EP1658793A1

EP1658793A1 - Open clothes hangers system

Info

Publication number: EP1658793A1
Application number: EP05023836A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jorge Escatllar Zunzunegui
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-11-17
Filing date: 2005-11-02
Publication date: 2006-05-24
Also published as: US20070119879A1

Abstract

Clothes hangers system mainly for closets, wardrobes or shop display. Useful for hanging pants or trousers, t-shirts, sweaters, towels, sheets or linen, tablecloths and other pieces of cloth or garments following the methods of the previous intemational filing WO 2004/008919 (Escatllar, 29.01.2004). The open clothes hangers consist of a horizontal open bar (1) with hooks (2) in both ends, for suspending them from two parallel clothes bars, and usually a handle (3). Includes an updated quick hanging method, and ideas for an integrated closet organizing system.

Description

A system of clothes hangers and other related solutions mainly for home closet organizing.

BACKGROUNDS OF INVENTION

The system of hangers herein included follow the methods and solutions described in the previous mother patent file WO 2004/008919 (Escatllar, 29.01.2004) with EP search.
Until recently, the traditional hanger with a hook was the only option for hanging all kinds of garments. There are many disadvantages within the use of traditional hangers so that many garments are folded and piled up in shelves as an easier or faster alternative. For hanging pants, different pull-out frames are now being tested.
Said mother patent was providing some ideas for an integrated way of hanging pants along with most of those garments that are stored folded instead of being hung in traditional hangers. The present document provides mainly a very practical embodiment for those ideas, along with an updated version of the methods and some other solutions for a clothes hanging integrated system.
The document USA-4579262 (Keenan, 1-Abril-1986) provides a hanger for socks within shop display that might resemble the embodiment of the present invention, but it does not raise any of the many problems about closet organizing of the present document, and the solution is not useful to solve any of them. Its second claim is a generalization of the first one that has no support in the rest of the document and is still including added parts adjacent to the hanger bar that make it not useful for the purposes of the present invention. The Keenan document is in a different field of invention, failing totally in providing any integrated solution for closets, while the present document does so with solutions that are useful as embodiments of the ideas and methods already started in the cited mother patent. Further more, the Keenan document is from 19 years ago and never helped generating, neither the hangers herein provided, nor the methods that make them useful.
In Fig.22 of said mother patent, a bar for hanging garments is represented having a handle and three hooks. It is a bar to be placed in a pull-out frame, either from above or under the frame. It does not include the key idea provided in the present document of designing and using the bar as a clothes hanger to be placed in fixed clothes bars as with traditional hangers. This idea has generated the advantages of making the system easier to use, quicker, more economical, and easily combinable with traditional hangers inside the closet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a system of open clothes hangers that is useful almost with all kinds of pieces of cloth. It develops the methods and ideas of the cited mother patent to bring a solution with a large amount of advantages in a single system. They are important, as much as the embodiments, their combination with the methods and purposes, the related advantages, and the improvements for a more practical and integrated closet organizing system.
The present invention provides an updated way of clothes storing that is more practical, accessible and quick than the ones in use in many cases. It is also useful in short closets in which traditional hangers can't be used and in high parts where the shelves are hardly reached.
Physically, the system consists of two parallel clothes bars from which some open clothes hangers are suspended, being sliding along said bars.
The open clothes hanger consists of an elongated support piece, or open bar, from which the piece of cloth will hang, and hooks on both ends of the bar that are the kind of hooks useful for removably suspending the open bar in horizontal position from two parallel clothes bars. The hooks are oriented same direction and are the same kind of hooks of any other clothes hanger to be suspended from a clothes bar.
The hanger has no parts round the open bar, except for underneath if necessary, so that the piece of cloth can be directly draped over or folded round the open bar and remain hanging on both sides of said open bar, in the way already shown in the cited mother patent. Thus, the open hanger has got an open bar in horizontal position that is much more accessible than the corresponding bar of traditional hangers.
The hanger bar, or open bar, might be 30cm to 50cm long depending on the types of pieces of cloth to be hung, in most cases between 35cm and 45cm.
Optionally, the hanger can have a handle on an end of the bar for holding it more comfortably.

FIGURES AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following figures, which are all of them side elevational views, some different versions are explained in further details:

Fig.1 represents an open clothes hanger having a horizontal handle 3. It is entirely manufactured from a single piece of bending wire, wherein a portion forms the open bar 1, other portions the hooks 2 and another one the horizontal handle 3.
Fig.2 shows a model that is similar to the hanger in Fig.1 but having the handle 3 in vertical position.
Fig.3 represents an open hanger wherein the open bar 1 and the horizontal handle 3 are made of an elongated piece of wood, and the hooks 2 of bending wire. The open bar 1 has a non-slipping finishing 4 of the kind used within traditional hangers, in this case an added strip with rubber indentations.
Fig.4 shows an open hanger wherein the open bar 1 and the vertical handle 3 are made of an L-shaped piece of wood in which one of the arms of the L is the open bar 1 and the other arm is the vertical handle 3. The hooks 2 are made of wire.
Fig.5 shows an alternative way of manufacturing the hanger of Fig.3. The open bar 1 and the horizontal handle 3 are form of a wooden bar which is striated all along to be non-slipping. The hooks 2 are fixed by wrapping the wire round the wooden bar.

The handle, and its length, is optional but useful in most cases and avoids the need of repeatedly touching the garments, specially in shop display. The hangers having a horizontal or slightly inclining handle (Figs.1, 3 and 5) are useful only in the lower half of closets, mainly with pants. The ones with a vertical handle (Figs.2 and 4) are useful in the whole closet, and also in short closets which are only 40cm deep. The longer the vertical handle is, the higher the place where the hangers can be placed.
The hangers can include means for adjusting its length to the measures of every closet, for instance a plastic or other hanger made of two or more parts that overlap each other along the open bar.
If the open bar is thick enough, the garment will get less creased in the folding line over the bar. In special cases, like delicate garments on hangers made of wire, a removable part added along the open bar might be useful.
The hangers herein included are useful for:

hanging pants in an improved way,
hanging all kinds of folded pieces of cloth, from sweaters to bed linen,
hanging pants matching the size of the other kinds of garments,
substituting for shelves in the unreachable high parts of closets,
using them in short closets where traditional hangers are not useful,
integrating all of these functions and advantages in a single system.

By following the methods of the mother patent all kinds of folded pieces of cloth, in addition to pants, like t-shirts, sweaters, shirts, towels, sheets, tablecloths, etc, can be hung from these open hangers. It takes the same effort than folding them for piling them up in shelves or drawers, but it has numerous advantages:

the garments are directly accessible without disarranging them, as usually happens when they are piled up,
all garments can be seen at a single glance and in full detail without rummaging through different drawers or shelves,
the garments can be pulled out from the closet and replaced in easily for choosing and combining them,
they can be easily changed of place within the closet,
the handle of the hanger prevents touching the garment in most cases, and
also makes the hanger specially useful in high parts of the closet.

General Method

For storing any piece of cloth using an open clothes hanger, these steps are followed:

the piece of cloth is folded to have a width slightly shorter than the length of the open bar,
the open hanger is placed with its open bar against the middle part of the folded piece of cloth,
the piece of cloth is draped over or folded round the open bar,
the open hanger is hold by hand through its handle with the piece of cloth hanging on both sides of the open bar, and
the open hanger is suspended, along with the garment in it, from the parallel clothes bars using the hooks.

Method of hanging pants, normal version

Usually, pants are hung in this way:

the pants are folded all along its central axis and hold with one hand on an end, so that it hangs all the way down,
an open hanger is hold with the other hand using the handle,
the hanger is placed horizontally with its bar against the pants in the middle of their length,
for the pants to be draped over the bar so that they hang on both sides of the bar, and
the open hanger, along with the pants, is placed in the clothes bars.

Method of hanging pants, short version

As illustrated in the mother patent, this method is meant for the pants to hang down the same distance from the clothes bars than the other kinds of garments:

the pants are folded all along its central axis and hold with one hand on an end, so that it hangs all the way down,
the pants are then folded at 1/3 of their length,
the open hanger is hold with the other hand using the handle,
the open bar is placed against the folded pants in the middle of their length,
for the pants to be draped over the bar so that they hang on both sides of the bar, and
the open hanger, along with the pants, is placed in the clothes bars.

Method of storing garments having sleeves, formal version

Garments having sleeves, like sweaters, t-shirts or woollen jerseys, can be stored in the open hangers by following the traditional way of folding them with the sleeves on its back, as shown in the cited mother patent and in document DE 201 20 463 U (Muemtaz Piri, 2002-04-25) which invention would be quite practical with these hangers:

the garment is spread on a flat surface,
where it is folded for the sleeves to lie along its back,
an open hanger is placed with its bar lying on the middle part of the garment,
the garment is folded round the open bar, and
the open hanger, along with the garment, is placed in the clothes bars.

Method of storing garments having sleeves, quick version

This method corresponds with a way of folding sweaters, t-shirts, and the like garments having sleeves, which is becoming widely used nowadays. It allows folding the pieces without spreading them on a surface, just while holding them by hand:

the garment is handled through the parts corresponding to both shoulders and hanging down from there,
both shoulder parts are put together for the garment to be folded all along its central axis, thus the sleeves are adjacent to each other,
both sleeves are then folded, while remaining adjacent to each other, in the shoulder parts for them to hang down adjacent to the rest of the garment,
while holding the garment with one hand, an open hanger is picked up with the other hand,
and placed with its open bar against the middle part of the garment,
for the garment to be draped over the open bar, and
the hanger, along with the garment, being placed in the clothes bars.

Last two methods are useful also with sleeveless shirts, and mainly with any garment having a narrow collar. Such collars get deformed if placed in traditional hangers and also make hanging more difficult, so they are usually stored folded. The same thing applies to delicate woollen pieces.
As already seen, having this open hangers system in a closet allows hanging, in addition to pants, almost every other kind of folded pieces of cloth, like t-shirts, jerseys, sweaters, scarfs, towels, bed linen, tablecloths, etc. Such folded pieces are much more easily accessible than if piled up in high shelves or blind drawers, and more easily hung than in traditional hangers in many cases.
Thus, the open hangers are a perfect complementary option to traditional hangers. Closets can be easily equipped with means for supporting three parallel clothes bars, allowing to mount either a central bar or two parallel ones. This will facilitate an easy updating of the distribution between traditional hangers and the open hangers herein provided.
Although the already described models, along with plastic ones, are nowadays the preferred manufacturing options, there could be many others within the spirit of the invention. These hangers can include any of the accessories and finishings of traditional hangers, and also be used for commercial or industrial purposes, like shop display or clothes transportation.
The ideas included in both the present and mother patent files, raise new needs and objects. They provide solutions of great added value that combine methods and designs to create an improved and integrated system for closet organizing, a quick and directly accessible way of clothes storing. The claims hereafter enclosed are necessarily referred to formal models which simplicity does not adequately represent the complexity and considerable scope of the invention, which is more exhaustively represented along the present document as a whole.

Claims

Open clothes hanger for storing pieces of cloth, like pants, t-shirts, sweaters, shirts, towels, sheets, tablecloths, and the like, that consists of:
• an elongated support piece, or open bar, and

• a hook on each end of said open bar,
said hooks being the kind of hooks that are useful for removably suspending the open clothes hanger from two parallel clothes bars,
being the open bar in horizontal position while suspended from the clothes bars, and
having the hanger no parts round the open bar, except for underneath if necessary, so that the piece of cloth can be directly draped over or folded round the open bar and remain hanging on both sides of said open bar.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 1, that includes a handle on an end of the open bar.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 1, that is made of bending wire.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 2, in which the handle is horizontal, wherein the open bar and the handle are made of an elongated piece of wood.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 2, in which the handle is vertical, wherein the open bar and the handle are made of an L-shaped piece of wood in which one of the arms of the L is the open bar and the other arm is the vertical handle.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 1, that includes means for adjusting the length of the hanger to different measures.
Open clothes hanger as in claim 6, which is made of two or more parts that are overlapping each other along the open bar.
Method of hanging pieces of cloth in open clothes hangers that consists of:
• an open clothes hanger which includes an open bar, hooks and a handle,

• a piece of cloth,

• two parallel clothes bars,
and the following steps:

• the piece of cloth is folded to have a width slightly shorter than the length of the open bar,

• the open clothes hanger is placed with its open bar against the middle part of the folded piece of cloth,

• the piece of cloth is draped over or folded round the open bar,

• the open clothes hanger is hold by hand through its handle with the piece of cloth hanging on both sides of the open bar, and

• the open clothes hanger, along with the garment in it, is suspended from the parallel clothes bars using the hooks.
Method as in claim 8, in which the piece of cloth is a garment having sleeves, wherein the method consist of:
• an open clothes hanger,

• a garment,

• two parallel clothes bars,
and the following steps:

• the garment is spread on a flat surface,

• where it is folded for the sleeves to lie along its back,

• an open clothes hanger is placed with its bar lying on the middle part of the garment,

• the garment is folded round the open bar, and

• the open clothes hanger, along with the garment, is placed in the clothes bars.
Method as in claim 8, in which the piece of cloth is a garment with sleeves, wherein the method consists of:
• an open clothes hanger,

• a garment,

• two parallel clothes bars,
and the following steps:

• the garment is handled through its parts corresponding to both shoulders and hanging down from there,

• both shoulder parts are put together for the garment to be folded all along its central axis, thus the sleeves are adjacent to each other,

• both sleeves are then folded, while remaining adjacent to each other, in the shoulder parts for them to hang down adjacent to the rest of the garment,

• while holding the garment with one hand, an open clothes hanger is picked up with the other hand,

• and placed with its open bar against the middle part of the garment,

• for the garment to be draped over the open bar, and

• the open clothes hanger, along with the garment, being placed in the clothes bars.
Method as in claim 8, in which the piece of cloth is a pair of pants, wherein the method consists of:
• an open clothes hanger,

• a pair of pants,

• two parallel clothes bars,
and the following steps:

• the pants are folded all along their central axis and hold with one hand on an end, so that it hangs all the way down,

• the pants are then folded at 1/3 of its length,

• the open clothes hanger is hold with the other hand,

• the open bar is placed against the folded pants in the middle of their length,

• for the pants to be draped over the bar so that they hang on both sides of the bar, and

• the open clothes hanger, along with the pants, is placed in the clothes bars.