US20240358101A1

US20240358101A1 - Garment apparatus

Info

Publication number: US20240358101A1
Application number: US18/138,789
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas Therres
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2023-04-25
Filing date: 2023-04-25
Publication date: 2024-10-31

Abstract

A garment for facilitating access to a medical device which is connected to a user's body includes a shirt with a closeable slit at the bottom which receives a tubing that connects a medical device to a body of a user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to garments and more particularly pertains to a new garment for facilitating access to a medical device which is connected to a user's body.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art describes several garments for wearing on a torso of a user which carry a medical device such as an insulin pump in a pocket. This allows the medical device to be attached to the user's body while being held by the garment. However, the prior art does not describe a garment with slits positioned at a bottom end of the garment so that the user can access the medical device and position a tubing which connects the medical device to the user's body in one of the slits. Such a garment is desirable, because a user may position the medical device and the tubing in a greater range of positions than if the user wore a garment without slits. This includes, for example, tucking the garment into a lower garment while positioning the medical device outside of the garment and positioning the tubing to extend through one of the slits.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shirt which is flexible and which defines an interior space therein. The interior space is open at a bottom end of the shirt, and the shirt has a neck opening extending through a top side thereof to the interior space. The shirt has a pair of arm openings, and each of a first lateral side and a second lateral side of the shirt has one of the pair of arm openings extending therethrough to the interior space. The shirt has a first slit extending upwardly through the bottom end of the shirt. The first slit has a length from the bottom end of the shirt to a top end of the first slit such that the first slit is configured to receive a tubing connecting the medical device to a body of a user therethrough.
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.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

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:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a detail perspective front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 5 thereof, a new garment embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5 , the garment apparatus 10 a shirt 12 which is flexible and which defines an interior space 14 therein. The interior space 14 is open at a bottom end 16 of the shirt 12 and has a neck opening 18 extends through a top side 20 thereof to the interior space 14. The shirt 12 also has a pair of arm openings 22, each of a first lateral side 24 and a second lateral side 27 of the shirt 12 has one of the pair of arm openings 22 extending therethrough to the interior space 14. The shirt 12 has first and second slits 26, 28 which each extend upwardly through the bottom end 16 of the shirt 12. Each of the first and second slits 26, 28 has a length between the bottom end 16 of the shirt 12 and a top end 26 thereof which is configured to receive a tubing 32 connecting a medical device 34 to a body 38 of a user 36 therethrough. The medical device 34 may, for example, be an insulin pump. The length of each of the first and second slits 26, 28 is between 6.0 inches and 8.0 inches. The first slit 26 is positioned in the first lateral side 24 of the shirt 12, and the second slit 28 is positioned in the second lateral side 27 of the shirt 12.
A first closure 44 is coupled to the first slit 26 for closing the first slit 26, and a second closure 46 is coupled to the second slit 28 for closing the second slit 28. Each one of a pair of opposing edges 48 of the first slit 26 has one of the pair of mating members 50 of the first closure 44 attached thereto, and each one of a pair of opposing edges 48 of the second slit 28 has one of the pair of mating members 50 of the second closure 46 attached thereto. Each of the first and second closures 44, 46 comprises a hook-and-loop fastener 52 but may comprise a zipper, a snap fastener, a button, or the like.
In use, the user 36 wears the shirt 12 on a torso 40 of the user 36 and positions the medical device 34 out of the interior space 14 of the shirt 12 such that the tubing 32 extends through one of the first and second slits 26, 28. The first and second slits 26, 28 provide a place to position the tubing 32 such that the bottom end 16 of the shirt 12 does not impede upon the tubing 32, which can place the tubing 32 in an uncomfortable position for the user 36 or crimp the tubing 32. This advantage is especially helpful when the user 36 wears the shirt 12 tucked into a lower garment 42 worn by the user 36, because the medical device 34 can be positioned outside of the interior space 14 of the shirt 12 and out of the lower garment 42 without weaving the tube circuitously between the shirt 12 and the lower garment 42. The first and second slits 26, 28 also allow the user 36 to more easily view and manipulate the medical device 34 while the tubing 32 connects the medical device 34 to the user's 36 body 38 compared to an alternative shirt without slits. The user 36 can also wear the shirt 12 without the tubing 32 extending through one of the first and second slits 26, 28 when the user 36 does not need to view or manipulate the medical device 34.
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.

Claims

I claim:

1. A garment apparatus for facilitating access to a medical device connected to a body of a user, the apparatus comprising a shirt being flexible and defining an interior space therein, the interior space being open at a bottom end of the shirt, the shirt having a neck opening extending through a top side thereof to the interior space, the shirt having a pair of arm openings, each of a first lateral side and a second lateral side of the shirt having one of the pair of arm openings extending therethrough to the interior space, the shirt having a first slit extending upwardly through the bottom end of the shirt, the first slit having a length from the bottom end of the shirt to a top end of the first slit such that the first slit is configured to receive a tubing connecting the medical device to the body of the user therethrough.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the length of the first slit is at least 6.0 inches.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first slit is positioned in the first lateral side of the shirt.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shirt has a second slit extending upwardly through the bottom end of the shirt, the second slit having a length from the bottom end of the shirt to a top end of the second slit such that the second slit is configured to receive the tubing connecting the medical device to the body of the user therethrough.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the length of the second slit is at least 6.0 inches.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second slit is positioned in the second lateral side of the shirt.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first closure being coupled to the first slit for closing the first slit, the first closure comprising a pair of mating members, each one of a pair of opposing edges of the first slit having one of the pair of mating members of the first slit attached thereto.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first closure comprises a hook-and-loop fastener.

9. The apparatus of claim 4, further comprising a second closure being coupled to the second slit for closing the second slit, the second closure comprising a pair of mating members, each one of a pair of opposing edges of the second slit having one of the pair of mating members of the second slit attached thereto.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second closure comprises a hook-and-loop fastener.

11. A garment apparatus for facilitating access to a medical device connected to a body of a user, the apparatus comprising:

a shirt being flexible and defining an interior space therein, the interior space being open at a bottom end of the shirt, the shirt having a neck opening extending through a top side thereof to the interior space, the shirt having a pair of arm openings, each of a first lateral side and a second lateral side of the shirt having one of the pair of arm openings extending therethrough to the interior space, the shirt having a first slit extending upwardly through the bottom end of the shirt, the first slit having a length from the bottom end of the shirt to a top end of the first slit such that the first slit is configured to receive a tubing connecting the medical device to the body of the user therethrough, the length of the first slit being at least 6.0 inches, the first slit being positioned in the first lateral side of the shirt, the shirt having a second slit extending upwardly through the bottom end of the shirt, the second slit having a length from the bottom end of the shirt to a top end of the second slit such that the second slit is configured to receive the tubing connecting the medical device to the body of the user therethrough, the length of the second slit being at least 6.0 inches, the second slit being positioned in the second lateral side of the shirt;

a first closure being coupled to the first slit for closing the first slit, the first closure comprising a pair of mating members, each one of a pair of opposing edges of the first slit having one of the pair of mating members of the first slit attached thereto, the first closure comprising a hook-and-loop fastener; and

a second closure being coupled to the second slit for closing the second slit, the second closure comprising a pair of mating members, each one of a pair of opposing edges of the second slit having one of the pair of mating members of the second slit attached thereto, the second closure comprising a hook-and-loop fastener.