US2425146A

US2425146A - Collapsible clothing hanger

Info

Publication number: US2425146A
Application number: US581826A
Authority: US
Inventors: James L Comis; Nestos George
Original assignee: PAUL UHER
Current assignee: PAUL UHER
Priority date: 1945-03-09
Filing date: 1945-03-09
Publication date: 1947-08-05
Anticipated expiration: 1964-08-05

Description

Aug. 5, 1947. J. L.`COM|S ETAL n A2,425,146

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHING HANGER Filed March 9, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Aug. 5, 1947 COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHING HANGER James L. Comis and George Nestos, Chicago,

Ill., assignors of one-third to Paul Uher, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 9, 1945, Serial No. 581,826

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a collapsible clothing hanger supporting articles of clothing including suits, dresses and like garments suspended rom or upon garment hangers, aswell as neckties, and other articles of clothing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible clothing hanger which may be used in places in which space is an important consideration such, for example, as clothes closets, in trunks, and the like.

An additional object of the present invention is to construct and arrange the new collapsible clothing hanger in such a manner that the same will support substantial loads without collapsing or bending under the weight and stresses and strains thereof.

A further and more speciiic object of the invention is to construct and arrange the new collapsible clothing hanger in such a manner that the horizontal supporting bar embodied therein is prevented from bending or collapsing under the weight of a plurality of garments such, for example, as suits suspended therefrom by means of garment hangers or the like.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a novel construction and arrangement for operatively interconnecting the horizontal supporting bar and the vertical supporting rod when the new collapsible clothing hanger is in use and in such a manner that the horizontal supporting bar is adequately braced by engagement with the vertical supporting rod or post so as to prevent it from sagging, bending or collapsing under the weight of a plurality of garments carried thereby,

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing a preferred form of the new clothes hanger in position of use;

between the horizontal supporting bar and the vertical supporting rod or post;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top sectional plan View on lines-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail View similar to Fig. 2 but showing the horizontal supporting bar operatively engaged with the vertical supporting rod or post;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the supporting bar in raised or vertical and collapsed position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view illustrating a modied form of the supporting bar which is especially adapted for use in holding neckties; and

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 but showing the supporting bar in vertical and collapsed position.

A typical embodiment of the new collapsible clothing hanger il; illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, and is therein generally indicated at Iii, and is shown as being mounted upon or attached to a suitable supporting surface Il which may be a doo-r frame o1' wall of a clothes closet or the like. The new clothes hanger Il! includes a vertical supporting rod or post I2 which is swivelly mounted at its upper end upon a bracket i3 which may be fastened, as at It, to the supporting surface I I. The vertical rod I2 is likewise swivelly mounted at its lower end upon a bracket I5 which may be attached, as at I6 to the supporting surface II.

The new collapsible clothing hanger I0 includes a horizontal supporting bar il which is preferably made of strong, flat, steel stock and formed in the lower edge of this horizontal supporting bar I'I, is a plurality of slots I8 each of which opens at its lower end along the bottom edge of the bar I7, as the bar I I appears when in a horizontal position, as in Fig. l.

The horizontal supporting bar I I is operatively connected by a link I9 to the vertical supporting rod I2. This link I9 is pivotally connected at its lower end, as at 29, to the bar I'I and is pivotally connected at its upper end, as at 2l, to the vertical supporting rod I2.

In the practice of the present invention we provide a lost motion connection between the vertical supporting rod I2 and the horizontal supporting bar I 'l and this lost motion connection is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. To this end a V-shaped notch 22 is formed in the vertical rod I2, between the upper and lower ends thereof and the lower end of this notch 22 provides a horizontal shoulder 23. Mounted in the vertical supporting rod I2, above the notch 22, and in the opposite side of the supporting member or rod I2 from the notch 22, is a stop member in the form of a rivet 2Q and slidably mounted upon the vertical supporting rod I2 is a tubular sleeve 25. A pair of parallel arms 25 are formed integrally with the sleeve 25 and these arms 26 embrace an angular end portion 2I of the horizontal supporting bar i1. Formed in the angular end portion 2'I of the supporting bar I'i is a slot 28 and projecting through this slotis a pin 29 the ends of which are secured on the outer sides of the arms 2S of the tubular sleeve 25.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, the angular end portion of the horizontal supporting bar I'I terminates in a triangular-shaped end portion or nose 3D and this portion 30 of the horizontal supporting bar I'I is adapted to engage in the notch 22 so as to rest upon the shoulder portion 23 thereof.

In the use of the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the device may be mounted upon a vertical supporting surface I I, as shown, and may be collapsed and disposed in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5 when not in use, with the supporting bar II extending vertically and substantially parallel to the Vertical supporting rod I2. However, when it is desired to use the new clothes hanger the slotted supporting bar I'I may be pivoted downwardly into horizontal position, as in Fig. 1, whereupon the triangular-shaped end portion or nose 30 of the bar I'I' may be projected into the notch 22 so that it rests upon the shoulder 23, this being accomplished by manually pushing the slotted supporting bar I'I toward the vertical supporting rod I2. This operation is made possible by reason of the lost motion connection 28--29 between the slotted supporting bar Il and the slidable sleeve 25-26 on the vertical supporting rod or post I2.

Garments or articles of clothing, such as are indicated at 3l, may then be suspended by conventional garment hangers 32 from the slotted supporting bar I'I, this being accomplished by inserting the hooks 33 of the garment hangers 32 into the slots I8 in the bar I'I.

It will be noted that when the slotted supporting bar I'I is thus disposed in eifective and horizontal supporting position, as in Fig. 1, a substantial part of the weight of the garments 3| carried by the bar I'I bears downwardly upon the supporting bar I'I and the force thereof bears downwardly, through the angled inner end portion 3U of the bar Il, onto the horizontal shoulder 23 of the notch 22' in the vertical post or rod I2. In this manner the engagement of the triangularshaped nose 39 of the bar I1 in the notch 22 is assured and the bar I1 is prevented from bending or collapsing under the weight of the garments carried thereby, at the left hand side of the pivoted connection 20 between the link I9 and the bar I'I, as seen in Fig. 1. In this manner one of the diiculties heretofore experienced in the use of prior collapsible clothes hangers is avoided, said diiiiculty having resided in the tendency of such prior devices to collapse under the force of garments carried thereby and particularly when such garments Were arranged between the pivotal interconnection between the supporting link, for the horizontal supportingV bar, and the vertical supporting rod or post.

The slotted bar I'I and the garments carried thereby may be conned in a relatively small space by merely pulling outwardly on the bar I'I (left to right as seen in Fig. 1) so as to withdraw the angular end portion or nose 33 thereof off from the shoulder 23, whereupon the sleeve 25 may be slid downwardly on the post I2 into the collapsed position in which it is shown in Fig. 5. During this operation the bar I1, with the garments 3| suspended therefrom, will be moved into vertical position, as seen in Fig. 5. When the parts are thus disposed the hooks 33 of the garment hangers 32 will still remain in the slots I8 of the bar I'I and the garments 3| carried by the garment hangers 32 will be cascaded one over the other at the then front and slotted edge of the bar I'I.

A modification of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 'I and this form of the invention is particularly adapted for holding neckties. This form of the invention comprises a bar I 'Ia in which slots Ia are formed, these slots Ia terminating at one end upon the lower edge of the bar Ila, as the bar I'Ia is seen in horizontal position, but terminating at their inner ends in an arm 3l of the slot Ia which provides two supporting surfaces for a necktie 35. These two supporting surfaces which are provided by each arm 31 of each slot |805 are indicated at 34 and 36, in Figs. 6 and '7, and extend at approximately a rightangle to each other.

By reference to Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that the relatively narrow or neckband portions of the neckties 35 are suspended from the then horizontal surface 34 of the slots Ia when the bar IIa is in horizontal position. as in Fig. 6, but that when the bar Ila is-raised into vertical or collapsed position, as in Fig. 7, the relatively narrow or neckband portions of the neckties are then suspended from the then horizontal surfaces 35 of the arms 3i of the slots I8a, with the neckties 35 suspended or cascaded one over the other, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

The operating mechanism for the slotted bar I'Ia, which is embodied in the form of the invention shown in Figs, 6 and 7, is the same as that embodied in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, and as hereinbefore described.

It will thus be seen from the foregoing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, that the present invention provides a novel and eiiicient collapsible holder or hanger for garments or articles of clothing, including neckties, and has the desirable advantages and characteristics, and accomplishes its intended objects, including those hereinbefore pointed out and others which are inherent in the invention.

We claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a supporting member adapted to be suspended in a vertical position from a vertical supporting surface, an article-supporting bar, a slidable member slidably mounted upon the said supporting member for movement axially thereof, a link having one end portion pivotally connected to the said supporting member and having its other end portion pivotally connected to the said article-supporting bar between the ends of the latter, means cooperating with the said slidable member to provide a pivotal connection between the said article-supporting .bar and the said slidable member, means on the said supporting member engageable with an end portion of the said article-supporting bar for releasably supporting an end portion of said article-supporting bar against downward movement when the said article-supporting bar is in substantially horizontal position, and said supporting member having a stop member thereon above the said slidable member and engageable by the latter for limiting upward movement of the said slidable member and the said article-supporting bar axially of the said supporting member when the said `articlesupporting member is disposed in a substantially horizontal article-supporting position.

2. A device as deiined in claim 1 in which the said means on the said supporting member for releasably supporting the said end portion of said article-supporting bar is in the form of a horizontally extending shoulder formed on the said supporting member and in which said articlesupporting member bar includes an inner end portion which is adapted to bear downwardly upon the said shoulder when the said articlesupporting bar is in horizontal supporting position.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the said means on the said supporting member for releasably supporting an end portion of said article-supporting bar is in the form of a substantially v-shaped notch formed in said supporting member and providing a horizontally extending shoulder and in which said article-supporting bar includes an angled inner end portion which is adapted to engage in said notch and to bear upon the said horizontally extending shoulder when the said article-supporting bar is in. horizontal supporting position.

4. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the said means cooperating with the said slidable member for providing a pivotal connection between the said article-supporting bar and the said slidable member is in the form of a pin and slot connection which enables the said end portion of said article-supporting bar to be moved into and out of engagement with the said means for releasably supporting the said end portion of said article-supporting bar.

5. A device as dened in claim 1 in which said article-supporting bar includes an edge portion having a row of article-receiving slots formed therein and in which each of said article-receiving slots is shaped and adapted to receive and to retain the relatively narrow or neckband portion of a necktie, and in which each of said articlereceiving slots has an inner end portion providing a pair of supporting surfaces which extend at approximately a right angle to each other and in which one of said supporting surfaces in each of said article-receiving slots is adapted to receive and to support the relatively narrow or neckband portion of a necktie when the said arti cle-supporting bar is in horizontal position and in which the other of said supporting surfaces in each of said article-receiving slots is adapted to receive and to support the relatively narrow or neckband portion of a necktie when the said article-supporting bar is in collapsed and vertical position and extends substantially parallel to the said supporting member.

6. A device as dened in claim 1 in which the said means cooperating with the said slidable member for providing a pivotal connection between the said article-supporting bar and the said supporting member is in the form of a lost motion connection which enables the said end portion of said article-supporting bar to be moved into and out of engagement with the said means for releasably supporting the said end portion of said article-supporting base, and in which said lost motion connection is in the form of a slot formed in said article-supporting bar and a pair of spaced members attached to said slidable member on opposite sides of said article-supporting bar and having a member extending therebetween and working in the said last-n-amed slot in the said article-supporting bar.

'1. In a device of the character described, a supporting member adapted to be suspended in a vertical position from a vertical supporting surface, an article-supporting bar, a slidable member slidably mounted upon the said supporting member for movement axially thereof, a link having one end portion pivotally connected to the said supporting member and having its other end portion pivotally connected to the said articlesupporting bar between the ends of the latter, means cooperating with the said slidable member to provide a pivotal connection between the said article-supporting bar and the said slidable member, `and means on the said supporting member engageable with an end portion of the said article-supporting bar for releasably supporting an end portion of said article-supporting bar against downward movement when the said article-supporting bar is in substantially horizontal position, the said means on the said supporting member for releasably supporting an end portion of said article-supporting bar having the form of a substantially V-shaped notch formed in the said supporting member and providing a horizontally extending shoulder thereon, the said article-supporting bar including an angled inner end portion which is adapted to engage in the said notch and to bear upon the said horizontally extending shoulder When the said articlesupporting bar is in horizontal supporting position, and the said supporting member having a stop member thereon located above the said substantially V-shaped notch and on the opposite side of the said supporting member from the side thereof on which the said substantially V-shaped notch is arranged.

JAMES L. COMIS. GEORGE NESTOS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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