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[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patent application serial No. 60/421,523, filed Oct. 26, 2002 entitled Garment for invalid.
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates, in general, to garments worn by patients for use by caregivers to manipulate the patient and, more particularly, the instant invention relates to the design of such garments having connecting portions to mount the garment on a patient and handholds for moving or positioning the patient.
[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] Many of the challenges of caring for patients including, for example, invalids is that of moving or positioning the patients who may be paralyzed or otherwise too weak due to a sickness to position themselves in a bed or furniture for seating. For example, bedridden patients generally required frequent turning to prevent the onset of bedsores in concentrated load bearing areas. Feeble patients require the help of a caregiver to transfer the patient into and out of a bed, a chair, a wheelchair and a car. A post-surgical patient generally benefit or require periods of time for sitting in a generally upright position to prevent an onset of pneumonia. A patient who is placed in a sitting upright position in bed may tend to slide downward in the bed and require repositioning by a caregiver to reestablish the desired upright position in the bed. A patient in bed may need to be moved forwardly by a caregiver for positioning pillows. A patient undergoing physical therapy may need to be positioned appropriately for the therapy. Patients may be physically hard to move due to their weight and bulk, and it may be difficult to protect patients from injury due to brittle bones, and/or fragile skin.
[0006] In response to this need, my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,329 entilted Invalid support garment disclosed handholds in a garment for use by a caregiver to move or position the patient. Various other prior art patents teach garments having handles, these known patents comprise U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,572 entitled Reinforced garment with looped grasping handles discloses garment pants having handles to be used by a dance partner. U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,253 entitled Quick evacuation fireman's coat discloses a fireman's coat having straps so that a fireman who has been injured or overcome by heat or smoke can be evacuated by another fireman by the use of the straps. U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,804 entitled Infant's garment with safety feature disclosed a body suit used as a wrap around an infant and presenting handles on the garment for quickly moving the infant to safety.
[0007] It is therefore one of the primary objects of the present invention to facilitate the process of moving or positioning a weak or paralyzed patient.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment for a weak or paralyzed patient, the garment having handholds to facilitate moving or positioning the patient.
[0009] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a garment for a weak or paralyzed patient, the garment having handholds with rigid portions to protect a care giver's hands.
[0010] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a garment for moving or positioning a male patient, the garment having a bifurcate portion for passing through the crotch of the patient to prevent discomfort.
[0011] A further object of the present invention is to provide, for a weak or paralyzed patient, a garment having separate top and bottom portions, the portions having handholds to facilitate moving or positioning the patient.
[0012] It is an additional object of the present invention to provide, for a weak or paralyzed male patient, a bottom garment having handholds and a bifurcate portion passing through the crotch of the patient to prevent discomfort.
[0013] Still yet, another object of the present invention is to provide, for a weak or paralyzed male patient, a bottom garment having handholds and a bifurcate portion passing thought the crotch of the patient to prevent discomfort, the bifurcate portion including a pair of tail portions.
[0014] Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide, for a weak or paralyzed patient, a top garment having handholds on the front to facilitate moving the patient forward to position pillows.
[0015] A still further object of the present invention is to provide a rigid handhold for a garment for a weak or paralyzed patient. The rigid handhold is for improving the grip of a caregiver when moving or positioning the patient.
[0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a garment used by a caregiver wherein the garment includes a garment body including front garment portion and a back garment portion constructed and arranged for traversing front and back areas of the patient from at least a waist line area of the patient, means formed on the garment body including a plurality of extended garment portions movable into positions to cover at least part a patient and forming a garment body interconnection between the front garment portion and the back garment portion, the plurality of extended garment portions having lengths sufficient to anchor the front and back garment portions in at least one direction perpendicular to the waist line area of the patient, and a plurality of handholds on the a garment body for use by a caregiver to manipulate the patient.
[0017] In another aspect, the present invention provides a garment used by a caregiver wherein the garment comprising a garment body including front portion and a back portion at least partially covering a patient, and a plurality of handholds including at least one rigid member in the garment body for improving a grip by a caregiver to manipulate a patient.
[0018] In addition to the various objects and advantages of the present invention which have been generally described above, there will be various other objects and advantages of the invention that will become more readily apparent to those persons who are skilled in the relevant art from the following detailed description of the invention, is read in light of the accompanying drawings in which:
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[0051] According to one aspect of the present invention, as shown in
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[0053] Garments
[0054] A variety of fabrics may be employed for unitary body
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[0065] A variety of handholds may be employed for garments of the present invention, handhold
[0066] While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.