GB2167483A - Hanger - Google Patents

Abstract

The hanger comprises a support base (4) which has a boss (41) thereon, the boss (41) including a boss reinforcing member (44) formed integrally on its rear surface, and an aperture (42) extending through the boss (41) and the boss reinforcing member (44) and two openings (43) provided respectively on two opposite sides of the boss (41) and extending onto the boss reinforcing member (44) from the boss (41); a hook member (5) which has a hook portion (52) for hanging objects on, and two forked ends (51) respectively inserted into the openings (43) and positioned on the boss reinforcing member (44); and a fastening member (6) engaged into the aperture (42) for fastening the support base (4) onto a wall or ceiling. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hanger The present invention is related to a hanger, and more particularly to an improved hanger which simplifies the manufacturing process, reduces the cost, and on which a relatively heavy object can be hung.

Hangers are prevalently used in daily living, such as for hanging clothes, ornaments, paintings, mirrors, and so on. In general, there are three specific kinds of conventional hangers commercially available in the market, as shown in Figures 1 to 3 of respectively. Referring to Figure 1, a first hanger consists of a support body 11, and a hook member 12. Although such a hanger is of simple structure, and can be easily manufactured, several disadvantanges still exist, such as the following: (a). Since the first hanger utilizes a tape with both its sides covered with an adhesive material to secure it on to the wall, the first hanger style does not allow the placing of a heavy object upon it.

(b). Once the first hanger is slantingly secured on the wall, it is often difficult to remove the first hanger, and then fasten it again in a straight position because this action will affect the adhesive property of the adhesive tape.

(c). Even though the adhesive tape has the ability for bearing the weight of a relatively heavy object, the support body 11 can not provide the same function for lack of a reinforcing structure.

(d). Since the first hanger lacks a retainer, when the first hanger is fastened on the ceilng, the hook member 12 will be easily urged to swing by an external force. Thus, it may make the first hanger unable to firmly secure on the ceiling and it also may cause it to easily fall down from the ceiling.

In Figure 2, a second hanger consists of a support body 21 which has a hook portion 211 and a boss 212 thereon, three nails 22, and a cover 23. The cover 23 is enagaged with the boss 212 for ornamental purpose after the nails 22 are hammered into the wall. Although this assembled hanger is capable of bearing a heavier weight than the first hanger shown in Figure 1, several disadvantages still exist, such as following: (a). The hook portion 211 is integrated with the support body 21, and thus, it can not rotate with respect to the support body 21. This limits the use of such a hanger.

(b). The particular nails 22 which do not have nail heads, and which are used for fastening the support body 21 on the wall, must be manufactured by a special process which causes the cost of the hanger to become expensive.

(c). The bearing ability of weight on the hook portion 211 is limited by the material of the support body 21, and thus, a significant increase in bearing ability is not practical.

In Figure 3, a third hanger consists of a support body 31, a rotating member 32, a connector 33, and a hook member 34. The support body 31 has two concentric annular bosses 311,312, and an aperture 313 thereon. A hollow, cylindrical protrusion 321 extending from the rotating member 32 is inserted into the aperture 313, and welded together with the connector 33, so that the rotating member 32 and the connector 33 are formed as an integral unit. Since the outer diameter of the protrusion 321 is smaller than the diameter of the aperture 313, the rotating member 32 can rotate in relation to the support body 31. Two forked ends of the hook member 34 are respectively inserted into two grooves 322 on two opposite sides of the rotating member 32.Although such hanger is adapted to fasten on any inclined wall, and rotate to any position for hanging objects on, several disadvantages still exist, such as following: (a). Since the third hanger includes many different elements which must be respectively formed by means of various molds, and the connection between the rotating member 32 and the connector 33 must be achieved by a welding process, the cost of the third hanger is comparatively expensive.

(b). As the first hanger shown in Figure 1, the third hanger also utilizes adhesive tape to fasten itself onto the wall or ceiling, and lacks any reinforcing structure, therefore, it is impossible to hang a relatively heavy objects on the third hanger.

A hanger according to one preferred embodiment of the preserit invention intends to improve on the above-described disadvantages.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved hanger on which a comparable heavy object can be hung, in addition, it also can achieve the same hanging function, even when being fastened on an inclined wall or ceiling.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hanger which can freely rotate with respect to the wall.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hanger which simplifies the manufacturing process, it is unnecessary for a worker to further assemble, and thus, the cost is significantly reduced.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the hanger comprises a support base which has a boss thereon, the boss including a boss reinforcing member which is integrally formed on its rear surface, an aperture extending through the boss and the boss reinforcing member, and two openings respectively provided on two opposite sides of the boss and extending onto the boss reinforcing membey from the boss; a hook member which has a hook portion for hanging things on, and two forked ends respectively inserted into the openings of the boss and positioned on the boss reinforcing member, in which the boss reinforcing member provides the forked ends of the hook member with further support; and a fastening member engaged into the aperture, and fastening the support base onto a wall or ceiling.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the boss is hollow, and the boss reinforcing member partitions the rear part of the boss into two first cavities for facilitating the ejection of the support base from the mold upon forming by the injection molding process.

In accordance with yet another feature of the present invention, the fastening member is a steel nail which is easily obtained from the market, therefore the hanger can bear a comparably large weight, but the manufacturing process of the fastening member is eliminated.

In accordance with yet another feature of the present invention, a cover on which a pattern is printed by a screen printing process, covers the front surface of the boss for ornamental purposes.

The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form an integral part of this application and in which: Figure I is a perspective view of a first conventional hanger; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a second conventional hanger showing a situation before fastening on the wall; Figure 3 is an exploded view of a third conventional hanger; Figure 4 is an exploded view of a hanger in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is rear elevational view of the support base of the hanger shown in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the hanger taken along the A-A line of Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings, Figures 4 to 6 show one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 4, an improved hanger comprises a support base 4, a hook member 5, and a fastening member 6.

The support base 4 has a hollow boss 41 thereon, which includes a boss reinforcing member 44 integrally formed on its rear surface, and has an aperture 42 extending through the boss 41 and the boss reinforcing member 44, particularly shown in Figure 6. Two openings 43 are provided on two opposite sides of the boss 41 respectively, and each opening extends not only through the boss 41 but also a little distance through the boss reinforcing member 44 as particularly shown in Figure 5. Two first cavities 47 are formed between the boss 41 and the boss reinforcing member 44 not only for decreasing the material used, but also for facilitating the ejection of the support base 4 from the mold upon forming by an injection molding process.

The hook member 5 includes a hook portion 52 for hanging objects on, and two forked ends 51 respectively inserted into the openings 43 and positioned on the reinforcing member 44. Since the forked ends 51 are slightly smaller than the openings 43, the hook member 5 can easily rotate to a proper position so as to accommodate the force direction applied by the hanging object. Two grooves 431 are provided on the boss 41 and beside their respective openings 43 for receiving and retaining the hook member 5 in a position perpendicular to the support base 4, when the force direction applied by the hanging object is closely perpendicular to the support base 4. Therefore, when the hanger of the present invention is fastened on a ceiling, for example, the hook member 5will not be urged to swing by an external force.

The fastening member 6 which is used to fasten the support base 4 onto the wail or ceiling, is preferably a steel nail as shown in Figure 4, but it is understandable that the fastening member 6 also can be an iron nail, a screw, or the like. The reasons of employing the steel nail as the fastening member 6 are as follows, it is capable of bearing a relatively large weight, it can be easily obtained from the market, and it is favourable to eliminate the manufacturing process of the fastening member 6. It should be noted that the aperture 42 consists of a front frusto-conical cavity 421 and a rear cylindrical cavity 422.The head 61 of the fastening member 6 is slightly smaller than that of the front frusto-conical cavity 421, and the diameter of the body of the fastening member 6 is also slightly smaller than that of the cylindrical cavity 422, and thus, when the fastening member 6 secures the hanger on the wall or ceiling, the support base 4 is still able to rotate in relation to the fastening member 6.

Particularly referring to Figure 4 and Figure 6, the boss 4 further has two holes 45,46, and a flange 411 upwardly extending from the periphery thereof for defining a received cavity 412 between the front surface of the boss 4 and the flange 411. A cover 7 on which a pattern may be printed by a screen printing process, is accommodated within the received cavity 412 for ornamental purposes by means of two pins 71,72 of the cover 7 is respectively engaged into the holes 45, 46.

Since the boss reinforcing member 44 is arranged to further support the fastening member 6 and the forked ends 51,the supporting ability of the support base 4 is significantly strengthened. Moreover, since the support base 4 is capable of rotating in relation to the fastening member 6, the hanger of the present invention will automatically rotate to its straight position, when an object is hung on the hanger.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understook that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment but on the contrary, is intented to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modification and equivalent structures.

Claims (7)

1. A hanger comprising: a support base which has a boss thereon, said boss including a boss reinforcing member integrally formed on its rear surface, an aperture extending through said boss and said boss reinforcing member, adapted to receive a nail when said support base is nailed on a wall or ceiling, and two openings respectively provided on two opposite sides of said boss and extending onto said boss reinforcing member from said boss; and a hook member which has a hook portion for hanging objects on, and two forked ends respectively inserted into said openings of said boss and positioned on said boss reinforcing member, in which said boss reinforcing member provides said forked ends of said hook member with further support.

2. A hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said boss is hollow, and said boss reinforcing member partitions the rear part of said boss into two first cavities for facilitating the ejection of said support base from a mold upon forming by an injection molding process,

3. A hanger as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a fastening member inserted into said aperture, and fastening said support base onto a wall or ceiling.

4. A hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein said aperture consists of a front frusto-conical cavity and a rear cylindrical cavity, the head of said fastening member is slightly smaller than said front frustoconical cavity, and the diameter of the body of said fastening member is also slightly smaller than that of said rear cylindrical cavity, so that when said fastening member secures said support base on the wall, said support base is able to rotate in relation to said fastening member.

5. A hanger as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein said fastening member is a steel nail.

6. A hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said boss includes a hole therethrough, and a flange upwardly extending from the periphery thereof for defining a received cavity between the front surface of said boss and said flange; and further comprising a cover which has a pin, accommodated within said received cavity by means of said pin engaged into said hole.

7. A hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.