GB2257354A

GB2257354A - Carriers for clothes hangers

Info

Publication number: GB2257354A
Application number: GB9214178A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Anthony Richard James; David Austin Burt
Original assignee: ITW Ltd
Current assignee: ITW Ltd
Priority date: 1991-07-05
Filing date: 1992-07-02
Publication date: 1993-01-13
Also published as: GB9214178D0

Abstract

A carrier 10 comprises, considered in one orientation, an elongate body 12 having handle means 14 capable of being grasped by a hand lifting from above the body, and having support means 16 capable of being loaded by workpieces hanging down below the body, a typical workpiece being a clothes hanger 18, and a lower surface 28 of the body 12 being curved to fit snugly on a rail 20, other carriers further comprising one or more swivel hooks and a security seal. <IMAGE>

Description

CARRIERS The present invention relates to carriers which have been proposed especially, but not exclusively, for allowing improvements in the handling of laden clothes hangers.

When transporting large numbers of clothes, for example from a manufacturer to a retailer, it is usual for the clothes to be hung from individual clothes hangers, whose hooks are themselves hung from a rail. To guard against soiling, groups of the laden clothes hangers may be totally enclosed apart from their hooks within protective overbags. The overbags may be attached to the laden clothes hangers by security seals, for example of the kind disclosed in our GB 1485288, which must be visibly broken to gain access to the clothes without tearing the overbags.

Security seals for this purpose are also known, for example from our GB 2142228, whose ends are formed as outwardly domed discs. It is possible for a bundle of laden clothes hangers, protective overbag and security seal to be carried by applying a compressive force to the domed discs of the security seal with the palms of the hands. It would be more convenient, however, if each bundle of laden clothes hangers, protective overbag and security seal could be lifted from above.

According to the present invention, a carrier comprises, considered in one,orientation, an elongate body having handle means capable of being grasped by a hand lifting from above the body and having support means capable of being loaded by workpieces hanging down below the body.

The workpieces may be a plurality of laden clothes hangers, optionally with protective overbag and security seal, but it would clearly be possible to use different workpieces.

Preferably, the body is moulded in one piece of a plastics material.

The body may be formed with a single opening, located centrally along the length of the body, said opening helping to constitute said handle means.

The body may also be formed with a series of apertures, separated from one another along the length of the body and extending laterally through opposed sides of the body, said apertures helping to constitute said support means.

Preferably, there are twelve of said apertures which are located in a line below said opening.

A lower surface of the body, below both said handle means and said support means, may be of part cylindrical profile, based on an axis parallel to the length of the body, to allow the carrier to seat snugly upon a rail of complementary cylindrical profile.

In a first modification, the carrier further comprises at least one apertured member allowing the carrier to be hung - preferably, there are a pair of the apertured members, each provided at a respective end of the body and each capable of being hung from a respective hook.

In a second modification, the carrier further comprises at least one swivel hook allowing the carrier to be hung - preferably, a swivel hook is provided for the or each of the previously described apertured members of the carrier, with the swivel hook(s) being removably secured to the apertured member(s).

In a third modification, the carrier further comprises a security seal - preferably, the security seal includes a row of male members and a complementary row of associated female members which, in use, can trap therebetween an overbag for clothes carried by.hangers which are themselves carried by the carrier.

Several carriers, in accordance with the present invention, will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first carrier also illustrating an associated rail and clothes hanger; Figures 2 and 3 are, respectively, a front view and a partially sectioned underneath view of the first carrier; Figure 4 is a front perspective view from above and one end of a second carrier; Figures 5 to 8 are, respectively, a rear view, a view of the other end, an underneath view and a front perspective view from above and one end in an alternative condition of the second carrier; Figure 9 is a front view of part of a third carrier; and Figures 10 to 12 are, respectively, a side view, a fragmentary perspective view and an underneath view of the third carrier.

Referring initially to Figures 1 to 3, a first carrier 10 in accordance with the present invention includes, considered in one orientation, an elongate body 12 having handle means 14 capable of being grasped by a hand lifting from above the body 12 and having support means 16 capable of being loaded by workpieces hanging down below the body 12.

Just part of a single workpiece has been indicated schematically as a typical clothes hanger 18 which does not contact a typical rail 20 directly but is separated therefrom by part of the carrier 10.

The handle means 14 includes a single central opening 22 defined on three sides by a handgrip 24. The support means 16 includes a line of twelve apertures 26 extending through opposed sides of the body 12.

A lower surface 28 of the body 12 is of part cylindrical outline complementary to the cylindrical outline of the rail 20.

In use, up to twelve laden clothes hangers similar to the clothes hanger 18 may be hung from the carrier 10 by inserting their hooks 30 through respective ones of the apertures 26. The number of apertures 26 to be used depends mainly on the thicknesses of the clothes on the clothes hangers 18. For example, all apertures may be used when thin clothes are being transported whereas fewer apertures may be used when thicker clothes are being transported. The carrier 10 with the laden clothes hangers 18 can be safely balanced on the rail 20 and can if required be easily slid along the rail 20. To remove the carrier 10, and thus the laden clothes hangers 18, it is merely necessary to lift by use of the handgrip 24.Even if the carrier 10 is tilted, the laden clothes hangers 18 are not crushed together because movement of their hooks 30 is restrained by the web-like parts of the body 12 separating the apertures 26.

As shown, the body 12 may be moulded in one piece of a plastics material and may be strengthened by being provided with reinforcing webs 32.

Referring now to Figures 4 to 8, a second carrier 140 in accordance with the present invention again includes an elongate body 142 moulded in one piece of a plastics material.

The body 142 has handle means 144 capable of being grasped by a hand lifting from above the body 142 and has support means 146 capable of being loaded by workpieces hanging down below the body 142.

The handle means 144, which need not necessarily be as illustrated, includes a single central opening 148 defined on three sides by a handgrip 150. The support means 146, which again need not necessarily be as illustrated, includes a line of a plurality of apertures 152 extending through opposed sides of the body 142. A lower surface 154 of the body 142 may be of part cylindrical outline complementary to the cylindrical outline of a tubular rail (not shown).

Each end of the body 142 is formed with a flange 156 having a hole 158 therethrough - flanges 156 may be continuations of a webbed part of the handgrip 150, and the holes 158 may be of circular outline so that one or both of the holes 158 can be hung from a respective hook.

Preferably, however, each of the holes 158 is of keyhole outline, including a circular portion 160 of smaller diameter overlapping a circular portion 162 of larger diameter, and is surrounded on both sides of the body 142 by an upstanding rib 164 yet is still capable of being hung from the tubular rail by a respective bent wire hook (not shown).

More preferably, each of the holes 158 is removably engageable with a respective swivel hook 166. Each of the swivel hooks 166 may be moulded in one piece of a plastics material to include a curved arm 168 of H-shape in crosssection. A bracing portion 170 of X-shape extends along a central portion of each side of the curved arm 168.

The portion of each of the swivel hooks 166 to be removably secured to a respective one of the holes 158 may be of any convenient construction and in some constructions may be a snap fit (not shown).

In one arrangement, there are two circular planar discs 172, 174 separated by a bearing 176 which may be defined by a pair of orthogonally intersecting webs whose free ends lie on a circle of diameter substantially corresponding to that of the smaller circular portion 160 of the hole 158 to permit the bearing 176 to be rotatable in abutment with the rib 164 surrounding said smaller circular portion 160 of the hole 158.

Assembly and disassembly of the or each of the swivel hooks 166 is permitted by ensuring that the disc 172 and the arm 168 have dimensions in cross-section no greater than the diameter of the larger circular portion 162 of the hole 158. The entire swivel hook 166, apart from the disc 174, can then be passed through said larger circular portion 162 of the hole 158. The swivel hook 166 is then shifted to bring the bearing 176 into the smaller circular portion 160 of the hole 158. The rib 164 surrounding the smaller circular portion 160 of the hole 158 is then in abutment with and sandwiched between the discs 172, 174.

The disc 174 is of a diameter greater than both of the circular portions 160, 162 of the hole 158 to ensure that inadvertent disassembly cannot occur during use.

It will be appreciated that a single swivel hook 166 could be used so that the second carrier 140 hangs substantially perpendicularly from a tubular rail, or, two of the swivel hooks 166 could be used so that the second carrier 140 hangs substantially parallel to the tubular rail.

Referring finally to Figures 9 to 12, a third carrier 100 in accordance with the present invention has an upper portion similar to the carrier of present Figures 1 to 3 and has a lower portion presenting a two-part seal 102 similar to that disclosed in our British patent No.

1485288.

The seal 102 includes a strip 104 presenting a series, such as four, female members 106 each having a tube 108 enclosing resiliently deflectable means 110. Each of the resiliently deflectable means 110 is capable of snap engagement with a head 112, such as an arrowhead, formed on an associated male member 114 projecting from a separate strip 116. The strip 116 may be moulded in one piece of a plastics material. One end of the strip 116 may be formed with a handle 118 allowing release of the seal 102 by pulling to rupture the snap connection and release a plastics overbag (not shown) trapped between the strips 104 and 116. If the body part of the third carrier 100 (shown in Figure 9) is to be reusable, each of the male members 114 may be weakened at a position below the associated arrowhead 112. The lower portion of said body part is connected to the upper portion by a pair of straps 120.

Each of the straps 120 has a hinge 122 allowing use of the third carrier 100 with different shapes of workpieces i.e.

different shapes of hook for the clothes hangers.

It will be clear that the manner of use of the seal 102 is essentially similar to that described in our abovementioned British patent No. 1485288 and it will further be appreciated that the seal 102 could be applied to the second carrier 140 to provide even greater versatility.

Claims

1. A carrier comprising, considered in one orientation, an elongate body having handle means capable of being grasped by a hand lifting from above the body and having support means capable of being loaded by workpieces hanging down below the body.

2. A carrier according to claim 1, in which the body is moulded in one piece of a plastics material.

3. A carrier according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the body is formed with a single opening, located centrally along the length of the body, said opening helping to constitute said handle means.

4. A carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the body is formed with a series of apertures, separated from one another along the length of the body and extending laterally through opposed sides of the body, said apertures helping to constitute said support means.

5. A carrier according to claim 3 and claim 4, in which there are twelve of said apertures which are located in a line below said opening.

6. A carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which a lower surface of the body, below both said handle means and said support means, is of part cylindrical profile, based on an axis parallel to the length of the body, to allow the carrier to seat snugly upon a rail of complementary cylindrical profile.

7. A carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising at least one apertured member allowing the carrier to be hung.

8. A carrier according to claim 7, in which there are a pair of the apertured members, each provided at a respective end of the body and each capable of being hung from a respective hook.

9. A carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising at least one swivel hook allowing the carrier to be hung.

10. A carrier according to claim 9, and either claim 7 or claim 8, in which a swivel hook is provided for the or each of the apertured members.

11. A carrier according to claim 10, in which the swivel hook(s) are removably secured to the apertured member(s).

12. A carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a security seal.

13. A carrier according to claim 12, in which the security seal includes a row of male members and a complementary row of associated female members.

14. A carrier substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3, Figures 4 to 8, or Figures 9 to 12, of the accompanying drawings.

15. A carrier according to any preceding claim when loaded by workpieces in the form of a plurality of laden clothes hangers.