U.S. patent number 3,868,906 [Application Number 05/391,217] was granted by the patent office on 1975-03-04 for control and handling of garment hangers.
Invention is credited to Anson W. Cameron.
United States Patent |
3,868,906 |
Cameron |
March 4, 1975 |
Control and handling of garment hangers
Abstract
A caddy for garment hangers which includes a tube, a retainer
strip coextensive therewith and latch members which connect the
tube and the strip to permit broadwise movement of the strip
between an overlying clamping position in which the hooks of the
garment hangers are clamped to the tube and a captive retracted
position in which the strip is spaced parallel to the tube. The
retainer strip is sufficiently weighty so that when the caddy is
freely supported in horizontal position, the strip swings down into
a pendulous out-of-the-way position clear of the hooks. In a
preferred form of latch member the active latch portion is
integrally formed by reversely bending the end of the member, with
the tip thereof forming a latching surface which engages the wall
of the tube but which may be manually released by finger pressure.
The invention has method aspects including the steps of supporting
the caddy horizontally at a garment unpacking station in the
retracted and pendulous state for dispensing of the hangers one by
one, transporting the garments and empty caddy to a place of sale,
supporting the caddy horizontally at the place of sale with the
caddy in the retracted and pendulous state for depositing of
hangers thereon one by one as they are removed from sold garments,
snapping the filled caddy into locked condition, and then returning
the caddy to the place of original support for storage and
dispensing of the hangers so that the hangers are at all times
either (a) in a garment or (b) organized on a caddy.
Inventors: |
Cameron; Anson W. (Chicago,
IL) |
Family
ID: |
23545758 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/391,217 |
Filed: |
August 24, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
104/89; 105/148;
211/113; 211/7; 211/124 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G
9/002 (20130101); A47G 25/1457 (20130101); B65G
9/00 (20130101); B65G 2201/0229 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47G
25/14 (20060101); A47G 25/00 (20060101); B65G
9/00 (20060101); B61b 003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;104/88,89,91,93,106,110,112 ;105/148,150,153,154 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wood, Jr.; M. Henson
Assistant Examiner: Bertsch; Richard A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit &
Osann, Ltd.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A caddy for garment hangers comprising, in combination, a stiff
tubular member, a relatively stiff retainer strip substantially
coextensive with the tube, latching members secured to the ends of
the retainer strip, the tube having receiving openings at its
respective ends for insertion of the latching members, the latching
members being dimensioned to extend through and beyond the tube,
the latching members being slideable in the receiving openings for
broadwise movement of the retainer strip from a clamping position
in which the retainer strip clampingly engages the hooks of a
plurality of hangers assembled on the tube and a parallel retracted
position in which the retaining strip is spaced free of the hooks,
each latch member being formed of a strip having a movable latch
portion presenting a latching surface which engages the wall of the
tube to hold the retainer strip in clamping position and which is
releaseable from the wall of the tube by finger pressure to permit
movement of the retainer strip to its parallel retracted position,
and stop means on each of the latching members arranged to engage
the wall of the tube for preventing complete retraction of the
latching members from the tube so that the retaining member is
captive at both ends on the tube in its retracted position.
2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the movable latch
portion is in the form of a bent-over integral extension of the
latch member.
3. A caddy for garment hangers of the hooked type comprising, in
combination, a stiff tube of light construction, a retainer strip
overlying the tube and substantially coextensive with it, latch
members at the ends of the retainer strip and projecting at right
angles therefrom, the tube having receiving openings at its
respective ends for registered insertion of the latch members, each
of the latch members having latch portions for limiting movement of
the retainer strip between a closed clamping position in which the
retainer strip snugly overlies the hooks of the hangers and a
retracted position in which the retainer strip is spaced parallel
to the tube, the retainer strip being sufficiently weighty so that
when the tube is freely supported in horizontal position and when
the retainer strip is retracted the latter tends to hang in a
pendulous out-of-the-way position so that garment hangers may be
hooked over, and removed from, the tube without interference with
the retainer strip, the retainer strip being sufficiently spaced
from the tube in its parallel retracted position as to clear the
hooks on the garment hangers as the strip is swung through half a
revolution between its overlying and pendulous positions.
4. A caddy assembly for garment hangers of the hooked type adapted
to be suspended on a transport bar comprising, in combination, a
stiff tube of light construction, a retainer strip overlying the
tube and substantially coextensive with it, latch members at the
ends of the retainer strip and projecting at right angles
therefrom, the tube having receiving openings at its respective
ends for registered insertion of the latch members, each of the
latch members having latch portions for limiting movement of the
retainer strip between a closed clamping position in which the
retainer strip snugly overlies the hooks of the hangers and a
retracted position in which the retainer strip is spaced parallel
to the tube, a yoke having a pair of spaced vertical hooks intended
for hooking upon a transport bar and having a link interconnecting
them and means at the lower ends of the hooks for supporting the
respective ends of the tube while permitting the latter to freely
rotate about its axis, the retainer strip being sufficiently
weighty so that when the retainer strip is retracted the latter
tends to hang in a pendulous out-of-the-way position with the
result that garment hangers may be hooked over, and removed from,
the tube without interference with the retainer strip, the retainer
strip being sufficiently spaced from the tube in its parallel
retracted position as to clear the hooks on the garment hangers as
the strip is swung through half a revolution between its overlying
and pendulous positions.
5. A caddy for garment hangers comprising, in combination, a stiff
tube, a relatively stiff retainer strip substantially coextensive
with the tube, latching members secured to the ends of the retainer
strip, the tube having registering openings at its respective ends
for insertion of the latching members for movement broadwise
between a hanger hook-clamping condition and a retracted hook-free
condition, the latching members having integral reversely bent end
portions which are outwardly sprung from the latching members to
provide a latching surface at the tip thereof which is engageable
with the lands surrounding the openings in the tube, the reversely
bent ends being dimensioned to latchingly engage the outer wall of
the tube when the retainer strip is moved into hook-clamping
condition, the reversely bent end portions being sufficiently
resilient so that they may be readily unlatched by pressing
inwardly to restore the retainer strip to its retracted condition
for removal of the hangers, the reversely bent end portions having
a length which is on the order of the diameter of the tube so that
when the retainer strip is moved to its retracted position the end
portions of the latch members spring outwardly within the tube for
engagement with the inner wall of the tube, thereby to insure that
the retainer strip is maintained captive with the tube.
6. The combination as claimed in claim 5 in which the tube has a
radius on the order of one-half inch and in which the retainer
strip is of arcuate cross section having a radius of curvature on
the order of 1 inch.
7. The combination as claimed in claim 5 in which each latch member
is formed of a metal strip of channel cross section and in which
the bent-over end portion is movable between an outwardly sprung
position and a releasing position registered in the channel.
8. A caddy for garment hangers having hooks comprising, in
combination, a stiff tubular member, a substantially coextensive
retainer strip overlying the tube and substantially coextensive
with it, latch members at the respective ends of the retainer strip
and projecting at right angles therefrom, the tube having receiving
openings at its respective ends for registered insertion of the
latch members, each of the latch members being in the form of a
strip of metal having a reversely bent end portion which is
outwardly sprung and which has a latch surface at its tip, the
reversely bent end portion being dimensioned to engage the wall of
the tube so that when the retainer strip is moved into
hook-clamping condition the latch snaps into its latching position,
the reversely bent end portion being sufficiently resilient so that
it may be readily moved into unlatched position by finger pressure
to restore the retainer strip to its retracted position for removal
of the hangers, and cooperating stop means on the tube and latch
members for holding the retainer strip and its latch members
captive with the tube.
9. A caddy for garment hangers having hooks comprising, in
combination, a stiff tubular member, a relatively stiff retainer
strip substantially coextensive with the tube, a pair of latching
members interposed between the ends of the retainer strip and the
respective ends of the tube and providing individual relative
sliding movement permitting broadwise movement of the retainer
strip from a latched clamping position in which the retainer strip
overlies the hooks of a plurality of hangers assembled on the tube
and a retracted position in which the retaining strip is spaced
parallel to the tube free of the hooks, the latching members being
so constructed as to be resiliently releaseable by finger pressure,
and stop means associated with each of the latching members for
keeping the retainer strip captive at both ends of the tube and
parallel thereto, the caddy having means at its ends enabling free
rotational support in horizontal position.
Description
In the sale of clothing it is common practice to place a garment
upon a hanger at the time of unpacking, and after checking and
marking the hangered garments are placed in a hamper for transport
to the selling floor. When the garment is sold, the hanger is
removed and the hangers thus collected are returned, in bulk, for
reuse at the unpacking station. Handling the hangers in bulk causes
them to be tangled together and considerable time is wasted in
freeing the hangers from one another for reuse.
Thus it is a primary object of the invention to provide a novel
caddy construction and procedure for using the same in which the
caddy serves as a dispenser of hangers at the place of use, a
collector of hangers after the latter have individually served
their purpose at the place of sale, and a secure means for
organizing hangers in compact easily handled form for transport and
storage, with the caddies being stackable, where desired, one upon
another.
It is a more specific object to provide a caddy for garment hangers
which includes a tube and an overlying retainer strip which is
secured to the tube by latching members at the respective ends, the
latching members being so constructed that the retainer strip may
be latched with respect to the tube in a snug clamping position and
released, with finger pressure, for broadwise movement to a
retracted position in which the strip is maintained parallel to the
tube, and securely captive, while nevertheless permitting hangers
to be assembled upon, or removed from, the tube. In one of the
aspects of the invention the retainer strip is sufficiently weighty
so that when the caddy is freely supported in horizontal position
the retainer strip tends to swing pendulously to an out-of-the-way
position, clear of the hooks of the hangers to faciliate loading
and unloading.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a
caddy which has novel features and advantages when used in
conjunction with an endless trolley conveyor loop of the type used
for processing of incoming garments prior to the distribution
thereof to sales departments.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
caddy for garment hangers which permits substantial savings to be
made in the processing of garments for sale but which is
nonetheless convenient to use, highly economical requiring a
minimum of storage space, and inherently long-lived.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent
upon reading the attached detailed description and upon reference
to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a caddy constructed in accordance
with the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section looking along the line 2--2
in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section, taken in a vertical
plane, and looking along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2, foreshortened in
the longitudinal dimension.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section, somewhat enlarged,
showing a latching member in the latched state.
FIG. 4a is a fragmentary face view of the latch looking along the
line 4a--4a in FIG. 4.
FIG. 4b is a fragmentary section taken on line 4b--4b in FIG.
4a.
FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the latch released
by finger pressure.
FIG. 6 shows the latching member retracted from clamping position
and with the latch serving as a limit stop to maintain the retainer
strip captive with its associated tube.
FIG. 7 shows a harness for mounting a caddy in a freely suspended
position on a transport bar.
FIGS. 8 and 9 are stop motion views showing the retainer strip in
its overlying position and in its pendulous position
respectively.
FIG. 10 is a diagram of the conveyor loop used in the processing of
incoming garments for distribution to point of sale.
FIG. 11 shows a portion of the conveyor with two roller supported
transport bars used in the system of FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is an elevational view showing a typical bar type hamper
for transporting garments, and an empty caddy, to the point of
sale.
FIG. 13 shows a simple form of stand for supporting one or more
caddies at a sales wrapping desk for collection of hangers
thereon.
While the invention has been described in connection with certain
preferred embodiments, it will be understood that I do not intend
to be limited to the particular embodiments shown but intend, on
the contrary, to cover the various alternative and equivalent
constructions included within the spirit and scope of the appended
claims.
Turning to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 a caddy 20 for
garment hangers, commonly referred to as "clothes hangers." The
caddy is formed of a hollow tube 21 having a superimposed,
generally coextensive, retainer strip 22. Connected to the ends of
the retainer strip, and extending at right angles thereto, are
latch members 23, 24. The latch members are inserted into
registering receiving openings 25, 26 which are provided in pairs,
diametrically alined, near the respective ends of the tube. In a
practical case the tube may be formed of either metal or plastic,
but it is preferably of a relatively stiff and durable plastic such
as vinyl of the type conventionally used for water piping and
having a radius, at the outer diameter, of approximately one-half
inch. The retainer strip 22 is preferably of ridged, arcuate
contour as shown in FIG. 2 formed to a radius on the order of 1
inch. The curvatures are preferably such as to span the curvature
of the hooks used in conventional garment hangers. A typical
garment hanger shown at H has a plastic body 27 suspended by a
swivel-mounted hook 28 having a loop 29 at its tip.
In accordance with the present invention each of the latch members
23, 24 is formed of a strip having a movable portion presenting a
latching surface which engages the wall of the tube to hold the
retainer strip in clamping position and which is releasable by
finger pressure to permit movement of the strip to a parallel
retracted position, with cooperating limit stop surfaces being
provided on the latching members and the tube for preventing
complete retraction so that the retaining member is held captive at
both ends of the tube in its retracted position.
Thus, referring to FIG. 4, the latching member 23 is welded or
otherwise secured, at W, to the end of the retainer strip 22. At
its upper end the latching member has a bent-over welding tab 31.
The body 32 of the latching member is preferably of metal formed in
channel shape having a central channel, or groove, 33 and side
flanges, or wings, 34, 35. The lower end of the latching member is
preferably reversely bent, as indicated at 36, to form a resilient
latch 37 having a tip 38 which serves as the latching surface. The
latch 37 is preferably outwardly sprung as indicated in FIG. 4 so
that it engages a land surface 39 on the tube. In addition, the tip
of the latch has an L-shaped lug, or stop, 40 which prevents
excessive outward movement of the latch in response to the
springing force and which also serves to bottom in the channel 33
to prevent the latch from being overly stressed in the inward or
releasing direction. As noted in FIG. 4a, the latch portion 37 is
preferably of lesser width than the body of the latch member to
register with the channel and to improve flexibility in response to
finger tip pressure.
When the latch members 23, 24 at the respective ends of the tube
are in the latched condition shown in FIG. 4, the hooks 28 of a
plurality of hangers are held locked and securely captive under the
retainer strip. Nor can the hooks be rocked out of position since
each is formed with a loop 29 at its tip (see FIG. 2).
For the purpose of releasing the latch, finger tip pressure is
applied to the latch 37 as shown in FIG. 5, thereby "clearing" the
land 39, the degree of inward movement being limited by seating of
the stop 40 within the channel 33. With the latch depressed, the
latch member and retainer strip may be retracted into the position
shown in FIG. 6, either by a slight pull on the retainer strip or
by pressing upwardly upon the bent end 36 of the latch member. This
is done at each end of the device resulting in broadwise
movement.
In accordance with one of the features of the invention the latch
37 is so constructed that it swings relatively outwardly (finger
pressure having been released) into a blocking position in which
the latch surface 38 thereon engages a land 41 on the inner surface
of the tube adjacent the opening 26. The latch 37 is so tailored in
its length, and the width of the opening 25 is such, that the latch
is free to spring outwardly into the position shown in FIG. 6 due
to its own inherent resilience and without any obstruction or
interference. To insure a free swing, the latch 37 preferably has a
length no greater than the tube diameter. The latch surface 38
distributes the blocking force over a relatively large land area
41, and, since the latch 37 provides a stiff obstruction in its
longitudinal dimension, the latch member 23, and the retainer strip
which is welded to it, are captive for the life of the device.
While the latch 37 faces inwardly, in the embodiment shown, and is
hence not accessible from the ends of the tube, the latch member
can, nevertheless, be removed, if service or replacement should
become necessary, by insertion of a narrow prying blade into the
opening 25 and alongside the latch, depressing it to the point
where the land 41 is cleared. If desired, the latch members may be
oppositely faced so that the latches 37 are respectively
accessible, for pressing, through the ends of the tube.
While the latching construction has been described in connection
with latch member 23, it will be apparent that the same
construction is used for latch member 24 which, however, faces in
the opposite direction. By retracting both of the latch members to
the condition shown in FIG. 6 the retainer bar is stopped in a
position which is parallel to the tube, and spaced from the tube by
an amount which is adequate to clear the tips of the hooks on the
hangers when the retainer strip is rocked through a half revolution
down into the pendulous position illustrated in FIG. 7 as will be
described.
While it is one of the features that the same latch performs both
the clamping function and the stop function, it is apparent that
the invention is not limited to this. Thus, if desired, the
clamping function may be performed by the latch 37 and the stop
function may be performed by making a suitable enlargement at the
end of the latch member, in the region of bend 36, to prevent the
member from being totally withdrawn through the opening 25 in the
tube.
In accordance with one of the aspects of the invention the caddy is
freely mounted in horizontal position and the retainer strip is
sufficiently weighty so that, when the strip is retracted to its
parallel spaced position, the strip tends to swing downwardly into
a pendulous position so that the upper surface of the tube is
completely unobstructed for either assembling hangers on the tube
or for dispensing them, one by one. Thus, turning to FIGS. 7-9, it
is preferred to suspend the caddy horizontally upon a yoke or
saddle 50 made up of two vertical hook members which are secured at
their mid-portions by a longitudinal member or link. Specifically,
the yoke 50 has a first hook member 51 and a second hook member 52
interconnected by a longitudinally extending link 53 at suitable
pivot connections 54, 55. The members 51, 52 are, at their lower
ends, bent inwardly as indicated at 51a, 52a so that the ends
project into the ends of the tube by approximately an inch. This
forms a temporary connection with the tube which is loose but
nevertheless secure and which permits the tube to freely rock about
its axis. Thus when the caddy is supported on the yoke 50 as shown
in FIG. 7, but before any hangers are assembled upon it, the caddy
tends to topple from the condition shown in FIG. 8 to the pendulous
condition shown in FIG. 9 in which the retainer strip is completely
out of the way of the hanger hooks. As a result, hangers may be
either added or dispensed quickly and conveniently and without
exercise of any care or attention on the part of the user. Or the
caddy may be manually rotated to its pendulous condition. It is to
be especially noted that even when the caddy is in its inverted
pendulous condition there is no risk that the longer hooks will
"slip off of the end" since the ends of the latch members at all
times extend through and beyond the tube (see FIGS. 7 and 9).
The above discussion has primarily concerned the structural aspects
of the caddy, but it is to be noted that the invention is not
limited to the specific structure and resides, in part, in a hanger
control system or procedure which utilizes the caddy in such a way
that the hanger is always either in a garment or organized on a
caddy, avoiding the nuisance of entanglement which has, in the
past, been accepted as a necessary evil in the processing of
garments for sale. Thus, referring to FIG. 10, there is shown a
conveyor system 60 of the type employed in the receiving room, or
warehouse, of a department store or clothing establishment. The
incoming garments are delivered in packaged form to an unpacking
station 61. It is at this point that the garments are unpacked and
placed upon individual hangers. From the unpacking station the
hangered garments flow to a checking station 62, then to a marking
station 63, and finally to a distribution station 64. The garments
are supported, in their passage from station to station, on a
conveyor 70 having an active portion 71 and a return portion 72,
forming a closed loop. While the details of the conveyor do not
form a part of the present invention, it will suffice to say that
the conveyor 70 is of the rail or trolley type separated into a
number of "lines" at each station and having roller-mounted trolley
bars, such as indicated at TB1, TB2 in FIG. 11. Such trolley bars
may be easily pushed from one of the stations to the next.
In carrying out the invention a caddy constructed in accordance
with the present invention, and completely loaded with hangers, as
indicated at 80 in FIG. 11, horizontally supported upon a yoke 50,
is hung upon each of the transport bars as the bars move along the
return portion 72 of the conveyor. As a filled caddy is loaded upon
a transport bar the latch members at each end of the caddy may be
manually released and the caddy may manually be turned through a
half revolution so that the retainer strip occupies its free, or
pendulous, position. Or, if desired, movement of the retainer strip
to its free position may be deferred until the point of use. While
there will be numerous trolley bars, one after another, in the
conveyor system, attention may be focused upon the trolley bars
TB1, TB2 arriving at one of the four illustrated positions in the
unpacking station, the bar TB1 being "clear". Thus as each garment
is unpacked a hanger, dispensed from the caddy 80, is slipped into
the garment, and the garment is then hung upon the trolley bar TB1.
When the trolley bar TB1 has been fully loaded with hangered
garments, the emptied caddy may simply be hung, for convenience, at
one end of the bar as the bar proceeds on its way through the
successive stations. Removing the caddy frees the bar TB2 so that
it may next be loaded.
In station 62 the garments are checked, in station 63 marking is
applied and, finally, in station 64 the garments are distributed
from the trolley bars into hampers destined for different stores,
or departments, within the system. A typical hamper is illustrated
at H. It is, in effect, a movable bin provided with wheels 86 and
having an elevated bar 87 upon which the hangered garments (one
being indicated at G) are hung. Assuming that the stores of the
system have approximately equal volume, garments of a given size,
style and color may be equally divided between the four hampers H
(FIG. 10). As each hamper leaves for its destination, an empty
caddy 20 (see FIG. 12) is placed in the bottom of the hamper.
Continuing the discussion of FIG. 10, when a hamper H, with its
empty caddy, reaches the sales floor in store No. 2, the garments
are transferred from the hamper to a display rack. The empty caddy
is retrieved from the bottom of the hamper and mounted, in
horizontal position, upon a suitable stand adjacent or within the
customer wrapping desk, which stand may be located either behind,
to one side of, or under the wrapping counter; in any event in a
position which is convenient for the wrapping clerk. A typical
stand for the horizontal mounting of one or more caddies is
illustrated in FIG. 13. As here shown, the stand 90, has a pair of
uprights 91, 92 which may be of standard "structural" metal of
square tubular configuration and prepunched, or slotted, or
universal application. Mounted upon the upright members are pairs
of cups or pockets 93 which are spaced to receive the respective
ends of the caddy tube. If desired, three pairs of pockets may be
provided to accommodate three caddies for separate collection of
hangers of different types, normally dress, coat and skirt
hangers.
When a caddy tube is mounted in the pockets, it will normally
assume the pendulous condition illustrated in FIG. 9, providing an
upper surface which is completely unobstructed for accumulation of
hangers. As the clerk proceeds to wrap a sold garment and hooked
over the caddy in the position illustrated in FIG. 13. When a caddy
is completely filled with hangers, the retainer strip is turned up
from its pendulous position and then snapped into it clamping
position, and the caddy is removed from the stand 90, being
deposited in the bottom of an empty hamper which is to be returned
to the receiving room at the main store or workroom. When the empty
hamper arrives back at the workroom, the filled caddy may go into
temporary storage or the filled caddy may be mounted, by yoke 50,
upon one of the transport bars in the return path of the conveyor
70. This completes the cycle. It is to be noted that at no time has
the hanger had any opportunity to become entangled with other
hangers. Each hanger, as it is removed from the garment at the
wrapping desk, is immediately organized upon a caddy which is
subsequently clamped shut. Once the caddy is closed the hangers are
held tightly side by side with no opportunity for them to get into
disarray. Indeed, when returning a hamper to the receiving room, a
number of loaded caddies may be placed in the same hamper with no
risk that they will catch upon, or interfere with, one another.
The length of each caddy, for easy handling, should be on the order
of 28 to 32 inches. It is found that a caddy of this size will
accommodate the number of hangers used on an empty trolley bar.
The caddies are of inherently economical construction so that an
inventory of caddies may be kept on hand in the receiving room or
on the sales floor for use during peak periods without requiring
any substantial investment. Moreover, use of the caddies does not
require any auxiliary equipment except the yokes 50 and suitable
supports, or stands, 90 at the individual wrapping desks. Because
of the yokes 50 the caddies integrate nicely with the already
existing conveyor and set of hampers without requiring any
additional investment or the setting up of any complicated handling
procedure. An empty caddy takes a "free ride" consuming minimal
space in the loaded hamper as it is sent from the receiving room to
the sales floor, and the same caddy, subsequently filled with
hangers, takes a similar "free ride" back to the receiving room in
the empty hamper. The system requires little care of attention on
the part of the stock personnel and may be put into effect as an
improvement upon, but without any disruption of, existing
procedures.
With regard to the materials of construction, it is preferred, as
stated, to take the caddy tubes of light but durable plastic and to
make the retainer strips of metal longitudinally fluted. While both
the tube and retainer strip are thus relatively stiff they are,
nevertheless, capable of yielding, where necessary, to accommodate
the added thickness of any hanger hooks which may be crossed upon
one another. While it would conceivably be possible to have the
latch members integral with the retainer strips, it is preferred to
weld these parts together so that a relatively springy high-grade
metal may be used for the latch members while using a lower grade
metal for the strips. It is intended that the term "metal" as used
herein denote not only the preferred construction but that it be
given a more general interpretation to include logically
substitutable materials.
As described, the latch 37 is preferably integral with the latch
member, by reverse bending, to define a rounded end. However, it
will be understood that the latch and the body to which it is
secured may, if desired, be formed of two different pieces suitably
connected together so that the term "bent" has to do with the
overlying position of the latch rather than with the integralness
of the parts.
It is one of the features of the construction that the latching is
of a positive nature so that once the latch is snapped into place
the hangers are positively locked on the caddy until intentionally
released. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to use "sharp" latching
in order to practice the invention and the term "latching" is used
in the general sense of retaining or securing; for example, a
detent connection may be provided between the latch members and the
cooperating tube. Such detent action may, if desired, be obtained
using the present structure by angling the surface 38 so that the
member 37 is cammed inwardly by the presented edge of the opening
25 as force is applied to the end of the latching member. The term
"stop means" includes any means for preventing the parts from
slipping clear of one another; for example, the land surface 41
serves a stop function for the member 37.
It is preferred to employ a tube of circular cross section since
light metal and plastic tubing of approximately 1 inch diameter is
available on the market at low cost. Nevertheless, it will be
understood that the term "tube" is not necessarily limited to a
circular cross section and the cross section may be half-round or
other shape without departing from the invention. Indeed, the
"tube" need not be hollow provided that it contains
through-openings and assuming that clearance is provided for the
movement of the latch.
The latch, as described herein, is stated to be "movable". In the
preferred embodiment the latch 37, is indeed, movable with respect
to the body of the latching member. However, it will be understood
that the term "movement" has to do primarily with the latching and
unlatching movement of the latch with respect to the engaged land
surface on the tube. It will be apparent, then, to one skilled in
the art that the latch may be fixed with respect to the latch
member and that the latch member may, if desired, be bodily
swingable to disengage the latching surfaces. Such bodily movement
of the latching member may be accommodated by enlarging or
offsetting the opening 25 in the tube and by making the latching
member of reduced cross section so that it may flex laterally
through a short arc relative to the retainer strip to which it is
secured.
While the benefits of the present caddy have been explained in
connection with its usage in a department store or other large
merchandising establishment, it will be apparent to one skilled in
the art that caddies of present design are equally useful in
smaller stores where a simplified system for handling them may be
used but where the problem of control is equally acute. In a
smaller store, the trolley system shown in FIG. 10 is not necessary
and the garments, upon being unpacked, may be checked marked and
hung upon wheeled racks with the hangers being dispensed one by one
from a conveniently supported caddy. The loaded rack is then moved
to the sales floor where the hangers are removed, upon sale, at a
wrapping desk as previously described and collected on a rack which
may be of the type shown in FIG. 13. When a caddy is full, it is
clamped up and may be returned to the unpacking station on a
returning wheeled rack.
In describing the mode of usage of the present device in connection
with FIGS. 10 and 11 reference was made to a trolley bar TB
supported on a wheeled trolley of a conveyor system with the
understanding that such trolley and trolley bar would normally form
a permanent part of the conveyor and not be separated from it. It
is the practice in some department stores to make the trolley and
its bar removable from the conveyor loop so that a trolley bar,
loaded with garments, may be transported directly to the sales
floor or branch store. This is accomplished, for example, by
providing a straight horizontal length of conveyor rail, in
elevated position, on a truck similar to the hamper truck H shown
in FIG. 12, the trolley and its bar being guided from the conveyor
loop onto the truck. One difficulty with this procedure has been
that the hangered garments tend to become dislodged from the bar
during transport. It will be apparent, then, that the present caddy
construction, which holds the hangers captive as the caddy is
manipulated and transported, is by no means limited to transport
and control of empty hangers but is suitable, with only a change in
length dimension, for use in the transportation of loaded hangers,
that is, hangers with garments assembled thereon. All that is
necessary is for the caddy tube to be elongated to the length of a
trolley bar and to provide a support on the trolley which will
permit the 180.degree. rotation which has already been described in
connection with FIGS. 8 and 9. One structure which may be used for
the 180.degree. rotation includes "pockets" 93 as illustrated in
FIG. 13 positioned with appropriate spacing on the trolley. In
short, the term "caddy" as used herein is broad enough to include
transport of hangers with the hangers being either in the empty
condition or in the "loaded" condition complete with garments.
* * * * *