US3369256A

US3369256A - Hospital robe

Info

Publication number: US3369256A
Application number: US558986A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kern Alice
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-06-20
Filing date: 1966-06-20
Publication date: 1968-02-20
Anticipated expiration: 1985-02-20

Description

A. KERN HOSPITAL ROBE Feb. 20, 1968 Filed June 20, 1966 INVENTDR Alice Kern 3,369,256 Patented Feb. 20, 1968 Free 3,369,256 HOSPITAL ROBE Alice Kern, 405 W. 9th Ave, Tarentum, Pa. 15084 Filed June 20, 1966, Ser. No. 558386 8 Claims. (Cl. 2-114) The present invention relates to hospital garments and more particularly to a hospital garment in the form of a robe which is adapted particularly for use by bedridden or semi-invalid patients.

Conventional hospital garments in this category are usually of a slip-on or an open-back structure which is bulky and tends to bunch resulting in discomfort to the wearer. It is, moreover, difiicult to dress and undress patients with such garments.

Conventional garments also fail to provide suitable access for the examining physician or for treatment or other administrations without removing the garment, thereby resulting in embarrassment and further discomfort to the wearer. Similarly, conventional garments have not been advantageously constructed to permit the usual bodily functions or special bodily functions, for example, catheter administrations, without removing the ganment.

Finally, conventional hospital garments have been constructed so as to present an institutional appearance and thus have enhanced rather than diminished the mental anxieties attendant upon bedridden or semi-invalid conditions of patients.

I have overcome the aforementioned difficulties associated with conventional hospital garments, by providing a novel robe type garment which can be worn with equal facility by bedridden or semi-invalid patients, by patients not confined to the bed and by hospital in or out-patients, in general. My novel hospital robe is arranged so as to present a pleasing and a more or less normal appearance of an every day garment. The depressing, institutionalized appearance of conventional hospital garments is, therefore, eliminated.

I further provide a hospital garment such as a robe having a full or complete opening down the rear portion thereof to facilitate dressing and undressing bedridden or semi-invalid patients. The opening is secured desirably, by quick attached fastening means such as snap fasteners, which are loosely spaced to facilitate attendance upon the patients such as for dressing or undressing purposes, or for examination, treatment, or other procedures.

The front of my novel hospital robe is arranged so as to present much the same frontal appearance of a conventional bathrobe or the like. In furtherance of this r purpose the robe is provided with a conventional V or other suitable neck opening and an overlapping junction extending therefrom to the hemline of the garment. Desirably, the overlapping junction is stitched or otherwise fastened from the junction thereof with the neckline to a point below the waist of the wearer. The remainder of the lap junction is unsecured in order to provide access to the wearers body for the examin ng physician, attendance to bodily functions, treatment and other administrations. Desirably, the material of the garment is lapped to a considerable extent in the region of the lower front opening of the garment, in order to substantially conceal the opening during normal postures of the wearer.

In order to enhance the appearance of the garment, a belt is provided in a modification of my garment and is arranged for use after the manner of a typical bathrobe belt. However, to prevent its loss, the belt is permanently secured to the robe, as by stitching, rather than through the use of conventional belt loops. Desirably the belt is secured to the garment but in an inobvious manner in order to preserve its illusion of a conventional bathrobe belt. In furtherance of this purpose, the securance of the belt to the robe is made at the side thereof and at a point or relatively small area intermediate the belt ends as to make the securance as inobvious as possible and so as not to interfere with the rear opening of the garment. This arrangement facilitates use of the robe by the wearer or manipulation of the robe by hospital personnel attending the patient, as the case may be. Conventional belt loops can be app-lied to the robe to further simulate the frontal appearance of a conventional bathrobe and to facilitate use of the belt by the wearer.

During the foregoing discussion, certain objects, features and advantages of the invention have been set forth. These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be elaborated upon during the forthcoming detailed description of certain presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, together with preferred methods of practicing the same.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown certain presently preferred modifications of the invention and have illustrated certain preferred methods of practicing the same, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of one form of hospital ganment such as a robe constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear perspective view of the hospital garment illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a crosssectional view of the garment 1 as shown in FIGURE 1 and taken along reference line IIIIII thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is another cross-sectional view of the garment as shown in FIGURE 1 and taken along reference line IVIV thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the exemplary form of the invention shown therein includes a. robe-like garment 10 having, in this example, a V- neckline 12, sleeves 14- and other accessories such as pockets 15 so as to present the appearance of a normal or everyday garment. As better shown in FIGURE 2, the garment It is constructed with a full length or complete opening extending down the back thereof, as denoted by reference character 16. Desirably, the opposing edges of the opening 16 are provided with suitable quickattach fastening means such as snap fasteners 18. The fasteners 18, in this example, are relatively remotely spaced to minimize the time required for dressing or undressing the wearer. However, the lapped

portions

17 and 19 adjacent the opening 16 prevent separation of material thereat and exposure of the wearers body in those areas between the widely separated fasteners 18, during normal body postures. The use of the remotely spaced fasteners 18 also facilitates partially opening the garment id at the upper or lower rear'portions thereof for examination, treatment or other functions.

At the front of the garment 10 a lapped junction 20 is formed which extends preferably from the lower front extremity of the neckline 12 to the hemline 22 of the garment 10. Preferably, the lapped junction 20 is stitched from the neckline to a point below the waist of the wearer as indicated by chain line 24. A similar row of stitching, denoted by chain line 26, desirably, is utilized to secure the inner edge of the lapped junction 20 in order to prevent bunching of the garment material at the junction 20.

The remainder of the lapped junction from the lower extremities of the

stitching

24, 26 to the hemline 22 of the garment is left open to provide access to the body of the wearer for examination purposes, treatment and other administrations, and normal bodily functions without removal of the garment. The lapped structure of the junction 20 renders the lower front opening of the garment,

which is denoted by the bracket 28, inobvious and thus aids in preserving a normal frontal appearance of the garment. The extent of the overlappage of the garment material in the area of the junction 20, and particularly the lower front opening portion 23 thereof, can be varied to a greater or lesser extent than that shown. Desirably, such overlappage is sufficient to prevent inadvertent opening or separation of such garment material during normal postures of the wearer and thus can be varied in anticipation of the activity or inactivity of a given category of patients. In one arrangement of my garment the lapped frontal junction is formed by overlapping

edges

25 and 27 which respectively are extrapolations of the apposing

edges

29 and 31 of the V-neck 12 from the lower extremity thereof to hemline 22.

Desirably, also the lines of

stitching

24, 26 are terminated adjacent the upper extremities of the pockets 15. Thus, when the wearer places his hands in the pockets 15 the tendency to separate the

free overlapping edges

25 and 27 at the lower front opening 28 is positively prevented.

In another form of my hospital garment, garment 10 can be provided with a belt 30, which is constructed in accordance with the invention to enhance both the mental and physical comfort of the wearer and to facilitate use and care of the garment. Thus, the belt is arranged to further enhance the frontal impression of a normal garment and thus to avoid the institutionalized appearance of conventional hospital wearing apparel. The use of the belt 30 also tends to preserve at least to some extent, the mental and physical comfort of the patient when the front or rear portions of the garment 10 are opened or partially opened as the case may be for examination purposes or other treatment procedures and administrations.

In order to prevent separation or loss of the belt 30 by inattentive patients or during laundering of the garment, the belt 30, desirably, is permanently secured to the garment 10. I prefer, however, to make such securance in an inobvious manner so as not to detract from the more or less normal appearance of my hospital garment. In furtherance of this purpose, the belt 30 is secured at a point or relatively small area intermediate its ends, as by one or more transverse rows of stitching 32, to the garment 10. The stitching or other belt securance 32 preferably is located at the side of the garment to make the securance as inobvious as possible and to prevent its interfering with either the rear opening 16 or the front opening 28 of the garment 10. Thus, throughout the preponderant proportion of its length the belt 30 can be manipulated to assume the appearance of a conventional garment belt.

In still another form of my hospital garment the illusion of a conventional, frontal appearance of the garment 10, :as viewed in FIGURE 1, can be enhanced still further by the provision of the conventional belt loops 34, the remote one of which cooperates with belt stitching 32 to support and properly locate the belt 30.

In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent that novel and efficient forms of hospital garments have been disclosed herein. The garment is particularly designed to facilitate the care and treatment of hospital patients especially during dressing and undressing, examination and the like administrations, without causing undue discomfort and embarrassment to the wearer of the garment. It will be understood, of course, that certain features of the invention can be utilized without a corresponding use of other features thereof. Accordingly, while I have shown and described certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention and have illustrated certain presently preferred methods of practicing the same, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A hospital garment comprising a robe-like structure having a full-length rear opening extending from a high rear neckline to a hemline of at least knee length, said structure having a front portion presenting the appearance of a mans bathrobe, and having a V-neckline opening and a full-length lapped frontal junction extending from said neckline opening to said hemline, the overlapping edges of said junction being respectively extrapolations of the apposing inward edges of said V-neckline and extending from the lower extremity of said V-neckline to said hemline, and a pair of single rows of stitching commencing at said lower extremity and extending along said edges respectively to points below a waist line of said garment, said rows of stitching securing the upper portion of said lapped frontal junction, and the lower portion of said junction being open from the lower termini of said rows of stitching to said hemline.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said garment is provided with a belt stitched at a position intermediate the ends thereof to one side of said garment and away from either opening thereof, and a belt loop is provided adjacent the opposite side of said garment and away from said openings to aid in supporting said belt.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the material of said garment is parallel-lapped along the length of said rear opening and widely spaced snap fastener means are secured to the parallel-lapped portions of said material.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein one of said fasteners is mounted adjacent the bottom of said rear opening, another of said fasteners is mounted adjacent the top thereof, and at most two additional fasteners are spacedly mounted between the aforementioned tasteners.

5. The combination according to claim 1 wherein a pair of pocket structures are spacedly secured to said front portion on either side of said junction, said pockets being located adjacent the lower termini of said rows of stitching to prevent spread of the lower open portion of said junction when a wearers hands are placed in said pockets respectively.

6. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said garment is formed from a pair of similarly shaped panels, said panels being substantially parallel-lapped at the rear of a wearers body to form said rear opening, said panels in addition defining a V-neckline and divergent-lapped edges extrapolated therefrom to form said frontal junction, said panels being detachably secured along said rear opening by a minimum of widely spaced snap fasteners, said panels being secured by said rows of stitching along said divergent edges respectively.

7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein a pocket structure is stitched to each of said panels adjacent the front junction of said garment and further adjacent the lower termini of said rows of stitching so that a wearers hands placed in the pockets respectively will not spread the lower open portion of said frontal junction.

8. The combination according to claim 6 wherein a belt for said garment is joined at a position intermediate its ends to the central region of one of said panels by a single row of stitching, and a belt supporting loop is joined to the central region of the other of said panels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 508,846 11/1893 Seaney 264 1,462,515 7/1923 McElroy 2-114 X 2,331,051 10/1943 Severance 2114 2,707,282 5/1955 Paterson 2114 3,160,891 12/1964 MacDonald 269 RICHARD J. SCANLAN, IR., Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A HOSPITAL GARMENT COMPRISING A ROBE-LIKE STRUCTURE HAVING A FULL-LENGTH REAR OPENING EXTENDING FROM A HIGH REAR NECKLING TO A HEMLINE OF AT LEAST KNEE LENGTH, SAID STRUCTURE HAVING A FRONT PORTION PRESENTING THE APPEARANCE OF A MAN''S BATHROBE, AND HAVING A V-NECKLING OPENING AND A FULL-LENGTH LAPPED FRONTAL JUNCTION EXTENDING FROM SAID NECKLINE OPENING TO SAID HEMLINE, THE OVERLAPPING EDGES OF SAID JUNCTION BEING RESPECTIVELY EXTRAPOLATIONS OF THE APPOSING INWARD EDGES OF SAID V-NECKLINE AND EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER EXTREMITY OF SAID V-NECKLINE TO SAID HEMLINE, AND A PAIR OF SINGLE ROWS OF STITCHING COMMENCING AT SAID LOWER EXTREMITY AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID EDGES RESPECTIVELY TO POINTS BELOW A WAIST LINE OF SAID GARMENT, SAID ROWS OF STITCHING SECURING THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID LAPPED FRONTAL JUNCTION, AND THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID JUNCTION BEING OPEN FROM THE LOWER TERMINI OF SAID ROWS OF STITCHING TO SAID HEMLINE.