US3169681A

US3169681A - Garment hanger guard

Info

Publication number: US3169681A
Application number: US309552A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hubert B Tillery
Original assignee: TILLERY CONTAINER CO
Current assignee: TILLERY CONTAINER CO
Priority date: 1963-09-17
Filing date: 1963-09-17
Publication date: 1965-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1982-02-16

Description

Feb. 16, 1965 H. a. TILLERY 3, 1

GARMENT HANGER GUARD Filed Sept. 17, 1965 F IGI Fl 7 IN VENTOR.

HUBERT B. TILLERY WM e W A TTORNE Y8 a that creases and wrinkles are not formed in the 3,169,681 GARIVIENT HANGER GUARD Hubert B. Tiiiery, Kansas City, Ma, assignor to Tillery Container Company, Kausas'City, Mm, a partnership v 7 Filed Sept. 17, 1963, SerINo. 309,552

4 Claims. (1. 223-98) V The present invention relates to an improvement in the mounting or securingof a guard or cover upon a wire hanger for supporting thereon garments such as skirts,

pants and the like.

The use of lightweight transparent plastic bags for covering or enclosing cleaned garments, supported on a conventional wire hanger, has become quite wide spread There is disclosed in Patent 3,037,675 issued June 5, I

1962, of which the present applicant is a ctr-inventor, a guard or cover having the end portions thereof formed to follow the contours of the ends'of 'a wire garment'hanger and thus extend over a portion of the inclined sides .or

shoulder segments of the hanger. The guard or cover as disclosed in said patent has proven to be very satisfactory and successful when used in conjunction with garment bags formed of a very thin film of plastic material. This success has been attributed to the shapeand configuration of the ends of the guard, in that, the thin plastic film bags slide over the ends of the guard and hanger in a very easy and forthright manner without tearing or snagging the bags. Such success is not achieved whenconventional guards or covers are employed wherein the ends of the guard either project slightly beyond or terminate at the point where the inclined shoulder portion merges with the horizontal rod of the hanger.

While the guard or cover as disclosed'in Patent 3,037,-

675 has greatly enhanced the use of thin plastic bags for covering and protecting cleaned garments supported on a conventional wire hanger, it has been found that said guard or cover has, at times, a tendency to move or rotate about the horizontal bar portion of the hanger when a garment is being placed thereon. This movement or rotation of the guard quite often results in an improper positioning of the garment upon the guard. That is, the rotation or movement of the guard upon the hanger as a garment is being'placed thereon causes the 'arcuat e-shaped vcentral portion of the guard to moveto one side or the' other so'that the garment is not properly positioned thereon. As

a result, the guard is not performing its primary function of providing a relatively arcuate shaped surface for receiving and properly supporting thereon a garment to insure garment as it is supported upon the hanger. I

The guard "of the present invention constitutes an im provement upon the guard as disclosed in Patent 3,037,675.

3,1 dddi Patented Fehifi, 1965 Another. object is to provide a guard or cover having end portions folded in amanner to extend up and cover 7 a portion of the inclined shoulders of a'conventional wire garment hanger with locking means providedin said folds for engaging the horizontal portion of the hanger to insure the retention of the guard thereupon.

Another object is to provide a guard or cover having folded end portions configured to extend over and up a portion of the inclined shoulders of a conventional wire garment hanger with notches being formed in the folds of said end portions to receive the horizontal portion of the hanger to lock said guard'ag-ainst rotative movement upon said hanger.

Still another object is to provide a guard or cover having transversely extending creases provided in the end portions thereof withnotches formed in said creases in a plane normal thereto for receiving and retaining the horizontal rod portion of a conventional wire garment hanger. L

Still other objects are to provide a guard that is readily attachable and retain'a-ble upon a wire garment hanger which provides relatively smooth and substantially rounded end portions and which is economical of manufacture.

Other objects and advantages, more or less ancillary to the foregoing in the manner in Whichall of the various objects are realized will appear in the following description, which, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, sets forth the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated: g

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view with the guard of the present invention applied to a garment hanger;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view showing a port-ion of the Q guard and hanger, the view being taken on the plane 2' V of FIGURE l; 7

FIGURE 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of an end portion of a still further modified guard.

Referring to FIGURE'I of the drawing, there is shown 'a conventional wire garment hanger formed from 'a single strand of wire and having a suspending hook 10 with inclined shoulder portions or segment 12 that are connected by a horizontal rod orbar portion 14-, FIG- The present guard or cover is so designed as to insure" its proper retention upon the horizontal bar portion ofa wire garment hanger and still permit the ready insertion into a plastic bag of a garment supported on said hanger without said plastic bag being torn or ripped.

One of the objects of the present invention is'to provide a guard having end portions configured to follow the contours of the inclined shoulder-portions of a wire garment hanger with means to secure said guard against rotative movement on said hanger. q

The inclined shoulder portions or segments material such as thick paper stock, molded paper pulp having an adhesivebinder orstifiener agent, cardboard or the like. The relatively stiff material is formed in a j suitable die or mandrel, while in a slightly moist or dampened condition, to produce the guard 18 which is curved. or of 1 arcuate configuration in' cross-section. When so formed, the guard '18 is relatively rigid and stiff, yet it is, to a small degree, pliable and flexible in a direction transverse to its longitudinal axis so that it will have a'tendency' to flare outwardly in a transverse direction whenever a garment is placed thereon. The outwardly flaring action,however, is relatively small and only tends to slightly increase the area which forms the garment supporting surface as the material from which it is made spaced parallel longitudinally extending side edges 20 that terminate in rounded or curved ends 22 which are provided with slight indentationsorinotches 24 formed on' the longitudinal axis of the guard,*FlGURE 4.

In forming the guardlS the top and bottom surfaces of each end portion thereof are subjected to the action of cooperating die members to'produce the rounded ends 22 and notches 24' while at the same time, forming the diagonal'creases or score lines 26. As shownin FIG- URE 4, the diagonal score lines 26 have one end terminating adjacent the notch or indentation 24 in the end ofthe guard 18 withthe other end terminating at approximately the point where the sideedgeZl) merges with the rounded endZZ of the guard. In addition to the diagonal score lines 26 each end portion .of the guard 18 is formed with an arcuate shaped score or crease line 28. The ends of the score lines 23 intersect and terminate at the diagonal score lin'es26so that the

score lines

26 and 28 define asegmental portion 3%} with the arcuate score line ,28 constituting the base of said segmental portion. Each end portion of the guard 18 is formed with a pair of longitudinally extendingslits 32 that are disposed in spacedparallel relation toone another'and arranged on opopsite sides ofthe longitudinal axis of the guard. The slits 32 intersect the arcuate-score line 23 and extend approximately the samedistance oneach side thereof into the segmental portion 3% and the body portion of the guard 18. The slits 32;.define therebetween a tongue or segment portion 34 which is connected at one end to the body of the guard and at the other end to the segmental portion 39. j

' After. the guard '18 is'forrned in the die or mandrel and the score lines 2d and 28 together -with slits 32 have been formed in the end portions of theguard ltl'the curvedendsZZ. are subjected to a folding action on the score lines 26. The ends 22 are bent inwardly towards one another so as to lie beneath and along and adjacent, to the under-surface of the guard and thus define in conjunction withone another a guideway '35, as shown in FIGURE 3. When the end portions 22 of the guard have beenfolded inwardly along the score lines 26, the

segmental portions 30 are then folded or. bent upwardly,

with respect to the guard, along the arcuate score lines .28. The action of bending the segmental portions 3% in an upward direction about the arcuate score lines 28 causes the portion of the guard on opposite sidesof the score line'28 to be depressed or flexed'downwardly with the exception of the tongue or segment 34 of the guard which tends to buckle or be flexed upwardly with respect to the'upper surface ofthe guard 18 in, the manner as clearly shown in FTGURE 5. The bending or'depressing of the portions of the guard contiguous to the arcuate crease line 28 producesin'said guard a notch or slotiefi,

FIGURE 5,'which is defined by'the. spaced parallel. slits 32.

The guard 18 0f the present invention is readily mounted or placed upon a Wire garment hanger by simply inserting one ofthe inclined shoulder portions 12 of the hangerin the guideway 36 .at one end of the guardand then-moving the guard down until the notch or slot 38 engages the horizontal rod 14. At the same timethe guideway 36 atthe other end of the guard 18 isplaced upon the other inclined shoulder portion12 of the hanger andthen the entire guard is pushed down into eng agement with the arcuate or curved segments 16 andthe mounting of the guard upon the horizontal rod portion 7 engagement with the bar 14 due to the added weight of l the garment, thus insuring that the notches 38 encompass and engage said bar to restrain any movement of 7 horizontal bar. 14 so that said bar will be moved into the J notches orslots '38. The notches 38am of a Width'com- I4 insures the'proper positioning and retention of the i guard upon 'the garment hanger so that it will not turn segmental end portion 36.

the guard with respect to the bar. I

The guard shown inFIGURES 6 and 7 is identical in all respects withthe guard shown. in- FIGURES .1 through 5 with the 'exception of the segment or tongue portionfid so that corresponding parts in FIGURES 6 and 7 have been identified with the same reference numerals as applied to like parts in the disclosures in FIG- .URES. lthrough 5. In FIGURE 6, the segment 134 has been cut at one end to provide. a transverse slit 136 so that said segment 134 defines a tonguenr tab portion which has one end secured to. and forming a part of the segmental portion 39. The segment or tab portion 134 i is adapted to extend through the transverse slit 136 and notch .138 that are formed in the guard 13 and to lie along the under surface of the body portion of the guard llwhere it engages the horizontal rod portion 14. of the wire garment hanger when the guard 18 is placed thereon. 'In'FlGURE 7, the segment or tab portion 234 is provided with a transverse slit 236 which causes said tab'portion to be severed from the segmentalportion 36 to define a tongue or tab portion that is carried by the body portion of the guard .18 and arranged to exten'd through the transverse slit 236 and notcl123ll with the free end of said'segrnent or tab portion underlying th It is to be'not ed that regardless of the manner hr which the segment or V tongue portion is formed 'in either FIGURES 5, 6, or 7, the" end: or flexing of the guar along the crease line 28 will result in the. portions of the.

, guard on opposite sides of said crease line being forced downwardly-towards the horizontalrod ld of the garment hanger. Thenotches or slots '38, FIGURE 5, and 133m FIGURE 6 and 233 in EEGURE 7 constitute a means for property positioningfandlocking the guard upon the horizontal rodportion of the garment hanger whereby garments placed upon said guard will be properly positioned thereon. At the same time that the notches or slots areengaging'the horizontal rod portion .14 of the garmenthanger to ensure the locking and retention of the guardth'ereon, the upturnedendportions of the guards willengage thecurved segments 15 with said segments being positioned within the guideway 36 so that the guard will present a smooth outer surface that will readily facilitate the'positioning of a thin pliable plastic bag over the garment hanger without fear of said bag being ripped or torn while being so placed thereon.

Although'the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order'thatthe invention may be completely set forth, it is-to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts and modifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit; of the invention as herein claimed. i

I clairnr i 1,. A guard for a wire garment hanger wherein the guard is formed of relatively stiff material and'conrprises an elongated body curved-transversely of its length, said body formed with indentations at each end thereof coinciding with itslongitudinalaxis, said body provided at each end portion thereof with a pair of crease lines emanating from the end of said' body adjacent to said indentations and arranged in diverging relation tothe the ends of said arcuate score line-intersecting said'pair of crease lines and defining therewith a segmental portion in each end of said body, a pair of el ngated slits provided in said body in spaced parallel relation to one another on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said body, said slits intersecting said arcuate score line and having one end thereof terminating in said segmental portion, the sides of said body adjacent each end being folded inwardly towards one another along said crease lines with said folded portions being spaced from one another and lying adjacent the under surface of said body to define a guideway for a wire garment hanger, each segmental portion and folded side portions being bent upwardly with respect to said body along said arcuate score line to flex downwardly the portion of the body contiguous to said arcuate score line, said downwardly flexed portion of the body defining in conjunction with said slits a notch for receiving a wire garment hanger.

2. A guard for a wire garment hanger wherein the guard is formed of relatively stiff material and comprises an elongated body curved transversely of its length, said body formed with indentations at each end thereof coinciding withits longitudinal axis, said body provided at each end portion thereof with a pair of crease lines emanating from the ends of said body adjacent said indentations and arranged in diverging relation to the longitudinal axis of the body, each end portion of said body provided with an arcuate shaped score line arranged to extend inwardly towards the center of the body, the ends of said arcuate score line intersecting said pair of crease lines and defining therewith a segmental portion in each end of said body, a pair of elongated slits provided in said body in spaced parallel relation to one another on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said body, said slits intersecting said arcuate score line and have one end thereof terminating in a transverse slit in said segmental portion to define a tongue element having one end secured to said body, the sides of said body adjacent each end being folded inwardly towards one another along said crease lines with said folded portions being spaced from one another and lying adjacent the under surface of said body to define a guideway for a wire garment hanger, each segmental portion and folded side portions being bent upwardly with respect to said body along said arcuate score line to flex downwardly the portion of the body contiguous to said arcuate score line, said downwardly flexed portion of said body defining in conjunction with said slits a notch for receiving a wire garment hanger with said tongue element projecting across said notch and into said guideway to provide a substantially smooth and continuous upper surface for said body. v

3. A guard for a wire garment hanger wherein the guard is formed of relatively stiff material and comprises an elongated body curved transversely of its length, said body formed with indentations at each end thereof coinciding with its longitudinal axis, said body provided at each end portion thereof with a pair of crease lines emanating from the end of said body adjacent said indentations and arranged in diverging relation to the longitudinal axis of the body, each end portion of said body provided with an arcuate shaped score line arranged to extend inwardly towards the center of the body, the ends of said arcuate score line intersecting said pair of crease lines and defining therewith a segmental portion in each end of said body, a pair of elongated slits provided in said body in spaced parallel relation to one another on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said body, said slits intersecting said arcuate score line and having one end thereof terminating in a transverse slit in said body to define a tongue element having a free end with the other end secured to said segmental portion, the sides of said body adjacent each end being folded inwardly towards one another along said crease lines with said folded portions being spaced from one another and lying adjacent the under surface of said body to define a guideway for a wire garment hanger, each segmental portion and folded side portions being bent upwardly with respect to said body along said arcuate score line to flex downwardly the portion of the body contiguous to said arcuate score line, said downwardly flexed portion of said body defining in conjunction with said slits a notch for receiving a wire garment hanger with said tongue element projecting across said notch and beneath said body to provide a substantially smooth and continuous upper surface for said body.

4. A guardfor a wire garment hanger wherein the guard is formed of relatively stiff material and comprises an elongated body curved transversely of its length, said body formed with indentations at each end thereof coinciding with its longitudinal axis, said body provided at each end portion thereof with a pair of crease lines emanating from the ends of said bodyadjacent said indentations and arranged in diverging relation to the longitudinal axis of the body, each end. portion of said body provided with an arcuate shaped score line arranged to extend inwardly towards the center of the body, the V ends of said arcuate score line intersecting said pair of crease lines and defining therewith a segmental portion in each end of said body, a pair of elongated slits provided in said body in spaced parallel relation to one another on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of said body, said slits intersecting said arcuate score line and defining a tab portion, the sides of said body adjacent each end being folded inwardly towards one another along said crease lines with said folded portions being spaced from .one

another and lying adjacent the under surface of said body to define a guideway for a wire garment hanger, each segmental portion and folded side portions being bent upwardly with respect to said body along said arcuate score line to flex downwardly the portion of the body contiguous to said arcuate score line, said downwardly flexed portion of said body defining in conjunction with said slits a notch for receiving a wire garment hanger with said tab portion overlying said notch to provide a substantially smooth and continuous upper surface for said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,037,675 Tillery et a1 June 5, 1962

Claims

1. A GUARD FOR A WIRE GARMENT HANGER WHEREIN THE GUARD IS FORMED OF RELATIVELY STIFF MATERIAL AND COMPRISES AN ELONGATED BODY CURVED TRANSVERSELY OF ITS LENGTH, SAID BODY FORMED WITH INDENTATIONS AT EACH END THEREOF COINCIDING WITH ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS, SAID BODY PROVIDED AT EACH END PORTION THEREOF WITH A PAIR OF CREASE LINES EMANATING FROM THE END OF SAID BODY ADJACENT TO SAID INDENTATIONS AND ARRANGED IN DIVERGING RELATION TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE BODY, EACH END PORTION OF SAID BODY PROVIDED WITH AN ARCUATE SHAPED SCORE LINE ARRANGED TO EXTEND INWARDLY TOWARDS TE CENTER OF THE BODY, THE ENDS OF SAID ARCUATE SCORE LINE INTERSECTING SAID PAIR OF CREASE LINES AND DEFINING THEREWITH A SEGMENTAL PORTION IN EACH END OF SAID BODY, A PAIR OF ELONGATED SLITS PORVIDED IN SAID BODY IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID BODY, SAID SLITS INTERSECTING SAID ARCUATE SCORE LINE AND HAVING ONE END THEREOF TERMINATING IN SAID SEGMENTAL PORTION, THE SIDES OF SAID BODY ADJACENT EACH END BEING FOLDED INWARDLY TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER ALONG SAID CREASE LINES WITH SAID FOLDED PORTIONS BEING SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER AND LYING ADJACENT THE UNDER SURFACE OF SAID BODY TO DEFINE A GUIDEWAY FOR A WIRE GARMENT HANGER, EACH SEGMENTAL PORTION AND FOLDED SIDE PORTIONS BEING BENT UPWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID BODY ALONG SAID ARUCATE SCORE LINE TO FLEX DOWNWARDLY THE PORTION OF THE BODY CONTIGUOUS TO SAID ARCUATE SCORE LINE, SAID DOWNWARDLY FLEXED PORTION OF THE BODY DEFINING IN CONJUNCTION WITH SAID SLITS A NOTCH FOR RECEIVING A WIRE GARMENT HANGER.