GB2325955A - Garment holder - Google Patents

Abstract

A garment holder for temporarily securing small articles for a washing operation, the holder comprising a plate (4) of springy material which includes two slits (3) which are located so as to cross one another, the ends of the slits being arranged to lie within the periphery of the plate (4). This gives a simple holder which is capable of retaining two socks of a pair together and is intended for use in a washing machine.

Description

GARMENT HOLDER This invention relates to a garment holder. It relates particularly to a holder that can be used to secure two small articles together when the articles are required to be washed in a washing machine. The holder can be used to secure two items of a pair such as socks, stockings or gloves together when the articles for washing are loaded into the machine.

This therefore makes the task of sorting the washed clothes very much simpler particularly of the clothes of a large family are all mixed together during the washing process. By use of the garment holder, the pair of articles may be taken from the washing machine, put through a tumbler drying stage and perhaps even kept together as a pair until the articles are next required to be worn.

There have been attempts in the past to provide a clip which would form a temporary holder for two socks of a pair.

One example of this article is disclosed in patent application No. GB2278390A. The construction disclosed in this application relies on a pair of spring loaded jaws which are serrated on their inner surfaces in order to provide a good grip on the two socks of a pair when the socks are placed therein. The fact that the jaws are provided with teeth and also that the holder needs to have protruding finger tab arms means that there are points that would tend to catch in other garments during the washing operation with the risk of snagging or tearing the other items in the washing load.

The present invention was devised to provide a garment holder which avoids the use of any sharp projections and has smooth surfaces so that the risk of damaging other garments in the machine is minimised.

According to the invention, there is provided a garment holder for temporarily securing small articles for a washing operation, the holder comprising a plate of springy material which includes two slits which are located so as to cross one another, the ends of the slits being arranged to lie within the periphery of the plate. The plate periphery may be provided with an outer rim of thicker material such that the plate edge will be completely smooth with little risk of catching in adjacent fabric threads.

The garment holder may be arranged as a single plate which carries two sets of crossed slits.

The slit ends may be arranged so that each one terminates at a respective through hole in the plate material.

Preferably, the plate is formed of a moulded plastics or rubber material which is capable of withstanding the repeated exposure to detergent compositions and the temperatures expected in washing and drying machines. In an alternative embodiment, the plate is cut out of a preformed sheet of the chosen material in a pressing operation.

By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment, Figure 2 is a similar view of another embodiment, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line III-III in Figure 2, Figure 4 shows a further embodiment in plan and side views, and, Figure 5 shows a different embodiment in plan view.

As depicted in Figure 1, the garment holder 1 is formed as a disc of a plastics material having a diameter of 50 millimetres and being provided with a solid rim 2 of three millimetres in thickness. The shaping of the garment holder was effected by an injection moulding operation. Within the rim 2, the flat portion of the disc has a thickness of one millimetre and this portion has a cross shape cut through the thickness by means of two orthogonally-directed slits 3. The cross shape defined by the slits 3 causes four springy arms 4 to be formed in the disc material which arms are most flexible at about the centre point of the disc. The arms 4 therefore constitute a locking area of the disc which is very suitable for securely gripping one or two socks of a pair.

In operation of the garment holder, when the household washing load is being prepared for putting into the washing machine, the two socks of a pair are each grasped at one end and pushed together through the locking area of the holder.

The cross shape of the holder then serves to retain the two socks together throughout the washing and drying programme.

Upon completion of the programme, the socks may be pulled out of the holder and they may then be folded as a pair and put away until next required to be used.

Figure 2 shows an alternative construction of holder which has a generally oval shape and where the holder has two locking areas located in a side-by-side arrange.ment. In this embodiment, the holder measures 50 millimetres in breadth and 80 millimetres in length. The two locking areas thus allow each sock of a pair to be pushed separately into its own locking area before starting the washing operation. It will be noted that the Figure 2 embodiment includes a separation portion 5 which extends between the two locking areas in order to give extra strength to the construction.

The cross-sectional view of Figure 3 shows the scale of the holder outer rim 2 where the greater thickness of the rim serves to prevent the slits 3 from ever reaching the outside edge of the holder. It is possible that after a long period of use the slits might tend to increase in length and the thicker outer rim 2 of the holder ensures that the slits 3 are unlikely to reach the holder periphery. The outer rim 2 also ensures that the holder remains smooth around its periphery so that there will be no tendency for the holder parts to snag any threads or damage other washing items during use of the holder.

Figures 4 and 5 show further embodiments where the garment holder 1 units have been cut out of a preformed sheet of the chosen plastics or rubber material by a pressing operation. Each garment holder unit has therefore a uniform thickness which in this embodiment was one millimetre, over the whole of its area.

In the embodiments of Figures 4 and 5, the pairs of slits 3 are formed simultaneously during the pressing operation in which the outline of the garment holder body is cut out. In these embodiments, the slits 3 at the ends thereof have cut-out holes 7 which serve to terminate each slit 3. The cut-out holes 7 also tend to reduce any tendency for the plastics material to become torn and thus for the slits to become increased in length after a long period of use of the garment holder.

The material used for the construction of the garment holder can be a suitable plastics or rubber compound which is capable of withstanding the temperatures expected in washing and drying operations and also the actions of detergent compositions over a long lifetime.

The garment holder of the invention has been found to be a useful household article in facilitating the sorting of the items in a washing load for the different members of the family. If required, the garment holders may be manufactured with plastics materials of different colours so that the ownership of the different washing items can be easily identified.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the shapes and dimensions of the garment holders may differ from those specifically described.

Claims (8)

1 A garment holder for temporarily securing small articles for a washing operation, the holder comprising a plate of springy material which includes two slits which are located so as to cross one another, the ends of the slits being arranged to lie within the periphery of the plate.

2 A garment holder as claimed in Claim 1, in which the plate periphery includes an outer rim of thicker material.

3 A garment holder as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the plate area includes two pairs of slits.

4 A garment holder as claimed in Claim 3, in which the plate includes a separation portion which extends between the said two pairs of slits.

5 A garment holder as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which the slit ends are arranged so that each one terminates at a respective through hole in the plate material.

6 A garment holder as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the plate is formed of a moulded plastics or rubber material.

7 A garment holder as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the plate is shaped from a preformed sheet of a plastics or rubber material.

8 A garment holder, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.