Patent Application
20160360796
It is well known that persons, who have dementia, a brain injury from a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, or other mental disabilities may lose some of their inhibitions. With the loss of inhibitions, such persons sometimes engage in socially undesirable behaviors such as publically handling and/or exposing their private body parts. It can be difficult to prevent such behaviors without restricting the person's movement. Therefore, there is a need for a garment that restricts a person's access to his or her private parts.
The present invention provides embodiments of a garment that can be worn under street clothes and which prevents the wearer from touching or exposing his or her private body parts when in public. The garment may be a one-piece bodysuit made of a stretchy, form fitting knit fabric that covers the wearer's torso and upper thighs. Neck and arm openings are cut high on the body so that it is difficult for the wearer to get his or her hands into the bodysuit. The lower leg openings are elasticized so that it is difficult for the wearer to pull them up to the groin area. The bodysuit includes a fully openable back flap that can be opened by a caretaker, but which is resistant to opening by the wearer.
In an embodiment of the invention, the garment includes: a front panel; a back panel joined to the front panel in such a manner as to provide a central neck opening and opposite arm openings, the back panel having a lower seat opening having a seat opening periphery; a crotch panel joined to the front panel; a seat flap joined to the crotch panel and having a flap periphery similar in shape to the seat opening periphery; and closure elements on the seat opening periphery and the flap periphery, the closure elements cooperating to releasably secure the seat flap to the back panel. The front panel, back panel, crotch panel, and seat flap are formed may form a single, continuous piece of fabric whereby the garment is a one-piece garment. The front panel and seat flap may include leg portions which cover upper leg regions of a wearer of the garment. The closure elements may include cooperating elements of a hook and loop fastener strip. Alternatively, the closure elements may also include cooperating components of a hook and bar fastener.
When the back flap is opened, the caretaker can push the bodysuit up the wearer's torso, so as to allow the wearer to go to the bathroom. If the wearer uses a diaper, the caretaker can open the back flap to change the diaper. When finished, the caretaker can close the back flap using closures that prevent the wearer from opening the back flap.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Referring now to
As shown in
The bodysuit 1 includes a bodice portion 11, which covers the wearer's torso, and may also include leg portions 13 that extend downwardly from the bodice portion 11 so as to cover the wearer's upper thighs 7. The illustrated bodysuit 1 may include a unitary front panel or portion 15 that covers the front of the wearer's body and a back panel or portion 17 that covers the back of the wearer's body. The bodice portion 11 includes a neck opening 19, or neckline, and left and right arm openings 21, or arm holes. The neck and arm openings 19 and 21 may be defined by hems 23 of the fabric 9, which may be elasticized, such as is known in the art. The neck opening 19 is preferably positioned high enough on the wearer's body so that he or she cannot slip his hand through the neck opening 19 and into an interior 25 of the bodysuit 1. The arm openings 21 are preferably positioned high enough on the body and tight enough so that the wearer cannot easily put his or her hands therethrough and into the bodysuit interior 25. The bodice portion 11 also covers the sides of the wearer's body, so as to prevent the wearer from putting his or her hands inside of the bodysuit 1.
The leg portion 13 includes two leg portions 27 that terminate in elasticized leg openings 29 that are provided at the bottom of the bodysuit 1. The leg openings 29 are defined by hems 31 that may include elastic (not shown), which prevents the wearer from pulling up the legs 27, so as to gain access to his or her groin area.
Referring now to
The back flap 33 is held in the closed position by the closures 35 on the back or seat opening edge or periphery 43 and the back flap edge or periphery 45. Suitable closures 35 may, for example, include snaps, hooks and eyes, and hook and loop tape (see
Referring to
The above description discloses several methods and materials of the present invention. This invention is susceptible to modifications in the methods and materials, as well as alterations in the fabrication methods and equipment. For example, the front panel 15, back panel 17, crotch panel 39, and back flap 33 can be formed from a single continuous piece of fabric, whereby the bodysuit 1 is a one piece garment. Alternatively, the panels 15, 17, 39, and 33 can be formed separately and joined, as by conventional sewn seams. Such modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this disclosure or practice of the invention disclosed herein. Consequently, it is not intended that this invention be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but that it cover all modifications and alternatives coming within the scope and spirit of the invention.
It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown.
