EP0278811B1 - Clothes hanger for displaying textile articles - Google Patents

Description

The subject of the present invention is a display hanger intended in particular, but not exclusively, for textile articles, and allowing the prevention of shoplifting, in particular in "large surfaces".

It is known that certain textile articles, and in particular underwear of the brief type, are presented to consumers in various packaging. Unfortunately, these packaging do not generally allow to get a concrete idea of the article included in the packaging. It therefore seems preferable to offer the article to the public as it really is and to give them the possibility, eventually, of touching this article. But this presentation involves a danger with regard to theft since articles of the underwear type can be easily removed from their support and slipped into a pocket or bag. In this respect, the packaging constituted protection since the theft almost necessarily involved the extraction of the article from its packaging.

Furthermore, there are known detection devices which have proven to be effective, constituted by pads forming a resonant electromagnetic circuit, these pads being usually stuck on the packaging. Thus, when an item does not go through the checkout, a security portal triggers an alarm. But to be properly applied, these labels require a relatively rigid flat surface, which does not exist in the case of knitted underwear. The use of such a system leads to the use of pliers which can cause holes.

In DE-U-8 519 616 a hanger is described, the lower branch of which can pivot in the plane of the hanger, the end of this branch carrying an elastic plug which can be inserted in an opening formed on the side opposite the axis of pivoting. This document also provides means for pinching an article on the hanger. However, it does not describe a hanger whose lower part is lockable and does not provide any anti-theft measures.

In FR-A-866 818 and in US-A-2 123 518, the lower bar of the hanger, intended to receive pants for example, is movable to allow the passage of an article.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks.

A first object of the present invention is a hanger on which the article can be mounted in a tamper-proof manner.

Thus, it is possible to place the protective pad directly on the hanger, which automatically triggers an alarm in the event of theft, and in any event, the item can only be stolen with its hanger.

A second object of the present invention is the production of a hanger on which the article can be placed in a factory-inviolable manner, as soon as it is finished.

According to the invention, the hanger for presenting textile articles, comprising a hook secured to a frame comprising a transverse lower bar and an anti-theft label, is characterized in that the lower longitudinal bar is secured by one of its sides of the frame, and free at its other end, means for locking the inside of the frame after introduction of a part of the article.

Thus, the lower crossbar can be either open to allow the passage of a part of the article, for example the crotch of a panty, or closed to block the article on the hanger.

Another object of the present invention is to allow the use of a hanger with locking or without locking, the locking and anti-theft security means being integral with the lower longitudinal bar.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the anti-theft hanger for textile articles comprising a hook secured to a frame comprising two uprights and means for clipping the textile article onto the hanger, a bar secured to the hanger being lockable to the part lower of the uprights, is characterized in that the lower longitudinal bar of the hanger comprises at least one magnetic locking means on one of the uprights.

The lower longitudinal bar can be either articulated on one of the uprights, the other side carrying a magnetic locking means, or include two lateral magnetic locking means, in which case the bar is completely removable, the hanger being able to be used without bottom crossbar.

The bar intended to close the frame of the hanger includes a label carrying a resonant circuit when it is placed in a high frequency electromagnetic field, or more generally any means making it possible to trigger an alarm in the event of fraudulent passage of an article.

• - la figure.1, un cintre antivol selon la présente invention ;
• - les figures 2 et 3, des vues de détails du verrouillage prévu sur le cintre ;
• - la figure 4, une vue montrant un article monté sur le cintre après verrouillage de celui-ci ;
• - la figure 5, une vue de l'article plié sur le cintre.
• - la figure 6, une vue d'un cintre selon l'addition dans un premier mode de réalisation ;
• - la figure 7, une vue en coupe horizontale selon la ligne II-II de la figure 6;
• - la figure 8, une vue en coupe verticale d'un dispositif de verrouillage selon la ligne III-III de la figure 7;
• - la figure 9, un second mode de réalisation d'un cintre selon l'addition, dans lequel l'un des côtés comprend un verrouillage magnétique, l'autre côté étant simplement articulé sur l'un des montants ;
• - la figure 10, une vue en perspective d'une barre longitudinale inférieure utilisable dans le premier mode de réalisation.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear during the following description of a particular embodiment, given solely by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the drawings which represent:

• - Figure.1, an anti-theft hanger according to the present invention;
• - Figures 2 and 3, detailed views of the locking provided on the hanger;
• - Figure 4, a view showing an article mounted on the hanger after locking thereof;
• - Figure 5, a view of the article folded on the hanger.
• - Figure 6, a view of a hanger according to the addition in a first embodiment;
• - Figure 7, a horizontal sectional view along line II-II of Figure 6;
• - Figure 8, a vertical sectional view of a locking device along the line III-III of Figure 7;
• - Figure 9, a second embodiment of a hanger according to the addition, in which one of the sides comprises a magnetic lock, the other side being simply articulated on one of the uprights;
• - Figure 10, a perspective view of a lower longitudinal bar usable in the first embodiment.

In Figure 1 the hanger, generally designated by the reference 1, consists of a generally rectangular frame comprising two uprights 3, having at its upper part a hook 2 for hanging the hanger on a support suitable such as a horizontal bar or rod. The frame 3 has, at its lower part, a transverse bar 4 which is integral with an upright 3 only by one of its sides, the other end being free. The hanger itself is obtained, for example by injection of a plastic material such as polystyrene, polypropylene or nylon, having a certain flexibility. The bar 4 can thus be temporarily removed from the plane of the frame 3 in order to allow the sliding of a closed contour of the article. In the direction in which the bar 4 extends, a locking device is provided, consisting of a horizontal bar 6, articulated around a hinge 8, and the free end of which has the male part 7 of a clipping device. This male part is intended to cooperate with a female part 5 provided in the vicinity of the free end of the bar 4. As will be explained later, the connection made by penetration of the part 7 into the part 5 is inviolable, so that after pivoting of the bar 6 and closing of the clipping 5, 7, the frame 3 is completely closed and the part of the garment or undergarment slipped on the branch 4 is thus trapped definitively.

Preferably, the uprights of the frame 3 have two openings 9 inside which are provided lugs 10 mounted on parts of narrower width 11 allowing movement of the lugs 10 relative to the uprights 3 with elastic return in the rest position . In order to prevent the article from sliding on the hanger, it is possible to provide on the tabs 10 with protruding parts 12 here turned backwards at the level of corresponding projections in opposite directions, so that the article is pinched by the legs 10 and does not slip, the connecting parts 11 creating, taking into account the thickness of the article, a pressure on the latter being exerted substantially in the direction perpendicular to their plane. Any other form of clamps allowing the article to be held can, of course, be used.

Figure 2 shows the male part of the lock. It consists, as indicated above, of a bar 6 which occupies a horizontal position when the hanger is in the vertical position, which can pivot, around a hinge line 8 of lesser thickness, of approximately 180 _° . In the example shown, the male part 7 of the lock consists of a sphere or ball 13 secured to a plate 14 of generally trapezoidal shape (Figure 2).

The assembly 13, 14, will penetrate inside the part 5 formed or attached to the horizontal bar 4, shown in Figure 3, in front view. The part 5 has a horizontal groove 15 intended to receive the flat 14, while in the center is an orifice 16 having, on the opposite side, two lips 17, the lips 17 moving apart to allow passage to the sphere 13 in firstly, then falling back onto the flat 14 when the penetration movement continues. It is then impossible to open the connection thus established, the lips 17 opposing any backward movement of the male part 14. They can indeed deviate from front to rear, but their movement in the 'other direction is prohibited by the face of the part 5. The withdrawal of the ball 13 is thus blocked.

For some applications, the customer takes the hanger with the article, and he can only release the article by breaking the hanger. On the other hand, for other applications, the article is separated from the hanger at the checkout counter. For this purpose, the cashier has a special clamp allowing the male part 7 to be released from the female part 5. She then slides the article along the bar 4 and delivers it to the customer. Under these conditions, the hanger can be reused several times.

FIG. 4 represents an article mounted on the hanger 1, in the unfolded position. This is the position that article S occupies before it is folded in the factory, and when it is extracted from the hanger, at the checkout of a store. In the example shown, article S consists of a panty. For this type of article, we slide on the bar 4 the crotch. We know that, whatever their size, the briefs have the same crotch width, so that the same type of hanger can be used for all sizes.

In there Figure 4, the assembly is shown seen from the rear. After locking by parts 5 and 7, the article S is folded over the hanger and its upper part, constituted for example by the elastic waist, is immobilized by the pallets 10 and the result shown in the figure is obtained. 5 in which the lock does not appear, which represents additional security.

In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the hanger comprises, as before, a hooking hook 2 and a frame 1, constituted by an upper longitudinal bar and two uprights 3 perpendicular to said upper bar.

As before, the article is clipped into the or in the clamps 10, 11, which hold the article in a vertical position when the hanger is suspended.

The uprights 3 are closed at their lower part by a bar 4 which can be removable (Figure 6) or pivotally mounted on one of the branches 3 (Figure 9).

In this embodiment, the bar 4 is provided with a theft protection label 22. In the example shown in Figure 6, the bar 4 is completely removable. That is to say, it is provided with two magnetic locking devices 18. In the locking position shown in solid lines, the bar 4 comes to surround the lower ends of the uprights 3 which penetrate into the slots 20 (FIG. 10 ), so as to completely close the interior space to the frame 1. Thus, it suffices to introduce on the bar 4 a closed contour, and for example the crotch of a panty, so that, after locking, the 'article can not be separated from the hanger, unless, of course, have the appropriate unlocking means.

Thus, if the hanger carrying the article is stolen, an alarm is triggered when passing through a control barrier, due to the presence of the resonant label. On the other hand, when the item goes normally to the checkout, the cashier unlocks one of the sides of the bar 4 and extracts the item from the hanger to give it to the customer, the hanger remaining at the checkout for reuse later.

For a normal hanger whose lower end is open, the only necessary operation consists in providing in the lower part of the uprights 3, orifices 17 and 17a. Preferably, inclined planes 21 are provided on the lower edge of the uprights 3 to correspond, at the periphery, to a part of lesser thickness forming a ramp inclined towards the orifices 17 and 17a.

Advantageously, the locking device is a magnetic device such as that which is represented in FIG. 8. In this figure, the locking means are shown in the locking position. They comprise, inside a cylindrical block 18, a locking rod 15 provided with a head 16 forming a piston inside the block 18, the rod 15 being armed by a return spring 19. Thus, by absence of any stress, the rod 15 projects outside the housing 18 under the action of the spring 19.

Such a type of locking has the advantage of being able to be released by inserting the studs 18 inside magnets with a circular magnetic field. When a stud 18 is introduced into such a magnet, the rod 15 moves back relative to the position shown in FIG. 8 by crushing the spring 19. The rod 15 is thus released from the orifice 17 of the upright 3, and the bar 4 can be released from its upright as shown in phantom in Figure 6 by pivoting the second end about the axis 15, 17. Of course, one can simultaneously release the other side of the bar to completely extract it this hanger as shown in Figure 10. When opening the box, the hanger being recovered, it is generally necessary to open only one side.

The mode of use of the hanger is as follows: after making the garment, and preferably in the factory, the garment is arranged as indicated above, blocking it with the two clips 10 and passing the bar 4 to 1 inside a closed outline of the garment. Then, the bar 4 is locked on its support. Thanks to the inclined planes 21, the locking occurs by simple depression without the need to use special tools or means. As shown in the figures, the bar 4 is presented below the uprights 3, so that these are trapped in the openings 20. Due to the existence of inclined planes 21, the rods 15 of the locks 18 are gradually brought back from the position shown in FIG. 3 to their position of withdrawal by contact of each of the front parts of the rods 15 on the inclined planes 21. Then, when they meet the orifices 17 and 17a, the energy of the springs 19 is suddenly released and locking is ensured.

As indicated above, during the checkout, the stud 18 is brought back, by a magnetic field, and at least one of the sides of the bar 4 can be released from the uprights 3 to extract the article from the hanger.

Since during use it is only necessary to open one side, it is possible, as shown in FIG. 9, to replace one of the locking devices on one side with a pivot pin 28 , which saves money at the manufacturing level.

Claims (8)

1. An antitheft hanger for presenting textile articles, the hanger comprising a hook fixed to a frame including two uprights (3), a horizontal bottom bar (4), and at least one article-clipping clamp (9, 10, 11), the bottom longitudinal bar (4) being fixed at one of its ends to the frame (3) and being free at its other end, the hanger being characterized in that it includes locking means (5, 7, 15, 18) and an antitheft label (22).

2. A hanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the bar (4) includes a portion (5) of a locking member, the second portion (7) of said member being carried by a bar (6) hinged to the opposite vertical edge of the frame (3).

3. A hanger according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the male locking portion (7) is constituted by a ball (13) mounted on a trapesium-shaped guide plate (14), the female portion (5) including guide grooves (15) and an opening (16) closed to the rear by lips (17).

4. A hanger according to claim 1, characterized in that the bar (4) includes at least one magnetic locking means (18) for locking it to the frame (1).

5. A hanger according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the bar (4) is provided with magnetic locking studs (18) at both ends.

6. A hanger according to claim 4, characterized in that the bar (4) is hinged about a pivot axis (28) to one of the uprights (3) of the frame, with its other ends carrying a stud (18).

7. A hanger according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the ends of the uprights (3) of the frame penetrate into housings (20) formed in the bar (4).

8. A hanger according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the sloping planes (21) enable rods (15) of the magnetic locking studs (18) to be locked in orifices (17, 17a) merely by applying pressure.

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