GB2336300A

GB2336300A - Garment hanger

Info

Publication number: GB2336300A
Application number: GB9806561A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Joseph Hunt
Original assignee: Braitrim UK Ltd
Current assignee: Braitrim UK Ltd
Priority date: 1998-03-26
Filing date: 1998-03-26
Publication date: 1999-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 2018-03-26
Also published as: GB2336300B; GB2336300A9; GB9806561D0; DE29814651U1

Abstract

A garment hanger has a removable vignette comprising a plate 1 for displaying information on a front surface thereof. The vignette also has at least one connection device 3 extending outwardly from a rear surface of the plate for releasably mounting the vignette on a hanger body 7. The connection device is hook-shaped and engages a corresponding aperture 5 in the hanger body with an opening 8 of the hook forming an interference fit with the hanger body.

Description

1 GARMENT HANGER 2336300 This invention relates to a garment hanger having

a removable vignette.

It is well known when displaying garments on garment hangers for sale to potential customers it is necessary to provide sufficient information for the customer to determine quickly at least the size of the garment being displayed. Such information has been supplied by sticking printed labels onto the front face of the garment hanger or by applying information to a vignette which is then fixed on the garment hanger.

Vignettes can comprise, as shown in Fig. 7, an elongate rectangular plate (1) having a major planar rear surface (4) from which extends outwardly and perpendicularly thereto one or more posts (3) which have inwardly tapered outer surfaces for insertion into apertures (5) in front face (6) of the garment hanger (7) to mount the vignette on the hanger. The appropriate information to be displayed to the customer is located on a planar front surface (17) of the vignette.

Such vignettes are often difficult to apply to the garment hangers because of the difficulty in ensuring that a central elongate axis of the posts (3) projecting from the rear surface (4) of the vignette are laterally spaced by the same distance as holes (5) in the garment hanger (7) which are to receive the posts. While the reduced diameter outer ends of the tapered posts (3) assist in engagement of the posts in the holes (5) the tolerance in the spacing between the holes or between the posts is such that when a vignette is pushed against the garment hanger (7) the posts and holes can be significantly out of line one with the other causing undue forces to be applied laterally relative to the 2 elongate axis of the posts, which weaken or stress the posts and leads to early breakage of the posts. Furthermore, when the vignette (1) is mounted upon hanger (7) for display of information the vignette may not lie properly against the front face (6) of the garment hanger making the garment hanger and mounted vignette of very untidy appearance. When it is necessary to remove the vignettes and to replace them with the same or another vignette, leverage pressure upon the posts (3), while the vignette is being manipulated to remove from the garment hanger, leads to weakening or breaking of the posts rendering the vignettes unsuitable for further use.

Increased utility of such vignettes has been achieved by improving the accuracy, that is the tolerances, between the spacing of the posts and also the spacing of the apertures into which the posts are located in use. However, reduction in the tolerances requires a much higher degree of accuracy in the manufacture of the tools used to manufacture the vignettes and garment hangers resulting in a considerable increase in manufacturing costs.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a removable vignette in which the above mentioned problems are substantially eliminated.

According to the present invention there is provided A garment hanger having a removable vignette comprising a resilient plate adapted to display information on a front surface thereof, at least one connection device extending outwardly from a rear surface of the plate for mounting the vignette on the garment hanger, wherein the resilient plate is arranged to bend to allow insertion of the connection device into the apperture so that that an opening of the hook engages the wall of the garment 3 hanger on which the vignette is arranged to be mounted in use with an interference fit.

Conveniently, a mouth of the recess is wider than a bottom surface of the recess for accommodating different thicknesses of material of the garment hanger to which the vignette is to be applied.

Preferably, the hook includes a securing shoulder for holding the vignette within an aperture in the garment hanger on which the vignette is mounted in use.

Preferably, the securing shoulder is located on the side of the hook opposite to the side of the hook containing the recess. The securing shoulder is a side surface of a body extending outwardly from the rear surface of the vignette remote from the hook.

Preferably, in use, the hook extends upwardly at an acute angle relative to the rear major planar surface of the vignette and has outer curved corners for assisting the insertion of the hook into an aperture in the garment hanger in which the vignette is to be attached. Conveniently, an inwardly tapering surface within the recess of the hook ensures there is an interference fit between the inner surfaces of the recess and an edge of the aperture through which the hook extends thereby pulling the rear surface of the vignette directly into contact with the front surface of the garment hanger so that there are no gaps around the edges of the vignette resulting in a tidy looking product upon the garment hanger.

Preferably, a front face of the vignette is recessed for receiving information to be displayed thereon. Conveniently, the vignette is lmm in thickness and is of a resilient plastics material to enable removal of the 4 vignette from the garment hanger without damage to the hooks, thereby leaving the removable vignette in a reasonable condition for reuse.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view through a front face of a garment hanger having a vignette in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 in which a hook of the vignette is inserted through an aperture in the front face of the garment hanger; Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but in which an edge of the aperture In the front face of the garment hanger is located in a mouth of a recess in the hook with a securing shoulder located outside of the aperture; Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 3 in which an edge of the aperture is engaged with interference fit in the recess of the hook and the securing shoulder is engaged with an interference fit in the aperture; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating the manner of removal of the vignette from the garment hanger; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a rear surface of a vignette and a front surface of a garment hanger; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view similar to that in Fig. 6 but illustrating one known method of applying a vignette to a front face of a garment hanger.

The same reference numberals are used for like parts throughout the specification and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Fig. 1 discloses a garment hanger having a removable vignette comprising a plate (1) of elongate rectangular configuration having rounded corners (2), as shown in Fig. 6 and two hooks (3) extending outwardly from a rear major planar surface (4) of the vignettes for engagement with a respective aperture (5) in a front face (6) of a garment hanger body (7).

The hooks (3) each comprise a recess (8) defined between the rear surface (4) of plate (1) having in use an upper edge (9), and outwardly tapered surface (10) of the hook, a bottom surface (11) of the recess and a mouth (12). The recess (8) has a central axis (not shown) which extends in a direction parallel to the plane in which the rear surface of the vignette extends. The hooks (3) each lie at an accute angle relative to the rear major planar surface of the vignette and are of a flat plate-like shape with a plane of major surfaces thereof extending substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the rear major planar surface of the vignette. The plane of the major surfaces of the hook also extend in a direction from upper edge (9) to bottom surface (11) to provide a very strong hook in that direction.

A securing body (15) extends outwardly both from the hook on the side opposite to the side thereof containing the recess (8) and from the rear planar surface (4) of the vignette. The securing body ends in a shoulder (16) extending perpendicularly from the rear surface (4) of the vignette.

Front face (17) of the vignette has a recess (18) with an outer rim (19) within which information, preferably on a label, to be displayed to a customer is 6 mounted. The hook (3) extends at an acute angle relative to the major rear planar surface of the vignette towards the upper edge (9), is tapered inwardly and both outer corners of the hooks are curved for assisting insertion of the hook into aperture (5) in the hanger body (7).

The vignette is made from a resilient plastics material such as a polyester or a polyvinyl chloride and is approximately Imm in thickness from front to rear surface thereof.

As seen with reference to Figures 1 through 4 a vignette is mountable upon a front surface of the garment hanger to which it is to be attached by passing the hooks (3) through the apertures (5) in the garment hanger body (7) until, as shown in Fig. 2, the securing body (15) of the vignette contacts the outer front face of the garment hanger in the region, in use, of a lower edge (20) of the aperture (5).

The vignette lies parallel with the front face of the garment hanger body (7) and the mouth of the hook lies against the upper edge of the aperture (5) in the garment hanger body, because the securing body (15) prevents entry into aperture (5).

A force as indicated by the arrow F is applied to the vignette pushing an upper portion of the vignette above hooks (3) against the front surface of the garment hanger body (7), bending the vignette to allow each hook (3) to pass sufficiently through respective aperture (5) to enable the edge (9) of the garment hanger body to locate within the mouth of the recess (8) of each hook. The vignette is then slid upwardly until the upper edge of the aperture (5) and the tapered surface (10) of the recess interfere one with the other. At this point the shoulder (16) of the securing body (15) snap fits into 7 the aperture (5) until the force F causing a lower portion of the vignette to lie against the front face of the garment hanger. The shoulder (16) engages the lower edge (20) of the aperture (5) with an interference fit and assists in holding the vignette securely on the garment hanger body.

To remove the vignette from the garment hanger a force is applied in the direction of the arrow F in Fig. 5 whereupon the shoulder (16) and securing block (15) are disengaged from the respective aperture (5) bending the vignette outwardly and allowing the hook to move downwardly disengaging the upper edge of the aperture from the recess (8) and enabling the vignette to be removed from the garment hanger without undue force upon the hooks thereby avoiding any stress upon or breakage of the hooks of the vignette.

The particular advantageous feature of such a construction of a vignette in accordance with the present invention is that the vignette can be held firmly and securely against the front face of the hanger and the tolerances in the spacing between the apertures and between the hooks (3) on the vignette are sufficiently wide as to allow easy access of the hooks (3) into the apertures (5) without laterally stressing the hooks thereby enabling the vignettes to be repeatedly attached to and removed from garment hangers. Any force directed upon the vignette is substantially mainly in a direction extending parallel to the plane of the major rear surface of the vignette and from the recess (8) towards the securing body (15) of the vignette, that is in the direction of maximum strength of the hook.

8

Claims

CLAIMS:-

1. A garment hanger having a removable vignette comprising a resilient plate adapted to display information on a front surface thereof, at least one connection device extending outwardly from a rear surface of the plate for mounting the vignette on the garment hanger, wherein the resilient plate is arranged to bend to allow insertion of the connection device into the apperture so that that an opening of the hook engages the wall of the garment hanger on which the vignette is arranged to be mounted in use with an interference fit.

2. A hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein a mouth of the recess is wider than a bottom surface of the recess for accommodating different thicknesses of material of the garment hanger to which the vignette is to be applied.

3. A hanger as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the hook includes a securing shoulder for holding the vignette within an aperture in the garment hanger on which the vignette is mounted in use.

4. A hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein the securing shoulder is located on a side of the hook opposite to that side of the hook containing the recess.

5. A hanger as claimed in claim 4, wherein the securing shoulder is a side surface of a body extending outwardly from the rear surface of the vignette, remote from the hook.

6. A hanger as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the hook extends upwardly in use at an angle relative to the rear surface which is a rear major planar surface of the vignette and has outer curved corners for assisting 9 the insertion of the hook into an aperture in the garment hanger to which the vignette is to be attached.

7. A hanger as claimed in claim 6, wherein an inwardly tapering surface within the recess of the hook provides an intereference fit between opposed inner surfaces of the recess and an edge of the aperture through which the hook extends so that the rear surface of the vignette is pulled into direct contact with the front surface of the garment hanger so that no gaps exist around the edges of the vignette.

8. A hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein a front face of the vignette is recessed for receiving information to be displayed thereon.

9. A hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein the vignette is lmm in thickness.

10. A hanger as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the vignette is made of a resilient plastics material.