AU2003101033A4 - Extension members for garment hangers - Google Patents

Description

PETER GRANT WILSON

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT EXTENSION MEMBERS FOR GARMENT HANGERS The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it know to me:- 2 EXTENSION MEMBERS FOR GARMENT HANGERS TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates generally to hangers for garments and in particular to extension members for garment hangers.

BACKGROUND ART Garment hangers of many different configurations are known including hangers formed of wire which is bent to a required configuration, plastic coated wire hangers, plastic moulded hangers and hangers having a main arm form of timber. Hangers are usually constructed to be of fixed length to suit various design constraints. The only adult size hangers available for the public to buy in Australia are 16 to 17" wide which is substantially less than the shoulder width needed for L and XL shirts which is at least 21". The width of hangers is thus not enough to fully support the shoulder span of larger sized shirts or normal sized shirts that have wide necks. As a result shirts that are hung off conventional hangers tend to become misshapen particularly in the shoulder region. This disadvantage is accentuated in shirts or the like formed of a loose knit or soft fabric such as polo and t-shirts. In these shirts, unsightly raised lumps of fabric form on the shoulder line where the shirt droops off the ends of the hanger and the heavier the fabric, the worse is the problem.

Polo shirts in particular, are usually taken from the washing machine after the spin cycle and put on hangers while still relatively wet so that they will air/drip dry wrinkle free enough not to need ironing. The extra weight of the wet fabric drooping off the end of a too-short hanger causes the fabric to stretch and be set as the shirt dries. It is this stretched fabric that appears as 'shoulder lumps' when the shirt is put on. This problem however also occurs when the shirt is ironed and then put onto a hanger as the fabric which is warm and supple falls off the ends of the hanger easily and sets in position.

This problem however also occurs in other shirts as more large size shirts are being bought with 'plus size' apparel, both male and female, currently representing about 3 of the market and increasing. It also occurs in many women's fashion shirts and dresses with wide neck openings which need an extra long hanger to prevent them slipping off one end of the hanger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide extension members for garment hanger which may be applied to a garment hanger to extend the length thereof to avoid the disadvantages associated with conventional garment hangers as referred to above. The present invention further aims to provide a garment hanger provided with a pair of extension members. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

The present invention thus provides in one aspect an extension member for use with a garment hanger having a pair of oppositely extending shoulder support arms, said extension member being formed from a blank of planar material, said blank being symmetrical about a longitudinal axis and having planar side panels on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis, said blank being foldable about said longitudinal axis from a first planar attitude to a second folded attitude in which at least portions of said panels are juxtaposed and such that in use said panels sandwich therebetween an end of said arm and wherein the ridge line formed by folding of said blank along said longitudinal axis is substantially aligned with a said support arm, and there being provided means for maintaining said portions of said panels in said juxtaposed position.

The means for maintaining the portions of side panels of the blank in the juxtaposed position suitably comprise adhesive means on a face of at least one of the panels. The face of the at least one panel is suitably self-adhesive and backing member covers the adhesive and is removable to expose the adhesive. Preferably, adhesive is provided on both of the panels.

Preferably the juxtaposed portions of the extension member are capable of resilient deflection to opposite side of the ridge and thus hanger to which the extension member is applied.

The present invention in a further aspect provides a garment hanger having a pair of 4 oppositely extending shoulder support arms and a pair of extension members of the type described above applied to opposite ends of the arms and extending the length of the arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein: Fig. 1 illustrates a blank for forming a hanger extension member according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is an end view of the blank of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 illustrates the manner in which the blank is folded for use in connection with a garment hanger; Fig. 4 illustrates in side elevation a garment hanger provided with hanger extension members and showing a garment supported thereon in dotted outline; Fig. 5 is a sectional view along line A-A of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 illustrates the end of an alternative garment hanger provided with an extension member; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view along line B-B of Fig. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated blank 10 for a hanger extension member according to an embodiment of the present invention, the blank 10 being formed of planar material and most preferably a flexible foam plastics material for example a closed cell polyethylene material. The blank 10 is symmetrical about a longitudinal centreline 11 and has opposite parallel linear side edges 12 and 13 parallel to the centreline 11 which delineate opposite planar side panels 14 and of the blank 10. One end 16 of the blank 10 is defined by linear edges 17 of each panel 14 and 15 which extend at an obtuse angle t to the centreline 11 of the blank such that the end 16 is in the form of a V-shaped point. The opposite end 18 of the blank 10 is defined by linear edges 19 of each panel 14 and 15 which extend at an acute angle 13 to the centreline such that the end 18 is in the form of a V-shaped recess. The angle is complementary to the angle 3 such that the blanks 10 can be cut from a strip of material with angled cuts to the centerline of the material defining both the leading end of one blank 10 and trailing end of an adjacent blank The blank 10 is provided on one face 20 with a self adhesive material 21 and backing strip or material 22 for example of a paper material which covers the adhesive material 21 and which may be removed to expose the adhesive material 20 and which is shown partly removed in Fig. 2. A score line 23 is provided on the face 20 of the blank 10 running longitudinally along the centerline 12 to serve as a positioning and folding guide for folding of the blank 10 for use in the manner shown in Fig. 3 for formation of the extension members 24 for a hanger.

A pair of blanks 10 are provided for fitting to a hanger for example a conventional hanger 25 of the type illustrated in Fig. 3, the hanger 25 being formed of wire and having a central hook 26, downwardly inclined opposite shoulder support arms 27 which curve into or join at opposite ends 28, a cross arm 29.

As hangers 25 vary in span width and shirts vary by size, shoulder shape and design, it is preferred to custom fit the blanks 10 to a particular hanger to suit a particular shirt.

A shirt thus is laid out on a flat surface such as a table and the hanger 25 placed on top of the shirt so that it is in a centralized position as it would be if the hanger were inside the shirt. The extent that the shoulder length or seam extends past the hanger ends 28 will then be noted which will indicate how far out the extension members 24 will be required to extend from the ends 28 of the hanger Blanks 10 are the placed under each hanger end 28 such that the ends 18 are outermost. The ends 18 are positioned slightly beyond the end of the shoulder of the shirt to allow for situations the shirt is not sitting straight on the hanger. The ends 18 can be trimmed off later to the required length. The hanger arms 27 can then be marked with a felt tipped pen or the like as a limit mark for fitting of the extension members 24.

The backing paper 22 that covers the adhesive material 20 is then peeled off and using the inner limit mark made on the hanger 25 and the scoreline 23, a blank 10 is folded along the scoreline 23 in the manner shown in Fig. 3 such that the opposite side panels 14 and 15 of the blank 10 carrying the exposed adhesive material 21 on opposite sides of the scoreline 22 face each other. The blank 10 is applied such that the scoreline 22 extends along an arm 27 such that the ridge 29 formed by folding of the blank 10 is substantially coextensive with the arm 27. The blank 10 is folded such that the opposite panels 14 and 15 of the blank 10 are pressed firmly around the hanger arms 27 and 29 such that portions thereof become juxtaposed and adhered to each other by the adhesive material 21 and also adhered to the arms 27 and 29 in the manner shown in Fig. 5 with the arms 27 and 29 sandwiched between opposite side portions of the blank 10. The edges and ends of the extension member 24 can be trimmed using scissors if desired. This procedure is then repeated for the opposite end 28 of the hanger The extended hanger 25 is then ready for immediate use such that a shirt 30 (shown in dotted outline in Fig. 4) may be supported thereon. It will be apparent that the full length of the shoulder of the shirt 30 will be supported to thereby eliminate shoulder lumps. Furthermore, the extended width of the hanger 28 will reduce the risks of creases in the front and rear of the shirt The opposite panels 14 and 15 of the extension members 24 when applied to the hanger 28 are substantially planar which suits them particularly for carrying advertising or other printed material such as stickers which may identify a particular store using the extension members.

Furthermore, when folded, the ridge 29 formed along the fold line 12 by folding of the panels 14 and 15 will resist downward deflection when subject to a load for example when carrying a garment. In addition, the ends of the extension members 24 are capable of lateral and resilient deflection to opposite sides of the hanger 25. This 7 enables the hanger 25 to fit into narrow wardrobe spaces or the like whilst still functioning to support a garment along its full shoulder line.

Fig 6 and 7 illustrate the application of a blank 10 to form an extension member 24 for use with an alternative garment hanger having in this instance a support arm 31 formed of timber. The blank 10 is applied in a similar manner to the described above with the end of the arm 31 being sandwiched between opposite folded panels 14 and of the blank 10 and being adhered to the blank 10 with opposite folded panels 14 and 15 having juxtaposed portions adhered to each other. As in the embodiment of Fig. 4, the extension members 24 extend beyond the ends of the arm 31 to extend the length of the arm 31.

Each blank in the illustrated embodiment is approximately 170mm x 96mm although these dimensions may vary depending upon the shape of hangers to which they are to be applied. The material for the blank 10 in the described embodiment is 3mm thick closed cell polyethylene foam sheet with a self-adhesive back revealed by pulling away a paper cover. Other materials may however be employed for the blanks Furthermore the design shape of the ends of the blank may be varied however the described configuration proves particularly effective especially where the blank 10 is applied to hangers formed of thicker material as the configuration of the end 16 facilitates adherence between the corners of the folder panels 14 and Any suitably manufacturing process may be employed for manufacturing the blanks including hand cutting or machine die cutting. Alternatively, the blanks may be moulded or otherwise formed.

Whist the blank is described as being self adhesive on one side, adhesive need may only be necessary on a face of one of the side panels 14 or 15. Other connecting means may also be used to connect and hold the panels 14 and 15 juxtaposed such as a hook and loop or touch and grip material.

The extension members prove particularly effective in supporting the shoulders of garments hung thereon and furthermore by their design are particularly suited to carrying advertising or identifying material such as size information on either one or both panels 14 and 15. The extension members 24 have been described in relation to their use with wire or timber garment hangers. They may however be used in connection with a wide range of hangers of different designs and materials.

The term "comprising" or "comprises" as used throughout the specification and claims are taken to specify the presence of the stated features, integers and components referred to but not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature/s, integer/s, component/s or group thereof.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative embodiment of the invention, all such variations and modifications thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (4)

1. An extension member for use with a garment hanger having a pair of oppositely extending shoulder support arms, said extension member being formed from a blank of planar material, said blank being symmetrical about a longitudinal axis and having planar side panels on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis, said blank being foldable about said longitudinal axis from a first planar attitude to a second folded attitude in which at least portions of said panels are juxtaposed and such that in use said panels sandwich therebetween an end of said arm and wherein the ridge line formed by folding of said blank along said longitudinal axis is substantially aligned with a said support arm, and there being provided means for maintaining said portions of said panels in said juxtaposed position.

2. An extension member as claimed in claims 1 wherein said means for maintaining said portions of said side panels of said blank in said juxtaposed position comprise adhesive means on a face of at least one of said panels.

3. An extension member as claimed in claim 2 wherein said face of said at least one panel is self-adhesive, and including a backing member covering said adhesive and removable to expose said adhesive.

4. An extension member as claimed in claim 3 wherein said juxtaposed portions of said extension member are capable of resilient deflection to opposite side of said ridge. A garment hanger having a pair of oppositely extending shoulder support arms and a pair of extension members of the type defined in any one of claims 1 to 4 applied to opposite ends of said arms and extending the length of said arms.