US3463324A

US3463324A - Display hanger with crossbar and removable support assembly

Info

Publication number: US3463324A
Application number: US755018A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert G Schaefer
Original assignee: Central Specialties Co
Current assignee: Central Specialties Co
Priority date: 1968-08-13
Filing date: 1968-08-13
Publication date: 1969-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 1986-08-26

Description

Aug. 26, 1969 3,463,324

DISPLAY HANGER WITH CROSSBAR AND REMOVABLE SUPPORT ASSEMBLY R. cs. SCHAEFER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. '23. 1966 Jr? e/e/ r-cZ i/ @Z ls g- 26, 1969 R. G. SCHAEFER DISPLAY HANGER WITH CROSSiBAR AND REMOVABLE SUPPORT ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Dec. 25, 1966 United States Patent 3,463,324 DISPLAY HANGER WITH CROSSBAR AND REMOVABLE SUPPORT ASSEMBLY Robert G. Schaefer, Highland Park, Ill., assignor to Central Specialties Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 604,208, Dec. 23, 1966. This application Aug. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 755,018 Int. Cl. A47 51/08; A47h 1/14 US. Cl. 211-123 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure includes a display hanger having a tubular crossbar with apertured barrel shaped end caps at each end of the crossbar. A two-piece support member is employed, one piece having its end portion anchored within the crossbar, and the other piece having a closed eye for attachment to the hanger at a hanger crotch portion, its free end. having a lock member which fits into one of the end caps. The support member is removed by means of grasping the anchor portion and crossbar, squeezing the same, and removing or inserting the lock end of the hanger support into its respective end cap.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 604,208 filed Dec. 23, 1966, and now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a Display Hanger with Crossbar and Removable Support Assembly. A hanger made in accordance with the present invention is particularly useful in hanging draperies, bed spreads, blankets, beach towels, and the like.

The prior art is most completely exemplified by United States Patent 2,947,421 and the references cited therein which disclose a crossbar and a single piece support member formed of a single piece of resilient rod with the hook portion defined by reversely bent parallel portions of the single piece member. While the prior art device is sturdy and durable, the cost of reversely bending and forming the single piece hanger support portion is more than double than that of forming the two piece support portion as exemplified by the present invention. Furthermore, because the resiliency is spread over the entire support portion of the display hanger disclosed in Patent 2,947,421, considerable additional effort is required to squeeze the anchor portion thereof in order to removably secure the free end. Additionally in the prior art structure the fixed end portion of the support ember pivots around its end cap support aperture, whereas in the structure exemplary of the present invention the end is permanently anchored so that a fixed position for the hook may be predicted when the swivel portion is removed for attaching the material to be hung and stored.

In view of the foregoing it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a display hanger which is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, and yet facilitate the easier operation in use than the devices of the prior art.

An additional object of the present invention looks to the provision of a display hanger in which one end of the support is firmly anchored within the crossbar thereby providing a predictable open position, and facilitating its use.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a display hanger in which one end may swivel to a retracted position substantially paralleling the fixed portion thereby providing easier access for insertion of garments or fabrics to be displayed along the crossbar.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description of an illustrative embodiment proceeds in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective partially cut away view of an exemplary display hanger showing the relationship between the support assembly, crossbar, and a typical fabric being supported thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the display hanger illustrative of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation in similar scale of the display hanger disclosed in FIG. 2 illustrating diagrammatically how the user opens the same for the insertion of the fabric material to be supported or displayed thereotri;

FIGURE 4 is an end view in enlarged scale showing the end cap and its related support portion;

FIGURE 5 is a partially ibroken front elevation in enlarged scale showing the end cap, crossbar, and removable free' end lock of the subject display hanger;

FIGURE 6 is a transverse sectional view taken along section line 6-6 of FIG. 5 in the same scale as FIG. 5;

FIGURE 7 is a broken perspective partially diagrammatic view showing the attachment relationship between the free end lock and its associated end cap; 7

FIGURE 8 is a broken view in the same scale as FIG. 5 showing the anchor end assembly in phantom lines;

FIGURE 9 is a transverse sectional view of the anchor end assembly shown in FIG. 8 taken along section line 99 of FIG. 8.

FIGURE 10 is a perspective exploded view of the anchor end assembly and its associated end cap and end portion of the crossbar;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged view of the hook end portion of the anchored portion of the support member showing its assembled relation with the closed eye end of the swivel portion;

FIGURE 12 is a partially sectioned view showing the swivel attachment and eye crotch assembly taken along section line 1212 of FIG. 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the display hanger comprises two basic portions, the crossbar 11 and the hanger support assembly 12. The two offset portions 21 depending from the main body of the support assembly 12 are secured at their ends and a pair of end caps 14 which close the two ends of the tubular crossbar 11.

The anchor portion 16 of the crossbar assembly- 12 terminates in a book 15 at its outer or exposed end, and at an anchor end 20 (to be described hereinafter) inside of its related end cap 14. The swivel portion 18 of the hanger support assembly 12 terminates at one end in a closed eye 19 which swivels about the eye crotch 30 at the base of the hook 15. The other end of the swivel portion 18 terminates in a free end lock 25 which is removably secured to its respective end cap 14. As will be observed in FIG. 2, the offset portions of the two members making up the hanger support assembly are of approximately the same length in order to provide symmetry and balance to the assembled construction.

The operation is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG.

3 where it will be seen that the users right hand grasps the anchor portion 16, and spans the distance between the anchor portion 16 and the tubular crossbar 11, and with a slight squeezing action permits the swivel portion 18 to be removed by the other hand. A folded fabric can then be inserted, and if the fabric is sufficiently thick to tax the capacity of the holding area, the swivel portion 18 may be retracted and positioned relatively parallel to the anchor portion 16.

The details of construction, and more particularly the relationship between the end caps and the tubular crossbar are such that the assembly operation is quite simple and can actually be performed by the handicapped or even blind workers. This relationship will be best understood by a reference to the second sheet of drawings.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, it will be seen that the end caps have a cylindrical end cap barrel portion 31 which is proportioned for a sliding fit with the tubular crossbar 11. A recessed end cap cup 32 is provided at the closed end of each end cap 14, and its central portion has an end cap aperture 34 slightly larger than the diameter of the rod or body of the swivel portion 18 and anchor portion 16 or the hanger support assembly 12. Each end cap is provided with an end cap pair of offset detents 35, and the ends of the tubular crossbar 11 may be recessed to receive the detents, but operations have shown that such a recess is not essential to the secure engagement of the end cap 14. Other forms of attachment are contemplated, but the detent snug relationship with the tubular body of the crossbar 11 has been found sufiicient for secure support in normal operation.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the elements of the anchor end 20 will be better understood (particularly with comparative reference to FIG. 8 in which its assembled relationship is shown in phantom lines).

The anchor end assembly 20 is provided by a plurality of bends at the end portion of the offset portion 21 of the anchor portion 16. The bend is accomplished in such a manner as to define a tube flat 22 and an obtusely extending tube flat offset 29 which terminates in a nib 24. The distance between the top of the nib 24 and the base of the tube flat 22 is slightly larger than the interior diameter of the crossbar tube 11 in order to provide for a force or spring fit of the anchor end 20 within the crossbar tube 11. The end lock offset 28 which depends from the opposed portion of the nib 24 terminates in an anchored end lock 26 which portion extends through the aperture 34 of the adjacent end cap cup 32.

In assembling the anchor portion 16 to the crossbar 11, the cup 14 is positioned on the anchor end 20 until its aperture approaches the offset portion 21. Thereafter the entire assembly is inserted by first inserting the tube flat 22 within the tubular member 11, and then when the offset portion 21 abuts against the end cap 14, it serves to press the same onto the end of the tubular crossbar 11, and the end cap detents 35 dig into the tubular crossbar body portion 11. The fit is quite snug attributable to the combined action of the anchor end 20 and its associated bent portions, as well as the detent 35.

At the opposite end (as shown in FIG. 7) the end cap 14 is merely pressed on to the tubular body portion 11 until its entire portion abuts the end of the tubular member 11 as shown in FIG. 5. A similar abutting relationship appears in FIG. 8 at the anchor end portion.

To assemble the swivel portion 18 to the anchor portion 16, the anchor portion 18 is inverted from its ultimate position, the closed eye 19 inserted over the free end of the hook 15, and the swivel end portion 18 then rotated about and the eye 19 brought to rest at the eye crotch 30 portion of the anchor portion 16 (the relationship between the closed eye 19 and the eye crotch 30 being illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12).

In review it will be seen that the subject construction may be made out of an anchor portion 16 and swivel portion 18 which donot include any complicated reverse bends, and accordingly may be rapidly assembled on a standard four slide wire forming machine. The subsequent assembly, in addition, particularly because of the configuration of the anchor end assembly 20 may be press fitted without complicated jigs or other automatic assembly fixtures. In final operation, as illustrated in conjunction with the diagrammatic showing in FIG. 3, is one of ease because the yieldable portion is provided solely by the resiliency of the anchor portion 16, uninhibited by any resistance from the swivel portion 18. Furthermore, because the swivel portion 18 may be retracted, the maximum utilization of the open jaws defined by the anchor portion 16 and swivel portion 18 may be utilized.

While materials do not comprise a significant portion of the invention, the rod which is employed for the anchor portion 16 and the swivel portion 18 of the hanger support assembly should be sufficiently resilient to provide the action defined. Furthermore, the diameter should be such as to easily fit within the apertures 34 of the end caps 14. The tubular rod forming the crossbar assembly 11 may be a seamed tube formed of a sheet material, and accordingly inexpensive to procure. In the commercial embodiment found acceptable, the tubular rod and end cap are plated for corrosion resistance.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in full here, there is no intention to thereby limit the invention to the details of such embodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A display hanger comprising, in combination, a crossbar, said crossbar being a hollow tubular member open at both ends, a pair of removably secured end caps slidably securable to close the ends of said tubular member, each said end cap having rod receiving means disposed therein; and a two piece resilient hanger support assembly, a first piece including a generally horizontally disposed portion having an anchor portion at one end thereof, the opposite end of said horizontally disposed portion being providedwith an eye crotch portion and a generally vertically disposed hook, the anchor portion being proportioned for a snug fit in the end cap and for anchor engagement in the hollow tubular member; the second piece of said support having one end forming a closed loop engaged with the eye crotch of said first piece, said second piece having an offset end lock member proportioned to be received in said second end cap; said support assembly being formed of material sufficiently resilient so that grasping by one hand the first piece of the support assembly and the cross bar and squeezing the same will free the offset end lock member of the second piece of the support assembly from its end cap.

2. The display hanger of claim 1, wherein said rod receiving means disposed in said end caps comprises an aperture and wherein said anchor portion includes an offset triple bend defining at its far end a tube-bearing flat portion and, a tube contacting bend at an intermediate portion thereof, and an end cap aperture-engaging portion on an axis substantially mid-way between the remote point defined by the top of the tube contacting bend, and the remote surface defined by the base of the tube bearing flat portion.

3. The display hanger of claim 1, wherein said end caps each has a barrel like cylindrical body portion terminating in a cup-shaped end, said cup-shaped end having said rod receiving means formed therein in the form of an aperture at the central portion thereof, and a detent in the body portion which is offset a sufficient interior distance to provide a force fit between the detent and the hollow tubular member forming the crossbar.

4. A display hanger comprising, in combination, a crossbar, said crossbar being a hollow tubular member open at both ends, a pair of removably secured end caps slidably securable to close the ends of said tubular member, each said end caps having rod engaging means disposed therein, and a resilient hanger support assembly comprising a rod having an anchor portion at one end thereof which is proportioned for a snug fit in the rod engaging means in said end cap, at least one of said anchor portions comprising an offset triple bend defining at its far end a tube bearing flat, a nib tube contact bend at an intermediate portion thereof, and an end cap aperture engaging portion on an axis substantially mid-Way between the remote point defined by the nib top, and the remote surface defined by the base of the tube bearing flat, the other end of said rod having means for removably securing the same to the rod engaging means at the opposite end cap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS US. Cl. X.R.