US2728499A - Garment hanger - Google Patents

Description

Dec 27, 1955 H. F. MUELLER 2,728,499

GARMENT HANGER Filed June 1. 1954 INVENTOR. HANS E MUELLER United States Patent@ GARMENT HANGER Hans F. Mueller, Seattle, ,Wash., assignortof one-third tol Manfred Selig, Seattle, Wash.

Application June 1, 1954, SeriatNo. 4333325 6 Claims.. curs-94 Garments, such as womensor'children s dresses, are displayed as they'hang individuall'y ongarmenthangers, suspended from racks. For best display-the neckandt all closures (buttons, snap fasteners, slide fasteners, etc.) are closed as they would be while the garment is worn. Frequently a buyer wishes to examine-aparticular gar ment more closely, and it must be removed fi'om the hanger. With the'usual typeof hanger; having rigid oppositely directed arms, such removal requires unfasten= ing the fasteners, particularly about the neck of'the'garment. Not only is the unfasteningand subsequentrefastening a slow, sometimestedious; and alwaysawkward operation, but there is-the likelihood of soiling'ormussing the garment.

It has been proposed heretofore to-hin'ge the arms of a garment hanger so that they can swing'downwardl'yfor removal from and-'insertionwithin the-still fastened neck of a garment, and to employ spring meanswhich are intended to hold such arms extended when the garment is to be supported thereon. An example of this type. of garment hanger is shown in the' patent to' Wesner; No. 1,066,170, dated July 1, 191 3 Such'hangers; lacking a positive lock to retain the arms outspread, anddepending for the purpose upon a thin spring-urged stop plate atan' unfavorable mechanical advantage, depending only' on gravity to collapse the arms-downwardly, and lacking any positive control over the positiorr of the: arms when they are collapsed, have not proven'whollysatisfactory. The stop plate tends to become deformed and permits the arms to sag, or the springs strength is'inadequate to push the stop plate fully to its holding position; gravitational collapse of the two arms does notal'ways occurd'epend ably and conjointly; and the downswungarrns; freed from controls, can not be held inwardlydrawn to enable ready reinsertion of the hangerwithin' the closed neck of the garment.

The present invention is ofthe general collapsible type disclosed in the Wesner patent; but eliminates the objections noted above to the prior structure. More particularly, according. tothe present invention, a positive. lock is provided toretain the arms correctly inth'ei'r outspread position, and the spring means is arranged to impose a force on the parts acting to insure'interlocking engagement of the parts; the lock is rugged and unlikely to fail during the life of the garment hanger; the. collapse ofth'e two arms, including the release of the.l'ock, is caused positively and conjointly, yet in a very simple manner, with the use of the hand which supports thehanger; and the arms not only when upswung, but also. when downswung, including theirpositioning for reinsertion within the garments neck, are at all. timesunder positive control, in the same simple manner.

With such objects in mind, and others as will appear hereinafter, the present invention comprisesthe novel garment hanger and the novel parts, thereof, together with the combination and arrangement of the parts relative'to one another, all as shown in. the accompanying drawings and as. will bemorefully. understood from -the following specification and from; the claims which form a part thereof.

Figure 1 is in-partanelevation and in part'a section 2 transversely through such a garment hanger, with. the parts shown in the garmentesupporti'ng position, and Fig; ure 2 is asimilar view, but showing parts in the collapsed position;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view,.similar to Figure 1, showing in full lines the parts in the. garment support ing position, and in dot-dash lines the same parts in the collapsed position.

A base 1, narrow enough to pass readily through the neck of a garment, constitutes the central portion of. the garment hanger, and a centralized suspension member, including the hook 2 and the shank 20, suspends the base 1 from a suitable rack or bar above the base. To this end the lower end of the shank 2.0 is headed as indi cated at 21 after passing through a portion of the base 11 At the opposite sides of the base are pivotally supported two arms 3. The pivotal support, consisting of a'horizontally disposed pin 30, is located near the inner end of each. arm 3, although there remains an extension 31, 34 inwardly of the pivot at 30. This extension may be provided with a stop pin 32' which is, received in a notch 23 of the base to limit swinging of the arm 3 in its upswinging direction.

Spring means of a particular typeare included as part of this garment hanger. This spring means, preferably of unitary construction, includes a bow 40, which is desirahly interengaged with the suspension element, for in: stance, being held between beads 24 at the junction. between the shank 20 and the hook 2, so that the bow and the spring means as a whole may notmove up and. down along the shank. The bow at each end continues down: wardly in the. form of legs 4 which extend downwardly to a level below the pivot at 30, and each end of the spring means is formed as an outwardly directed toe 41. This toe extends outwardly beyond the pivot at 30, and be.- neath that pivot when parts are in the position. shown in full lines in Figure 3, such being the most. relaxed position possible. The spring means is not fully relaxed in this position, due to the fact that the lower portion of each leg 4 engages the end of the extension 3110f the corresponding arm 3 as a stop, and each thereof is formed with a shoulder which interlocks, the one. with the other, to form a positive stop when so. engaged against downswinging of the arm 3. The shoulder 44 on the leg 4 engages a corresponding shoulder on the brief extension 34. of the arm 3, and the arrangement is preferably such that the shoulder 44 is formed as one edge of a narrow hole in the leg 4 into which the extension 34 enters and fits'fairly snugly when upswinging of the arm 3 is stopped by the stop pin 32.

The outer end of the toe 41 is provided with a trans? verse pin 45, which engages within a slot 33 in the arm 3. This slot 33 extends generally lengthwise of the arm 3, that is to say, transversely of'the garment hanger as a whole when the arms are upswung, and its inner end.terminates, when parts are in this upswung garment-supporting position shown in full lines in Figure 3, outwardly ofthe pivot pin at 39. Furthermore, the toe 41' is biased upwardly so that the pin l5 produces an upward moment at the outer end of the arm 3 about the pivot pin at 30'. it is this upwardiy acting spring force which insures the interengagement of the locking shoulder at 44.

With parts in the locked, garment-supporting position shown in Figure l and in full lines in Figure 3, the inter engagement of the shoulders at 44 gives positive assur ance'that the hanger will not collapse accidentally under the weight of the garment, and not onlydoes-the. lock at 44 insure against this, but the' upwardbiaslof theouter end of the toe 41 further assists in. this.. Asa matter-of fact, the look at 44 might be unnecessary. ifthempward. bias at" 45 were sufliciently forceful"with'relationi-to. the weight of the garment.

When it is desiredto remove the garment from the hanger, it is only necessary for the user to grasp the legs 4 of the spring means with the hand that supports the hanger, and to draw the legs 4 together, as shown in dot-dash lines in Figure 3 and in full lines in Figure 2. The pin 45, acting upon the inner end of the slot 33 and later upon the side of the slot as the arm 3 swings downwardly, draws the arms positively inwardly, and at the same time the inward movement of the legs 4 releases the lock at 44. The arms 3 are thus positively rotated and swung downwardly about the pivots at 30, until when parts are in the position shown in Figure 2, the hanger is readily withdrawn through the garments neck opening.

Whenever the garment is to be hung again upon the hanger the arms are collapsed again in the same fashion, and in the position of Figure 2, wherein the ends of the arms'are close together, and both are positively so held, it is a very simple matter to insert the hanger through the neck opening of the garment. Upon release of the legs 4, the arms 3 are positively and conjointly swung upwardly by the outward bias of the legs 4 and the action of the pins 45 in their slots 33. In the final portion of the movement the legs 4 will engage the inner end of the extension 31, 34 as a stop, but the upward bias of the toe 41, acting through the pin 45, now on the outer side of the pivot at 30, will complete the upward swinging of the arms 3 and the proper reengagement of the lock at 44. The pin 32 will seat within its notch 23 and the shoulder 44 will be engaged by the extension 34, and now the garment hanger is fully extended, its arms outswung and its parts locked in the garment-supporting position. It may be suspended by the hook 2 from a rack with the assurance that it will not collapse, and yet may be pur posely collapsed whenever that is desired. In all positions the arms 4 are under positive control, and they move conjointly when their movement is required.

The base and the arms have been shown as formed of plastic material, which furnishes a simple and neat way of constructing the device, although it will be understood that the use of this particular material is not an essential part of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A contractible garment hanger comprising a central base, a centralized suspension member anchored thereto and extending upwardly therefrom, two arms pivotally mounted at the opposite sides of said base to swing in a common plane from an oppositely directed garment-supporting position to a downwardly directed collapsed position, spring means comprising a bow engaged with the suspension member above the base, two legs extending from the bow downwardly to a point beneath the respective pivot axes of the arms, and two upwardly biased toes directed outwardly from the ends of the respective legs, and of a length to terminate outwardly of the corresponding pivot axis when the spring means is in its relaxed limit position, each arm being formed with a slot directed lengthwise thereof, located generally beneath and outwardly of the arms pivot, a pin mounted upon the corresponding toe and extending through said slot, said pin and slot constituting a lost motion connection between the outer end of each toe and the corresponding arm, located beneath the arms pivot axis, for swinging the arms downwardly upon inward squeezing of the legs, and vice versa, the inner end of each arm when upraised engaging the corresponding leg of the spring member to limit relaxation of the spring member and to stop upswinging of the arm, and the upward bias of the toe in such position urging the arm upwardly.

2. A contractible garment hanger as in claim 1, wherein the interengaging portions of the legs and of the arms are formed to interlock when the arms reach their upper limit position and the spring bow is relaxed, and to retain the arms upraised until the legs are squeezed inwardly.

3. A contractible garment hanger comprising a central base, a centralized suspension member anchoredat its lower end to the base, and extending upwardly therefrom, two arms pivotally mounted at the opposite sides of said base to swing in a common plane from an oppositely directed garment-supporting position to a downwardly directed collapsed position, said arms having each a slot directed longitudinally and located beneath and outwardly of the arms pivot axis when the arm is upswung, and the inner end of each arm having a brief shouldered inward extension, and spring means formed with a bow anchored to the suspension member, above the base, against vertical movement, with two legs directed downwardly from the opposite ends of the bow to a level below the inner ends of the corresponding upswung arms, and with an outwardly directed toe at the lower end of each leg, each leg having a shoulder positioned for locking interengagement with its arms shouldered inward extension when said arm is fully upswung, and a pin carried by the end of each toe, and received in the slot of the corresponding arm, each toe having an upward bias to urge its arm to'its fully upswung position when the legs are relaxed for locking interengagement with the arms inward extensions.

4. A contractible garment hanger comprising a central base, means tosuspend said base, two arms pivotally mounted near their inner ends upon the respectively opposite ends of the base to swing in a common plane from an upswung, oppositely directed garment-supporting position to va downswung collapsed position, and vice versa, means operatively connected to each arm to rotate the arms each positively about its pivot axis towards and from its upswung position, spring means urging said arm-rotating means and the arms into upswung position, and locking means operatively connected to said spring means and to the arms, respectively, and positioned for; operative and automatic interengagement when the arms reach their upswung position and the spring means are relaxed, to retain the arms so upswung, but disengageable upon movement of the arm-rotating means and the arms towards downswung position.

5. A contractible garment hanger comprising a central base, means to suspend said base, two arms mounted upon the respectively opposite ends of the base each for rotation about a pivot axis located near its inner end, in a common plane betweenan upswung, oppositely directed garment-supporting position and a downswung collapsed position, each arm being formed with a slot directed lengthwise thereof, and located generally beneath and outwardly of the arms pivot axis, a pin extending through said slot, means to draw the respective pins inwardly to rotate the arms downwardly, or conversely to move the pins outwardly to rotate the arms upwardly, locking means supported from the base, in position to engage positively the inner end of the respective arms, when fully upswung, to retain the arms in such position, and spring means operatively connected to said pins to urge them outwardly and upwardly, and so to urge the arms into their upswung position, and to said locking means to urge the latter into arm-locking position.

6. A contractible garment hanger as in claim 5, including stop means interengageable between each arm and the base, to limit upswinging of the arm and to locate it for engagement by its locking means, said spring means including an element urging the outer end of each arm upwardly into its limit position as determined by said stop means, for engagement of said locking means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,066,170

Images