SANITARY HOSPITAL CURTAIN

Abstract

A privacy curtain for use in hospitals and other medical facilities having a removable cleanable surfaces on its front and back handhold points, which removable surfaces are constructed from medical grade impervious antimicrobial materials, such as vinyl being removably attached via snaps or Velcro or some other fastening system.

Claims

1. A sanitary curtain assembly comprising: a sheet; a header attached to the top of said sheet having apparatus for hanging thereon; and a first panel constructed from medical grade impervious antimicrobial material removably attached to a first side of said sheet.

2. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 1 further comprising: a second panel constructed from medical grade impervious antimicrobial material removably attached a second side of said sheet.

3. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 2 in which said header is attached to the top of said sheet by a strip of fabric.

4. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 1 in which said first panel is removably attached to said first side of said sheet with an L shaped attaching piece.

5. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 2 in which said second panel is removably attached to said second side of said sheet with an L shaped attaching piece.

6. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 2 in which the means for removably attaching said first panel and said second panel to said sheet are selected from a group comprised of Velcro fasteners and snap fasteners.

7. The sanitary curtain assembly of claim 1 and claim 2 in which said medical grade impervious antimicrobial material is vinyl.

8. In a hospital curtain, the improvement comprising: a first panel constructed from medical grade impervious antimicrobial material removably attached to a first side of said curtain; a second panel constructed from medical grade impervious antimicrobial material removably attached a second side of said curtain, wherein the means for removably attaching said first panel and said second panel to said curtain are selected from a group comprised of Velcro fasteners and snap fasteners.

9. In the improvement of claim 8, said first panel and said second panel being constructed from vinyl.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 is a front view of a portion of the curtain of the present invention.

[0007] FIG. 2 is an exploded front view of a first embodiment of the curtain of the present invention.

[0008] FIG. 3 is an exploded front view of a second embodiment of the curtain of the present invention.

[0009] FIG. 4 is a front view of the curtain of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] FIG. 1 depicts the base portion of hospital curtain 10 of the present invention consisting of a sheet 11 made of inherently flame retardant fabric attached at its top by fabric piece 13 to a header 12 made of open mesh. Curtain 10 has a top fabric piece 14 that allows said curtain to be hung from a rod or track installed on the ceiling of a hospital room or medical treatment facility. L-shaped attaching pieces 15 are affixed to each side of sheet 11 that provide for attachment by way of Velcro or snaps, depending on the embodiment of the invention chosen, as described below.

[0011] One embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2 which is based on using Velcro (hook and loop) fasteners to attach each of two removable medical grade impervious antimicrobial panels 17 to each side of sheet 11 of curtain 10. Each panel 17 has an L-shaped Velcro (hook or loop) fastener strap spanning attaching piece 16v affixed to its edge that is juxtaposed in the same relationship to the respective Velcro (being the opposite, loop or hook) attaching piece 15v on each side of sheet 11 of said curtain 10.

[0012] A second embodiment is shown in FIG. 3 in which snap fasteners (interlocking metal or plastic discs attached by riveting) are used to replace Velcro fasteners on both attaching pieces 16s of each panel 17 and on both attaching pieces 15s on each side of sheet 11.

[0013] FIG. 4 depicts a fully assembled curtain 10 having panels 17 attached at either side of sheet 11 by using fastening systems as described in either embodiment above, that is by way of Velcro fasteners as in FIG. 2 or by way of snap fasteners as in FIG. 3, such that each attaching piece 16 attaches to and covers its respective attaching piece 15 (not shown in FIG. 4 as obscured by covering pieces 16). In either embodiment, vinyl sheets 17 at each side of sheet 11 of curtain 10 provide an antimicrobial impervious gripping surface that is exclusively used to move said curtain 10 in order to avoid the buildup of bacteria on said curtain 10. Each such sheet 17 can be readily disengaged from curtain 10 for cleaning by undoing the fasteners, whether Velcro as in FIG. 2 or snaps as in FIG. 3.

[0014] In the preferred embodiment of this invention, panels 17 are made of vinyl; however, it should be understood that the disclosure of the use of Velcro or snap fasteners and the use of vinyl in order to manufacture the impervious antimicrobial panels 17 in this application is not meant to limit the reach of the invention described herein, specifically to exclude coverage hereunder for other types of suitable fasteners, such as buttons and buttonholes, or other medical grade impervious antimicrobial materials for said panel.