Comfort Sleeve

Abstract

The invention consists of a piece of clothing, more specifically a comfort sleeve, that acts as a protective barrier against the undesirable effects related to the skin overheating due to the prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the skin of the arm of a person (caretaker) holding a baby. The comfort sleeve is worn by the caretaker on his/her bare arm. The comfort sleeve is completely independent of any other clothes that the caretaker might be wearing. Said comfort sleeve is mostly made of materials (textiles) and is manufactured by two preferred methods: either sewn from several pieces or knitted in one single piece. The comfort sleeve is mostly composed of the body of the sleeve, at least one integrated pocket, at least one pull tab and at least one anti-slip component.

1 - A comfort sleeve generally made of extensible material, which is put on with one hand by the caretaker on his/her bare arm to wrap ergonomically and stay in place on said arm and which is completely independent of any other clothes and/or underwear and/or tracksuits that the caretaker might be wearing, in order to evacuate and/or trap moisture and heat generated by the human body, thus eliminate friction, wetness, intertrigo, itching, redness, irritation, discomfort, any combination thereof caused by skin overheating due to prolonged skin-to-skin contact between the skin of the caretaker's arm and the skin of a baby carried in a recumbent, semi-recumbent, or seated position on said arm and that offers the advantages of being easy to use, easy to maintain, comfortable for both the caretaker and the baby, ergonomic and which allows natural proximity between the caretaker and the baby; said comfort sleeve comprising:
 the sleeve's body made in a tubular, hollow and elongated shape, of variable length and width, includes 2 openings at each end of said comfort sleeve which is sewn, knitted in one piece single piece or thermally or chemically bonded in order to wrap partially or completely the skin of the arm of the caretaker from the palm of his/her hand up to his/her shoulder;   at least one integrated pocket of variable length and width comprising a trapezoidal, square, or rectangular piece of material whose length is ⅕ of the total said sleeve's body and whose width is ½ the circumference of the upper opening, superimposed and fixed on the outer side of said sleeve's body by sewing, knitting into said sleeve's body, or bonded thermally or chemically, on 3 of the 4 sides of said piece of material, so that the open side of said integrated pocket is placed mostly parallel to the upper opening of said sleeve's body and at most the same height as the peripheral edge of the upper opening of said sleeve's body in order to obtain a pocket opened from the top;   at least one pull tab of variable length and thickness in the shape of a ribbon folded on itself in order to create a closed or open loop in which the caretaker can insert a finger in order to put on said comfort sleeve and whose base is sewn, knitted directly on said sleeve's body, or thermally or chemically bonded on the inside or outside of said sleeve's body, so that both ends of said ribbon are assembled together, side by side, or side by side with a space between them, thus placing said tab at a maximum of 180 degrees to the seam covering ribbon so that the upper part of said tab is at most 100 mm from the peripheral edge of the upper opening of said sleeve's body.   
     
     
         2 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1 , wherein the integrated pocket comprises an outer face which once turned over enfolds and protects said comfort sleeve from the possible contamination during transportation and in order to make the object smaller and easy to transport or store. 
     
     
         3 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1 , wherein the integrated pocket comprises an open side through which the caretaker can insert and store small objects related to said baby and/or caretaker when said comfort sleeve is worn by said caretaker in order to free his/her hands. 
     
     
         4 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1  wherein said material is mainly composed of elastic and soft to the touch textiles, most of which can have thermoregulatory, antibacterial, and Seacell® anti-inflammatory characteristics as well as excellent properties of absorption and/or removal of heat and moisture generated by the human body; containing at least one of the textiles of the natural or manufactured cellulose-fibres textile group, artificial fibres, including woven fabrics, non-woven or knitted fabrics, microfiber, nylon, polyester, polyamides, polypropylene, modacrylic, olefin, acrylic, spandex, cotton, bamboo, modal, lyocell, viscose, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1  comprises a piece of material wherein the upper opening and the lower opening are made by folding on itself said piece of material so that two opposite sides of said piece of material are joined together and tie by a stretch-type seam mostly parallel to said comfort sleeve's axis that extends over the entire length of the sleeve's body from at least said upper opening to said lower opening, so that the edges of said piece of material gives on the outside of said sleeve's body. 
     
     
         6 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 5 , wherein the stretch-type seam includes a soft and flexible ribbon, whose elasticity is compatible with the elasticity of the selected material used to manufacture said sleeve's body, that covers completely said seam and thus prevent said seam from coming into contact with the fragile skin of said baby. 
     
     
         7 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve's body is knitted in one single piece. 
     
     
         8 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve's body comprises an upper opening and a lower opening of variable diameter, where the upper opening is generally larger than the lower opening. 
     
     
         9 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 8 , wherein the upper opening comprises an upper hem and wherein the lower opening comprises an lower hem where at least one of said hems are folded towards the inside or the outside of said comfort sleeve over a length of 10 mm+/−9 mm. 
     
     
         10 - The comfort sleeve as described in  claim 9 , wherein at least one hem comprises at least one, preferably breathable, anti-slip component made of silicones, rubbers, any combinations thereof, or from any other material having properties which result in friction between the anti-slip components and the caretaker's skin, or and which is located on the inner surface of the comfort sleeve at the upper hem, the lower hem or both.