U.S. patent application number 11/333712 was filed with the patent office on 2007-07-19 for clothes hanger.
Invention is credited to Nicholas John Carter.
Application Number | 20070164061 11/333712 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34224657 |
Filed Date | 2007-07-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070164061 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Carter; Nicholas John |
July 19, 2007 |
Clothes hanger
Abstract
A clothes hanger formed from a single continuous strip of
material shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms.
The arms are configured for supporting clothes and are disposed
symmetrically with respect to a bridging piece interconnecting the
arms and which is upstanding above the clothes-supporting surfaces
of the arms. The bridging piece defines a re-entrant rail-receiving
slot having a relatively narrow mouth disposed between the arms so
that the hanger may be suspended by the bridging piece when engaged
with a rail entered into the slot through the mouth thereof.
Inventors: |
Carter; Nicholas John;
(Chelmondiston, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ANDRUS, SCEALES, STARKE & SAWALL, LLP
100 EAST WISCONSIN AVENUE, SUITE 1100
MILWAUKEE
WI
53202
US
|
Family ID: |
34224657 |
Appl. No.: |
11/333712 |
Filed: |
January 17, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
223/85 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 25/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
223/085 |
International
Class: |
A41D 27/22 20060101
A41D027/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 15, 2006 |
GB |
05 00849.5 |
Claims
1. A clothes hanger formed from a single continuous strip of
material shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms,
the arms being configured for supporting clothes and being disposed
symmetrically with respect to a bridging piece interconnecting the
arms and upstanding above clothes-supporting surfaces thereon, the
bridging piece defining a re-entrant rail-receiving slot having a
relatively narrow mouth disposed between the arms whereby the
hanger may be suspended by the bridging piece when engaged with a
rail entered into the slot through the mouth thereof.
2. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the arms extend
downwardly at an angle to the horizontal beneath the level of the
mouth.
3. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are
further provided inwardly directed co-axial fingers that extend
toward each other from an outer part of each arm.
4. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein each finger has
a free end between which a gap is defined, the gap being wide
enough to permit passage therebetween of the rail.
5. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 3 wherein fingers are
formed from an extension of the same strip of material from which
the remainder of the arms and bridging piece are formed.
6. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip of
material is formed from plastics material or a metal such as
aluminium or steel, which may be bare or coated with another
material.
7. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, formed from a length of
generally circular or oval section metal rod.
8. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein the rod has a
diameter of approximately 5 mm.
9. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip of
material from which the hanger is formed is enamel or plastic
coated.
10. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein an abutment or
area of friction enhancing material is provided on one or both
arms.
11. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein an abutment or
area of friction enhancing material is provided on one or both
fingers.
12. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hanger is
resiliently deformable to permit the width of the mouth of the
rail-receiving slot to be varied, by resilient deformation of the
bridging piece.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a clothes hanger, and in
particular to a semi-captive clothes hanger. The clothes hanger of
the present invention would find particular use in caravans, boats
and other mobile accommodation, but is not exclusively for such
use.
[0002] Clothes hangers usually comprise opposed arms that a
garment, such as a coat or jacket, may be hung from. Usually there
is a linking piece joining the outer ends of the arms from which
further or different garments such as trousers may be hung. Such
hangers have an open hook that extends from the centre of the
hanger, such that it may be suspended from a hanging rail. This
style of prior art hanger is generally for everyday use, but when
such a hanger is used in a situation where it is subject to
movement (for example on a caravan or yacht) the hook can with
relative ease become detached and so the hanger often falls off.
The swaying motion that is associated with a caravan or yacht
causes the hanger to pivot on the hanging rail. When this motion is
significant the hook falls off the rail, resulting in the items of
clothing ending up on the floor. Also even in normal use,
unintentional falls can occur when using normal prior art
non-captive hangars, if for example a child pulls at an item of
clothing from below, or movement of an adjacent garment is caused
by hanging up a different item in a wardrobe.
[0003] Attempts have been made to produce alternative designs of
clothes hangers. For instance captive permanent hangers have been
suggested, in which the hook is a complete loop. In these, the hook
portion includes a ring permanently attached to the hanging rail,
and the remainder of the hanger can be removably attached onto the
ring. Alternatively a closed loop hanger is permanently fixed to
the rail. These hangers have the disadvantage that the rails and
hanger are expensive and must be specially installed, and cannot be
used on standard rails. What is more the purpose of such systems is
to prevent the theft of hangers rather than to prevent
motion-caused falls; hence their use is generally confined to
hotels or other places where hanger theft is a problem.
[0004] The present invention in contrast aims to provide a hanger
that can be removably placed on existing hanging rails, but which
will be semi-captive and hence will not fall off the hanging rail
when the structure and rail are subjected to normal movement. It is
a further aim that such a hanger will be easy and cost effective to
manufacture.
[0005] Therefore, according to the present invention there is
provided a clothes hanger formed from a single continuous strip of
material shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms,
the arms being configured for supporting clothes and being disposed
symmetrically with respect to a bridging piece interconnecting the
arms and upstanding above the clothes-supporting surfaces thereof,
the bridging piece defining a re-entrant rail-receiving slot having
a relatively narrow mouth disposed between the arms whereby the
hanger may be suspended by the bridging piece when engaged with a
rail entered into the slot through the mouth thereof.
[0006] The clothes hanger is preferably formed from a single
continuous strip of material such as metal or plastic. These strips
are conveniently in the form of rods as these can be relatively
easily shaped or bent into shape but have a convenient degree of
flexibility. The hanger may also be formed by moulding and other
convenient techniques.
[0007] The co-planar arms are the main clothes supporting
structures of the hanger, so are of a suitable size that a large
range of differently sized garments may be easily hung therefrom.
These arms generally will be straight, and will slope down at a
shallow angle from the mouth of the slot. However, in accordance
with standard clothes hangar design they could have a variety of
different profiles and additions--such as friction enhancing
coatings, spring clips, length adjusters, hooks or recesses for
straps, etc.
[0008] The bridging piece interconnecting the arms and upstanding
above the clothes-supporting surfaces of the arms defines the
re-entrant rail-receiving slot and it is the bridging piece that
contacts the hanging rail to support the hanger. Preferably this
slot is of a size such that the hanger may be located on and freely
moved along a range of differently sized and shaped hanging rails
to allow the user to hang clothes from most, if not all, existing
hanging rails. The mouth of the rail-receiving slot is disposed
between the inner end regions of the arms of the hanger, and
preferably is of a size roughly equivalent to the diameter of a
standard clothes rail. Alternatively, the width of the mouth could
be slightly smaller than the diameter of the hanging rail and the
hanger provided with a degree of flexibility, so that by flexing
the arms to widen the mouth, it can be located over the hanging
rail and then, by allowing the resilient return of the arms to
their normal place the mouth will close again to trap the rail
within the slot. This allows the hanger to be easily placed onto
the rail, but not easily fall off should the hanger be exposed to
any rough movement.
[0009] The arms of the hanger preferably extend downwardly at a
relatively shallow angle to the horizontal, giving a gentle slope
downwards from the level of the mouth. This is the usual shape for
a hanger and indeed the arms of the present hanger can be adapted
in many ways to be functionally equivalent to existing hangers.
[0010] Preferably, the hanger also has inwardly directed co-axial
fingers that extend toward each other from the outer part of each
arm. These fingers together define a trouser rail and whilst they
can be attached during manufacture to the arms, they are preferably
also formed from the same strip of material as the arm and bridging
piece. Since the bridging piece is closed, the fingers must not
prevent the movement of the rail into the slot. Therefore, between
the free ends of these fingers a gap is defined, the gap being wide
enough to allow the rail to pass therebetween. Of course, the gap
need only be the size of a standard rail (or smaller if resilient
deformation of the hanger is possible), which ensures that the risk
that garments will not hang properly on the trouser rail is
reduced.
[0011] Some garments, for example slips and dresses, with shoulder
straps may necessitate adaptation of the hanger to ensure the
garments stay thereon. Therefore the arms or fingers may be adapted
to provide locating points for the straps of garments to prevent
them slipping off. Preferably an abutment may be provided on one or
both arms and or on one or both fingers if present. Such abutments
if present may take the form of variations or kinks in the profile
of the material from which the arms or fingers are formed.
Alternatively they may be in the form of rubber or plastic disks,
and these may be fed onto the parts of the hanger from the ends of
the material strip. These, amongst other purposes, prevent thin
items, for example the straps of a dress, sliding out of position
along the trouser rail and potentially falling from the hanger.
[0012] Preferably, the hanger is manufactured from a circular or
oval section length of metal rod, because it can be easily bent
into shape and exhibits the necessary strength and flexibility for
the purpose. Preferably the rod is made from aluminium or steel,
and these can be relatively lightweight, although of course any
material with the necessary physical characteristics such as a
plastics material could also be used.
[0013] Preferably, to exhibit the necessary characteristics of
being lightweight, durable and flexible the rod may be aluminium, 5
mm in diameter, and may be coated with enamel or plastic to prevent
corrosion, improve visual appearance, and prevent the material
interfering with the clothes.
[0014] By way of example only, one embodiment of the present
invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the
accompanying drawing, wherein:
[0015] FIG. 1 shows a view of a clothes hanger according to the
present invention.
[0016] Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a clothes hanger
generally indicated 10, which is predominantly formed from a single
continuous strip of material--in this case aluminium rod. The rod
has been shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms 11
from which a garment may normally be suspended, and an
interconnecting curved bridging piece 12. The bridging piece 12 is
in the form of a loop which defines a slot 13. In use the hanger 10
is suspended from an elongate hanging rail 20 (shown in cross
section) which locates within slot 13 at the upper end thereof.
[0017] The hanger 10 is primarily intended to prevent motion
causing clothes and/or the hanger to fall from the hanging rail,
and so it will find particular utility when clothes are stored in
moving structures, such as caravans, motor homes or boats. In such
situations, the hanger will hang from the rod 20 and will swing and
perhaps bounce as a result of that movement, but due to the captive
nature of the slot, the hangar will not fall. In order to further
reduce the possibility (especially when no garment is attached)
that the hanger 10 moves sufficiently that the hanging rail 20
become accidentally removed from the slot 13, the slot is shaped at
its lower end (i.e. the base of the bridging piece 12) between the
inner parts of the arms 11, to form a narrow mouth 15. It is
desirable that the width of this narrow mouth 15 is appropriate
with respect to the diameter of the hanging rail 20. The hanging
rail 20 must be able to pass therethrough when putting the hanger
10 onto the hanging rail 20, but should preferably also provide
resistance to accidental removal as discussed. The width of this
mouth 15 should be as close as possible to, or indeed slightly
smaller than, the diameter of the rail. The rod 20 from which the
hanger 10 is formed has a degree of resilient flexibility, which
will allow the whole hanger to be slightly deformed against this
resilience to open the mouth sufficiently to let a slightly larger
hanging rail 20 through. The hanger 10 will then return to its
normal state and hence the mouth will again be slightly narrower
than the hanging rail. Clearly however the present invention will
also be usable on a hanging rail that is narrower than the mouth,
as the narrowing of the mouth still resists removal to a degree.
The hanging of garments from the arms will tend due to gravity to
deform the bridging piece in an opposite direction and further
narrow the mouth 15. This will further ensure the hanger 10 stays
on the hanging rail 20 in use.
[0018] The co-planar arms 11 extend below the level of the mouth 14
and in this embodiment they are rectilinear and slope downwards at
a shallow angle, although they could be horizontal and non-linear.
Inwardly directed horizontal co-axial fingers 16 are formed at the
outer ends of the arms 11, and together define a trouser rail.
Between the free ends 19 of the fingers 16 is a gap 17, which
allows the passage of the hanging rail 20 therebetween.
[0019] Slidable abutments 18 are attached to the fingers 16, and
these prevent certain types of garments sliding along or around the
fingers 16 or falling through the gap 17. Similar abutments may
also be placed on the co-planar arms 11. Such abutments are not
essential and may be omitted, but are advantageous.
[0020] In use the hangar 10 is located over a hanging rail 20 by
manoeuvring the hanger 10 such that the rail 20 passes through gap
17 and then through mouth 15 (with flexing of the hanger 10 if
required) to locate in the slot 13. A garment may then be hung from
the arms 11, or from the fingers 16.
* * * * *