US20110049321A1

US20110049321A1 - Hanger Device

Info

Publication number: US20110049321A1
Application number: US12/552,161
Authority: US
Inventors: Tieh-Han WU
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-09-01
Filing date: 2009-09-01
Publication date: 2011-03-03

Abstract

A hanger device for retaining an article on a support includes a first fixing member, a second fixing member, a connecting mechanism, and an article retaining mechanism. The first and second fixing members are spaced apart from each other and are adapted to hook onto opposite edges of the support, respectively. The connecting mechanism extends between the first and second fixing members, and includes a first connecting component that is provided on the first fixing member and that has a strip part, and a second connecting component that is provided on the second fixing member and that has a hollow connector part through which the strip part of the first connecting component extends. The article retaining mechanism is disposed on the connecting mechanism and is adapted for retaining the article thereat.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hanger device, more particularly to a hanger device that can be hooked onto a support having two opposite edges and that can retain an article thereat.
2. Description of the Related Art
To drivers, there is an annoying issue concerning how to retain some automotive electronic devices or portable electronic devices, such as global positioning system (GPS) devices, cell phones, electronic toll collection (ETC) devices, and so on, in a vehicle. A current way for retaining an article is to use a double-sided adhesive tape to stick a mounting bracket on a dashboard in front of a driver seat or to utilize a suction cup to attach the mounting bracket on a windscreen. However, adhesive traces will be left behind after the double-sided adhesive tape is taken down in the future. On the other hand, the suction cup often falls very easily due to suction forces that grow weak over time such that electronic devices fall and hit a vehicle floor to result in damage or malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a hanger device that can facilitate retaining an article on a support having two opposite edges.
Accordingly, a hanger device of the present invention is adapted for retaining an article on a support having two opposite edges. The hanger device comprises a first fixing member, a second fixing member, a connecting mechanism, and an article retaining mechanism. The first fixing member and the second fixing member are spaced apart from each other and are adapted to hook onto the opposite edges of the support, respectively. The connecting mechanism extends between the first and second fixing members, and includes a first connecting component and a second connecting component. The first connecting component is provided on the first fixing member and has a strip part, the strip part having a surface formed with a plurality of inclined teeth. The second connecting component is provided on the second fixing member and has a hollow connector part through which the strip part of the first connecting component extends. The hollow connector part has an inner surface formed with a detent unit that engages and that cooperates with the inclined teeth of the strip part to permit displacement of the hollow connector part toward the first fixing member while preventing displacement of the hollow connector part away from the first fixing member, thereby enabling the connecting mechanism to pull the first and second fixing members toward each other for hooking tightly and respectively on the opposite edges of the support. The article retaining mechanism is disposed on the connecting mechanism and is adapted for retaining the article thereat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a hanger device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded front perspective view of the first preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the first preferred embodiment to illustrate that an article retainer is mounted rotatably to a coupling base; FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the first preferred embodiment to illustrate engagement between a strip part and a hollow connector part; FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the first preferred embodiment to illustrate that the article retainer is mounted on the coupling base; FIG. 6 is a top view of the first preferred embodiment when mounted on a support; and FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of a hanger device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like components are assigned the same reference numerals throughout the following disclosure.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a first preferred embodiment of a hanger device 3 of the present invention is adapted for retaining an article (not shown) on a support 100 having two opposite edges 101 (see FIGS. 3 and 6). The support 100 may be an A pillar, B pillar, C pillar or D pillar of a vehicle. The article may be a portable electronic device or the like. The hanger device 3 comprises a first fixing member 4, a second fixing member 5, two connecting mechanisms 6, and an article retaining mechanism 7.
The first fixing member 4 and the second fixing member 5 are spaced apart from each other and are adapted to hook onto the opposite edges 101 of the support 100, respectively. Each connecting mechanism 6 extends between the first and second fixing members 4, 5. The article retaining mechanism 7 is disposed on the connecting mechanisms 6 and is adapted for retaining the article thereat.
The first fixing member 4 has a first hooking part 41 for hooking on a respective one of the opposite edges 101 of the support 100, a first abutting part 42 that extends rightwardly from the first hooking part 41 and that abuts against a front side of the support 100, and a first pull part 43 that extends forwardly from the first abutting part 42 and that faces toward the second fixing member 5. The first pull part 43 is provided with two holes 430, which are vertically spaced apart from each other. In this embodiment, the structure of the second fixing member 5 is similar to that of the first fixing member 4. That is, the second fixing member 5 also has a second hooking part 51 for hooking on a respective one of the opposite edges 101 of the support 100, a second abutting part 52 that extends leftwardly from the second hooking part 51 and that abuts against the front side of the support 100, and a second pull part 53 that extends forwardly from the second abutting part 52, that faces toward the first fixing member 4, and that is provided with two holes 530.
The connecting mechanisms 6 extend between the first and second fixing members 4, 5 and are vertically spaced apart from each other. Each connecting mechanism 6 includes a first connecting component 61 and a second connecting component 62 provided on the first and second fixing members 4, 5, respectively. The first connecting component 61 extends toward the second fixing member 5. The second connecting component 62 is connected non-removably to and extends through the second fixing member 5.
The first connecting component 61 has a first stop part 611 disposed to abut against a left side of the first pull part 43 that faces away from the second fixing member 5, and a strip part 612 fixed at one end to the first stop part 611 and extending through one of the holes 430 in the first pull part 43 to reach the second fixing member 5. The strip part 612 has a surface formed with a plurality of inclined teeth 613.
The second connecting component 62 has a second stop part 63 disposed to abut against a right side of the second pull part 53 of the second fixing member 5 that faces away from the first fixing member 4. The second connecting component 62 further has a hollow connector part 623 through which the strip part 612 of the first connecting component 61 extends rightwardly, and an extension part 622 fixed at one end to the second stop part 63 and at the other end to the hollow connector part 623. The hollow connector part 623 has an inner surface formed with a detent unit 624 (see FIG. 4) that engages and that cooperates with the inclined teeth 613 of the strip part 612 to permit displacement of the hollow connector part 623 toward the first fixing member 4 while preventing displacement of the hollow connector part 623 away from the first fixing member 4. The extension part 622 extends through a corresponding hole 530 in the second pull part 53 to enable the strip part 612 to reach the hollow connector part 623.
The article retaining mechanism 7 includes a coupling base 71 provided on the strip parts 612 of the first connecting components 61 of the connecting mechanisms 6, and an article retainer 72 mounted removably on the coupling base 71 for retaining the article thereat. The coupling base 71 has a base body 711 that is provided on the strip parts 612, a pivot shaft part 713 that protrudes from a front side of the base body 711, a pair of radial limit parts 714 that project in radial opposite directions from a distal end of the pivot shaft part 713, and two positioning protrusions 715 that are disposed on a rear side of the radial limit parts 714, respectively. The base body 711 is formed with two strip passages 712 for extension of the strip parts 612 therethrough, respectively.
In this embodiment, the article retainer 72 is U-shaped and has a first arm portion 721 and a second arm portion 722. The second arm portion 722 of the article retainer 72 is formed with an oral coupling hole 723 and two positioning recesses 724 on two sides of the coupling hole 723.
When installing the hanger device 3, the first hooking part 41 of the first fixing member 4 and the second hooking part 51 of the second fixing member 5 are first hooked on the opposite edges 101 of the support 100, respectively. Then, the strip parts 612 of the first connecting components 61 are extended through the hollow connector parts 623 of the second connecting components 62. The detent unit 624 of each hollow connector part 623 engages and cooperates with the inclined teeth 613 of the respective strip part 612 to permit displacement of the hollow connector part 623 toward the respective first fixing member 4, which enables the connecting mechanisms 6 to pull the first and second fixing members 4, 5 toward each other for hooking tightly and respectively on the opposite edges 101 of the support 100. Therefore, stability for mounting the hanger device 3 can be achieved.
To mount the article retainer 72, the article retainer 72 formed with the coupling hole 723 is rotated relative to the coupling base 71 from a first position, where the coupling hole 723 permits extension of the radial limit parts 714 and the pivot shaft part 713 therethrough, to a second position, where the radial limit parts 714 are prevented from extending through the coupling hole 723 to arrest removal of the article retainer 72 from the coupling base 71. At this time, the positioning recesses 724 on the second arm portion 722 can engage the positioning protrusions 715 on the rear side of the radial limit parts 714, in order to finish mounting the article retainer 72. It is noted that the locations of the positioning protrusions 715 and the positioning recesses 724 may be interchanged. That is, one of the coupling base 71 and the article retainer 72 is formed with the positioning protrusions 715, and the other one of the coupling base 71 and the article retainer 72 is formed with the positioning recesses 724 to engage removably the positioning protrusions 715 when the article retainer 72 is at the second position. Users may hang an article on the first arm portion 721 or retain the article between the first arm portion 721 and the second arm portion 722 of the article retainer 72.
In this embodiment, the article retainer 72 of the article retaining mechanism 7 is U-shaped. However, it is not limited thereto in other embodiments of the invention. Besides, the way of mounting the coupling base 71 on the strip parts 612 of the first connecting components 61 is also not limited to the disclosed embodiment. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the number of the connecting mechanisms 6 is not limited to two, and may vary depending on actual requirements.
FIG. 7 illustrates the second preferred embodiment of the hanger device 3 according to the present invention. The second preferred embodiment differs from the first preferred embodiment in the following aspects.
In this embodiment, the second connecting component 62 of each connecting mechanism 6 is not provided with the second stop part and the extension part, and is only provided with the hollow connector part 623. The hollow connector part 623 is disposed to abut against a right side of the second pull part 53. The strip part 612 of the first connecting component 61 of each connecting mechanism 6 extends rightwardly through the corresponding hole 530 in the second pull part 53 and through the hollow connector part 623 of the respective second connecting component 62.
The hanger device 3 of the second preferred embodiment is installed in the same way as the first preferred embodiment, i.e., the first and second fixing members 4,5 are pulled toward each other for hooking tightly and respectively on the opposite edges 101 of the support 100.
In sum, by extending the strip parts 612 of the first connecting components 61 through the hollow connector parts 623 of the second connecting components 62, the first and second fixing members 4,5 can hook tightly and respectively on the opposite edges 101 of the support 100. The invention is applicable to different distances between the opposite edges 101, and is designed for unidirectional displacement of the hollow connector parts 623 toward the first fixing member 4. Furthermore, the structure of the article retaining mechanism 7 disposed on the connecting mechanisms 6 makes it convenient for users to retain an article. Therefore, the objective of the invention can be realized.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A hanger device adapted for retaining an article on a support having two opposite edges, said hanger device comprising:

a first fixing member and a second fixing member spaced apart from each other and adapted to hook onto the opposite edges of the support, respectively;

a connecting mechanism that extends between said first and second fixing members, said connecting mechanism including

a first connecting component that is provided on said first fixing member and that has a strip part, said strip part having a surface formed with a plurality of inclined teeth, and

a second connecting component that is provided on said second fixing member and that has a hollow connector part through which said strip part of said first connecting component extends, said hollow connector part having an inner surface formed with a detent unit that engages and that cooperates with said inclined teeth of said strip part to permit displacement of said hollow connector part toward said first fixing member while preventing displacement of said hollow connector part away from said first fixing member, thereby enabling said connecting mechanism to pull said first and second fixing members toward each other for hooking tightly and respectively on the opposite edges of the support; and

an article retaining mechanism disposed on said connecting mechanism and adapted for retaining the article thereat.

2. The hanger device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said first fixing member has a first hooking part adapted for hooking on a respective one of the opposite edges of the support, and a first pull part that faces toward said second fixing member;

said first connecting component further has a first stop part disposed to abut against one side of said first pull part that faces away from said second fixing member; and

said strip part is fixed at one end to said first stop part and extends through said first pull part to reach said second fixing member.

3. The hanger device as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

said second fixing member has a second hooking part adapted for hooking on a respective one of the opposite edges of the support, and a second pull part that faces toward said first fixing member; and

said second connecting component further has a second stop part disposed to abut against one side of said second pull part that faces away from said first fixing member, and an extension part fixed at one end to said second stop part and at the other end to said hollow connector part, said extension part extending through said second pull part to enable said strip part to reach said hollow connector part.

4. The hanger device as claimed in claim 2, wherein:

said second fixing member has a second hooking part adapted for hooking on a respective one of the opposite edges of the support, and a second pull part that faces toward said first fixing member;

said hollow connector part is disposed to abut against one side of said second pull part that faces away from said first fixing member; and

said strip part extends through said second pull part and said hollow connector part.

5. The hanger device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said article retaining mechanism includes a coupling base provided on said strip part, and an article retainer mounted removably on said coupling base and adapted for retaining the article thereat.

6. The hanger device as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said coupling base includes a base body that is provided on said strip part, a pivot shaft part that protrudes from a front side of said base body, and a radial limit part that projects from a distal end of said pivot shaft part; and

said article retainer is formed with a coupling hole and is rotatable relative to said coupling base from a first position, where said coupling hole permits extension of said radial limit part and said pivot shaft part therethrough, to a second position, where said radial limit part is prevented from extending through said coupling hole to arrest removal of said article retainer from said coupling base.

7. The hanger device as claimed in claim 6, wherein one of said coupling base and said article retainer is formed with a positioning protrusion, and the other one of said coupling base and said article retainer is formed with a positioning recess to engage removably said positioning protrusion when said article retainer is at the second position.

8. The hanger device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said base body is formed with a strip passage for extension of said strip part therethrough.