MEDICAL GOWN FOR FACILITATING ACCESS TO A PATIENTS TORSO

Abstract

A medical gown for facilitating access to a patient's torso includes a garment shaped to be worn over the patient's torso. An aperture extends through the garment and is positioned to access a port into the patient's body. The aperture is closeable via fasteners such that a gap is left to accommodate a medical tube that is attached to the port. Indicia are included on portions of the garment on opposing sides of the aperture. The indicia serve an ornamental purpose and also facilitate the identification of the location of the aperture. The garment preserves its undisturbed ornamental appearance through careful orientation of the gap.

Claims

1. A medical gown comprising: a garment shaped and configured to cover a torso of a patient, the garment comprising a main body and a flap, the main body having a bounding edge which surrounds an aperture, the flap being movable between a closed position and an open position with respect to the aperture, the flap being positioned over an outer surface of the garment when positioned in the closed position, the aperture being positioned and configured to provide access to a port inserted into the torso of the patient; and a closure mounted to the garment, the closure being configured to secure the flap in the closed position, the closure comprising a plurality of snap buttons, each snap button of the plurality of snap buttons having a first mating member mounted to the main body of the garment adjacent to the bounding edge and a second mating member mounted to the flap of the garment adjacent to a perimeter of the flap, the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being evenly spaced from each other around the bounding edge, a spacing of the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being smaller than a width of the aperture, the spacing of the first mating members being sized and configured to accommodate a medical tube between adjacent first mating members of the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons.

2. (canceled)

3. The medical gown of claim 1, wherein the main body comprises a connecting portion which is fixedly coupled to the flap, the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being evenly spaced around the bounding edge from a first end of the connecting portion to a second end of the connecting portion.

4. The medical gown of claim 2, wherein each of the first portion and the second portion of the garment comprises indicia, the indicia of the first portion being visually distinct from the indicia of the second portion.

5. The medical gown of claim 2, wherein the indicia of the first portion resembles an emblem.

6. The medical gown of claim 1, wherein each of the first portion and the second portion of the garment comprises indicia, the indicia of the first portion being visually distinct from the indicia of the second portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0013] The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0014] FIG. 1 is an in-use front view of a medical gown according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 3 is an in-use perspective detail view of portions of a garment of an embodiment of the disclosure which define an aperture.

[0017] FIG. 4 is an in-use detail front view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing an aperture of a garment being closed.

[0018] FIG. 5 is an in-use detail front view of an embodiment of the disclosure showing an aperture of a garment being open and exposing part of a user wearing the garment.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 6-6 in FIG. 4.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 7-7 in FIG. 4.

[0021] FIG. 8 is a kit front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 9 is a back view of a garment of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 10 is a detail front view of a garment of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 11 is a kit front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a back view of a garment of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 13 is a detail front view of a garment of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0027] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 13 thereof, a new medical gown embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0028] As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 13, the medical gown 10 generally comprises a garment 12 shaped and configured to cover a torso 72 of a patient 70. The garment 12 may define a neck hole 14 and a pair of arm holes 16. The garment 12 may also have a break in a back portion 18 thereof which defines a pair of back panels 20 that may wrap around a back of the patient 70 when the garment 12 is worn. In such embodiments and as best illustrated in FIGS. 1-2, the garment 12 may have tie closures 26, snap button closures, zippers, or other fasteners to secure the back panels 20 to each other behind the patient 70. In other embodiments and as best illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 9, the garment 12 may have a closed back 37 and also may have a connector 38 comprising snap buttons or other fasteners to facilitate alternately opening and closing the garment 12 at a bottom end 24, a side edge, or the like. The garment 12 defines an aperture 28 between a first bounding edge 30 and a second bounding edge 32 on a front portion 22 thereof. The garment 12 also has a first portion 34 and a second portion 36 positioned opposite each other across the aperture 28. The aperture 28 is positioned and configured to provide access to a port 74 inserted into the torso 72 of the patient 70, which may penetrate the patient's 70 chest, abdomen, or other areas.

[0029] A closure 40 is mounted to the garment 12 and is operable to selectively join the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 together to close the aperture 28. The closure 40 is also configured to selectively define a gap 42 between the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 smaller than the aperture 28 when joining the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 together. The gap 42 is sized and configured to accommodate a medical tube 76 which is used to attach to the port 74 in order to deliver medicine, drain bodily fluids, or facilitate other medical procedures. The medical tube 76 may be an intravenous line, a catheter, or the like. The closure 40 is positioned to selectively join the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 together in an overlapping fashion. In this manner, the gap 42 is obscured from view, as the gap 42 extends substantially parallel or tangent to a section of the garment 12 rather than protruding perpendicularly to the section of the garment 12. In other words, one of the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 covers the other one, and view of the gap 42 is at least partially obscured by the covering edge.

[0030] The closure 40 comprises a plurality of snap buttons 44. Each snap button 44 of the plurality of snap buttons 44 has a first mating member 46 mounted to the garment 12 adjacent to the first bounding edge 30 and a second mating member 48 mounted to the garment 12 adjacent to the second bounding edge 32. Adjacent snap buttons 44 of the plurality of snap buttons 44 define the gap 42 therebetween. The closure 40 also may comprise a hook-and-loop fastener, a zipper, button-and-buttonhole fasteners, or the like.

[0031] In reference to FIGS. 1-7, an embodiment of the medical garment 12 is shown in which the first portion 34 of the garment 12 defines a flap 52 and the second portion 36 of the garment 12 defines a main body 50. The main body 50 is movable between a closed position 54 and an open position 56 with respect to the aperture 28. The first bounding edge 30 defines a perimeter 58 of the main body 50, and the main body 50 is positioned over an outer surface of the garment 12 when positioned in the closed position 54. The main body 50 comprises a connecting portion 60 which is fixedly coupled to the flap 52. When the main body 50 is moved to the open position 56, the connecting portion 60 keeps the main body 50 secured to the flap 52. FIGS. 1-7 additionally depict multiple flaps 52 which selectively cover multiple apertures 28, which may be advantageous when different ports must be accessed from different locations on the same patient 70 or as a ready-made design which may be alternately used for different patient with distinctly located ports.

[0032] FIGS. 8-10 also depict an embodiment with a main body 50 and a flap 52 as described above. In this embodiment, each of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 of the garment 12 comprises indicia 62, 64, wherein the indicia 62 of the first portion 34 is visually distinct from the indicia 64 of the second portion 36. The indicia 62, 64 of the first and second portions 34, 36 depicts a superhero outfit in which the indicia 62 of the first portion 34 resembles an emblem. Specifically, the Superman shield is depicted. In other embodiments, other superhero emblems or other emblems such as a police officer badge, a sports team crest, or the like may be depicted. The Figures also depict a cape 66 which is attached to the garment 12 via additional snap buttons, though other releasable fasteners may be used. Socks 68 are also provided and designed as additional ornamentation related to an outfit represented by the indicia 62, 64 of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 of the garment 12.

[0033] In reference to FIGS. 11-13, another embodiment is depicted in which indicia 62, 64 of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 depict an outfit. In this and other embodiments, the indicia 62 of the first portion 34 do not depict an emblem, but the indicia 62 of the first portion 34 and the indicia 64 of the second portion 36 remain visually distinct. The indicia 62, 64 of this embodiment act in part to simulate a fantasy princess gown. Specifically, the indicia 62 of the first portion 34 of the garment 12 simulates a torso portion of the fantasy princess gown, and the indicia 64 of the second portion 36 of the garment 12 simulate a shoulder portion of the fantasy princess gown. Generally, the indicia 62, 64 of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 may be different shapes or colors, comprise visually distinct materials, include different patterns or other graphical designs, or the like. The indicia 62, 64 of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 in other embodiments act to resemble any of a variety of other outfits or costumes. Socks 68 are again provided and designed as additional ornamentation related to the outfit or costume represented by the indicia 62, 64.

[0034] In use, the patient 70 wears the medical gown 10 around the patient's 70 torso 72. To access the port 74 and attach the medical tube 76 to the port 74, the first and second bounding edges 30, 32 of the garment 12 are separated via releasing the closure 40. In addition to the ornamental effects of the indicia of the first portion 34 and the second portion 36 of the garment 12, the indicia also facilitate visually identification the location of the aperture 28. The first and second bounding edges 30, 32 of the garment 12 are joined together again via the closure 40 to cover the patient's 70 torso 72 and restore the ornamental appearance of the garment 12 while the medical tube 76 is attached to the port 74. The gap 42 is formed to accommodate the medical tube 76 without substantially compromising the visual appearance of the garment 12.

[0035] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0036] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word comprising is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article a does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.