US2914228A - Garment hangers - Google Patents

Description

Nov 24 1959 L. H. ZEUTHEN 2,914,228

GARMENT HANGERS Filed Oct. 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Leon H. ZEU'l'I-IEN ATTORNEY L. H. ZEUTHEN GARMENT HANGERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 5, 1957 FIG. l6

FIG. l5

INVENTOR. Leon H. ZEUTI-IEN A'LTORNEY- United States Patent 6 GARMENT HANGERS Leon H. Zeuthen, Minneapolis, Minn. Application October 3, 1957, Serial No. 687,967 Claims. (Cl. 223-95) This invention relates broadly to garment hangers, and, more particularly, to garment hangers for individually suspending mens trousers, womens skirts and skirt and blouse or sweater combinations.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger for trousers, skirts and jacket, skirt, blouse or sweater combinations whereby said garments are held suspended from their respective cuffs or waist bands in a manner that will preserve the pressed condition of said garments. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the type described that is relatively,

simple and inexpensive tofabricate from spring steel wire and thereafter heat treated to preserve the shape of said hanger and eliminate the tendency to take a set so commonly found in competitive merchandise of this class.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the type described that is capable of being compacted, insofar as its overall dimensions are concerned, to facilitate packaging thereof and, conversely, assembled for use without the aid of tools.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the class described wherein the supporting members thereof act independently, the one of the other, to adjust said members to varied widths and sizes of the said garments automatically and without repeated manual adjustment if applied to the same garments.

A further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the type described wherein provision is made to support an additional garment such as a jacket, blouse or sweater in combination with the said trousers or skirts.

A still further object of this invention is to'provide a garment hanger of the type described, wherein the garments suspended therefrom are supported in a minimum amount of space and in creased and pressed readyto-wear condition.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the type described, wherein provision is made to hold said garments fast on said hanger once the garment is properly applied to the hanger.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger of the type described wherein skirts and trousers are held suspended therefrom by frictional engagement of the hanger and the garment.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger, particular reference being made to a trouser hanger of the type described, wherein said trouser, with or Without upturned cuffs, is held suspended at its lower end or culf portion, at the crease from within the leg portion of saidtrouser rather than from within the upturned cuff portion, each leg of said trouser and being individually so supported.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following specification and claims 2,914,228 Patented Nov. 24, 1959 ICC Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the trouser hanger,

its supporting hook shown in downturned position by means of dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating the connections between the supporting hook and the trouser supporting members;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary detailed views showing a modification of the elements shown in Fig. 3, in top plan and side elevation, respectively;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detailed view of a spacer member which spaces the trouser supporting elements, the one from the other, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view of another modification of the connections between the supporting hook and the trouser supporting elements also on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the same and also on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 9 is a full elevational view of still another modification of the connection between the supporting hook and the trouser supporting elements, said supporting" hook being shown in its downturned position by means of dotted lines;

Fig. 10 is an end elevational view of the same;

Figs. 11 and 12 are top and side elevational frag mentary detailed views of the structure shown in Figs. 9 and 10 which illustrate, respectively, the connection between the supporting hook and the trouser supporting elements;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary detailed view on an enlarged scale showing a still further modification of the con: nection between the supporting hook and the garment supporting member comprising a single element;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. 13, taken on the line 1414 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary view of one form of the invention applied to a fragmentary trouser leg and cuff, the released expanded position of the trouser hanger being shown by means of dotted lines; and' Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 1 5, except that a skirt the same in a garment and thence allowed 'to expand within the restriction imposed by the garmennsaid gar-' ment will be frictionally held. supported or suspended therefrom.

It is also desired to note herein that while, for the purpose of this application, the invention will be de, scribed as being fabricated of tempered spring steel wire, the invention has been successfully produced from synthetic plastic rnaterials and it is not intended that any reference to tempered spring steel wire shall in any way scopecfi be construed to impose any limitation on the the appended claims.

Referring now to that form of note the invention shown" in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, s and 6, the numeral 17 indicates a pair of identical tempered spring steel garment supporting members dimensioned and designed to engage at the crease, the inside of the cuffs of a pair of trousers when the said members are manually compressed and fitted, one into each of said cuffs and thence permitted, by relaxing the tension, to expand Within the restrictions imposed by said cuffs. As stated, these members 17 are identical except that it will be understood that in assembled relation, one of said members will appear to be slightly longer or vice versa, due to the overlying arrangement of said members at their central portions, as will be presently described. Manufacturing procedures dictate that these members 17 should be identical and the slight difference in length at the outer end portion has not been found to be detrimental in any way to the successful operation of the invention.

These tempered spring steel members 17 are each formed of a single piece of spring steel wire having an angular central section 18 in the form of an inverted U, the upper or closed end portion 19 being bent at 90 to theside members 20 of the central section 18. It is important to note that to achieve greater lateral movement when placed under tension, these members 20 are normally in outwardly diverging relation to their lower end portions and are thence bent again outwardly in substantially a true horizontal plane, see numeral 21. The outer end portions thereof are then again bent in downwardly and outwardly diverging relation to form the garment-engaging portion 22. These garment engaging members 22 are coated, as indicated by the numeral 23, with any of the commercially available materials suitable for this purpose.

Formed in the upper end of each of the angular U- shaped central sections 18 is a small outwardly projected hump 24 that is provided to facilitate a better grip or purchase of the hand or fingers and to prevent the upward slipping movement thereof when the members 17 are being manually compressed to insert the hanger in the trouser cuffs. Similar humps or protrusions are formed in the central longitudinal portion of each of the horizontally disposed sections 21 to enhance the inherent stiffness or rigidity of said members. Said protrusions also affording means to facilitate the suspending of garments having shoulder straps to prevent said straps from slipping outwardly and downwardly and of engagement with the outer end portions of the sections 21. It is important to note from the assembly standpoint that the central U-shaped section 18 at the bend 19 in its upper end portion is constricted at said bend 19, see numeral 26, for a purpose that will presently be described.

A supporting hook 27 provides the primary means for assembling the members 17. This hook 27 is also formed of tempered spring steel terminated at its lower end portion to form an annular ring 28, the extreme outer end of which very slightly overlies, see numeral 30, the shank portion of said hook member 27. This structure is particularly well illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The members 17 and the supporting hook 27 are assembled into a single unit by placing said members 17 in lateral alignment with the exception of the upper end portion 19 of the central inverted U-shaped section 18 which overlie one another. The annular ring 28 is sprung open at its outer end portion 29 and into engagement with one side of the constricted portion of the upper end portion 19 of the central U section 18 and thence rotated about the transverse axis of the assembled sections 17 until the end portion thereof 29 engages the opposite side of the constricted portion 19. The annular ring 28 having a slightly smaller interal diameter than the width of the opposed sides of the constricted portion 19 tends to hold the components 17 and 27 in relatively tight assembled relation, as shown in 1, 2 and 3. It is also highly important'to note 4 that this method of assembly permits the supporting hook 27 to rotate a full 360 about the transverse axis of the assembled unit and thus permit said hook to be rotated axially into a downturned position between the members 17, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. A pair of spacer links 30 are afiixed to the outer end portions of each of the horizontally disposed sections 21 of the members 20 and hold the outer end portions of said members in laterally spaced relation particularly for the purpose of facilitating the applying of the hanger to a garment. These spacer links 30 are so fabricated that one end portion thereof engages one of the sections 21 with a tight fit, while the other end thereof engages the opposing section 21 with a relatively loose working fit, see Fig. 6, said arrangement being transposed at opposite ends of the members 17 to thus equalize tension on the assembled alignment of the said members 17 and facilitate independent movement thereof.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, assembly of the spring steel members 17 is accomplished by eliminating the angular bend 19 in the upper closed end portion of the central inverted U-shaped section 18. A combined spacer and clamping member 31 is also formed of spring steel wire that further serves as a mounting station for the supporting hook 27. This spacer and clamping member 31, as shown, is in the form of a clip having an' open end 32 and a closed end 33 and the central longitudinal portion thereof 34 is constricted to substantially the same dimension as the internal diameter of the annular ring 28 of the supporting hook 27, thus affording the said hook mounting station and allowing the hook member 27 to rotate a full 360 about the longitudinal axis of the spacer and clamping link 31.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate a still further embodiment of the structure shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and differ therefrom only in that its central U-shaped section 18 at its extreme upper end portion 19' is in the form of an annular ring instead of the angular form, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Spacer link 30' is also obviously of the same shape and size as link 31.

Figs. 11 and 1?. illustrate the use of the annular ring shape 19' in the same manner as described in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, wherein in the former, the upper end portion 19 of the central U-shaped section 18 is fabricated with an angular upper end portion. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, only a single garment supporting member 17' is used as would be the case in a hanger for skirts. It will be understood that spacer links 30' identical 'with links 30, are applied in the same manner as described in Figs. 1, 2 and 6.

A simple and still further modification for connecting the tempered spring steel garment supporting elements is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. In this modification, the hanger is specifically designed to support a pair of trousers and comprises a pair of tempered spring steel supporting elements 35. These elements 35 are fabricated with an inverted U-shaped central section (not shown) that is similar to the section 18 with the exception that the upper or closed end thereof is relatively wide and in a horizontal plane that is substantially parallel to the wide horizontal outwardly extended portion of the elements 35. This wide upper end portion of the central U section affords a mounting station for the supporting hook 36 that is angularly bent as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 to hold the elements 35 and the supporting hook 36 in assembled relation by means of a tempered steel spring clip 37. The shank of the supporting hook 36 is transversely oflset, as indicated by the numeral 38, to permit said hook to be axially rotated in one direction only, about the longitudinal axis of the closed upper end portion of the central U-shaped section of the elements 35. The supporting hook 36 is further provided with a honzontally disposed shank 39 which, in assembled relation,

' lies above and between the assembled elements 35. The

end portion of the horizontal section 39 of the hook 36 is also offset to prevent the hook from endwise movement relative to the clip 37.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate substantially the same structure as shown and described relative to Figs. 7 and 8, with the exception that a single garment supporting element is shown, and while it would be possible to fabricate the shank end portion of the hook member to permit it to be turned downwardly for storage and packaging, this has not been done in the interest of producing a very inexpensive version of the device.

While there are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, it is possible to produce still other embodiments without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as are stated herein or required by the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A garment hanger of the type described comprising in combination a supporting hook having a shank terminating in an annular ring, a pair of garment supporting members mounted in parallel arrangement, said members each having an upstanding inverted U-shaped section centrally disposed between a pair of opposed outwardly extended arms, said arms being downturned at their outer end portions to afiord opposed pairs of garment engaging members, said upstanding inverted U- shaped sections, at their upper end portions, being bent substantially at right angles to the vertical plane of the said members and held assembled with said bent upper end portions overlying one another and being constricted at each transverse center thereof to afford a mounting station for the annular ring of the said supporting hook to thus hold assembled the said garment supporting members at their upper end portions by engagement of the annular ring of the supporting hook with the constricted portion of said bent upper end portions of said inverted U-shaped members, and spacer means mounted on the outer end portions of the outwardly extended arms to thus hold said outwardly extended arms spaced apart.

2. A garment hanger of the type described comprising, in combination, a tempered spring steel supporting 4 hook having a shank terminating in an annular ring of a single convolution, the outer end of which intersects the shank proper, a pair of garment supporting members each formed of a single piece of tempered spring steel wire and mounted in parallel arrangement, an upstanding inverted U-shaped section centrally disposed between a pair of horizontally disposed outstanding arms in each of said garment supporting members, said arms being downwardly and outwardly projected at their outer end portions to afford two pairs of opposed garment engaging members in the form of prongs, said upstanding inverted U-shaped sections at their closed upper end portions being inwardly bent substantially at right angles, as assembled, to the vertical plane of said garment supporting members, said bent portions overlying one another in assembled relation and being constricted at the transverse center of each thereof to afford a mounting station for the annular ring of the said supporting book which is wound by turning the same into engagement with the said overlying bent section, thus holding the upper end portions of said garment supporting members in assembled arrangement, said supporting hook being free to swing laterally about the transverse axis of its mounting station downwardly into the open centrally disposed U-shaped section, and a pair of spacer links connecting and spacing the outer end portion of the pairs of outwardly extended arms to facilitate the applying of the hanger to the cuffs of a pair of trousers, one of said prongs to each crease point of each of said cufis.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein the said spacer links are attached with a tight fit at opposite ends of the opposed garment supporting members, and with a relatively loose fit at the opposite ends thereof to thus maintain alignment of said garment supporting members.

4. The structure defined in claim 2, further including a pair of finger-engaging stops adjacent the upper end portion of the central U-shaped portion of each of said garment supporting members to facilitate manual compression of said members when applying the same to a garment.

5. The structure defined in claim 2, further including a pair of relatively small bosses in the upper longitudinal edge of each of said outwardly extended arms at the outer end portions thereof to thus afford stops for the straps of a garment suspended on said arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 445,099 Traut Ian. 20, 1891 800,518 Wardwell Sept. 26, 1905 1,871,600 Fuller Aug. 16, 1932 2,261,819 Zeuthen Nov. 4, 1941

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