Maternity Medical Cape

The present disclosure claims priority to co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/653,256, filed on May 30, 2024, and entitled “MATERNITY HOSPITAL CAPE,” the contents of which are incorporated in full by reference.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of medical garments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to medical capes or gowns providing improved utility for a pregnant person and/or for medical procedures involving the mammary glands.

Current medical/maternity capes provided to patients are useful for expediating medical examinations and procedures in a variety of medical contexts. Given the plethora possible medical procedures, current medical cape designs are agnostic to both the patient and the type of medical procedure to be performed. Current medical gowns may be one-size-fits-all or provided in a limited number of sizes (e.g., small, medium, large, etc.) to provide a minimum level of comfort and access from a bottom opening of the medical cape, although fully removing prior medical capes/gowns is often required. It should be appreciated that specialized capes for maternity patients are not currently used or supplied by hospitals, medical providers, and the like.

Current medical capes do not provide improved utility for pregnant patients, especially those at or near full term. Even if different sizes of medical capes are available, a medical cape for a large individual (e.g., taller or having a BMI more than average) does not fit a full-term, pregnant patient well. Current medical capes also do not provide improved utility for mammogram procedures and the like.

Furthermore, the existing medical capes do not provide privacy for the patient during procedures related to pregnancy and/or involving the mammary glands. For example, current medical capes do not provide easy access and discretion while nursing. Rather, current medical capes may provide easy access to the breasts for breast feeding, but this access necessarily exposes intimate areas of the patient. Thus, many nursing patients may feel uncomfortable nursing in front of others and even feel the need to relocate to a more private area or lock the room, which may not be allowed, recommended, feasible, or the like.

Current medical capes do not allow for increasing skin-to-skin contact between mothers and infants generally and particularly while breast feeding. To increase the degree of skin contact with prior medical capes, the medical cape or portions thereof typically require removal, which further reduces patient privacy.

As such, a need exists in the art for medical capes that overcome the above limitations.

This background is provided as an illustrative contextual environment only. It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods of the present disclosure may be implemented in other contextual environments as well.

Therefore, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide medical, maternity, and/or mammogram capes and associated methods of manufacture that overcome the limitations of the known art.

To achieve the foregoing and other objects and advantages, in one aspect, the present subject matter is directed to a medical cape including a left-front side and a right-front side with the left-front side adaptively and removably attachable to the right-front side. A back-side includes a central placket between a left-back side and a right-back side such that a disconnected section of the left-back side and a disconnected section the right-back side overlap. The left-front side includes a left-front-shoulder removably attachable to a left-back shoulder section of the left-back side. The right-front side includes right-front-shoulder section attachable to a right-back-shoulder section of the right-back side. A portion of a front-left edge of the left-front side is permanently attached to a portion of back-left edge of the left-back side at a left-torso seam, and a portion of a front-right edge of the right-front side is permanently attached to a portion of a right-back edge of the right-back side at a right-torso seam.

In at least one embodiment, the left-front side and the right-front side may be sized to accommodate a maternity patient at full-term when the left-front side is removably attached to the right-front side. In additional or alternative embodiments, when the maternity patient wears the medical cape, the left-front side may be capable of being adaptively attached to the right-front side such that the front side covers any private parts of the maternity patient while a belly of the maternity patient is exposed. In additional or alternative embodiments, when the maternity patient wears the medical cape, the left-front side may be capable of being adaptively attached to the right-front side such that a newborn can be placed beneath either of the left-front side or the right-front side to breast feed while the medical cape covers any private parts of the maternity patient.

Additionally or alternatively, the left-front side may be removably attachable to the right-front side via a connection device selected from the group consisting of snap fasteners, snap tape, buttons, hook-and-eye closure, ties, and/or hook-and-loop fastener. Additionally or alternatively, the left-front shoulder section of the left-front side may be removably attachable to the left-back shoulder section of the left-back side via a connection device selected from the group consisting of snap fasteners, snap tape, buttons, hook-and-eye closure, ties, and/or hook-and-loop fastener. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the left-front shoulder may be removably attachable to the left-back shoulder section of the left-back side via a connection device selected from the group consisting of snap fasteners, snap tape, buttons, hook-and-eye closure, ties, and/or hook-and-loop fastener. In some such embodiments, an overlap between the left-front shoulder and the left-back shoulder may be approximately 1 inch to 1.5 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the right-front shoulder of the right-front side may be attachable to the right-back shoulder section of the right-back side via a right-shoulder seam. In a further or alternative embodiments, the right-front shoulder of the right-front side may be removably attachable to the right-back shoulder section of the right-back side via a connection device selected from the group consisting of snap fasteners, snap tape, buttons, hook-and-eye closure, ties, and/or hook-and-loop fastener.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the left-torso seam may end about 6 inches to about 18 inches above a bottom of the left-front side. In some such embodiments, the left-torso seam may end about 12 inches above a bottom of the left-front side. Additionally or alternatively, the right-torso seam may end about 6 inches to about 18 inches above a bottom of the right-front side. In some such embodiments, the right-torso seam may end about 12 inches above a bottom of the right-front side. Additionally or alternatively, an overlap of the left-front side and the right-front side may extend from a right edge of the left-front side to a left edge of the right-front side. In some such embodiments, the overlap of the left-front side and the right-front side may be about 2 inches to 12 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the overlap of the left-front side and the right-front side may be about 2 inches to 10 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the overlap of the left-front side and the right-front side may be about 2 inches to 8 inches.

In an additional or alternative embodiment, the medical cape may further include extended sleeves, and a distance between a bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and a bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 0.5 inches to 12 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the distance between the bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and the bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 0.5 inches to 10 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the distance between the bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and the bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 0.5 inches to 6 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the distance between the bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and the bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 1 inch to 12 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the distance between the bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and the bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 1 inch to 10 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the distance between the bottom of a left-sleeve opening and the left-torso seam and the bottom of a right-sleeve opening and the right-torso seam may range from 1 inch to 6 inches.

In some further or alternative configurations, the medical cape may include a collar. In some such embodiments, a finished length, as measured from a left-back edge of the collar to a bottom of the left-back side, ranges from 40 inches to 60 inches, such as 40 inches to 55 inches, such as 45 inches to 60 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the finished length may range from 45 inches to 55 inches. In an alternative embodiment, the finished length may range from 20 inches to 30 inches. In at least one embodiment, the finished length may be approximately 24 inches.

In additional or alternative embodiments, a width of the central placket may range from 1 inch to 4 inches, such as 1 inch to 3 inches, such as 1 inch to 2 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the width of the central placket may range from 1.5 to 4 inches. Additionally or alternatively, the width of the central placket may range from 1.5 to 3 inches, such as 1.5 inches to 2 inches. Additionally or alternatively, a material forming the medical cape may include one or more of cotton, polyester, or a cotton-polyester blend.

In an additional or alternative aspect, the present subject matter is directed to a process for making a medical cape. The process includes obtaining fabric and cutting a right-front side, a right-back side, a left-front side, and a left-back side from the fabric. The process further includes cutting a left-shoulder overlap closure strip, a front overlap closure strip, and a back overlap closure strip from the fabric. The process further includes applying snaps to each of the left-shoulder overlap closure strip, the front overlap closure strip, the back overlap closure strip, a left-back shoulder section of the left-back side, the right-front side, and the left-back side. An element of the process includes serging a neckline and armholes by press folding approximately ⅜ inch down and top stitching. The process also includes sewing the right-front side to the right-back side at a right side and the left-front side to the left-back side at a left side, leaving slits at a bottom of each of the left side and the right side.

Embodiments of the invention can include one or more or any combination of the above features and configurations.

Additional features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description of illustrative embodiments that follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present various embodiments of the invention and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification.

It will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that aspects of illustrated embodiments may be used in any desired combinations, without limitation. Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the present invention.

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. However, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the representative embodiments set forth herein. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. It is envisioned that other embodiments may perform similar functions and/or achieve similar results. Any and all such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the scope of the present invention and are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

The exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be both thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention and enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make, use, and practice the invention. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations.

The terms “coupled,” “fixed,” “attached to,” “communicatively coupled to,” “operatively coupled to,” and the like refer to both direct coupling, fixing, attaching, communicatively coupling, and operatively coupling as well as indirect coupling, fixing, attaching, communicatively coupling, and operatively coupling through one or more intermediate components or features, unless otherwise specified herein. “Communicatively coupled to” and “operatively coupled to” can refer to physically and/or electrically related components.

As used herein, the terms “first”, “second”, and “third” may be used interchangeably to distinguish one component from another and are not intended to signify location or importance of the individual components. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Approximating language, as used herein throughout the specification and claims, is applied to modify any quantitative representation that could permissibly vary without resulting in a change in the basic function to which it is related. Accordingly, a value modified by a term or terms, such as “about”, “approximately”, and “substantially”, are not to be limited to the precise value specified. In at least some instances, the approximating language may correspond to the precision of an instrument for measuring the value, or the precision of the methods or machines for constructing or manufacturing the components and/or systems. For example, the approximating language may refer to being within a 1, 2, 4, 10, 15, or 20 percent margin.

It is to be understood that the mention of one or more method steps does not preclude the presence of additional method steps before or after the combined recited steps or intervening method steps between those steps expressly identified. Moreover, the lettering of method steps or ingredients is a conventional means for identifying discrete activities or ingredients and the recited lettering can be arranged in any sequence, unless otherwise indicated.

As used herein, the term “and/or”, when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing compounds A, B, “and/or” C, the composition may contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.

Here and throughout the specification and claims, range limitations are combined and interchanged, such ranges are identified and include all the sub-ranges contained therein unless context or language indicates otherwise. For example, all ranges disclosed herein are inclusive of the endpoints, and the endpoints are independently combinable with each other.

Referring now generally to, schematic diagrams of exemplary embodiments of medical capes are illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present subject matter. More particularly,illustrate an embodiment of a medical capeconfigured as a maternity cape, andillustrate an embodiment of a medical capeconfigured as a mammogram cape. It should be appreciated that maternity capesmay also be suitable for use during a mammogram or other procedure involving the mammary glands, and the mammogram capemay also be suitable for using during medical procedures related to pregnancy. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the following description related to the maternity capemay be equally applicable to the mammogram capeand vice versa. Furthermore, a suitable medical capemay be configured to include any of the features described below with respect to the exemplary maternity capeand/or the exemplary mammogram cape, individually or in combination.

Embodiments of the medical capeand associated methods described herein may generally provide more room in the belly for pregnant patients, especially those at or near full-term. It should be appreciated that the medical capesdescribed herein may provide more room in the belly area while maintaining a slimmer/smaller fit in areas that do not grow larger during pregnancy, e.g., the shoulders. However, it should be appreciated that the medical capesdescribed herein may also have sizing options to accommodate different shoulder widths and/or heights of patients, as is well known in the art. Furthermore, such medical capesare automatically not longer to accommodate taller patients, like some current large or extra-large size medical capes, if different sizes are even available. The medical capesdescribed herein also generally provide improved or easier access to the belly region of the patient without unnecessary sacrificing the patient's privacy. For instance, embodiments of the maternity capemay be optionally opened at the front (e.g., near the bottom) by releasing temporary fasteners (e.g., snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, zippers, buttons, or the like) to provide access to the patient's belly while leaving the breasts of the patient and other private areas covered. Additionally or alternatively, the belly area may be left partially or mostly uncovered, see, e.g., the exemplary embodiments of the mammogram cape.

Embodiments of the medical capedescribed herein further provide improved utility by allowing access to the individual breast regions for breast feeding or examination while leaving other areas of the patient's body covered. In some embodiments, temporary closures provided at a front of the medical gown(e.g., near the top) may allow for access to the breast for breast feeding without exposing the patient's breasts at all. For example, one or more temporary closures may be opened allowing an infant's head to be inserted within the medical capewhile still covering the breast and/or the infant's head latched to the breast in question. Additionally or alternatively, temporary closures provide at the shoulder may be opened to expose the breast for breast feeding or medical examination. In such use, only a single breast must be exposed while the rest of the patient's body may remain covered.

illustrates the front of a non-limiting embodiment of the maternity capeof the present invention. The front of the maternity capemay be made up of a left-front sideand a right-front side, whereby the terms “left” and “right” are used to denote the left and right sides of the garment from the perspective of the person wearing the maternity cape. The maternity capemay include a torso portionwith a bottom openingwhere the wearer's feet and portions of the wearer's legs can extend through the torso portion. The maternity capemay include a left-front sleevewith a left sleeve openingand right-front sleevewith a right sleeve opening. A wearer can extend her hands and a portion of her arms through the left sleeve openingand the right sleeve opening. Also, the maternity capemay include a front collarwith a neck openingwhere the wearer's head and portions of the wearer's neck can extend through the neck opening. In order for maternity capeto provide comfort and privacy for a women in late term pregnancy, both before and during active labor, or while nursing a newborn, the maternity capeis generally oversized in the front. The left-front sidemay overlap the right-front side. The overlap regionis shown between the left-front bandand the left-front edgeof the right-front side, which is covered by the left-front side.

The left-front sidemay be removably attachable to the right-front sidealong left-front band, front collar, and within the overlap region. The left-front sideis shown as being removably attachable to the right-front sideusing snaps(only one snap labeled with a reference character in each offor clarity). Some embodiments of snapscomprise a ball portion and a socket portion. However, snapsand/or snaps, as used herein, may additionally or alternatively include any of the temporary fasteners, as described herein. In some exemplary embodiments, each snapused to removably attach the left-front sideto the right-front side(i.e., used to close or open the front of the maternity cape) may have a portion connected to the left-front side(i.e., near front collar, in the overlap section, and along left-front band) and a corresponding portion (not shown) connected to the right-front side(i.e., near front collar, in the overlap section, and along right-front band (not shown). The snapsalong the front left bandmay be widely spaced to allow ready access for an infant to the wearer's breasts for feeding while maintaining privacy. They may also be widely spaced to allow access to the wearer's belly, for example to monitor a fetal heartbeat, without exposing more than the belly (i.e., improves discretion). One skilled in the art will recognize that, for example, portions of individual snaps can be sown onto left front sideand right-front side, and that alternatively, the two corresponding pieces of snap tape can be sown onto left front sideand right-front side.

The left-front shoulder bandmay be permanently attached to the left-front sideas shown inand may be removably attachable to the left-back side (not shown). When the left-front shoulder bandis detached from the left-back side (not shown), the top of the left-front sidecan be folded down to allow for medical access for such things as an EKG. In, similar to the left-front band, the left-front shoulder bandmay be removably attachable with a series of snaps. Each snapon the left-front shoulder bandmay have a portion connected to the left-front shoulder bandand a portion connected to the left-back shoulder band (not shown, underneath the left-front shoulder band).

Consideringtogether, the left-front sidemay be permanently attached to the left-back sidefrom the bottom of the left sleeve openingdownward to the top of the left slit. Correspondingly, the right-front sidemay be permanently attached to the right-back sidefrom the bottom of right sleeve openingdownward to the top of the right split.

illustrates the back of the non-limiting embodiment of the maternity capeshown in. The maternity capemay include the left-back side, the right-back side, a left-back sleevewith the left sleeve opening, a right-back sleevewith the right sleeve opening, and a back collarwith the neck opening. The left-back sideand right-back sidemay be connected using placket(i.e., an opening where one side of the opening lies over the other side) for enhanced privacy. The left-back sideand the right-back sidemay overlap and may be permanently attached to each other from the back collardownward to the transition. In, the right-back side bandbelow the transitionis on top of the left-back side band (not shown). A minimal number of snapscan be used to removably attach the right-back side bandto the left-back side band (not shown). This design allows for ready access to meet medical needs, such as administering an epidural. The design also allows for discretion as walking during labor is beneficial and the overlap allows the wearer's backside to remain covered.

The left-back shoulder band (not shown as it is under the attached left-front shoulder band) may be permanently attached to the left-back sideand may be removably attachable to the left-front shoulder band. In, similar to the right-back band, the left-back shoulderand left-front shouldermay be removably attachable with a series of snaps. Each snapon the left-front shoulder bandmay have a portion connected to the left-front shoulder bandand a portion connected to the left-back shoulder band (not shown).

illustrates the front of a non-limiting embodiment of the mammogram capeof the present invention. The front of the mammogram capemay be made up of a left-front sideand a right-front side, whereby the terms “left” and “right” are used to denote the left and right sides of the garment from the perspective of the person wearing the maternity cape. The mammogram capemay include a torso portionwith a bottom openingwhere the wearer's feet, the wearer's legs, and a portion of the wearer's torso can extend through the torso portion. The mammogram capemay include a left-front sleevewith a left sleeve openingand right-front sleevewith a right sleeve opening. A wearer can extend her hands and a portion of her arms through the left sleeve openingand the right sleeve opening. Also, the mammogram capemay include a front collarwith a neck openingwhere the wearer's head and portions of the wearer's neck can extend through the neck opening. In order for the mammogram capeto provide comfort and privacy for a women having a mammogram, the mammogram capemay be oversized in the front. The left-front sidemay overlap the right-front side. The overlap regionis shown between the left-front bandand the left-front edgeof the right-front side, which is covered by the left-front side.

The left-front sidemay be removably attachable to the right-front sidealong left-front band, front collar, and within the overlap region. The left-front sideis shown as being removably attachable to the right-front sideusing snaps. Snapsmay include a ball portion and a socket portion or any suitable temporary fastener, as described herein. Therefore, each snapused to removably attach the left-front sideto the right-front side(i.e., used to close or open the front of the mammogram cape) may have a portion connected to the left-front side(i.e., near front collar, in the overlap section, and along left-front band) and a corresponding portion (not shown) connected to the right-front side(i.e., near front collar, in the overlap section, and along right-front band (not shown). The snapsalong the front left bandmay be widely spaced.

The left-front shoulder bandmay be permanently attached to the left-front sideas shown inand may be removably attachable to the left-back side (not shown). When the left-front shoulder bandis detached from the left-back side (not shown), the top of the left-front sidecan be folded down to allow for medical access for such things as an EKG. In, similar to the left-front band, the left-front shoulder bandmay be removably attachable with a series of snaps. Each snapon the left-front shoulder bandmay have a portion connected to the left-front shoulder bandand a portion connected to the left-back shoulder band (not shown, underneath the left-front shoulder band).

Consideringtogether, the left-front sidemay be permanently attached to the left-back sidefrom the bottom of the left sleeve openingdownward to the bottom of left-back side. Correspondingly, the right-front sidemay be permanently attached to the right-back sidefrom the bottom of right sleeve openingdownward to the bottom of back right side.

illustrates the back of the non-limiting embodiment of the mammogram capeshown in. The mammogram capemay include the left-back side, the right-back side, a left-back sleevewith the left sleeve opening, a right-back sleevewith the right sleeve opening, and a back collarwith the neck opening. The left-back sideand right-back sidemay be connected using placket(i.e., an opening where one side of the opening lies over the other side) for enhanced privacy. The left-back sideand the right-back sidemay overlap and/or may be permanently attached to each other from the back collardownward to the transition. In, the right-back side bandbelow the transitionis on top of the left-back side band (not shown). A minimal number of snapscan be used to removably attach the right-back side bandto the left-back side band (not shown).

The left-back shoulder band (not shown as it is under the attached left-front shoulder band) may be permanently attached to the left-back sideand may be removably attachable to the left-front shoulder band. In, similar to the right-back band, the left-back shoulderand left-front shouldermay be removably attachable with a series of snaps. Each snapon the left-front shoulder bandmay have a portion connected to the left-front shoulder bandand a portion connected to the left-back shoulder band (not shown).

show an embodiment of a mammogram cape with extended sleeves. In an embodiment with extended sleeves, left sleeve openingmay attach to left-front sideand left-back sidevia left sleeve extension, and right sleeve openingmay attach to right-front sideand right-back sidevia right sleeve extension

In some aspects, the arm holes may be sized to make it easy to get the mammogram medical capeon and off.

Referring now to,illustrates a schematic logic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of process/method elements, one or more of which may be implemented in a process/method for manufacturing a suitable medical cape. For example, one or more elements of a process/method (method) may be utilized to produce a medical gown, a maternity cape, and/or a mammogram cape, as described herein. However, it should be appreciated that methodmay be utilized in the production of any other similar or suitably configured medical cape.

In some embodiments and as shown, the methodmay include obtaining fabric (method element). The methodmay additionally or alternatively include cutting a right-front side, a right-back side, a left-front side, and a left-back side from the fabric (method element). The methodmay further include cutting a left-shoulder overlap closure strip, a front overlap closure strip, and a back overlap closure strip (method element). The methodoptionally includes applying snaps to each of the left-shoulder overlap closure strip, the front overlap closure strip, the back overlap closure strip, a left-back shoulder section of the left-back side, the right-front side, and the left-back side (method element). In some embodiments, a neckline and armholes may be serged by press folding approximately ⅜ inch down and top stitching (method element). The methodmay also include sewing the right-front side to the right-back side at a right side and the left-front side to the left-back side at a left side, leaving slits at a bottom of each of the left side and the right side (method element). For example and as shown in, sewing the sides of the medical capemay include a sewing a seam from an upper ¼ inch inseam from the arm pit (upper pivot) down, such as by 12 and ⅝ inches, to split at the right split(e.g., at lower pivot). The same process may be utilized for the right side and/or for the mammogram cape. It should be appreciated that embodiments of the mammogram capewithout the lower slit may not include/utilize the lower pivot. However, other embodiments of the mammogram capemay utilize the same process and/or also define the side slits like the maternity cape.

Although the present disclosure is illustrated and described with reference to embodiments and examples thereof, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments and examples may perform similar functions and/or achieve like results. All such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the scope of the present disclosure, are contemplated thereby, and are intended to be covered by the following, non-limiting Claims for all purposes.