COMPRESSION GARMENTS FOR A LIMB OF A PERSON AND METHOD FOR DONNING THEM

Abstract

Compression garment (1) for a limb of a person, comprising a flexible body portion (2) having a first, limbward side (3) and a second side (4) opposing the first side (3), and at least one band (6) extending from a lateral side (30) of the body portion (2) for wrapping around the limb, wherein the band (6) comprises a fastener (13) such that the end of the band (6) is removably attachable onto the compression garment (1) when wrapped around the limb, whereby the body portion (2) further comprises at least one guiding element (10) providing a channel (9) for receiving the band (6) and guiding the band (6) back over itself when the band (6) spans over the first side (3) to provide an opening (8) for receiving the limb.

Claims

1. Compression garment (1) for a limb of a person, comprising a flexible body portion (2) having a first, limbward side (3) and a second side (4) opposing the first side (3), and at least one band (6) extending from a lateral side (30) of the body portion (2) for wrapping around the limb, wherein the band (6) comprises a fastener (13) such that the end of the band (6) is removably attachable onto the compression garment (1) when wrapped around the limb, characterized in that the body portion (2) further comprises at least one guiding element (10) providing a channel (9) for receiving the band (6) and guiding the band (6) back over itself when the band (6) spans over the first side (3) to provide an opening (8) for receiving the limb.

2. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guiding element (10) is elongate and/or at least one guiding sleeve (17), and/or that the channel (9) is segmented, wherein the guiding element (10) comprises multiple guiding segments (18), in particular belt loops (19).

3. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guiding element (10) and/or the at least one band (6) are formed integrally with the body portion (2).

4. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the guiding element (10) comprises a folded-over section (33) of the body portion (2) fastened back onto the body portion (2) to form the channel (9).

5. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the body portion (2) is three-dimensionally pre-shaped to conform to the limb, in particular by using darts (29).

6. Compression garment (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the body portion (2) is laterally raised to provide a seating for the limb.

7. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the compression garment (1) comprises multiple bands (6) extending laterally from the body portion (2) to wrap around the limb, wherein a channel (9) for each band (6) is provided by the at least one guiding element (10), in particular a separate channel (9) for each band (6).

8. Compression garment (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that for at least one pair of bands (6), the bands (6) extend from opposing lateral sides (30) of the body portion (2) to wrap around the limb side-by-side.

9. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the at least one band (6) and/or the body portion (2) comprises a measuring system (20), in particular for measuring elongation, tension, and/or for determining a compression level applied to the limb by the garment (1).

10. Compression garment (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the compression garment (1) further comprises a pad (37), in particular an acupressure pad (37), to exert pressure to the limb under the first side (3) of the body portion (2).

11. Compression garment (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the pad (37) is removably attachable, in particular in multiple orientations, to the first side of the body portion (2) by a fastening means (41), and/or that the body portion (2) comprises a pocket on its first side for receiving the pad (37), in particular in multiple orientations.

12. Compression garment (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that the pad (37) has the shape of a disc or square and/or has at least one outward protrusion (40), in particular of a T-shape, on its limbward surface.

13. Compression garment (1) for providing acupressure to a limb, in particular a foot (44), of a person, comprising: a flexible body portion (2) having a first, limbward side (3) and a second side (4) opposing the first side (3), at least one band (6) extending from a lateral side (30) of the body portion (2) for wrapping around the limb, wherein each band (6) comprises a fastener (13) such that the end of the band (6) is removably attachable onto the garment (1) when wrapped around the limb, an acupressure pad (37) to exert pressure to the limb under the first side (3) of the body portion (2), the acupressure pad (37) being positionable in multiple orientations under the first side (3) of the body portion (2) held in place by the compression garment (1) or by a direct fastening means (41) and/or the body portion (2) comprising a pocket on its first side (3) for receiving the acupressure pad (37) in multiple orientations.

14. Compression garment (1) according to claim 13, characterized in that the body portion (2) further comprises at least one guiding element (10) providing a channel (9) for receiving the band (6) and guiding the band (6) back over the garment (1), in particular over itself, when the band (6) spans over the first side (3) to provide an opening (8) for receiving the limb.

15. Method for donning a compression garment (1) according to claim 13, wherein the acupressure pad (37) is attached to the first side (3) or placed into the pocket in a chosen orientation, after or while donning the compression garment (1), compression is adjusted using the bands (6).

Description

[0053] Further details and advantages become apparent from the following description of concrete embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

[0054] FIG. 1 is a principle drawing of a first, general embodiment of a compression garment according to the current invention,

[0055] FIG. 2 shows an alternative realization of a guiding element,

[0056] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary implementation of a compression measuring system,

[0057] FIG. 4 shows a basic element from which the compression garment according to the current invention can be formed,

[0058] FIG. 5 shows a first step for forming the compression garment,

[0059] FIG. 6 shows the formed compression garment with loose bands,

[0060] FIGS. 7-10 explain how the bands are guided through channels of guiding elements,

[0061] FIG. 11 shows a top view of an acupressure pad usable in compression garments according to the invention,

[0062] FIG. 12 shows a bottom view of the acupressure pad,

[0063] FIG. 13 shows a side view of a compression garment according to the invention including the acupressure pad,

[0064] FIGS. 14-17 illustrate pressurized anatomical features in different orientations of the acupressure pad, and

[0065] FIG. 18-20 show another alternate realization of a guiding element.

[0066] FIG. 1 is a general principle sectional view of a compression garment 1 according to the present invention, in this case a wrap. The compression garment 1 comprises a body portion 2 having an inner, limbward, first surface 3 and an outer surface 4 opposing the first surface 3. From a lateral side edge 5, a band 6 extends. The band 6 spans over the first surface 3 to the opposite lateral side edge 7 of the body portion 2, thereby creating an opening 8 into which the limb, for example a foot or a hand, can be inserted. At the opposing lateral edge 7, the band 6 is fed into a channel 9 provided by a guiding element 10 on the second side 4 of the body portion 2, through which it is guided back to the lateral side edge 5 from which the band 6 extends such that the end 11 of the band 6 is positioned over itself, as shown in FIG. 1. Since at least the outer side of the band 6 at least partly comprises a loop material 12 acting as the loop portion of a hook-and-loop fastener 13, the hook portion 14 provided at the end 11 of the band 6 allows to attach the band 6 at variable positions onto itself. It is noted that the body portion 2 and/or the guiding element 10 may also have the loop material 12 on their outsides, such that the end 11 of the band 6 can also be attached there.

[0067] In this case, the loop material 12 is a velour material, and, at least in the section of the band 6 covered by the loop material 12, the band 6 thus comprises a structural layer 15, namely the loop material 12, and a cushioning layer 16 for comfortable contact with the skin of the person wearing the compression garment 1. The body portion 2 may also have the cushioning layer 16 on its first side 3.

[0068] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a guiding element 10 is provided as a guiding sleeve 17 extending in a longitudinal direction corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the channel 9, wherein it is continuous peripherically, that is, comprises no openings. However, the guiding element 10 may also be segmented comprising multiple guide segments 18, as indictated in FIG. 2, wherein the guide segments 18 are formed by belt loops 19.

[0069] It is noted that in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the band 6 is fixed to the lateral side edge 5 of the body portion 2 by sewing, however, the band 6 may also be fastened or fixed near the lateral side edge 5, in particular on the second side 4.

[0070] In use, the limb extends through the opening 8, such that, by pulling the band end 11, a desired tension level for the band 6 can be chosen. As the band 6 also acts onto the second side of the body portion 2, the body portion 2 is also pressurized against the limb. Multiple bands 6 also allow choosing certain compression profiles along the length of the limb covered by the compression garment 1.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary compression measurement system 20 which may be implemented in the bands 6 or in the body portion 2. For illustrative reasons, in FIG. 3, integration into a band 6 is shown. While the bands 6 and the body portion 2 may be partly or fully inelastic, they may also be partly or fully elastic. FIG. 3 refers to an elastic section of band 6. In this section, two indicia 21, 22 are provided such that the distance between the indicia 21, 22 changes when the tension in the band 6 is increased, i.e. the distance increases when higher tension is applied. The distance between the indicia 21 and 22 can be measured and associated with a compression level or compression range by using a measurement card 23 which has the reference indicium 24 and multiple further indicia 25 associated with different compression levels/compression ranges.

[0072] However, it is also possible to apply other types of measurement systems 20 in compression garments 1 according to the invention.

[0073] It is noted at this point that the band 6 and the body portion 2 may also be trimmable to customize the compression garment 1. For example, further indicia may be provided associated with certain limb circumferences.

[0074] FIG. 4 shows a basic element 26, from which the body portion 2, two bands 6 and two guiding elements 10 can be formed. The basic element 26 comprises a one-piece central area 27 from which the body portion 2 and the guiding elements 10 will be formed, while, in this embodiment, the bands 6 have been sewed to the central portion 27 along seams 28. In this manner, a better yield regarding the material of the basic element 26 can be achieved during cutting.

[0075] The central area 27 comprises two diamond darts 29 al lateral sides 30 of the central area 27. The portions at the outer side of the diamond darts 29 are not connected and form diamond wings 31, wherein the bands 6 extend from diagonally opposing diamond wings 31.

[0076] As shown in FIG. 5, the diamond darts 29 have already been closed by seams 32, such that centrally, the body portion 2 with its second surface 4 is formed. Please note that the bands 6, which are shown clipped for a more compact illustration, extend from opposing lateral side edges 5, 7 in a relatively shifted manner, such that, when the bands 6 span over the first side 3 of the body portion 2, they are parallelly aligned side-by-side.

[0077] In the next step, two side flaps 33 are folded inwards back onto the second side 4 of the body portion 2 to meet in the middle at a central seam line 34 already indicated in FIG. 5.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 6, both side flaps 33 are sewed to the second surface 34 along the central seam line 34, in particular with a single seam, such that two guiding elements 10, in this case guiding sleeves 17, each defining a channel 9, are formed.

[0079] To place the so-formed compression garment 1, still with loose bands 6, into a state ready-to-use, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10, both bands are folded over the first, limbward side 3 of the body portion 2 to the opposing lateral side edge 5, 7 according to arrows 35 and then, see arrow 36, fed back to their original lateral side edges 5, 7 through the channels 9 in guiding elements 10, such that the situation in FIG. 10 arises. The end 11 of the bands 6 are guided back over the beginnings of the respective bands 6, such that they may be fastened onto themselves using the hook portion 14.

[0080] Using two opposing bands 6 not only allows to adjust to different tension levels for each of the bands 6, but also provides tensioning balance and helps prevent the compression garment 1 from migrating in one specific direction of applied tension.

[0081] As can be seen, the bands 6 completely circumnavigate the compression garment 1 to improve tension distribution throughout the compression garment 1.

[0082] In preferred embodiments, the compression garment 1 additionally comprises an acupressure pad 37 as exemplarily shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, wherein FIG. 11 shows a view of the limbward side, while FIG. 12 shows a view from the opposite side. As can be seen from FIG. 11, the pad 37 comprises a foam layer 38 and a topography layer 39, wherein the topography layer 39 defines an, in this case T-shaped, protrusion 40. Applying the pad 37 to an area of the limb applies higher pressures at anatomical features touched by the protrusion 40 and lower pressures elsewhere. Generally, it can be said that the pad 37 is a multi-dimensional topographical pad 37 that provides areas of high and low pressures.

[0083] In this embodiment, the pad 37, see FIG. 12, comprises a fastening means 41, in this case another hook portion 42, to removably attach the pad 37 to the first side 3 of the body portion 2. Obviously, the essentially quadratically shaped pad 37 can be attached to the body portion 2 in multiple different orientations and thus applied to the limb in all those orientations.

[0084] FIG. 13 shows the compression garment 1 with the pad 37 attached to body portion 2, wherein the ends 11 of the bands 6 are attached onto other sections of the bands 6 to minimize the size of opening 8 for transport. Note that the lateral side edges 5, 7 are raised due to the diamond darts, such that the body portion 2 is adjusted to the shape of the limb, in this case, as an example, the foot.

[0085] FIGS. 14 to 17 illustrate how different anatomical features 43 of feet 44 are pressurized in different orientations of the protrusion 40. In this manner, adjustable acupressure can be easily provided at adjustable compression levels, leading to symptom relief in therapeutic and further treatment use.

[0086] FIGS. 18 to 20 illustrate other alternative realizations for the guiding element 10 in embodiments of the invention, wherein FIGS. 18 and 19 are top views. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the guiding element 10 in centrally split providing an opening 45 extending in the longitudinal direction of channel 9. The embodiment of FIG. 19, which is particularly material-saving, uses separate disconnected belt loops, such that the central opening 45 is flanked by further openings 46 of disconnected belt loops. As shown in FIG. 20, which is a cross-sectional view, the two respective components 47 of the guide element 10 each clasp the band 6 from opposing sides, such that the band 6 is firmly held and the channel 9 is defined.