US2692688A

US2692688A - Chair supported clothes rack

Info

Publication number: US2692688A
Application number: US278723A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy A Callais
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-03-26
Filing date: 1952-03-26
Publication date: 1954-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 1971-10-26

Description

Oct. 26, 1954 R CALLAIS 2,692,688

CHAIR SUPPORTED CLOTHES RACK Filed March 26. 1952 A Z6 @Ti Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel clothes rack of simple construction which is detachably secured to the back rest and legs of a chair and supported behind the chair to provide a rack for holding clothing without interfering with the normal use of the chair.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a rack on which all items of clothing removed at night may be conveniently and neatly hung or supported in a manner to prevent wrinkling of the clothing and so that all items of wearing apparel will be readily available for dressing, when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rack possessing novel features of construction enabling it to be readily adjusted to fit chairs of different designs, having straight or sloping legs spaced different distances apart.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a chair showing the clothes rack supported on the back thereof;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, with one of the parts omitted, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure l, with one part omitted;

Fi ure 4 i a sectional view taken on the same plane as Figure 3 showing the chair leg clamp in a different adjusted position;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View similar to a portion of Figure 2 but with the omitted part applied and illustrating another adjustment of the rack, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a spacing element for use with the rack.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the novel clothes rack in its entirety is designated generally 1 and includes an elongated post or standard 8 having a cross bar 9 at its upper end. A coat hanger member IE) is disposed above the cross bar 9 and has corresponding downwardly inclined ends I l the outer terminals of which preferably merge integrally with the ends of the cross bar 9. The coat hanger ID has a centrally disposed restricted upstanding neck I2 which provides a support for an upper cross bar 13 which is disposed above the coat hanger and spaced therefrom. A conventional type of double garment hook I4 is secured to and projects from each end of the upper cross bar I3. A receptacle i5 is secured to and supported by the lower cros bar 9 and is disposed intermediate of its ends and beneath the coat hanger Hi.

As best illustrated in Figure 2, the post or standard 8 has a series of vertically spaced openings l6 extending therethrough from front to rear of said post, near its upper end for selectively receiving a bolt and nut fastening ii and a bolt and wing nut fastening E8. The bolts of the fastenings ll and i8 extend through openings IS in the shank 20 of a chair back clamp 2| and then through selected openings IS. The heads of the bolts of the fastenings I1 and i3 bear against the outer front side of the shank 20 and the nuts of the fastenings threadedly engage the bolts thereof and are disposed behind the post 8. A washer 22 is preferably mounted on each fastening bolt between its nut and the post 8. The chair back clamp 2| has an outwardly or forwardly offset lower end forming its clamping element or jaw 23 and which is preferably enclosed in a sleeve 24 of a suitable material to prevent marring of a chair back. The lower fastening l8 which is equipped with a wing nut [8a may be loosened to enable the clamp element 23 to be displaced away from the post 8 so that the post may be disposed against the rear side of the upper portion 25 of a chair back and displaced downward- 1y relatively thereto to position the chair back portion 25 between a part of the post 8 and the clamping jaw 23. The fastening I8 is then tightened to clamp the chair back portion 25 between the post 8 and clamping element 23 to thereby detachably mount the post or standard 8 on the chair back 25 and with the cross bars 9 and i3 and coat hanger l0 disposed above the chair back. The distance between the top of the chair back and the lower cross bar 9 may be varied by selectively positioning the fastenings i1 and l 3 in the openings !6.

The lower portion of the post 8 is provided with an elongated slot 26 which opens outwardly of its front and rear sides from end-to-end thereof for receiving a bolt and wing nut fastening 27, the bolt of which extends loosely therethrough and through the intermediate portion of a cross arm 28. The cross arm 28 is disposed crosswise of the post 3 and is provided intermediate of its ends and in the side thereof which abuts the post 8 with a transverse groove 29 having a sloping bed, as illustrated in Figure 2, which is inclined from the upper to the lower end of said groove toward the post 8. The intermediate portion of the cross arm 28 is also provided with a transversely elongated slot 30 which extends in the same direction as the slot 26, one end of which opens into the intermediate portion of the groove 29 and the other end of which opens outwardly of the opposite side of the cross arm 28. The bolt of the fastening 27 carries washers 22, one of which is disposed between the last mentioned, outer side of the cross arm 28 and the head of the bolt and the other of which is disposed between the wing nut 21a and the rear side of the post 8.

Each end of the cross arm 28 is.provided with an elongated slot 3| which opens outwardly of its front and rear sides to receive twobo-lt and wing nut fastenings 32 and 33., the boltsofwhich extend loosely through and are slidably disposed in the slot 3|. The bolt of the fastening 33' is longer than the bolt of the fastening 32, and said bolts extend through relatively'thinend

portions

34 and 35 of an. elongated: clamp supporting member, designated generally 36, which is disposed against the forward side of. an end of the arm 23 and longitudinally thereof. Each end of the arm 28 has a clamp support 36 connected thereto by a pair of

fastenings

32 and 33.. Each clamp support 38 has a portion 31 disposed between the

end portions

34 and 35 andwhich is thickened on the outer side of said support. The

fastenings

32 and 33 are spaced approximately equal distances from the thickened portion 31, and as seen in Figures 3 and.4, the end portion 34 is considerably longer than the end. portion.

35. Furthermore, said

portions

34 and 35 may be of the same or different thicknesses but of a thickness less than the portion. 31. A nut and bolt fastening 38 extends through and outwardly of the portion 3.1 and has the headof the bolt thereof countersunk in the portion. 31'. The bolt of the fastening 38 extends through an opening 39 in the shank end 4|] of a clamp element 4|, which shank end is secured against the outer or forward side of the projection 37:. The clamp element 4| has an outwardly offset opposite end 42 forming a clampjaw which is covered with. a sleeve 43 of a suitable material. to prevent marring of one of the rear chair legs 44 or a chair leg 44a. The bolt of. the longer fastening 33 extends loosely through the shank 40 near the jaw 42 and either through the end portion 34 or the end portion 35, depending upon which of said end portions the shank 40 overlies, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

Assuming that the post 8 has been clamped near its upper end tov the upper portion of the chair back, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and as previously described, the nut 21a of the fastening 2'! can be loosened to position the cross arm 28 at a desired level below the chair seat 45. If the chair legs 44 are substantially parallel and extend downwardly from. beneath the seat 45, as illustrated in Figure 1, the clamp supports 36 are positioned as illustrated in Figure 3 with the clamps 4| overlying the shorter support ends 35 and with the jaws 42 extending outwardly therefrom. The fastenings 33 of the two clamp supports 36 are loosened and the fastenings 32 are also loosened so that the supports 36 may be slid from the inner ends of the slots 3| outwardly until the two rear legs 44 are engaged between the ends of the cross arm 28 and the clamp jaws 42, as illustrated in Figure 3. The

fastenings

32 and 33 of the two supports 36 are then tightened so that the rear chair legs 44 are clamped between the ends of the cross arm 28 and the clamp jaws 42. If the chair legs are spaced further apart, as illustrated in Figure 4, the supports 36 are reversed and for end so that their longer end portions 34 constitute the outer ends of said supports and the clamps 4| are likewise disposed to overlie said longer ends 34. With the

fastenings

32 and 33 loosened, the rear legs 4411 may be engaged between the outer portions of the longer ends- 34', which project beyond the ends of the cross arm 28 and the jaws 42 and may be clamped therein by tightening the fastenings 33, after the fastenings 32 have been tightened for clamping the supports 36in their adjusted positions on the ends of the cross arm 28. It will thus be seen that the supports 36 enable the cross arm to be anchored to. the rear legs of chairs which are spaced a greater distance apart than the length of. said cross arm while providing a cross arm, the length of which is such that it will not protrude sufiiciently beyond rear legs of chairs which are spaced relatively close together, thus preventing the cross arm ends from forming 0bstructions when attached to closely spaced rear chair legs.

For legs of larger cross section than the legs 44 and 44a, one or more spacing blocks 46, as illustrated in Figure 6, may be interposed between. the enlargement 31 and shank 40 of each clamp 4| and attached thereto by the fastening 38 which may, extend through the opening 41 of the spacing block 46. One or more of the blocks 46 may also be used between the post 3 and shank 2!] of the clamp 2| with the fastening extending through the opening 41 thereof for spacing the. clamp jaw. 23. a greater distance from the post 8 to accommodate a thicker chair back portion.

Frequently the rear surface of the upper portion of a chair back slopes upwardly and rearwardly so. that the post 8 when clamped thereto is. inclined downwardly and inwardly with respect to the rear chair legsv and frequently the rear chair legs are inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the chair seat so that in either instance the lower portion of the post 8 extends downwardly in. converging relationship relatively to. the plane of the rear chair legs. For mounting the rack on such a chair, it is desirable that the cross arm 28 have its surface which engages the rear legs or is disposed adjacent thereto, disposed parallel to the portions of the rear legs adjacent. to which said; surface is disposed. To accomplish this, a wedge block 48, as illustrated in Figure 5, is. provided to cant the cross arm 28 relatively to. thelongitudinal axis of the post 8. The wedge block 48. tapers in thickness from its upper to its lower end and includes a flat inner surface 49 which abuts against the front side of the post 8 and an inclined outer surface 50 which extends downwardly in converging relationship to the surface 49. The wedge block 48 is of a width to fit into the groove 29 with its outer surface 58 abutting the bed of said groove so that as the wedge block 48 is displaced downwardly relatively to the cross arm 28 said cross arm is canted so that its upper portion is disposed more remote from the post 8 than its lower portion, to thus cant its forward surface so that it will be disposed parallel to the adjacent portions of the rear legs of a chair. The wedge block 48 is provided with an elongated slot 5| to loosely accommodate the bolt of the fastening 27.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the upper portion of the rack l which may be disposed at difierent elevations, as desired, above the upper edge of a chair back rest may be readily utilized for supporting all of the normal articles of wearing apparel removed before going to bed, and a coat or coat and vest may be hung on the coat hanger portion I in the same manner as a coat or coat and vest are suspended from a conventional coat hanger. The trousers or skirt and undergarments may be hung neatly folded over the upper cross bar 13 and small items of wearing apparel such as a necktie, hose, brassiere, panties et cetera may be hung from the two hooks Hi. The receptacle I may be utilized to contain a billfold, watch, change, cuff links and the like. It will thus be readily apparent that all the garments may be supported by the clothes rack l in a neat convenient manner to avoid wrinkling of the clothing and that the chair, on which the rack I is secured, may still be utilized in a conventional manner.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a chair supported clothes rack, a substantially upright clothes hanger supporting post adapted to be detachably mounted in substantially an upright position on a chair and disposed therebehind, said post being provided adjacent to and spaced from its upper end with an adjustable downwardly opening clamp adapted to be clamped to the upper portion of the back rest of the chair for clamping an upper portion of the post thereto, a crossarm secured to the lower portion of the post intermediate of the ends of said crossarm and disposed transversely thereof, clamping units mounted on the ends of said crossarm and adapted to be detachably clamped to the rear legs of the chair for detachably securing the crossarm to the rear chair legs to support and brace the lower end of the post, each of said cross arm clamping units including a clamp support adjustably mounted on an end of the cross arm for adjustment longitudinally thereof including an outwardly projecting intermediate portion and e nd portions of different lengths, means for adjustably mounting said support with either of said end portions in an outermost position, a clamp member having a shank end secured to said intermediate portion of the support and overlying either of said end portions, said clamp member having a free end defining a jaw disposed to cooperate with either an end portion of the cross arm or the longer end of the clamp support for clamping a rear chair leg therebetween, and means for drawing the jaw of the clamp member inwardly relatively to the support and cross arm into clamping engagement with the chair leg.

2. In a chair supported clothes rack as in claim 1, said longer end of the support extending beyond an end of the cross arm in one adjusted position of the support for cooperation with the clamp jaw to secure the cross arm to a rear chair leg spaced outwardly from an adjacent end of the cross arm.

3. In a chair supported clothes rack as in claim 1, and means adjustably and detachably mounted between the crossarm and post for canting the crossarm relative to the axis of the post to position a surface of the crossarm disposed adjacent the rear chair legs in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the adjacent portions of the chair legs to which the crossarm is secured.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany June 7, 1938