US20210022532A1

US20210022532A1 - Garment hanger with rounded ends for improved clothes storage

Info

Publication number: US20210022532A1
Application number: US16/936,232
Authority: US
Inventors: Arvy Guy Whitney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2019-07-23
Filing date: 2020-07-22
Publication date: 2021-01-28

Abstract

A garment hanger with a unique curved profile that better accommodates the natural shape of a garment in order to prevent unsightly bumps from being formed in the fabric of the garment due to the fabric being stretched while hanging. The improved clothes hanger, as presently claimed, allows garments to be stored on the improved clothes hanger for a longer period of time without fear of stretching. The improved clothes hanger is manufactured of a single molded piece of plastic material, or other suitable, moldable, inexpensive material that will support the weight of a garment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is related to and claims priority from prior provisional application Ser. No. 62/877,630, filed Jul. 23, 2019, the entire application of which is incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of clothing hangers. More specifically, the invention is a clothing hanger with a more curved profile without forming unsightly bumps in the hanging clothes.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Many people hang their clothes to store them, often on plastic or wire hangers in a closet or wardrobe. If a shirt, sweater, dress, or other garment is stored on a hanger, the fabric can be come stretched, creating unsightly bumps that still show up when the garment is worn. The only way to remove them is to iron the garment prior to wearing, which is a time consuming process, and requires the wearer to have access to an iron and a surface which can withstand ironing.
Ideally, an improved hanger should provide a way of hanging garments that doesn't create unsightly bumps in the fabric and, yet would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable improved hanger to avoid the above-mentioned problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known clothes hanger art, the present invention provides a novel clothes hanger. The general purpose of the present invention, as will be described subsequently in greater detail is to provide a clothes hanger that will not leave unsightly bumps in the garment's fabric that need to be ironed out before they can be worn.
The presently claimed invention provides users with a hanger having a more curved profile, capable of accommodating any type of garment without worry of unsightly bumps forming. This allows t-shirts, polo shirts, damp clothing, long sleeve knits, etc., to be hung for a considerable period of time without creating unsightly bumps in the shoulder area that have to be ironed out before wearing.
The present invention holds significant improvements and serves as an improved clothes hanger. For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention that are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures that accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and method(s) of use for the present invention, an improved clothes hanger, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view illustrating an improved hanger, according to an embodiment of the presently claimed invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view illustrating an improved hanger, according to an embodiment of the presently claimed invention

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view illustrating a cross-section of a solid tube construction of the improved hanger, according to an embodiment of the presently claimed invention.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section view illustrating a shirt hung on an improved hanger according to an embodiment of the present invention of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5A shows a perspective view illustrating bumps formed in the fabric of a shirt by a standard hanger.

FIG. 5B shows a perspective view illustrating the lack of bumps formed by the improved hanger, according to an embodiment of the presently claimed invention.

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, embodiments of the present invention relate to an improved clothes hanger and more particularly to a clothes hanger with specially curved ends as used to better reproduce the slope of a human shoulder in order to reduce the stretching of the garment's fabric while being hung, thereby reducing the unsightly bumps created by a standard hanger.
Generally speaking, the improved clothes hanger, as presently claimed, is a novel garment hanger with a unique curved profile that better accommodates the natural shape of a garment in order to prevent unsightly bumps from being formed in the fabric of the garment due to the fabric being stretched while hanging. Such stretching can, over time, cause permanent damage to the fabric fibers, in addition to the shorter term damage of unsightly bumps requiring ironing to repair. The improved clothes hanger, as presently claimed, allows garments to be stored on the improved clothes hanger for a longer period of time without fear of stretching. The improved clothes hanger is manufactured of a single molded piece of plastic material, or other suitable, moldable, inexpensive material that will support the weight of a garment.
Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference there is shown in FIGS. 1-2, an improved hanger 1 with a hook 2 operably connected as a single piece to a convex top portion 3 with rounded ends 4 a, 4 b that continue to a concaved bottom portion 5. One half of the top portion 3, one of the two rounded ends, and one half of the bottom portion 5 form each of the two arms of the hanger 1. The concaved bottom portion 5 is closer to the convext top portion 3 than it would be if the bottom portion was straight across, both allowing the ends of each hanger arm 4 a, 4 b to be fully rounded, and increasing the strength of the hanger by removing the large gap between the top portion 3 and the bottom portion 5 that is seen in standard hangers. The top of the cylinder forming the concave bottom portion 5 is preferably 1.5-2 inches from the bottom of the cylinder forming the convex top portion 3, or more preferably 1.77 inches.
Each of the rounded ends 4 a, 4 b has a support piece 6 a, 6 b that provides additional stability around the end curve. The hanger 1 also has a hook support piece 7 at the point where the hook 2 meets the convex top portion 3. The hook 2 has a rounded tip 8 at the open end to ensure a garment 9 is not snagged or torn by the hook when a user is pulling the garment 9 on or off the hanger 1. The hanger 1 also has an arm connection support piece 10 at the top portion 3 where the two arms of the hanger meet the hook 2. All of the support pieces 6 a, 6 b, 7, 10 are formed of sheets of the same plastic as the rest of the hanger 1, and are thinner than the diameter of the rest of the hanger.
The hanger 1 is preferably 16.5 inches wide, from a first rounded end 4 a to a second rounded end 4 b, and 9 inches tall over all, from the lowest point of the rounded ends 4 a, 4 b to the top of the curve of the hook 2. More preferably, the hanger 1 is 8.8 inches tall over all, from the lowest point of the rounded ends 4 a, 4 b to the top of the curve of the hook 2.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the hanger 1 is formed from a solid plastic cylinder 11, preferably with an outer diameter of 0.25 inches.
Referring now to FIGS. 4-5, the curves of the improved hanger, as claimed, prevent the formation of unsighly bumps 12 due to overly stretching of a the fabric of a garment 9 by a regular hanger 13, by creating a curve that mimics the average human anatomy, thereby allowing the garment 9 to lie flat against the improved hanger 1 and hang off the rounded ends 4 a, 4 b without stretching.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.

Claims

What is claimed is new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A garment hanger comprising:

a molded cylindrical piece of plastic having

a. a hook having

i. a base;

ii. an arc portion; and

iii. a rounded tip;

b. a convex top portion with a right side and a left side, where the base of the hook is connected at a middle of the convex top portion where the right side of the convex top portion and the left side of the convex top portion meet;

c. a concave bottom portion with a right side and a left side;

d. a right rounded end connecting the right side of the convex top portion to the right side of the concave bottom portion; and

e. a left rounded end connecting the left side of the convex top portion to the left side of the concave bottom portion.

2. The garment hanger according to claim 1, the garment hanger further comprising:

f. a left rounded end support piece;

g. a right rounded end support piece;

h. a hook support piece connecting the arc of the hook to the right side of the convex top portion; and

i. a convex top portion support piece,

wherein the left rounded end support piece, the right rounded end support piece, the hook support piece, and the convex top portion support piece are formed together with the cylindrical piece of plastic to form a single piece, and

wherein the left rounded end support piece, the right rounded end support piece, the hook support piece, and the convex top portion support piece have a thickness that is less than a diameter of the cylindrical piece of plastic.

3. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the right rounded end and the left rounded end is 16.5 inches.

4. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein a height of the hanger is 8.8 inches.

5. The garment hanger according to claim 2, wherein a top side of the molded cylindrical piece of plastic is between 1.5 to 2 inches apart from a bottom side of the convex top portion support piece.

6. The garment hanger according to claim 2, wherein a top side of the molded cylindrical piece of plastic is 1.77 inches apart from a bottom side of the convex top portion support piece.

7. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical piece of plastic has a diameter of 0.25 inches.

8. The garment hanger according to claim 2, wherein the cylindrical piece of plastic has a diameter of 0.25 inches.

9. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical piece of plastic is a solid cylinder.

10. A garment hanger comprising:

a molded cylindrical piece of plastic with a diameter of 0.25 inches, the cylindrical piece of plastic having

a. a hook having

i. a base;

ii. an arc portion; and

iii. a rounded tip;

c. a concave bottom portion with a right side and a left side;

d. a right rounded end connecting the right side of the convex top portion to the right side of the concave bottom portion;

e. a left rounded end connecting the left side of the convex top portion to the left side of the concave bottom portion,

wherein the distance between the right rounded end and the left rounded end is 16.5 inches;

f. a left rounded end support piece;

g. a right rounded end support piece;

i. a convex top portion support piece,

wherein the left rounded end support piece, the right rounded end support piece, the hook support piece, and the convex top portion support piece have a thickness that is less than a diameter of the cylindrical piece of plastic,

wherein a top side of the molded cylindrical piece of plastic is between 1.5 to 2 inches apart from a bottom side of the convex top portion support piece

wherein a height of the hanger is 8.8 inches.

11. The garment hanger according to claim 10, wherein a top side of the molded cylindrical piece of plastic is 1.77 inches apart from a bottom side of the convex top portion support piece.

12. The garment hanger according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical piece of plastic is a solid cylinder.