Over The Shoulder Garment Carrier Bag With Hanger Hook Shield

Abstract

Over the shoulder garment carrier comprising a garment bag having a collar-type shield for covering the hook end of a suit hanger when the weight of the garment in the carrier is supported by the hook end of the hanger.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to over the shoulder garment carriers which have elongated straps for supporting such a carrier.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is particularly directed to over the shoulder garment carriers and more particularly to garment carriers which protect and shield the user from the hook ends of the conventional suit hangers.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The prior art devices such as that shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,612,260 discloses a garment carrier utilizing a carrying strap designed for attachment to and supporting the hook end of a suit hanger at a point outside the garment bag. The hook end of the suit hanger may rub or catch on the clothes or shoulder of the user, causing discomfort and damage to his clothing, resulting in loss of sales of the garment bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention claimed, an improved garment carrier is provided for over the shoulder use which protects the user from direct contact with the hook end of a suit hanger and together with a flexible strap renders the garment bag adaptable for carrying over the shoulder and simultaneously prevents the suit hanger from inadvertently slipping into the garment bag.

It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment carrier.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved over the shoulder garment bag.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved garment bag for over the shoulder transportation which protects the user from direct contact with the hook ends of suit hangers used in the garment bag.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved over the shoulder garment carrier and elongated strap for supporting such a carrier.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved garment bag having easily accessible foot wear and storage compartments.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention may be more readily described by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front right end perspective view of a garment carrier and embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a back left end perspective view of a garment carrier similar to that shown in FIG. 1, except it has its zipper arranged along one end thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a modification of the top of the garment carrier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a further modification of the top of the garment carriers shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modification of the garment carriers shown in FIGS. 1-4 showing foot wear compartments;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the top of the carrier shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the elongated carrier strap for the garment carriers shown in FIGS. 1-6;

FIG. 8 is a partial bottom view of a carrier partly in cross section showing storage compartments; and

FIG. 9 is a partial bottom view of a modification of a bottom of a carrier partly in section showing other storage compartments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more particularly to the drawing by characters of reference, FIG. 1 discloses a garment carrier 10 comprising a garment bag 11 adapted for the storage of suits, coats, dresses and the like together with other personal items which are carried by a conventional garment hanger such as those commonly known as a suit hanger, the hook end 12 of which is shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 7. Access to the inside of the garment bag 11 is provided through an open bottom or through its front or back surfaces and closed by a suitable zipper 13 and zipper opening and closing means 14.

The garment carrier 10 further comprises a suitable carrying strap 15, as shown in detail in FIG. 7, which is usually an elongated flexible piece of leather or plastic material folded over upon itself and fastened as by stitching or riveting means 16 and intertwined through a plurality of rings 17, as shown. Since strap 15 is not novel per se, the drawing and description are intended to merely show one suitable structure. Any other suitable strap arrangement also may be used to hook onto the suit hangers for carrying the garment bags without falling outside of the scope of this invention.

As noted from the drawings, strap 15 is folded over upon itself to form a hand accomodating carrying loop 18 and a smaller garment hanger loop 19. Carrying loop 18 is adapted for carrying garment bags such as bag 11 in an over-the-shoulder mode. The garment hanger loop 19 provides the loop from which the hook ends 12 of garment or suit hangers 20 are hung.

As noted from FIG. 1 of the drawing, the garment bag 11 is provided with a collar or shield 21 surrounding the normal opening in the top of the bag through which the hook ends 12 of the hangers project. This shield is suitably secured around the hanger garment bag opening to project upwardly therefrom high enough so that under the load of the garments and when held by strap 15, the hook ends of the suit hangers 20 do not project out of the opening 22 of the collar or shield 21.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shield is opened or closed by zipper 13 which projects from the peripheral upper edge of shield 21 down through the center of the front surface 11' of the bag to a point 24 near its base or closed bottom 25. It is evident from the drawing that the bag can thus be opened readily to receive the garments either hanger mounted or for mounting on the hangers already in the garment bag. Further, if strap 15 is not already attached to the hook ends 12 of the suit hangers 20, this can be easily accomplished.

When the garment or suit hangers 20 are placed in the bag and the bag is zipped up, the garment bag may be easily carried over the shoulder by the user holding onto the strap 15 by means of loop 18 in a well known manner.

It should be recognized that the hook ends 12 of hangers 20 are covered by shield 21 of the bag, thereby protecting the clothes of the user from its sharp hook ends as well as eliminating the discomfort of the hook ends poking into the back or shoulder of the user.

FIG. 2 illustrates a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 1 wherein the zipper 26 of garment bag 27 extends from its shield 28 along the end 29 of bag 27 to a point 30 near its base 31. In this illustration the shield is not open longitudinally of the garment bag as in FIG. 1, but comprises a closed tubular member open at its top end 32 and suitably secured to garment bag 27 at its lower end 33. The opening at the top end 32 is large enough to place the loop 19 over the hook ends 12 of the suit hangers 20. The hooking of strap 15 over the hook ends 12 of the suit hangers may be done, if so desired, inside of the garment bag when the zipper 26 is open as well known in garment bag usage.

FIG. 3 is a further modification of the garment bag 11 shown in FIG. 1 wherein the zipper 35 and zipper opening and closing means 36 extend merely to a point 37 near the top of shield 21a of garment bag 11a. All of the other characteristics of the shield are similar to those described for shield 21 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 discloses a further modification of the garment bag shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 wherein a garment bag 40 of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown. The zipper may be arranged along the side or end of the bag as so desired. The main difference of the garment bag in this modification is that shield 41 is opened longitudinally of the garment bag. This opening is closed by suitable snap type catches 42 of any well known type, so that the shield may be opened or closed at will.

FIG. 5 illustrates a still further modification of the garment bags shown in FIGS. 1-4 wherein the essential difference is that garment bag 45 and its integrally mounted shield 46 is provided with compartments 47 and 48 along its end 49 for foot wear such as shoes or the like. Like compartments may be formed in end 50, if so desired. Each compartment has a backing which isolates it from the garment compartment 51 of the garment bag and is closed by a suitable zipper 52 as shown. A further zipper 53 is arranged laterally across the front 54 of bag 45 for receiving clothing items. This opening closed by zipper 53 may be an opening to a pocket rather than the bottom of the garment bag as so desired.

FIG. 6 is an enlargement of shield 46 of the garment bag 45 shown in FIG. 5. It should be noted that shield is closed by catches 42 of suitable interlocking parts with one cooperating part of a catch 42' being positioned on the top 56 of the bag which cooperates with its mating part 42" at the lower end of the flap 46' of the shield, to firmly fasten the flap of the shield to the bag.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show for purposes of illustration two types of bag construction for the bottom of the bags.

FIG. 8 illustrates that garment bag 45, as shown in FIG. 1, may have two storage compartments 48 and 48' for shoes or personal items which may be reached through openings in the ends 49 and 50 of the garment bag controlled by zippers 52, 52'. These storage compartments are formed in the bottom of the bag by a semi-rigid board, such as cardboards 58, 58', which are either separate pieces or parts of a single piece creased at 59 to permit the bag when collapsed to be bent over upon itself for storage purposes. Cardboards 58, 58' are covered by pieces of plastic or nylon 60 which together with like pieces 60' and 61 form the partition and tops of these compartments, respectively. As noted, these compartments are isolated from the garment compartment 51 of the garment bag.

FIG. 9 illustrates a further modification of garment bags shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 8 wherein a zipper 63 is placed across the back 64 of the garment bag 65 to enter the bottom of the bag where one or more storage compartments 66 may be defined. A zipper 67 may provide access to this compartment from the end of the garment bag.

FIG. 9 further illustrates storage compartments 68 and 69 across the back and end of the garment bag, respectively, which are lined to isolate these storage compartments from the garment hanger compartment. Storage compartment 68 may be used for soiled clothes or storing a laundry bag while storage compartment 69 may be used to store cosmetics or a cosmetics bag. Both compartments may be entered through openings 70 and 71, respectively, closed by zippers 72 and 73, respectively.

The garment bags illustratd and described herein may be made of any suitable material such as leather, vinyl, nylon, thermoplastic or the like. Similarly, carrying straps 15 may be made of the same kinds of material and may be reinforced with other material such as nylon webbing, etc., to increase their strength and wearability. Finally, the shields disclosed may be formed as a part of the garment bags, attached and made integral therewith, or detachably connected to the garment bags and formed of the same or different material from the garment bag.

It should further be recognized that the bottom of the garment bag may be open for receiving the garment hanger and clothes mounted thereon, as well known in the art, thereby eliminating the need for zippers 13 and 26 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

Although but a few embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A garment bag of the type to be mounted on the back of a person and supported by the hook end of one or more garment hangers within said garment bag comprising:

a garment compartment having at least a top, front and back,

said top defining a first opening arranged around the longitudinal axis of the bag,

a collar mounted around said first opening and extending outwardly from said top a distance greater than the distance of protrusion of the hook end of a garment hanger in said garment bag when supporting said garment bag for shielding the hook end of the garment hanger,

said collar being cut longitudinally of said bag and fixedly attched from said cut around at least a part of the periphery of said first opening,

means mounted on edges of the collar adjacent said cut for detachably engaging to expose and shield the hook ends of the garment hangers mounted in said bag and extending into said collar,

and a second opening in said garment bag for receiving garments mounted on hangers.

2. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said second opening is arranged along one of the surfaces of said front and back of said bag and interconnecting with said cut in said collar, and

a zipper on said bag for closing the first and second openings.

3. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said second opening is arranged along the front surface of said bag longitudinally thereof to and through a part of said collar; and

a zipper on said bag for closing said second opening.

4. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said collar is cut longitudinally of said bag and is fixedly attached from said cut around only a part of the periphery of said first opening,

and cooperating catches mounted on each of the edges of the collar adjacent said cut for detachably engaging to expose and shield hook ends of the garment hangers mounted in said bag and extending into said collar.

5. The garment bag set forth in claim 4 wherein one pair of said cooperating catches are mounted on the top of the bag and an edge of said collar.

6. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said compartment further comprises two ends the surfaces of which interconnect adjacent longitudinal edges of the front and back surfaces,

said second opening being arranged to extend along one of said end surfaces across a part of said top to adjacent said collar, and a zipper on said bag for closing said second opening.

7. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 in further combination with:

a garment hanger mounted in said bag with its hook end extending into said collar, and

a flexible strap comprising a first loop at one end adapted for carrying the hook end of said hanger,

and a second loop at the other end of said strap for engagement by the person carrying the garment bag.

8. The garment bag set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said garment compartment comprises a bottom, and

a first storage compartment arranged in said garment bag below said garment compartment, and an opening into said first storage compartment from at least one end of said garment bag,

a second compartment arranged in said garment bag juxtapositioned to said garment compartment, and an opening into said second storage compartment from the back of said garment bag,

a third storage compartment arranged in said garment bag juxtapositioned to said garment compartment, and an opening into said third storage compartment fron one end of said garment bag.