US3831826A

US3831826A - Garment hanger

Info

Publication number: US3831826A
Application number: US00279398A
Authority: US
Inventors: L Thomas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-06-08
Filing date: 1972-08-10
Publication date: 1974-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-27

Abstract

A garment hanger is disclosed which includes two oppositely directed hanger hooks. The hooks are biased in overlapping condition so that the hanger will not be pulled from the rod as an incident to removal of adjacent hangers and which cannot be jostled off of the rod on which it is placed. A biasing arrangement urges the hooks to overlapping relationship and a means is provided for overcoming that bias to move the hooks apart so that it can be installed on and removed from a rod by a vertical movement. In preferred form the hanger is made of wire which has sufficient resilience so that portions of the wire will yield to an operating force to permit opening of the hook and which will return the hooks to original overlapping condition when the force is removed. The hangers shown are the type that include a yoke that fits into the shoulders of a garment placed on the hanger and the hooks extend upwardly from the upper, inner ends of the yoke halves so that they will extend out of the neck of a garment hung on the hanger. An interlocking arrangement in that connection between yoke and hooks serves to lend rigidity to the hanger and to provide an easy means for operating the hooks while permitting the hooks to open by pivotal action.

Description

' United States Patent [191 Thomas [111 3,831,826 [451 Aug. 27, 1974 GARMENT HANGER [76] Inventor: Leonard L. Thomas, 375 N. West Cypress St., Orange, Calif. 92668 [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 279,398

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 263,727, June 8,

1972, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 223/88, 211/113, 211/119 [51] Int. Cl. A47j 51/098 [58] Field of Search 223/85, 88, 89, 92, 94;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,892,678 1/1933 McIntyre et a1. 24/237 2,046,654 7/1936 Rosen 223/88 2,877,940 3/1959 Pressler 223/88 3,008,614 11/1961 Ullery 223/88 3,494,517 2/1970 Hart 223/94 Primary Examiner--Ge0rge H. Krizmanich Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Grover A. Frater ABSTRACT A garment hanger is disclosed which includes two oppositely directed hanger hooks. The hooks are biased in overlapping condition so that the hanger will not be pulled from the rod as an incident to removal of adjacent hangers and which cannot be jostled off of the rod on which it is placed. A biasing arrangement urges the hooks to overlapping relationship and a means-is provided for overcoming that bias to move the hooks apart so that it can be installed on and removed from a rod by a vertical movement. In. preferred form the hanger is made of wire which has sufiicient resilience so that portions of the wire will yield to an operating force to permit opening of the hook and which will return the hooks to original overlapping condition when the force is removed. The hangers: shown are the type that include a yoke that fits into the shoulders of a garment placed on the hanger and the hooks extend upwardly from the upper, inner ends of the yoke halves so that they will extend out of the neck of a garment hung on the hanger. An interlocking arrangement in that connection between yoke and hooks serves to lend rigidity to the hanger and to provide an easy means for operating the hooks while permitting the hooks to open by pivotal action.

5 Claiirs, 14 Drawing Figures GARMENT HANGER This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 263,727 filed June 8, 1972, now abandoned.

This invention relates to improvements in garment hangers and it relates particularly to hangers of the kind that fit within the shoulders of the garment and are suspended by a hook portion that protrudes from the garment neck. 7

Most shoulder-type garment hangers are provided with means by which it may be hung from a bar or pole. That means commonly comprises a hook shaped approximately like a question mark. The hook being open at one side facilitates its being placed over and suspended from a holding rod by a generally lateral motion. That arrangement facilitates both the suspension on and the removal from the rod. However, unwanted removal is also facilitated by that design and the ease with which the garment hangers are jostled off of clothing racks in clothing transporters and drycleaning establishment conveyors and the like has been a serious problem. The commercial handler of garments also suffers the problem that friction between garments packed too closely on a rod results in inadvertent unhooking of adjacent hangers when one garment in a series is removed. That problem is rather universal and is one that plagues even the homeowner with a well-filled clothes closet.

A related problem, at least for the commercial garment handler, the manufacturer, the garment retailer and the garment cleaner, is the fact that the conventional hooked hanger is not reversible. In many circumstances the direction in which the hook opening faces is important and in those circumstances the fact that the hanger hook has a specific orientation is a disadvantage.

A number of attempts have been made to find solutions to these difficulties and while a number of solutions have been provided, those solutions have generally been excessively costly or are useful only in limited circumstances.

The invention provides a garment hanger that solves these various problems in substantial degree for the majority of hanger applications and it solves them at minimum cost. In this connection an object of the invention is to provide a hanger that can be produced at a cost comparable to the cost of hangers with conventional hooks, which is arranged so that it cannot be jostled or shaken off a rod, which is arranged so that it will not-be pulled off as an incident to removal of adjacent garments, and which is symmetrically arranged to eliminate the need for orientation.

In connection with the latter feature, the invention provides a hanger which is moved vertically to install it on and remove it from a rod rather than laterally as in the case of the conventional hook-type hanger. Two hooks are employed in the invention and the hooks are oppositely directed and overlapping. As a consequence, the hanger cannot be hung on a rod or removed from a rod by simple lateral movement of the hanger relative to the rod nor can it be removed by a rotational movement in the plane perpendicular to the rod. To permit attachment to a rod or removal from it, the hooks must be moved relatively so that they no longer overlap. In a preferred form of the invention, the hanger is arranged so that both hooks must be moved relative to the remainder of the hanger. The preferred embodiment is arranged so that that relative movement can be accomplished easily by force application at a number of points to the end that its attachment to and removal from a rod is accomplished as easily, and sometimes more easily, than the conventional hanger.

Hangers provided by the invention can be produced in a number of different forms. It is particularly adapted to production in wire form as a direct replacement for prior art wire hangers in the garment manufacturing and drycleaning industries. It is in these applications in which ease and handling and cost are most important. It is also adapted to the production of plastic hangers and to hangers made partly of metal and partly of plastic.

Three embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing. In two embodiments a wire hanger has been selected for illustration because of the importance of the wire form. The third embodiment is an all plastic hanger.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a wire garment hanger embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the upper portion of the hanger shown enlarged and with its two hooks in overlapping condition;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the portion of the hanger shown in FIG. 2 in the condition in which the two hooks have been moved out of overlapping condition;

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of an alternative form of garment hanger shown with its hooks in overlapping relation;

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of the garment hanger of FIG. 4 with its books moved out of overlapping relationship as a result of its actuating elements having been squeezed together;

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation of the same hanger with its hooks out of overlapping condition as a result of pressure applied to the yoke and crossbar regions of the hanger;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views in end elevation of the garment hangers of FIGS. 1 and 4, respectively;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views in front elevation of a plastic hanger with its hooks closed and opened, respectively;

FIG. 11 is a pictorial view of the upper, central portion of the hanger of FIGS. 9 and 10;

FIG. 12 is a view in front elevation of a fragment of a hanger having a modified yoke and crossbar;

FIG. 13 is a view in front elevation of the hanger of FIGS. 9, l0 and 11 in relaxed condition prior to assembly; and

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 14-14 of FIG. 13.

Both of the coat hangers shown in the drawings of FIGS. 1 through 8 are formed from a single length of wire. However, to facilitate description and understanding the various parts of the hanger are separately named and identified. Thus, the hanger 10 of FIG. 1 comprises a first hook 12 which opens to the right in the drawing and it comprises a second similar hook 14 which opens to the left. These two hooks lie in substantially parallel planes. Each hook continues from its end point upward slightly so that the book form is shaped and then extends around and down to a point substantially beneath the uppermost part of the hook where it continues on into what is here called a grip member. Hook 12 continues on into grip 16 and hook 14 continues as grip 18. The grips include an upper portion that is generally tangent to the hook at its lower side, then each is bent downwardly to form two opposing grip members that can be squeezed between the users thumb and forefinger. The grip is not essential but it is preferred and is included in the preferred embodiment. At the lower end, the two grip members continue into respectively associated halves of the hanger yoke. At this point the wire is bent hairpin fashion. The two hairpins are interlocked so that the bend of one is located between the legs of the other. For convenience these hairpins are considered to be the upper, inner part of the yoke portion of the hanger on which the garments shoulders rest. There are two yoke halves, numbered 18 and 20 in FIG. 1. Yoke half 18 is an extension of the wire from the grip member 16 and yoke half 20 is an extension of the wire end that forms hook 14 and grip 18. At their lower, outer ends the two yoke halves are bent downwardly through a bend approaching 180 where the two wire ends come together in the crossbar portion 22 of the hanger.

While the wire form is preferred, the invention can be produced of other materials and the various portions need not be formed integrally with one another. Accordingly, from a functional standpoint, the bend where the yoke half 18 merges into the crossbar 22 is called a connection point and is labeled 24 in FIG. 1. Similarly, connection 26 is that portion of the wire that connects the yoke half 20 to the crossbar 22. While in wire form the upper ends of the yoke halves are shaped substantially like hairpins, in other forms of the invention that part of the structure may not look like a hairpin. It is the fact that the members form slots, and that each is free to move in the slot of the other, which more generally describes the invention.

It will be apparent that the hanger will be operative if the slots are not the same size and, in fact, one slot can be reduced to the point of nonexistence while the other is increased. Thus, in one extreme design there is only one slot or hairpin. However, the form shown in which the two structures are arranged so that the slots are of equal length is the preferred form.

The hook grip means and slot arrangement is shown in enlarged form in FIGS. 2 and 3. Hook l2 begins at an end point 28 and then extends up slightly and is bent around in what in this embodiment is substantially circular form. At the lowest point the wire extends off at 30 in the direction of the hook opening in the beginning of the grip member. It then is turned downwardly at 32 in what in this embodiment is a substantially vertical section but which can have most any shape. The yoke member 18 at the lower right merges into the hairpin portion which is here called an initial section 34. This section extends in the direction opposite the direction of the opening of hook 12. At a point in the region below the highest point of the hook, the yoke member is bent up at 36 through an angle of approximately 180 into a continuing section of the hairpin 38 which merges into the grip member 32. Thus, the

sections

34 and 38 serve as the walls of a slot. Yoke half 20 extends toward that slot from the left. It continues through a section 40 which serves as the initial wall of a second slot or as the initial leg of a second hairpin which is bent at 42 through a slot formed by

wire sections

34 and 38. The wire is bent at 42 through an angle of substantially 180 to a section 44 which serves as the other wall of the second slot or as the second leg of the second hairpin. The two slots or two hairpins are substantially the same length and the one at the left urges into the grip section 46 which is bent into a horizontal section 48 which merges into the second hook 14. That book as best shown in FIG. 3 terminates at an end 50 such that the second hook 14 opens in the direction opposite the direction in which the hook 12 is open.

FIG. 2 shows those two hooks in a first position in which they are overlapping. Mounted on a pole that extends through both hooks, the hanger cannot be removed until those hooks are moved apart to a second position shown in FIG. 3 where they are no longer overlapping but are separated sufficiently to accommodate the hanger rod or other mounting element. In FIG. 3 the two

yoke halves

18 and 20 have been moved toward one another. The

grip members

32 and 46 are much closer to one another than they were in FIG. 2. The bend 42 of yoke half 20 has been moved to the right sufficiently so that it no longer is disposed within the slot formed by

wire portions

34 and 38. Similarly, the bend 36 has been moved to the left sufficiently so that it no longer lies between wire section 44 and the wire section 40 which is hidden from view in FIG. 3 by the wire section 34 which lies in front of it. This result can be accomplished by gripping or pinching the

grip members

32 and 46 together. A means is provided in the invention by which the hooks and the other structures are biased to the position shown in FIG. 1 such that upon release of the forces applied to grip

members

32 and 46, the hanger will return to the condition shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the right side in the drawing. The wire is bent so that the

wire sections

34 and 38 lie on opposite sides of the vertical center plane of the hanger. Similarly, the

wire sections

44 and 40 are bent so that they lie on opposite sides of the vertical center line. This feature is necessary to avoid interference as action is taken to separate the hooks from the first position to the second position. Except for that minor displacement, the whole of the hanger lies approximately in the same plane. However, it will be observed in FIG. 7 that the two hooks l2 and 14 lie substantially parallel and they merge into their respective hairpin portions without being crossed over. That is not true with the other embodiment. That embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8 has the two hairpin portions arranged so that one lies in the plane of the hanger and the other lies in the plane transverse to the plane of the hanger. Moreover, at a point above the

grip members

60 and 62, the hooks 64 and 66 are crossed over one another. This feature lends greater stability and rigidity to the finished product although it is not essential. In FIG. 4 the end 68 of the left hook lies in front of the end 70 of the right hook 64 just as in the case of the hanger illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 7. However, whereas that previously described hook had the lower end of its right hook in back of the lower end of the left hook, the embodiment of FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8 has the lower end of its right hook in front of the lower end of the left book.

The grip portion of these two embodiments are similar. In FIG. 4 the lower end of the hook 66 continues off at a tangent toward the direction to which that hook is open in a section 70 which forms the upper end of the left grip member. At the lower end, that grip member continues on into a section 72, called a continuing section, at the upper inner end of the left yoke half 74. Section 72 continues to a 180 bend 76 which continues into a lower slot section 78. The other finger grip 60 has an upper portion 80 which leads into a vertical portion 82 which connects to the continuing upper inner section of the right yoke half. That section is numbered 84. At its left end, it is bent in a 180 turn lying in a plane perpendicular to the viewer in the drawing and what is called the initial part of the slot or hairpin is hidden from view behind section 84. It continues on into the right yoke half 86. Yoke half 86 is connected at 88 to the lower crossbar 90.

Some means is provided in the hanger for biasing the structure so that the hooks have the initial interlocking relationship shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. A resilient bias is preferred and that bias can be built into the hanger by forming it of resilient materials. In the embodiment shown the wire is sufficiently hard and has a spring quality sufficient so that the wire will have the form shown in FIGS. 1 or 2 when relaxed. The wire will return to that shape notwithstanding that it has been bent sufficiently to move the hooks to the non-overlapping second position shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. In both of these embodiments the needed resilience occurs in the yoke halves and in the cross member and in the connection portions of the wire between the crossbar and the yoke halves. In other embodiments only one of these several resilient points need be provided. However, in the preferred embodiment all three are resilient whereby the hooks can be opened to the nonoverlapping position by a force applied in any of a number of ways to the hanger. The grip members are specifically provided so that they can be squeezed together to open the hook. If the hanger wire is uniform in its composition throughout its length, then the cross member having the longest length and providing the least resistance to bending will bend as shown in FIG. 5. The hanger of FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 5 but the distortion there seen is equally applicable to the hanger of FIG. 1. However, it is not necessary that the force be applied by squeezing together the grip members. The hooks can be forced apart by squeezing the yoke toward the cross member as illustrated in F IG. 6. That can be done either by causing flexure at the connection or by bending the two yoke halves. In the condition shown in FIG. 6, both the connection point 88 and the yoke half 86 have flexed as the yoke is drawn closer to the cross member 90.

It is important that the pivoting action occur at a point removed a substantial distance from the hooks and that it is a pivoting action that separates the hooks. That arrangement provides a large ratio of hook movement to flexure movement in the yoke halves, or in the crossbar or in the connections between yoke halves and crossbar. The yokes are interconnected at their inner upper ends to limit hook movement and to lend stability and rigidity but the interconnection does not prevent the pivoting action on a long lever arm.

Attention is invited to FIGS. 2 and 3. It will be apparent that the

bends

42 and 36 could have been made in the opposite direction so that in FIG. 2 the wire portion 34 would lie above wire portion 38 and so that wire portion 40 would lie above wire portion 44. That kind of construction has an advantage in certain circumstances because the effect of that arrangement is to place the

grip members

32 and 46 in position to limit the length of the slot in which those bends 36 and 4 may travel. That arrangement is entirely satisfactory for most applications. However, doing that would foreclose the

bend

36 and 42 from moving entirely out of the slot in which they are disposed in FIG. 2. This condition is illustrated in FIG. 3 where bend 36 extends to the left substantially beyond the end of wire section 44 and where bend 42 extends substantially to the right of the end of wire section 38. The long pivot radius and the absence of a limitation on the degree in which those wire bends can move means that: the requisite degree of relative movement of the hook need not be accomplished by movement of both hooks but can, in fact, be accomplished entirely by movement of one hook. This means that the hanger can be operated by gripping the crossbar and only one yoke half. This mode of handling insures that the hanger can be attached to and removed from a rod with one hand without need to position the hand on the grip members. The grip members are included in the preferred embodiment for several reasons including the reason that their inclusion makes it possible to grasp a number of hangers in one hand and by thumb and squeezing motion open all of them for simultaneous attachment to, or removal from, a rod.

The two embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8 are arranged so that both of their yokes terminate in hairpins at their upper inner end. The hairpins are interlocked so that the U-turn of each is free to move through the slot defined by the legs of the other when it is desired to separate the hanger hooks. In an alternative construction, only one yoke half is provided with such a hairpin. The upper inner end of the other yoke is provided with a fastening element, such for example as a pin, which simply extends laterally through the hairpin of the other and is formed so that it is retained in that hairpin. This arrangement is shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 9 through 14 although it is shown in a form that is somewhat different in that the hanger is made of plastic and in that an elongated slot has been substituted for the hairpin shape which was selected for illustration in the wire hangers.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the hanger there shown comprises two hooks. The one toward the viewer in the drawings opens at the viewers left and is numbered The hook behind opens to the viewers right and is numbered 102. Both of them are formed as segments of a circle and extend for slightly more than half of the circumference of that circle so that their upper ends overlap. For identification, the upper end of hook 100 is designated 104 and the upper end of hook 102 is designated 106. At their lower ends both hooks continue substantially tangentially for the short distance and are then turned downwardly into a vertical section 106 in the case of

hook

100 and 108, in the case of hook 102, to form a pair of grips which the user squeezes together to open the

hooks

100 and 102. At its lower end the grip member 106 is integrally formed with the upper inner end 110 of a left yoke half 112. The lower end of grip member 108 is integrally formed with the upper inner end 114 of the right yoke half 116. At their lower ends the yoke halves 116 and 112 are joined by a cross member 118.

The hanger has the shape shown in FIG. 13 when it is relaxed. It will be apparent, since none of its sections are overlapping except for a slight enlargement to form a head on the pin 120, that the hanger can be molded in one piece. In FIG. 13 the cross member 118 is bowed upwardly in relaxed condition. In the assembled condition of the hanger shown in FIGS. 9 and 11), that cross member is forced to a substantially straight configuration. That creates a bias that has the direction to urge the hooks apart as they are shown in FIG. 13 opposite the kind of separation that must be accomplished to force the hooks open as shown in FIG. to enable them to pass over a hanger bar.

There is another bias provided in the construction which tends to provide the same result and to keep the pin 120 at the right end, in the Figures, of the slot 122. Comparison of FIGS. 9 and 13 will show that the angle formed by the cross member 118 and each of the

yokes

112 and 116 is more acute in FIG. 9 than it is in FIG. 14. A hinge is provided at the junction between the cross member 118 and each of the two

yokes

112 and 116. In this embodiment that hinge is formed by reducing the thickness of the yoke and cross arms at their juncture. This region is designated 130 at the juncture of yoke 112 and cross arm 118 and it is designated 132 at the junction of the cross member and the other yoke. This hinge is self biased toward the open position shown in FIG. 13 and it is closed somewhat against that bias in FIGS. 9 and 10. Inthis embodiment the construction is such that the hanger is more easily flexed at those hinged portions than at any point along the yoke and at any point along the cross member 118 after the latter has been flexed to its substantially straight shape so that when it is desired to open the

hooks

100 and 102, this is accomplished by squeezing together cross member 118 and one or both of the yoke members to accomplish a hinge action in the

hinge regions

130 and 132. The change in shape represented by the difference between FIGS. 9 and 10 can be accomplished by pinching the

grip members

106 and 108 together or by directly squeezing one or both of the yokes toward the cross member.

In this embodiment the pin 120 is formed integrally with the main body of the hanger and a button head 140 is formed on the end of that pin. Plastic molding technology permits forming such a head with little difficulty. As a result it is possible to mold the entire hanger in one piece. To facilitate assembly and to permit use of a larger head, this embodiment has its slot enlarged at its left end as shown at 150. It is enlarged to a dimension only slightly smaller than the diameter of the head 140 so that the head can be forced through it with ease. A number of plastic materials, including polypropylene, have physical qualities permitting such a construction.

The yoke halves 112 and 116 are specially shaped. Their upper walls are notched to provide cutouts 152 to accommodate shoulder straps. This upper region of the yoke halves is advantageously rather rigid so a web 154 has been left between the heavier upper and lower walls so that in this area a cross-sectional view would reveal an I-beam shape. The web is omitted in the lower regions of the yoke so that relative movement between the upper and lower walls is possible. In particular, the separation between them can change. The separation does change when pressure is applied to separate the hanger hooks. Thus, in this embodiment, the motion that permits pin 120 to move in slot 122 occurs at crossbar 118, hinges 130 and 132 and between the walls of the yoke. This freedom of movement insures that any tendency of the pin to bind in the slot is minimized and, when freedom of movement is provided at all of these points, is virtually eliminated.

In FIG. 14, the hook is shown to be only half as wide as the yoke and crossbar portion of the hanger so that the complete assembly with its two hooks has uniform thickness over all. That is not essential. It may be desirable to increase the width in the yoke or crossbar areas to minimize creasing of garments. On the other hand, if cost reduction through material saving is important, the width of the yoke or crossbar or both could be reduced.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 the crossbar member 142 is sufficiently heavy so that it is relatively stiff and would ordinarily be formed straight without the bend that cross member is shown to have in FIG. 13. In such a hanger, the yoke portion 144 would be made so that it flexes more easily. However, to avoid undue distortion in the shape of the yoke this modification also includes the hinge feature 146 which is accomplished by reducing the wall thickness of the yoke and cross member at the junction. Ease of bending is only part of the reason for providing for flexure at more than one point and over a substantial portion of a bending members length. Proper and convenient operation of the hanger requires that its hooks be biased to overlapping condition. The bias can be lost if the yield point of the plastic is exceeded at the place where it bends or if bending is so localized that the material might become fatigued. To foreclose that from happening the hinges are arranged so that their spring rate increases greatly, after a small degree of flexure, to a value above the spring rate in a member that bends over a substantial length. In FIG. 12 that member is yoke 144. In the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 9 there are two such members. They are the cross member and the yoke.

Another requirement is that neither the crossbar or the yoke changes its shape excessively during flexure to open the hooks. The wire hangers present little difficulty in this respect. It is not a major problem in the plastic forms except that a noticeable change in shape on bending to open the hooks might be interpreted as a lack of quality. The preferred form is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The upper wall 116A and lower wall 116B are separated at the outer end of the yoke and are not connected by the web 154. Upon being bent to separate the hooks, wall 1168 is placed in tension and lower wall 1168 is compressed. The lower wall bends more and it moves closer to wall 116. The major distortion appears in the lower wall where it is less noticeable.

Although I have shown and described certain specific embodiments of my invention, I am fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible. My invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantially parallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted for relative movement in the direction of said planes between the first relative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relative position in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, and means for urging said hooks to said first position; and

means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between said first and second relative position comprising the combination of a slot in the form of an elongated hole fonned in a member fixed to one hook and a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook and extending through said slot whereby the degree of relative hook movement is limited by the degree in which the fastening element is moveable in the slot.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 which further comprises:

a yoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of two yoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated ones of said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooks extend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; and

a crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends of respectively associated ones of said crossbar;

said slot being formed in the inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening element being carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 in which said hanger has its crossbar and yoke integrally formed, the yoke in the region of its connection to the crossbar being formed with separate upper and lower walls one of which is placed in tension, and the other of which is placed in compression as an incident to bending of the hanger to separate its hooks.

4. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantially parallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted for relative movement in the direction of said planes between the first relative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relative position in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, and means for urging said hooks to said first position; and

means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between said first and second relative position comprising the combination of a slot formed in a member fixed to one book and a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook and extending through said slot; and a yoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of two yoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated ones of said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooks extend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; and a crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends of respectively associated ones of said crossbar; said slot being formed in the inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening element being carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves; and said hanger having its yoke and crossbar integrally formed of plastic, the crossbar having intermal bias to urge it to bowed shape, bowed upwardly in its central region toward the inner ends of said yoke halves. 5. The invention defined in claim 4 in which the connections between the yoke halves and crossbar have the form of resilient hinges.

* =l =l =l-

Claims

1. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantially parallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted for relative movement in the direction of said planes between the first relative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relative position in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, and means for urging said hooks to said first position; and means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between said first and second relative position comprising the combination of a slot in the form of an elongated hole formed in a member fixed to one hook and a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook and extending through said slot whereby the degree of relative hook movement is limited by the degree in which the fastening element is moveable in the slot.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 which further comprises: a yoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of two yoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated ones of said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooks extend upwardly from the neck portion of a garment hung on the yoke; and a crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends of respectively associated ones of said crossbar; said slot being formed in the inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening element being carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves.

4. A garment hanger comprising a pair of hooks lying in substantially parallel planes and opening in opposite directions and mounted for relative movement in the direction of said planes between the first relative position in which the hook ends overlap and a second relative position in which the hooks are spaced apart facing one another, and means for urging said hooks to said first position; and means for limiting relative movement of said hook ends between said first and second relative position comprising the combination of a slot formed in a member fixed to one hook and a fastening element carried by a member fixed to the other hook and extending through said slot; and a yoke shaped to fit within the shoulders of a garment and formed of two yoke halves, said hooks being connected to respectively associated ones of said yoke halves and extending upwardly therefrom whereby the hooks extend upwardly from the neck poRtion of a garment hung on the yoke; and a crossbar the outer ends of which are connected to the outer ends of respectively associated ones of said crossbar; said slot being formed in the inner end of one of said yoke halves and said fastening element being carried by the inner end of the other of said yoke halves; and said hanger having its yoke and crossbar integrally formed of plastic, the crossbar having intermal bias to urge it to bowed shape, bowed upwardly in its central region toward the inner ends of said yoke halves.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 in which the connections between the yoke halves and crossbar have the form of resilient hinges.