Patent Publication Number: US-6665880-B2

Title: Protective garments with glove flaps

Description:
The present invention relates generally to protective garments for use with gloves. 
     There are many types of limited use or disposable protective garments and apparel designed to provide barrier properties, including surgical gowns and protective coveralls. Such protective garments are used in situations where isolation of a wearer from a particular environment is desirable, or it is desirable to inhibit or retard the passage of hazardous liquids and biological contaminates through the garment to the wearer. 
     In surgical procedure environments, such liquids may include patient liquids such as blood, salvia, perspiration and life support liquids such as plasma and saline. Protective garments rely on the barrier properties of the fabrics used in the garment, and on the construction and design of the garment. Openings or seams in some types of protective garments may be unsatisfactory, especially if the seams are located in positions where they may be subjected to stress and/or direct contact with hazardous substances. 
     Wearers of protective garments frequently don gloves to extend the protective barrier between the wearer and the environment. The interface between the glove and the protective garment can be an area of concern when evaluating the potential for exposure of the wearer to the hazards of the environment. In some instances, the hazardous substances contact the upper portion of the garment sleeves and flow downward toward the garment-glove interface. In such environments, the garment-glove interface can provide an opening through which hazardous substances can come into contact with the wearer. Additionally, the garment-glove interface is frequently subjected to movement and is likely to be in direct contact with or in the flow path of hazardous substances. 
     Additionally, glove slippage or roll-down occurs if the frictional interface between the interior of the glove surface and the sleeve or cuff exterior surface is insufficient to maintain the glove in an appropriate position. 
     Some protective garments include a cuff positioned at the end of the sleeve. Such cuffs may be constructed in a variety of ways and may be formed from liquid repellent or liquid retentive materials. In some garments, the garment cuffs may be formed from an elastic material. The elastic material may include a variety of fabrics. Examples of such fabrics include cotton, knits and polyester knits. 
     In some situations, the glove may be sized to overlap the cuff and a portion of the sleeve to provide additional protection to the wearer at the garment-glove interface. When the cuff is formed from liquid retentive fabrics and a glove is placed over the cuff, perspiration formed within the gown sleeve may collect in the cuffs. As the amount of perspiration retained in the cuff increases, the liquid may migrate to the garment-glove interface. The wearer&#39;s hand and arm movements may assist in moving the retained perspiration toward the garment-glove interface. Strike-through of hazardous liquids may then occur when liquids generated by the environment contact the wearer&#39;s perspiration in the area of the sleeve and cuff. 
     Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a protective garment that may be used in medical environments. The garment may include a garment body, a neck portion and two sleeves attached to the garment body. Each sleeve may include a lower edge and an upper edge. 
     At least one of the sleeves may also include a glove flap that is disposed above the lower edge of the sleeve. The glove flap may have an upper edge. The glove flap may have sufficient length so that the upper edge of the glove flap may be positioned below the lower edge of the sleeve. 
     Such a sleeve may also include a positioning feature that may be disposed between the upper edge of the sleeve and the lower edge of the sleeve and may, in some embodiments, define the upper edge of the glove flap. The positioning feature may be configured to retain the glove flap in place when the glove flap has been positioned below the lower edge of the sleeve. 
     In some embodiments, a cuff may be attached to the lower edge of the sleeve. 
    
    
     FIG. 1 is a partial broken-away side view of an embodiment of a protective garment according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention that is depicted in FIG. 2, illustrating the glove flap positioned over a glove. 
     FIG. 4 is a partial broken-away perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention that is depicted in FIG. 2, illustrating the glove flap positioned over a glove and positioned past the end of the sleeve cuff. 
     FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of an another embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a partial broken-away perspective view of the embodiment that is depicted in FIG. 5, illustrating the glove flap positioned over a glove. 
     FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a partial broken-away perspective view of the embodiment that is depicted in FIG. 7, illustrating the glove flap positioned over a glove and positioned past the end of the sleeve cuff. 
     FIG. 9 is a partial side view of an alternate embodiment of a protective garment according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a partial side view of another alternate embodiment of a protective garment according to the present invention. 
    
    
     As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to a protective garment  20 . Such a protective garment  20  has wide application and, while the invention may useful in medical applications, the invention can be used in any instance where a protective garment such as a coverall, robe, gown, etc. is used. 
     The garment  20  may include a gown body  22  and a neck portion  24 . The garment  20  may further include two sleeves, such as sleeve  26  that is attached to the gown body  22  at a seam  28 . Each sleeve  26  may include an upper edge  30 , a lower edge  32  and an exterior surface  36 . As used herein, the term ‘lower’ is generally used to denote features or a direction that is closer to the hand of the wearer. Similarly, the term ‘upper’ is generally used to denote features or a direction that is closer to the shoulder of the wearer. 
     In some embodiments and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cuff  34  may be attached to the lower edge  32  of the sleeve  26 . Cuffs useful in the present invention may be formed from a variety of materials and may have numerous different configurations. For example, short, tight-fitting cuffs made from a knitted material may be used with the present invention. Such knitted cuffs may be formed with or without ribs. Cuffs suitable for use with the garments according to the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,594,955 and 5,680,653, both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety for all purposes. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at least one of the sleeves  26  may also include a glove flap  48 . The glove flap  48  is disposed between the shoulder seam  28  and the lower edge  32  of the sleeve  26 . The glove flap  48  includes an upper portion  50  and a lower portion  54 . In some embodiments, the lower portion  54  is adjacent to the lower edge  32  of the sleeve  26 . The glove flap  48  also includes a positioning feature  46  that may be disposed between the upper edge  30  of the sleeve  26  and the lower edge  32  of the sleeve  26 . The positioning feature  46  may be positioned above or below the upper edge  50  of the glove flap  48 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the positioning feature  46  may take on many different configurations. For example, the positioning feature  46  may be continuous around the sleeve  26 , (see FIG.  1 ), or may be discontinuous around the sleeve  26 , such as short segments  70  that are disposed at varying intervals (see FIG.  5 ). 
     Many different types of materials may be utilized in the protective garment  20  and sleeves  26  of the present invention. Such materials may be reusable or disposable. For example, materials such as nonwovens, wovens, films, film/foam laminates and combinations of such and like materials may be used in the present invention. A particular material that is suitable for use with the present invention is a three-layer nonwoven polypropylene material that is commonly referred to as “SMS”, which is a spunbond-meltblown-spunbond laminate. Such a material is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,203 to Brock et al. 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, protective garments are frequently used with gloves such as glove  40  that is placed over the hand  42  of a wearer. As shown in FIG. 2, the glove edge  41  is frequently positioned over the cuff  34  of the protective garment  20  to inhibit the entry of undesirable material between the glove-sleeve interface. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the glove flap  48  may have a sufficient length, as measured from the upper portion  50  to the lower portion  54 , so that at least a portion of the glove flap  48  may be positioned below the lower edge  32  of the sleeve  26  and below and over the glove edge  41 . The positioning of the glove flap  48  in this manner further assists in inhibiting the entry of undesirable material between the glove-sleeve interface. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the glove flap  48  may be moved to a position so that the glove flap  48  extends over and below the glove edge  41  of the glove  40  and also positioned over and below the end  38  of the cuff  34 . In such an embodiment, the positioning feature  46  may be assisted in retaining the glove flap  48  in an appropriate position by the ridge formed under the glove  40  by the end  38  of the cuff  34 . 
     The positioning feature  46  enables the glove flap  48  to be retained in the positions that are depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4. The positioning feature  46  may be variously formed and may, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, be formed as an elastic member. Such an elastic member  52  may be variously applied to the sleeve  26 . For example, the elastic member  52  may be extruded directly onto the interior or exterior surfaces of the sleeve  26 . In some embodiments, the member  52  may be disposed on the sleeve  26  and, in a subsequent process such as, for example, heating, the member  52  may become elasticized. 
     In selected embodiments, the elastic member  52  may be formed from an elasticized tape that is glued or otherwise adhered to the sleeve  26 . If desired, the elastic member may be sewn to the sleeve  26 . In such an embodiment, the seam may be sealed in a subsequent operation to prevent hazardous liquids from passing through the holes formed in the sleeve  26  by the seam. 
     In particular embodiments, two or more positioning features may be utilized to decrease the potential for hazardous liquids to pass between the glove-cuff interface. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sleeve  26  may include a glove flap  48  having a positioning feature  46  and an additional positioning feature  56 . In selected embodiments, the additional positioning feature  56  may be disposed above the positioning feature  46 . The positioning features  46  and  56  may have similar or different configurations, depending upon the needs of the garment  20 . As shown in FIG. 6, the glove flap  48  may be positioned so that the positioning member  46  is disposed below the edge  41  of the glove  40 . As also seen in FIG. 6, the positioning member  56  may be disposed below the edge  38  of the cuff  34 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, the positioning member  46  may be configured as a band that has a relatively substantial width. A large variety of widths may be used in the positioning members  46  of the present invention. When such a positioning member  46  is positioned below the edge  38  of the cuff  34 , the width of the positioning member further assists in retaining the positioning member  46  below the cuff  34 . A relatively wide positioning member  46  further decreases the opportunities for fluids to pass beyond the positioning member. These features increase the likelihood that the glove flap  48  will inhibit the passing of hazardous fluids through to the glove-cuff interface. 
     The positioning member  46  may, in some embodiments, gather the material of the sleeve  26  toward the wearer&#39;s arm  44  so that, when the positioning member  46  is positioned below the garment-glove interface, the positioning member  46  conforms to the wearer&#39;s hand or wrist. 
     In some embodiments, the surface  36  of the sleeve  26  may be modified to assist in retaining the glove flap  48  over the end of the glove  40 . As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, a surface modifier may be applied to the surface  36  of the sleeve  26  to enhance the tackiness of the sleeve  26 . Enhancing the tackiness of the surface of the sleeve  26  increases the likelihood that the glove flap  48  will be retained in the desired position. A variety of surface modifiers may be used in the present invention, such as, for example, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, sytrene-butadiene, cellulose acetate butyrate, ethyl cellulose, synthetic rubbers including, for example, Krayton™ block copolymers, natural rubber, polyethylenes, polyamides, flexible polyolefins, and amorphous polyalphaolefins. These materials may be applied to the garment in a variety of ways, such as, for example, melt spraying, slot coating and printing. 
     For example and as shown in FIG. 5, a surface modifier, such as those described above and similar compositions, may be positioned on the sleeve  26  in areas  60  and  62 . As seen in FIG. 5, the area  60  is disposed below the positioning member  46  and the area  62  is disposed below the positioning member  56 . Referring now to FIG. 9, two ridges  64  and  66  may be positioned on the sleeve  26  below the positioning member  46 . In such an embodiment, the tackiness and height of the ridges may assist in retaining the glove flap  48  in its desired position as the ridges  64  and  66  inhibit movement of the glove flap  48  upward to a position that is above the glove-sleeve interface. As shown in FIG. 10, a ridge  68  may be positioned above the positioning member  46  and may, in some embodiments and as shown in FIG. 10, be used with a ridge  64 . Any of a variety of configurations of such surface modifying elements may be used in the present invention. 
     The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive characteristics thereof. The present embodiments therefore are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.