Garment With Interior Surface Indicator

Abstract

A protective garment with an interior surface indicator to facilitate proper donning of the garment is described. The garment includes at least one indicia on the central portion of the interior surface of the garment to communicate to the wearer which is the interior surface of the garment. This allows the garment to be handled and donned by the wearer, without the wearer touching an exterior surface of the garment. A method of preparing a protective garment for donning is also disclosed.

1 . A protective garment comprising:
 an interior surface and an exterior surface;   a front side and a back side;   a torso section comprising an upper portion, a central portion, and a lower portion;   a right leg and a left leg, where both legs extend from the lower portion;   a right sleeve and a left sleeve, where both sleeves extend from at least the upper portion;   a neck opening defined by the upper portion; and   at least one surface indicia positioned on the interior surface of the central portion.   
   
   
       2 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia is positioned on the back side. 
   
   
       3 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia extends from the central portion into the upper portion. 
   
   
       4 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia extends from the central portion into the lower portion. 
   
   
       5 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia comprises an indicia strip that extends from the neck opening through the central portion and into the lower portion. 
   
   
       6 . The garment of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one secondary indicia positioned on the interior surface. 
   
   
       7 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia comprises a seam along the back side of the interior surface. 
   
   
       8 . The garment of  claim 1 , where the at least one surface indicia comprises an indicia color, where the interior surface comprises an interior surface color, and where the indicia color is different than the interior surface color. 
   
   
       9 . A packaged garment comprising:
 the garment according to  claim 1 , where the garment is folded into a folded configuration, where in the folded configuration the interior surface of the garment is present on an outer surface of the folded configuration, and where the at least one surface indicia is presented to the wearer on the outer surface of the folded configuration; and   a packaging member, where the packaging member contains the folded garment, and   where the packaging member containing the folded garment is sealed.   
   
   
       10 . The packaged garment of  claim 9 , where the packaging member containing the folded configuration is vacuum packaged. 
   
   
       11 . The packaged garment of  claim 9 , where the sealed packaging member containing the folded configuration is sterilized. 
   
   
       12 . The packaged garment of  claim 9 , where the interior surface of the garment comprises a majority of the outer surfaces of the folded configuration. 
   
   
       13 . The packaged garment of  claim 12 , where the interior surface of the garment comprises all of the outer surfaces of the folded configuration. 
   
   
       14 . A method of preparing a protective garment for donning, the method comprising the steps:
 a) providing a garment comprising an interior surface, an exterior surface, a front side, a back side, a torso section, a left sleeve, a right sleeve, a left leg, a right leg, and at least one surface indicia, where the torso section comprises an upper portion, a central portion, and lower portion, and where the at least one surface indicia is positioned on the interior surface of the central portion; and   b) folding the garment into a folded configuration, where in the folded configuration the interior surfaces of the torso section are positioned on an outer surface of the folded configuration such that a wearer may grasp the garment by the interior surface without touching the exterior surface of the garment, and where in the folded configuration the at least one surface indicia is present on the outer surface of the folded configuration.   
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , where the interior surface of the garment comprises a majority of the outer surface of the folded configuration. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , where the interior surface of the garment comprises all of the outer surface of the folded configuration. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising the step:
 c) placing the folded configuration into a packaging member and sealing the packaging member; and   d) sterilizing the packaging member containing the folded configuration.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , where in the step (c) substantially all of the air is removed from the packaging member prior to sealing the packaging member. 
   
   
       19 . A protective coverall comprising:
 a first body half and a second body half, each composed of a seamless sheet of material, said second body half being substantially a mirror image of said first body half, and each body half comprising:
 a body portion comprising a first edge and a second edge; 
 a sleeve portion; and 
 a leg portion; 
   a closure means joining the first edges of each body portion on each body half;   a vertical back seam joining the second edges of each body portion on each body half,   where the vertical back seam further comprises a binding strip, where the binding strip comprises a surface indicia.   
   
   
       20 . The protective coverall of  claim 19 , where the surface indicia comprises an indicia color, where the seamless sheet of material of each body half comprises a sheet color, and where the indicia color is different than the sheet color. 
   
   
       21 . The protective coverall of  claim 19 , where the protective coverall is a disposable protective coverall. 
   
   
       22 . A protective garment comprising:
 an interior surface and an exterior surface;   an upper portion and a central portion;   a neck opening defined by the upper portion; and   at least one surface indicia positioned on the interior surface of the central portion.