AU2002100130A4 - Garment drying hanger - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION PETTY PATENT e* *we* Invention Title: GARMENT DRYING HANGER Applicant: PRUDENCE ALEXIS EAST The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 1 V:Jackie\P00-011 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT.doc p GARMENT DRYING HANGER Field of Invention The present invention concerns a garment drying hanger for supporting articles of clothing for drying of such articles. It has particular application in the hanging of shirts and the like for relatively rapid air drying of such articles.

Background to Invention Garment hangers of a vast variety of forms are known, and different designs of such hangers are suitable for suspending different articles of clothing, such as skirts, trousers, jackets, etc. The majority of these known hangers have in common the fact that they are predominantly two-dimensional. Hangers 15 intended for supporting jackets and the like, which provide a substantial upper S" supporting area for holding the shoulders of a jacket whilst minimising the risk of creasing thereof, are in wide usage, but such hangers are bulky, heavy and relatively expensive to manufacture.

The two-dimensional nature, then, of inexpensive hangers (such as wire coat hangers), whilst generally well suited to supporting articles of clothing, is not ideally suited to allowing the drying of such articles. When a shirt or a T-shirt is removed from a washing machine and hung on a conventional wire hanger for air drying, the front and back parts will tend to come into mutual contact and S.i 25 cling together. This significantly reduces the surface area of the T-shirt fabric exposed to the surrounding air, and so considerably increases the drying time of the garment. There is thus a need to provide a garment hanger which at least partially addresses the above inconveniences.

Summary of Invention To this end, there is provided a garment hanger including: a suspension hook for supporting the hanger; and H:Wly Documents\Patents\Draffng\petty-patent-PndeneEas.doc two opposing closed loop portions forming a figure-of-eight configuration suspended from a junction point by said suspension hook, the two closed loop portions arranged to lie substantially in a horizontal plane when the hanger is suspended.

The hanger of the invention therefore, unlike conventional hangers, presents a curved, largely horizontal framework. When an article of clothing such as a Tshirt is to be hung for air drying, the two loop portions may be inserted respectively into the two shoulder regions of the garment. When the hanger is suspended by the suspension hook, the front and back panels of the T-shirt (and of the arms of the T-shirt) are then kept apart, significantly improving air circulation around and air contact with the fabric of the garment, and so reducing drying time.

ooooo Preferably, said two closed loop portions interconnect only at said junction point, so avoiding the need for extra struts or webs and the associated additional material expense. The junction point is located, ideally, at a point at or close to the centre of gravity of the structure provided by the two closed loop portions.

The inventor has established that such a structure, albeit structurally simple, is able to satisfactorily bear the weight of a wet shirt, T-shirt or similar garment, without substantial distortion.

o. In a preferred form, said suspension hook and said two closed loop portions are formed from a single piece, ideally a single length of wire bent to shape.

Preferably, the wire is coated in a polymer material.

The configuration of the two closed loop portions may be such that the loop portions have a degree of departure from the horizontal plane, the outermost parts of said portions either departing upwardly or downwardly from said horizontal plane.

HAMy Documents'Patents\Drafiing\petty-patent-PmdencEast.doc The precise form of said two closed loop portions may vary and may, for example, take a circular form; an elliptical form, a "paddle wheel" form; or other appropriate form.

To unite the configuration of the garment hanger, a suitable means of firmly connecting said suspension hook and said two closed loop portions at said junction point is used. In the case of a hanger made from a length of bent wire, for example, an end of the length of wire may be bent in a suitable manner to unite the configuration.

Brief Description of Drawings The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment drying hanger according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of an alternative form of the hanger; Figure 3 is a similar view of a further alternative form of the hanger; Figure 4 is a side elevation of a form of the hanger;

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25 Figure 5 is a similar view of a further form of the hanger; and Figure 6 is a similar view of yet a further form of the hanger.

Detailed Description The garment drying hanger, generally indicated at 10, comprises a suspension hook 11, supporting a connection piece 12 for approximately vertical orientation in use. Two closed loop portions 13 and 14 are symmetrically oppositely arranged, uniting at a substantially central junction point 15 to form a figure-of- H:\My DocumentsPatents\Draflinglpety-patent-PmdencEastrdoc eight configuration. Connection piece 12 terminates at junction point 15 and also unites with loop portions 13 and 14. Curved hook 11 lies in the same plane as the imaginary plane passing through junction point 15 and the axes of symmetry of the two closed loop portions. The disposition of the hanger is such that loop portions 13 and 14 lie substantially in a horizontal plane when the hanger is suspended from hook 11.

Hanger 10 is fabricated from a single length of wire, coated in an appropriate polymer such as polyethylene, and bent into shape. Such a construction is commonly used in garment hangers of a more conventional shape.

The length of wire is bent to form suspension hook 11, continuing into connection piece 12, continuing into a first closed loop portion 13, in turn .i :continuing into a second closed loop portion 14. The end of the length of wire is 15 then twisted or "tied" around the parts of the length of wire that meet at junction °oooo point 15 as shown in Figure 1, to firmly unite the garment drying hanger. The bending of the length of wire is preferably carried out by a suitable automated machine process.

ooooo 20 In use, then, hanger 10 is employed in a manner broadly similar to a conventional garment hanger, but ideally used for garments that require air drying after laundering.

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The two closed top portions 13 and 14 are inserted into an article of clothing to 25 be dried, such as a T-shirt, such that each loop enters and supports one of the two shoulder regions of the T-shirt. The size and precise curved shape of the closed loop portions 13 and 14 is selected to smoothly spread the fabric of the T-shirt when hanger 10 is suspended by suspension hook 11. The front and back panels of the T-shirt are thus held apart from one another, allowing free circulation of air to the inside and outside surfaces of the garment and significantly reducing drying time when compared with the similar use of a conventional garment hanger.

H:\My Documents\Patents\Drafting\petty-paten-PfdencEastdo The simple form of hanger 10, in which the two closed loop portions 13 and 14 interconnect only at junction point 15, without the need for any additional struts or webs linking the two portions, provides an extremely simple, inexpensive and lightweight structure, which can nonetheless support considerable weight.

Additionally, although the overall hanger form is a three-dimensional one, it nonetheless allows a plurality of hangers 10 to be stacked, the closed loop portions 13 and 14 of adjacent stacked hangers overlying one another, and the suspension hooks 11 and connection pieces 12 of adjacent stacked hangers nestling against one another to form a fairly compact stacked arrangement which may be readily temporarily united for transportation and storage.

Clearly, the precise shape of hanger 10 may be varied to suit different applications. A preferred form is that shown in Figure 1, closed loop portions 13 *i and 14 flaring towards their outermost parts so to situate the widest parts of 15 those loops to support and open the shoulder regions of a shirt or T-shirt. Other forms that may be employed are circular or symmetrically elliptical loop portions. Figures 2 and 3 show two possible forms, respectively a "butterfly" form and a "paddle wheel" form.

20 Despite its robustness and stiffness, hanger 10 has a degree of resilience and will tend to distort to some extent when loaded (with a wet garment) and hung g up to dry. To compensate for this and provide that, in use, closed loop portions 13 and 14 lie approximately in a horizontal plane, the loop portions may provide a degree of departure from the horizontal plane, the outermost parts of the loop 25 portions curving upwardly from said horizontal plane as illustrated in Figure 4.

Alternatively, loop portions 13 and 14 may curve downwardly from this horizontal plane as shown in Figure 5, which can serve to assist in minimising any creasing of the garment fabric when it meets the hanger. In Figure 6, closed loop portions 13 and 14 are relatively straight when seen in elevation, but both angled somewhat upwardly from the horizontal plane which passes through junction point 15. When the hanger is loaded and suspended, the loop portions are pulled downwardly to a position closer to the horizontal plane.

H:Wly Douet\aet\mtn~et-aetP dn~s~o Clearly, many alternatives and additions to the hanger described above are possible, and such modifications are readily apparent to the skilled reader. For example, the hanger may be constructed of injection moulded or extruded resilient plastic material in an appropriate form. Connection piece 12 need not be fixedly or permanently united with closed-loop portions 13 and 14, but may instead be detachable, or may pivotably connect at or near junction point 15, so as to be folded down when the hanger is not in use in order to facilitate packing.

Various modifications and additional may be made to the embodiments described above, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

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Claims (3)

1. A garment hanger, including a suspension hook for supporting the hanger; and two opposing closed loop portions forming a figure-of-eight configuration suspended from a junction point by the suspension hook, the two closed loop portions arranged to lie substantially in a horizontal plane when the hanger is suspended.

2. A garment hanger according to claim 1 wherein the two closed loop portions have a degree of departure from the horizontal plane, the outermost parts of the portions either departing upwardly or downwardly from the horizontal plane. 15

3. A garment hanger according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the suspension hook and the two closed loop portions are formed from a single piece of wire or similar material bent to shape. p S 20 DATED: 21 May 2001 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Sc Attorneys for: ""'PRUDENCE ALEXIS EAST *a a a HAMy Documents\Patent\Drafting\petty-patent-PrdeneEast.doc