US2918174A

US2918174A - Garment hanger organizer and dispenser

Info

Publication number: US2918174A
Application number: US789866A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tabbi Guy
Original assignee: GRIECO BROS Inc
Current assignee: GRIECO BROS Inc; GRIECO-BROS Inc
Priority date: 1959-01-29
Filing date: 1959-01-29
Publication date: 1959-12-22
Anticipated expiration: 1976-12-22

Description

Filed Jan. 29, 1959 G. TABBI GARMENT HANGER ORGANIZER AND DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

IN VEN TOR.

GUY TABB! BY KENWAY,JENNEY,W1TTER e1 HILDRETH ATTORNEYS I 22, 195 G. TABBI GARMENT HANGER ORGANIZER AND DISPENSER Filed Jan. 29, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

GUY TABBI BY KENW Y IFNNEY, WITTFR WI PETH ATTORNEYS GARMENT HANGER ORGANIZER AND DISPENSER Guy Tabbi, North Andover, Mass., assignor to Grieco- Bros, Inc., Lawrence, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 29, 1959, Serial No. 789,866

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) This invention relates in general to apparatus for or ganizing, storing and dispensing garment hangers.

The invention may be described briefly as a rack comprising a numberof vertically disposed rods mounted between a pair of plates, at least one of which rods is removable. The rods engage and support a stack or stacks of garment hangers which may be withdrawn by extracting the removable rod from the structure.

This invention will find its greatest utility wherever large quantities of garment hangers are used, such as in clothing factories, dry cleaning plants and the like.

Heretofore the handling of garment hangers on a large scale has been a random and haphazard alfair with the hangers usually piled promiscuously in a heap. To separate a hanger from such a heap is a frustrating and time consuming task since the hangers generally become snarled with other hangers, inviting breakage and making a tangled mess of the whole affair. Since these hangers should be readily available when needed anything other than systematic handling presents a condition which if not dangerous, is at least inefiicient and inconvenient.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to improve the handling of garment hangers.

Another object of this invention is to provide an efiicient apparatus for organizing, storing and dispensing garment hangers.

Another object of this invention is to eliminate tangling of garment hangers when used in large quantities.

These and other objects and features will more readily appear from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a rack made in accordance with my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings the reference character generally indicates a rack useful for storing several stacks of coat hangers 12 and dispensing them as needed. The rack is preferably mounted on a dolly 14 having a single fixed caster 16 and two movable casters 18, so that the rack may be conveniently moved from place to place.

The rack itself includes a generally fiat rectangular base 20 from which extend a number (in this instance four) of vertically mounted supports 22 in the form of rods or pipes. At the upper end of these supports 22 is carried a top plate 24 similar in contour to the base 26 but of slightly smaller dimensions.

As best shown in Fig. 2 it will be seen that the supports 22 extend from-a central area of the base 20 and are spaced from one another in a diamond pattern. The hooks of the hangers engage each of the supports 22 with the arms of the hangers facing towards a side of the base 20.

Also mounted between the base 20 and the top plate 24 are a number (four here) of fixed bars 26 each disposed approximately midway between a support 22 and a. corner of the base 20. At their upper portions these bars are offset as at 28 to permit loading of hangers onto the rack. This feature will be more clearly understood from a description of the loading and unloading operations which will be made herein.

In the top plate 24 are formed four holes in register with corresponding holes 30 formed in the base 20. Each pair of these holes receives a removable locking rod 32 which, in place, extends between the base and the top plate 24. A handle 34 may be attached to the locking rod to facilitate the insertion and removal of the rod. The location of the locking rods 32 in respect to the supports 22 is at a point approximately midway between each support and a corner of the base adjacent to the corner mentioned in reference to the fixed bar 26.

It will be apparent now that the supports, bars and rods are arranged in four groups each group composed of a support 22, a fixed bar 26 and a locking rod 32. As seen in Fig. 2 each group defines a wide base triangle, with a locking rod at one base angle, a fixed bar. 26 at another base angle and a support 22 at the apex. It is by means of each triangular group of bar, rod and support that a rack is formed to embrace a stack of garment hangers.

When the locking rod 32 is in place the rack is loaded by inserting a hanger horizontally into the rack first at a point above the offset 28. The inward movement of the hanger is limited by the locking rod 32 and the upper extension of the bar 26 as appears by the hanger in position A of the left hand stack of Fig. 2.

The offset affords room for the hook to pass slightly beyond the hook 22 and guides the hook into engagement with the support when the hanger is pulled diagonally to the right as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 and thus into the loaded and locked position B as shown in the drawings. In this position the hanger is restrained by the rod 32, the lower extension of the bar 26 and the support 22.

To unload the hanger the locking rod 32 is withdrawn entirely from the rack. This permits the hanger to be rocked about the fixed bar 26, thereby disengaging the hook from the support 22 and allowing the hanger to be extracted.

This unloading operation is more graphically depicted by Fig. 2 of the drawings. In the right hand stack of hangers the locking rod 32 has been removed from the hole 30 leaving the hanger free to be moved in a direction indicated by the arrow, from position C to position D. This motion disengages the hook and the hanger may now be lifted from the rack.

In the usual course of events the hangers would be removed one at a time by taking the topmost hanger from the stack which has its locking rod removed, or, alternatively, several may be taken at a time and hung on a handle bar 36 from which they will be more readily available. This bar may be a length of tubing bent into a handle extending horizontally from the top plate 24 and is suitable for pushing the rack about on its dolly.

When the rack is depleted the rod 32 is replaced and a fresh supply of hangers are stacked in the rack in the manner already described.

While I have shown a rack which can handle four stacks of hangers it is obvious that the number of stacks may be increased or decreased as desired by rearranging the groups of supports, bars and rods. Other modifications will appear to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the United States l. A rack for storing and dispensing garment hangers,

comprising a base, a hook-engaging support extending vertically from said base and carrying an overhead top plate, a bar spaced from said support extending between said base and said top plate and adapted to bear against an arm of a garment hanger, said bar being offset at its upper portion to permit loading of said hangers, and a removable locking rod spaced from said support and said bar extending between said base and top plate and adapted to bear against another arm of the hanger to hold a stack of said hangers hooked to said support, and when removed permitting said hangers to be unlocked therefrom.

2. Apparatus for storing and dispensing garment hangers including a dolly, a base mounted on said dolly, a number of hook-engaging supports extending vertically from said base and carrying an overhead top plate, an equal number of fixed bars extending between said base and top plate to bear against one arm of hangers stacked on thebase, said bars being offset at their upper portions to permit the loading of hangers on said apparatus, a like number of removable locking rods extending between said base and top plate and arranged to hold separate stacks of hangers hooked to said support and when removed permitting individual hangers to be unlocked for use, and each having a handle located above the top plate.

3. A rack for storing and dispensing garment hangers having a pair of diverging arms and a hook midway between said arms, a horizontally disposed base, a vertically extending support mounted on said base and adapted to engage said hook, a vertically disposed bar spaced from and parallel to said guide rod, said bar being fixed to said base plate and adapted to bear against one arm of said hanger, a top plate engaging said support and said bar, a locking rod spaced from and parallel to said support and said bar, said rod removably engaging said top plate and said base and adapted to bear against another arm of said hanger when in position, said support, said bar and said rod defining a rack for stacking a number of said hangers, said bar being offset in its upper portion to permit the locking of said hanger on said rack, and removal of said rod permitting said hangers to be unloaded from said rack.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS