U.S. patent number 3,744,686 [Application Number 05/139,742] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-10 for adjustable garment hanger.
Invention is credited to Benajmin Levitin.
United States Patent |
3,744,686 |
Levitin |
July 10, 1973 |
ADJUSTABLE GARMENT HANGER
Abstract
An adjustable garment hanger having a pair of jaw members
provided with a pair of upwardly extending lever members and having
fulcrum means positioned therebetween so as to mount the lever
members and the jaw members for relative pivoting movement around
said fulcrum means such as to move said jaw members between open
and closed positions and with said hanger being provided with jaw
operating, retaining, and releasing means of an adjustable type
operable to lock said jaw members on opposed sides of portions of a
garment to be engaged and held thereby and which may be of
virtually any desired thickness because of the adjustability of the
jaw operating, retaining, and releasing means and with the device
further being provided with controllably adjustable
open-position-adjusting means for determining the extent of opening
movement of the opposed jaw members when the jaw operating,
retaining, and releasing means is moved into jaw-open released
position. In a preferred form, the adjustable garment hanger may be
provided with hanger intercoupling means for coupling two or more
of such hangers together in offset and usually downwardly displaced
relationship and in a manner such that the hook member of one of
said hangers supports the entire group of intercoupled hangers
whereby to greatly enhance the efficiency of space utilization such
that for greater than the normal number of hangers and garments
supported thereby can be positioned within a given spacial region
below a hanger-supporting pole, or the like.
Inventors: |
Levitin; Benajmin (Los Angeles,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
22488085 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/139,742 |
Filed: |
May 3, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
223/96;
24/535 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G
25/183 (20130101); A47G 25/481 (20130101); Y10T
24/44684 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
A47G
25/48 (20060101); A47G 25/00 (20060101); A47G
25/18 (20060101); A47j 051/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;223/85,91,93,96
;24/251,259GC,261GC,262GC,248SA,249LS,139 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Krizmanich; George H.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An adjustable garment hanger, comprising: a pair of transversely
extended jaw members provided with a pair of upwardly extending
lever members; fulcrum means positioned between said lever members
and spacing them apart to an extent such as to permit relative
pivoting movement of said lever members and the corresponding
depending jaw members around said fulcrum means in a jaw-opening
and jaw-closing manner substantially perpendicular to the upward
direction of said lever members and the transverse extension
direction of said jaw members; length-adjustable, effective
lever-member-tensioning means positioned in vertically spaced
relationship with respect to said fulcrum means and effectively
interconnecting corresponding portions of said lever members and
having an at-rest jaw-open position providing a predetermined,
controllably adjustable, initial transverse spacing between said
corresponding portions of said lever members which correspondingly
causes a predetermined, controllably adjustable transverse spacing
between said jaw members when in fully open relationship; and jaw
operating, retaining, and releasing means operable into one extreme
jaw-open position releasing said jaw members and allowing said
lever-member-tensioning means to effectively cause said jaw members
to move into a fully open relationship and forcibly operable to any
desired extent toward an opposite extreme jaw-closed relationship
whereby to forcibly resiliently close said opposed, previously open
jaw members into a jaw-closed relationship of any desired extent
wherein said opposed jaw members are spaced apart by any different
predetermined desired spacing corresponding to the thickness of a
garment to be engaged and held by said closed, opposed jaw members,
including manually adjustable means for modifying the initial
effective length of said lever-member-tensioning means for
modifying said initial spacing between said corresponding portions
of said lever members and said initial spacing between said jaw
members when in fully open relationship.
Description
Generally speaking, the present invention is directed to an
improved and adjustable garment hanger capable of very quickly and
easily engaging and grasping any desired portion of a garment of
virtually any desired thickness and also arranged so that, when
open, the opposed jaw members of the garment hanger have an
adjustable, transverse, open jaw space therebetween suitable for
the easy and quick engagement thereof with clothing of a desired
thickness. In other words, when the hanger is intended to normally
grasp relatively thin clothing members, or the like, the open
spacing of the opposed jaw members is normally adjusted to provide
a relatively narrow open space so that the closing and locking
thereof will require a minimum of movement. Conversely, when the
garment hanger is intended to normally grasp and hold relatively
thick garment members, the normally open jaw space is adjusted to
provide a greater transverse open spacing therebetween such as to
be suitable for grasping such a thick garment portion. The jaw
members are effectively operated by a novel type of adjustable jaw
operating, retaining, and releasing means which functions to close
the opposed jaw members to just that extent required to firmly
engage a garment portion of virtually any desired thickness
positioned therebetween and further arranged to just as easily
release the jaw members to allow them to effectively open and thus
release them from holding engagement with portions of the garment
member when it is to be removed from the garment hanger.
Prior art garment hangers have generally been of either the fixed
type or the movable-locking-jaw type and, in the latter type, they
have generally been non-adjustable -- that is, the opposed jaw
members are so arranged and the means for locking same is so
arranged that the jaw members have a predetermined and
non-adjustable space therebetween when closed and locked. This is
extremely undesirable because a great many different types of
garments having variable thicknesses may be intended to be
supported by a garment hanger, but the prior art type of
locking-jaw hanger mentioned above is only capable of functioning
in an optimum manner when a garment portion of one particular
predetermined thickness is grasped between the opposed locked jaw
portions thereof.
The novel adjustable garment hanger of the present invention is of
the opposed locked-jaw type, but is fully adjustable over a wide
range of closed-jaw spacing relationships so as to be capable of
firmly grasping and locking any garment portion lying between a
predetermined minimum and maximum thickness, thus greatly
increasing the general utility of the garment hanger. Also, in
order to further enhance the above operation, the novel garment
hanger of the present invention is provided with means for
adjusting the normal jaw-open position so as to be suitable for the
reception of garment portions of various thicknesses and yet not so
as to be extremely widely spaced originally far beyond the space
required for normally thin garment portions. In other words, the
normal jaw-open spacing can be adjusted to be just slightly in
excess of the normal maximum thickness of the type of garment
portion which is normally expected to be grasped between the
opposed jaw portions when locked. Additionally, the novel garment
hanger of the present invention is made of a relatively unbreakable
plastic construction which also is virtually of a non-snagging type
which will minimize all tendency to snag and pull the threads of
garments supported thereby or of adjacent garments coming into
contact therewith.
Additionally, the novel garment hanger of the present invention is
capable of being folded into an extremely small-volume, non-use
storage and shipping relationship which can be readily modified
after delivery into a normal use position by even an unskilled
person.
Additionally, the novel garment hanger of the present invention in
one form is provided with intercoupling means making it possible to
maximize the number of hangers supported within a given spacial
region underlying a conventional transversely directed
hanger-supporting pole such as is normally provided in closets and
at other convenient locations for the support of multiple hangers
and garments carried thereby.
With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present
invention to provide a novel adjustable garment hanger of the
character referred to herein, generically and/or specifically, and
which may include any or all of the features referred to herein,
either individually or in combination, and which is of extremely
simple, inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture construction and,
therefore, suitable for mass manufacturing and distribution in any
of its various different aspects, intended for any of its various
different purposes or for any substantially equivalent or similar
purposes, and which further is capable of being shipped in
knocked-down or folded form requiring a very small space volume and
which is readily capable of being moved from said storage or
shipping configuration into a use configuration after delivery by
unskilled personnel.
Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which
follows hereinafter (which is to be considered as exemplary of, but
not specifically limiting, the present invention), and said objects
will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful
study of the detailed description which follows.
For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention,
several exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in
the hereinbelow-described figures of the drawings and are described
in detail hereinafter.
FIG. 1 is a reduced-size, fragmentary, perspective view
illustrating one exemplary embodiment of the invention in an
operative position supporting a garment and carried by a
transversely directed auxiliary pole which is shown in exemplary
shortened form in phantom lines only since it does not comprise any
part of the invention. This is also true of the pair of trousers
shown fragmentarily in phantom lines, which also comprises no part
of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken
substantially along the plane and in the direction indicated by the
arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1. This view shows the opposed jaw members, the
upper lever members, and the jaw operating, retaining, and
releasing means in the locked-jaw, closed, clamped relationship
thereof in solid lines and shows the normal jaw-open released
relationship thereof in phantom lines with the
jaw-closing-and-opening movement being indicated by the
double-headed arrows at the bottom ends of the jaw members.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of that portion
of the apparatus of FIG. 2 enclosed within the phantom-line circle
designated by the arrow 3 in FIG. 2 and clearly illustrates the
operation of the upper lever-member-biasing and controllably
adjustable jaw-open-position-determining means.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, partly broken-away view partly in vertical
elevation and partly in section, taken substantially along the
plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 4--4 of FIG.
2.
FIG. 5 is a view intended to illustrate the operation of the upper
controllably adjustable jaw-open-position-determining means so that
the opposed jaw members will assume a variety of different
transverse spacings when in open relationship in accordance with
the adjustment thereof.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view drawn to substantially the same scale
as FIG. 1 and viewed from substantially the same vantage point, but
shows the device in a non-use, folded storage or shipping
configuration which occupies a relatively small space volume.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the
plane and in the direction indicated by the arrows 7--7 of FIG.
6.
FIG. 8 is a reduced-size, fragmentary, somewhat diagrammatic view
illustrating a first step in one exemplary mode of quick,
one-handed attachment or engagement of the novel hanger of the
present invention with a portion of a garment to be supported
thereby, such as the cuff portion of a pair of pants, for example,
although not specifically so limited. In this view the jaw members
are shown in fully open position about to be squeezed together by
one hand of a person using the hanger onto the garment portion
which is shown fragmentarily in phantom.
FIG. 9 is the next sequential view illustrating the next step in
engagement of the garment portion by manually squeezing together
the previously spaced-apart jaw members into engagement with the
garment portion which causes the locking slide pin to drop under
the action of gravity into locking and retaining relationship.
FIG. 10 is the next sequential view illustrating the removal of the
person's hand, shown fragmentarily in phantom in FIGS. 8 and 9, and
illustrating the fact that the hanger is in fully locked engagement
with the garment portion and will remain so until released in the
manner illustrated in sequence in FIGS. 11 and 12.
FIG. 11 illustrates, in diagrammatic fragmentary form, one
exemplary (but non-specifically limiting) first step in quick,
one-handed disengagement of the previously engaged hanger from a
garment portion previously gripped thereby and, in this case,
comprising the inverting of the hanger and the gripped portion of
the garment and the immediately subsequent, manual, inward
squeezing of the jaw members by the hand of the person holding the
hanger (said hand being shown fragmentarily in phantom) so that the
locking slide pin will be released and will drop under the action
of gravity into a jaw-releasing relationship such as is shown in
FIG. 12.
FIG. 12 illustrates the next sequential step in the releasing
operation started in FIG. 11 and comprises the releasing of the
manual force previously exerted inwardly on the jaw members so that
they will open in the manner illustrated in FIG. 12 and will
release the previously firmly held garment portion so that it can
be removed, also in the manner clearly shown in FIG. 12.
FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view of just a pair of spaced, opposed jaw
members (shown in open relationship) with the jaw members being of
a slightly modified type as to the frictional surface means carried
thereby for preventing an undesired slippage of garment portions
adapted to be grasped therebetween.
FIG. 14 is a fragmentary elevational view taken in the direction of
the arrows 14--14 of FIG. 13 and illustrates a representative one
of the two modified jaw members of FIG. 13 -- it being understood
that the other jaw member is similar in appearance and, therefore,
is not separately shown in view of the obvious redundancy
thereof.
FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 13, but illustrates a further
slight modification of the frictional surface means of the opposed
jaw members.
FIG. 16 is a fragmentary, elevational view taken in the direction
of the arrows 16--16 of FIG. 15 and illustrates a representative
one of the two similar jaw members shown in FIG. 15 -- it being
understood that the other jaw member is similar in construction and
appearance and, therefore, is not separately shown in view of the
obvious redundancy of such a separate showing.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a modified hanger member having
one element of one exemplary representative type of hanger
intercoupling means carried thereby and showing adjacent thereto
another similar hanger having a second element of a representative
exemplary form of such hanger intercoupling means and with said
first and second elements being engageable and disengageable for
effectively coupling two or more hangers together for common
support by a single upper hanger hook member. This view also shows
a third representative hanger hung on the opposite side of the
second hanger from the engagement of the second hanger with respect
to the first hanger so as to provide a balanced vertical array of
three such intercoupled hangers, which is to be considered as
representative of various different numbers thereof and of
arrangements where both sides of a single hanger carry depending
hangers therefrom.
FIG. 18 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view with
certain portions broken away, taken substantially along the plane
and in the direction indicated by the arrows 18--18 of FIG. 17, but
ilustrates the uppermost hanger in locked engagement with respect
to an upper portion of a garment (shown fragmentarily in phantom
lines) adapted to be supported thereby. Furthermore, this view
shows the upper portion of a first depending hanger, coupled to the
uppermost hanger, fragmentarily and in phantom lines 13 it being
understood that the engagement of the third hanger on the opposite
side of the second hanger shown in FIG. 17 is similar, although
oppositely positioned from that shown in FIG. 18 and, therefore,
does not require a separate, independent, and redundant showing
thereof.
The novel adjustable garment hanger H of the present invention in a
preferred form comprises a pair of jaw members, such as are
generally designated by the reference numerals 20 and 22, which are
provided with a corresponding pair of upwardly extending lever
members, such as are generally designated at 24 and 26,
respectively. In the example illustrated, each jaw member
integrally carries its individual corresponding upwardly extending
and converging lever member at a location substantially at the
center of the jaw member so that, in effect, it may be said that
each of the two jaw members 20 and 22 is extended in a normally
horizontal plane on each side of its corresponding upwardly
extending, integral lever member 24 and 26, respectively.
In the example illustrated, each of the jaw members 20 and 22 and
each of the integral upwardly extending lever members 24 and 26 is
made of similar flat, spatulate construction such as of molded
plastic, or the like, although not specifically so limited.
The hanger includes fulcrum means positioned between the lever
members 24 and 26 and spacing them apart to an extent such as to
permit relative pivotal movement of either or both of said lever
members 24 and 26 and the corresponding depending jaw members 20
and 22 relative to the fulcrum means, one exemplary form of which
is generally designated by the reference numeral 28, in a
jaw-opening and a jaw-closing manner and in a direction
substantially perpendicular to the upward direction of said lever
members 24 and 26 and the transverse extension direction of the jaw
members 20 and 22, this jaw-opening and jaw-closing movement being
indicated by the arcuate double-headed arrows 30 of FIG. 2. The
detailed construction of the exemplary first form of the fulcrum
means indicated generally at 28 will be described in greater detail
hereinafter.
The garment hanger is provided with controllably adjustable
jaw-open-position-determining adjustment means for adjusting the
at-rest, jaw-open position of the jaw members 20 and 21. In the
exemplary first form of the invention illustrated, said means is
generally designated by the reference numeral 32 and comprises
controllably-length-adjustable means which, in the example
illustrated, takes the form of lever-member-tensioning spring means
34 and which is arranged to adjust the normal at-rest position of
the two upper ends 36 of the lever members 24 and 26 and which,
because of the fulcrum means 28, correspondingly adjusts the normal
at-rest, jaw-open position of the opposed jaw members 20 and 22,
such as is shown in solid lines in FIG. 5. It will be understood
that said jaw-open-position-determining means 32 can be
controllably adjusted as to its effective operating length between
the upper ends 36 of the lever members 24 and 26 so as to
correspondingly change the at-rest position of the open lower ends
of the jaw members 20 and 22 so as to be in just about the right
spacing for grasping a portion of a garment or other material of a
particular desired thickness lying anywhere in the range between a
predetermined minimum thickness and a predetermined maximum
thickness.
In the example illustrated, the above-mentioned adjustment of the
effective operating length of the lever-member-tensioning spring
means 34 acting between the upper ends 36 of the two jaw members 24
and 26 takes the form of manually adjustable means, as indicated at
38, comprising headed screw means of a specialized, substantially
single-thread type threaded into and engaging the inner surface of
the helical turns of the spring 34 so that said headed screws 38
can be screwed inwardly or outwardly relative to open opposite ends
of the spring 34 which has the effect of modifying the overall
coupling length thereof relative to the upper ends 36 of the jaw
members 24 and 26. However, this is merely one exemplary type of
adjusting means and is not to be construed as specifically limiting
the invention thereto.
The hanger is also provided with a second type of controllably
adjustable means comprising what might be termed jaw operating,
retaining, and releasing means, such as is generally designated by
the reference numeral 40 in the exemplary first form of the
invention, and which is operable into one extreme jaw-open,
releasing position such as is shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2 and
also operable to be moved in the opposite direction toward an
extreme jaw-closed relationship, one exemplification of which is
shown in solid lines in FIG. 2.
In the example illustrated, said jaw operating, retaining, and
releasing means 40 takes the form of a pair of vertically directed,
laterally open slots 42 positioned in each of the two lever members
24 and 26 and carrying a laterally directed, double-headed locking
slide pin, such as is indicated generally at 44, having two
oppositely positioned, enlarged heads 46 positioned outwardly of
each of the two slots 42 and being larger than said slots and
having a central shaft portion 48 extending laterally through the
two slot members 42. The mounting of the slide pin 44 is made
possible by having one of the heads (the right head 46, in the
example shown in FIG. 2) threadedly engageable and disengageable
with respect to the corresponding end of the shaft 48.
In the example illustrated, the outer surface of each lever member
24 and 26 carries a series of frictional locking or holding
serrations, such as indicated at 50, along each vertical outer edge
of the portions of the lever mebers on each side of the two
vertical slots 42 and positioned immediately inwardly of the
corresponding enlarged heads 46 of the slide pin 44. The
arrangement is such that when the opposed jaw members 20 and 22 are
manually clamped into closed position on an upper garment portion,
such as that shown in phantom at 52 in FIG. 2, for example, the
slide pin 44 can move downwardly under the action of gravity (or,
if desired, can be forcibly manually moved downwardly) until its
further travel is prevented by reason of the engagement of the
inner surfaces of the heads 46 with the outwardly diverging
portions of the lever members 24 and 26. At this time each of the
two heads 46 will become effectively locked with respect to the
locking serrations 50 and the entire jaw operating, retaining, and
releasing means, indicated generally at 40 will be in a jaw-closed,
locked relationship with the spacing between the lower ends of the
jaw members 24 and 26 being determined substantially entirely by
the thickness of the garment portion 52 grasped therebetween. In
other words, the slide pin 44 will move downwardly to a greater
extent when a thin garment portion is grasped by the jaw members 24
and 26 than it will when a thick garment portion is grasped between
the opposed jaw members and, in either case, the slide pin 44 will
remain in a corresponding locked position until manually
released.
The above-mentioned manual releasing operation may be accomplished
by merely manually grasping the outside of the jaw members 24 and
26 and squeezing them slightly together while inverting the entire
hanger so that the slide pin 44 can slide away from the jaw members
under the action of gravity into a jaw-open position similar to
that shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2 (except that the entire
device would be positionally inverted under the conditions just
described). This type of jaw-opening-or-releasing operation is
particularly desirable since it only requires one hand to operate
the entire hanger in a jaw-releasing manner and since, further, the
re-engagement of the jaws with a garment portion can be
accomplished with one hand by the exact reverse of the
above-described operation. This type of operation is best shown in
FIGS. 8-12 and is described in greater detail hereinafter.
However, if desired, the slide pin 44 can be manually lifted
upwardly to release the jaw members 24 and 26 from a locked
relationship, such as is shown in solid lines in FIG. 2, which will
allow said jaw members to move into an open relationship such as is
shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2.
In the example illustrated, the controllably length-adjustable
means indicated at 32 includes the two headed screws 38, each of
which has a shaft portion 54 having a single-turn thread 56 which
facilitates the threading inwardly or outwardly of the screw 38
within the helical spring 34. This is best shown in FIG. 3 with
respect to one exemplary portion of said structure. However, it
should be noted that the male and female relationships may be
reversed so that each of the two screws 38 may actually be a female
element threadedly engaging the outside of the spring 34, if
desired, and further it should be noted that, in certain forms of
the invention, the spring 34 may be eliminated and any laterally
directed coupling link may be substituted in lieu thereof and, in
this latter case, the necessary elasticity (in the exemplary form
provided by the spring 34) needed to allow the jaw members 24 and
26 to be moved into closed position when desired, may be provided
by the inherent elasticity of the lever members 24 and 26, which
may be capable of effective lateral bending to provide this
function.
In the example illustrated, the previously mentioned fulcrum means
28 comprises a transversely directed member having a pair of
opposed, half-round, transversely directed fulcrum ends 58 carried
integrally by the lower end of a support hook member, generally
designated by the reference numeral 60, which is maintained in
position by the provision of a hole 62 in the lower shank portion
64 thereof and through which the lateral link (in the example
illustrated, the tensioning spring 34) extends. The fulcrum means
28 also includes appropriate seat means 66 formed on the inner
surface of each of the lever members 24 and 26 near the upper ends
thereof and cooperable to pivotally receive the corresponding pivot
or fulcrum ends 58.
The hook member 60 includes a conventional hook 68 adapted to be
placed over a conventional closet pole, or the like, such as that
shown partially in phantom lines at 70 in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that
the entire hanger and garment supported thereby can be carried by
said pole 70.
In the example illustrated, the hanger H is provided with
travel-limiting abutment or stop means, such as indicated at 72 in
one exemplary form, positioned so as to limit arcuate displacement
of the engagement hook means 60 in a lateral direction as is
clearly evident from a careful examination of FIGS. 2 and 5. This
prevents the hook means 60 from inadvertently becoming
substantially laterally displaced so as to lie in a substantial
laterally angularly displaced relationship with respect to a true
central plane btween the jaw members and lever members of the
hanger.
It should be noted that the jaw members 20 and 22 converge
transversely from the lever members toward the outer ends of said
jaw members and that they also converge downwardly to facilitate
the proper engagement of interfaces thereof with garments in a most
effective garment-holding fashion.
It should also be noted that the mounting of the hook member 60 is
such that it may be pivoted around the spring 34 into a position
such as is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 with the entire hanger in what
might be termed a convenient storage or shipping position which
occupies a relatively small space volume and yet which allows the
hanger to be moved into fully operative position, such as is shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2, by an unskilled person. The only requirement is
that the slide pin 44 has to be removed from the pair of slots 42
and replaced therein to make either the collapsing operation into
the small-space-volume storage and shipping relationship shown in
FIG. 6 possible or to make possible the reverse expansion operation
thereof into the use configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and this
requires little or no skill.
FIGS. 8 through 10 illustrate one exemplary and highly desirable
mode of engagement of the garment hanger of the first form of the
invention with a portion of a garment and which requires only
one-handed operation of the garment hanger. This sequence of views
begins with the open position of the opposed jaw members 20 and 22
of the garment hanger prior to engagement with a portion of a
garment such as the trouser cuff shown fragmentarily in phantom at
52, for example, although not specifically so limited. The outside
surfaces of the opposed jaw members are adapted to be grasped from
above by opposed members of the person's hand, such as a thumb on
one side and one or more fingers on the other side, which will be
referred to hereinafter as opposed digital members and which are
indicated in somewhat diagrammatic form in phantom at 74 in FIGS. 8
and 9.
The open opposed jaw members 20 and 22 held in one hand of a person
about to engage said jaw members with the garment portion 52 are
then moved relative to the garment portion 52 until it is
positioned between the open opposed jaw members 20 and 22 in a
pre-engagement position such as that shown in FIG. 8, after which
the opposed digital members 74 are forcibly squeezed toward each
other in the direction of the phantom line arrows 76 shown in FIG.
9, which, of course, forces the opposed jaw members 20 and 22
together into engagement with the garment portion 52, which is
effectively locked between the opposed jaw members 20 and 22 in the
manner clearly shown in FIG. 9. While this action is occurring, the
slide pin 44 of the previously mentioned jaw operating, retaining,
and releasing means drops under the action of gravity directly
downwardly in the direction of the phantom line arrows 78 until the
heads 46 engage the serrations 50 carried along the outer surfaces
of each of the two lever members 24 and 26 and are held thereby in
a locked and retained relationship such as is clearly shown in FIG.
9.
Then the opposed digital members 74 of the person's hand, which
thus far have been holding and operating the opposed jaw members 20
and 22, are removed therefrom and the opposed jaw members 20 and 22
are retained in fully locked engagement with respect to the garment
portion 52 by the downwardly displaced slide pin 44 in the manner
clearly shown in FIG. 10.
Thus it will be understood that the entire garment-engaging
operation shown in sequence in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 has only required
the use of one hand insofar as the garment hanger itself is
concerned, while the other hand may be employed for positioning the
garment portion 52.
FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate in sequence a garment-releasing
operation effectively comprising the reverse of the
garment-engaging operation shown in FIGS. 8-10 inclusive and, in
this sequence, the first step optionally may be to invert the
entire garment hanger in the direction of the arrow indicated by
the reference numeral 80 in FIG. 11 from its normal hanging
position such as is shown in FIG. 10 into the inverted relationship
shown in FIG. 11.
Either prior to the above-mentioned inverting operation, or
immediately after same, the digital members (opposed one or more
fingers and thumb) shown in phantom and indicated by the reference
numeral 74 are placed in opposed grasping relationship relative to
the outside surfaces of the jaw members 20 and 22, preferably from
the direction of the top of the hanger (which actually would mean
from a bottom direction because of the inversion of the hanger as
shown in FIG. 11), and said digital members 74 are forcibly
squeezed toward each other in the direction of the phantom line
arrows 82. This will release the slide pin 44 from its previous
locked relationship with the heads 46 thereof locked against the
serrations, such as best shown at 50 in FIG. 2, so that the entire
slide pin 44 can drop under the action of the arrows 84 toward a
jaw-open position thereof such as is best shown in FIG. 12. As soon
as this occurs, the inward force exerted by the opposed digital
members 74 is released and the opposed jaw members 20 and 22 are
allowed to open under the action of the spring 34, as best shown in
FIGS. 3 and 5, into a jaw-open relationship, such as is clearly
shown in FIG. 2, which will release the previously existing
engagement of the opposed jaw members 20 and 22 with respect to the
garment portion 52, which can then be withdrawn from the now-open
jaw members 20 and 22 in the manner indicated by the directional
arrow 86 in FIG. 12, thus fully releasing the garment portion 52
and allowing its complete removal, and placing the jaw members 20
and 22 in a position for the next succeeding garment-engaging
operation, such as illustrated in sequence in FIGS. 8-10 and
previously described.
Thus it will be seen that the garment-releasing operation, shown in
sequence in FIGS. 11 and 12 and described above, requires the use
of one hand only to operate the complete garment hanger while the
other hand may be employed for grasping and removing the garment
portion.
It should be understood that while the foregoing description of the
garment-engaging and garment-disengaging operations specifies a
particularly advantageous one-handed form of garment hanger
operation, the invention is in no way specifically so limited.
FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate a slight modification of the invention
and, therefore, similar parts are designated by similar reference
numerals, followed by the letter a , however. In this modification,
the lower ends of the jaw members 24a and 26a are provided with
frictional engagement surface means, such as is indicated at 88
which takes the form of a plurality of ribbed corrugations 90 which
are small enough to avoid any damage to the portion of the garment
grasped therebetween while still greatly increasing the frictional
engagement existing between the clamped jaw members and such a
garment portion grasped therebetween. Of course, it should be
understood that the corrugations may extend in any desired
direction.
FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate a further very slight modification of
the invention and, therefore, similar parts are designated by
similar reference numerals, followed by the letter b , however. In
this modification, the lower ends of the jaw members 24b and 26b
have a slightly different representative and exemplary type of
frictional engagement surface means, indicated generally at 88b,
comprising a plurality of small projections 90b. However, the two
types of frictional engagement surface means shown in FIGS. 13 and
14 in the first instance and shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 in the second
instance are merely representative of a number of other forms
thereof intended to be included and comprehended within the broad
scope of the present invention.
FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate a slightly modified form of the
invention and, therefore, parts which are structurally or
functionally equivalent or substantially similar to previously
described and illustrated parts are designated by similar reference
numerals, followed by the letter c , however. The major difference
of this modification of the invention from the first form
previously described is the fact that it includes hanger
intercoupling means 92 cooperable for coupling at least two (or
more) hangers together for common support by the hook 68c of the
uppermost one of the hangers, as is clearly shown in FIG. 17.
The exemplary form of said hanger intercoupling means indicated
generally at 92 is illustrated as taking the form of a first
intercoupling element 94 carried by each upper hook member 68c and
a plurality of second lower intercoupling elements 96 carried by
correspondingly oppositely side-positioned portions of the lever
members 24c and 26c of each of the garment hangers.
In the exemplary form illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, each of the
above-mentioned first intercoupling elements 94 is manually
coupleable and decoupleable with respect to any of the second
intercoupling elements 96 of any other laterally adjacent garment
hanger for effectively coupling the two hangers together in the
manner best shown fragmentarily in FIG. 18 and illustrated with
resepct to two different, oppositely positioned coupling
engagements intercoupling three garment hangers in FIG. 17.
In the exemplary form illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, each of the
first intercoupling elements 94 comprises a double-headed insertion
member, also indicated by the reference numeral 94, having a pair
of enlarged heads 98 at opposite ends thereof, while each of the
second intercoupling elements 96, in the exemplary form
illustrated, comprises a receiving recess in the corresponding
lever members 24c and 26c adapted to receive and retain either one
of the enlarged heads 98 of any one of the first-mentioned
intercoupling members 94 therein in the manner most clearly shown
in FIG. 18.
The engagement and disengagement of the first and second
intercoupling elements 94 and 96 is made possible in the exemplary
form illustrated by reason of the fact that each of the receiving
recesses 96 has an upper enlarged entry aperture 100 which is
slightly larger than the enlarged heads 98 of the first
intercoupling element 94 so as to be capable of receiving any one
of said enlarged heads 98 therethrough, plus the further fact that
each of said receiving recesses 96 has a lower, narrower retaining
slot 102 which is narrower than the enlarged heads 98 so that,
after insertion of an enlarged head 98 through the enlarged entry
aperture 100, the entire first intercoupling element 94 can be
moved downwardly toward the bottom of the narrower retaining slot
102, which will, of course, lock the corresponding enlarged head 98
inside of the inner surface portions of the hanger at each side of
the narrow retaining slot 102, thus positively intercoupling, in a
vertically adjacent and slightly laterally offset manner, at least
two hangers.
Of course, it should be understood that a second hanger may be
coupled to the opposite side of the uppermost hanger also, if
desired, so as to provide a balanced array with one upper hanger
supporting two lower hangers on each side of the upper hanger.
Also, a staggered supporting arrangement such as is shown in FIG.
17 may be easily provided, or any combination of the various
intercoupling elements may be employed, to maximize the number of
hangers provided within a relatively limited space. This is
particularly advantageous when the garments to be supported by the
hangers are not very long and would otherwise leave a great deal of
wasted space therebelow.
It should be understood that the figures and the specific
description thereof set forth in this application are for the
purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be
construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and
detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically
described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to
include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basis
teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.
* * * * *