US20040020949A1

US20040020949A1 - Clothes hanger

Info

Publication number: US20040020949A1
Application number: US10/462,588
Authority: US
Inventors: Chung Yip
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-07-04
Filing date: 2003-06-13
Publication date: 2004-02-05
Also published as: GB2390299A; CN2555736Y; GB2390299B; HK1060964A1; GB0315603D0

Abstract

A clothes hanger comprising a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body including a central portion having upper and lower sides, and a hook having a lower end connected to the central portion for hooking the body to an external support. The hook end is connected to the body portion by means of a ball socket joint that permits the hook to pivot between the upper and lower sides of the body portion as well as to swivel about itself through 360°.

Description

The present invention relates to a clothes or garment hanger.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Travellers often bring clothes hangers with them for hanging clothes. With the limitation of space in a suitcase or bag, hangers can be awkward to store unless their size can somehow be reduced as necessary.

Inside a piece of luggage, whilst the body of a clothes hanger can be used in the upper part of a jacket or the like to maintain its shape, the hook is particularly unwieldy.

Clothes hangers are known to have a foldable body that can be folded into a smaller size but cannot be used to maintain the shape of a jacket, for example, put thereon.

The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such shortcomings by providing an improved clothes hanger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided a clothes hanger comprising a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body including a central portion having upper and lower sides, and a hook having a lower end connected to the central portion for hooking the body to an external support. The hook end is connected to the body portion by means of a joint that permits the hook to pivot between the upper and lower sides of the body portion as well as to swivel about itself through an angle of at least 180°.

Preferably, the joint comprises a ball socket joint.

More preferably, the hook end includes a ball and the body portion includes a socket, the ball and socket inter-engaging to constitute the ball socket joint.

Further more preferably, the socket is provided internally of the body portion.

Further more preferably, the body portion includes a groove in which the socket is provided, the groove accommodating the hook end when the hook is pivoted to each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion.

It is further preferred that the groove includes internal resilient retainers for engaging the hook end to retain the hook in position on each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion, yet permitting said swivelling of the hook.

It is further preferred that the body comprises front and rear body parts connected together, and the front body part comprises left and right halves that are spaced apart to form the groove.

In a preferred embodiment, the body portion has an internal cavity, to which the hook end is connected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: [0014]
FIG. 1 is an exploded front view of an embodiment of a clothes hanger in accordance with the invention, said hanger having a body and a hook; [0015]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 1, showing the hook separated from the body; [0016]
FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 2, illustrating the hook pivotable between upper and lower sides of the body; and [0017]
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 2, illustrating the hook swivellable around about itself.[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a [0019] clothes hanger 10 embodying the invention, which has an inverted flat V-shaped body 100 for hanging an article of clothing such as a jacket, and a hook 200 for hooking the body 100 to an external support such as a rail. The hanger body 100 has a central head portion 102, and the hook 200 has a vertical straight stem 210 connected to the head portion 102 by means of a movable joint J.
The [0020] hanger body 100 has a rigid structure formed by matching front and rear parts 110 and 120 secured together by six screws 140. The front body part 110 is divided into left and right halves 112 which are spaced apart, as between their adjacent inner ends 112A, to form a vertical straight groove 104 in the head portion 102.
A [0021] trouser hanging rod 130 extends across opposite outer ends of the hanger body 100, which is fitted with a co-extending anti-slip chord 132.
At about mid-length of the [0022] head portion groove 104, there are a pair of opposed indentations (or openings) 114 in the inner ends 112A of the front body part halves 112 and a central recess 124 in the rear body part 120. The indentations 114 and recess 124 together form a cavity or socket 106 internally of the head portion 102.
The lowermost end of the [0023] hook stem 210 is expanded and spherically shaped to form a ball 212. The ball 212 has substantially the same size as the interior of the socket 106 and engages rotatably therein, together rendering the joint J a ball socket joint that permits the hook 200 to pivot as well as to swivel.
As the [0024] socket 106 is provided internally of the groove 104, the hook stem 210 projects out via the groove 104. Thus, the hook 200 is restricted or guided by the groove 104 to pivot upwards and downwards through an angle of about 180° along a vertical central plane of the groove 104 (FIG. 3). The hook stem 210 is longer than either section of the groove 104 above and below the socket 106, such that the stem 210 can be accommodated by the groove 104 to extend vertically upwards or downwards.
In the vertical upward position, the [0025] hook 200 protrudes to the upper side of the head portion 102 of the hanger body 100 for use. Upon pivoting vertically downwards, the hook 200 protrudes to the lower side of the head portion 102 within the hanger body 100 for storage.
The ball socket joint J also permits the [0026] hook 200 to swivel about its stem 210, at any pivotal position and especially the upright position, freely around i.e. through 360° (FIG. 4), or through an angle of at least 180°. Thus, the hook 200 can be turned to either the left or right side of the hanger body 100 for hooking onto a support.
Although this is not clearly shown in the drawings, a pair of [0027] opposed protrusions 108 is formed on the opposite sides of each section of the groove 104 above and below the socket 106, that is on the inner ends 112A of the front body part halves 112. The protrusions 108 of each pair are resiliently deformable for engaging the hook stem 210 through a snap action to retain the stem 210 in either the vertical upward or downward position.
Thus, the [0028] hook 200 can stay in position on each of the upper and lower sides of the body head portion 102, yet remaining swivellable relative to the hanger body 100 especially in the upward position to facilitate hooking.
Whilst the [0029] hook 200 of the subject hanger 10 can be retracted through pivoting into body 100, the body 100 remains in shape for supporting an article of clothing put thereon with minimum creasing during storage.
The invention has been given by way of example only, and various modifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims. [0030]

Claims

1. A clothes hanger comprising:

a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body including a central portion having upper and lower sides; and

a hook having a lower end connected to the central portion for hooking the body to an external support;

wherein the hook end is connected to the body portion by means of a joint that permits the hook to pivot between the upper and lower sides of the body portion as well as to swivel about itself through an angle of at least 180°.

2. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the joint comprises a ball socket joint.

3. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein the hook end includes a ball and the body portion includes a socket, the ball and socket inter-engaging to constitute the ball socket joint.

4. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein the socket is provided internally of the body portion.

5. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 4, wherein the body portion includes a groove in which the socket is provided, the groove accommodating the hook end when the hook is pivoted to each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion.

6. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the groove includes internal resilient retainers for engaging the hook end to retain the hook in position on each one of the upper and lower sides of the body portion, yet permitting said swivelling of the hook.

7. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body comprises front and rear body parts connected together, and the front body part comprises left and right halves that are spaced apart to form the groove.

8. The clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body portion has an internal cavity, to which the hook end is connected.