Clothes Hanger Storing And Display Device

Abstract

A stand for storing and displaying clothes hangers including a vertical standard which has a spring supported bracket therein, that supports a rack upon which clothes hangers are stacked. As the weight of the stack of clothes hangers varies the vertical position of the rack varies accordingly so that the hangers can be loaded from a convenient position.

Description

This invention relates to a stand for storing and displaying clothes hangers, and more particularly to a stand which provides a convenient means for loading and stacking conventional clothes hangers.

Garments, such as suits, dresses, skirts and the like are usually displayed on clothes racks in clothing stores, and are hung on the racks by reusable clothes hangers. The majority of these clothes hangers are constructed of a flat plastic body which has a pivotal hook attached adjacent the center thereof. The ends of the body of the hanger are curved downwardly when the hanger is hung upright for receiving the garment. The problem encountered heretofore, was that normally when the garment was purchased the operator at the cash register removed the hanger from the garment and placed such in a box. The hanger in the box frequently became entangled requiring someone to separate them and place them on racks before such could be reused. Often times the plastic hangers would become broken.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a stand which can be conveniently located adjacent a cash register or the like, so that as the cashier removes the hanger from the garment being sold the hanger can be stacked thereon, which will eliminate a large amount of handling operations until the hanger is used again for new merchandise.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a stand for storing and displaying clothes hangers of various sizes and designs.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a stand wherein clothes hangers can be conveniently stacked without the possibility of the stack tipping over or the hangers breaking or becoming tangled.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

FIG. 1 is perspective view illustrating a stand for storing and displaying clothes hangers constructed in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view, with parts removed, illustrating a movable rack upon which hangers are stacked, such as illustrated by the hanger in broken lines.

The drawing illustrates a stand for storing and displaying hangers which includes a base supporting member upon which a vertical standard A is carried. A rack B is provided for receiving the stack of hangers. Means C is provided for supporting the rack B on the vertical standard A so that the vertical position of the rack can be varied as the weight of the stack of clothes hangers varies. The rack B is supported in a horizontal plane for carrying the hangers in a vertical stack, one on top of another. Guide means D is provided for preventing the hangers from falling off of the rack as the rack is raised and lowered.

A base supporting member 10 is constructed of any suitable material, such as stainless steel and is supported on a plurality of casters 11 so that the stand can be rolled from one location to another. The base supporting member 10 in one particular embodiment, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, is rectangular in shape and flat.

Positioned on the base supporting member is a vertical standard A. The vertical standard A is constructed of a stainless steel pipe 12 having an axial bore 13 therein. The lower end of the stainless steel pipe 12 is attached to the base supporting member 10 by any suitable means, such as welding. A cap 14 having a reduced lower portion 15 is carried on top of the pipe 12. The reduced portion 15 has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore within the pipe 12 so that the cap fits snuggly thereon.

A rack B is provided for supporting the stack of conventionally shaped clothes hangers, such as shown in broken lines and identified by the reference character 16. The rack is triangular in shape and in one suitable embodiment is constructed of a stainless steel rod.

Means C is provided for supporting the rack. The means C includes a bracket 17 carried in the bore 13 of the vertical standard A. The bracket 17 is cylindrical in shape and has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore in the pipe 12 so that it can move freely in a vertical direction therein. A U-shaped member 18 is welded by its open end to the bracket 17. The U-shaped member 18 is provided for accommodating a Nylon wheel 19 which is journaled on a pin 20 extending between the opposed arms of the U-shaped member 18. The Nylon wheel 19 has a diameter which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore 13 of the pipe so that the bracket 17 can ride freely up and down inside the vertical standard on the wheel 19. A similar wheel 21 is carried on the bottom side of the bracket 17 between a pair of opposed downwardly extending legs 22.

An elongated vertically extending slot 23 is provided in a wall of the pipe 12 for allowing an arm 24 to extend therethrough. The inner end of the arm 24 is attached to the bracket 17, while the outer end is attached to the triangular shaped rack B by any suitable means such as welding. The elongated vertical slot 23 has a width slightly greater than the width of the arm 24 so as to allow such to pass freely therethrough, but of a width slightly less than the wheel 19 so that the wheel does not extend therein and rides on the inner wall of the pipe 12.

Spring means 25 is coupled between the cap 14 forming part of the standard A and the U-shaped member 18 attached to the bracket 17. Key shaped members 26 having holes therein are welded to the cap 14 and the bracket 17 for accommodating the ends of the spring 25. Therefore, it can be seen that as the weight of the stack of hangers which is placed on a rack B increases the spring means 25 allows the rack B to be lowered. Accordingly, as the weight of the stack of clothes hangers on the rack B decreases, the spring means raises the rack.

Guide means D is provided for preventing the hangers from falling off of the rack B as the rack is raised and lowered. The guide means D includes a rod shaped member 27 which is attached by any suitable means, such as weld 28, adjacent the top of the pipe 12. The rod shaped member extends rearwardly at an angle, and then curves forwardly as at 30 outside the outermost extremity 31 of the rack B. The curved portion 30 extends on around in front of the rack B and terminates in a downwardly extending vertical portion 32, which is secured at its lower end to the base supporting member 10 by any suitable means, such as welding. Similarly curved and downwardly extending portions are carried on the other side of the standard, such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, when the conventional coat hanger is placed on the rack B by passing such through the curved portion 30 of the guide means adjacent the top of the standard, the vertical portions 32 hold the stack of hangers on the rack B and prevent such from tipping over. The spring 25 is selected so that the top of the stack of hangers is always adjacent the curved portion 30 of the guide means so that the clothes hangers can be conveniently added to and taken away from the stack.

Additional hanger means, generally identified by the reference character 33, are carried adjacent the rear portion of the base supporting member 10 for accommodating odd size and shape hangers, such as those used for hanging skirts and the like, which have metal clips thereon. The hanger means 33 includes an elongated vertical rod 34 which is supported on the base member 10. The top of the rod 34 is attached to a V-shaped brace 35 which is connected to the curved portion 30 of the guide means by any suitable means, such as welding. A pair of sleeves 36 are carried in vertical alignment on the rod 34. A collar 37 is secured to the rod 34 by any suitable means to maintain the sleeves 36 adjacent the top of the rod 34. Outwardly extending arms 38 are carried by the sleeves 37 for accommodating and displaying clothes hangers. The sleeves 36 are allowed to rotate on the rod 34 so that the clothes hangers can be conveniently hung on the outwardly extending arm 38. Upwardly extending projections 39 are provided on arm 38 for preventing the hangers from slipping thereoff. A flat rectangular shaped platform 40 is welded on top of the V-shaped rods for accommodating boxes and the like.

In operation the stand may be rolled up adjacent the cashier in a store so that as the cashier removes the clothes hangers from garments being purchased the conventional size hangers can be inserted on the rack B from adjacent the top of the guide means D. The guide means D prevents the stack of hangers from tilting or falling off of the rack B. Spring means 25 allows the rack B to be lowered as the height of the stack of hangers increases so that at all times the top of the stack is adjacent the top of the guide means D. The odd size hangers collected are positioned on the additional hanger means 33. When the stand is full such is rolled to the area where the clothes are being placed on the hangers for display.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A stand for storing and displaying clothes hangers comprising: a base supporting member, a vertical standard carried on said base supporting member having an elongated axial bore therein, an elongated vertically extending slot carried in a wall of said standard, a bracket carried in said bore of said standard having an arm extending out said elongated vertically extending slot, a rack carried by said arm provided for receiving a stack of hangers, guide means terminating adjacent the top of said standard for allowing said hangers to be loaded on said rack and preventing said hangers from falling off of said rack as said rack is raised and lowered, and spring means coupled between said standard and said bracket for raising and lowering said rack as the weight of said stack of hangers varies so as to maintain the top of said stack of hangers adjacent the top of said standard.

2. The stand as set forth in claim 1, wherein said guide means includes; a pair of vertically extending rods spaced laterally from and on opposite sides of said vertical standard, said rods being positioned adjacent said rack for holding said clothes hangers on said rack.

3. The stand as set forth in claim 1, wherein rollers are carried by said bracket for permitting said bracket to move freely within said bore of said standard.

4. The stand as set forth in claim 1, wherein an additional rack is carried by said base supporting member upon which other types of hangers can be hung.