US 12,262,766 B2
Protective vest device and related method thereof
Patricia A. Cady, Charlottesville, VA (US)
Assigned to University of Virginia Patent Foundation, Charlottesville, VA (US)
Appl. No. 17/607,931
Filed by University of Virginia Patent Foundation, Charlottesville, VA (US)
PCT Filed May 1, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/031015
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 1, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/223627, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/842,104, filed on May 2, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0304406 A1, Sep. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. A61F 5/00 (2006.01); A41B 13/06 (2006.01); A41D 13/12 (2006.01); A61F 5/37 (2006.01); A61J 15/00 (2006.01)
CPC A41D 13/1272 (2013.01) [A41B 13/06 (2013.01); A61F 5/3746 (2013.01); A61J 15/0053 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A protective vest device for preventing a self-dislodgement by an infant of medical life-sustaining supply lines or equipment while allowing free movement and proper alignment of an infant's hands and arms, said device comprising:
a supine portion for receiving the torso of the infant in a supine position;
a lateral portion, wherein said lateral portion is configured to fold over the torso of the infant without covering the hands and arms of infant to wrap around at least the anterior portion of the torso, and disposed posterior to the hands specified in a cross-hands position across the chest of the infant;
a protective portion including a support portion, wherein said protective portion is configured to fold over and enclose at least the anterior portion of the torso, hands and arms of the infant, and wherein said support portion provides supportive force in the anterior direction of the folded and enclosed protective portion to provide separation of the folded and enclosed protective portion away from the hands and arms while the hands are in a specified crossed-hands position on the torso, across the chest of the infant;
said separation of said folded and enclosed protective portion provides clearance to allow the hands and arms to move in the posterior-anterior direction, lateral-medial direction, and superior-inferior direction relative to the chest of the torso; wherein:
by allowing for the free movement and proper alignment of infant's arms and hands and which are allowed to touch one another, thereby not inhibiting the ability to explore and expand brain development through tactile stimulation and therefore fostering healthy neuronal pathways of the infant as the infant develops a sense of where it is in space and time as it continues to grow outside of the womb; and
said folded and enclosed protective portion prevents the arms and hands traveling beyond the enclosed protective portion thereby preventing any self-dislodgement by the infant of the medical life-sustaining supply lines or equipment.