US1728223A - Wardrobe hatbox - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 179 11929. A. w. wlNsHlP WARDROBE HATBOX Filed A112;- 15. 192'7 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept' 37, 1929. A. w. WlNsHlP 1,728,223

wARDRoBE HATBOX Filed Aug. 16, 1827 2 sneets-sheet 2 W MWWM% Patented Sept. 17,` 1929 UNITED sTATIEs PATENT OFFICE:

\ mam' w.`w1NsH1P, or' UrrIcA, NEW Yong WARDROBE HATBOX` J Application filed August 16, 1927. Serial No. 213,410.

a Wardrobe hand-carrying case or wardrobe hatbox which is small enough to be readily carried by a Woman, but of such construction and arrangement of its parts that a wardrobe compartment is provided.`

A further purpose is to provide an article of the class described which is of new and improved construction and well adapted to 16 be used for the purposes'intended; land further to provide in such a construction and specially combined therewith a new and improved clothes-rackand mounting therefor, so that the Clothes-rack occupies the least 20 possible space when the case or liatbox is closed and still extends the clothes for1 ready access and inspection when the article of baggage is opened; `and further to provide a Clothes-rack of the type described whercin the clothes-rod or holder is readily removable from the rack and as readiljy insertedl therein when the clothes-rack isextended; but is held securely in position when the Vclothesrack is closed and furthergto' provide in such a Clothes-rack a. clothes-rod or' holder of'such construction and so mounted in the clothes-rack that itwil1 minimize any tendency of the clothes to'slip from the rack.

, Further purposes and advantages of my' invention will appear from the spec'lfication and claims herein. i Fig. 1 is an /isometric view'of a wardrobe hand-carrying case known as 'a hatbox embodying my invention with the cover opened and .with the clothes'rack in extended position.

Fig. 2 is a Vertical sectional view through the said wardrobe hatbox closed.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the parts immediately below line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged Vertical secti'onal i view of the Clothes-rack and adjacent part of the c'over as seen on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a right hand 'side elevation of the right hand bracket of the |clothes rack when it is in raised position with the adj acent part of the cover shown in section.

Fig, 6 is a front elevation of a modifiedv form of my invention With the case opened and Fig. 7 'isc a Vertical sectional view vof such case closed.

Referring` to Figs. 1-5 of the drawings in a more particulardescription, it Will be seen that my wardrobe case or hatbox consists of a box-like case 8 and a cover 9 hinged thereto, it being understood that said parts are pf a construction suitable for articles of portable baggage. It Will be understood further that the combining of a- Wardrobe section into or with a hatbox is done in such V manner as not to greatly reduce the amount of space in the box available for 'hats and other articles of clothing in'trays or compa-rtments, and thatthe Wardrobe compartment ismade L-shaped in outline when the box is closed, so as to make the effective length of the wardrobe compartment long 'enough to support ladies dressed or men7s clothes When once folded and yet to not increase the size of the hatbox.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5. The main case 8 consists of a. bottom 10, relatively narrow front 11, a. back* 12 higher than the front 11 land opposite slantin sides 13-13, extending from the front to t e back. The front 11 and the back 12 are so termed asl that will be the relative position of those parts When the hatbox is open as it is seen in Fig. 1. To the upper edge of the back 12 is hingedthe shallow'flange 51 of the cover 86 9. The upper end of the cover as the arts are seen in Fig. 1 has a. front or top flange 14, as much higher than the flange 51, as the 'back 12 is 'higher than the front 11 of the main case. These two unequal flanges 51 90 and 14 of the cover are connected by slanting fianges 15-15. VVhen the cover 9 is closed down upon the case a rectangular box in Vertical section is obtained as ap ears from Fig. 2. Ordinarily when thev hat 0x is 'thus ?5 L closed, it will be stood up as appears in F ig. 2 with the back 12 of the case servin as the bottom of the whole article. The ront of the case is provided with ahandle 16 and suitable catches 17 are provided With their chamber or well 19 atthe back of the case into which hang the'lower portions of dresses or-other garments 20 foldedA over the clothesrod or holder 21 which in turn is mounted in the clothes-rack generally denoted by the numeral 22, secured to the upper part of the 'cover 9 as seen in Fig. 1.

Preferably a removable par'tition 23 ex-' tends from the fixed partition 18 to the front 11" to aid in holding in place a removable tray 24 on onesidezof said partition 23. A hat or hats may be placed in 'thexchamber to the left side of the removable partition 23 and other. articles of clothing may be placed in'the chamber to the right of said partition, below the tray 24. If `desired the tray 24 and also the removable partition 23may be removed in order that this part of the case.

1. i may house one or more very large hats.

Thel clothes-rack 22 is composed of opposite'pmetallic sides 25 and 26 at the left and right respectively connected by a wooden strip 7. In the fre ends of this clothes VM'''ack t ere'is normally supported t-he opposite ends of the clothes-rod or'holder 21. Preferably metallio plates 28-28 are placed on` the inner surface of the ,slanting cover flangesl slightly down from-the ,top 14 of the cover. To each one ofthese plates there `is pivotally secured as by pi t 29 the oppo- Q6 of the' clothes` site sides or brackets 25 vand rack.

Fig. 4 shows a plan or side view of the left *hand plate 28 and the bracket 25 secured thereto. iAt the upper' part of the bracket 25 as seen in Fig. 4, said bracket-is provided with an ear 30 `projecting laterally to afl'ord means of readily fastening the brace 27 to the bracket as by rivets 31. Near the outer end of the side orI bracket 25 of the clothesrack 22 there is provided an angular, preferably squared, hole 32 adapted to receive thev ,correspondingly shaped end of the clothesrod or holder 21 and keep said rodl 21 from rotatiion. The right hand side or bracket 26 of. the clothes-.rack is similar 'to the bracket 25 in construction and pivotally mounted except that as appears from Fig. 5 said b'racket 26 is provided near its outer end .with an elongated slot 33 having van openingv 34 thereinto at its upper side. The rod 21 is rern/ovably mounted in the clothes-rack 22 by inserting the squared left hand end of said rod longitudinally into the square hole732 in side' or bracket 25 of the rack whereupon the squared end of thea'ight handv end'of the rod will be passed downwardly through the 'opening 34 into-;the elongated slot 33 of the right hand braeket 26. The wooden strip i 27 being rigidly secured to the ear 30 of bracket 25 and to similar ear 30a on bracket 26 holds the two brackets 25 and 26 to swinging movement in unison and further braces the said brackets- Inturned ears 35 on the lower end of the plates 28 stop the downward movement of the clothes rack 'at open position as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The clothesrack may be swung to upward and housed position as shown in Fig. 2 by swinging said rack upwardly on its -pivotal connections.

Releasable spring locking means are providi ed to aid in holding the clothes-rack in such upward position. Such means may consist of an inwardly extending boss 36 upon each plate 28 so placed as to engage -a hole or depression 37 in the sides or brackets 25 and 26 when the clothes-rack is raised to housed position. The said brackets will yield enough to allow the outer surface of said brackets to ride past the boss 36until the hole or de- In a similar obvious'r manner this spring latch mcchanism may be disengaged by pulling the clothes-rack downwardly.

A block 38 is provided in the cover near its upper right hand corner so as to bear against the rod 21 near the `bracket 26, when the clothes-rack is in raised position. This block accordingly prevents this end of the rod 21 from leav'ing the elongated slot 33 when the clothes-rack is raised;

Ladies dresses or men7s clothes may be placed one or more at a' time in position over the clothes-rod' 21 when the clothes-v rack 22 is in lowered position. The size and proportion of the parts of.. this wardrobe hatbox is such that an ordinary dress will hang free over said rod making a single fold of the clothes at their center and with the opposite ends of the clothes hanging freely into the well 19. Another convenient way of loading the rod 21 is to place the desired number of dresses or other garments one on top ofyanother in' extended or flat position and then pass the clothes-rod 21 underneath the center of the pile of dresses. By raising the rod 21 the whole pile of clothes will fall to folded position on the 'opposite sides of said rod and may then be bodily placed in the wardrobe compartment as already described with reference to the separate rod 21. lVhen the desired number of garments have been placed over the 'rod 21 the clothes-rack will be swung up to npward position and the clothes. 20 will be confined more or' less by upper and lower tie straps 39 and 40 preferably elastic and conveniently provided with detachable hook fasteners. The wardrobe hatbox is then ready for its final closing motion of bringing the cover down upon the case, or what is the same of bringing the case up 'to the cover so that the parts come to the closed wardly to closed position,

partition 18 prevents the contents of the other part l`of the body of the case from pressing against the Clothes in the well therebeneath.

By having the Clothes rack swing upthe full height of the raised cover and the full depth of the well 19 Can be utilized for hanging the Clothes straight down on the Clothes rod 21 without such Clothes touching the bottom of thewell .after the rack 22 is raised and whether the hatbox is closed or open. The

several inches of'straight hanging space gained by this construction enables 'the Wardrobe compartment in the hat box to bc large enough for full sized Clothes.

Preferably the Clothes rod 21 is covered with felt or velveteen 41 which overcoines any tendency of the Clothes to slide either Way off from the rod.

Figs. 6 and 7 showja modified form of my invention in that the hat box is made of a circular Case 42 and a ci-rcular cover 43 both flattened as is usual with round hat boxes to form a suitable base and also the hinging line. 'The case 43 slants up towards its rear edge where the cover is hinged thereto and the flattened portion 44 of the flange of the Cover is narrower than the rest of the flange of said cover as appears from F igs. 6 and 7 In this form of my invention the Clothes rod 45 is not mounted in a swinging Clothes rack but is removably mounted in left and right hand brackets 46 and 47. The bracket 46 is rigid and is mounted on the upper part of the flange of the cover and is provided with a square hole to receive 'by endwise movement of the .rod 45 the left vhand squared end of the rod. The right hand bracket 47 has one end fastened to the flange of the Cover 43 but has its other and lower end resilient so as to be temporarily pressed back towards the flange of thecover to allow this squared end of the rod to enter a square hole in the resilient end of the bracket. l/Vhen the bracket is allowed to spring back to its normal position it holds the rod 45 securely.

In Ithis form of hat box the well 48 in the case is formed not by a solid partition but simply by a transverse rod 49 clefining the top of the Well.

It will be understood that every inch added to the effective height of the Clothes 'supporting rod above the bottom of the Well during packing as well as during the closed position adds two inches to the rigidly `in Figs. 1-5) length of Clothes that can be carried by the case due to the Clothes being folded once over the Clothes supporting rod.

Preferably I form the body and cover of the case so thatthe case is, as it were, divided or-cut on the bias with the shallow side or back flange 51 of the Cover hinged to the back high wall 12 of the body as the parts are seen in F igs. 1 to 5 or with the corresponding narrow flange 44 of the Cover hinged to the back high wall of the Case 42 as the parts are seen in Figs. 6 and 7. This construction, characterized by' the consequent slanting sides of the body Yand the slanting side flanges of the Cover, Was made for several reasons and is of more importance than at first appears in obtaining Co-operation of the parts and in order to obtain certain advantages and avoid cer-;

tain disadvantages.

The height and thickness of a handcarrying Case are Very definitely fixed if the Case is to be practicable to carry and every inch of the height 'and thickness of a case of such practicable size must be utilized to carry dresses wardrobe style, that is, hung up, even when folded over once intermediate their length and given one 'other bend to go into the well of the case.

At the top of the cover the flange should be deep enough to hold the doubled layers of the dresses near the Clothes supporting cross bar 21 but at the bottom of the cover it is better to reduce the width of the flange very considerably. The' depth thus taken off of the cover is added to the dcpth or height of the well in the body of the Case and so when the case is in opened position gives greater clear height for the dresses to hang straight down into the well from the rod either in its lowered or its raised position.

``For Clothes of a length approaching the capacity of the Case the Clothes will touch the bottom of the well when the rod (assuming it to be of the m'ovable type as suggested is in its lowered or loading position, but when the rod is raised toxits real car'rying position the bottom ends of these Clothes are lifted just clear of the bottom of the w ll by reason of the two, or two and a half inches more or less gained in the well by the narrow flange at the bottom of the cover.

Furthermore, by reason of the narrow 'flange at the bottom of the cover the Clothes flange fat the bottom of the 'cover is so narrow that no appreciable bend is imparted to the clothes.

'- The narrow flnge at the bottom-of'the cover and the consequent height added to the w'ell allows as much height during pack-' ing andunpackingas is gotten the carrying'position andthis effective helght during packing and unpacking is fully as necessary is closed.

as suflficient height or extent when the' case Another advantage gained by the narrow flange towards the bottom of the cover is that the user has a better opportunity to arrange the edges of the clothes neatly prepzeiratory to stra'pping them back into position cause she can'both clearlylsee and easily reach the edges of the clothes opposite the narrow flange which would not be the case ;Were the flange two or three inches deep. 4

The narrow fiange at the bottom of the cover' as distinguished from a dee flange allows the clothes to hang down rom the elevated rod close to a substantial level or uninterrupted flat packing surface,l the up'- per two-thirds or so being the fiat inain inner surface of the cover and the lower one- 'third being the back or highside of the well.

`A`deep flange at the bottom of the cover would create a step inthis packin surfaceand make an extra angle in the clot es When arranged in the vcase. The width of this narrow bottom flange vas I show it is not enough to interfere with the aforesaid; flat packlng surface desired.

The presence ofl the flange thouguh narrow serves mechanically to strengthen the, bottom edge of the cover, allows better hinge r" construction and also admits of the outside of that edge of the cover being given the rounded corner eflect that is now generally .desired on such cases.

While I have thus pointed out the advantages that make the slanting sideithe most practical and the preferred form, it will be understood'that my invention is not limited in its application to al casey so cut on the bias but that asf/shown in several of the claims my invention broadly can be applied .*o a hand-carrying case without regard to whether vthe cover and body are cut`on the bias. J

What I 'claim as new arfd desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wardrobe suitcase, or the like the' combination of a boxlike case slanting to be higher. at one side; than at the opposite side and provided Vwith a `partition spaced from the back higher side of the case and forming a well, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the high side oflthe case and having its flanges reversely, slanted relative to the sides of the case to form a rectangular box, a. clothes rack having-vA its inner ends pivotally mounted within the upper corners tangular box, a clothes rack havingits inner ends pivotally mounted within the upper Corners of the cover and adapted to bo swung therewithin or extended downwardly. xwithout the cover over the well and a remov- V able clothes rod connectfiig the'free ends of .'35

the clothes rack.

3. In a wardrobe suitcase, or'the like the combination of a box-like case slanting to behigher at oneside than at` the opposite edgeaof the high side. of the case.

side and provided ,with a partition spaced from the back higher side of the case and forming a well, a flanged cover hinged to the free 'edge of the high side of the case and having its flanges reversely slantedrelaltive t`o. the sides. of the case to form a rectan- A gular'box, a clothes rack having its inner 'ends pivotally mounted within the upper corners of the cover and adapted to` .be swung therewithin or extended downwardly without "the cover over the well and a`non-rota'table clothes rod connecting the free ends of the clothes rack.

4. In a hand-carrying case, thecombina-V tion 'of a box-like body, a cover hinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a well in the body beneath the raised cover and at a. right angle to the cover whenthe case is closed, a clothes rack movably mounted near the free end of the' cover. and having a trans- Vversely extendingclothes rod supported in said rack, `said rack being adapted to be moved ,so as to hold saidfrod farther from said cover for foldinrr the clothes thereover with their ends extehding down into said wellf and said rack being adapted to b'e 'moved back to carry said rod nearer the` cover and means for holding the clothes opposite the cover towards the said cover.

5. In a hand-carrying case, the combinationlof a box-like body, a cover hinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a well in the body beneath the raised cover and at a right angle to the cover when the case is closed, a transversely extending clothessupporting rod extendably mounted in the free end of the cover wherebyr the rod whenI mov-ed away from the cover may have full'v a ``length dresses folded thereover with their depending ends extending down into the well and whereby the rod and'the clothes thereon may be moved c-loser towards the cover, and means for holding the clothes opposite the cover towards said cover.

6. In a wardrobe suitcase, or the like, the combination of a box-like case slanting to be higher at one side than at the opposite side and provided with a partition spaced from the back higher side of the 'case and forming a well on one side and a space for wearing apparel on the other side, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the high side of the case and having its flanges reversely slanted relative to the sides of the case to form a rectangular box, and transverse supporting means adapted to have a garment folded thereover, whereby the lower end of the garment may be received in the well, said supporting means being removably and replaceably mounted in the upper end of the cover.

In Witness whereof I have affixed my signature, this 27th day of July, 1927.

ALBERT W. WINSHIP.

1,728,223. Albert W. Wnsh'ip, Utica, N. Y'. WARDROB HA'i'Box. Patent dated September 17, 1929. Disclaimer filed May 4, 1932, by the patentee.

is in the followin Wordsl to-wit:

4. In a hand-gcarrying case? the combination of a box-hke body, a cover hinged Hereby enters 'this disclaimer to that part of the claiins in said specification which A thereto, a' partition in the body forming a Well in the body beneath the raised cover and at a right angle to the cover When the case is closed, a clothes rack movably mounted near the free end of the cover and havmg a transversely extendmg clothes rod supported iii said rack, said rack being adapted to be moved so as to hold said rod f arther from said cover for folding the clothes thereover with their ends extendmg down into said Well and said rack being adapted to be moved back to carry said rod said cover.

5. In a hand-carrying case, theV combination of a boX-hke body, a cover hinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a Well m the body beneath the raised cover and at a right angle to the cover when the case is closed, a transversely extending clothes-supporting rod extendably mounted m the free end of the cover Whereby the rod When moved away from the cover may have full length dresses folded thereover with their depending ends extending down into the well and whereby the rod and Vthe clothes thereon may be moved closer towards the cover, and means for holding the clothes opposite theS cover towards said cover. t o i' 6. In a Wardrobe suitcase, or the like the combmatioii of a box-like case slantmg, to be higher at one side than at the opposite side and provided with a partition spaced nearer the cover and means/for holding the clothes opposite the cover towards the i from the back higher side of the case and forming a well on one side and a space for wearing apparel on the other side, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the high side of the case and having its flanges rev'ersely slanted relative to the sides of the case to forma rectangular box, and transvei'se supportmg means adapted to have a garment folded thereover, whereby the lower end of the garment may be received m the Well, said supporting means being removably and replaceably mounted m the upper end of the cover.

[O flcal Gazette May 24, 1 932.1)

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