US2828865A - Tie carrying rack - Google Patents

Description

April 1958 J. B. VlDACH 2,828,865

TIE CARRYING RACK Filed July 21, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

John 5, Vz'dac'h ma-441 Ali army United States This invention relates to a simple and inexpensive tie rack;

It is the practice at present among tie cleaning establishments to deliver the ties to a customer by pinning them to an ordinary coat hanger. Each tie is pinned individually and the entire lot of ties is exposed to dust, dirt and the like. The coat hanger is readily unbalanced, takes up more space than is neecssary, and does not display the ties very conveniently.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tie rack which will hold ties in place firmly without the use of pins.

As another object, this invention seeks the provision of a tie rack which is expendable so that a tie cleaning establishment can afford to give the racks away with each cleaning order.

For a further object this invention seeks the provision of a simple tie rack having a fiat surface thereon sufiiciently large to permit the application of printed advertising matter thereon.

As .a specific object this invention has within its purview the provision of a simple tie rack having a semiflexible support therefor which may be bent by the user to accommodate any type of support commonly used for ties or tie racks.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which,

. Fig. l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

Figs..2, 3 and 4 are perspective views of modifications of a portion of the rack of Fig. l; v

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a further modification of .the rack of Fig. 1 showing the adaptability of the rack to different suspensions; and

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the rack of Fig. l on a reduced scale, showing the rack adapted for one specific mode of suspension.

The tie rack in any of its modifications is formed of two parts, namely, a U-shaped wire and a closure member extending across the open end of the U and slidable thereon toward and away from the bottom of the U. The ties are hung over the bottom of the U, and the closure member serves not only to hold the ties in place on the rack but helps to prevent the sides of the U from distorting or spreading when the rack is filled with ties.

Referring now to Fig. l, the rack is comprised of a single piece of wire 10 bent in the form of a U having a short leg 11, a long leg 12 and a straight section 13 forming the bottom of the U. The wire is preferably made of a non-corrodible material such as aluminum. The upper end of the long leg 2 terminates in an eye 14 which performs a dual function, namely, that of providing a well rounded terminal for the wire to prevent damage by the wire to adjacent clothing, walls or the like, and second, that of providing a means by which the rack may be suspended. The latter function is shown atet more clearly in Fig. 6 and for this function the leg 12 is preferably formed as a straight section of wire, the eye 14 being disposed in a plane transverse to the plane of the U so that a nail or hook 15 may be passed through the eye and secured to a wall 16 or other permanent structure. When the eye is so disposed and the rack is suspended as shown in Fig. 6, the ties are held away from the wali and may be readily placed upon or removed from the rack without interference with the wall.

As shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1, the ties 16 are supported from the rack by folding them over the straight section 13 of the U. It is contemplated that section 13 will be of suflicient length to accommodate the Widest mid-portion of a tie in common use at present. The middle portions of most ties, however, are substantially the same width so that a plurality of ties can be folded upon a single section 13, one upon the other.

It may be apparent that when a rather large number of ties is placed upon straight section 13 and the rack is supported from leg 12, the eccentric loading on section 13 relative to leg 12 will tend to cause an opening up of the U, that is, to cause leg 11 to swing outwardly away from leg 12. This situation is alleviated by the use of a closure member 17 in the form of a solid bar as shown in Fig. 1, having preferably parallel holes 18 and 19 near the ends thereof through which the legs 11 and 12 pass. The closure member may be molded from any of the Well known thermosetting or thermoplastic synthetic resins, or cut and machined from aluminum or other bar stock. Said member 17 is preferably assembled relative to leg 12 after the straight section 13 is formed but before eye 14 is completed and whileleg 12 is still in its straight form.

Closure member 17 is slidable on wire '10 and can be made normally to rest upon the uppermost tie on the rack. Any eccentric loading on section 13 tending to cause leg 11 to swing away from leg- 12 will result in a binding of the wire in the openings 18 and 19 which creates a frictional resistance to the sliding movement of closure member 17. This frictionalresistance is utilized to help hold closure member 17 in place, and particularly, to prevent said closure member from inadvertently sliding off the shorter leg 11, thereby making it possible for ties 16 to fall out of the rack. 7

If it is desired to suspend the rack from a clothes rod so that the rack can be readily placed upon or removed from its support, the upper end 20 of leg 12 may be bent in any desired direction and with any degree of opening to accommodate the diameter and disposition of the rod upon which the rack is to be suspended. Thus, in the form shown in Fig. 1, the end 20 is bent in a plane at right angles to the plane of the U, making it possible to suspend the rack on a rod, the axis of which is generally parallel with the plane of the U. This form is also shown in dotted outline at 211a in Fig. 5. Another form 20b is shown in solid lines in Fig. 5, Wherein the plane of the end 201; coincides with the plane of the U. The third form 200, shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5, is identical with the form shown in Fig. 6 and is utilized in conjunction with a nail, hook or other support extending outwardly from a Wall or the like. It is contemplated that the wire will be sufliciently flexible to permit the average user to bend it to suit his particular situation.

The closure member 17 of Fig. 1 being a solid bar may require a drilling operation for the formation of the openings 18 and 19, if made of metal, and somewhat elaborate or expensive molds if made of a synthetic resin. Less expensive forms of closure members are shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Considering first the form shown in Fig. 2, the closure member 21 may be made from a short length of aluminum channel section having parallel sides 22, 23 and a connecting Web or bottom section 24. A

pair of aligned openings 25 is punched in the sides 22 and 23 at one end thereof for the reception of one of the legs of the U-shaped wire 16, and similarly, a pair of openings 26 is punched in sides 22 and 23 at the opposite end thereof to receive the other of the legs; The closure member 21 is assembled with respect to wire 14} in precisely the same manner as closure member 17. The channel section of the member provides stiffness for the member and presents a relatively broad surface in sides 22 or 23 to the ties to prevent tearing or otherwise damaging said ties.

In Fig. 3, the closure member 27 is comprised of a rectangular piece of sheet metal, preferably aluminum or other non-corrodible metal, the ends 28 and 29 of which are curled over to form openings 30 and 31. The axes of openings 33 and 31 are substantially parallel and are spaced apart a distance sufficiently great to receive the legs 11 and 12 of wire 10. The tie-contacting side 32 of member 27 is deburred and preferably smoothly rounded to prevent any damage to the ties by said closure member.

In Fig. 4 is shown a closure member 33 made from a length of wire. The requisite openings: at the ends thereof for receiving the legs 11 and 12 are made by forming one or more loops in the ends of the wire. Where it is desired to minimize the tendency of the closuremember to bind on the legs 11 and 12, the ends of the wire are coiled into helixes of sufficient length to make certain that the desired sliding action will be had. These helixes are shown at 34 and 35 in Fig. 4.

Yet another form of closure member 36 is shown in Fig. 5, said closure member comprising a short length of aluminum channel section, somewhat similar to that of Fig. 2, the section being used in inverted position and provided with openings 37, 38 in the bottom of the channel section through which the legs 11 and 12 extend.

A tie rack made in accordance with this invention and particularly in accordance with the Fig. 1 form is shown in Fig. 6 assembled with respect to a plurality of ties 16.

Access to straight section 13 is provided for the ties by sliding closure member 17 upwardly until it is free of the short leg 11, after which it may be held in elevated position, or turned about leg 12, while ties are placed upon section 13. When the ties are all in place on the rack, opening 18 is realigned with the short leg and the closure member is slid downwardly upon the ties. It may be apparent that closure member 17 rests directly upon the uppermost tie, and due to the frictional resistance produced between the closure member and the legs 11 and 12, the closure member will not be readily raised'and the ties pulled inadvertently out of the rack.

It may be observed that in the forms shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, a flat surface 39, 4t 41 and 42, respectively, is provided to which printed matter may heapplied. Thus, if the rack is to be given away by a tie cleaning establishment with the return of cleaned ties, the cleaning establishment may utilize such flat surface to apply thereto a label or decal containing the name and address of the cleaning establishment, or any other direction or slogan it may find desirable.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely descriptive of a preferred embodiment of the invention and that the scope of the invention therefore is not to be limited thereto but is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tie rack comprising a length of wire bent in the form of a U having a short and a long leg, and a closure member for the open end of the U, said closure member having spaced openings, one for each leg of the U, and said U-shaped wire passing through said openings with a snug fit to hold the closure member frictionally in any given position, said long leg having a straight section above the short leg and a bend therein beyond the straight section by which the rack may be hung, said closure member being adapted to pivot about the straight section when the short leg is free of its opening in the closure member to give acess to the bottom of the U for the folding of ties thereover.

2. A tie rack as described in claim 1, the short leg of the U-shaped wire being slightly divergent with respect to the long leg to produce the'snug fit as aforesaid.

3. A tie rack as described in claim 1,'said closure member comprising a length of wire having the ends thereof coiled in the form of helices the axes of which are parallel, and said helices being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the distance between the legs of the U such that said legs are adapted to be received 'in said helices.

4. A tie rack as described in claim 1, wherein the long leg terminates in an eye by which the rack may be suspended, and further characterized by the construction of the rack from wire of a material capable of taking a permanent form when bent such that the long leg alternatively can be bent above the straight section into a hook by which the rack may be suspended.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS North May 20, i952

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