Side belted surgical gown or the like

Claim 1

A belt closure for a surgical gown or the like of the type wherein there is a vertical back opening line, an inside back panel with a free edge parallel to the opening line, and a closure panel adapted to be placed in a closed position where it extends across the opening line and overlaps the inside panel and presents a vertical free edge toward one side of the gown, said closure comprising: a back belt having a fixed end attached to the closure panel near its free edge; a side belt having a fixed end connected to said one side forwardly of the free edge of the closure panel when it is in closed position, said belts having free ends that are tyable at said one side of the gown; and a horizontally oriented storage sleeve for the side belt that is attached to said one side of the gown and that is open at both ends, the side belt having its fixed end near the sleeve and being folded within the sleeve so that it has a manually graspable loop portion extending through and beyond one end of the sleeve and so that its free end extends through and beyond the other end of the sleeve to be manually graspable.