Patent Application
20200237584
The invention is in the technical area of dispensing items, such as garments, and has particular application in sanitation in medical practice, and pertains in one embodiment more particularly to providing hospital gowns to medical staff.
Applicant hereby incorporates herein by reference any and all patents and published patent applications cited or referred to in this application.
By way of background, in many technical arts, disposable items are provided for temporary use. Many examples may be listed, such as gloves in both medical and food arts, aprons in food arts, and sanitary gowns in medical environments. Medical practice is a particular, but not a limiting focus, for applications of the instant invention, and is used exemplary below to describe specific examples as embodiments of the present invention.
It is often necessary in medical practice for a physician, nurse or other medical practitioner to quickly don a hospital gown before entering a sanitary area. The present invention provides a quick and practical solution to this need. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary.
It should be noted that the above background description includes information that may be useful in understanding aspects of the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Aspects of the present invention teach certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the exemplary advantages described below.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, a gown dispenser system is provided, comprising a plurality of gowns, each having a back region, the gowns folded and stacked back region facing up, such that, pulling on the back region of a gown on top of the stack removes that gown from the stack and exposes the back region of the next gown in the stack, an enclosure containing the stack of gowns, the enclosure having an opening in one surface exposing the back region of the gown at the top of the stack, enabling a user to grasp the exposed back region and pull the topmost gown from the enclosure, exposing the next gown in the stack. Gowns are drawn from the enclosure one-at-a-time, at need.
In one embodiment, a pull tab is attached to the back region of each gown in the stack, providing an appendage to be grasped to pull a gown from the enclosure. Also in one embodiment of the system, the enclosure is implemented in paperboard, with a portion of the paperboard on the one surface of the enclosure perforated in a shape to provide the opening, with the paperboard within the perforated region removed. Also in one embodiment, the interface mechanism comprises one or more brackets attached to a side of the container opposite the side perforated for the opening, the brackets configured to enable hanging the container from a top edge of a door. In one embodiment, the front portion has tie extensions extending horizontally from opposite edges of the front portion, at a height for tying the front portion of the gown around the body of a user. And in one embodiment the gowns are folded by folding the left and right sleeves to the front along edges of the front portion, and a lower part of the front portion upward to the front along a substantially horizontal line, leaving the tab free at the back of the upper portion of the folded gown.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for providing a gown to a user from a gown-dispensing system is provided, comprising folding a plurality of gowns having a back region of each gown in a stack with the back region facing up, and placing the gowns in an enclosure having a front and a back surface, the back surface having an opening exposing the back region of the top-most gown on the stack, grasping the back region by a user and pulling a topmost gown out through the opening in the back surface, leaving a next gown in the stack having the pull tab exposed through the opening, and donning the gown. In one embodiment of the method a pull tab is attached to the back region of each gown in the stack, and the pull tab is grasped to pull a gown from the enclosure.
In one embodiment of the method, each gown in the stack has an upper portion having a front region and the back region, a left and a right sleeve, each of a length to cover an arm of a person, and an upper head opening, the back region extending to a lower extremity of the left and right sleeves, a front apron portion, having a width from the left to the right sleeve, extending downward from the upper portion for a height to cover a major portion of a person's body below the extension of the left and right sleeves, and the gowns are folded by folding the left and right sleeves to the front along edges of the front portion, and folding a lower part of the front portion upward to the front along a substantially horizontal line, leaving the back region free at the back of the upper portion of the folded gown, and the method further comprises the user pulling the upper portion over the user's head and placing the head through the upper head opening, and the user stepping back away from the enclosure, pulling the balance of the gown from the enclosure.
Other features and advantages of aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of aspects of the invention.
The accompanying drawings illustrate aspects of the present invention. In such drawings:
The above described drawing figures illustrate aspects of the invention in at least one of its exemplary embodiments, which are further defined in detail in the following description. Features, elements, and aspects of the invention that are referenced by the same numerals in different figures represent the same, equivalent, or similar features, elements, or aspects, in accordance with one or more embodiments.
Upper portion 103 has an extension 106, extending from the layer of portion 103 to the back of the gown, which serves as a pull-tab in deploying the gown for use, as is described in enabling detail below. A single layer lower portion 105 extends below the upper portion to a lowermost extremity, and is contiguous with the front of upper portion 103. If one were to grasp tab 106 and pull in the direction out of the figure, upper portion 103 would open, presenting opening 104 for the user's head, and the gown could be donned by pulling upper portion 103 over the head, and down so the user's head passes through opening 104, which would leave lower portion 105 to the user's front.
Gown 100 further comprises two extensions as tie-tabs 107 and 108, laterally to each side in
In alternative embodiments, the tie-tabs might be in different positions on a gown, and in one embodiment two tie-tabs may be joined to the gown on the same side. The position, length, and use of the tie-tabs in ties on a gown after the gown is donned is related to specific practice in particular circumstances, and the tie-tabs are not limiting in their position, length and the like.
It is emphasized that mounting on a vertical surface, such as a wall or a doorway, is a convenience and an option, not a limitation in the invention. In some cases, a dispenser may be mounted to a chair back, simply placed on a table or other supporting surface, or provided in many other ways. The important issue is that a user must be able to access a gown from the dispenser and don the gown in a sanitary fashion.
A stack of folded gowns within container 202 is positioned such that, when opening 204 is provided, in a manner described below, tab 106 of a topmost gown in the stack is presented, and is physically accessible to a user, such that the user may grasp the tab and pull, to at least partially dispense the connected gown from the container. The neck opening 104 of the topmost folded gown in the stack of gowns in container 202 is seen in dotted outline in
In some embodiments of the invention it is important to certain persons to know when there is a limited number of gowns left in the dispenser. For this purpose, in one embodiment, the last few gowns in a dispenser container, for example the last five, may have a specific indicator, like a red dot, or other visible indicia, so users know there are only a limited supply left. In one embodiment radio-frequency identification (RFID) may be used to track the number of gowns in a container, and to alert when the number falls to a critical number. In this method, electronically-discoverable tags are attached, one to each gown. RFID uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track the tags attached to gowns. The tags contain electronically stored information. Passive tags collect energy from a nearby RFID reader's interrogating radio waves. Another use for such mechanisms is for monitoring compliance with gown use—in which case detection of the gown 100 may be performed at the container 202 or alternatively within a doorway for when the user passes therethrough. In such embodiments, the RFID reader may be a part of the container, or placed near the container, and may have a transmitter to send an alert to an external device, which may be as simple as a cell phone of a person responsible for being sure gowns are available and/or are being worn.
Container 202 may be constructed of a variety of materials, such as plastic, metal, or other materials now known or later developed; but in one embodiment a preferred material is paperboard of a thickness and strength to maintain its shape when handled, and when hung on a door or a wall. In various embodiments opening 204 may be shaped differently than shown in
In one embodiment, wherein container 202 is constructed of paperboard, opening 204 is closed, but the outline seen in
In an alternative embodiment, a separate outside container or support structure may be provided, made of more rigid material, like plastic et or metal, and may be structured for a paperboard or other container of gowns to be placed in the outside container.
In the circumstance of a paperboard container, the container itself may be throwaway, so when the last gown is withdrawn, the container is just discarded, and a new container full of gowns is placed for service. In another embodiment, gowns may be replaceable in pre-stacked groups, perhaps in a sanitary covering that may be removed. In this circumstance container 202 may be of more sturdy construction, and may have a side opening that may be opened to allow a new stack of gowns to be inserted for use. In this circumstance the container may be designed to be cleanable, to be kept in sanitary condition. In some cases, the opening for a new stack of gowns may be in the top or bottom edge, or anywhere else, such that the stack of gowns may be inserted.
In one embodiment, the dispenser, including container 102, and gowns in or to be placed into the container, are provided fully sterilized, and protected in sterile form, into a sterile environment, such as an operating theatre. In yet another embodiment gowns in this invention may have a tie tab from one gown physically connected to a portion of a next gown in a stack. This version is useful in a procedure for donning gowns, that may be used in a sterile environment to prevent contamination in the process of donning a gown.
It is emphasized as well that gowns, to be compatible with aspects of this invention, need not be exactly the form and folding shown in
It will also be apparent to the skilled person that the embodiment described above with regard to
In some embodiments, the opening in the container to present a gown for withdrawal may be different in shape and size. There are many options within the scope of the invention.
In closing, regarding the exemplary embodiments of the present invention as shown and described herein, it will be appreciated that a gown dispenser system is disclosed. Because the principles of the invention may be practiced in a number of configurations beyond those shown and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not in any way limited by the exemplary embodiments, but is generally directed to a gown dispenser system and is able to take numerous forms to do so without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular geometries and materials of construction disclosed, but may instead entail other functionally comparable structures or materials, now known or later developed, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Certain embodiments of the present invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventor(s) for carrying out the invention. Of course, variations on these described embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventor(s) expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventor(s) intend for the present invention to be practiced otherwise than specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described embodiments in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Groupings of alternative embodiments, elements, or steps of the present invention are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member may be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other group members disclosed herein. It is anticipated that one or more members of a group may be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing a characteristic, item, quantity, parameter, property, term, and so forth used in the present specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” As used herein, the term “about” means that the characteristic, item, quantity, parameter, property, or term so qualified encompasses a range of plus or minus ten percent above and below the value of the stated characteristic, item, quantity, parameter, property, or term. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical indication should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and values setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical ranges and values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical range or value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements. Recitation of numerical ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate numerical value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value of a numerical range is incorporated into the present specification as if it were individually recited herein. Similarly, as used herein, unless indicated to the contrary, the term “substantially” is a term of degree intended to indicate an approximation of the characteristic, item, quantity, parameter, property, or term so qualified, encompassing a range that can be understood and construed by those of ordinary skill in the art.
Use of the terms “may” or “can” in reference to an embodiment or aspect of an embodiment also carries with it the alternative meaning of “may not” or “cannot.” As such, if the present specification discloses that an embodiment or an aspect of an embodiment may be or can be included as part of the inventive subject matter, then the negative limitation or exclusionary proviso is also explicitly meant, meaning that an embodiment or an aspect of an embodiment may not be or cannot be included as part of the inventive subject matter. In a similar manner, use of the term “optionally” in reference to an embodiment or aspect of an embodiment means that such embodiment or aspect of the embodiment may be included as part of the inventive subject matter or may not be included as part of the inventive subject matter. Whether such a negative limitation or exclusionary proviso applies will be based on whether the negative limitation or exclusionary proviso is recited in the claimed subject matter.
The terms “a,” “an,” “the” and similar references used in the context of describing the present invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Further, ordinal indicators—such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc.—for identified elements are used to distinguish between the elements, and do not indicate or imply a required or limited number of such elements, and do not indicate a particular position or order of such elements unless otherwise specifically stated. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein is intended merely to better illuminate the present invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the present specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
When used in the claims, whether as filed or added per amendment, the open-ended transitional term “comprising” (along with equivalent open-ended transitional phrases thereof such as “including,” “containing” and “having”) encompasses all the expressly recited elements, limitations, steps and/or features alone or in combination with un-recited subject matter; the named elements, limitations and/or features are essential, but other unnamed elements, limitations and/or features may be added and still form a construct within the scope of the claim. Specific embodiments disclosed herein may be further limited in the claims using the closed-ended transitional phrases “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” in lieu of or as an amendment for “comprising.” When used in the claims, whether as filed or added per amendment, the closed-ended transitional phrase “consisting of” excludes any element, limitation, step, or feature not expressly recited in the claims. The closed-ended transitional phrase “consisting essentially of” limits the scope of a claim to the expressly recited elements, limitations, steps and/or features and any other elements, limitations, steps and/or features that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the meaning of the open-ended transitional phrase “comprising” is being defined as encompassing all the specifically recited elements, limitations, steps and/or features as well as any optional, additional unspecified ones. The meaning of the closed-ended transitional phrase “consisting of” is being defined as only including those elements, limitations, steps and/or features specifically recited in the claim, whereas the meaning of the closed-ended transitional phrase “consisting essentially of” is being defined as only including those elements, limitations, steps and/or features specifically recited in the claim and those elements, limitations, steps and/or features that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed subject matter. Therefore, the open-ended transitional phrase “comprising” (along with equivalent open-ended transitional phrases thereof) includes within its meaning, as a limiting case, claimed subject matter specified by the closed-ended transitional phrases “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of.” As such, embodiments described herein or so claimed with the phrase “comprising” are expressly or inherently unambiguously described, enabled and supported herein for the phrases “consisting essentially of” and “consisting of.”
Any claims intended to be treated under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) will begin with the words “means for,” but use of the term “for” in any other context is not intended to invoke treatment under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f). Accordingly, Applicant reserves the right to pursue additional claims after filing this application, in either this application or in a continuing application.
All patents, patent publications, and other publications referenced and identified in the present specification are individually and expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the compositions and methodologies described in such publications that might be used in connection with the present invention. These publications are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing in this regard should be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention or for any other reason. All statements as to the date or representation as to the contents of these documents is based on the information available to the applicant and does not constitute any admission as to the correctness of the dates or contents of these documents.
While aspects of the invention have been described with reference to at least one exemplary embodiment, it is to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that the inventor(s) believe that the claimed subject matter is the invention.
This is a continuation application and so claims the benefit pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 of a prior filed and co-pending U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/037,230, filed on Jul. 17, 2018, which itself is a divisional application of U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/862,061, filed on Jan. 4, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,022,282, which issued on Jul. 17, 2018), which is a divisional of U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/467,242, filed on Mar. 23, 2017 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,861,537, which issued on Jan. 9, 2018), which claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to and is entitled to the filing date of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/316,983, filed on Apr. 1, 2016. The contents of the aforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62316983 | Apr 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15862061 | Jan 2018 | US |
| Child | 16037230 | US | |
| Parent | 15467242 | Mar 2017 | US |
| Child | 15862061 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16037230 | Jul 2018 | US |
| Child | 16842084 | US |
