US3722703A

US3722703A - Silent butler

Info

Publication number: US3722703A
Application number: US00138953A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Domin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-04-30
Filing date: 1971-04-30
Publication date: 1973-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 1990-03-27

Abstract

A base is provided with a first pair of uprights the upper free end portions of which are connected by a garment hanger which forms with the uprights a first frame. A pair of arms is pivoted to the base and at least one connecting element pivotally links the arms to form therewith a parallelogram linkage. At least one second pair of uprights is mounted on the connecting element and has free end portions which are again connected by a second garment hanger forming with them a second frame which is so dimensioned that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of the first frame.

Description

United States Patent [11] 3,722,703 1 Mar. 27, 1973 Domin [54] SILENT BUTLER [76] Inventor: Heinz Domin, Marienburgerstr. 64,

Espelkamp-Mattwald, Germany [22] Filed: Apr. 30, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 138,953

[52] U.S. Cl. ..211/178 R [51] Int. Cl. ..A47f 5/10 [58] Field ofSearch....211/178 R, 38, 85,1,13, 104, 211/170, 171,100,99, 149

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 69,349 10/1867 King et a1 ..l ..211/178 R 94,567 9/1869 Collins ..211/178 R 1,078,248 11/1913 Buchner.. ..211/149 3,189,380 6/1965 Reguitti ..211/178 R Primary Examiner-Ramon S. Britts Attorney-Michael S. Striker ABSTRACT A base is provided with a first pair of uprights the upper free end portions of which are connected by a garment hanger which forms with the uprights a first frame. A pair of arms is pivoted to the base and at least one connecting element pivotally links the arms to form therewith a parallelogram linkage. At least one second pair of uprights is mounted on the connecting element and has free end portions which are again connected by a second garment hanger forming with them a second frame which is sodimensioned that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of the firstframe.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SILENT BUTLER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a household aid, and more particularly to a silent butler.

Silent butlers are known in a variety of different types. Generally speaking they are provided on a support with an upright bar from which a pair of trousers may be hung, and with a garment hanger on which a when the butler is folded together, each successive frame can be tilted into and accommodated in the conjacket or similar garment may be hung. The bar for the trousers is usually vertically oriented and laterally spaced from the vertical plane in which the garment hanger is located, by a distance of approximately 20 to 30 cm so that the two will not interfere with one another. The base of the silent butler must of course have a corresponding dimension so that the two componentsthat is the bar and the garment hangercan be mounted on it.

The trouble with these silent butlers is that when they are not in use they continue to require the same amount of space as when they are in use, and in many instances this is undesirable because space, especially in modern living quarters, is frequently at a premium.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior-art silent butlers.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved silent butler which is not possessed of such advantages.

Still more particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide such an improved silent butler which when not in use can be collapsed or folded to require extremely little space, and which even when erected or folded apart requires a comparatively small floor space but will nevertheless stand securely.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such an improved silent butler which affords support for additional articles or items besides trousers and a jacket, as do the conventional silent butlers known from the art.

In pursuance of the above objects, and of others which will become apparent hereafter, my silent butler in one embodiment comprises, briefly stated, a base and a first pair of uprights on this base. The uprights have upper free end portions and a garment hanger is provided on these upper free end portions connecting the same and forming with the first pair of uprights a first frame A pair of arms are pivoted to the base and at least one connecting element pivotally links the arms and forms therewith a parallelogram linkage. At least one second pair of uprights is mounted on the connecting element and has free end portions on which there is provided a second garment hanger which forms with the second pair of uprights a second frame so dimensioned that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of the first frame.

According to a further embodiment of the invention several of the connecting elements may be provided all of them pivotally linked with both of the arms, and each of these connecting elements may carry a pair of uprights provided at their upper free ends with additional respective garment hangers, and these additional garment hangers each forming with the associated uprights a further frame which is so dimensioned that fines of the preceding frame, with the term preceding here referring to the close proximity to the first-mentioned frame which of course does not pivot with respect to the base.

The frames all diverge in upward direction away from the base, and the base itself is preferably of angleshaped configuration having one leg on which the silent butler is supported when it is folded apart ready for use, whereas the other leg has an adequate size to support the silent butler when it is folded together. Suitable detent arrangements may be provided which arrest the silent butler in folded condition and in unfolded condition.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front view of a silent butler according to the present invention, showing the unit in foldedtogether or collapsed state;

FIG. 2 is aside view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the unit in folded-apart condition, ready for use;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a portion of the butler in folded-together condition; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the portion illustrated in FIG. 4, in folded-apart condition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing the drawing now in detail it will be seen that in FIGS. 1-5 I have illustrated one embodiment of my novel butler. It is provided, as the drawing shows, with an angle-shaped base or base plate 2 from which there project upwardly two uprights l which are connected with a garment hanger 11 and define therewith a frame. The ends of the uprights 1 are received in supports 3' and 3". Approximately centrally of the garment hanger 1 the latter is provided with a dish or similar receptacle 20 in the middle of which there is secured a bent rod 21 to whose ends a non-illustrated trouser-type hanger may be secured.

The supports 3' and 3" are pivoted by means of pivot pins 13 and 14 with two

arms

4 and 5 which are of identical length and extend in parallelism with one another. There are further provided connecting elements 6a 6a", 6b, 6b", 6c, 6c", 6d, 6d", 6e and 6e". These connecting elements are all pivoted to the

arms

4 and 5 and thus connect the arms together to constitute a parallelogram linkage. In the plane of the thus-obtained parallelogram linkage the width of the supports 3 and the connecting elements 6 is twice the width of the

arms

4 and 5. The pivot pins 13 and 14, as well as pivot pins 15 and 16, secure the connecting elements 6a, etc., to the

arms

4 and 5, are laterally offset by the width of the arms as shown in FIG. 5, in order to assure that when the device is folded together (see FIGS. 1 and 4) the outer surfaces of the uprights 1, the connecting elemetns 6a, etc., and of the arms 4 and will be located or at least substantially located in a common plane.

The base plate 2 is of angular configuration as already pointed out; one leg 2b thereof is connected to the lower one of the two arms, namely the arm 5,

whereas the other leg 2a extends at a right angle to the leg 2b and is connected with the latter by a substantially triangular section 12. In the plane of the garment hanger 11 the plate 2 has a length which is almost the equal of the length of the garment hanger 1 1 itself. The width of the leg 2a is sufficiently large to provide an adequate support for the silent butler when the latter is collapsed or folded together to assume the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Feet

17 and 18 are-provided on the leg 20 and another foot 19 is provided on the arm 5, as is clearly evident from FIGS. 2 and 5.

The connecting elements 6a, etc., are provided with openings 8 in which the endportions of brackets or

additional garment hangers

7a, 7b, 7c, 7d and 7e are received. These brackets are each so configurated that they have two upright lateral portions and a transverse portion connecting the upper free ends of the lateral portions, approximately in the shape of an inverted U. They thus combine garment hanger and uprights in one. The frame 70, because this is what these brackets constitute, namely additional frames 7a-7e, has a configuration which is so selected that it can fit into the confines of the opening surrounded by the frame constituted by the uprights 1 and the garment hanger 11. The next-following frame 7b is slightly smaller so that it will fit into the space surrounded by the frame 7a, and so on to the frame 7e which additionally may be provided. with a transverse bar 22 on which a user may rest his foot while tying or polishing his shoes.

A lever 9 is secured to one end portion of the upper arm 4upper refers to the positioning of the arm 4 above the arm 5-and an abutment 9b of the lever 9 may move into engagement with the underside of the leg 2a of the base plate 2, whereby the

arms

4 and 5 are maintained in the folded-apart position with respect to the plate 2 and the uprights 1, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. When the butler is to be folded together, the lever 9 is raised to disengage the abutment 9b and the

arms

4 and 5 can then be lifted up with respect to the base 2 and the uprights 1, whereby the arms and the frames 7a-7e will all become folded into the confines of the frame definedby the uprights 1 and the garment hanger 1 1, as for instance shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. At the end of the arm 4 opposite the lever 9 there is provided an additional lever l0which has an abutment capable of latching engagement with the arm 5, as shown in FIG. 4, when the unit is folded together, to thereby prevent the unit from becoming unfolded accidentally.

It will be appreciated that modifications are possible from the exemplary embodiment illustrated herein. Thus, the upper transverse portions of the brackets or frames 7a-7e could be configurated as separate garment hangers suitably secured to the upright legs of the frames 7a-7e, instead of making them of one piece with these legs as has been illustrated.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a silent butler, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, theforegoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is:

1. A silent butler, comprising an angle-shaped base member having a first and a second leg; a first pair of uprights on said base member and having upper free end portions, and a garment hanger portion on said upper free end portions connecting the same and forming with said first pair of uprights a first frame; a pair of vertically superimposed arms pivoted to said base member and at least one connecting element pivotally linking said arms and forming therewith a parallelogram linkage; and at least a second pair of uprights mounted on said connecting element and having free end portions, and a second garment hanger portion connecting said free end portions and forming with said second pair of uprights a second frame so dimensioned that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of said first frame, said first leg of said base member being connected with the lower of said arms and serving together with the same as a support for said butler when said second frame is tilted out of the confines of said frame, and said second leg being dimensioned for supporting said butler when said second frame is tilted into the confines of said first frame.

2. A silent butler as defined in claim 1; further comprising additional connecting elements pivotally linking said arms, all of said connecting elements being spaced from one another longitudinally of said arms; and a plurality of additional pairs of uprights carried by the respective additional connecting elements and forming respective frames each of which is dimensioned so that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of a preceding frame. v

3. A silent butler as defined in claim 1, wherein said frame each diverge in direction away from said base.

4. A silent butler as defined in claim l,.eachof said connecting elements comprising two sections located at and pivotally connected to opposite sides of the respective arms; said upper free end portions of said first pair of uprights and said free end portions of said second pair of uprights each having openings adapted to receive portions of the respective garment hangers.

5. A silent butler as defined in claim I; further comprising latch means on one of said arms and operative for effecting latching of said arms against tilting of said second frame into said first frame in automatic response to tilting of said second frame out of said first frame.

6. A silent butler as defined in claim 5; further comprising a lever operable for releasing said latch means preparatory to tilting said second frame into said first frame.

comprising mounting means for mounting a trouser holder.

9. A silent butler as defined in claim 8, said mounting means being provided on said first garment hanger.

Claims

2. A silent butler as defined in claim 1; further comprising additional connecting elements pivotally linking said arms, all of said connecting elements being spaced from one another longitudinally of said arms; and a plurality of additional pairs of uprights carried by the respective additional connecting elements and forming respective frames each of which is dimensioned so that it can be tilted into and out of the confines of a preceding frame.

4. A silent butler as defined in claim 1, each of said connecting elements comprising two sections located at and pivotally connected to opposite sides of the respective arms; said upper free end portions of said first pair of uprights and said free end portions of said second pair of uprights each having openings adapted to receive portions of the respective garment hangers.

5. A silent butler as defined in claim 1; further comprising latch means on one of said arms and operative for effecting latching of said arms against tilting of said second frame into said first frame in automatic response to tilting of said second frame out of said first frame.

7. A silent butler as defined in claim 1; further comprising arresting means on one of said arms and operative, on tilting of said second frame into said first frame, for preventing undesired tilting of said second frame out of said first frame.

8. A silent butler as defined in claim 1; and further comprising mounting means for mounting a trouser holder.