EP1680991B1

EP1680991B1 - Clothes hanger

Info

Publication number: EP1680991B1
Application number: EP06270004A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Nicholas John Carter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-01-15
Filing date: 2006-01-16
Publication date: 2009-07-22
Anticipated expiration: 2026-01-16
Also published as: EP1680991A1; GB0500849D0; DE602006007885D1; US20070164061A1

Description

The present invention relates to a clothes hanger, and in particular to a semi-captive clothes hanger. The clothes hanger of the present invention would find particular use in caravans, boats and other mobile accommodation, but is not exclusively for such use.
Clothes hangers usually comprise opposed arms that a garment, such as a coat or jacket, may be hung from. Usually there is a linking piece joining the outer ends of the arms from which further or different garments such as trousers may be hung. Such hangers have an open hook that extends from the centre of the hanger, such that it may be suspended from a hanging rail.
An example of such a hanger is disclosed in French Patent Specification No. 1,280,093 . This style of prior art hanger is generally for everyday use, but when such a hanger is used in a situation where it is subject to movement (for example on a caravan or yacht) the hook can with relative ease become detached and so the hanger often falls off. The swaying motion that is associated with a caravan or yacht causes the hanger to pivot on the hanging rail. When this motion is significant the hook falls off the rail, resulting in the items of clothing ending up on the floor. Also even in normal use, unintentional falls can occur when using normal prior art non-captive hangers, if for example a child pulls at an item of clothing from below, or movement of an adjacent garment is caused by hanging up a different item in a wardrobe.
Attempts have been made to produce alternative designs of clothes hangers. For instance captive permanent hangers have been suggested, in which the hook is a complete loop. In these, the hook portion includes a ring permanently attached to the hanging rail, and the remainder of the hanger can be removably attached onto the ring. Alternatively a closed loop hanger is permanently fixed to the rail. These hangers have the disadvantage that the rails and hanger are expensive and must be specially installed, and cannot be used on standard rails. What is more the purpose of such systems is to prevent the theft of hangers rather than to prevent motion-caused falls; hence their use is generally confined to hotels or other places where hanger theft is a problem.
Other types of hangers such as is described in German Patent specification No. DE 100 25 477 have also been suggested (see Figure 12B). These types of hangers generally comprise a bridging piece connecting each arm of the hanger. In these, the bridging piece simply hooks over the hanging rail and is suspended therefrom. These type of hangers, whilst providing a degree of stability are also subject to becoming disengaged with the hanging rail when subjected to movement.
The present invention in contrast aims to provide a hanger that can be removably placed on existing hanging rails, but which will be semi-captive and hence will not fall off the hanging rail when the structure and rail are subjected to normal movement. It is a further aim that such a hanger will be easy and cost effective to manufacture.
Therefore, according to the present invention there is provided a clothes hanger formed from a single continuous strip of material shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms, the arms being configured for directly supporting clothes and being disposed symmetrically with respect to a bridging piece interconnecting the arms and upstanding above the clothes-supporting surfaces thereof, the bridging piece defining a re-entrant rail-receiving slot having a relatively narrow mouth disposed between the arms, wherein the arms extend downwardly at an angle to the horizontal beneath the level of the mouth, whereby the hanger may be suspended by the bridging piece when engaged with a rail entered into the slot through the mouth thereof, and wherein the width of the mouth is narrower then the rail to be received in the rail-receiving slot, and whereby the hanger is resiliently deformable to permit the width of the mouth to be varied, by resilient deformation of the bridging piece.
The clothes hanger is preferably formed from a single continuous strip of metal or plastic. These strips are conveniently in the form of rods as these can be relatively easily shaped or bent into shape but have a convenient degree of flexibility. The hanger may also be formed by moulding and other convenient techniques.
The co-planar arms are the main clothes supporting structures of the hanger, so are of a suitable size that a large range of differently sized garments may be easily hung therefrom. These arms generally will be straight, and will slope down at a shallow angle from the mouth of the slot. However, in accordance with standard clothes hangar design they could have a variety of different profiles and additions - such as friction enhancing coatings, spring clips, length adjusters, hooks or recesses for straps, etc.
The bridging piece interconnecting the arms and upstanding above the clothes-supporting surfaces of the arms defines the re-entrant rail-receiving slot and it is the bridging piece that contacts the hanging rail to support the hanger. Preferably this slot is of a size such that the hanger may be located on and freely moved along a range of differently sized and shaped hanging rails to allow the user to hang clothes from most, if not all, existing hanging rails. The mouth of the rail-receiving slot is disposed between the inner end regions of the arms of the hanger, and the width of the mouth is slightly smaller than the diameter of the hanging rail and the hanger provided with a degree of flexibility, so that by flexing the arms to widen the mouth, it can be located over the hanging rail and then, by allowing the resilient return of the arms to their normal place the mouth will close again to trap the rail within the slot. This allows the hanger to be easily placed onto the rail, but not easily fall off should the hanger be exposed to any rough movement.
The arms of the hanger extend downwardly at a relatively shallow angle to the horizontal, giving a gentle slope downwards from the level of the mouth. This is the usual shape for a hanger and indeed the arms of the present hanger can be adapted in many ways to be functionally equivalent to existing hangers.
Preferably, the hanger also has inwardly directed co-axial fingers that extend toward each other from the outer part of each arm. These fingers together define a trouser rail and whilst they can be attached during manufacture to the arms, they are preferably also formed from the same strip of material as the arm and bridging piece. Since the bridging piece is closed, the fingers must not prevent the movement of the rail into the slot. Therefore, between the free ends of these fingers a gap is defined, the gap being wide enough to allow the rail to pass therebetween. Of course, the gap need only be the size of a standard rail (or smaller if resilient deformation of the hanger is possible), which ensures that the risk that garments will not hang properly on the trouser rail is reduced.
Some garments, for example slips and dresses, with shoulder straps may necessitate adaptation of the hanger to ensure the garments stay thereon. Therefore the arms or fingers may be adapted to provide locating points for the straps of garments to prevent them slipping off. Preferably an abutment may be provided on one or both arms and or on one or both fingers if present. Such abutments if present may take the form of variations or kinks in the profile of the material from which the arms or fingers are formed. Alternatively they may be in the form of rubber or plastic disks, and these may be fed onto the parts of the hanger from the ends of the material strip. These, amongst other purposes, prevent thin items, for example the straps of a dress, sliding out of position along the trouser rail and potentially falling from the hanger.
Preferably, the hanger is manufactured from a circular or oval section length of metal rod, because it can be easily bent into shape and exhibits the necessary strength and flexibility for the purpose. Preferably the rod is made from aluminium or steel, and these can be relatively lightweight, although of course any material with the necessary physical characteristics such as a plastics material could also be used.
Preferably, to exhibit the necessary characteristics of being lightweight, durable and flexible the rod may be aluminium, 5 mm in diameter, and may be coated with enamel or plastic to prevent corrosion, improve visual appearance, and prevent the material interfering with the clothes.
By way of example only, one embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a view of a clothes hanger according to the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a clothes hanger generally indicated 10, which is predominantly formed from a single continuous strip of material - in this case aluminium rod. The rod has been shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms 11 from which a garment may normally be suspended, and an interconnecting curved bridging piece 12. The bridging piece 12 is in the form of a loop which defines a slot 13. In use the hanger 10 is suspended from an elongate hanging rail 20 (shown in cross section) which locates within slot 13 at the upper end thereof.
The hanger 10 is primarily intended to prevent motion causing clothes and/or the hanger to fall from the hanging rail, and so it will find particular utility when clothes are stored in moving structures, such as caravans, motor homes or boats. In such situations, the hanger will hang from the rod 20 and will swing and perhaps bounce as a result of that movement, but due to the captive nature of the slot, the hangar will not fall. In order to further reduce the possibility (especially when no garment is attached) that the hanger 10 moves sufficiently that the hanging rail 20 become accidentally removed from the slot 13, the slot is shaped at its lower end (i.e. the base of the bridging piece 12) between the inner parts of the arms 11, to form a narrow mouth 15. It is desirable that the width of this narrow mouth 15 is appropriate with respect to the diameter of the hanging rail 20. The hanging rail 20 must be able to pass therethrough when putting the hanger 10 onto the hanging rail 20, but should preferably also provide resistance to accidental removal as discussed. The width of this mouth 15 should be as close as possible to, or indeed slightly smaller than, the diameter of the rail. The rod 20 from which the hanger 10 is formed has a degree of resilient flexibility, which will allow the whole hanger to be slightly deformed against this resilience to open the mouth sufficiently to let a slightly larger hanging rail 20 through. The hanger 10 will then return to its normal state and hence the mouth will again be slightly narrower than the hanging rail. Clearly however the present invention will also be usable on a hanging rail that is narrower than the mouth, as the narrowing of the mouth still resists removal to a degree. The hanging of garments from the arms will tend due to gravity to deform the bridging piece in an opposite direction and further narrow the mouth 15. This will further ensure the hanger 10 stays on the hanging rail 20 in use.
The co-planar arms 11 extend below the level of the mouth 14 and in this embodiment they are rectilinear and slope downwards at a shallow angle, although they could be non-linear. Inwardly directed horizontal co-axial fingers 16 are formed at the outer ends of the arms 11, and together define a trouser rail. Between the free ends 19 of the fingers 16 is a gap 17, which allows the passage of the hanging rail 20 therebetween.
Slidable abutments 18 are attached to the fingers 16, and these prevent certain types of garments sliding along or around the fingers 16 or falling through the gap 17. Similar abutments may also be placed on the co-planar arms 11. Such abutments are not essential and may be omitted, but are advantageous.
In use the hangar 10 is located over a hanging rail 20 by manoeuvring the hanger 10 such that the rail 20 passes through gap 17 and then through mouth 15 (with flexing of the hanger 10 if required) to locate in the slot 13. A garment may then be hung from the arms 11, or from the fingers 16.

Claims

A clothes hanger formed from a single continuous strip of material shaped to define a pair of substantially co-planar arms (11), the arms being configured for directly supporting clothes and being disposed symmetrically with respect to a bridging piece (12) interconnecting the arms and upstanding above the clothes-supporting surfaces thereof, the bridging piece defining a re-entrant rail-receiving slot (13) having a relatively narrow mouth (15) disposed between the arms, wherein the arms extend downwardly at an angle to the horizontal beneath the level of the mouth, whereby the hanger may be suspended by the bridging piece when engaged with a rail (20) entered into the slot through the mouth thereof, and wherein the width of the mouth (15) is narrower than the rail (20) to be received in the rail-receiving slot, and whereby the hanger is resiliently deformable to permit the width of the mouth to be varied, by resilient deformation of the bridging piece.
A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are further provided inwardly directed co-axial fingers (16) that extend toward each other from the outer part of each arm.
A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein each finger has a free end (19) between which a gap (17) is defined, the gap being wide enough to permit passage therebetween of the rail.
A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein fingers are formed from an extension of the same strip of material from which the remainder of the arms and bridging piece are formed.
A clothes hanger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the strip of material is formed from plastics material or a metal such as aluminium or steel, which may be bare or coated with another material.
A clothes hanger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, formed from a length of generally circular or oval section metal rod.
A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 6, wherein the rod has a diameter of approximately 5 mm.
A clothes hanger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the strip of material from which the hanger is formed is enamel or plastic coated.
A clothes hanger as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein an abutment (18) or area of friction enhancing material is provided on one or both arms and or one or both finger if present.