Tie Holder

Abstract

A tie holder comprising a body portion having hook means at the upper end thereof extending about a passage and an opening formed in the bottom end thereof, a movable tie support arm adapted to span said opening, a restraining strip protruding from said arm and adapted to project into said opening when said support arm is in its closed position spanning said opening, and means on said arm and said body adapted to engage to form a disengageable closure when said support arm is in its closed position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is common practice to use holders for supporting and displaying neckwear, such as cravats and neckties, on display racks or stands. Such hangers usually comprise a hook portion to support the hanger on the display stand or rack as well as means to hold the neckwear on the hanger during transportation and display. A major difficulty, however, has been that present tie holders do not positively lock the neckwear to the holder so as to insure that it does not slip therefrom during movement or display or locked so that it cannot be surreptitiously removed therefrom by shoplifters. The few that attempted to overcome this problem, moreover, twist the tie in such a tortuous path that the tie cannot readily be removed or replaced by an interested purchaser and in some cases such deformation can act to damage or mar the appearance of the tie.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A tie holder has now been found which will positively lock a tie so that it cannot slip or be pulled therefrom while at the same time providing ease of removal and insertion of a tie.

Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to a tie holder comprising a body portion having hook means at the upper end thereof extending about a passage and an opening formed in the bottom end thereof, a movable tie support arm adapted to span said opening, a restraining strip protruding from said arm and adapted to project into said opening when said support arm is in its closed position spanning said opening, and means on said arm and said body adapted to engage to form a disengageable closure when said support arm is in its closed position. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the tie support arm is integrally formed with the body and connected thereto by means of a flexible integral hinge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a tie holder made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of such tie holder with the tie support arm in a closed position supporting a necktie;

FIG. 3 is a vertical, front elevational view of such holder as it is being placed on a display stand;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are vertical, front, partial elevational views which when taken in conjunction with FIG. 3 show how the holder is locked onto a display stand by a flexible restraining tongue;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6 -- 6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7 -- 7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the invention with the tie support arm shown broken away from the body;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the invention with the tie support arm shown broken away from the body; and

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the invention with the tie support arm shown broken away from the body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be described in connection with neckwear (ties) although it will be understood that it is suitable for transport and display of equivalent neckwear.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, it will be seen that the preferred tie holder 10 of the present invention is a unitary structure comprising a body portion 11 integrally formed, preferably by molding of any conventional plastic material, although it may be stamped from a metal. The body portion 11 is essentially flat and elongated and includes hook means 12 at the upper end thereof which extends about passage 13 which is adapted to engage a bar or rod 14 or other means by which the holder is to be supported on a display or transport stand or rack. The passage 13 is provided as the means for placing the tie holder onto or removing it from such bar or rod.

FIGS. 1 to 7 show a preferred embodiment of the instant invention wherein a flexible restraining tongue 15 extends from the body 11 into passage 13 to lock the holder 10 onto the bar or rod as best shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. This serves the dual function of preventing the tie holder from being inadvertently jostled from the rod 14 during normal handling and, further, prevents someone from purposely trying to steal the tie by removing the holder from the rod 14. A rectangular opening 16 is positioned in the bottom end of the body 11 extending horizontally across the body. This opening may be of any shape so long as the width thereof is sufficient to lock in a necktie as hereinafter described.

Integrally formed with the body is a flexible hinge 17 attached to one side of the body and at the other to a support arm 18 also integrally formed with the body. This integral hinge is made so as to be flexible, and, in the case of plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, this is accomplished by making it of a more limited thickness than the remainder of the holder. The integral hinge 17 and support arm 18 are positioned at the side of the body and the support arm 18 is of a length sufficient to span the body portion 11. At the end of the arm 18 connected to the hinge 17, there is an upstanding flange 25. A restraining strip 19 protrudes from said support bar 18. It is of a size and shape and so positioned on the bar 18 so as to project into the rectangular opening 16 when the support arm 18 is moved so as to span said opening and body of the holder. The surface 20 of the restraining strip 19 projecting into the rectangular opening 16 can be smooth or serrated.

At the outermost end 21, the support arm is provided with a peg 22 which is adapted to engage a mating passage 23 to form a disengageable closure when the support arm 18 is moved to span the body portion 11. As best shown in FIG. 3, the support arm 18 is long enough so as to extend beyond the side of the body portion 11. This extension can be used as a fulcrum to unlock the arm 18 when closed.

While the operation of the tie holder 10 is largely evident from the foregoing description, its operation will now be described in greater detail. The holder 10 is placed in the open position, best shown in FIG. 1, wherein the support arm 18 is spaced away from the body portion 11. A necktie 24 is simply draped over the support bar 18 and the upstanding flange 25 acts to keep any portion of the necktie from extending into and being trapped in the hinge area. The support arm 18 is simply pivoted about the hinge and the peg 22 is force fit in the passage 23 which locks the arm 18 in this closed position. As best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the restraining strip 19 pushes a portion of the tie into the rectangular opening 16 and this action acts to restrain any movement of the tie. The serrated surface 20 provides further locking. Thus, the tie cannot be surreptitiously removed from the holder 10. If it is desired to remove the tie 24 from the holder 10, the portion 21 of the support arm 18 extending beyond the body provides sufficient leverage for the finger of the remover to unlatch the closure means (remove peg 22 from passage 23), pivot the support arm 18 to its open position, and simply lift the tie therefrom. Thus, placement of the tie on the holder and removing it therefrom is simply a draping and undraping operation when the support arm is in its open position. In the closed position, however, the tie is firmly locked in place so as to prevent either its removal from the holder or inadvertent dropping therefrom. The method of removably locking the holder onto the bar of a transport or display rack has been previously described.

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 illustrate an alternate embodiment of the invention in which the body portion 41 and tie support arm 48 are separately formed. As with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 - 7, the body portion 41 has hook means 42, a passage 43, a restraining tongue 45, and an opening 46. The arm 48 has a restraining strip 49 protruding therefrom of a size and shape so as to project into the opening 46 when the arm 48 is locked into position spanning the opening 46 of body 41.

Each of FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 show different mating means to form a disengageable closure locking the arm 48 to the body 41. The closure of FIG. 8 comprises pegs 82 at each end of arm 48 adapted to engage in mating passages 83 in body 41. The holder of FIG. 9 has clasps 92 at each end of arm 48 which disengageably lock about posts 93 on the body 41. FIG. 10 shows closure means comprising a clasp 102 and peg 103 on arm 48 and a mating post 104 and passage 105 on the body.

The arm 48 of FIG. 8 also has a slot 50 in the restraining strip 49. This slot 50 functions to receive a hook portion of a form (not shown) on which is mounted an already knotted tie. Such pre-knotted ties mounted on plastic hooked forms, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,931,045, are often used for childrens' ties as they eliminate the need for the wearer to form the knot and simply hook onto the shirt. This enables the tie support of FIG. 8 to thus be used for both the pre-knotted and standard ties.

The use of the tie holders of FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 is evident from the description given.

It will be understood that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the disclosure of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A tie holder comprising a sheet-like body portion having hook means at the upper end thereof, said hook and body portion forming a passage, an opening formed in the bottom end thereof, of said body portion, an elongated tie support arm integrally formed with said body portion and connected to one side thereof by means of a flexible integral hinge and adapted to span said opening, an elongated restraining strip of said arm projecting into said opening along the length thereof when said support arm is in its closed position spanning said opening, and means on said arm and said body forming a disengageable closure when said support arm is in

2. The tie holder of claim 1 wherein the body portion has only a single

3. The tie holder of claim 2 wherein said support arm is of a length sufficient to extend beyond said body portion when in a closed position and said support arm includes an upstanding flange at the end thereof

4. The tie holder of claim 1 including a flexible restraining tongue

5. The tie holder of claim 1 wherein the surface of the restraining strip

6. The tie holder of claim 1 wherein all elements thereof are formed of a molded plastic material.