Universal hanger

Abstract

A hanger is provided for suspending garments, luggage and the like from any shape support which includes a mounting bracket supportable on any shape support and means connected thereto for releasably suspending a garment, luggage and the like therefrom. The mounting bracket comprises a substantially linear chord and a pair of downwardly turned lugs which depend therefrom. The lugs respectively depend from opposed ends of the chord at substantially oblique joints relative thereto. One of said lugs is foreshortened relative to the other. A thrust bearing is journalled into each lug and includes a bearing pad engageable with the surface of the support. Connected to the longer of the pair of lugs is a cantilevered arm at an obtuse angle with the lug from which it depends. The free end of the cantilevered arm is provided with means for pivotably, rotatably and slidably mounting a suspension means therefrom. One end of the suspension means is fixedly connected to the means provided in the cantilevered arm, and the other end thereof is provided with an S hook removably connected at one end to the suspension means and adapted at its other end to receive a garment bag, luggage, garment, or series of garments draped on conventional hangers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a novel hanger and more particularly, a hanger adapted to be supported from any shape support.

Conventional type hangers are generally adapted for suspending a hung garment from a rail journalled into vertical support walls of a closet. These hangers are generally provided with a hook type flange head provided with a cantilevered edge for removably mounting the hanger on the rail. Connected to the hanger head is usually a triangular body member on which a garment may be draped. These hangers have been fabricated of metal, rigid plastic, wood, and like materials.

Garment bags, which are popular for travel, have been provided with similar type hanger heads rotatably mounted on an end panel thereof. Similarly, the hanger arrangement provided on these garment bags is adapted to overlie a rail for thereby suspending the garment bag therefrom.

None of these heretofore conventional hangers are adapted to suspend a garment or garment bag from a vertical wall. Especially during an extended trip, it would be most convenient to provide a garment bag with means for suspension from a vertical wall, for instance, a closet door, to facilitate packing and unpacking thereof. In everyday usage, a vertically suspended hanger would be most useful, since the outerwear garments to be worn or removed could be conveniently placed on a hanger conveniently suspended from the closet door for instance.

Conventional type hangers and the garments suspended therefrom usually take up a considerable amount of closet space since the hanger rail is usually laterally suspended across the width of the closet, while garments are vertically suspended therefrom.

Accordingly, this invention provides a universal hanger which can be suspended from any supporting surface and the hanger also includes a serial suspension chain whereby a number of garments may be suspended therefrom in overlying relationship to provide a compact suspension system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a hanger is provided for suspending garments, luggage and the like from any shape support which includes a mounting bracket supportable on any shape support and means connected thereto for releasably suspending a garment, luggage and the like therefrom. The mounting bracket comprises a substantially linear chord and a pair of downwardly turned lugs which depend therefrom. The lugs respectively depend from opposed ends of the chord at substantially oblique joints relative thereto. One of said lugs is foreshortened relative to the other. A thrust bearing is journalled into each lug and includes a bearing pad engageable with the surface of the support.

Connected to the longer of the pair of lugs is a cantilevered arm at an obtuse angle with the lug from which it depends. The free end of the cantilevered arm is provided with means for pivotably, rotatably and slidably mounting a suspension means therefrom. One end of the suspension means is fixedly connected to the means provided in the cantilevered arm, and the other end thereof is provided with an S-hook removably connected at one end to the suspension means and adapted at its other end to receive a garment bag, luggage, garment, or series of garments draped on conventional hangers.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a universal hanger supportable from any shape support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a universal hanger which is particularly adapted for supporting garments, luggage, garment bags and the like from a quadrilateral or circular support.

A further object of the invention is to provide a universal hanger which may be supported from a support having a quadrilateral cross-section wherein the suspended subject matter is suspended outwardly from the plane of the support and substantially parallel thereto.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hanger whereon a plurality of garments may be suspended in overlying relationship for thereby closeting a number of garments in a small area.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a universal hanger embodiment constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the hanger embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as mounted on a support having a quadrilateral cross-section and having a garment bag suspended therefrom;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the hanger embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as mounted on a support having a circular cross-section;

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the suspension means connected to the cantilevered arm of the hanger support bracket and illustrates how a plurality of garments may be suspended therefrom in overlying relationship; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4 and shows a plurality of garments or other subject matter suspended in overlying relationship from the suspending means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the Figures, the novel universal hanger generally designated by the numeral 10 includes a mounting bracket 11 supportable on any shape support, for instance, a support 12 having a quadrilateral cross-section or a support 13 having a circular cross-section and means 14 connected thereto for releasably suspending a garment 15 or a garment bag 16 therefrom.

Mounting bracket 11 comprises a substantially linear chord 17 and a pair of downwardly turned lugs 18 and 19 which depend therefrom. Lugs 18 and 19 respectively depend from opposed ends of chord 17 at respective joints 20 and 21. Joints 20 and 21 are oblique relative to chord 17. Lug 18 is foreshortened relative to lug 19.

A pair of thrust bearings 22 and 22' are journalled respectively in depending lugs 18 and 19 at respective ends thereof distal from opposed oblique joints 20 and 21. As best seen in FIG. 2, thrust bearings 22 and 22' are offset relative one to the other. Thrust bearings 22 and 22' include, respectively, a bearing pad 23, 23', a pintle pin 24, 24' and a flanged head 25, 25'. Bearing pads 23, 23' are respectively fixedly mounted on an end of respective pintle pins 24, 24'. Pintle pins 24, 24' are respectively rotatably and slidably mounted in journals 26 and 26' located respectively in lugs 18 and 19. The free ends of pintle pins 24 and 24' are capped with respective flange heads 25 and 25' to prevent withdrawal of respective thrust bearings 22 and 22' from the lugs 18 and 19 in which they are mounted.

Connected to lug 19 at oblique joint 27 is a cantilevered arm 28 provided with a slot 29 proximate the free end thereof. A suspension means 14, for instance, a link chain, is pivotably, rotatably and slidably connected thereto by a link 30 overlying shoulder 31 of cantilevered arm 28 through slot 29 therein.

At the free end of link chain 14 is a terminal link 32 to which one end of an S-hook 33 is releasably connected. The free end 34 of S-hook 33 is arranged to receive, for instance, a handle 35 mounted on an end panel 36 of garment bag 16. A suitable removal space is provided between free end 34 and the oblique body portion 37 of S-hook 33 for engaging and disengaging handle 35 therefrom. Links may be added or subtracted from suspension means 14 as desired. Additionally, S-hook 33 may be located on any link of suspension means 14 and does not necessarily have to connect with the terminal link thereof.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2 and 5, it may be observed that hanger 10 is supported on a support 12 having a rectilinear cross-section. Bearing pads 23 and 23' of respective thrust bearings 22 and 22' are located on the interior surface of respective lugs 18 and 19 and engage respective vertical surfaces of rectilinear support 12. Lugs 18 and 19 are set off at an acute angle relative to a plumb line dropped through joints 20 and 21 and the area therebetween is occupied by respective bearing pads 23 and 23'. The purpose, therefore, of connecting lugs 18 and 19 to chord 17 by oblique joints 20 and 21 is to provide ample space for respective bearing pads 23 and 23' for making provision that the respective pads engage the vertical side walls of the support 12.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, it may be observed that handle 35 mounted on side wall panel 36 of garment bag 16 may be releasably mounted on S-hook 33 by slipping handle 35 over end 34 of the S-hook and allowing handle 35 to cam downwardly over the curve surface thereof, so that handle 35 overlies the arcuate bottom section thereof.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, it may be observed that a plurality of garments may be removably connected to suspension means 14 in overlying relationship. A plurality of garments, for instance, draped over conventional hangers may be sequentially removably connected to each successive link of suspension means 14 so that each hung garment successively connected to a link in the chain overlies the other advancing upwardly on the chain toward link 30 thereof. While garments have been used as a principal example of the operation of the embodiment as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, any other subject matter may be used in connection therewith which is provided with releasable connecting means for engaging and disengaging from links of suspension means 14.

As shown particularly in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, cantilevered arm 28 is arranged downwardly and outwardly for providing a sufficient head space between suspension means 14 and an item to be suspended, for instance, garment bag 16, so that the item may be conveniently hung therefrom. Suspension means 14 normally hangs in a vertical plane from cantilevered arm 28 and the force exerted thereon by a garment bag 16, for instance, will be distributed through cantilevered arm 28 and axial and vertical vectors thereof will be distributed through lugs 18 and 19 and chord 17 so that thrust bearings 22 and 22' coact for fixedly retaining bracket 11 on a rectilinear support 12.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in particular, it may be observed that hanger 10 is supportable on a support 13 having a circular cross-section. When hanger 10 is mounted on a cylindrical support having a circular cross-section, chord 17 abuts and engages the surface of the support and bearing pad 23 acts as a brake to prevent mounting bracket 11 thereof from camming over the support surface and thereby slipping off support 13. In mounted position on a support with a circular cross-section, cantilevered arm 28 and suspension means 14 are coaxially aligned; whereas cantilevered arm 28 intersects a plane through suspension means 14 at an obtuse angle when hanger 10 is mounted on a support having a rectilinear cross-section, for instance, support 12.

Hanger 10 may be fabricated of any conventional substantially resilient material such as a rigid plastic or spring steel. It may be desirable to fabricate mounting bracket 11 from a rigid plastic and suspension means 14 from a suitable material. The material from which hanger 10 is fabricated is not critical to its operation provided the materials have properties which coincide with its intended operation.

Thus, it may observed that hanger 10 may be supported from any shape support without rearrangement of any of its parts. For convenience and ease in fabrication, bracket 11 may be of integral construction, while making provision for thrust bearings 22 and 22' mounted therein. Any suitable suspension means may be carried thereby through slot 29 and the operation of the device is not restricted to a link chain type suspension means as illustrated in the drawings.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A hanger for suspending an item from any shape support comprising a mounting bracket supportable for any shape support and means connected thereto for releasably suspending one or more of said items; said mounting bracket comprising a substantially linear chord and a pair of downwardly turned lugs, respectively depending from opposed ends of said chord at substantially oblique joints relative thereto, one of said lugs being foreshortened relative to the other, a cantilevered arm fixedly connected to the longer of said pair of lugs, said cantilevered arm depending from said longer lug at an obtuse angle relative thereto, and a thrust bearing journalled into each of said lugs, each thrust bearing including a bearing pad engageable with a surface of said support; said free end of said cantilevered arm having a slot therein for connecting said suspension means thereto; said suspension means comprising a link chain having a first link fixedly connected through said slot in said free end of said cantilevered arm for pivotable, rotatable and slidable movement of said link chain about its connection with said cantilevered arm.

2. The hanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein said thrust bearings are offset relative one to the other.

3. The hanger as claimed in claim 1 including an S-hook removably connected to a last link of said link chain for releasably mounting an item thereon.

4. The hanger as claimed in claim 1, each thrust bearing including a pintle pin journalled in a respective lug of said mounting bracket for rotatable and slidable movement, said pintle pin having a fixed end and a free end, said fixed end of said pintle pin being fixedly connected to a respective bearing pad, and a flanged head connected to said free end of said pintle pin for preventing withdrawal of said thrust bearing from said lug in which it is journalled.