GB2371219A

GB2371219A - Garment hanger with movable hook

Info

Publication number: GB2371219A
Application number: GB0031024A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michelle Williams
Original assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Current assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Priority date: 2000-12-19
Filing date: 2000-12-19
Publication date: 2002-07-24
Also published as: GB0031024D0

Abstract

The hook 102 of a plastics garment hanger 100 is attached to the body 101 via a long vertically extending plastics film hinge 103 whereby the body can rotate relative to the hinge about a vertical axis. Other embodiments allowing movement of the hook are: the use of an angled hinge (Fig 9), a plurality of film hinges (Fig 10) or one or more flexible plastics membranes which can be bent or twisted (Figs 11,12).

Description

GARMENT HANGER The present invention relates to garment hangers and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to garment hangers made primarily of plastics material.

A known garment hanger comprises a body portion of plastics material for supporting a garment, and a metal hook extending from the body for supporting the hanger from a rail. A hanger of this type is shown in Figures 1 and 2, and comprises a body 1 of plastics material, and a metal hook 2, formed by bending a length of thick wire, having a curved upper part to enable the hanger to be suspended from a rail 3. The hanger is designed to be hung at 90 degrees to a rail, but it is often useful to be able to turn the body 1 about a vertical axis so that it can be hung in different planes, for example over the top of a door or over a handle in the back of a car, as shown in Figure 2.

Figures 3 and 4 show two arrangements for mounting the metal hook 2 to the body 1. Figure 3 shows the hook 2 held in axial position in a hole in the hanger body 1 by means of a row of circular barbs 4 at the lower end of the shaft of the hook.

In the arrangement of Figure 4, the barbs 4 at the lower end of the hook 2 are replaced by a frusto-conical bulb 5 at the end of the shaft of the hook 2, which enables the hook 2 to be inserted into the hole in the hanger body 1, but prevents it from being retracted.

There is an increasing tendency to make as much of a hanger as possible from plastics material in order to aid recycling of the hanger. As a result, it is desirable to replace the metal hook by a hook of plastics material as shown in Figure 5. However, in order to achieve this and at the same time provide the hanger with sufficient mechanical strength, the hook 2 must be of greater diameter than a metal hook used on a hanger of similar size, as a result of which the hook becomes bulky and its manufacture involves inefficient use of material. Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a garment hanger comprising a support portion for supporting a garment, a suspension portion for enabling the hanger to be suspended from a support, and a flexible portion arranged between the support portion and the suspension portion for enabling the relative orientation of the support portion and suspension portion to be adjusted. By providing a flexible portion between the support portion and the suspension portion, this provides the advantage that the relative orientation of the support and suspension portions can be adjusted without the necessity of a hook having a shaft rotating in a hole in the body, as a result of which a hook of large diameter is no longer necessary. This therefore provides the advantage of enabling the hanger to be manufactured by efficient use of plastics material.

The flexible portion preferably comprises at least one flexible hinge connecting said support portion to said suspension

portion to define at least one pivot axis.

4 The flexible portion may comprise a plurality of flexible hinges. The flexible hinges may be substantially parallel to each other.

The flexible hinges may define a single pivot axis.

The flexible portion may comprise at least one flexible membrane.

The flexible portion may comprise a plurality of flexible membranes.

In a preferred embodiment, the hanger further comprises retaining means for maintaining at least one relative

orientation of the support portion and suspension portion.

.

The retaining means preferably comprises at least one stop provided on the suspension portion or support portion.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1A is a plan view of a prior art garment hanger having a metal hook suspended from a rail; Figure 1B is an end elevation view of the hanger of Figure 1A; Figure 2A is a plan view of the hanger of Figure 1 mounted to a flat panel; Figure 2B is a front elevation view of the hanger of Figure 2A; Figures 3 and 4 are partial cross-sectional views of part of prior art hangers having metal hooks; Figure 5 is a partial cross sectional view of a prior art hanger having a plastic hook ; Figure 6A is a front elevation view of the hook area of a garment hanger of a first embodiment of the present invention ; Figure 6B is a view along the line AA in Figure 6A of the hanger in an unflexed condition ; Figure 6C is a view, corresponding to Figure 6B, of the hanger in a flexed condition; Figure 7A is a view, corresponding to Figure 6A, of a hanger of a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7B is a view, corresponding to Figure 6B, of the hanger of Figure 7A; Figure 7C is a view, corresponding to Figure 6C, of the hanger

of Figure 7A ; f Figure 8 is a view, corresponding to Figure 6A, of a hanger of a third embodiment of the present invention ; Figure 9A is a view, corresponding to Figure 6A, of a hanger of a fourth embodiment of the present invention in an unflexed condition; Figure 9B is a view along the line CC in Figure 9A; Figure 9C is a view, corresponding to Figure 9A, of the hanger

in a flexed condition ; f Figure 9D is a view along the line DD in Figure 9C ; Figure 10A is a view corresponding to Figure 9A of a hanger of a fifth embodiment of the invention in an unflexed condition; Figure 10B is a view, corresponding to Figure 9C, of the hanger of Figure 10A in a flexed condition; Figure 11A is a view, corresponding to Figure 9A, of a hanger of a sixth embodiment of the present invention in an unflexed condition;

Figure 11B is a view along the line EE in Figure 11A ; Figure 11C is a view, corresponding to Figure 11A, of the hanger in a flexed condition ; t Figure 11D is a view along the line FF in Figure 11C ; Figure 12A is a view, corresponding to Figure 9A, of a hanger of a seventh embodiment of the present invention in an unflexed condition; Figure 12B is a view along the line GG in Figure 12A; Figure 12C is a view, corresponding to Figure 12A, of the

hanger in a flexed condition ; .

Figure 12D is a view along the line HH in Figure 12C ; Figure 13A is a view corresponding to Figure 10A of a hanger of an eighth embodiment of the invention in an unflexed condition ; and Figure 13B is a view, corresponding to Figure 10B, of the hanger of Figure 13A in a flexed condition.

Referring to Figure 6A, a garment hanger 100 of a first embodiment of the invention is formed from plastics material and has a body 101 for supporting a garment (not shown) and a hook 102 attached to the body 101 by means of a long vertically extending flexible hinge 103. The hinge is formed from a region of plastics material of smaller thickness than the hook 102 and body 101 so that the body 101 can pivot relative to the hook 102 about a vertical axis.

Figure 7A shows a second embodiment of the invention in which

a hook 102 is pivotable relative to a body 101 by means of a . pair of flexible hinges 104, similar in construction to the single flexible hinge 103 of Figure 6. An alternative embodiment to the embodiment of Figure 6 is shown in Figure 8, in which the single flexible hinge 103 of Figure 6 is replaced by a pair of aligned smaller hinges 105 separated by a gap 106. In this way, a similar effect to the hinge of Figure 6 is achieved, but with use of less material.

In Figure 9, a fourth embodiment has a hinge 107 provided at an angle to the vertical. This enables the hook 102 to flex through about 90 degrees relative to the body 101.

In Figure 10, a fifth embodiment has a series of three flexible hinges 108 arranged in a Z formation is provided so that the flexible region can be folded to alter the orientation of the hook 102 relative to the body 101.

An alternative, sixth, embodiment is shown in Figure 11 in which, instead of using hinges, the hook 102 is connected to the body 101 by means of a flexible membrane 109 which can twist.

Figure 12 shows an alternative embodiment to that of Figure 11, in which the flexible membrane 109 of Figure 11 is replaced by a pair of flexible membranes 110 separated by a gap 111 in order to achieve a similar effect but using less material.

Providing a pair of flexible membranes 110 also has the advantage of enabling the plastics material to be directed laterally across the hinge axis during moulding, which improves the strength and performance of the hinge.

An eighth embodiment is shown in Figure 13, and includes a single flexible hinge 103 as in the arrangement of Figure 6, but the hook 102 can be locked in position relative to the body 101 by means of a stop 112 on the hanger body 101 over which the hook 102 rides.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A garment hanger comprising a support portion for supporting a garment, a suspension portion for enabling the hanger to be suspended from a support, and a flexible portion arranged between the support portion and the suspension portion for enabling the relative orientation of the support portion and suspension portion to be adjusted.
2. A hanger according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion comprises at least one flexible hinge connecting said support portion to said suspension portion to define at least one pivot axis.

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3. A hanger according to claim 2, wherein the flexible portion comprises a plurality of flexible hinges.
4. A hanger according to claim 3, wherein the flexible hinges are substantially parallel to each other.
5. A hanger according to claim 3, wherein the flexible hinges define a single pivot axis.
6. A hanger according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the flexible portion comprises at least one flexible membrane.
7. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein the flexible portion comprises a plurality of flexible membranes.
8. A hanger according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising retaining means for maintaining at least one relative orientation of the support portion and suspension portion.
9. A hanger according to claim 8, wherein the retaining means comprises at least one stop provided on the suspension portion or support portion.
10. A garment hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 6 to 13 of the accompanying drawings.