US2619225A - Mothproof garment bag - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 25, B952 1 1 MIN-rz 2,619,225

MoTHPRooF GARMENT BAG Filed sept. 26, 195o Patented Nov. 25, 1952 MOTHPR'O 0F GARMEN'I." BAG Jacob J. Mintz, Plainfield, NLJ., assigner to A. L. Siegel Co., Inc., New York, N.' Y., a corporation of NewYork Application September 26,1950, SerialiNo. 186,720

2 Claims. l

The present invention relates toa -garmentbag construction and in particular to animprovement over that type of mothproof-garmentbag vconstruction disclosed in mycopending application Serial No. 103,470 of July 7, 1949entitled Mothproof Garment Bag, `novv Patent Nog-2,591,277, issued April 1, 1952, and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Garment bags have, inthe course of'their development, assumed a. wide variety of forms. The

lone which has met vvith most widespreadpublic acceptance includes top, bottom, side,rand Vend Walls, the-shape hof ythe bagbeing imparted by 'a rigid frame which supports the'top Wall yand from which garments maybe suspended; The Walls of this type of bag .are normally made of flexible synthetic plastic sheeting, .andmost commonly of a vinyl resin, and one of the `end walls is `usually provided with a slide fastener closure through which garments may be inserted into or removed from the bag.

Such bags, While readily useable at most vtimes for the storage of garments, have not proved to be particularly useful forfthe storage of garments over the summer, since the material of which the bag is formed is'not of a nature such that it can be impregnated with mothproong material. Consequently, it `has beenV necessary, when storing winterclothes, to utilize different garmentbags, usually made of'a non-plastic material such as paper which has been impregnated With a suitable mothproong substance.

The non-adaptable nature of the plastic garment bag, insofar as mothproofing is concerned, has been an important drawback to the fullest acceptance of such bags by the public, since each householder is thus required to have a separate set of bags used only during the summer and, because over the period of a year the impregnation in the material of the bags becomes eXtremely dissipated, usually useable only for one summer. Consequently, various expedients have been resorted to in an attempt to render the plastic type garment bag, which is inherently preferable because of improved appearance and improved ease of accessibility to garments, useable all year round andl convertible from Winter to summer useat will. One expedient proposed has been to sprinkle a suitable mothproong substance, su-ch as paradichlorobenzene, inside the bag so that its vapors-will ll the bag and serve to protect the clothes stored'therein. This expedient Ihas `not proved particularly successful 2 both .because the usual mothproong materials tend to react withV the` vinyl plastic sheets which dene'the walls of the bagsoas tocausethem to become hard and brittle, andbecause the loose mothproong materials create problemsY of their ovvn insofar Vas health and cleanliness areconcerned, particularly if a garment should.v accidentally fall to the-bottom-of the container and into apile of loose `mothpro'oiing materiali The former of thesediculties canlbe'ioverc'omeby lining the bag with a liiexible polyethylene sheet, asset forth in 'the copending applicationof Enianual London,V Serial No.Y 35,371, ledJune 20, 1948, and entitled Moth Proofing Resistant Plastic Garment Bag, now Patent No. 2,584,722, issued February 5,` 1952, assigned to the assignee of the present application. The latter disadvantage is, however, more fundamental.`

It has also been-proposed to provide the garment bag with a container separate and distinct from the Walls thereof and securable onfthe inside of the garment bag, into which container mothproong material nmay be placed when f desired.v In thismanner the garment bag is rendered convertible from mothproong to nonmothprooiing use, but since an extra container is required, additional expense is involved. The containers when not in use either form an unsightly addition to 'the garment bag if permanently secured thereto or'ten'd to become lost during the non-summer months if removable therefrom.

In the said ccpending application-SerialNo. 103,470 a garment bagk is disclosed which' canr be efficiently used as a mothproong-container Without any of the disadvantagesfset forth above and which is just as Yreadily converted into anonmothproofing garment bag foruse duringl most of the year. To this end, at least one of the Walls of the garment bag, and perhaps most-convenientlythe top Wall thereof, is made of multi-ply construct-ion, two of theplies of Which'formbetween themselves a space for receivinga Vsupply of vapor-emitting nmothprooiing material, the inner ply being permeable to mothprooflng vapors vbut impermeable to the mothproong material itself, the outer ply or plies having an opening through which the mothproongmaterial, can be introduced into 'the space betvveen the plies. A slide Vfastener is femployed for. closing that opening :after the moth'proo'fingima'- teria-l `has 4been placed between the plies, inorder 3 to retain the mothproong material therein and also in order to prevent escape of mothproong vapors into the closet or room where the garment bag may be hung.

Mothproofing materials of the type interposed between the plies tend to evaporate or otherwise deteriorate over a period of time, and their replenishment is necessary from time to time if full mothproofing protection is to be achieved.

Since the structure of the garment bag is such that all or substantially all of the mothproofing vapors are retained within the garment bag, it is usually impossible to determine the status of the mothproong material while the garment bag is closed. Hence, whether or not adequate anti-moth protection is being achieved cannot be known without either opening the garment bag itself or the space in which the .solid mothproong material is retained. Either of these steps is undesirable, not only because it permits the escape of mothprooflng vapors into the room with attendant discomfort, but also because it reduces the concentration of mothproong vapors Within the garment bag and hence weakens the effect f the mothproong material.

In order to avoid the above disadvantages, it has been found desirable to form the outer ply of the multi-ply structure between which the solid mothproong material is received so that at least a part of it is transparent. Hence the status of the mothproofing material contained between the plies can be observed at any time without disturbing the interior of the garment bag.

One constructional problem which presented itself in the garment bag of the said copending application Serial No. 103,470 was to provide an adequate seal at the points where the hooks secured to the frame which supports the garment bag pass through the top wall. It has been found that the difficulties attendant thereupon can be eliminated by providing a multi-ply structure in the top wall which does not cover the entire wall, but instead extends from a line adjacent the end edge of the top wall toward but short of that area of the top wall which is pierced to permit the hooks to pass therethrough. Suicient space is provided by this new construction for the reception of an adequate supply of mothproong material, and at the same time observation of the amount and condition of the mothproong material is facilitated, since a window may be provided which has an area constituting a substantial proportion of the area in which the mothproofing material is retained.

To the attainment of the foregoing advantages and for such other objects as may hereinafter appear the present invention relates to the construction of a garment bag as defined in the appended claims and as described in the specication, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a three-quarter perspective view of the garment `bag of the present invention taken from above;

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof with a part broken away;

Fig. 3 is a side cross-sectional View thereof on an enlarged scale taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on an enlarged scale along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

The garment bag embodying the present invention which is here illustrated takes the general rectangular form which is characteristic of most garment bags on the market, but it will be understood that the particular shape of the bag forms no part of the present invention. The bag disclosed comprises a top Wall 2, a bottom wall 3, side walls 4 and 6, and end walls 8 and l0, the end wall 8 being provided with the conventional vertical slide fastener closure I2 so as to provide access to the interior of the bag. The top wall 2 is given shape by means of a metal frame I4 (see Figs. 3 and 4, Where the frame is illustrated in broken lines), the frame including a central portion IB from which the garments may be suspended, hooks I8, passing through the top wall 2, being secured to the frame I4 and usually to the central portion I6 thereof so that the entire garment bag with the garments therein may be hung from a. clothes rod 20.

As here illustrated, the vapor-emitting mothproofing material such as camphor, paradichlorobenzene and the like, is adapted to be received in a space formed in top wall 2, that wall being preferred because of the ease in achieving smooth distribution of mothproong material in the space adapted to contain it. However, any one of the walls of the garment bag could also be used to the same end whether in place of or in addition to the top wall 2. The wall 2 is here disclosed as of multi-ply construction including an inner ply 22 of polyethylene sheeting or other suitable material which is resistant to the deteriorative action of .the mothproong substance, an outer ply 24 of vinyl resin sheeting or other similar material adapted to impart suiicient strength to the garment bag, and an intermediate ply 26 of polyethylene or the like interposed between the inner and outer plies 22 and 24 in order to lnsulate the outer vinyl ply 24 from the deteriorative action of the mothproong substance. It will be noted that, in the form here specifically disclosed, the inner ply 22 is of considerably lesser area than the top wall 2, and preferably extends over less than half of the area of the top wall 2, from one end edge to a line short of the middle of the top wall 2. The inner ply 22 is secured at least to the intermediate ply 26 along all of its edges, the body of the inner ply 22 being separable from the body of the intermediate ply 26 so as to dene therebetween a space 34 adapted to receive and hold a supply of vapor-emitting mothproofing material.

If desired, in order to enhance the decorative appearance of the garment bag and also in order to give some inherent structural rigidity to the top Wall 2, stuffing 3U may be placed between the plies 24 and 26, the plies being stitched together by means of stitching 32 so as to form a quilted effect.

The essential characteristic of the inner ply 22 is that it be permeable to the mothproong vapors emitted by the mothproofing material. so that said vapors can fill the interior of the garment bag and thus perform their mothprooilng function with respect to the garments stored in the bag, and yet not be permeable to the solid mothproofing material itself, so that said material is retained within the space 34 and is not permitted to directly contact the garments stored in the lbag or fall into the interior of the bag so as to present problems of health and cleanliness. When the inner ply 22 is formed of polyethylene sheeting, which is not itself inherently vapor-permeable, the sheeting is provided with a plurality of small spaced perforations 36 of a size such that the granules of solid mothproong material cannot pass therethrough. If the inner ply 22 should be made of some not too tightly woven fabric which would therefore be inherently vaporpermeable, it would not be necessary to provide the perforations 36, since the mothproofing vapors could pass through such a ply Z2 and into the interior of the bag without any artificial aid.

A portion of the top wall 2 covering the space 3d is provided with a transparent panel or insert.

31 which is formed of some flexible material which will not unduly rigidify the top wall 2 so as to destroy its desirable flexible characteristics, but which is nevertheless sufiiciently transparent so that the mothprooiing material in the space 35i can be observed. While vinyl resin sheeting could be employed for this purpose, it has .been found desirable to utilize sheets of cellulose acetate, this substance having sufcient ilexibility and exhibiting improved properties of durability and transparency. When, as is here speciiically illustrated, the space 34 encompasses only a small proportion of the area of the top wall 2, the panel 3l may conveniently be made with an area constituting a substantial proportion of the area of the space 3d, thereby facilitating observation of all portions of the space 313. The panel 3l may be secured to the underside of a cut out portion of the top wall 2, as by stitching 39, a binding tape @I surrounding the cut edges so as to hide the raw edges and enhance the appearance of the bag. That portion of the top wall 2 covering the space 3d is made as non-vapor-permeable as is convenient consonant with appearance and construction problems. When plastic sheeting of the vinyl or polyethylene type is employed, which sheeting is inherently non-vapor-permeable, no special provisions need be made to attain this end. When the quilting effect specifically disclosed is embodied into the garment bag, the passage of the stitching 32 through the plastic plies 2li and 23 renders the outer portion of the top wall slightly vapor-permeable but not to any appreciable degree.

In order to provide access to the space 36 so that the mothproong material can be inserted therein when it is desired that the garment bag be used for mothproong purposes or removal l therefrom when it is desired that the garment bag not be so used, the upper portion of the wall 2 is provided, over the space 36, with a closeable opening 33 defined by the slide fastener closure dll. The slide fastener lill is preferably of the tightly fitting type so as to prevent to as great a degree as possi-ble escape of mothproong vapors therethrough.

The side walls 4 and 6 and the end walls 3 and Ill are also preferably of two-ply construction, the outer ply 42 being of vinyl sheeting or other strong material and the inner ply 44 being of polyethylene sheeting or other similar material resistant to the deteriorative action of the mothproong material. The meeting edges of the various walls are sewn together along the edges of the bag as by the stitching 46, which also may serve to secure a suitable decorative plastic tape 48 to the bag so as to hide the raw edges of the various sheets.

Eyelets 5I) are provided where the hooks I8 pass through the top wall 2. When, as here specifically disclosed, the inner ply 22 extends to a line short of the middle of the top wall 2, and when the hooks I8 pass through the top Wall 2 at its middle, no special precautions are necessary to ensure that lmothproong vapor -will Inot escape around the hooks I8.

The construction above described denes a garment bag substantially indistinguishable in internal and external appearance from conventional garment bags (except for the existence :o f `the slide fastener closure 40 onV the top wall 2), and one which maybe-constructed in the `samelmanner and for lsubstantially the same cost as conventional garment bags, but which is nevertheless convertible at will from conventional use to mothproong use and which may bereconverted to conventional use whenever desired. Consequently, the same garment bag can be used for the storage of the same garments throughout the year. During thesummer months a supply of mothproong material may be linserted into the space 34 via the opening 38 and the slide fastener closure di), the vapors emitted from that `mothprooiing material passing through the vapor-permeable inner ply 22 and saturating the interior of the garment bag. When the months of moth danger have passed, the mothproong material can be readily removed from the space 34 via the opening 38, and the garment bag can then be used in conventional manner. Each summer a fresh supply of mothproong material can be introduced into the space 313, thus permitting the use of the same garment bag over a large number of years with maximum mothproong efciency each summer. The mothproong material is retained in an enclosure which is an integral part of the garment bag construction, thus reducing the possibility that the said mothprooflng material might have an allergic or health-injurious effect upon the individuals in whose homes it is used and eliminating the possibility that the mothproofing material might come in contact with the clothes stored in the bag, from which its removal is relatively difficult, or that it might spill or be spilled around the closet or the house, thus raising a dicult cleaning problem. Since the container for the mothproong material is integrally built into the garment bag structure, it is always ready for use when desired, and by reason of the mode of construction of the garment bag, the presence of the container does not in any way detract from the decorative appearance of the garment bag or present any impediment to its use.

The construction here specifically disclosed, which includes the transparent panel 37, permits the contents of the space 34 to be observed at any time without disturbing the interior of the garment bag in any way. Hence ample warning of the evaporation or deterioration of the mothprooing material contained within the space 34 can be obtained without any sacrifice of antimoth protection.

It will be apparent that many variations may be made in the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the following claims.

I claim;

1. A garment bag comprising top, side and bottom walls formed of soft, exible sheet material, a frame of a size and shape conforming to that of said top wall adapted to be positioned immediately beneath said top wall and comprising a cross piece having hooks extending upwardly therefrom and through said top wall so that the garment bag may be suspended thereby, said top wall being partially of multi-ply construction so as to denne a space into which solid mothproong material can be introduced, the inner ply extending under only a minor area of said top` wall and only between the cross piece of said frame and the edges of said top wall to one side of said cross piece, the inner ply and the outer ply being secured together at all of their edges but separated from one another over their areas so as to dene between themselves a fully closed space, said inner ply being formed of a soft flexible sheet resistant to the action of mothproofng material and having perforations through which the mothproong vapors can pass but through which solid mothprooing material cannot pass, said outer ply being substantially impermeable to mothproong vapors and having an opening above said inner ply through which said solid mothproong material can be introduced into the space between said plies through the exterior of said garment bag and Without disturbing the contents of said bag, a slide fastener closure for said opening, and at least a portion of said outer ply being composed of a flexible transparent material positioned opposite a portion of said inner ply, so that the solid mothproofing material in the space between said plies may be observed without having to open said slide fastener.

2. The garment bag of claim 1, in which said top wall is formed of a quilted opaque material having a panel insert of a flexible transparent material inserted therein over a portion of said inner ply and having an area which is a major fraction of the area of the said inner ply.

JACOB J MINTZ.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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