US20170079344A1

US20170079344A1 - Sterilized Gown

Info

Publication number: US20170079344A1
Application number: US15/267,270
Authority: US
Inventors: Kiyokazu Nakajima; Takayuki Yasui; Hiroyuki Yamashita
Original assignee: Osaka University NUC; Daiei Co Ltd; Tokusen Kogyo Co Ltd
Current assignee: Osaka University NUC; Daiei Co Ltd; Tokusen Kogyo Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-09-18
Filing date: 2016-09-16
Publication date: 2017-03-23
Also published as: JP2017057539A; JP6261009B2

Abstract

There is provided an open back type sterilized gown including a main panel including: a front panel; and a left-side back panel and a right-side back panel linked with the front panel, wherein an elastic body having an ended annular shape is provided at a neckline part formed at the main panel, and the elastic body can maintain the neckline part of the sterilized gown in an annular shape surrounding a neck part of a wearer in a non-deformed state, and opens on a back side so as to allow a neck part of the wearer to pass through a back side of the neckline part in a deformed state.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-185721, filed on Sep. 18, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sterilized gown.
Related Art
A sterilized gown is conventionally used in a medical site such as an operating room where a high level of cleanliness is required. Such a gown has a semi-clean or unclean region on an inner side to contact with a wearer and a clean region on an outer side opposite thereto, and is generally shaped to have a seamless front face part where a wearer contacts with a patient or the like and an open back face part (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-36114).
For wearing such a medical gown, wearing assistance by an assistant is conventionally necessary from the perspective of cleanliness maintenance. That is in general, a wearer first grips an inner side of the gown and puts his/her arms through sleeves, and then the assistant ties strings around the neck each other and inner strings at a waist part each other at a back face of the wearer. The wearer then pulls a shorter waist string out of a waist string holder to which the waist string is fastened, and then hands the assistant a longer waist string together with a waist string holder. The wearer then turns counterclockwise to wind the waist string around his/her waist, pulls the longer waist string from the holder, and ties the longer waist string with the shorter waist string at a front or side face of the wearer.
Wearing assistance for a gown, which is often conducted by a nurse in an operating room, for example, is only an ancillary task for the nurse, frequently segments the working movement line of an extremely busy nurse in an operating room, and sometimes interrupts the primary tasks of the nurse, which include tasks for ensuring safety of the patient.
Moreover, there are cases where wearing assistance by an assistant cannot be expected, e.g., emergencies at night or large-scale disasters. In such cases, there is another problem that it is difficult to wear a gown while adequately ensuring the clean state.
Regarding this point, a disposable outer garment having a back part to be closed using a hook-and-loop fastener is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-88538 and the like. Moreover, a sanitary garment wherein only a neck circumference rear part in the back part is linked via an extensible member and an open part at a lower position is closed using a special slide fastener, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-332515.

SUMMARY

When the back part is closed using a hook-and-loop fastener as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-88538, it becomes possible to wear a gown more easily than wearing by tying strings. However, when the wearer tries to wear the gown without wearing assistance, the wearer needs to conduct operation to fasten the hook-and-loop fastener at his/her back part, and such a wearing method is hardly determined to be safe from the perspective of cleanliness maintenance.
Moreover, since the sanitary garment described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-332515 has a neck circumference rear part linked via an extensible member and a wearer slips the sanitary garment over his/her head to wear the garment and then closes the back part using a slide fastener having a device which enables manipulation for closing the back part from the front side of the body, the wearer is not required to conduct operation at his/her back face. With such a structure, however, there is a high risk that a clean region such as a hand of the wearer touches an unclean region such as the head of the wearer in the process of slipping the sanitary garment over the head of the wearer to wear the garment. Moreover, when a problem that the slide fastener does not close smoothly or the like occurs, wearing of the sanitary garment may possibly require long time or cannot be achieved.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object thereof is to provide a sterilized gown which reduces a burden on a person who conventionally assists wearing and can be worn without increasing a burden on the wearer.
In order to solve the above issue, a sterilized gown according to the present invention is an open back type sterilized gown including a main panel including: a front panel; and a left-side back panel and a right-side back panel linked with the front panel, wherein an elastic body having an ended annular shape is provided at a neckline part formed at the main panel, and the elastic body can maintain the neckline part of the sterilized gown in an annular shape surrounding a neck part of a wearer in a non-deformed state, and opens on a back side so as to allow a neck part of the wearer to pass through a back side of the neckline part in a deformed state.
With a sterilized gown having the above structure, the neckline part of the gown surrounds the neck of the wearer and such a state is maintained only by inserting the neck of the wearer into an annular shape of the elastic body while deforming the elastic body and then restoring the elastic body to put on the gown. This makes it unnecessary to provide connecting part such as string which is conventionally used for preventing a neck circumference part of the gown from being taken off, and can omit operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, such as tying strings to fasten a neck circumference part at the back face of the wearer. Moreover, since the elastic body in the present invention is deformed to a proper degree according to the posture in a wearing state, the degree of freedom in the shape of the gown is increased and it is possible to reduce a burden on the wearer even when the gown is worn for a long time. Furthermore, it becomes possible to form a proper gap between a neckline part of the gown and the neck and shoulder of the wearer, and it is possible to improve the air permeability.
Here, the elastic body may be an annular shape memory wire, or may be a flat spring which can be reversibly deformed between a linear shape and a winding shape. Furthermore, the wire may be made of metal, e.g., stainless steel, or may be made of resin. Moreover, the elastic body may be fixed to the neckline part by providing the neckline part with piping and enclosing the elastic body in the piping part, or by sewing or bonding the elastic body on an inner or outer side around the neckline part, for example.
In addition, both ends of the elastic body may be overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction in a non-deformed state. With the elastic body having such a shape, it is possible to close the neckline part without forming a gap, and it is also possible to improve the cleanliness and safety in wearing the gown.
The elastic body may be formed to have a curvature radius at an end part, which is laid on an inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction, smaller than a curvature radius of another part in a non-deformed state. With the elastic body having such a shape, an end part on a side, which is laid on the inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in the circumferential direction, is positioned on an annularly inner side than an end part on a side, which is laid on the outer side in a non-deformed state. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the inner side and the outer side of the overlapped end parts from being located conversely or prevent the overlapped end parts from colliding each other and disturbing restoration in the process of deforming the elastic body to expand and then restoring the shape.
Furthermore, the above sterilized gown may be a sterilized gown, wherein a total dimension of a width of the left-side back panel and a width of the right-side back panel under a chest circumference part is larger than a width of the front panel, and one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel is overlapped with the other so that a predetermined overlap width is formed on a back side when the elastic body is not deformed.
With the above structure, a back panel which is formed to have a dimension larger than the width of a front panel is maintained in an overlapped state with a predetermined width by an elastic body of a neckline part. This enables to close the gown at the back face of the wearer without using coupling part such as string at a waist part to maintain overlap of the gown on the back side. As a result, it is also possible to eliminate operation, which is conventionally conducted by a wearing assistant, to fasten the waist part at the back face of the wearer.
In addition, the above described sterilized gown may further include: a waist string provided at an end part of one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel, the one being located on an outer side when being worn; waist string fixing part which is provided at the waist string directly or via a discrete body in order to fix a distal end of the waist string at a place away from a wearer; and separating part configured to separate the waist string fixing part from a base end of the waist string or from the waist string. It is to be noted that a distal end of a waist string in the present application refers to an end on a side opposite to the side connected with the gown.
Here, the waist string may be strings which are provided respectively at the front panel and the back panel, or may be only one long string which is provided at the front panel or the back panel.
Moreover, the waist string fixing part may be a double-sided adhesive tape provided in the vicinity of a distal end of the waist string, for example, or a distal end of the waist string may be formed to have an annular shape so that the distal end can be hooked on something. Moreover, a discrete body provided therewith may be connected with the waist string.
Furthermore, separating part described herein may be perforations such as roulette provided at predetermined positions from a distal end of the waist string, for example, or may be a notch. When a discrete body connected with the waist string functions as the waist string fixing part, connecting part such as a hook-and-loop fastener by which the discrete body can be easily released from the waist string may be employed.
The waist string can be stretched across an arbitrary place, such as an equipment base in an operating room, by fastening the distal end of the waist string to the place by the waist string fixing part. Accordingly, the wearer can turn at the place to wind the waist string around his/her body and tie the waist string at an arbitrary place. Even when the vicinity of the distal end of the waist string contacts with an unclean region in this operation, hands of the wearer or other parts of the gown is not contaminated when the waist string is tied after the distal end part of the waist string is separated by the separating part.
In such a manner, it is possible to eliminate motion, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to receive the waist string from the wearer, hold the waist string and hand the waist string to the wearer, and the wearer can tie the waist string by himself/herself without requiring assistance.
In addition, the above sterilized gown may further include a waist string holder connected with the waist string, wherein the waist string fixing part is provided at the waist string holder.
As described above, it is possible to lower the risk that a hand of the wearer contacts with an unclean region, by providing the waist string fixing part at the waist string holder.
That is, for conducting operation to fasten the distal end of the waist string to an arbitrary place, the risk that a hand of the wearer contacts with an unclean region can be lowered when the wearer grips the waist string holder, which holds the waist string, and sticks a double-sided adhesive tape, for example, which is provided at the waist string holder to an equipment base or the like than when the wearer directly grips the waist string itself.
Furthermore, the above described sterilized gown may further include a mask cover configured to cover a mask, which has been already worn by a wearer of the gown, wherein attaching part configured to attach the mask cover to the mask is provided inside the mask cover.
Here, the attaching part may be a hook-and-loop fastener, for example, or may be a double-sided adhesive tape.
Although an assistant conventionally ties string configured to fix a mask cover at the back face of the wearer in a case where the gown is provided with the mask cover, a mask cover having the above structure can eliminate the operation which is conventionally conducted by an assistant.
That is, the wearer can attach the mask cover to a mask which has been already worn, by pressing a portion of the attaching part from an outer side of the mask cover which is a clean region. In such a manner, it becomes possible to wear the mask cover without requiring assistance.
In addition, the mask cover may be further provided with a folded part, which is formed by folding an upper end part to an outer side and into which a wearer can insert a tip of his finger.
Thus, the wearer can prevent his/her fingers from touching his/her face, i.e., an unclean region by mistake, by putting his/her fingers in a folded part in the process of conducting operation to attach the mask cover.
With the present invention, it is possible to provide a sterilized gown, which reduces a burden on a wearing assistant and can be worn without increasing a burden on the wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general view which illustrates a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a first view which illustrates a neckline part at the time of wearing a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views which illustrate an annular string according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a second view which illustrates a neckline part at the time of wearing a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view which illustrates a front side of a waist string holder of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view which illustrates a rear side of a waist string holder of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a general view which illustrates a case where an annular string is deformed in a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a view which illustrates a method of tying a waist string using waist string fixing part in a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a front view which illustrates a wearing state of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a rear view which illustrates a wearing state of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view which illustrates an inner side of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a view which illustrates an outer side in a wearing state of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a view which illustrates the usage of a folded part of a mask cover of a sterilized gown according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description will explain specific embodiments of the present invention with reference to accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative configurations and the like of components described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention thereto unless otherwise noted.
<Embodiment 1>
<Structure>
First, the structure of a sterilized gown 1 according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a general view which illustrates the structure of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment. Here, FIG. 1 illustrates a state before an annular spring 32, which will be described later, is enclosed in a neckline part 31. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the sterilized gown 1 is an open back type gown having: a main panel 13, which is formed of a front panel 11, and a right-side back panel 12 a and a left-side back panel 12 b formed integrally with the front panel 11; and sleeve parts 14 a and 14 b joined with the main panel 13.
Nonwoven fabric which has been subject to water repellent treatment is used as fabric of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment, and the main panel 13 is joined with the sleeve parts 14 a and 14 b by ultrasonic bonding. Here, the fabric material is not limited to nonwoven fabric, and the method of joining the main panel with the sleeve parts is also not limited to ultrasonic bonding.
The front panel 11 is bonded with a front-side waist string 21 (having a length of 400 mm, for example) by ultrasonic bonding, and the right-side back panel 12 a is bonded with a back-side waist string 22 (having a length of 1,000 mm, for example) by ultrasonic bonding. Distal ends of the waist strings 21 and 22 are held together by a waist string holder 23. Moreover, respective sleeve openings 15 a and 15 b of the sleeve parts 14 a and 14 b are ribbed to be freely extensible. Furthermore, the neckline part 31 of the sterilized gown 1 is provided with piping, and the annular spring 32 (having a width of 15 mm, for example) made of resin is enclosed in the neckline part 31 as illustrated in FIG. 2 so as to have an annular shape (having a diameter of 160 mm, for example) in plan view over a substantially entire circumference of the neckline part.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate views of the annular spring 32. The annular spring 32 is formed by shaping a flat spring to be annular with both ends thereof being overlapped with each other as illustrated in FIG. 3A, and is deformed in a direction to increase the diameter so that the overlapped ends are separated from each other and an opening is formed at the annular shape as illustrated in FIG. 3B. It is to be noted that the annular spring 32 is formed in such a manner that the curvature radius R1 of an end part, which is located on the inner side, of overlapped ends becomes smaller than a curvature radius R2 of the other part as illustrated in FIG. 3A.
With the annular spring 32 having such a shape, an end part on a side, which is located on the inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in the circumferential direction in a non-deformed state, is positioned on a further inner side of the annular spring 32 with respect to an end part on a side, which is located on the outer side. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the inner side and the outer side of the overlapped end parts from being located conversely or prevent the overlapped end parts from colliding each other and disturbing restoration, in the process of deforming the annular spring 32 to expand so as to form an opening and then restoring the shape. It is to be noted that examples of the material for the annular spring 32 include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polyester (PET) and polyacetal (POM).
FIG. 4 illustrates a rear view of the neckline part 31 and the main panel 13 in a wearing state of the sterilized gown 1. As seen from FIGS. 2 and 4, the neckline part 31 of the sterilized gown 1 to which the annular spring 32 is enclosed has a rising width (e.g., 18 mm) equal to or larger than the width of the annular spring 32 at the piping part. Moreover, the length of the neckline part 31 (dimension from an end on the right-side back panel 12 a side to an end on the left-side back panel 12 b side) is longer (e.g., 650 mm) than the length of circumference (approximately 500 mm here) of the neckline part 31, and both ends of the neckline part 31 are also overlapped with each other by approximately 150 mm in plan view.
At a part lower than the neckline part 31, the sum dimension of the width of the right-side back panel 12 a and the width of the left-side back panel 12 b of the main panel 13 has an additional length (approximately 150 mm here) with respect to the front panel 11. Therefore, the right-side back panel 12 a and the left-side back panel 12 b of the sterilized gown 1 are overlapped with each other by an overlap width 34 in a wearing state.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate details of tip parts of the waist strings and the waist string holder. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the back-side waist string 22 joined with the right-side back panel 12 a and the front-side waist string 21 joined with the front panel 11 are respectively connected with the waist string holder 23. More specifically, the back-side waist string 22 penetrates a first hole 23 a and a second hole 23 b of the waist string holder 23, is then folded, and further penetrates the second hole 23 b and the first hole 23 a, so as to form a loop 22 a outside the second hole. The front-side waist string 21 is folded in a state penetrating the loop 22 a, and is tightened and fixed at the loop 22 a by the back-side waist string 22. Roulette 24 as separating part is provided at a position of the back-side waist string 22 at a predetermined distance (e.g., 360 mm) from the end on the waist string holder side.
On the waist string holder 23, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a double-sided adhesive tape 25 is further stuck in a position, which is away from a part connected with a waist string, of a face opposite to the face where the loop 22 a of the back-side waist string 22 is provided. The size of released paper of the double-sided adhesive tape is larger than the size of the double-sided adhesive tape (for example, the double-sided adhesive tape is 10 mm×20 mm, while released paper is 10 mm×30 mm). Here, the double-sided adhesive tape 25 corresponds to waist string fixing part in this embodiment.
<Usage>
Next, the usage of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment will be described. The wearer first grasps the inner side of an arbitrary place of a sleeve or the vicinity of a shoulder of the sterilized gown 1 which is laid with the inner side facing the wearer, expands his/her arms right and left, and stretches the neckline part 31, which is in an annular shape, via fabric at a portion which the wearer is gripping. Then, the annular spring 32 is deformed and both ends of the annular spring 32 are separated from each other, and therefore an opening 31 a is formed on the back side of the neckline part 31 as illustrated in FIG. 7. The wearer inserts his/her neck through the opening 31 a to the inner side of the neckline part 31, and further closes the opening 31 a of the neckline part 31 by bringing his/her arms, which have been expanded right and left, closer to each other or by taking his/her hand off the inner side of the gown, so that the annular shape of the annular spring 32 and the neckline part 31 is restored. Such operation allows the wearer to easily insert his/her neck into the neckline part 31.
In such a manner, it is possible to prevent a neck circumference part of the sterilized gown 1 from being taken off without conducting operation for fastening at the back face of the wearer. In addition, regarding the back face below the neck circumference part, it also becomes possible to roughly close the back panel without using inner strings at a waist part or the like, since the right-side back panel 12 a is automatically overlapped with the outer side of the left-side back panel 12 b. The wearer then passes his/her arms respectively along the inner side of the gown and makes his/her hands extended out of the sleeve openings 15 a and 15 b. The above operations temporarily cause the wearer to put on the sterilized gown 1 over his/her body. It is to be noted that an outer surface of the gown may be provided with marking which specifies a place where the wearer is to grasp first. It is therefore possible to prevent the wearer from hesitating about which part is to be grasped first and to effectively deform the neckline part 31.
Next, the sterilized gown 1 is fastened using the waist strings 21 and 22 in order to prevent the sterilized gown 1 from coming loose, or more specifically, to prevent the right and left back panels 12 a and 12 b being taken off.
The wearer grips the waist string holder 23 which is positioned on the front side of the body of the sterilized gown 1, and pulls the front-side waist string 21 from the loop 22 a of the back-side waist string 22 formed at the second hole 23 b. In such a manner, the waist string holder 23 can freely move within the length range of the back-side waist string 22 connected therewith. Released paper is then released from the double-sided adhesive tape 25 provided on the rear face of the waist string holder 23, and the waist string holder 23 is stuck on an arbitrary place (e.g., equipment base) at a certain degree of height, using the double-sided adhesive tape 25 as illustrated in the left view in FIG. 8.
In such a way, it becomes possible to stretch the back-side waist string 22 so as not to touch the floor, and operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to receive the waist string holder 23 from the wearer and grip the waist string holder 23 becomes unnecessary.
The wearer then turns counterclockwise at the place so as to wind the back-side waist string 22 around his/her waist as illustrated in the middle view in FIG. 8. A distal end part of the back-side waist string 22 connected with the waist string holder 23 is then cut at the roulette 24 as illustrated in the right view in FIG. 8 while maintaining the wound state, and the back-side waist string 22 and the front-side waist string 21 are tied with each other at the front face or the side face of the wearer. Therefore, wearing of the sterilized gown 1 is finished. The front view of the gown after wearing is illustrated in FIG. 9. Moreover, the rear view is illustrated in FIG. 10.
Although the annular spring 32, in which the neckline part 31 is to be enclosed, of the sterilized gown 1 illustrated in the above embodiment is made of resin, it is to be noted that an annular spring 32 made of stainless steel or other metal may be used instead. When an annular spring 32 made of resin is used, there are advantages that weight saving is achieved and that a member made of metal can be eliminated from the sterilized gown 1 and separation of noncombustible matters in the process of waste disposal after usage of the gown becomes unnecessary. When an annular spring 32 made of metal is used, there is another advantage that the durability of the annular spring 32 itself can be increased.
Moreover, the annular spring 32 is not necessarily constituted of a flat string. The annular spring 32 can be formed by shaping a linear string into an annular shape.
Although the above embodiment has a structure wherein waist string is provided at the front panel 11 and at the right-side back panel 12 a and the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 are tied with each other for usage after the back-side waist string 22 is wound around the waist, a hook-and-loop fastener may be provided at a predetermined part of at least one of the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 and fix the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22. Further, although two waist strings of the front-side waist string 21 and the back-side waist string 22 are provided in the above embodiment, only the back-side waist string 22 may be provided as the waist string. In such a case, the back-side waist string 22 is formed to have a long dimension (e.g., 1,400 mm), and the tip of the back-side waist string is connected with the waist string holder 23. The waist string can be wound around the waist even when only the back-side waist string 22 is provided. It is to be noted that the front-side waist string 21 itself may be bundled and collected by paper tape or the like in order to prevent the front-side waist string 21 having a long dimension from contacting with the ground together with the waist string holder 23.
For wearing the sterilized gown 1 of this variation, the waist string holder 23 is fixed at a proper place, the wearer turns counterclockwise so that the back-side waist string 22 is wound around his/her waist, and the waist string holder 23 is separated using the roulette in the same manner as the case of Embodiment 1. Wearing of the sterilized gown 1 is finished by seizing a distal end, which has been cut from the back-side waist string 22, to an arbitrary part of the back-side waist string 22, which has been wound around the waist, or by fixing the distal end to the main panel 13 using a hook-and-loop fastener or the like.
In the above embodiment wherein sleeves of set-in sleeve type are employed as the sleeve parts 14 a and 14 b, it is to be noted that relatively large space is formed around the shoulders of the wearer, no excess load is applied on the elastic body 32 and the neckline part 31, and it is possible to suppress unprepared opening of the back side of the neckline part 31 in a wearing state. However, the type of the sleeve parts is not limited to the above one, and a raglan sleeve type may be employed, for example.
Moreover, the numerical values described as dimensions of the respective parts of the sterilized gown 1 in the above embodiment are only examples, and it is to be understood that the numerical values may be modified suitably.
<Embodiment 2>
Embodiment 2 of a sterilized gown 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. It is to be noted that the basic structure of the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment is the same as that of the sterilized gown 1 according to Embodiment 1 except that a mask cover 41 is provided. Hence, detailed explanation on the structure common with the sterilized gown 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be omitted here.
As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, a mask cover 41 configured to cover a mask, which has already been worn by the wearer, is provided right under a neckline part 31 of a front panel 11 in the sterilized gown 1 according to this embodiment. Specifically, the lower end of the mask cover 41 is joined with the front panel 11 at the lower end of the neckline part 31. This joining method may be achieved by ultrasonic bonding or by sewing. Moreover, the lower end of the mask cover 41 may be joined with the neckline part 31 itself. It is to be noted that a side of the mask cover 41, which is laid closer to the head of the wearer when the mask cover 41 is worn, is referred to as the upper side, and the opposite side is referred to as the lower side in this application.
The mask cover 41 has a lateral width (e.g., 170 mm) sufficient for covering the mask, and both ends 42 a and 42 b in the width direction are gathered using rubber. This makes the dimension of the mask cover 41 extensible (e.g., 160 mm to 230 mm) in the vertical direction in a normal state.
Moreover, pinch parts 43 a and 43 b to be used for lifting the mask cover 41 hanging down are provided above both end parts of the mask cover 41 in the width direction. The dimensions of the pinch parts 43 a and 43 b are only required to be an enough size to be pinched by the wearer with his/her fingers (e.g., 10 mm×50 mm).
An attaching part 44 constituted of a hook surface of a hook-and-loop fastener is provided in an upper part of the inner side of the mask cover 41. The mask part can be covered with the mask cover 41 as illustrated in FIG. 12 by pressing and attaching the attaching part 44 to a mask, which has been already worn, from outside of the mask cover 41. For this, the attaching part 44 preferably has dimensions (e.g., 15 mm×140 mm) having a width closer to the lateral width of the mask cover 41.
With the mask cover 41 having such a structure, it is possible to eliminate operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to tie strings to be used for fixing a mask cover at the back face of the wearer.
Furthermore, a folded part 45 having a predetermined width (e.g., 30 mm) is provided at an upper end part on the outer side of the mask cover 41 as illustrated in FIG. 12. For attaching the mask cover 41 to a mask, fingers are put into the folded part 45 as illustrated in FIG. 13 and the attaching part 44 is then pressed to the mask from outside.
In such a way, it is possible to prevent the wearer from touching his/her face, that is, an unclean region by mistake in the process of mounting the mask cover 41 on the mask. Although an example wherein the folded part 45 is provided has been described in this embodiment, it is to be noted that the folded part 45 is not an essential structure of the present invention, and it is also possible without the folded part 45 to sufficiently exhibit the effect of this embodiment that the operation, which is conventionally conducted by an assistant, to tie strings to be used for fixing the mask cover at the back face of the wearer is eliminated.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An open back type sterilized gown comprising a main panel including: a front panel; and a left-side back panel and a right-side back panel linked with the front panel, wherein

an elastic body having an ended annular shape is provided at a neckline part formed at the main panel, and

the elastic body can maintain the neckline part of the sterilized gown in an annular shape surrounding a neck part of a wearer in a non-deformed state, and opens on a back side so as to allow a neck part of the wearer to pass through a back side of the neckline part in a deformed state.

2. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the elastic body are overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction in a non-deformed state.

3. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, wherein

a total dimension of a width of the left-side back panel and a width of the right-side back panel under a chest circumference part is larger than a width of the front panel, and

one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel is overlapped with the other so that a predetermined overlap width is formed on a back side when the elastic body is not deformed.

4. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, further comprising:

a waist string provided at an end part of one of the left-side back panel and the right-side back panel, the one being located on an outer side when being worn;

waist string fixing part which is provided at the waist string directly or via a discrete body in order to fix a distal end of the waist string at a place away from a wearer; and

separating part configured to separate the waist string fixing part from a base end of the waist string or from the waist string.

5. The sterilized gown according to claim 1, further comprising

a mask cover configured to cover a mask, which has been already worn by a wearer of the gown,

wherein attaching part configured to attach the mask cover to the mask is provided inside the mask cover.

6. The sterilized gown according to claim 2, wherein the elastic body is formed to have a curvature radius at an end part, which is laid on an inner side when both ends are overlapped with each other in a circumferential direction, smaller than a curvature radius of another part in a non-deformed state.

7. The sterilized gown according to claim 2, wherein

8. The sterilized gown according to claim 4, further comprising

a waist string holder connected with the waist string,

wherein the waist string fixing part is provided at the waist string holder.

9. The sterilized gown according to claim 4, further comprising

10. The sterilized gown according to claim 5, wherein

the mask cover is further provided with a folded part, which is formed by folding an upper end part to an outer side and into which a wearer can insert a tip of his finger.

11. The sterilized gown according to claim 8, further comprising

12. The sterilized gown according to claim 9, wherein

13. The sterilized gown according to claim 11, wherein