Sterilized Gown

Abstract

There is provided an open back type sterilized gown including a main panel including: a front panel; and a left-side back panel and a right-side back panel linked with the front panel, wherein an elastic body having an ended annular shape is provided at a neckline part formed at the main panel, and the elastic body can maintain the neckline part of the sterilized gown in an annular shape surrounding a neck part of a wearer in a non-deformed state, and opens on a back side so as to allow a neck part of the wearer to pass through a back side of the neckline part in a deformed state.

Claims

1. An open back type sterilized gown comprising a main panel including: a front panel; and a left-side back panel and a right-side back panel linked with the front panel, wherein an elastic body having an ended annular shape is provided at a neckline part formed at the main panel, and the elastic body can maintain the neckline part of the sterilized gown in an annular shape surrounding a neck part of a wearer in a non-deformed state, and opens on a back side so as to allow a neck part of the wearer to pass through a back side of the neckline part in a deformed state.

2. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the elastic body are overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction in a non-deformed state.

3. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, wherein a total dimension of a width of the left-side back panel and a width of the right-side back panel under a chest circumference part is larger than a width of the front panel, and one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel is overlapped with the other so that a predetermined overlap width is formed on a back side when the elastic body is not deformed.

4. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, further comprising: a waist string provided at an end part of one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel, the one being located on an outer side when being worn; waist string fixing part which is provided at the waist string directly or via a discrete body in order to fix a distal end of the waist string at a place away from a wearer; and separating part configured to separate the waist string fixing part from a base end of the waist string or from the waist string.

5. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, further comprising a mask cover configured to cover a mask, which has been already worn by a wearer of the gown, wherein attaching part configured to attach the mask cover to the mask is provided inside the mask cover.

6. The sterilized gown according to claim 2, wherein the elastic body is formed to have a curvature radius at an end part, which is laid on an inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction, smaller than a curvature radius of another part in a non-deformed state.

7. The sterilized gown according to claim 2, wherein a total dimension of a width of the left-side back panel and a width of the right-side back panel under a chest circumference part is larger than a width of the front panel, and one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel is overlapped with the other so that a predetermined overlap width is formed on a back side when the elastic body is not deformed.

8. The sterilized gown according to claim 4, further comprising a waist string holder connected with the waist string, wherein the waist string fixing part is provided at the waist string holder.

9. The sterilized gown according to claim 4, further comprising a mask cover configured to cover a mask, which has been already worn by a wearer of the gown, wherein attaching part configured to attach the mask cover to the mask is provided inside the mask cover.

10. The sterilized gown according to claim 5, wherein the mask cover is further provided with a folded part, which is formed by folding an upper end part to an outer side and into which a wearer can insert a tip of his finger.

11. The sterilized gown according to claim 8, further comprising a mask cover configured to cover a mask, which has been already worn by a wearer of the gown, wherein attaching part configured to attach the mask cover to the mask is provided inside the mask cover.

12. The sterilized gown according to claim 9, wherein the mask cover is further provided with a folded part, which is formed by folding an upper end part to an outer side and into which a wearer can insert a tip of his finger.

13. The sterilized gown according to claim 11, wherein the mask cover is further provided with a folded part, which is formed by folding an upper end part to an outer side and into which a wearer can insert a tip of his finger.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0036] FIG. 1 is a general view which illustrates a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a first view which illustrates a neckline part at the time of wearing a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0038] FIGS. 3A and 3B are views which illustrate an annular string according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0039] FIG. 4 is a second view which illustrates a neckline part at the time of wearing a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0040] FIG. 5 is a view which illustrates a front side of a waist string holder of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0041] FIG. 6 is a view which illustrates a rear side of a waist string holder of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0042] FIG. 7 is a general view which illustrates a case where an annular string is deformed in a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 8 is a view which illustrates a method of tying a waist string using waist string fixing part in a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0044] FIG. 9 is a front view which illustrates a wearing state of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0045] FIG. 10 is a rear view which illustrates a wearing state of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0046] FIG. 11 is a view which illustrates an inner side of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0047] FIG. 12 is a view which illustrates an outer side in a wearing state of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; and

[0048] FIG. 13 is a view which illustrates the usage of a folded part of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The following description will explain specific embodiments of the present invention with reference to accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative configurations and the like of components described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention thereto unless otherwise noted.

[0050] <Embodiment 1>

[0051] <Structure>

[0052] First, the structure of a sterilized gown 1 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a general view which illustrates the structure of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment. Here, FIG. 1 illustrates a state before an annular spring 32, which will be described later, is enclosed in a neckline part 31. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sterilized gown 1 is an open back type gown having: a main panel 13, which is formed of a front panel 11, and a right-side back panel 12a and a left-side back panel 12b formed integrally with the front panel 11; and sleeve parts 14a and 14b joined with the main panel 13.

[0053] Nonwoven fabric which has been subject to water repellent treatment is used as fabric of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment, and the main panel 13 is joined with the sleeve parts 14a and 14b by ultrasonic bonding. Here, the fabric material is not limited to nonwoven fabric, and the method of joining the main panel with the sleeve parts is also not limited to ultrasonic bonding.

[0054] The front panel 11 is bonded with a front-side waist string 21 (having a length of 400 mm, for example) by ultrasonic bonding, and the right-side back panel 12a is bonded with a back-side waist string 22 (having a length of 1,000 mm, for example) by ultrasonic bonding. Distal ends of the waist strings 21 and 22 are held together by a waist string holder 23. Moreover, respective sleeve openings 15a and 15b of the sleeve parts 14a and 14b are ribbed to be freely extensible. Furthermore, the neckline part 31 of the sterilized gown 1 is provided with piping, and the annular spring 32 (having a width of 15 mm, for example) made of resin is enclosed in the neckline part 31 as illustrated in FIG. 2 so as to have an annular shape (having a diameter of 160 mm, for example) in plan view over a substantially entire circumference of the neckline part.

[0055] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate views of the annular spring 32. The annular spring 32 is formed by shaping a flat spring to be annular with both ends thereof being overlapped with each other as illustrated in FIG. 3A, and is deformed in a direction to increase the diameter so that the overlapped ends are separated from each other and an opening is formed at the annular shape as illustrated in FIG. 3B. It is to be noted that the annular spring 32 is formed in such a manner that the curvature radius R1 of an end part, which is located on the inner side, of overlapped ends becomes smaller than a curvature radius R2 of the other part as illustrated in FIG. 3A.

[0056] With the annular spring 32 having such a shape, an end part on a side, which is located on the inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in the circumferential direction in a non-deformed state, is positioned on a further inner side of the annular spring 32 with respect to an end part on a side, which is located on the outer side. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the inner side and the outer side of the overlapped end parts from being located conversely or prevent the overlapped end parts from colliding each other and disturbing restoration, in the process of deforming the annular spring 32 to expand so as to form an opening and then restoring the shape. It is to be noted that examples of the material for the annular spring 32 include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyester (PET) and polyacetal (POM).

[0057] FIG. 4 illustrates a rear view of the neckline part 31 and the main panel 13 in a wearing state of the sterilized gown 1. As seen from FIGS. 2 and 4, the neckline part 31 of the sterilized gown 1 to which the annular spring 32 is enclosed has a rising width (e.g., 18 mm) equal to or larger than the width of the annular spring 32 at the piping part. Moreover, the length of the neckline part 31 (dimension from an end on the right-side back panel 12a side to an end on the left-side back panel 12b side) is longer (e.g., 650 mm) than the length of circumference (approximately 500 mm here) of the neckline part 31, and both ends of the neckline part 31 are also overlapped with each other by approximately 150 mm in plan view.

[0058] At a part lower than the neckline part 31, the sum dimension of the width of the right-side back panel 12a and the width of the left-side back panel 12b of the main panel 13 has an additional length (approximately 150 mm here) with respect to the front panel 11. Therefore, the right-side back panel 12a and the left-side back panel 12b of the sterilized gown 1 are overlapped with each other by an overlap width 34 in a wearing state.

[0059] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate details of tip parts of the waist strings and the waist string holder. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the back-side waist string 22 joined with the right-side back panel 12a and the front-side waist string 21 joined with the front panel 11 are respectively connected with the waist string holder 23. More specifically, the back-side waist string 22 penetrates a first hole 23a and a second hole 23b of the waist string holder 23, is then folded, and further penetrates the second hole 23b and the first hole 23a, so as to form a loop 22a outside the second hole. The front-side waist string 21 is folded in a state penetrating the loop 22a, and is tightened and fixed at the loop 22a by the back-side waist string 22. Roulette 24 as separating part is provided at a position of the back-side waist string 22 at a predetermined distance (e.g., 360 mm) from the end on the waist string holder side.

[0060] On the waist string holder 23, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a double-sided adhesive tape 25 is further stuck in a position, which is away from a part connected with a waist string, of a face opposite to the face where the loop 22a of the back-side waist string 22 is provided. The size of released paper of the double-sided adhesive tape is larger than the size of the double-sided adhesive tape (for example, the double-sided adhesive tape is 10 mm20 mm, while released paper is 10 mm30 mm). Here, the double-sided adhesive tape 25 corresponds to waist string fixing part in this embodiment.

[0061] <Usage>

[0062] Next, the usage of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment will be described. The wearer first grasps the inner side of an arbitrary place of a sleeve or the vicinity of a shoulder of the sterilized gown 1 which is laid with the inner side facing the wearer, expands his/her arms right and left, and stretches the neckline part 31, which is in an annular shape, via fabric at a portion which the wearer is gripping. Then, the annular spring 32 is deformed and both ends of the annular spring 32 are separated from each other, and therefore an opening 31a is formed on the back side of the neckline part 31 as illustrated in FIG. 7. The wearer inserts his/her neck through the opening 31a to the inner side of the neckline part 31, and further closes the opening 31a of the neckline part 31 by bringing his/her arms, which have been expanded right and left, closer to each other or by taking his/her hand off the inner side of the gown, so that the annular shape of the annular spring 32 and the neckline part 31 is restored. Such operation allows the wearer to easily insert his/her neck into the neckline part 31.

[0063] In such a manner, it is possible to prevent a neck circumference part of the sterilized gown 1 from being taken off without conducting operation for fastening at the back face of the wearer. In addition, regarding the back face below the neck circumference part, it also becomes possible to roughly close the back panel without using inner strings at a waist part or the like, since the right-side back panel 12a is automatically overlapped with the outer side of the left-side back panel 12b. The wearer then passes his/her arms respectively along the inner side of the gown and makes his/her hands extended out of the sleeve openings 15a and 15b. The above operations temporarily cause the wearer to put on the sterilized gown 1 over his/her body. It is to be noted that an outer surface of the gown may be provided with marking which specifies a place where the wearer is to grasp first. It is therefore possible to prevent the wearer from hesitating about which part is to be grasped first and to effectively deform the neckline part 31.

[0064] Next, the sterilized gown 1 is fastened using the waist strings 21 and 22 in order to prevent the sterilized gown 1 from coming loose, or more specifically, to prevent the right and left back panels 12a and 12b being taken off.

[0065] The wearer grips the waist string holder 23 which is positioned on the front side of the body of the sterilized gown 1, and pulls the front-side waist string 21 from the loop 22a of the back-side waist string 22 formed at the second hole 23b. In such a manner, the waist string holder 23 can freely move within the length range of the back-side waist string 22 connected therewith. Released paper is then released from the double-sided adhesive tape 25 provided on the rear face of the waist string holder 23, and the waist string holder 23 is stuck on an arbitrary place (e.g., equipment base) at a certain degree of height, using the double-sided adhesive tape 25 as illustrated in the left view in FIG. 8.

[0066] In such a way, it becomes possible to stretch the back-side waist string 22 so as not to touch the floor, and operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to receive the waist string holder 23 from the wearer and grip the waist string holder 23 becomes unnecessary.

[0067] The wearer then turns counterclockwise at the place so as to wind the back-side waist string 22 around his/her waist as illustrated in the middle view in FIG. 8. A distal end part of the back-side waist string 22 connected with the waist string holder 23 is then cut at the roulette 24 as illustrated in the right view in FIG. 8 while maintaining the wound state, and the back-side waist string 22 and the front-side waist string 21 are tied with each other at the front face or the side face of the wearer. Therefore, wearing of the sterilized gown 1 is finished. The front view of the gown after wearing is illustrated in FIG. 9. Moreover, the rear view is illustrated in FIG. 10.

[0068] Although the annular spring 32, in which the neckline part 31 is to be enclosed, of the sterilized gown 1 illustrated in the above embodiment is made of resin, it is to be noted that an annular spring 32 made of stainless steel or other metal may be used instead. When an annular spring 32 made of resin is used, there are advantages that weight saving is achieved and that a member made of metal can be eliminated from the sterilized gown 1 and separation of noncombustible matters in the process of waste disposal after usage of the gown becomes unnecessary. When an annular spring 32 made of metal is used, there is another advantage that the durability of the annular spring 32 itself can be increased.

[0069] Moreover, the annular spring 32 is not necessarily constituted of a flat string. The annular spring 32 can be formed by shaping a linear string into an annular shape.

[0070] Although the above embodiment has a structure wherein waist string is provided at the front panel 11 and at the right-side back panel 12a and the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 are tied with each other for usage after the back-side waist string 22 is wound around the waist, a hook-and-loop fastener may be provided at a predetermined part of at least one of the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 and fix the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22. Further, although two waist strings of the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 are provided in the above embodiment, only the back-side waist string 22 may be provided as the waist string. In such a case, the back-side waist string 22 is formed to have a long dimension (e.g., 1,400 mm), and the tip of the back-side waist string is connected with the waist string holder 23. The waist string can be wound around the waist even when only the back-side waist string 22 is provided. It is to be noted that the front-side waist string 21 itself may be bundled and collected by paper tape or the like in order to prevent the front-side waist string 21 having a long dimension from contacting with the ground together with the waist string holder 23.

[0071] For wearing the sterilized gown 1 of this variation, the waist string holder 23 is fixed at a proper place, the wearer turns counterclockwise so that the back-side waist string 22 is wound around his/her waist, and the waist string holder 23 is separated using the roulette in the same manner as the case of Embodiment 1. Wearing of the sterilized gown 1 is finished by seizing a distal end, which has been cut from the back-side waist string 22, to an arbitrary part of the back-side waist string 22, which has been wound around the waist, or by fixing the distal end to the main panel 13 using a hook-and-loop fastener or the like.

[0072] In the above embodiment wherein sleeves of set-in sleeve type are employed as the sleeve parts 14a and 14b, it is to be noted that relatively large space is formed around the shoulders of the wearer, no excess load is applied on the elastic body 32 and the neckline part 31, and it is possible to suppress unprepared opening of the back side of the neckline part 31 in a wearing state. However, the type of the sleeve parts is not limited to the above one, and a raglan sleeve type may be employed, for example.

[0073] Moreover, the numerical values described as dimensions of the respective parts of the sterilized gown 1 in the above embodiment are only examples, and it is to be understood that the numerical values may be modified suitably.

[0074] <Embodiment 2>

[0075] Embodiment 2 of a sterilized gown 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. It is to be noted that the basic structure of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment is the same as that of the sterilized gown 1 according to Embodiment 1 except that a mask cover 41 is provided. Hence, detailed explanation on the structure common with the sterilized gown 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be omitted here.

[0076] As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, a mask cover 41 configured to cover a mask, which has already been worn by the wearer, is provided right under a neckline part 31 of a front panel 11 in the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment. Specifically, the lower end of the mask cover 41 is joined with the front panel 11 at the lower end of the neckline part 31. This joining method may be achieved by ultrasonic bonding or by sewing. Moreover, the lower end of the mask cover 41 may be joined with the neckline part 31 itself. It is to be noted that a side of the mask cover 41, which is laid closer to the head of the wearer when the mask cover 41 is worn, is referred to as the upper side, and the opposite side is referred to as the lower side in this application.

[0077] The mask cover 41 has a lateral width (e.g., 170 mm) sufficient for covering the mask, and both ends 42a and 42b in the width direction are gathered using rubber. This makes the dimension of the mask cover 41 extensible (e.g., 160 mm to 230 mm) in the vertical direction in a normal state.

[0078] Moreover, pinch parts 43a and 43b to be used for lifting the mask cover 41 hanging down are provided above both end parts of the mask cover 41 in the width direction. The dimensions of the pinch parts 43a and 43b are only required to be an enough size to be pinched by the wearer with his/her fingers (e.g., 10 mm50 mm).

[0079] An attaching part 44 constituted of a hook surface of a hook-and-loop fastener is provided in an upper part of the inner side of the mask cover 41. The mask part can be covered with the mask cover 41 as illustrated in FIG. 12 by pressing and attaching the attaching part 44 to a mask, which has been already worn, from outside of the mask cover 41. For this, the attaching part 44 preferably has dimensions (e.g., 15 mm140 mm) having a width closer to the lateral width of the mask cover 41.

[0080] With the mask cover 41 having such a structure, it is possible to eliminate operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to tie strings to be used for fixing a mask cover at the back face of the wearer.

[0081] Furthermore, a folded part 45 having a predetermined width (e.g., 30 mm) is provided at an upper end part on the outer side of the mask cover 41 as illustrated in FIG. 12. For attaching the mask cover 41 to a mask, fingers are put into the folded part 45 as illustrated in FIG. 13 and the attaching part 44 is then pressed to the mask from outside.

[0082] In such a way, it is possible to prevent the wearer from touching his/her face, that is, an unclean region by mistake in the process of mounting the mask cover 41 on the mask. Although an example wherein the folded part 45 is provided has been described in this embodiment, it is to be noted that the folded part 45 is not an essential structure of the present invention, and it is also possible without the folded part 45 to sufficiently exhibit the effect of this embodiment that the operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to tie strings to be used for fixing the mask cover at the back face of the wearer is eliminated.