US3601293A

US3601293A - Garment hanger construction

Info

Publication number: US3601293A
Application number: US882658A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jerry J Sargent
Original assignee: Levi Strauss and Co
Current assignee: Levi Strauss and Co
Priority date: 1969-12-05
Filing date: 1969-12-05
Publication date: 1971-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-24

Abstract

A garment hanger construction formed of corrugated cardboard folded in two pieces, one of which forms a sheath and the other of which forms an extensible arm whereby the two pieces can be extended within the waistband of a garment, extended to tighten the waistband of a garment, and then locked in position by means of a straight pin to hold the garment in that form. The sheath includes a foldable hook portion which serves to support the garment from a transverse support rod of conventional type.

Description

United States Patent 478,062 6/1892 Laubin lnventor Jerry J. Sargent Walnut Creek, Calif.

Appl. No. 882,658

Filed Dec. 5, 1969 Patented Aug. 24, 1971 Assignee Levi Strauss 8: Co.

San Franckco, Calif.

GARMENT HANGER CONSTRUCTION 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 2231/95 A47j 51/097 223/87, 95, s5, s9, 94; 24/263 LS, 150, 73 LA References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,515,544 7/1950 Artley 223/95 FOREIGN PATENTS 585,239 10/1959 Canada 223/95 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-George H. Krizmanich Attorney-Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert GARMENT HANGER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION impart the semblance of pressing to the garment in the region of the waistband.

' Upon removal of the heat treatment, the form contained within the waistband is removed. Subsequently, the trousers are merchandised in the conventional manner.

Typically, many of the trousers or slacks merchandised are distributed to retail stores where they are stacked in piles upon tables for customers to make their selection. Disposition of the trousers on hangers to be hung from transverse rods or the like has been, heretofore, considered an inadequate justification for incurring the additional expense and labor of placing the trousers on hangers.

Thus, there has been a need for an improved hanger/form construction capable of being employed in the heat treatment of slacks or skirts madefrom the resin-treated materials now available and wherein the form can be employed also as a gar- I ment hanger for the merchant to more advantageously display the garments hung therefrom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, a garment hanger construction capable of fulfilling the above needs has been provided comprising means folded to form a sheath member. An extensible member is slidably disposed to move into and out of the sheath member. Each of these two members includes an end edge portion for engaging the waistband of a garment to be hung. The two members include means for locking the members in their selected extended position within the waistband.

In addition, openings in the members are adapted to lie behind or below the level of the waistband to form a socket to be gripped by the thumb and forefinger of each of the two hands of a person gripping and extending the two members.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved garment hanger/form construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger construction capable of serving as a'form for holding the waistband of a garment in an extended position during heat treatment or other treatment thereof and further serving to support the garment from a transverse support pole or rod in the manner of a conventional hanger when displaying the garment for sale.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detail description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view, partially broken away, showing a garment hanger construction according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view ofa cardboard blank shown in unfolded condition showing an extensible arm member employed in conjunction with a sheath member according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cardboard blank in unfolded condition showing an extensible arm member employed in conjunction with a sheath member according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT While the present invention is capable of appropriate 'use with both skirts and slacks, for purposes of description herein, its use with a pair of slacks 10 shall be shown for illustrative purposes. 1 I

The garment hanger construction comprises means folded to form a sheath member 11 and an extensible arm member 12 slidably disposed to move into and out of the sheath member 1 1.

The opposite ends of the garment hanger construction are formed to include

edges

13, 14 of sheath member 11 and arm member 12 respectively. When the hanger construction is disposed for supporting a garment such as the slacks 10 thereon

edges

13, 14 extend downwardly and diverge outwardly slightly so as to more positively engage the trousers. Edges 14 include enlargements 16 which extend further outwardly so as to ensure positive engagement at the waistband of slacks 10.

Thus, each of the members ll, 12 includes an end edge portion for engaging the waistband 17 of slacks 10.

Sheath member 11 is formed from a sheet of pervious material, such as corrugated cardboard, in a manner whereby a sheath opening 18 is adapted to receive the end of member Thus, referring to FIG. 2, a blank" of corrugated cardboard material referred to as the sheath blank 11' is prepared with three pairs of parallel scored lines of

weakness

19, 20 and 21. The closely spaced lines of weakness 19, 20 extend along the length of the blank 11 between first and second pairs so as to define first and

second jacket portions

27, 28 which, when folded as described further below, will lie in confronting spaced relation 0 form the sides of the sheath opening 18'. Thus, the

jacket portions

27, 28 flank the third pair of scored or weakened lines 21.

The base of an arcuate hook 29is attached at the region of lines 21 and lies flush with jacket portion 27. This is provided by a simple die cutting operation whereby the hook 29 is crisply cut into the surface of the jacket portion 27. Hook 29 includes a tab portion 29a formed to extend across both lines of the pair of lines 19 for a purpose as described further below and best shown in FIG. 1. Thus, upon properly folding the blank 11 into the sheath member 11 as shown in FIG. 1, tab portion 29a will depend below the lowermost edge of sheath member 11 whereby a person can engage the hook member 29 by'his thumb and lift hook member from its flush position in the side of sheath member 11. Ultimately, hook 29 is lifted to the position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1 for disposing the garment hanger construction upon a transverse clothes pole for supporting the trousers therefrom.

In order to form the blank 11' into member 11, the

margins

24, 26 are folded respectively about lines 19, 20 and toward each other to a position lying respectively flat against

jacket portions

27, 28. The

margins

24, 26 are secured in this position by means of suitable glue or other adhesive as shown at 31, 32 respectively. The

jacket portions

27, 28 are then folded about lines 21 so as to dispose the

margins

24, 26 in contiguous confronting relation and in that position, the margin portions 24', 26 are glued together so as to define the sheath opening 18 located between lines 21 and edges 22, 23 while it will be apparent that the planes of the

jacket portions

27, 28 are disposed in confronting spaced relation with respect to each other.

The extensible arm member 12 is formed from a blank 12 (FIG. 3) cut from a second sheet of corrugated cardboard formed in the shape of a T and having a relatively broad stern region 120. Blank 12 is folded about lines of weakness 33 formed by scoring or otherwise cutting short gashes in the corrugated cardboard and extending along the stem 12a. The folded stem, as thus arranged, includes a certain degree of resilience characteristic of relatively stiff corrugated cardboard having a double finish, i.e., finished on both sides thereof, whereby the two

stem portions

34, 36 folded about lines 33 tend to expand laterally of each other and thereby serve to hold arm member 12 in sheath opening 18 by contact with the confronting side faces of

jacket portions

27, 28.

in order to aid in the insertion of arm member 12 into sheath opening 18,

jacket portions

27, 28 extend rearwardly beyond the end edges of

margin portions

24, 26 so as to provide an entry gap 37 into which the upper edge of arm member 12 can be readily positioned and, upon upward movement of arm member 12, the

stem portions

34, 36 are forced together and aligned to enter sheath opening 18.

From the above, it will be readily apparent that arm member 12 slides readily into and out of sheath member 11 to various positions as desired. Means for locking the two members in a preselected position consist simply of the straight pin 38 formed with an enlarged head 39 of a type commonly found in pinning shirts up for retail sale.

The pin element 38 is simply forced downwardly through the pervious upper portions of the corrugated cardboard of which

members

11 and 12 have been made.

Openings

41, 42 in

members

11, 12 respectively are adapted to lie in a position below the upper edge 43 of waistband 17 and therefore to be positioned to lie directly behind the waistband 17 so as to form a socket to be gripped by the thumb and forefinger of each hand of a person gripping and extending the two members to a selected position. Thus, the

openings

41, 42 serve to form a depression into which the thumb and forefinger will readily seat when the waistband is being pulled taut.

In operation, from the foregoing, it will be readily evident that, when the garment hanger and form construction is to be inserted into the waistband of a pair of slacks, the edges 14 will be disposed to engage the

folds

44, 46 adjacent the front opening of a pair of trousers and the edges 13 will be disposed to engage the waistband 17 in the region of the seam 47. Then, upon grasping the

openings

41, 42 between the forefinger and thumb in each hand, the two members can be extended as desired. Upon ultimate extension of the two

members

11, 12, a straight pin element 38 is forced directly downwardly through the pervious corrugated cardboard material of both

members

11 and 12 so as to lock them in their extended position.

At this time, the hook element 29 lies flush with the side face of jacket portion 27. Thus, the trousers are properly formed at the waistband whereby they can be heat treated or otherwise treated to impart a permanent press. Also, it will be readily apparent that the hook element 29, not being extended or exposed, will lie safely protected behind the waistband of the garment whereby the garments can be shipped in stacks to a merchandiser who may desire to engage the protruding tab MA and lift the arcuate hook 29 out of its flush position and dispose the garment to be hung upon a transversely extending garment supporting pole or other type of support Accordingly, the construction serves the dual function of providing a basic form for permitting heat treatment or other treatment ofa garment while disposed therein and further permits the garment to be readily shipped and displayed later without damaging the hook element 29.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger construction comprising a sheet of folded pervious material having folded-under margins disposed in confronting attached relation forming a pervious sheath member having a sheath opening defined between confronting portions of said sheet, an extensible pervious member slidably disposed to move into and out of said sheath member, each of said members having an edge portion for engaging the waistband of a garment, the two two members being extensible to a selected position, and means for locking said members in said selected position, comprising an elongated common pin element stuck through said aligned pervious members to lock said members in said selected position.

2. A garment hanger construction according to claim 1 wherein one of said members carries a support hook folded alongside and into the plane thereof and adapted to be unfolded out of the plane of its associated member about an axis lying therein to a garment supporting position.

3. A garment hanger construction according to claim 2 wherein said hook is formed from, and folded to lie substantially flush with, a side of one member and includes a tab portion extending beyond the edge of said member to a position adapted to be engaged by a person's finger for moving said hook about said axis.

4. For forming a garment hanger construction, a first sheet of corrugated cardboard formed with first and second pairs of closely spaced lines of weakness extending along the length of said sheet spaced inwardly of the outer edges to form outer margin portions of the sheet, a third pair of closely spaced lines of weakness extending along the length of said sheet between said first and second pairs to define first and second jacket portions flanking said third pair of lines, an arcuate hook attached at the region of said third pair of lines and lying flush with one of said jacket portions, said margin portions being folded respectively about said first and second pairs of lines of weakness and toward each other to a position lying respectively against said first and second jacket portions, means securing said margin portions to their respective jacket portions, said jacket portions being folded about said third pair of lines to dispose said margin portions while spacing the planes of said jacket portions in confronting relation, means securing said margin portions to each other, an extensible arm disposed in said sheath opening between said jacket portions and movable selectively therein, a garment engaging edge portion carried by said arm and a garment engaging edge portion carried by said sheath, and an elongated common garment pin extending through both said arm and said sheath to selectively prevent relative movement therebetween.

5. For forming a garment hanger construction according to claim 4 wherein a second sheet of corrugated cardboard formed in the shape of a T having a relatively broad stem thereto forms said arm and first-named edge portion, said second sheet being folded about lines of weakness extending along said stem, said folded stem forming said arm inserted into said sheath opening, the folded parts of said stern having sufficient resilience wen folded to urge the folded parts apart so as to hold the arm in the sheath.

Claims

3. A garment hanger construction according to claim 2 wherein said hook is formed from, and folded to lie substantially flush with, a side of one member and includes a tab portion extending beyond the edge of said member to a position adapted to be engaged by a person''s finger for moving said hook about said axis.

5. For forming a garment hanger construction according to claim 4 wherein a second sheet of corrugated cardboard formed in the shape of a ''''T'''' having a relatively broad stem thereto forms said arm and first-named edge portion, said second sheet being folded about lines of weakness extending along said stem, said folded stem forming said arm inserted into said sheath opening, the folded parts of said stem having sufficient resilience wen folded to urge the folded parts apart so as to hold the arm in the sheath.