Compression garment for one-hand operation

Abstract

A compression garment comprises an elongated stretchable sleeve (1) which is adapted to be worn over a body part and a compression part (2) connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve (1). The garment has at least one closing part (3) for fixing the compression part (2) in a stretched state. Furthermore, the compression part (2) is shaped and sized to be wrapped around the circumference of the elongated stretchable sleeve (1), wherein the compression part (2) is adapted for positioning proximate to an outer surface of the elongated stretchable sleeve (1).

Claims

1. A compression garment for applying compression to a body part, the compression garment comprising: an elongated stretchable sleeve with an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve is adapted to be worn over the body part, a compression part connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve, and at least one closing part connected to the compression part for fixing the compression part in a stretched state, wherein the compression part is shaped and sized to be wrapped around at least a part of the circumference of the elongated stretchable sleeve and preferably to be wrapped around more than the full circumference of the elongated stretchable sleeve, to apply compression force to the body part, wherein the compression part extends at least over a full length of the elongated stretchable sleeve, wherein the compression part is a continuous part, wherein the compression part is adapted for positioning proximate to the outer surface of the elongated stretchable sleeve, and in that the compression part is fixable by the at least one closing part in the stretched state to maintain the compression force, wherein the compression part has a first end connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve and a second end located opposite to the first end, and wherein a plurality of closing parts are arranged adjacent to the second end.

2. A compression garment according to claim 1 wherein the compression part extends beyond the full length of the elongated stretchable sleeve on one end thereof or on both ends thereof.

3. A compression garment according to claim 1 wherein the closing part is provided by two or more strip-shaped elements each connected by one end to the compression part and each provided with at least one hook.

4. A compression garment according to claim 1, wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve is shaped and sized such that it alone applies an averaged pressure of less than 15 mmHg, in particular less than 10 mmHg, in particular less than 5 mmHg, to the body part.

5. A compression garment according to claim 1, wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve has a tubular form adapted to receive a leg or an arm.

6. A compression garment according to claim 1 wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve is integrally made of a material different than the material of the compression part or wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve is made in part of the material of the compression part and in part of a material different than the material of the compression part, in particular wherein the material of the stretchable sleeve is thinner and more stretchable than the material of the compression part.

7. A compression garment according to claim 1, wherein the compression part is made of spacer fabric.

8. A compression garment according to claim 1, wherein the compression part has an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the at least one closing part and the outer surface of the compression part are adapted such that the at least one closing part is attachable to the outer surface of the compression part to fix the compression part in its stretched state.

9. A compression garment according to claim 1, wherein the compression garment are stockings or a bandage.

10. A method of donning a compression garment for applying compression to a body part, said garment comprising an elongated stretchable sleeve with an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the elongated stretchable sleeve is adapted to be worn over the body part, a compression part connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve, and at least one closing part connected to said compression part for fixing the compression part in a wrapped around state, wherein the compression part is shaped and sized to be wrapped around at least a part of the circumference of the elongated stretchable sleeve, wherein the compression part is adapted for positioning proximate to the outer surface of the elongated stretchable sleeve, and wherein the compression part extends at least over a full length of the elongated stretchable sleeve, wherein the compression part is a continuous part, wherein the compression part has a first end connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve and a second end located opposite to the first end, and wherein a plurality of closing parts are arranged adjacent to the second end, wherein the method comprises: donning the elongated stretchable sleeve; and, wrapping the compression part around said body part for providing a compression force to the body part and the compression part is fixed by the at least one closing part in the wrapped around state to maintain the compression force.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of the disclosed compression garment according to the first aspect of the invention with an elongated stretchable sleeve, a compression part and six closing parts;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment with a view from above such that the unfolded shape of the elongated stretchable sleeve is visible;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment with an alternative design of the elongated stretchable sleeve;

(5) FIGS. 4a to 4d illustrate the donning process of the disclosed compression garment, wherein it is pulled over the leg, wrapped around the leg and fixed on the medial side of the leg;

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment of the disclosed compression garment according to the second aspect of the invention with six closing parts and six covers;

(7) FIGS. 6a to 6d illustrate how the closing part is pulled out of a bag while wrapping the compression part and how a gauge indicates that a proper amount of compression force has been reached, and

(8) FIGS. 7a and 7b illustrate an alternative embodiment of the closing part.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(9) Advantageous embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. 1 illustrates a compression garment which is adapted to be wrapped around a leg. The garment comprises an elongated stretchable sleeve 1 which is connected to a compression part 2. Furthermore, the compression garment comprises closing parts 3 connected to the compression part 2, in this example six closing parts 3, wherein each closing part 3 comprises at least one hook, in this example two hooks 4. The connection of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 and the compression part 2 can be made of a stitched seam if both parts 1 and 2 are made of a fabric.

(10) The compression part 2 has a first end 21 and a second end 22 wherein the second end 22 is located opposite to the first end 21. The first end 21 is located where the compression part 2 is connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 and the second end 22 is located where the closing parts 3 are connected to the compression part 2. The closing parts 3 are made of a more stretchable material than the compression part 2 so that by stretching the closing parts and securing them to the compression part 2, preferably by hooks 4 or by other means, the compression part is held in its wrapped around state.

(11) The compression part 2 extends over the full length 11 of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 as shown in FIG. 1. In another embodiment, the compression part 2 may extend even further than the full length of the elongated stretchable sleeve at one of the opening sides of the stretchable sleeve 1 or the compression part 2 may extend further than the full length of the stretchable sleeve on both opening sides. This is indicated in FIG. 1 by a line 1′ and a line 1″ which shall indicate that the stretchable sleeve may end there, so that in this case its full length would be shorter than shown with arrow 11. A shorter stretchable sleeve will be easier to slip-through with the foot (see FIG. 4a) and as well be easier to place it on the lower leg (see FIG. 4b).

(12) FIG. 1 shows a view directed to the spread out garment and to the outer surface 16 of the elongated stretchable sleeve and to the inner surface 25 of the compression part 2. If donned, the inner surface 25 of the compression part is in contact with the outer surface 16 of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1.

(13) FIG. 2 illustrates a compression garment with a view from above to the slip-in side of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1. The elongated stretchable sleeve 1 has a tubular form with a diameter 12 and a circumference 13 when being in an unfolded state as shown. If the compression garment is not donned, the circumference 13 of the elongated stretchable sleeve should optimally be somewhat smaller than the circumference of a body part, e.g. a leg, onto which the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is pulled over.

(14) The elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is made of a material which can be stretched with little effort so that only little strength is needed when donning it.

(15) The compression part 2 is connected to the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 at its first end 21. At the second end 22 of the compression part, the closing parts 3 with hooks 4 are arranged. The compression part 2 is illustrated in FIG. 2 by a bold line.

(16) The elongated stretchable sleeve 1 has an inner surface 15. When the garment is donned, the inner surface 15 of the elongated stretchable sleeve faces the skin of the body part, the outer surface 16 of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is in contact with the inner surface 25 of the compression part 2 and the outer surface 26 of the compression part 2 is the outermost surface of the compression garment.

(17) The closing parts 3 with the hooks 4 are provided to be hooked into the outer surface 26 of the compression part 2.

(18) The compression part 2 may extend with its end opposite the closing parts even a bit further than shown by the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. This is indicated in FIG. 2 by the dotted line showing a short section of the compression part extending over the convection line with the stretchable sleeve 1 and defining a free end 21′. In this case the reference 21 would only denote the connection line and not the end of the compression part which is denoted in this embodiment by 21′.

(19) FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative design of a compression garment. In this embodiment, the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is made of a textile part 14 which is attached on its one side to the first end 21 of the compression part 2, i.e. it is attached to the inner surface 25 of the compression part 2. On the other side it is attached to an extension of the compression part 2, which is therefore a part of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1.

(20) This example shows that such terms as “elongated stretchable sleeve”, “first end”, “compression part” etc. have to be understood in a functional way. In other words it can be said that the stretchable sleeve may be attached at different locations on the inner surface 25.

(21) FIGS. 4a to 4d illustrate a donning process, wherein the compression garment is donned over a lower leg.

(22) In a first step (FIG. 4a), the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is pulled over the lower leg by slipping-in foot first from one side into the tunnel-shaped elongated stretchable sleeve 1 and then pulling this sleeve over the lower leg. This step can be performed by only one hand. The elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is just brought into position on the lower leg in order to wrap the compression part 2 around the lower leg in further steps. By pulling the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 over the lower leg, the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 has to be stretched only with little effort.

(23) As soon as the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 has been brought into position, it doesn't slide down since enough friction is provided between the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 and the lower leg because the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 is stretched by the lower leg.

(24) In a second step (FIG. 4b and FIG. 4c), the compression part 2 and the closing parts 3 are wrapped around the lower leg. This step can be performed by only one hand since the compression part 2 is pulled from one side by the hand (from end 22) and the compression part 2 is held by the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 from the other side.

(25) The more the compression part 2 is wrapped around the leg, the larger is the area 5 where the inner surface 25 of the compression part 2 touches the outer surface 16 of the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 and presses it to the lower leg. Hence, the compression garment is held even more stable in position and the compression part 2 can be pulled very strongly by one hand and the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 doesn't slip around the lower leg.

(26) In a last step (FIG. 4d), the compression part 2 is attached in a stretched state by fixing the closing parts 3 to the compression part 2. Therefore, all steps for donning the compression garment can be performed by one hand which facilitates the donning process remarkably. FIG. 4d shows the closing on the medial side of the leg but of course the garment can be provided such that the wrapping around is done to the other side so that the closing parts of the garment are on the lateral side of the leg when the compression part has been wrapped around or any other position such as anterior or posterior aspects of the leg.

(27) It is preferred that the elongated stretchable sleeve is shaped and sized such that the elongated stretchable sleeve alone applies an averaged pressure of less than approx. 15 mmHg (approx. 2000 Pa), in particular less than 10 mmHg (1333 Pa), in particular less than 5 mmHg (667 Pa), to the body part.

(28) FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment for explaining the second aspect of the invention, this garment comprising a compression part 2, six closing parts 3 and six covers 6, such that every cover 6 partly covers one closing part 3. Preferably, this embodiment comprises as well an elongated stretchable sleeve 1. Otherwise only the compression part 2 would be present to be wrapped around the leg in a conventional manner. If there is an stretchable sleeve 1 all the features of the garment explained so far for the first aspect of the invention can be present.

(29) The interaction of a closing part 3 and of a cover 6 is illustrated in detail by the FIGS. 6a to 6d and by the FIGS. 7a and 7b.

(30) FIG. 6a shows a closing part 3 in an unstretched state with two hooks 4. No mark or gauge 71, 72, respectively, is visible because it is covered by the cover 6. The cover 6 is designed as a bag and the closing part 3 is secured within the bag in the region of the closed end of the bag and is in particular fixed inside the bag at that side 61 which is located opposite to the opening 62. The closing part 3 passes through the opening 62 such that one part of the closing part is covered by the cover 6 and the other part is not covered by the cover 6, i.e. one part is arranged inside and one part is arranged outside the bag.

(31) As soon as the user pulls the closing part 3 in order to stretch the compression part 2, which is connected with the closing part 3, a bigger part of the closing part 3 gets visible because the surface of the closing part 3 increases since the closing part 3 is stretched in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6b.

(32) If the closing part 3 and the compression part 2 are pulled further, a first mark or gauge 71, respectively, which is in this example designed as a simple line, appears, i.e. it moves out of the bag, and indicates that a proper amount of stretch in the compression part and/or in the closing part has been reached, as illustrated by FIG. 6c. In this moment, the user can fix the compression garment in a stretched state by attaching the closing part 3 to the elongated stretchable sleeve 1 or to the compression part 2.

(33) It is also possible that a second mark or more marks or gauges 72, respectively, are applied to the closing part 3 such that different compression levels can be indicated by the first gauge 71 and the second gauge 72, as illustrated by FIG. 6d.

(34) FIGS. 7a and 7b illustrate an alternative embodiment of the closing part 3 in an unstretched state (FIG. 7a) and in a stretched state (FIG. 7b). The cover 6 has a window 73 such that the at least one gauge 71, 72 is visible in the window 73 if not enough stretch has been reached and is covered by the cover 6 if enough stretch has been reached or is covered by the cover 6 if sufficient stretch has not been reached and is visible in the window 73 if sufficient stretch has been reached.

(35) The present invention has so far been described for some specific embodiments shown in the figures. It must be noted that it also can be practiced differently.