GB2217980A - Garment hanger - Google Patents

Abstract

A garment hanger comprising first means (1) for supporting one end of the garment, the first means (1) being provided with suspension means (4) by which the overall hanger can be attached to display means, second means (7) attachable to the first means (1) and, in use, extending therefrom, and third means (11) attachable to the second means (7) and being spaced from the first means (1), the third means (7) being provided with fourth means (12) operable to receive and hold part of another end of the garment opposite to said one end. <IMAGE>

Description

GARMENT HANGER This invention relates to a garment hanger and more particularly, although not exclusively, to a hanger for knitwear, the hanger serving to display the garment in the form in which a potential customer can appreciate the product but also in a form in which the garment is folded so as to occupy, when on display, a generally vertical distance which is less than the vertical distance occupied by the unfolded product.

There is an ever increasing demand to better utilise the available display areas in shops, stores, and the like so as to be able to maximise the number of products on display, consistent with presenting each product in a manner which will provide the necessary sales appeal. To this end, it is already known to provide a garment hanger provided with means which enable the garment to be folded about a transverse line so that the tail of the garment can be folded up and secured behind the body portion of the garment in order to reduce the generally vertical display distance occupied by that garment.However, the garment hangers available to date suffer from certain disadvantages, one of which is that it is difficult to stabilise the garment on the hanger so that there is a tendency, especially with massive customer handling, for the garment to slip to one side, if not actually fall off, the basic hanger even though that garment may be enclosed within some form of transparent packaging.

An o th e r problem is that linown hangers have provided insufficient support for the garment as a whole, whereby the garment can become less than well presented to the potential customer.

According to the present invention there is provided a garment hanger comprising first means for supporting one end of a garment, the first means being provided with suspension means by which the overall hanger can be attached to display means, second means attachable to the first means and, in use, extending therefrom, and third means attachable to the second means and being spaced from the first means, the third means being provided with fourth means operable to receive and hold part of another end of the garment opposite to said one end.

The arrangement of the first and second means is preferably such that at least a portion of the garment is retained between these two components in order to stabilise the garment on the hanger.

The first and third means preferably extend generally parallel to each other and, in use, generally transverse of the garment so as to provide lateral support for the garment and hence serve to assist in maintaining the garment in the desired display width.

The second means may be such as to extend beyond the third means so as to serve to retain the garment in the desired displayed length. In such an arrangement, the second means may extend to the transverse fold of the garment arising from the attachment of the said other end of the garment to the fourth means.

The second means may be in the form of an elongated member or strap which is attachable at one end to the first means and attachable to the third means either at or towards the other end or intermediate its ends. The form of attachment may be of various kinds but is preferably of the type in which a headed stud or studs is or are provided on one component and a corresponding aperture or apertures provided in the other component, whereby the two components are snap-fitted together. The same form of attachment means may be used to attach the second means to the third means.The second means may comprise one, thO or more elongated members or straps and preferably comprises a plurality of attachment points for the third means so that the spacing between the first and third means may be varied to suit the size and/or type of garment being displayed.

If the second means are in the form in which they extend beyond the third means so as to maintain, in use, the display length of the garment, these means are preferably curved or otherwise formed at the end about which the garment is folded in order to avoid snagging of the garment.

A garment hanger in accordance with the present invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a first component of the hanger, Figure 2 is a view from below of Figure 1, Figure 3 if a rear view of the component of Figure 1, Figure 4 is a front view of a second component of the hanger, Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4, Figure .6 is a rear view of Figure 4, Figure 7 is a front view of a third component of the hanger, Figure 8 is a view from below of Figure Figure 9 is a rear view of Figure 7, Figure 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line X-X of Figure 9, Figure 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view o the line XI-XI of Figure 5, Figure 12 shows the assembly of the first, second and third component of the hanger and Figures 13 to 17 show various stages in the assembly of the hanger of Figures 1-12 in order to display a garment.

The hanger of the accompanying drawings is constructed for use with a garment for the upper torso of a person such as a blouse or sweater and Figures 1-3 illustrate a first component of the hanger in the form of a conventional clothes or coat hanger 1 for supporting the shoulders of a garment with which it is to be used, this support being provided by a pair of arms 2. The arms 2 extend from a central portion of the component 1 which is provided with a label-carrying area 3 to which can be attached an identification, size, etc. label for the garment and from which area extends a support hook 4 for suspending the overall hanger and garment supported thereby from a display rail, wardrobe rail or the like.

As seen from Figures 2 and 3, the arms 2 of the first component 1 are provided with a reinforcing rib 5 along the upper edge thereof and the rear of the label-carrying area 3 is provided with a pair of headed studs 6 which will be referred to in greater detail hereinafter.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a second component of the overall hanger in the form of an elongated member or strap 7 having a bifurcated upper end the limbs 8 of which carry on one side recessed extensions 9 which, in use, receive the studs 6 provided on the rear of the label-carrying area 3 of the first component 1. The main body of the strap 7 is provided with a plurality of further recessed extensions 9 for a purpose to be described.

Figures 7 to 9 illustrate a third component 11 of the overall hanger in the form of a generally elongated member having a central portion carrying a pair of headed studs 6 similar to those provided on the rear of the label-carrying portion 3 of the first component 1 and cooperable with a respective pair of recessed extensions 9 on the main body of the strap or second component 7.

At each end of the third component 11 there is provided means 12 for receiving and locating the tail of the garment with which the hanger is to be used. More specifically, the means 12 are in the form of three flexible fingers 13 which are operable to grip the tail of the garment as will be described.

Referring now to Figures 10 and 11, these illustrate in greater detail the various headed studs 6 and the recessed extensions 9, respectively.. It will be seen that each stud 6 comprises a cylindrical body portion 14 provided with a slightly greater diameter head 15. Each recessed extension 9 comprises a hollow cylindrical portion 16 of the same diameter as the body portion 14 of the stud 6 and is provided with a radially inwardly extending peripheral bead 17 which thus reduces the effective diameter of the recess at that point. When a stud 6 is offered into a recessed extension 9, the head 15 is a push fit into the basic recess and then has to be forced or snapped over the peripheral bead 17.Thus, when a stud 6 has been assembled into a recessed extension 9, the two components to which they are respectively attached are securely secured together and are not readily released.

Figure 12 of the drawings illustrates the fully assembled garment hanger of Figures 1-11 but without a garment being supported thereby. It will be seen from this figure that the first and third components 1 ad 11 extend generally parallel to one another in the assembled hanger and are spaced apart, this spacing being variable by selecting the recessed extensions 9 to be engaged by the studs 6 of the third component 11.

Turning now to Figure 13-16, these illustrate the use of the garment hanger of Figures 1-12 with an actual garment which is illustrated as a knitted sweater or jumper. Firstly, the basic clothes hanger or first component 1 is inserted into the rieck of the garment so that the arms 2 thereof support the neck of the garment and the sleeves of the garment are then folded to the rear so as to define the required display width of the garment. This first step of assembly is illustrated in Figure 13. Figure 14 illustrates the next stage of assembly in which the second component or strap 7 is attached to the first component 1 by engaging the studs 6 on the rear of the label-carrying area 3 with the recessed extensions 9 on the bifurcated end of the strap 7.As a result, the rear of the neck of the garment is actually trapped between the strap 7 and the first component 1, whereby the sweater is stabilised or securely retained in position on the first component and this is a preferred feature of the present invention.

Thus, the garment cannot slip along the arms 2 of the first component and either fall therefrom or become disarranged to the extent that the garment is not well displayed from the aesthetic display standpoint.

The next stage of assembly is to attach the third component 11 to the second component or strap 7 at the required position, depending on the length of the garment in question (e.g. child or adult garment) by engaging the studs 6 on the third component 11 with the selected pair of recessed extensions 9 on the strap 7 (Figure 15). The tail of the garment is then folded about a transverse line and the tail located and retained in the fingers 13 at the ends of the third component 11 as illustrated in Figure 16. The garment is now in its basic display form and if it is required that the garment be Lontained within a transparent bag or other packaging, then this is done so that the final form is as shown Figure 17 of the drawings. However, it will be appreciated that the use of a display bag or package is not essential.

With the present invention, the display width of the garment is retained by the first component 1 and the third component 11 of the hanger and, depending on the length of the second component or strap 7, the display length of the garment may be retained by the nonbifurcated end of the strap.

Thus, the present invention affords a very simple, but effective, hanger for a garment which can be used to display a garment to the best / advantage and yet minimising the display area occupied by that garment.

Furthermore, the hanger retains the garment in a good display manner so as to retain its sales appeal even though the garment package will inevitably be handled by potential customers.

The embodiment of the hanger illustrated in the accompanying drawings can be varied. For example, a pair of second components or strap 7 may be provided.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the type of fastener used to secure the first, second and third components together may be other than that illustrated.

Also, the shape of the basic clothes hanger 1 can be varied to suit the type of garment with which the hanger is to be used.

The hanger may be moulded from a plastics material, such as polypropylene, or otherwise constructed from similar or different materials.

Claims (14)

1. Garment hanger comprising first means for supporting one end of a garment, the first means being provided with suspension means by which the overall hanger can be attached to display means, second means attachable to the first means and, in use, extending therefrom, and third means attachable to the second means and being spaced from the first means, the third means being provided with fourth means operable to receive and hold part of another end of the garment opposite to said one end.

2. A hanger according to claim 1. wherein the first and second means are arranged such that at least a portion of the garment is retained between these two components in order, in use, to stabilise the garment on the hanger.

3. A hanger according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first and third means extend generally parallel to each other and, in use, generally transverse of the garment so as to provide lateral support for the garment and hence serve to assist in maintaining the garment in the desired display width.

4. A hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second means extends beyond the third means so as to serve to retain the garment in the desired display length.

D. A hanger according to claim 4, wherein the second means extends to the transverse fold of the garment arising from the attachment of said other end of the garment to the fourth means.

6. A hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second means is in the form of an elongated member attachable at one end to the first means and attachable to the third means remote from said one end.

7. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein the second means is attachable to the third means at or towards the end thereof opposite said one end which is attachable to the first means.

8. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein the second means is attachable to the third means intermediate its ends.

9. A hanger according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the second means comprises a plurality of attachment points for the third means so that the spacing between the first and third means may be varied to suit the size and/or type of garment being displayed.

10. A hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein means are provided for attaching the first means and second means, and attaching the second means and third means, the attachment means being of the snap- fitting type.

11. A hanger according to claim 6, and any claim appended thereto, wherein the second means is in the form of a plurality of elongated members.

12. A hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second means are curved or otherwise formed at the end of about which the garment is folded in order to avoid snagging of the garment.

13. A hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the fourth means are in the form of clip means operable, in use, to grip the tail of the garment.

14. A hanger substantially as herein particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.