having limited mobility, such as requiring the use of a wheelchair.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA significant portion of our population may find themselves needing to be transported by wheelchair, as a result of paralysis, injury, age, or the like. While some individuals are essentially wheelchair-bound, others may need this type of transport on a short-term basis (post-surgery, for example), or only for certain instances, such as a trip to a doctor's appointment, rehabilitation center, hospital out-patient services, and the like.
During inclement weather, or during seasons of colder temperatures, a wheelchair occupant may find it difficult—if not impossible—to put on a full-length coat and wear it without either having the coat “bunch up” and not provide the proper protection, or having some portion of the coat's material to be caught up in the mechanical structure of the wheelchair. The latter may indeed even result in having the wheelchair become unstable and perhaps having the individual falling out of the chair. The idea of “going without” proper outdoor clothing is not considered to be a solution to this problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe needs remaining in the art are addressed by the present invention, which relates to an outer garment to be worn by a wheelchair occupant and, more particularly, an outer garment that may be put on or taken off by an individual without requiring an undue amount of assistance.
In one embodiment, the garment takes the form of a “full-front, half-back” jacket (or coat) that fits as a single piece over an individual's head. The “half-back” section slides easily in place between the occupant and the back cushion of the chair, while the “full-front” section is long and wide enough to allow for the individual's legs to be encircled and protected. The two sections are permanently joined along shoulder seams around the neck, outer arms and cuff regions, so that the garment is completely in place when put over an individual's head. A suitable type of releasable attachment (e.g., zipper, hook-and-loop, snaps, and the like) is used secure the sleeves in place and join the front and back sections along the side seams.
In another embodiment, the garment takes the form of a “short” jacket (i.e., both the front and back sections terminating at about waist level), with the option of attaching a lap robe, blanket, or the like (via a releasable attachment mechanism) to the front of the jacket. In yet another embodiment, a “long-long” jacket having the same releasable attachment mechanism for joining the front to the back is contemplated.
It is an aspect of the present invention that the garment of the present invention may also find use as a protective cover when transporting individuals within a building (such as in a hospital, or dealing with infectious disease occurrences, or the like). More broadly, the inventive garment may be suitable for use in situations where any individual (regardless of mobility abilities) will be seated outdoors for an extended period of time (e.g., attending a football game, fishing, hunting, or the like). The configuration of having a half-back section in combination with a full-front section of an outer garment minimizes restriction of movement that is otherwise typical of wearing a long coat that requires the wearer to literally sit on a portion of the garment itself.
Other and further aspects and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following description and by reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, where like numerals represent like parts in several views:
Outer garment 10 as shown in
While attached together at shoulder seams 17, full-front section 12 and half-back section 14 remain separated along side seam locations 23 (as well as sleeve seams 25) when first put on. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, half-back section 14 is configured to releasably attach to full-front section 12 using a releasable attachment arrangement 30 (e.g., hook-and-loop fasteners, zippers, snaps, or the like), as discussed below in association with
As evident from the view of
Outer garment 10 may also include a hood 16 (which may be detachable) and a pocket 18 (which may be located at any convenient position on garment 10). In lieu of a pocket, a different type of covering (such as a muff) may be included to protect an individual's hands from the elements.
The back view of outer garment 10 as shown in
As also shown in the view of full-front section 12 of
It is to be understood that garment 10 of the present invention may also find use as a protective cover when transporting individuals within a building (such as in a hospital, or dealing with infectious disease occurrences, or the like). Again, the implementation of garment 10 as a half-back, full-front covering allows for a wheelchair occupant to be afforded similar protection as other fully-mobile individuals. More broadly, garment 10 as shown in
Garment 10 itself may be formed of any suitable material, and may obviously be sized to accommodate child, youth, and adults of various body shapes. By virtue of using the combination of a half-back section and full-front section that are easily joined (such as by zippers), and gathered to surround the legs, the inventive garment allows for wheelchair occupants to be protected from the elements (when the garment is used outside) or from infections (when the garment is used indoors).
As mentioned above, an outer garment formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention may also comprise a “short-short” configuration, where both the back section of the garment and the front section of the garment are about waist-length in form, joining via releasable attachments (e.g., zippers, snaps, etc.) along the side seams in a similar manner as discussed above. Similarly, a “long-long” version of the releasably attached front-back outer garment is contemplated for use in situations where an individual may desire to have the additional length in the back, but still desire the ability to open the side seams in a re-attachable manner.
As also shown in the view of front section 52 of
Jacket 50, similar to outer garment 10, may be formed of any suitable material, and may obviously be sized to accommodate child, youth, and adults of various body shapes. By virtue of using the combination of a front and back sections that are easily joined (such as by zippers), the inventive garment allows for wheelchair occupants to be protected from the elements (when the garment is used outside) or from infections (when the garment is used indoors).
What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional term in a claim.
Claims
1. A garment suitable for use by a wheelchair-bound individual, comprising:
- a front section having a head opening, a pair of shoulder seams, and a pair of side seams; and
- a back section permanently affixed to the front section across the pair of shoulder seams, the back section further including releasable attachment means for joining the back section to the front section along the pair of side seams.
2. The garment as defined in claim 1, further comprising
- a pair of sleeves, each sleeve permanently affixed to the pair of should seams and terminating at a cuff at an opposing end, each sleeve further comprising open sleeve seams and releasable attachment means for closing the sleeve seams.
3. The garment as defined in claim 2 wherein the pair of sleeve seams are adjacent to the pair of sleeve seams, allowing for a single releasable attachment means to join the front section, back section, and pair of sleeves together.
4. The garment as defined in claim 1 wherein
- the front section is defined as a full-front section and extends to substantially cover an individual's torso and legs; and
- the back section is defined as a half-back section, extending downward from an individual's neck and terminating at substantially a waist location.
5. The garment as defined in claim 4 wherein the full front section further comprises a lower gathering portion extending across a bottom termination thereof.
6. The garment as defined in claim 5 wherein the lower gathering portion further comprises a releasable clip for supporting a lower region of the full front section in a manner that surrounds substantially all of the lower leg portions of a seated individual.
7. The garment as defined in claim 1 wherein
- the front section is defined as a half front section and extends downward from the head opening to terminate at substantially a waist location; and
- the back section is defined as a half back section, extending downward from an individual's neck and terminating at substantially a waist location.
8. The garment as defined in claim 7 wherein the garment further comprises
- a lap robe releasably attached to a lower edge of the half front section and used to cover at least a portion of an individual's lower legs.
9. The garment as defined in claim 8 wherein the lap robe further comprises a lower gathering portion extending across a bottom termination thereof.
10. The garment as defined in claim 9 wherein the lower gathering portion further comprises a releasable clip for supporting a lower region of the lap robe in a manner that surrounds substantially all of the lower leg portions of a seated individual.
11. The garment as defined in claim 1 further comprising a hood portion.
12. The garment as defined in claim 11 wherein the hood portion is releasably attached to the front and back sections.
13. The garment as defined in claim 1 further comprising a pocket positioned on an exterior portion of the garment.
14. The garment as defined in claim 1 further comprising a front pouch having opposing openings for allowing an individual to insert his/her hands within the pouch.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 8, 2021
Publication Date: Mar 17, 2022
Inventor: Dawn Williams (Nazareth, PA)
Application Number: 17/469,126