Patent Application
20240189171
The disclosure relates to mortuary undergarments and more particularly pertains to a new mortuary undergarment for dressing a deceased infant such that embalming and other fluids are contained.
The prior art relates to mortuary undergarments including garments with closed foot portions and a pouch for containing a fetus predeceasing normal birth.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a coverall body being liquid impermeable, being flexible, and having a shape for receiving a deceased infant into the coverall body. A hood body is liquid impermeable, flexible, and configured for partially covering a head section of the deceased infant to expose a face section of the deceased infant. The hood body is engaged to the coverall body such that liquid is deterred from permeating between the hood body and the coverall body.
Another embodiment of the disclosure includes a method comprising a step of positioning the deceased infant into a coverall body such that a torso section of the deceased infant is positioned within a torso portion of the coverall body, each of a pair of arm sections of the deceased infant are positioned within one of a pair of arm portions of the coverall body, each of a pair of leg sections of the deceased infant are positioned within one of a pair of leg portions of the coverall body, and a neck section of the deceased infant extends through a neck opening of the torso portion. Each of the pair of arm portions is integrally coupled to and extend laterally from the torso portion, and each of the pair of leg portions is integrally coupled to and extends downwardly from the torso portion. The neck opening extends through a top side of the torso portion. A fastener may also be fastened such that a slit of the torso portion is closed. The torso portion has a neck collar that is coextensive with the neck opening, and the slit extends through and downwardly from the neck collar. The fastener is attached to the coverall on each of a pair of opposing edges of the coverall adjacent to the slit.
Another step includes partially covering a head section of the deceased infant with a hood body such that a face section of the deceased infant is exposed through a face opening of the hood body. The face opening extends through a front side of the hood body. A shoulder portion of the hood body may be positioned such that it extends through the neck opening and abuts an inner surface of the torso portion. The shoulder portion is coupled to a bottom of the head portion and extends outwardly and downwardly from the head portion. A face rim of the hood body may be adhered to the head section of the deceased infant, the face rim is coextensive with the face opening.
The hood body is urged to engage the coverall body such that liquid is deterred from permeating between the hood body and the coverall body. To urge the hood body to engage the coverall body, a drawstring may be urged cinch the neck opening. The drawstring extends through a neck collar is coextensive with the neck opening.
The deceased infant is dressed in clothes such that the clothes are positioned over the coverall and the hood body. A bonnet may be positioned over the hood body for this step.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A hood body 38 is liquid impermeable, flexible, and configured for partially covering a head section 72 of the deceased infant 16 such that a face section 74 of the deceased infant 16 is exposed. The hood body 38 is engaged to the coverall body 12 such that liquid is deterred from permeating between the hood body 38 and the coverall body 12. The hood body 38 comprises a head portion 40 with a face opening 42 extending through a front side 44 of the head portion 40. A shoulder portion 54 is coupled to a bottom 46 of the head portion 40. The shoulder portion 54 extends outwardly and downwardly from the head portion 40. The shoulder portion 54 extends through the neck opening 22 and is positioned in abutment with an inner surface 48 of the torso portion 18. A face rim 50 is coextensive with the face opening 42, and an adhesive strip 52 is coupled to and extends along the face rim 50. The adhesive strip 52 is configured to attach to the head section 72 of the deceased infant 16.
A drawstring 56 extends through the neck collar 58 for cinching the neck opening 22 against the hood body 38 to deter fluid flow between the hood body 38 and the torso portion 18. Alternatively, an elastic band, adhesive, or other attachment may be incorporated for engaging the hood body 38 to the coverall body 12. A fastener 60 for closing the slit 24 of the torso portion 18 is attached to the coverall body 12 on each of the pair of opposing edges 28 of the coverall adjacent to the slit 24. The fastener 60 comprises a zipper 62 extending along both of the pair of opposing edges 28 of the torso portion 18, but the fastener 60 may comprise a lacing arrangement, adhesive, hook-and-loop connector, or the like. A sealing flap 64 is coupled to the inner surface 48 of the torso portion 18 adjacent to the fastener 60 and covers the fastener 60 such that liquid cannot permeate through the fastener 60.
In use, the torso section 66 of the deceased infant 16 is positioned into the torso portion 18 of the coverall body 12, a pair of arm sections 68 of the deceased infant 16 are positioned into one of the pair of arm portions 30, and a pair of leg sections 70 of the deceased infant 16 are positioned into one of the pair of leg portions 32. The hood body 38 is positioned to cover the head section 72 of the deceased infant 16 such that the face section 74 is exposed through the face opening 42. The shoulder portion 54 of the hood body 38 is positioned to extend through the neck opening 22 of the coverall body 12 and abut the inner surface 48 of the torso portion 18. The drawstring 56 is cinched to engage the hood body 38 to the coverall body 12, and the zipper 62 is closed. Then the deceased infant 16 may be continued to be dressed in conventional infant and toddler clothes 76 that are placed around the coverall body 12 and the hood body 38. The clothes 76 may further include a bonnet 78 placed over the hood body 38.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
