US3081819A - Pleater-and-hanger device for drapes or the like - Google Patents

Description

March 19, 1963 M. L. LYDARD PLEATER-AND-HANGER DEVICE FOR DRAPES OR THE LIKE Filed July 25, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Martin I.. L yd ard Y KQRL (UH 10ers ATTORNEY March 19, 1963 M. L. LYDARD PLEATER-AND-HANGER DEVICE FOR DRAPES OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1961 KARL (1). :FLOCKS ATTORNEY ilnited States Fatent @iifice $381,819 Patented Mar. 19, 1963 3,081,819 PLEATER-AND-HANGER DEVICE FOR DRAPES OR THE LIKE Martin L. Lydard, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Eastern Products Corporation, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed July 25, 196i, Ser. No. 126,555 Claims. (Cl. 160-648) This invention relates generally to curtain hanging devices, and more particularly to a combined pleater-andhanger device for use in forming pleats in dnapes, curtains, wall hangings, etc., and for suspending the same from a horizontally disposed support.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel drapery shaper and hanger which is readily and economically manufactured, easily installed, and highly satisfactory and practical for the purpose intended.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a drapery hanger which cooperates with conventional hanging structure of drapes or the like, and which automatically and uniformly forms a pleating formation when installed on the drape.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novel pleater-and-hanger device of the character involved which forms uniform pleats with a minimum exercise of skill or aptitude on the part of the individual installing the drapes.

And yet a still further object of the present invention is to provide a device of the character involved which permits the drapery, curtains, etc. to be moved, rearranged or transferred without disturbing the pleats formed by the device.

And yet another object of the invention is to provide a drapery pleater-and-hanger which is substantially concealed when installed and which will 'be disposed in an optimum position for satisfactorily supporting the drapes, curtains, etc.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing a drape installation utilizing the novel pleater-and-hanger device of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of a portion of the drape installation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the novel plea-ter-and-hang-er device used in the drapery installation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of an upper portion of the drape installation of FIG. 1, illustrating the configuration of the pleats formed utilizing the device of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view, similar to FIG. 3, illustrating the type of pleats formed utilizing another embodiment of the pleater-and-hanger device;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pleater-and-hanger device utilized to form the pleat formation shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG; 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5, showing the upper configuration of the pleats formed utilizing the device of FIG. 7.

Referring to drawings, in FIG. 1, a Window W has disposed adjacent the side portions thereof vertical,

. pleated drapes 10 and 12 which have a horizontal cornice portion 14 extending therebetween. The drapes 10 and 12 and cornice portion 14 are suspended from a horizontally disposed support bar 16 which is suitably secured to the wall 18. The particular drape installation is merely for purposes of illustration, and it will be readily apparent that the novel pleater-and-hanger device of the invention can be utilized with draw curtains, and in many other installations.

As seen in FIG. 2, the drapes and cornice portion will have secured thereto, as is conventional, a pleater tape 20 which includes a plurality of open-ended sleeves, tunnels or tubes 22 longitudinally spaced thereacross. The tubes or sleeves 22 are spaced from each other a predetermined distance, as is conventional in the art, to accommodate the drapery hanging devices.

Considering FIGS. 5 and 8, each of the embodiments will form tubular pleats 24 terminating at their longitudinal edges in coplanar panel portions 26, as seen in FIG. 5, or tubular pleat portions 24 terminating at their longitudinal edges in coplanar panel portions 26, as seen in FIG. 8.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the novel pleater-andhanger device comprises a body portion indicated generally at 36, which includes a hook 32 having a lower vertical stem 34 continuing in an inwardly directed portion 36, an outwardly directed portion 38, and a reversebend or downwardly directed portion 40 terminating in an inwardly directed end portion 42. Secured to and extending transversely of the stem portion 34- is the bight or base portion 44 of a substantially U-shaped element, which includes outwardly directed side portions 46 and 48 which continue in upwardly directed prongs 5t) and 52 which are mutually parallel and coplanar with respect to each other. The prongs 5t} and 52 are of a uniform cross section and will accommodate thereon a substantially cylindrical pleat forming sleeve indicated generally at 54.

Secured above the portion 44 of the element forming the prongs 59 and 52 is a U-shaped element 55 including vertically extending mutually parallel prongs 56 and 58 which will be received in the pleat tape tunnels or sleeves 22 on the drape, cornice, or the like. The prong 56 and 58 have formed at the upper end thereof enlarged knobs 60 and 61, respectively, which facilitate the insertion of the prongs 56 and 58 into the pleater tape tunnels or tubes 22.

The cylindrical sleeve 54 will be constructed from any suitable sheet metal, plastic, or the like, and includes inwardly formed tubular sleeves 64 and 66 along the spaced rear parallel edges thereof which will be accommodated on the prongs 5t) and 52 of the element 30. The sleeves 62 and 64 terminate at their lower edges 66 and 68, respectively, above the bottom edge 70 of the sleeve 54. The shortening of the sleeves 62 and 64 will dispose the hook 32 of the element 30 substantially centrally of the cylindrical sleeve 54, to thus afford proper hanging of the drapes, cornice, etc.

It will be noted that the portions 36 and 38 of the element 30 extend inwardly between the prongs 56 and 58 whereby, when the hook is disposed on a support bar 16 or the like, the sleeve 54 will be disposed adjacent to the support bar to aid in disposing the pleats 24 in a desired vertical position.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the tubular tunnels or sleeves 22 of the pleater tape 20 are received in the prongs 56 and 58, the upper rounded ends 60 and 62 being illustrated therein, and an intermediate sleeve 22 not used is disposed vertically of the outer surface of the cylindrical pleat forming sleeve 54 opposite the hook element 3%.

Considering FIGS. 6-8, FIG. 8 illustrates the type of pleats formed utilizing the combined pleater-and-hanger device shown in FIG. 7.

The device shown in FIG. 7 includes a body portion including a circular base ring element 131 having secured thereto, in any suitable manner, a hook forming element 132 including a vertical lower stem 134 continuing in an inwardly directed portion 136, an outwardly directed portion 138, a reverse-bend, downwardly projecting hook portion 144) and an inwardly directed terminal portion 142.

Secured to the ring 131 at opposite sides of the hook element 132 are U-shaped prong forming elements 143 and 145 which form vertically extending prongs 156, and 158, 152, respectively. Prongs 156 and 153 are disposed in coplanar relation on opposite sides of the portions I36 and 138 of the hook forming element 132, this being similar to the construction shown in FIG. 4. The prong elements 150 and 152 are in coplanar rela tionship with respect to each other and are spaced outwardly from the prongs 156, 158, respectively. Secured to the ring element 131 in coplanar opposed relationship to the hook element 132 is a fifth prong 155. The prongs 150, 152, 155, 156, and 158 are disposed in a pentagonal relationship, it being noted that the coplanar related hook element 132 and prong 155 are disposed in a plane normal to the plane in which the respective coplanar prongs 156, 158 and 154), 152 are disposed. Further, the planes in which the respective prongs 156, 158 and 150, 152 are disposed are substantially parallel to each other.

The prongs 156 and 158 have formed on their upper ends enlargements 16d and 162, respectively, to accomplish the function mentioned with respect to the prongs 56 and 58 of the embodiment of FIG. 4. Additionally, the prongs 150 and 152 have formed at the upper ends thereof similar enlargements 163 and 16 1, respectively, inasmuch as these prongs will be accommodated in the tubular sleeves 22 of the pleater tape of a drape as well as the prong 155 which has an enlargement 165 on the upper end.

As clearly seen in FIG. 6, the pleats 24' are formed when the respective pleater tape tunnels 22 are received on the prongs 150 through 158, the enlargements being identified in FIG. 6.

The manner in which the combined pleater-and-hanger device is used is believed tobe clearly evident to those skilled in the art, and thus it would appear that further description and explanation is unnecessary. However, from the foregoing description it is seen that the present invention provides an improved drapery shaping and suspending device which is simple and practical in construction and which can be economically manufactured and readily applied in a simple and convenient manner by a relatively unskilled individual. The drapery is effectively shaped to have attractive pleats and is securely retained in assembled relation even if subjected to relatively rough handling which may occur during normal usage, such as changing the drapes, cleaning the drapes, etc.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pleater-and-hanger device for use with a drape including a plurality of integral vertically extending, horizontally spaced parallel tunnels open at the lower end, said pleater-and-hanger device comprising a drape-hanging hook integral with a base portion, a first pair of mutually parallel prongs extending from said base at opposite sides of said drape-hanging hook, at least a second pair of mutually parallel prongs extending vertically from said base in spaced relation laterally from said finst pair of prongs and said drape-hanging hook and parallel thereto, said two pairs of prongs being disposed in mutually parallel rectangular relation to each other, and :a separate, substantially rigid pleat forming shield element including spaced parallel edge portions, said edge portions including socket means removably received on said second pair of prongs for receipts between certain spaced parallel tunnels of said drape.

2. The structure of claim 1; said first pair of prongs including blunted upper terminal end portions for facilitating entry of said prongs in the drape tunnels.

3. The structure of claim 1; said shield including a fragmentary circular cross section.

4. The structure of claim 1; said socket means comprising tubular sleeves along the length of said shield edges.

5. The structure of claim 4; said tubular sleeves terminating intermediately. of said shield, said drape hook including a reverse-bend end intermediately of said prongs, said upper end of said reverse-bend end terminating substantially equidistantly 'of said shield disposed on said second pair of prongs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,819,240 Harrison Aug. 18, 1931 2,544,516 Walters Mar. 6, 1951 2,898,990 Murgolo Aug. 11, 1959 2,979,128 Mufgolo Apr. 11, 196 1

Claims (1)

1. A PLEATER-AND-HANGER DEVICE FOR USE WITH A DRAPE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF INTEGRAL VERTICALLY EXTENDING, HORIZONTALLY SPACED PARALLEL TUNNELS OPEN AT THE LOWER END, SAID PLEATER-AND-HANGER DEVICE COMPRISING A DRAPE-HANGING HOOK INTEGRAL WITH A BASE PORTION, A FIRST PAIR OF MUTUALLY PARALLEL PRONGS EXTENDING FROM SAID BASE AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DRAPE-HANGING HOOK, AT LEAST A SECOND PAIR OF MUTUALLY PARALLEL PRONGS EXTENDING VERTICALLY FROM SAID BASE IN SPACED RELATION LATERALLY FROM SAID FIRST PAIR OF PRONGS AND SAID DRAPE-HANGING HOOK AND PARALLEL THERETO, SAID TWO PAIRS OF PRONGS BEING DISPOSED IN MUTUALLY PARALLEL RECTANGULAR RELATION TO EACH OTHER, AND A SEPARATE, SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID PLEAT FORMING SHIELD ELEMENT INCLUDING SPACED PARALLEL EDGE PORTIONS, SAID EDGE PORTIONS INCLUDING SOCKET MEANS REMOVABLY RECEIVED ON SAID SECOND PAIR OF PRONGS FOR RECEIPTS BETWEEN CERTAIN SPACED PARALLEL TUNNELS OF SAID DRAPE.

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