GB2151916A - Garment hanger - Google Patents

Abstract

A garment hanger comprises a pair of resilient arm members which extend laterally and upwardly from the lower end of the stem 4, each arm comprising upper and lower members 5, 6 and 7, 8 joined at their outer ends by garment gripping members 10, 11. To carry a garment the gripping members are urged inwardly, the upper members 5, 6, bending more than the lower members 7, 8 causing the gripping members 10, 11 to be canted over as in Figure 5. The waistband of a garment is mounted in the gripping members 10, 11, which are then released. The arms spring back towards their rest position to tension the waistband and so support the garment. Figure 6, not shown, shows a garment hanger in which gripping members are urged outwardly by biassing means formed integrally with arms carrying the members. Figures 8 and 11, not shown, show a garment hanger suitable for trousers or the like, in which a gripping member clamps the garment against a cross-piece. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Garment hanger The present invention relates to garment hangers.

British Patent Specification No. 1514978 discloses a garment hanger having a pair of resilient arms each having a jaw at its outer end. The arms are concave towards a hook structure, for supporting the hanger. The hanger is fitted into a waistband of a skirt by bending the arms upwardly to reduce the distance between the ends and inserting the waistband into the jaws which grip the waistband. On releasing the arms they spring back towards their unstressed position, tensioning the waistband. British Specification No. 2012581 shows an arrangement in which garment gripping members are urged outwardly by a complex structural arrangement which ensures that the members move in a horizontal line, the garment hanger having metal reinforcement strips.Afirst aspect of the present invention provides a garment hanger comprising a hook structure and a pair of arms extending laterally from said structure for supporting a garment, one of said arms comprising upper and lower upwardly extending resilient members, the outer ends of the members, distal of the hook structure, being joined by a garment gripping member, wherein when the garment gripping member is urged towards said hook structure the arm will deform resiliently, the upper member deforming more than the lower member to tilt the garment gripping member towards the hook structure. The arm members may be identically configured.

Preferably the hook structure comprises a hook and a stem extending downwardly from the hook, the arms extending laterally from the lower end of the stem, distal of the hook.

Preferably the members are curved concave toward the hook structure, and the upper members have a greater curvature than the lower members.

Preferably the garment gripping members are substantially vertical when the arms are in their undeformed state. Preferably the garment gripping members comprise a corrugated or roughened surface. More preferably, a hook is provided at the upper end of each member to prevent a garment slipping upwardly off the member when being put on the hanger.

Preferably the upper members are configured to give or bend by a substantial amount along a limited portion of their length, the lower members preferably bending by a substantially constant amount along their length.

The upper members may be connected directly to the hook structure, the lower members being connected to each other and being supported between the garment gripping members to form a bow. More preferably the lower members are connected directly to the hook structure.

Very preferably a label bearing portion is provided on said hook structure, preferably at the junction between the hook and stem. Preferably the label bearing portion is positioned above the level of the gripping members when the garment hanger is in its substantially undeformed state. The complete hanger may be integrally formed from plastics material, or the hook may be of metal,the remainder of the hanger being of plastics material.

A second aspect of the invention provides a garment hanger comprising a hook and a pair of arms extending laterally of the hook, wherein at least one of the arms is biassed away from the hook in the lateral direction, the arm or arm being integrally formed with a biassing means. Preferably the biassing means is in the form of a loop of resilient material, the arms being located on opposite sides of the loop so that the arms may be urged towards one another, compressing the loop. Advantageously the arms are formed of plastics material. The arms may be slidably supported in a frame member, the frame member being attached to the hook.

Preferably the outer end of each arm is provided with means for frictionally engaging a garment. The means may comprise a pair of jaws, preferably integrally formed of resilient material. More preferably the means comprises a member having a gripping surface, for example a corrugated surface, which, in use, is urged against a part of a garment, eg the waistband of a skirt, and frictionally engages the garment.

The invention provides a garment hanger which may be used to support a skirt, trousers or the like by gripping the waistband. The arms of the hanger are urged towards one another and then placed within the waistband. The arms are then allowed to move apart to engage the waistband.

A third aspect of the invention provides a garment hanger suitable for hanging trousers or the like and comprising a hook, a cross piece for supporting a said pair of trousers and a gripping means for clamping the trousers against the cross piece.

Preferably the gripping means comprise a label carrying member provided adjacent the hoole and spaced a short distance, eg a few millimeters, from the cross piece. Preferably the cross-piece and/or label carrying members are of flexible or resilient material such that in use they can be urged part to allow the insertion of a garment therebetween.

In an alternative embodiment the gripping means comprises a clip slidable from a first position spaced from said cross piece to allow a garment to be placed on the cross piece, to a second position substantially adjacent or astride the cross piece to grip a garment therebetween. The clip may be adapted to cooperate with a label carrying portion provided adjacent the hook.

The invention will be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a garment hanger according to the invention; Figure2 is a section along the line ll-ll of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section along the line Ill-Ill of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a section along the line IV-IV of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a side view of the garment hanger of Figure 1 with the ends pressed towards each other; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a garment hanger according to the second aspect of the invention; Figure 7 is a cross-section along the line VII-VII of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a front view of a garment hanger according to the third aspect of the invention; Figure 9 is a section along the line IX-IX of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a section along the line X-X of Figure 8;; Figure 11 is a perspective view of another garment hanger according to the third aspect of the invention; and Figure 12 is a cross-section along the line XII-XII of Figure 11.

Figure 1 shows a garment hanger 1 comprising a hook 2, a label receiving portion 3 at the lower end of the hook, and a stem 4 opposite the hook. The stem 4 projects vertically downwards when the hanger is suspended from the hook 2.

Stem 4 is preferably of I cross-section for rigidity, see Figure 3. Similarly, label receiving portion 3 has circumferential rim 5. Hook 2 is preferably of metal, and the remainder of the hanger of resilient plastics material. The label receiving portion 3 may be moulded around the lower end of the hook, as seen in Figure 2; the end of the hook may be shaped to provide a form locking connection between the hook and the label receiving portion. The end of the hook may be threaded so that the hook can be screwed into the label receiving portion 3. The hook 2 may be of plastics and formed integrally with the remainder of the hanger.

Upper and lower laterally extending arms 5, 6, 7, 8 extend from the lower end of the stem 4. The arms are curved, being concave towards the stem with the upper arms 5, 6 having a greater degree of curvature than the lower arms 7, 8. As seen in Figure 4, the arms 5,6,7,8 are of T-shaped cross-section, providing a degree of rigidity against out-of-plane bending. The upright web 9 of each arm is reduced in height towards the outer end of the arm.

The outer ends of each pair of arms 6,7 and 5,8 are joined by garment gripping members 10,11 which are substantially parallel to the upright stem 4.

The outward facing surfaces 14, 15 of the members 10, 11 are corrugated.

Downwardly projecting hooks 12, 13 are formed on the upper ends of the gripping member 10,11.

The lower ends of the hook 12, 13 are spaced from the corrugated surfaces 14, 15. Upwardly turned ears 16, 17 are also provided on the upper ends of the gripping members 10, 11.

The garment hanger 1 is particularly adapted for supporting garments such as skirts having a waistband, the hanger being sized so that the distance between the gripping members 14, 15 with the hanger in its uncompressed state is at least slightly greater than ha If the circumferential distance of the waistband. Different sized hangers may be provided for different sized garments, a single hanger being used for one or a range of sizes. The garment gripping members 10,11 being located inside the waistband and urged outwards by the resilient arms 5,6,7,8 so that the corrugated surfaces 14, 15 grip the inside of the waistband, placing the waistband under tension to support the garment.

To place a garment such as a skirt on the hanger 1, a portion of the waistband is positioned against a corrugated surface, say surface 14, between the surface 14 and the hook 12. The lower end of the hook 12 does not bear against the outer surface of the waistband. The purpose of the hook 12 is to ensure that the waistband does not slide up and off the gripping member 10 when positioning the second gripping member 11.

To position the second gripping member 11 within the waistband the gripping members 10,11 are urged towards one another. It will be appreciated that this may be achieved in a number of ways, but the effect will be to cause one or both pairs of arms 6,7 and/or 5,8 to increase in curvature, as seen in Figure 5. The pairs of arms are arranged so that the upper arm 5,6 will bend more than the corresponding lower arm 7, 8. This may be achieved in a number of ways, for example the provision of an upper arm having a greater degree of curvature than the lower arm, and/or making the upper arm thinner, hence weaker than the lower arm, reducing the height of the web 9, etc.Preferably the upper arm 5, 6 is designed to give at a region 18 about mid-way to two-thirds along its length, as seen in Figure 5, the lower arm 8, 9 increasing in curvature along substantially its whole length by a substantially constant amount. Alternatively the lower arm may be arranged to curve more towards one end thereof but the lower arm is arranged to be more resilient than the upper arm to cause the gripping memberto be canted over as in Figure 5. The upper arm may be arranged so that the section between the giving region 18 and the stem 4will not bend at all under normal use, or will bend only a small amount.

By tapering the height of the webs 9 towards the outer ends of the arms the force applied to the gripping members 10, 11 may be distributed along the arms 5,6,7,8 in a substantially controlled manner.

Since the upper arm or arms 5, 6 bends more than the corresponding lower arm(s) 7, 8 the gripping members 10,11 will be angled towards the stem 4 which will help to retain the waistband on the hanger both when inserting the hanger and afterthe hanger arms have been released to tension the waistband and support the garment.

The weight of the garment will tend to pull the gripping member 10, 11 downwards tending to increase the separation of the members 10,11 and hence increase the grip on the garment.

The lower portion 19 of the stem 4, between the upper and lower arms, may be omitted, the arms 7, 8 being joined to form a bow extending between the gripping members 10,11.

In Figure 6, a garment hanger comprises a hook 41 which is mounted in a label carrying portion 42, adapted to receive a label on a front face 43 not shown in the drawing. Label carrying portion 42 is integrally formed with laterally extending members 44, 45 to form a support frame. Arms 46, 47 are slidably received in jaws 48, 49, 50, 51 provided on the members 44, 45. The tips of the jaws are formed to be resilient so that the arms 46, 47 can be snapped through the jaw tips into position inside the jaws.

Arms 46, 47 are joined by a resilient loop 52.

Advantageously, the arms 46, 47 and loop 52 are integrally formed. Loop 52 sits against the back 53 of the label carrying portion 42. The outer ends of the arms 46, 47 are provided with gripping members 54, 55 which extends perpendicularly from the arms and are arranged to be substantially vertical when the hanger is in use. Outer faces 56, 57 are provided with corrugations to enhance the frictional grip on a garment. Hooks 58, 59 are formed at upper ends of the members 56, 57.

To hang a garment such as a skirt, one of the arms 46,47, say arm 46, is located in the waistband of the skirt, with the gripping member 54 against the waistband, the upper edge of which is received in the hook end 58. The arms 46,47 are then compressed towards one another, for example by urging the frame 42,44,45 towards the gripping member 54, and the gripping member 55 of arm 47 is located against the waistband, diametrically opposite mem ber 54. The arms 46,47 are then urged apart, by loop 52,to hold the waistband undertension. Frictional engagement between the corrugated faces 56, 57 and the skirt waistband prevents the waistband slipping off the hanger. Loop 52 may readily accom modate variations in garment size.However to accommodate garments of widely different sizes, it is preferred to provide a range of integral arm units 46,47, 52 the arms being of different lengths and each receivable in a common frame 42,44,45.

Preferably, the frame and arm units are each integrally formed of pastics material. Hook 41 may be integrally formed of plastics or may be, for example, of metal and rotatably mounted in the frame.

Figure 8 shows a garment hanger having a cross-piece 21 for carrying trousers or the like.

A label carrying portion 22 receives a hook (not shown) in socket 23 in a manner similar to that of the embodiment of Figure 6. Cross-piece 21 is connected to label portion 22 by arms 23,24 which extend substantially parallel to the cross-piece. The arms 24, 25 and cross-piece 21 are of I cross-section to enhance rigidity but other cross-sections may be employed. The label receiving portion 22 is spaced a few millimetres eg 1.5 mm from the cross-piece 21.

In use the cross-piece 21 and label receiving portion 22 are eased apart as the legs of a pair of trousers are fed through the loop formed by members 21,22,24, 25. The trousers are then gripped between the label portion 22 and cross-piece 21. The label carrying portion may be of narrow cross-section to provide a degree of flexibility. The garment hanger may be integrally formed from plastics material.

In the embodiment of Figure 11, a clip 30 having a generally H shaped cross-section is slidably located between a label carrying portion 31 and cross-piece 21. Upper legs 32,33 of the clip extend either side of the label portion 31 and lower legs 34,35 are splayed to receive the upper flange of the cross-piece 21.

Lower legs 34,35 may be replaced by a single leg, the clip being held in position against a garment on the cross-piece 21 by legs 32, 33 gripping label portion 31. Nibs may be provided on the label portion 31 to provide a stop for legs 32,33 to hold the clip in position against a garment. Alternatively an additional clipping or latching member may be provided. Also, the clip 30 may be a loose fit about the label portion, and so held against the cross-piece by legs 34,35.

To place a pair of trousers on the hanger, the clip 30 is slid away from the cross-piece 21 and then slid back to grip the trousers between the clip 30 and the cross-piece 21.

The clip 30 will be produced separately to the main member 21,24,25,31 and so the distance between the lower end of label position 31 and the crosspiece 21, and the height of the clip is arrange to facilitate location of the clip on the hanger. The hanger may be formed from plastics material.

Various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is desired to include all such modifications as come within the scope of the patent warranted hereon.

Claims (10)

1. A garment hanger comprising a hook structure and a pair of arm members extending laterally from said hook structure for supporting a garment at outer ends of the arms, at least one of said arm members comprising upper and lower upwardly extending resilient members, the outer ends of the members, distal of the hook structure, being joined by a garment gripping member, wherein when the garment gripping member is urged towards said hook structure the said at least one arm member will deform resiliently, the upper member deforming more than the lower member to tilt the garment gripping member towards the hook structure.

2. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the arm members are substantially identical.

3. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the hook structure comprises a hook and a stem extending downwardly from the hook, the arm members extending laterally from the lower end of the stem, distal of the hook.

4. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the said at least one arm member is concave towards the hook structure, the upper member having a greater curvature than the lower member.

5. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the upper member is configured to bend by a substantial amount along a limited portion of its length.

6. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lower members are connected to each other to form a bow.

7. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a label bearing portion is provided at a position above the level of the garment gripping members.

8. A garment hanger comprising a hook and a pair of arms extending laterally of the hook, wherein at least one of the arms is biassed away from the hook in the lateral direction, the arm or arms being integrally formed with a biassing means.

9. A garment hanger comprising a cross-piece for support a garment and gripping means for clamping the garment against the cross-piece.

10. A garment hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.