US3455491A - Combined garment hanger - Google Patents

Description

y 1969 c. E; GINGHER 3,455,491

COMBINED GARMENT HANGER Filed July 26, 1966 INVENTOR CARL E. GINGHER k/ ATTORNEY nited States Patent 3,455,491 COMBINED GARMENT HANGER Carl E. Gingher, 304-328 Depot St., Scranton, Pa. 18509 Filed July 26, 1966, Ser. No. 567,934 Int. Cl. A47j 51/14; Ed 13/02; A47h 15/00 US. Cl. 223--91 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The crossbar of a garment hanger is provided with a slidably mounted spring clamp to form a garment suspension device. The crossbar has an inverted U-shaped cross section with the marginal edges being upturned to define parallel tracks to slidably receive portions of the spring clamp. A base member which is generally V-shaped has slide members on its upper ends which are received in the tracks of the crossbar. A spring clamp is mounted within the V-shaped base member to extend outwardly thereof through a slot in the apex thereof.

The present invention relates to a garment hanger of the type having a shoulder bar with a crossbar extending between the ends of the shoulder bar and a spring clamp slidably mounted on the crossbar, more particularly, to the structure of the crossbar to define a track for the spring clamp and improvements in the spring clamp.

Many forms of garment or clothes hangers have been devised upon which a number of different garments may be hung. Such hangers are commonly called combined or multiple garment hangers. Such a hanger usually comprises a curved shoulder bar upon which a coat or jacket may be hung and a crossbar extending between the ends of the shoulder bar upon which trousers may be hung.

Using such a hanger crossbar as a pants supporting bar has not been satisfactory since it is very easy for the pants or trousers to slide off the crossbar if they are not clamped in position. Accordingly efforts have been made to provide the upper surface of the crossbar with a friction or antislip surface so as to retain trousers in position upon the crossbar. Such antislip surfaces are generally satisfactory as long as they last, but usually the edges of such friction strips tend to become loosened and are then detached from the crossbar by repeated hanging and removing of the trousers from the crossbar.

In addition, various forms of spring clamps have been devised for mounting on the various components of such a clothes hanger. One form of spring clamp is slidably positioned upon the crossbar and can be adjusted to any desired position so as to accommodate garments of various sizes. When two such spaced clamps are used trousers or skirts or other garments may be suspended therefrom.

In order to lock such spring clamps in position once they were adjusted, it was usually necessary to provide some sort of locking device on the spring clamp. These devices, however, while effective in locking the spring clamp in position, were generally cumbersome and complex in structure and were not convenient to manipulate. If such clamp locks were omitted, then the clamps were easily moved from position merely by the suspending of a garment therefrom.

It is therefore the principal object of the present inven- 3,455,491 Patented July 15, 1969 tion to provide a novel and improved clothes hanger upon which a number of different garments may be hung.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger having a simple but effective crossbar structure upon which trousers or other garments may be placed and held in position.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a clothes hanger having a crossbar upon which is slidably mounted an improved spring clamp which positively holds a garment placed therein.

One embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a clothes or garment hanger including a shoulder bar having downwardly bending ends with the shoulder bar being curved for supporting a garment thereon. A crossbar extends between the ends of the shoulder bar and has an inverted U-shaped cross section. At the lateral edges of the top surface of the crossbar there are provided a pair of longitudinally extending indentations which define a groove on the top surface of the crossbar. Two strips of antislip or friction material are positioned on the top surface of the crossbar with the edges of the strips being received within the indentations so that the outer surface of the friction material and the sides of the crossbar are flush. These strips of friction material are spaced from each other at the central portion of the crossbar so that when trousers are suspended upon a crossbar the side seam of the trousers will be accommodated between the strips of friction material. Thus, the portions of the trousers on both sides of the seam contact the friction material on the crossbar and eifectively prevent the trousers sliding off.

The lower edges of the crossbar are folded inwardly and upwardly so as to define a track. The V-shaped base of a spring clamp is slidably mounted upon this track. The ends of the base are provided with slide members which rest upon the track with the upper edges of the slide members engaging the inner faces of the indentations on the crossbar top surface. With this construction pivoting movement of the base will cause a locking of the slide members within the crossbar and, hence, the spring clamps will not slide along the crossbar when garments are suspended therebetween.

A U-bracket is removably retained within the V-shaped base and a spring clamp is pivotally mounted on the lower end of the U-bracket.

This spring clamp will not move along the crossbar when trousers or other garments are suspended from the spring clamps and, thus, no additional locking devices are required. In order to move the clamp assembly a force must be applied against an end of the V-shaped base. Thus, spring clamps embodying the present construction remain in their adjusted position once they are moved to this position and will not become displaced from this position unless a force is exerted on the ends of the base.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, where- 1n;

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the clothes hanger of the present invention having an antislip surface on the crossbar and a spring clamp slidably mounted on the crossbar;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1 but in enlarged scale to show the configuration of the crossbar and the base of the spring clamp slidably positioned therein;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view of the spring clamp of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the spring clamp of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the U-bracket and the spring clamp pivotally mounted thereon with the front leaf of the spring clamp being removed; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the locking device used to lock and unlock the spring clamp within the V- shaped base.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views, a specific embodiment and modifications of the present invention will be described in detail.

As may be seen in FIGURE 1 the combined clothes hanger of the present invention is indicated generally at 10 and comprises a shoulder bar 11 curved substantially as illustrated in the drawing and having an upper surface which forms the main support for garments hung there from. A hanger hook 12 is upstanding from the central portion of the shoulder bar 11 and is adapted to support the hanger from a supporting bar or the like.

The shoulder bar 11 has downwardly depending ends 13 and 14 and extending between these shoulder bar ends is a crossbar 15 which has an inverted U-shaped cross section. Shoulder bar 11 also has an inverted U-shaped cross section but there are differences between these sections as will be subsequently described. This U-shaped cross section conserves material and provides a light weight sturdy reinforced garment hanger structure.

The hanger hook 12 may be spot welded to the under surface of shoulder bar 11 and crossbar 15 similarly may be spot welded to the ends of the shoulder bar.

Proceeding next to FIGURE 2 it can be seen that crossbar 15 has an upwardly curved top surface 16. At the lateral edges of top surface 16 there are provided a pair of longitudinally extending indentations 17 and 18. The indentations 17 and 18 extend along the entire length of the crossbar and together define a longitudinally extending groove 19 in the top surface of the crossbar.

The crossbar 15 is further provided with side walls 20 and 21 which depend from the edges of top surface 16 and are substantially straight. The lower ends of side walls 20 and 21 are bent inwardly and upwardly as shown at 22 and 23 to define a track upon which the base of a spring clamp is slidably mounted in a manner to be presently described. v

In order to provide a non-slip surface for the crossbar strips 24 and 25 of an antislip or friction material are mounted on the crossbar top surface 16 with the edges of these strips being positioned in the indentations 17 and 18. The strips 24 and 25 may be of a resilient material such as foam rubber, natural or synthetic rubbers or suitable plastics. As may be seen in FIGURE 1 the antifriction material does not extend across the entire top surface of crossbar 15 but the central portion of the crossbar remains uncovered as illustrated at 26 to accommodate the seam of trousers which may be placed over the crossbar. Further, this exposed portion of the crossbar top surface may be used for imprinting the name of the hanger or its manufacturer thereon.

By positioning the friction material 2.4 and 25 between the indentations 17 and 18 as described above it will be apparent that the upper surface of the antifriction material and the outer faces of side walls 20 and 21 form a flush continuous surface. By protecting the lateral edges of the friction material in this manner the edges of the friction material will not become loosened from their bonded position through repeated placing and removing of garments from this crossbar.

The antislip strips are bonded to the top surface of the crossbar by a suitable adhesive or bonding material depending both upon the material of the friction strips and the crossbar.

The garment hanger of the present invention also includes a spring clamp indicated generally at 27 in FIG- URE l which is slidably mounted on crossbar 15. The spring clamp 27 comprises a base 28, a U-shaped bracket 29 which is locked in the base, and a spring clamp 30 which is pivotally mounted on the lower end of the bracket. Each of these components will be described in detail.

The base 28 is formed from sheet metal or the like and is bent to form a V having an apex 31 and free ends 32 and 33. The ends 32 and 33 are bent to form slide members 34 and 35 with slide member 34 having parallel upper and lower edges 36 and 37 respectively and slide member 35 having parallel upper and lower edges 38 and 39 respectively.

As can be seen in FIGURE 2 upper edges 36 and 38 bear against the inner faces of indentations 17 and 18 and lower edges 37 and 39 ride upon the track formed by the bent ends 22 and 23 of the crossbar.

The faces of base 28 are provided with longitudinally extending inwardly pressed ribs 40 and 41 which are at diiferent distances from apex 31 as shown in FIGURE 2. One of the faces is further provided with an inwardly bent tab 42 as shown in FIGURE 2.

The locking tab 42 is shown in FIGURE 2 in its locked position with the free end of the tab being supported on the rib 41. The tab is bent into this locking position by the insertion of a suitable blade through the locking tab slot 43 formed by the punching of the tab.

'Positioned on a downwardly directed face of the rib 40 is a slot 44 which is used in unlocking of the tab 42 in a manner to be presently described.

On the apex of the base 28 there is provided a slot 45 in which is positioned the U-shaped bracket 29. The bracket 29 is formed of wire or a rod-like material and comprises a closed end 46 and free ends 47 and 48 which are bent inwardly as may be seen in FIGURE 5. In the assembled position of this spring clamp the closed end 46 is positioned over the locking tab 42 as shown in FIG. URE 2. This prevents withdrawal of the bracket 29 even though a considerable force may be exerted on this bracket.

Pivotally mounted on the ends 47 and 48 of the wire bracket is the spring clamp 30 formed of two halves 49 and 50. These halves are similar and each comprises a handle 51 and gripping portion 52 formed by bending the sides of the clamp half inwardly to form the inwardly directed flanges 53 and 54 which may be seen in FIG- URE 5. Holes are formed in these flanges to receive the ends 47 and 48 of the bracket 29.

The edges of the handle 51 are curved downwardly as indicated at 55 and a slight concave depression is made at 56 in the handle to facilitate gripping thereof with the fingers when opening the clamp.

The gripping portion 52 has its outer edges 57 curved outwardly. The outwardly curved edges cooperating grip portion 52 provide a funnel configuration which greatly facilitates the insertion of garments between the gripping portions 52 of the clamp. It is further pointed out that the edge 57 of gripping portion 52 is curved so that garments may be inserted between the gripping portions from any angle.

Three inwardly pressed parallel ribs 58 are provided in each of the gripping portions to considerably increase the gripping action of this clamp.

The clamp is held in its gripping or closed position as shown in FIGURE 2 by a spring 59 positioned over the bracket ends 47 and 48. The spring 59 has ends 60 and 61 which bear against the handles 51 of the clamp halves.

It may occur that the spring clamp assembly is obtained separately from the garment hanger such as illustrated in FIGURE 1. However, it is a simple matter to mount this spring clamp assembly onto the crossbar of the garment hanger as also illustrated in FIGURE 1.

In order to mount the spring clamp assembly onto the crossbar of the hanger the U-bracket 29 is detached from the base 28 and the ends of the base 28 are squeezed together and inserted upwardly between the inwardly bent edges 22 and 23 of the crossbar. The closed end 46 of bracket 29 is then inserted upwardly through slot 45. As the bracket is moved upwardly it contacts ribs 40 and 41 and urges these ribs outwardly so that the slide members 34 and 35 of the base become positioned within the crossbar as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The upper movement of the U bracket is limited by the closed end of the bracket contacting the inner face of the top surface of the crossbar. The locking tab 42 is then bent inwardly down to its locking position as shown in FIGURE 2. This is accomplished by using a locking tool such as indicated generally at 62 and illustrated in FIGURE 6. The locking tool 62 has a blade 63 which extends at substantially a right angle from its handle 64. The blade 63 is inserted into the locking tab slot 43 and then pivoted to urge the locking tab downwardly. The downward movement of the locking tab is limited by the rib 41.

The position of slot 44 on the downwardly directed face of rib 40 prevents the use of a screw driver or other straight blade member in unlocking the tab 42. However. this unlocking can be readily accomplished by the bent locking tool 64 by inserting the blade 63 into the slot 44 and pivoting the locking tool 62 so that blade 63 urges the locking tab 42 upwardly. When the locking tab has been bent to substantially a vertical position the bracket 29 is unlocked and can then be readily withdrawn from base 28.

It will be apparent that the crossbar configuration and spring clamp assembly structure as described above have numerous advantages. One particular advantage of the inwardly and upwardly bent edges of the crossbar is that should the fingers of the user extend upwardly into the crossbar they will not be cut by the ends of the crossbar when the crossbar is formed from metal. It is well known that in forming such members from metal occasionally the edges are sharp and may cause injury to probing fingers.

Not only is the spring clamp of the present invention simple in construction but it can be readily operated by anyone and provides strong and effective gripping action for garments inserted between the gripping portion of the clamps. Further, the spring clamps may be obtained independently of the clothes hanger and subsequently quickly mounted into position on the crossbar of a hanger. The locking tab effectively holds the spring clamp in position upon the clothes hanger and prevents the removal of the clothes hanger except by those persons who are provided with a locking tool such as disclosed herein.

It has been found that the spring clamp disclosed herein together with its various structural features as described above provides an effective garment gripping device when slidably mounted on the crossbar of a clothes hanger.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment hanger comprising a shoulder bar having depending ends for supporting a garment, a hanger hook attached to said shoulder bar for supporting the hanger, a crossbar having an inverted U-shaped cross section including a top surface and extending between the ends of said shoulder bar, there being a pair of longitudinally extending indentations at the lateral edges of the top surface of said crossbar, the lower marginal edges of said crossbar being bent inwardly and upwardly to define a track, a base within said crossbar and having a pair of slide members with upper and lower parallel edges, the lower edges of said slide members being slidably carried by said crossbar track and the upper edges of said slide members slidably engaging the inner face of said crossbar top surface, and means attached the said base and extending outwardly from between said lower edges of said crossbar for supporting a garment.

2. A garment hanger comprising a shoulder bar having depending ends for supporting a garment, a hanger hook attached to said shoulder bar for supporting the hanger, a crossbar having an inverted U-shaped cross section including a top surface and extending between the ends of said shoulder bar, there being a pair of longitudinally extending indentations at the lateral edges of the top surface of said crossbar, the lower marginal edges of said crossbar being bent inwardly and upwardly to define a track, a generally V-shaped base having slide members on the upper ends thereof with said slide members having parallel upper and lower edges, the lower edges of said slide members being slidably carried by said crossbar track and the upper edges of said slide members slidably engaging the inner face of said crossbar top surface, a bracket having one arm mounted on said V-shaped base and the other extending outwardly of said crossbar lower edges, and spring clamp means mounted on said bracket other end for supporting a garment.

3. A garment suspension arrangement comprising an elongated supporting member having an inverted U- shaped cross section including a top surface, the lower edges of said supporting member being bent inwardly and upwardly to define a track, a base within said supporting member and having a pair of spaced slide mem bers with parallel upper and lower edges, the lower edges of said slide members being slidably carried by said track and the upper edges of said slide members slidably engaging the inner face of said supporting member top surface, and means attached to said base and extending outwardly from between said lower edges of said supporting member for supporting a garment.

4. A garment suspension arrangement as claimed in claim 3 with said base being generally V-shaped with said slide members being on the ends of said V and the apex thereof extending outwardly from between said lower edges of said supporting member, and spring clamp means mounted on said base for supporting a garment.

5. A garment suspension arrangement as claimed in claim 3 with there being a pair of longitudinally extending indentations at the lateral edges of said top surface with said top surface being curved upwardly between said indentations, the upper edges of said slide members slidably engaging said indentations.

6. A garment suspension device for slidable movement on a track, and comprising a base including a pair of slide members with said slide members having parallel upper and lower edges for slidable engagement with a track, a generally V-shaped element having its ends connected to said slide members, and means mounted within said V-shaped element and extending away from the ends of said element for supporting a garment.

7. A garment suspension device as claimed in claim 6 with there being a slot formed in the apex of said V- shaped element, a U-shaped bracket having its closed end inserted through said slot within said V-shaped element, means on said V-shaped element for retaining said U-shaped bracket in position, and spring clamp means mounted on the open end of said U-shaped bracket.

8. A garment suspension device as claimed in claim 7 with said retaining means comprising a pair of inwardly pressed ribs in the sides of said generally V-shaped element with said ribs contacting said U-shaped bracket to position the same.

9. A garment suspension device as claimed in claim 8 with said ribs being at different distances from the apex of said V-shaped element.

10. A garment suspension device as claimed in claim 7 and further comprising means on said V-shaped element for lockingly engaging the closed end of said U- shaped bracket.

11. A garment suspension device as claimed in claim 10 with said locking means comprising a tab bent underneath the closed end of said U-shaped bracket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Buffin 22388 Barnes 22388 Fischer 22388 Martin 22391 Ambrosino 22388 Stoschy 22390 Gensmer et a1. 223-98 FOREIGN PATENTS 1 1/ 1947 Switzerland.

5/ 1946 Great Britain. 4/ 195 1 Germany.

US. Cl. X.R.

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