US1163101A - Folding hanger. - Google Patents

Description

W. S. C. MEGILL.

FOLDING HANGER.

AEPLICATION FILED MAR.I1, 1914.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

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TED sTA Es PATENT oFF WILLIAM s. o. MEGIIiL, onNATIoNAL HOME, WISCONSIN.

"FOLDING HAN-GER:

Specification of Letterslatent;

Patented Dec. 1915.

Application: filed March 11, 1914. Serial No. 823,891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. v G. lVlEGILL, of NationalHorne, Wisconsin, have invented a Folding Hanger, of which the followingis a specification. I

his invention relates to clothes-hooks or hangers for garments and other articles,"and the principal object which I have. in View is to provide a form of hookor hangerwhich can be folded substantially flat and carried in the pocket without danger ofr tearing. a

My device having the above features is especially adapted to the use of traveling men who can carry the hanger folded up; in their pocket or traveling satchel-without its occupying anyunnecessary room orpro ecting; out invarious directionsso asto-interfer-e with other articles carried therein;yand a particular advantage which my hanger has for suchpurpose is that the screw-point which is used. for: attachment when the hanger is in use is substantially protected or shielded so that it cannot tear-the pocket or other articles with which it comes in contact. I I

My invention maybe madeiniavariety of forms from simple to complex, all, however, embodying the same fundamental principleand combination, all of whichwill hereinafter appear. Some of the possible-forms,

suflicient to illustrate said fundamental principle, and the auxiliary principles involved in someof them, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side; elevation of one which may be termed the simplest form, shown as in use; Fig. '2 is a plan view thereof, the

folded position. being indicated byv dotted lines; Fig. 3 isa sectional elevation thereof taken on the plane 3 3; Fig.) 4:-lS't side'elevation of the second forrn of the invention provided with, a single pivotalmember and to. a stationary. object.

two bracket-arms; Fig. 5 is aiplan-view of a third form of the invention having three independent" bracketarms, the same being shown in the folded position; Fig. 6 is a side-elevation of the same in the position as in use, the folded position being, indicated by. dottedlines; Fig-7 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same in a folded position, sectioned. on the plane 77 ;.Fig. 8 is a side-elevation of. a fourth form of the invention, involving. eight independent pivoted arms, the folded position being shown by-dotted lines; andFig. 9 is a perspective view of the bottom-piece or attachmentmember shown in Fig. 8.,

In these drawings. the reference charac- I ters refer. to the same respective parts in all the figures r Figs. .1, 2 and;3 illustrate the device in its essentials. This, form comprises two; elements A and 13,1 each consistingof a bent piece-of: wire. The element A has one 'portionalstraightandyertical to form apivotshaft or p1ntle,,and=abovethis a horizontal arm or bracket a? which forms a support on which articles are hung. The other member, B, has its middle portion 6 also straight and-vertical, being parallel to theportion a ofthe member A, and the wire on the ends of; said middle-portion is turned to form, a. pair of loopsor eyes, 6 and, 5 which are disposed; at. right angles to the portion 6 and encircle the pivot-shaft a thusforming the bearings therefor; while the endeportions of; thememberB, lying beyond saideyes- 7)? andb are arranged to form means of attachment of the member Said means may take'variousshapes, and while those shown in Fig.1 are convenient, they are not essentialtothe spirit of my invention in its fundamental elements. The upper end of the member B which liesbeyond the eye 3 is extended horizontally and threaded to form-a screw-point b, which can be driven intothewall by simply turning the hanger as whole, about the axis of, the screw; while the lower end of the member B which to formthe eye If lying in the plane thereof, said eye being, adapted to receive a screw C whereby thehanger is brevented' from rotatingor being. turned. accidentally and which forms-an additional support therefor.

,llt will', be; seen, however, that the hanger Fig. 3, a cylindrical bodyportion extending pivot-portion or horizontal bracket-portion (1 while at the would be sufiiciently supported for temporary purposes without the use of the screw C. 7

can be turned about the pivot-shafta so as to, occupy the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2,'wherein the "screw-point 6* no longer projects but lies adjacent to the shank of the arm (1?, and is sufliciently protected thereby so that it cannot easily become engaged with easily tearablematerial such as cloth, paper, etc.,with which the hanger may come'in contact; Furthermore, the entire hanger is comprised substantially and approximately in a single plane without projecting elements, so that there can be no inconvenience in carrying it in the pocket or traveling-bag; This isthe particular and most important'feature of myhanger which differentiates it from allother hangers.

In order to secure the member A in place in the bearing eyes 6 and b in thissimple one-arm form, the lower end is simply riveted over the eye 6 as shown, and to complete this fastening, aswell as to make'the bearing more perfect and'prevent end-play, I prefer to'use a pair of hat-shaped washers D on opposite sides of the eyes 6 and 6 each of said washers having, as shown in through the eye and between it' and the shaft, and a marginal or flange-portion lying on the outside of the eye and between it and the arm a in one case and the upset end a in the other. v r

, The form of hanger shown in Fig. 4 differs from that inFig. 1 in providing two arms instead of one, and the member A here becomes a member .A having a vertical shaft a, surmounted by the lower end of the shaft a the wire, instead of being cut off and riveted over,is extended horizontally to. form a second supporting arm or bracket a this also forms an effective thrust-bearing to prevent endwise-movement of the shaft a in its bearings. The member B becomes a member B, wherein the elements 6 ,72 b and bare the same as previously described; but in place of the eye '6? on the lower end which'lies beyond the eye b said end is projected'horizontally parallel to the screw-point Z2 and pointed to form a short biting-point b this enables the hanger to be supported at the lower end without the use of toolsor screw. When the hanger is being put up and the screwpoint has been screwed in nearly as far as it will go, the hanger is bent slightly about the axis of the screw-point so that the point 'b will clear the wall until the hanger has been screwed in all the way, and then being released will bend back the point b will biteinto the wall at the proper point, and articles hung on the hanger will main tain its bearing. This prevents the hanger from accidentally turning in its place. In this form of hanger, the upper arm is made straight without the offset a near the base as shown in Fig. 1*, and the washers D are omitted. It will be seen that when the member B is turned so that the screw-point b i lies immediately below the arm (1 said screw-point will be even more effectively shielded and protected than in Fig. 1 by reasonof the arm (4 said arm a also acting to protect the point 6 The forms so far shown embody only a single pivotal member or arm. My device, however, is particularly adapted for use with a plurality of independently pivoted arms as illustrated in Figs. 5 to 8'inclusive. The form shown in Figs. 5, (Sand 7 comprises the two principal members A and B' corresponding with the members A and B in Fig. 1; the member A being provided with the vertical shaft (1? and the horizontal arm a and the member B with the elements 79 6 ,6 and b in said figure, and the. shaft a being upset at a and provided with interc'alated washers D as before.

Howeverin this form the space upon the shaft a lying between the two bearing-eyes b and b 'is'utilized as a bearing for additional" members E, each provided with a bracket or hanger-arm e and eye 6 at its baseencircling the shaft a there being preferably a washer D intercalated between each pair of .eyeson the shaft a as shown, which serve to provide better bearings for the members E and also to separate them slightly from each other. While only two members E are shown, it will of course, be understood that anynumber can be used, and that they can be extended in various directions radially from the shaft a so as not to interfere with one another in the hanging of clothes, etc., thereon. Now it will be seen that in this form of the hanger the screW- point t is even more effectively protected when turned into the folded position, Figs. 5 and 7, than in Figs. 1 and 4, because said screw-point is now immediately inclosed' between the adjacent arms a and c and the element 6 ofthe member B, by abutting against the sidesof the member E, helps to keep the hanger in folded position, prevent ing the point 6* from being accidentally turned out and thus becoming unprotected.

In this'form of hanger I-have also shown an additional'impro vement in theoform of means whereby it may be attached either to i nicest-o1 screw-point, whereby. the device maybe attached to a "a horizontal surface in? 1 proper position.- This construction -makes it" particularly handy for travelers stoppingat hotels where no clothes-hooks are provided and the walls plastered so that there are I no convenient means of attachment for" the screw-point if, as the screwy-point N can be driven into" any convenient horizontalsurface such asa shelf, table,- window-sill, or the top ofa bed-post; Ofcourse'the landlord'cannot' have any objection tor-the perforation of his furniture'andtrimmings, because ifhe had he would have supplied hookshimself and not left that'function -to his guest; but however that may be, the utility of the hanger isintendedtoserve the purpose'of the guest rather than that-ofthe landlord. It will be understood thatthe hanger may be manufactured with both screw-points so that either may be cut 0s by'the party using the hanger, depending on which he wishes to apply or that the hanger may be made only with the vertical screw-point for some purposes, and"; only with the horizontal screw-point for others.

Where particular compactness of the hanger is desired I may providethat shown in Fig. 8. In this form' the members A, B correspond to the members A, Bof Fig. 1; the former being provided with the elements a a and a and the'latter with the elements 6 b 5 and 6*, as previously described. In this form, for compactness sake the washers D are omitted and the space on the shaft a between the eyes 6 and b is filled with closely disposed members E (herein shown as seven in number), each provided with a horizontal bracket 6 and an eye a which turns on the shaft a as in Fig. 6. In this form the additional feature is embodied of giving the arm a an offset a at a distance from the shaft a such as to leave a space or recess a between it and the upper member E which is just suflicient to house or admit the screw-point Z) in its folded position as indicated by the dotted lines, and this also brings the free end of the arm a into proximity with the upper member E and diminishes the vertical width of the hanger when folded. It will be seen that the ends of the bracket-arms are made successively longer from the top downward for convenience in permitting them to lie in a single plane, but this is not essential.

On the lower end of the member 13 in this form of hanger is shown an alternative device for fastening it to the wall which may be used as a substitute for the eye 6 of Fig. l. The wire is cut off at the end of the eye 713, and there is provided an angular piece of sheet metal F which is bent transversely at a right angle in the center and its upper horizontal flange is providedwith a hole f, which is just the size of the shaft (1 and through-which the lowerend of said sh'aftpasses and over which itis riveted, thusforming -a convenient substitute for the washer DJ 'lhe'lower flange f of the member F 'isperforatedby a hole f which is adapted to receive'thescrew C for attachment to'thewall; Further, to preventfthe rotation of the member F with respect to the member 13, it is provided with lateral flanges 7, whichenga'gewitli thesides of the loop b flasshown;

F romthe above description it will be evident that the invention may assume a variety of "forms, involving the interchange of alternative elements shown in the drawings with others,- or involving the use of equivalent fastening-devices and the like, without departing from the spirit of my invention. Also it should be understood that the vertical stem'b is not necessarily screwthreadedand in somecases I prefer to makeit'plain, as a simple pintle adapted tofit in'a hole bored for'it, so that the hanger can "be turned in its socket, and such construction is especially "advantageous for posts'in display windows, as the hanger as a-whole canbe'moved from one socket toanotherwithout disturbing the articles hanging -uponit;

- Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by -Let- 'ters Patent is: 9

1. A folding hanger comprising two ele ments, to wit: first,a round-wire-member having one portion straight and vertical to form a pivotal-axis or shaft and the portion above it horizontal to form a bracket or support for articles to be hung thereon; and secondly, a wire-member having its middle portion vertical and parallel to the first member, the next adjacent portions at each end of said middle portion bent to form a pair of eyes or loops at the end of said middle portion and connected thereby, said eyes or loops encircling the vertical portion ofsaid first member so as to form bearings therefor, and the terminal portion of one end of the second member extended beyond the corresponding eye or loop and adapted for fastening to a support.

2. A folding hanger comprising two elements, to wit: first a round-wire member having one portion straight and vertical to form a pivotal axis or shaft and the portion above it horizontal to form a bracket or support for articles to be hung thereon; and secondly, a wire-member having its middle portion vertical and parallel to the first member, the next adjacent portions at each end of, said middle portion bent to form a pair of eyes or loops at the ends of said middle portion and connected thereby, said eyes or loops encircling thevertical portion of said first member so as to form bearings therefor, and the terminal portion of said second member of the end of the upper loop being extended horizontally and screwthreaded for driving into a support having a vertical surface; said second member being adapted when not attached to a stationary objectto be turned upon the vertical portion of said first member until said threaded terminal portion lies fiat thereagainst. 1 v k 8. Afolding hanger comprising two elements, to wit: first, a round-wire member having one portion straightand vertical to form a pivotal axislor shaft and the portion above it horizontal to form a'bracket or support for articles to be hung thereon;- secondly, a wire-member having its middle portion vertical and parallel to the first member,'theneXt adjacent portionsat each end of said middle'portion bent toform a pair ofeyes or loops at the ends of said middle portion and connected thereby, said eyes or loops encircling the vertical portion of said first member so as to form bearings therefor, and the terminal portion of said second member on the end of the upper loop being extended horizontally and I screwthreaded for driving into a vertical surface; and the terminal portion of said second member on the end of the lower loop being also provided with means whereby it can be fastened to a support. 7

4:. A folding hanger comprising three or Copies of this. patent may be obtained for middleportion andconnected thereby, said eyes or loopsencircling the vertical portion of said first member so as to form bearings therefor, and the terminal portion on one end adapted for fasteningto a support; and thirdly, one or more additional mem- .bers each having a horizontal projecting portion forming an additional bracket and a loop or eye at the base thereof encircling the vertical portion of the first member which forms a pivot therefor, said loop or eye passing between the vertical portion of the first member and the intermediate portion of said second member and lying between the two loops or eyes of said second member. I

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses. I WILLIAM S. C. MEGILL. Witnesses:

EARL DOLE, GEORG WETMORE COLLES..

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

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