Patent Publication Number: US-4369528-A

Title: Garment for maintaining body temperature and method of making same

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to a garment for maintaining body temperature and to the method of making same, and more particularly to such a garment for maintaining the body temperature of a patient undergoing surgery in an operating room where the ambient temperature is normally below the normal body temperature. The garment covers substantially the entire body of the patient and is formed of stretchable knit fabric in such a manner that the garment can be disposed of after a single use. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     When brought to the operating room, a surgery patient is normally clothed with an operating gown with an open back and the gown usually extends down to the middle of the thighs with short or no sleeves. This type of garment provides very little warmth to the patient while in the operating room and is of little aid in maintaining the body temperature of the patient. 
     The need to control the temperature of the body of patients has long been recognized. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 26,663, issued Jan. 3, 1860, discloses a garment made of India-rubber or the like and including tubular passageways extending therein so that water of the proper temperature can be passed therethrough to maintain the proper temperature of the body of the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,367 also discloses a body temperature control garment made of a stretchable fabric with fluid flow lines attached to and extending throughout the garment for passing water of the proper temperature therethrough. However, these garments are too expensive to be disposed of after a single use, and they are not suitable for use in operating rooms because it is desirable for the doctor to be able to cut the garment and expose the area of the body where the operation is to take place and the cutting of this type of garment would be economically destructive. 
     Also, it has long been recognized that body temperature can be retained by wearing long underwear which is manufactured in various sizes so that it will fit the wearer in a snug manner. However, this type of underwear is not satisfactory for use by patients undergoing surgery because it is too expensive to manufacture to be disposable, it is not normally of sufficient stretchability to fit a wide range of sizes of wearers, and it does not normally cover the hands, feet and head of the wearer where a large amount of body heat can be lost during operations. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and garment for maintaining the body temperature of a patient undergoing surgery in an operating room where the ambient temperature is normally maintained below the normal body temperature. The garment is constructed of stretchable knit fabric in such a manner as to require very little cutting and seaming in the manufacture of the garment so that the garment may be sold at a sufficiently low cost so that the garment may be disposed of after a single use. 
     The garment of the present invention preferably covers substantially the entire body of the patient and includes a shirt type upper body portion including an upper trunk covering portion of sufficient length to cover and extend beyond and below the waist of the wearer and with the sleeves being of a sufficient length to cover and extend beyond the hands of the wearer. The garment also includes a lower body portion with a pair of legs which cover at least the entire upper legs and the feet of the wearer. 
     In one embodiment of the garment, the legs are connected together at the upper end by a U-seam to form a lower trunk covering portion extending upwardly to the waist and the lower ends of the legs have free open lower ends which extend beyond the feet of the wearer. In another embodiment of the garment, the lower body portion includes separate legs which extend upwardly to the upper ends of the legs and the lower ends are seamed closed to completely cover the feet of the wearer. A cap is provided with each embodiment of the garment and is formed by seaming one end of a tubular knit fabric and the cap may be stretched to cover the head of the patient. 
     The garment of the present invention is preferably formed of a stretchable true rib knit fabric with the stitch loops in adjacent single needle wales facing in opposite directions. This type of fabric provides sufficient stretchability to the garment that the garment can be manufactured in one size and it will stretch to fit the normal range of adult patient sizes. The fabric is knit of an absorbent yarn, such as cotton yarn, and the various portions of the garment are formed from seamless circular knit tubes so that very little cutting and seaming is required to finish the garment. 
     A minimum amount of seaming is required to form each embodiment of the garment because the various components forming the garment are cut from lengths of seamless circular knit tubes to take advantage of the known nonraveling characteristic of one raw end of any such cut segment. Thus, the cut circular knit segments must be properly oriented so that the raw ends that will ravel are seamed and the nonraveling raw cut ends are located to define the free opened ends of the garment components such as the lower edge of the cap, the lower ends of the sleeves, the lower end of the trunk covering portion of the upper body portion, and the free ends of the legs. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the garment of the present invention, illustrating the garment as it appears when being worn by a patient preparatory to a surgical operation; 
     FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the upper body portion of the garment shown in FIG. 1 and in flattened and relaxed condition; 
     FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the lower body portion of the garment shown in FIG. 1 and in a flattened and relaxed condition; 
     FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the cap shown in FIG. 1 and in flattened and relaxed condition; 
     FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view of the knit fabric enclosed by the rectangle 5 in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5-A is a fragmentary view of the upper right-hand portion of FIG. 5 and illustrating the manner in which the fabric will ravel from one end; 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the manner in which the trunk covering components of the garment are cut from a circular knit seamless fabric tube; 
     FIG. 7 illustrates the manner in which the sleeve components of the garment are cut from a circular knit seamless fabric tube; 
     FIG. 8 illustrates the manner in which the leg components of the garment are cut from a circular knit seamless fabric tube; 
     FIG. 9 illustrates the manner in which the cap components of the garment are cut from a circular knit seamless fabric tube; 
     FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing another embodiment of the garment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 11 is an elevational view of the upper body portion of the garment of FIG. 10 and in flattened and relaxed condition; 
     FIG. 12 is an elevational view of the lower body portion of the garment of FIG. 10 and shown in flattened and relaxed condition; and 
     FIG. 13 is an elevational view of a cap shown in flattened and relaxed condition. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT ILLUSTRATED IN FIGS. 1-5 
     The garment includes a shirt type upper body portion, broadly indicated at 10, and including a tubular seamless knit upper trunk covering portion or body 11 with a neck opening 12 and shoulder seams 13, 14 extending from the neck opening 12 to sleeve openings in the upper portion of the body 11. The body 11 has a raw cut lower edge forming a nonraveling free open lower end 15 with the body 11 being of a sufficient length to cover and extend beyond the waist of the wearer. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the lower end 15 of the body 11 terminates at substantially the crotch of the wearer. 
     The circular knit seamless stretchable fabric from which the body 11 is cut is twelve inches wide (in the flattened and relaxed condition shown in FIG. 6). The tubular fabric is knit in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 6 and is transversely cut into 27-inch lengths to provide cut segments containing opposing cut ends, indicated at A and B. 
     Since the knit fabric will not ravel in the direction in which it is knit, the cut end A of each cut segment will not ravel while the other cut end B will ravel. Therefore, the cut segments must be properly oriented so that the nonraveling raw cut end A forms the free open lower end of the body 11 while the raveling raw cut end B forms the upper end of the body 11. 
     The body 11 is formed in this manner so that it is not necessary to seam or hem the nonraveling raw cut end A. One layer of the fabric is cut along the curved dotted line (FIG. 6) at the cut end B to form the neck opening 12 and opposite sides of the tube are longitudinally slit, as indicated by the dotted lines, to form openings for attachment of the sleeves. In order to prevent raveling around the neck opening 12, a suitable overedge seam is formed around the neck opening 12. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 5, the knit tubular fabric is knit from the bottom to the top and forms stitch loops in the needle wales of successive courses, indicated at C-10 through C-13. The stitch loops in alternate single wales, the odd numbered wales, W-1, W-3, and W-5, face outwardly or toward the observer and the stitch loops in the remaining alternating single wales therebetween, wales W-2 and W-4, face inwardly or away from the observer to form what is known as a one-by-one true rib knit fabric. The lower edge 15 of the body 11 is formed by simply cutting the fabric in a coursewise direction and the fabric will not ravel from this raw cut edge 15 because the fabric is knit in a direction away from the edge 15. FIG. 5-A illustrates the manner in which the fabric will ravel in the opposite direction. When the yarn of course C-13 is pulled, as shown, the stitch loop in course C-13 and wale W-5 becomes smaller and pulls through the stitch loop in course C-12 of wale W-5. With continued pulling of the yarn, the successive stitch loops are pulled through the stitch loops knit in preceding courses so that the fabric ravels in this direction. 
     The upper body portion 10 also includes a pair of tubular seamless sleeves 20, 21 which are four inches wide when in relaxed and flattened condition, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and substantially thirty-four inches long. The sleeves 20, 21 have raw cut lower edges forming respective free open lower ends 22, 23 and are of a sufficient length to cover and extend beyond the hands of the wearer, as illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     The sleeves 20, 21 are formed from segments cut from a length of circular knit seamless fabric (FIG. 7) with the direction of knitting being indicated by the arrows to provide lower ends C which will not ravel and upper ends D which will ravel. The cut segments are oriented so that the nonraveling ends C form the free open lower ends 22, 23 of the respective sleeves 20, 21. The upper ends of the sleeves 20, 21 are cut at angles, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 7, and are seamed to the sleeve openings of the body portion 11 by respective seams 24, 25. 
     Since the cut segments forming the body 11 and the sleeves 20, 21 are knit in an upward direction, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2, the corresponding cut raw edges 15, 22 and 23 do not need to be seamed or hemmed and this reduces the cost of producing the upper body portion 10 of the garment. Also, the stretchability of the fabric adjacent the edges is not restricted, as it might be if the edges were seamed or hemmed. 
     The garment also includes a lower body portion, broadly indicated at 30. The lower body portion 30 includes a pair of tubular seamless legs 32, 33 which extend upwardly to the waist and are longitudinally slit and joined together by a U-seam 34 to provide a lower trunk covering portion covering the stomach and rear of the wearer. An elastic waistband 35 is suitably attached to the upper ends of the seamless legs 32, 33. The inner portions of the legs 32, 33 are preferably longitudinally seamed, as indicated at 36, 37, to provide inwardly tapered lower leg portions extending downwardly to the raw cut lower edges forming the free open lower ends 38, 39. The portions of the legs 32, 33 immediately below the U-seam 34 are six inches wide when in relaxed and flattened condition, as shown in FIG. 3, and the seams 36, 37 inwardly taper the lower portions of the legs downwardly with the lower ends 38, 39 being approximately four inches wide in the flattened and relaxed condition, as shown in FIG. 3. The overall length of the lower body portion 30 is approximately fifty-one inches. 
     The legs 32, 33 are formed from segments cut from a length of circular knit seamless fabric (FIG. 8) with the direction of knitting being indicated by the arrows to provide lower ends E which will not ravel and upper ends F which will ravel. The cut segments are oriented so that the nonraveling ends E form the free open lower ends 38, 39 of the respective legs 32, 33. 
     The upper end portions of the cut leg segments 32, 33 are slit longitudinally, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 8, so that the legs may be seamed together by the U-seam 34. The lower end portions of the cut leg segments 32, 33 are cut and seamed to provide an inward taper, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 8. 
     Since the knit fabric will not ravel in the direction in which it is knit, the free open lower ends 38, 39 of the legs 32, 33 do not need to be seamed or hemmed. While the upper ends of the legs 32, 33 would normally ravel, the waistband 35 is seamed to the upper ends of the legs so that they will not ravel. 
     The garment of FIGS. 1-5 also includes a cap, broadly indicated at 40, which is formed of the same type of circular knit seamless fabric as is used to form the legs 32, 33. The upper end of the cap 40 is closed by a curved seam 41 and the raw cut lower edge forms a nonraveling free open lower end 42. The seamless tubular fabric (FIG. 9) is knit in the direction indicated by the arrows and is cut transversely to provide cut segments including lower ends G which will not ravel and upper ends H which will ravel. The cut segments are each six inches wide and thirteen inches long, when flattened and relaxed, as illustrated in FIG. 9. The cut segments must be properly oriented so that the nonraveling cut end G forms the free open lower end 42 of the cap 40. When drawn on the head of the wearer, the free open lower end 42 may be folded or rolled upwardly, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to leave the face of the patient exposed. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 1, the garment of the present invention covers substantially the entire body and the patient is brought to the operating room wearing the garment. Since the sleeves 20, 21 and the legs 32, 33 are much longer than the length of the corresponding arms and legs of the patient, these parts of the garment will normally extend beyond the hands and feet, as shown in FIG. 1. However, the free ends of the arms 20, 21 and legs 32, 33 may be folded up so that the hands and/or feet of the patient are exposed, if desired. Depending upon the area in which the operation is to be performed, the doctor may either move a portion of the garment out of the operating field or he may cut away a portion of the garment in the area where the operation is to take place. The remaining portion of the garment covers the patient and aids in retaining the body temperature during the operation and during the following recovery period. 
     The garment of the present invention may be inexpensively produced because a minimum number of cutting and seaming operations are required to produce the garment. As has been discussed, the free open ends of each portion of the garment are formed by merely cutting the material and do not require seaming or hemming. This is made possible by orienting the various components of the garment so that they are cut from the seamless tubular fabric with the portion of the garment adjacent the cut raw edges extending in the same direction as the fabric is knit so that the raw cut edges do not ravel. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT ILLUSTRATED IN FIGS. 10-13 
     The garment illustrated in FIGS. 10-13 is similar in many respects to the garment illustrated in FIGS.1-5 and corresponding parts of the garment illustrated in FIGS. 10-13 will bear the same reference characters as the similar parts of the garment illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, except that the prime notation has been added to the reference characters used in describing the embodiment of the garment shown in FIGS. 10-13. The garment includes an upper body portion, broadly indicated at 10&#39; including a tubular seamless knit upper trunk covering portion or body 11&#39; having an upper neck opening 12&#39; and outwardly extending shoulder seams 13&#39;, 14&#39;. The raw cut lower edge forms a lower open free end 15&#39; extending downwardly substantially below the waist and crotch of the wearer and to substantially the midpoint of the thighs of the wearer. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the lower free nonraveling end 15&#39; of the body 11&#39; extends below the sleeves 20&#39;, 21&#39; and the raw cut lower edges forming lower free nonraveling ends 22&#39;, 23&#39;. The body portion 11&#39; is formed from a cut segment of a seamless tube which, when flattened and relaxed, as shown in FIG. 11, is substantially twelve inches wide and thirty-nine inches long from the upper neck opening 12&#39; to the lower free end 15&#39;. The upper ends of the sleeves 20&#39;, 21&#39; are connected to the sleeve openings in the body portion 11&#39; by connecting seams 24&#39;, 25&#39; and the neck opening 12&#39; is preferably provided with an overedge seam to prevent raveling of the fabric around the neck opening. 
     The lower body portion 30&#39; (FIG. 12) comprises a pair of separate legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; having raw cut upper edges forming free open upper nonraveling ends 35&#39; and including inner tapering seams 36&#39;, 37&#39; extending from a medial portion of the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; and also forming closure seams 38&#39;, 39&#39; at the lower ends of the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39;. The legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are formed from cut segments of seamless tubular fabric with the cut segments being oriented in accordance with the direction of the knitting of the fabric, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 12. Thus, the cut upper ends 35&#39; are at the first courses to be knit of the cut segment so that the raw cut edges at the free open upper ends 35&#39; will not ravel and do not need to be seamed or hemmed. 
     The legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are forty inches long from the top to the bottom and the tapered seams 36&#39;, 37&#39; are twenty-five inches long from the bottom to the intermediate portion of the legs. The upper portion of the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are six inches wide when in a flattened and relaxed condition, as illustrated in FIG. 12 and the seams 36&#39;, 37&#39; taper the fabric downwardly so that the lower ends of the legs are four inches wide when in a flattened and relaxed condition. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the upper free ends 35&#39; of the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are adapted to extend upwardly beyond the upper ends of the legs of the wearer. The legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are longer than the corresponding legs of the patient and the upper ends of the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; are folded downwardly so that the legs 32&#39;, 33&#39; correspond to the length of the legs of the patient. As shown in FIG. 10, the lower end of the body portion 11&#39; is adapted to extend downwardly to approximately the middle portions of the upper thighs of the wearer so that the entire body, arms and legs of the wearer are covered by the garment. If desired, the lower ends of the sleeves 20&#39;, 21&#39; may be folded up to expose the hands of the patient. 
     The cap, broadly indicated at 40&#39; in FIG. 13, is formed of cut segments of a tubular seamless fabric and includes a curved upper closure seam 41&#39; and a raw cut lower edge forming an open free lower end 42&#39;. The cut segments are oriented so that the cap 40&#39; is knit from the bottom to the top, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 13, and the free lower end 42&#39; will not ravel. The cap 40&#39; is formed of the same type of knit material from which the legs 32&#39; and 33&#39; are formed and is substantially six inches wide and thirteen inches long when in a flattened and relaxed condition, as illustrated in FIG. 13. 
     The garment of FIGS. 10-13 is also adapted to substantially cover the entire body of the patient and is sufficiently stretchable to fit a wide range of body shapes and sizes. The garment is placed on the patient and the patient is brought to the operating room with the garment in position so that it is merely necessary for the doctor to move or cut away that portion of the garment in the area where the operation is to be performed. 
     Thus, the garment of the present invention aids in maintaining the body temperature of the patient during surgical operations and also during the recovery period. Since the garment of the present substantially covers the entire body of the patient, the garment also serves to protect the modesty of the patient when undergoing surgical or other types of treatment, such as radiological procedures and the like. 
     In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.