U.S. patent number 3,627,143 [Application Number 04/812,806] was granted by the patent office on 1971-12-14 for apparatus for hanging clothing.
Invention is credited to Una Pauline Hatton Alexander.
United States Patent |
3,627,143 |
Alexander |
December 14, 1971 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
APPARATUS FOR HANGING CLOTHING
Abstract
The apparatus of the invention for hanging clothing includes a
hollow, a horizontally extending elongated member having at least
one longitudinal slot in its bottom surface. A plurality of hangers
are supported by the elongated member, and each of the hangers is
provided with clothing support means with a vertical shaft
extending upward therefrom and having a horizontally extending bar
at the top end. Each shaft extends upwardly through the
longitudinal slot with the bars disposed inside the elongated
member and extending in a direction transverse to the direction of
elongation of the slot.
Inventors: |
Alexander; Una Pauline Hatton
(Pass Christian, MS) |
Family
ID: |
25210680 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/812,806 |
Filed: |
April 2, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/123 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G
25/02 (20130101); A47F 7/24 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47F
7/19 (20060101); A47F 7/24 (20060101); A47G
25/00 (20060101); A47G 25/02 (20060101); A47f
007/19 (); A47h 001/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;211/123-124,113,105.1,94,99,116 ;248/214,215,341,340 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Britts; Ramon S.
Claims
Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new
is:
1. Apparatus for hanging clothing comprising
means for supporting a plurality of clothing hangers including an
elongated hollow member having a generally U-shaped configuration
in cross section,
said U-shaped member including a pair of spaced leg portions
extending upward from a lower portion which joins the lower ends of
the leg portions,
means for mounting said U-shaped member on a supporting
surface,
said U-shaped member being mounted whereby said lower portion
extends substantially horizontally and said leg portions extend
upward from the horizontal lower portion,
slot means consisting solely of at least one longitudinally
extending slot of uniform width formed in said lower portion of the
U-shaped member and being coaxial therewith,
the ends of said slot being closed and the edges of said slot being
uninterrupted throughout the extent thereof,
a plurality of spaced transversely extending hanger positioning
means on the inner surface of the lower portion of the U-shaped
member contiguous with the longitudinally extending slot and
extending at substantially right angles thereto,
there being a hanger positioning means adjacent each end of said
longitudinally extending slot and at least one additional hanger
positioning means therebetween and spaced therefrom,
a plurality of one piece clothing hangers, each clothing hanger
consisting essentially of
a. an upright shaft having a maximum dimension in cross section
which is substantially less than the width of said longitudinally
extending slot,
b. an elongated clothing supporting means carried by the lower end
of the shaft and extending laterally from opposed sides thereof,
and
c. an elongated hanger supporting means on the upper end of the
shaft which has a length substantially greater that the width of
the longitudinally extending slot but less than the width of the
lower portion of the U-shaped member and which has a width
substantially less than the width of the longitudinally extending
slot, the elongated hanger supporting means having a length and
width substantially less than the length and width of the
transversely extending hanger positioning means,
the clothing hanger shafts extending through the longitudinally
extending slot and being supported in a generally upright
manner,
the elongated clothing supporting means extending generally
transversely under the longitudinally extending slot,
the elongated hanger supporting means extending generally
transversely above said longitudinally extending slot and resting
on the adjacent inner surface portion of the hollow U-shaped member
to thereby support the weight of the clothing hanger and clothing
placed thereon,
the contour of the engaging portion of the elongated hanger
supporting means throughout the extent thereof and the inner
surface portion of the hollow U-shaped member being substantially
flat and conforming to and being in contact with each other to aid
in properly positioning the clothing hanger with respect to the
U-shaped member,
the elongated clothing supporting means and the elongated hanger
supporting means being mounted on the shaft so that they are in
approximately the same vertical plane, and
the elongated hanger supporting means being maintained in a proper
position at generally right angles to the longitudinally extending
slot by the hanger positioning means whereby the elongated clothing
supporting means is also maintained in a similar proper position,
the height of the leg portion of the U-shaped member being
sufficiently greater than the maximum dimension of the cross
section of the hanger supporting means so as to permit rotation of
the clothing hanger thereby facilitating insertion and removal of
the hanger supporting means through the longitudinally extending
slot.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower portion has a
plurality of said longitudinally extending slot means formed
therein, the plurality of slot means being disposed in spaced end
to end relation along a common center line.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said mounting means includes
attaching means adjacent the ends of the plurality of spaced
longitudinally extending slots for mounting said U-shaped member on
the supporting surface.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said attaching means includes a
plurality of elongated fastening means, the lower ends of said
fastening means being attached to said lower portion of the
U-shaped member and extending upward therefrom, said fastening
means being attached on the upper ends thereof to said supporting
surface.
Description
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A horizontally extending hollow elongated member having a bottom
surface with a longitudinal slot is adapted to be secured to a
shelf or ceiling in a closet or the like with the slot exposed. A
plurality of hangers for clothing and the like are adapted to be
supported by the member to hang down there below and to be slidable
therein. To this end, each hanger has clothing support means with a
vertical shaft extending upward therefrom and into the longitudinal
slot. Each shaft has at its top a horizontal bar located in the
member above the longitudinal slot and extending transversely to
the longitudinal slot whereby the hangers can be slid back and
forth for use without falling out of the member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of my invention;
FIG. 2 is a detail bottom view of the form of FIG. 1 with the
hangers removed;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the form of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing a modification
thereof;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another modification of the form of
FIG. 1; and
FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6--6 in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, an elongated hollow horizontal tube 10
is adapted to be supported by removable end caps 12 which in turn
can be secured to opposite vertical walls of a closet or the like.
The bottom surface of tube 10 has a narrow elongated longitudinally
extending horizontal slot 14. The slot has at its midpoint a
relatively wide transversely extending slot 16.
The hangers 17 each have curved clothing support 18 with a shaft 20
extending vertically upward from the midpoint and terminating at
its top end in a horizontal bar 22 which can be inserted into the
hollow portion of the tube via slot 16. The bar is then disposed
transversely of the slot 14 and supports the entire hanger 17 in
slidable position.
While in FIG. 3, the tube 10 has a circular cross section and the
bar 22 has a curvature corresponding thereto, as shown in FIG. 4,
the tube 10' can have a flat bottom surface 24 and the bar 22' can
also be flat. The clothing support 18' and the shaft 20' of hanger
17' may be identical with the clothing support 18 and the shaft 20
of hanger 17 as illustrated in FIG. 3.
Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the tube 10 or 10' can be replaced
by a horizontally extending hollow member 30 having in cross
section the shape of a U and provided with a flat bottom horizontal
surface 32. Two separate spaced elongated longitudinally extending
slot portions 34A and 34B are disposed end to end along a common
center line. As may be seen in FIG. 6, the bottom surface 32 is
provided with a plurality of transversely extending hanger
positioning means 35 for maintaining the bars 22" and clothing
supports 18" of the clothing hangers 17" in the positions as
illustrated in FIGS. 5 6, 6 i.e., extending transversely with
respect to the longitudinally extending slot portions 34A and 34B.
The hangers 17" are slidably disposed as before. As is shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6, the widths of the shafts 20" and bars 22",
respectively, are substantially less than the widths of the slot
portions 34A and 34B and the hanger positioning means 35, thereby
allowing the bars 22" to be aligned coaxially with the slot
portions 34A and 34B and inserted therethrough, and then rotated
one-quarter turn and placed within a hanger positioning means 35.
The member 30 is supported by screws 36 which extend upward from
the bottom surface in spaced positions from the portions 34A and
34B into the bottom surface of a shelf, ceiling, or the like
38.
While I have described my invention with particular reference to
the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual
scope.
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