US3727238A

US3727238A - Garment for invalid

Info

Publication number: US3727238A
Application number: US00876884A
Authority: US
Inventors: B Wolfson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-11-14
Filing date: 1969-11-14
Publication date: 1973-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 1990-04-17

Abstract

A novel garment is disclosed for particular use by invalids, comprising a full front and a partial back extending from above the wearer''s hips upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-like garment having a front skirt panel resembling in appearance the front of a conventional skirt, and side panels substantially encircling the wearer''s body above the hips. The front skirt and side panels terminate at their upper edges in a waist-encircling waistband having means to secure the ends thereof to each other and thus maintain the garment in position.

Description

United States Patent [191 Wolfson 1 GARMENT FOR INVALID [76] Inventor: Bernard R. Wolfson, 9207 Watson Road, Silver Spring, Md.

[22] Filed: Nov. 14,1969

[21] Appl. No.: 876,884

[52] US. Cl I ..2/69, 2/47, 2/D1G. 7 [51] Int. Cl. ..A4ld 9/00 [58] Field of Search 2/69, 69.5, 211,

I 2/47-52, DIG. 7, 231, 1, 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,113 7/1893 Chambers ..2/51 1.2l7,855 2/1917 Zimmerman ..2/51 X 556,530 3/1896 Chandler .2/51 X 2,157,932 5/1939 Glover ....2/211 X 742,059 10/ l 903 Peterson ..2/51

[451 Apr. 17, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 1,523 1899 Great Britain 1.2/48 391,230 8/1965 Switzerland 1.2/21 1 381.739 10/1932 Great Britain ..2/1

Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Atrorney-Jacobi, Davidson & Kleeman 5 7 ABSTRACT A novel garment is disclosed for particular use by invalids, comprising a full front and a partial back extending from above the wearers hips upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-1ike garment having a front skirt panel resembling in appearance the front of a conventional skirt, and side panels substantially encircling the wearers body above the hips. The front skirt and side panels terminate at their upper edges in a waist-encircling waistband having; means to secure the ends thereof to each other and thus maintain the garment in position.

7 Claims 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEB APR 77373 FIGI INVENTOR.

Bemmao R. WQLFSON 7M, I m, I'm/Mt) 1 GARMENT FOR INVALID f BACKGROUND'OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to garments, and parti cularly-toa garment which can be utilized by an invalid confined to a wheelchair or otherwise restricted in movement. 1

It should'be apparent that an invalid confined to a wheel chair has an immense problem with dressing in clothing of conventional design, evenwith the aid and assistance of another person. While this is true of I clothing in general, it applies particularly to nether garmerits such as skirts or trousers or the like which cover the wearer substantially from the waist down, inasmuch asthese must in nearly all cases be drawn over the wearers hips in one way or another. Obviously, when the person is unable to rise, this task becomes'quite difficult if not actually impossible.

It has been proposed to partially overcome this problem by providing garments specifically designed for invalids which 'wrap around the body of the wearer I and thus do not require the person to rise. However,

such garments are generally quite distinctive as such y and make no attempt to even remotely resemble conventional clothing, which may often have a negative psychological effect upon the wearer. These known garments are also frequently difficult to put on and take off and onlypartially alleviate the problem of dressing.

. SUMMARY or THEZINVENTION 'With the above background in mind, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a garment for invalids which overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

Specifically, it is a primary object of the present in vention to provide a nether garment such as a skirt.

which can be put'on and taken off by an invalid confined to a wheel chair or otherwise restricted in moveinent,with a minimum of help.

- 'nlt is a further object of the invention to provide such a garment for an invalid which, when worn by the person, resembles in appearance a conventional garment v such as a skirt. I

These as well as other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, are implemented by .the present invention characterized by a novel garment for particularuse by invalids, comprising a full front andapartial back extending from above the wearers hips'upwardly to the waist or shoulders. In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a skirt-like gar- .nient' having a front skirtpanel resembling in appearance the front of a con'ventionalfskirt, and side panels substantially encircling the wearers body above. the hips. The front skirt and side panels terminate at their'upper edges in a waist-encircling waistband having'means to secure the ends thereof to each other and thus maintain the garment in position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention itself will be better understood, and additional features and advantages thereof will become apparent, from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment'of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

, above the wearers hips when in use. The side panels 8 FIG. 1 represents aplan view of a skirt-like nether garment constructed according to this invention, shown as it appears opened out flat; and

FIG. 2 is aperspectiveview showing the garment worn by aperson confined to a wheel chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring'now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the garment according to this invention comprises essentially a wrap-around skirt of any desired length, such as knee length. The skirt includes a front portion comprising a front skirt panel generally designated as 2, extending from a waist-encircling waistband 4 along the, upper edge thereof, to a suitable hemline 6 along the lower edge thereof, and a pair of sidewardly'extending side panels or portions designated as 8, which extend from thewaistband 4 downwardly a suitable length to terminate in a lower edge 10 which is preferably situated at or immediately may be formed from the same piece of material, such as woven or non-wovenfabrics, paper, etc., as the front skirt panel 2, or alternately may comprise separate panels which are stitched or otherwise secured to the sides of the frontskirt panel 2.

The bottom edge or hemline 6 of the front skirt panel 2, as well as the lower edges 10 of the side panels 8, are preferably formed generally arcuately, as illustrated, in

order that the garments will substantially conform to the body of the wearer when the garment is wrapped around the wearer.

The side panel members 8 terminate at their resp ective outer sides inside edges 14, the horizontaldistance between the two sides edges 14, i.e., the combined horizontal width of the two side panel members, being such as to permit the side panels and the upper portion of the front skirt panel to be substantially wrapped about the waist of the wearer. As shown, the front skirt panel terminates at its opposite sides in substantially vertical side edges 12, the horizontal width between these side edges 12 being such as to permit the garment to be wrapped around the wearer in front and the side edges 12 to be tucked under the legs of the wearer when the wearer is in a sitting position, Means are provided for securing the garment in position upon the wearer. For this purpose, the opposite ends of waistband 4 extend to either side beyond the side edges 14 of theside panels and terminate in opposite ends 16. Cooperating means are provided ad jacent each of the ends 16 for securing the ends of the waistband to each other behind the back of the wearei I at any suitable position, and as shown may preferably comprise a pair of cooperating elongated panels l8 of resembles in use a conventional skirt, can be readily put on or taken off by an invalid, as for example confined to a wheel chair, without the necessity for rising. The garment is wrapped around the person from the front, with the side panels 8 substantially encircling the body of the wearer from the waist down to just above the hips, and the waistband 4 may than be fastened behind the wearers back by means of cooperating securing means 18 to any desired degree of tightness. The side edges 12 of the front skirt panel 2 are then tucked under the wearers legs, and the garment then resembles in appearance a conventional skirt.

While the invention as shown and described comprises a skirt-like garment, it is evident that this same principle can be applied to other types of garments, as for example a pair of trousers or slacks having a full front portion and a body-encircling side portion extending around the wearers body from the waist downwardly to just above the hips. Alternately, the garment may comprise a full length dress or the like, in which case the garment from the waist up would be substantially identical with a conventional garment.

It is believed evident that by constructing a garment according to the detailed description above, all of the objects set forth in the introduction to the specification have been successfully fulfilled. Accordingly,

What is claimed is:

1. A dress-like garment for use by an invalid confined to a wheelchair enabling the invalid where capable to dress without the aid of others and without the need to be lifted out of the wheelchair, comprising; a front skirt portion having an upper edge, and extending from the wearers waist downwardly to a lower edge defining a hemline, and having a pair of lower opposing side edges, the horizontal width between said side edges being sufficient to wrap said front portion about the front of the Wearers legs and to tuck said side edges under the wearers legs when the wearer is in a sitting position but insufficient to wrap said front portion completely about the body of said wearer, an upper side portion connected to and extending outwardly from each side of said front portion and extending downwardly from said upper edge to a lower edge just above the hips, said lower edge intersecting said lower side edges of said front portion, said side portions having a combined horizontal width sufficient to wrap said side portions completely about the body of the wearer above the hips, and fastening means adapted to secure said side portions at their ends so as to hold said garment in position wrapped about the body of the wearer, whereby said garment in use resembles a conventional skirt in appearance.

2. A garment as defined in claim 1, further comprising a waistband secured to said upper edge of said front portion and of said side portions, and extending outwardly to either side of said respective side portions, said securing means being secured to said wastband adjacent the respective opposite ends thereof.

3. A garment as defined in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises a pair of cooperating self-adhering fabric strip members secured to said wastband.

4. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said hemline is formed of an arcurate shape enabling said garment to substantially conform to the body of the wearer when the garment is wrapped around the wearer.

5. A garment as defined in claim 4, wherein said lower edge of said side portions are formed of an arcurate shape.

6. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said side portions and said front portions comprise an integral one-piece sheet of material.

7. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein said front portion is of knee length.

Claims

1. A dress-like garment for use by an invalid confined to a wheelchair enabling the invalid where capable to dress without the aid of others and without the need to be lifted out of the wheelchair, comprising; a front skirt portion having an upper edge, and extending from the wearer''s waist downwardly to a lower edge defining a hemline, and having a pair of lower opposing side edges, the horizontal width between said side edges being sufficient to wrap said front portion about the front of the wearer''s legs and to tuck said side edges under the wearer''s legs when the wearer is in a sitting position but insufficient to wrap said front portion completely about the body of said wearer, an upper side portion connected to and extending outwardly from each side of said front portion and extending downwardly from said upper edge to a lower edge just above the hips, said lower edge intersecting said lower side edges of said front portion, said side portions having a combined horizontal width sufficient to wrap said side portions completely about the body of the wearer above the hips, and fastening means adapted to secure said side portions at their ends so as to hold said garment in position wrapped about the body of the wearer, whereby said garment in use resembles a conventional skirt in appearance.