US2547368A

US2547368A - Cloth rack

Info

Publication number: US2547368A
Application number: US700124A
Authority: US
Inventors: Booth Henry
Original assignee: HENRY BOOTH METHODS CORP
Current assignee: HENRY BOOTH METHODS Corp
Priority date: 1946-09-28
Filing date: 1946-09-28
Publication date: 1951-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 1968-04-03

Description

H. BOOTH April' 3, 1951 CLOTH RACK 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 28, 1946 INVENTOR /viu 007.

ATTORN EY H. BOOTH CLOTH RACK April 3, 1951 "s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 28, 1946 INVENTOR me Y 500775. B Z

TTORNEY H. BOOTH CLOTH RACK 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 28, 1946 Q w d m m 2, MW m 0 I n m---- R 1 l atented Apr. 3;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,547,558 7 I cL'oTH Rack Henry Booth, B onnville fi assignor to Henrylioqth Methods Corporation, New York,

N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application SeptemberZS, 1946, Serial No. 700,124

4 Claims. (cl. 312E198) My invention relates to cloth racks and. more particularly to a combined display and storage rack for housing lengths of fabrics in a c.011-

venient, expeditious, space-saving and eye-appealing manner.

Heretofore in the establishments of merchant tailors, bolts of fabrics were stored on shelves. when the tailor desired to show cloth .to a .prospective customer, it was necessary for him to remove a bolt and unroll a length of cloth for the customers inspection. This is a time-Icon- -sulming and burdensome .task and fails to display the cloth to its best advantage. Furthermo're, the bolts of cloth become dusty and frequently become soiled from handling. Due to the difficulty of handling bolts of cloth, the practice of showing swatches was adopted by many tailors. A fragment of cloth, however, fails to display the overall effect of the texture, color and design of the fabric or to create the im- Another object of my invention is to provide an inf-proved cloth rack for dis-playing lengths offab'r'ic. each of which 'isof suflici-ent length for a suit of clothes for ready and accessible inspection by a prospective-customer.

Another object of my invention is to provide a elothrack for displaying a large number of different fabrics in a manner to maintain the fabrics clean and free from dust.

A further object of my invention is to provide a combined cloth housing and display rack which will occupy a minimum area inamerchant tailors establishment. 7

Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In general my invention contemplates the pro-'- visicin of a plurality of angularly disposed housings adjacent a wall of a merchant tailor s establishment, sales'room or the like. Each =housing is provided with one or several sliding panels or frames. -Each pane1 is provided withfme'ans :for supporting a length of suiting sufficientifor ,a-suit of clothes. supporting means Iprefer are hinged brackets adjacent the top of each frame. The brackets overlap so that a large number of lengths of cloth may besup'pjorted fr om;a singlepanel. The pivoting of th v g H V racket willpermit a particular length of cloth to be inspected in detail. When not in use the panel is adapted to be rolled into its housing.

In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be r ad in cniii c n her w h a n h c like reference numerals are used to indicate like carts i the arious vie Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved cloth rack with various panels in housed and part ly ned o t ;Figure 2 is a perspective view of my improved rack showing the panel construction.

Figure ,3 is 9, fragmentary view of a detail of a panel drawn on an enlarged scale.

figure 4 is a top plan View with partsin section.

.;Ei gure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line fl5 5 qfFigure 4 drawn on an enlarged scale.

Figurefi is a. fragmentary sectional view showing the panel supporting structure.

More part u a ly referr n now to the drawings; I provide a. --plurality of angularly disposed housings I, .2, 3 and 4 constructed adjacent a wall 5 of a display room. In the ceiling of the room or in a false elling 6, I s p in any suitable manner, a plurality of channel irons I having their lower ends 8 and 9 bent upwardly .to form tracks as can readily be seen by reference to Figures 5 and 6. The track channels I are :shown supportedby brackets In which are bolted to the overhead building structure by means of bolts I]. ;The overhead structure which may be the ceiling or false ceiling 6 is provided with a .plurality of slots :12 to permit the panel suspension to slide freely into and out of the housing alongathe tracks. V

,A-plura'lity-of carriages l3 aresupported by a number of wheels is journaled onsuitable axles 15. The wheels! are adapted to ride in the guidewaysl. "Eanelsorjrames l6 aresupported :from .the carriages 13 :by means of suspension rods H. isecured to each end of the frame ,or

panel iii-in any suitable manner as by bolts 20, .aitea'pair'of lbracketsql 8. Ascan readily'be seen by reference to Figures -3 and 6, the brackets I8 are secured ;to the suspension rods l'! of ';th e car- -riagesg lz3=by nuts [5, :thelower-ends of the suspen- .seen'byreference tto Figures-2 and ;3. The brackets are positioned so that they no rr na11y Ove ap .onelanotheras shown in figure 4i. Each bracket m y e .of any d s r d len th. thou h re e to makeeach bracket about the length of half .of the width .ofp-a 'bQ1t ;Qf cloth. The length of thefra-me' .or panelis such that a length of suit Zing. say 13% yardsetc .4 -yards,;suitable for one suit .cr: clothes, may {be readily draped over .each hanger.

Within each housing I provide guide members 24 into which the lower rails 25 of the frames or panels depend. The guide rail limits the amplitude of motion of, the lower rails of the frames 3 though the clearance between the guide members 24 and the lower rails is sufficient for frictionless movement.

For purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation, I have shown each housing with two sliding frames. It is to be understood that a single sliding frame may be employed or a greater number than two if desired. Similarly, any suit- 7 In use the panels or frames are pulled out one at a time and lengths of cloth 28 are draped on the hangers 22 such that the lengths of cloth hang the full length of the panel. The upper end of each cloth length may be pinned, basted or secured in any suitable manner. Each frame is filled and my improved rack is ready for use. Normally at night or when the establishment is closed the racks are slid to housed position as shown in Figure 1 by the racks in housing I. A length of fabric on an individual hanger may be readily inspected by swinging the bracket hanger away from the rail. The brackets extend in such direction that should one or more be inadvertently extended, the sliding of the panel to housed position will automatically swing the bracket adjacent the rail. The entire stock of fabrics can be inspected very quickly, simply and conveniently. The labor of carrying bolts of cloth is eliminated. The risk of soiling cloth is greatly minimized inasmuch as, the inspection is visual and handling is reduced and in some cases eliminated entirely. V

It will be observed that I have accomplished the objects of my invention. I have provided a novel, improved cloth rack for displaying fabrics and housing them in a manner to reduce handling. The inspection of a large piece of cloth gives the prospective customer a more accurate appraisal of how a suit of clothes will look when tailored from the fabric. This cannot be conveyed by the inspection of swatches and to a less customer wishes such inspection as may be the case in establishments using artificial lighting. My cloth rack occupies a minimum amount of space and eliminates expensive and unappealing shelving. The display of fabrics in my cloth rack enhances the appearance of a tailors establishment or showroom and saves time not only for the merchant tailor but also for prospective customers who can inspect a large number of fabrics almost'at a glance.

It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of my claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of my claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. It is therefore understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cloth rack including in combination a plurality of housings mounted in substantially vertical position adjacent the side wall of a building structure, a common roof formed with a plurality of elongated slots, said roof extending over the housings, each housing being laterally displaced from its adjacent housing and forming substantially the same angle with the side wall, a plurality of guide tracks mounted above the roof, each guide track extending over and beyond its respective housing and in overlapping relation to an adjacent housing, carriages mounted upon the guide tracks for movement therealong, frames, means extending through the slots for suspending the frames from the carriages for movement into and out of respective housings, and a plurality of brackets each adapted to support a length of cloth mounted upon each of the frames adjacent the upper portions thereof.

2. A cloth rack as in claim 1 in which the brackets are pivoted and disposed in position to overlap when lying adjacent the frame.

3. A cloth rack as in claim 1 in which each of the frames is provided with a closure strip carried by the frame, the closure strip adapted to close the housing when the frame is moved to housed position.

4. A cloth rack including in combination a plurality of housings, a roof for each housing formed with a plurality of elongated slots, a plurality of guide means positioned above each of the roofs and extending over and beyond each of the housings, carriages mounted on respective guide means for movement therealong, a plurality of frames for each housing, means extending through the slots for suspending respective frames from the carriages for independent movement into and out of each housing, a plurality of brackets carried by respective frames adjacent upper portions thereof for supporting respective lengths of cloth, each of the housing and frame assemblies being disposed adjacent a side wall of a building structure in substantially the same angular relation therewith and positioned substantially adjacent each other so that a frame, when extended, will overlap an adjacent hous- HENRY BOOTH.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 133,359 Darley Nov. 26, 1872 417,959 Welton Dec. 24, 1889 564,949 Sumner July 28, 1896 997,866 Smith July 11, 1911 1,073,854 Helmer Sept. 23, 1913 1,485,200 Roberts et al. Feb. 26, 1924 1,713,147 Ruze May 14, 1929' 1,802,102 Zeigler et al. Apr. 21, 1931 1,835,744 Austin Dec. 8, 1931 1,841,620 McCoy Jan. 19, 1932 1,853,061 Judelson Apr. 12, 1932 1,863,030 Ruwitch June 14, 1932 2,118,342 Dillon May 24, 1938