Patent Application
20210177077
The present disclosure relates generally to cuff frames and garments with integrated cuff frames. In particular, cuff frames and garments configured to maintain space for a user's hand to move relative to material outside the cuff frame are described.
Protective suits, which are also known as hazard or hazmat suits, are worn when a person must work or be present in a hazardous environment, such as a chemical spill or where biological agents are present. The protective suit forms a barrier between the external environment and an internal environment within the suit. Ideally, gloves are sealed to the suit at the cuffs to form a more complete barrier.
In current practice, sealing gloves to the cuffs with tape has the drawback of restricting or preventing the user from pulling his or her hand out of the glove and into the sleeve or torso areas of the suit. It would be desirable to facilitate a user conveniently and effectively withdrawing his hand into the suit without affecting the seal. Freeing a user to pull his hand into the suit would allow him to wipe off a fogged face shield, operate a radio or other electronic device in the suit, or perform some other task within the suit.
Conventional protective suits are somewhat difficult and time consuming to put on and take off, which is also known as gowning and degowning. Constrictions at the sleeve and cuff of the suit restricts a user from easily inserting and withdrawing his or her hand and arm in and from the sleeve. Constrictions occur because the sleeve and cuff tend to collapse when constricted by tape. Supporting the sleeve and cuff would allow one to move his or her arm and hand more readily and make putting on and taking off the protective suit easier.
Thus, there exists a need for solutions that allow a user wearing a protective suit or other garment to move his or her hand relative to the protective garment without affecting seals in place on the garment. Examples of new and useful cuff frames and garments incorporating cuff frames addressing these needs are discussed below.
The present disclosure is directed to garments including a sleeve and a cuff frame. The sleeve including a cuff and defining a sleeve opening configured to receive an arm, a wrist, and a hand of a wearer. The cuff frame being secured to the sleeve proximate the cuff and configured to support the sleeve opening from collapsing under compressive forces. The cuff frame defines a wrist opening sized to enable the hand and the wrist of the wearer to pass through the wrist opening.
The disclosed cuff frames and garments with cuff frames will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity; each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.
Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various cuff frames and garments with cuff frames are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.
The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise indicated.
“Substantially” means to be more-or-less conforming to the particular dimension, range, shape, concept, or other aspect modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not conform exactly. For example, a “substantially cylindrical” object means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.
“Comprising,” “including,” and “having” (and conjugations thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to exclude additional elements or method steps not expressly recited.
Terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are used to distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like, and are not intended to denote a serial, chronological, or numerical limitation.
“Coupled” means connected, either permanently or releasably, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components.
Contextual Details
The features of items used in conjunction with the cuff frames and garments with cuff frames described herein will first be described to provide context and to aid the discussion of the cuff frames.
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In the present example, garment 150 is a hazmat suit configured to isolate a person inside from fluids outside the suit. In some examples, the garment is a space suit, a laboratory shirt, suit, or sleeve, or a shirt, suit, sleeve, or jacket worn by mechanics, firemen, or medical personnel. In certain examples, the garment is a sleeve attached to and disposed inside a laboratory fume hood or containment region allowing a user to manipulate items within the fume hood or containment region. The garment may be any currently known or later developed type of protective garment.
The glove may also be any presently known or later developed type of protective glove. In certain examples, the glove does not include portions to cover each finger individually, but instead covers one or more fingers together, such as a mitten or two fingered glove.
Any conventional or later developed type of tape may be used to form a seal between the sleeve and the glove. In some examples, a band or other member is used to form a seal instead of adhesive tape.
Cuff Frames and Garments with Cuff Frames
With reference to the figures, cuff frames and garments incorporating cuff frames will now be described. The cuff frames and cuff frame garments discussed herein function to maintain space for a user's hand to move relative to material outside the cuff frame. In particular, the cuff frames function to radially support a garment and a glove around a defined passageway through which a user's hand and arm may pass relative to the cuff frame, garment, and glove. Further, the cuff frames function to provide the user's hand, wrist, and arm with freedom of movement when the user's hand, wrist, and arm are disposed within the passageway defined by the cuff frame.
The reader will appreciate from the figures and description below that the presently disclosed cuff frames and garments address many of the shortcomings of conventional protective suits. In particular, the cuff frames facilitate a user conveniently and effectively withdrawing his hand into the protective suit without affecting the seal between the suit and a glove sealed to the suit. The cuff frames free a user to pull his hand into the suit to perform a variety of tasks within the suit, such as wiping off a fogged face shield or operating a radio or other electronic device in the suit.
In addition, the cuff frames and garments including integrated cuff frames make gowning and degowning faster than is possible with conventional protective suits. Faster gowning and degowning makes wearing a protective suit more convenient for the wearer. Less time needed for gowning and degowning also allows the wearer to be ready faster to perform useful tasks more quickly both before and after wearing the protective suit.
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Wall
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The shape of wall 100 shown in
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In some examples, the wall additionally or alternatively defines openings that do not extend longitudinally along the wall. For example, the wall may define a plurality of circular, square, or triangular openings throughout the length of the wall instead of continuously extending openings like the longitudinal openings depicted in
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Wrist Portion
With reference to
Hand Portion
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In particular, the reader can see in
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Arm Portion
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Arm portion 118 flaring outwards from the first distance at wrist portion 112 to the third distance at arm opening 122 defines a transition portion 124. As can be seen in
Sleeve portion 126 is less flexible than wrist portion 112 and resists compressive forces. As shown in
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With reference to the figures not yet discussed, the discussion will now focus on additional embodiments of cuff frames and garments incorporating cuff frames. The additional cuff frame embodiments include many similar or identical features to cuff frame 100. Thus, for the sake of brevity, each feature of the additional embodiments below will not be redundantly explained. Rather, key distinctions between the additional embodiments and cuff frame 100 will be described in detail and the reader should reference the discussion above for features substantially similar between the different cuff frame examples.
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In the present example, garment 250 is a protective suit, also known as a hazmat suit, configured to isolate a person inside the suit from fluids outside the suit. In some examples, the garment is a space suit, a laboratory shirt, suit, or sleeve, or a shirt, suit, sleeve, or jacket worn by mechanics, firemen, or medical personnel. In certain examples, the garment is a sleeve attached to and disposed inside a laboratory fume hood or containment region allowing a user to manipulate items within the fume hood or containment region. The garment may be any currently known or later developed type of protective garment.
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The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein.
