WO1989000822A1

WO1989000822A1 - Hospital gown

Info

Publication number: WO1989000822A1
Application number: PCT/US1988/002358
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mary Ethel Parker; John L. Margrave
Original assignee: Smith-Parker Products, Inc.
Priority date: 1987-07-23
Filing date: 1988-07-13
Publication date: 1989-02-09
Also published as: AU2127788A

Abstract

The hospital gown (1) of the present invention provides easily reclosable fastening means (5 and 12) extending from the neck opening to the end of the sleeve or arm opening (11) along the upper margin (13 and 14) of the shoulder which fastening means (12) may be quickly and easily opened and reclosed in order to permit changing of the gown (1) or of medical equipment attached to the patient. The fastening means (5 and 12) are composed of heat resistant hooks and loops.

Description

HOSPITA GOWN WITH HEAT RESISTANT RECLOSEABLE FASTENERS

Cross-Reference to Related Application

The present application is a continuation-in-part of copending patent application Ser. No. 07/076,587, filed July 23, 1987, entitled Hospital Gown.

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a hospital garment and more particularly to a one piece hospital gown for patients.

Conventional garments of this kind are usually slipped on the patient through openings in tubular arm pieces. The tubular shape of the arm pieces of conventional garments is inconvenient when the patient is attached to medical devices such as those used to monitor the patient or intravenous set ups for delivering medication or nourishment to the patient. In such cases the medical devices must be disconnected in order to remove the gown from the patient or must be also threaded through the tubular arm piece of the conventional garment. The garment of the present invention allows the gown to be easily opened and reclosed at the shoulder seams when the gown or equipment is being changed, the patient move _r or when the physician is examining the patient. The present invention eliminates the problems faced by medical practitioners in changing the hospital gowns of patients who are being given intravenous treatment or treated or monitored in such a manner that tubes or wires connected to medical equipment must be

10 rethreaded through the arm openings of conventional hospital gowns.

The hospital gown of the present invention provides easily reclosable fastening means extending from the neck opening to the end of the sleeve or arm opening

15 along the upper margin of the shoulder which fastening means may be quickly and easily opened and reclosed in order to permit changing of the gown or of medical equipment attached to the patient. It is often necessary for medical treatment to be delivered intravenously over a

20 prolonged period of time, requiring the medical equipment to be attached to the patient usually through a vein in the arm.

The present invention further provides easily reclosable fastening means to hold the vertical edges of c_Ω the gown together and overlapping flaps to give the patient more privacy than conventional hospital gowns. The simple construction of the present invention provides economical manufacturing costs. The gown of the present invention may be constructed of any material

30 conventionally used such as cotton, linen, or synthetic fibers. The garment of the present invention may also be made of paper or other disposable materials from which clothing can be manufactured. These fabrics may be in a variety of colors or prints in order that the appearance

35 of the gown need not be "institutional." In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides heat resistant and reclosable fastening means, preferably of heat resistant self-adhering material such as sold under the trademark Velcro. In the most preferred embodiment, the self-adhering material is a plurality of hooks and loops composed of polypropylene and treated to have hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

The use of heat resistant materials such as Velcro allows the hospital gown of the present invention to be laundered in conventional commercial laundry facilities and dried at the temperatures used for hospital gowns without Velcro. Untreated Velcro melts at the high temperatures obtained in such commercial dryers.

The garment of the present invention is also particularly useful for patients with limited arm motion. In such cases the patients do not have to raise their arms to insert them into tubular arm holes found in conventional hospital gowns. The hospital gown of the present invention can be placed on the patient under the arms and fastened at the shoulder edges by the reclosable fasteners. Or, if desired, the garment can be inserted over the head and fastened without requiring arm movement.

Further advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, description and claims.

Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 represents an elevation of one embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2 represents a view of the reverse side of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 represents a plan view of the garment of the present invention, Fig. 4 shows a view of one embodiment of the present invention on the wearer, and

Fig. 5 represents a fragmentary view showing details of the neck and shoulders of one embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

The hospital gown of the present invention comprises a one piece body unit 1 having a first vertical longitudinal edge 2 and a second vertical longitudinal edge 3 wherein the longitudinal opening 4 between these longitudinal edges is closable by fastening means 5. The longitudinal edges overlap when the longitudinal opening 4 is closed creating an overlapping flap 6 and an underflap 7 thereby providing more privacy for the patient. The longitudinal opening 4 extends from a neck edge 8 to the hem 9 of the garment.

A first and second closeable shoulder opening 10 extends from the neck opening to the end of the arm or sleeve opening 11. Reclosable fastening means 12 connect the first 13 and second 14 shoulder edges. These shoulder openings permit the changing of the gown or medical equipment attached to the patient without having to thread the tubes and wires through a tubular arm hole and without the necessity of raising the patient's arms.

In the preferred embodiment the garment has sleeves. The sleeves may be cut from one piece of cloth with the body of the garment or may be separately formed and attached thereto. The reclosable fastening means used in the present invention are, in the preferred embodiment, of self-adhering material such as sold under the trademark Velcro. In a preferred embodiment, the self-adhering material is composed of polypropylene hooks and loops. The polypropylene self-adhering material of the reclosable fastening means may be made to be heat resistant by processes known to those of ordinary skill in the art such as, for example, the process described in United States Patent No. 3,758,450 issued to Margrave, et al. Briefly, polypropylene in the form of separated self-adhering hooks and loops material may be fluorinated by passing fluorine over the material, washing the fluorinated material with a strong alkali to remove the excess hydrofluoric acid, and then removing the excess alkali by washing with water. Fluorine may be used at concentrations of about 1 to about 10% v/v. Preferably 10% fluorine in a nitrogen atmosphere is used. The fluorination procedure was carried out at temperatures of about 50° C. to about 100° C. for time periods ranging from about 20 minutes to about 4 hours. Most preferably the fluorination procedure is carried out at 80° C. for about 1 hour. The alkali may be any base such as one selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide and may be used at concentrations ranging from about IN to about ION. Most preferably 8.25N sodium hydroxide is used. The removal of the excess hydrofluoric acid and subsequent washing may be carried out at ambient temperatures. The material thus treated has hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

Hospital gowns of the present invention having the fastening means of polypropylene treated as above were able to withstand a temperature of at least 450° F. (232.4° C.) with no damage to the Velcro fasteners.

The reclosable fastening means may be of any shape or material suitable in the present invention to be easily opened and reclosed.

The foregoing description and drawings make apparent the novel and advantageous features of the hospital garment of the present invention. It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the garment -, described in the present embodiment of the invention may be altered without changing the spirit or scope of the invention as described herein and in the appended claims.

a What is claimed is:

0

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A hospital gown comprising, a one piece body having a neck opening, shoulder openings, sleeves, sleeve arm openings, and a bottom edge, a first vertical longitudinal edge and a second vertical mating edge extending from the neck opening to the bottom edge for providing a longitudinal opening, first fastening means for opening and closing said longitudinal opening, a third edge and a fourth mating edge extending from the neck opening to each of the arm openings along the upper sides of the sleeves for providing shoulder openings, second fastening means positioned on the third and fourth edges for opening and closing the shoulder opening.

2. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are self-adhering.

3. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are the same.

4. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second longitudinal edges of the one piece body overlap when fastened by said first fastening means.

5. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are "Velcro".

6. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second self-adhering fastening means are a plurality of hooks and loops. •_f

7. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said gown is cotton.

8. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said gown is synthetic material.

9. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said gown is paper.

10. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are a plurality of hooks and loops, and said gown is made of paper.

11. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are heat resistant "Velcro.^H

12. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means are a heat resistant plurality of hooks and loops.

13. The hospital gown of claim 6 wherein said fastening means are polypropylene.

14. The hospital gown of claim 13 wherein said fastening means include hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

15. The hospital gown of claim 1 wherein said first and second fastening means include hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

16. The hospital gown of claim 6 wherein said first and second self-adhering fastening means include hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

17. The hospital gown of claim 5 wherein said "Velcro" is composed of polypropylene and comprises hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

18. A self-adhering fastening means comprising cooperating hook-forming pile threads and loop-forming pile threads, said hook-forming pile threads and said loop-forming pile threads having hydrolytically resistant fluorocarbon surfaces.

19. The self-adhering fastening means of claim 18 wherein said fastening means are selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene and trimethyl pentane.

20. The self-adhering fastening means of claim 18 wherein said fastening means are polypropylene.