WO2008006161A1

WO2008006161A1 - Adjustable clothes hanger

Info

Publication number: WO2008006161A1
Application number: PCT/AU2007/000965
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter James Munro
Original assignee: Superior Alternative Innovations Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2006-07-12
Filing date: 2007-07-11
Publication date: 2008-01-17
Also published as: EP2077741A4; BRPI0713201A2; CN101495017A; US20100038388A1; EP2077741A1

Abstract

An adjustable clothing hanger including a pair of side members (104, 106) selectively adjustable relative to a hanger body (102) and in moveable relationship with upper and lower cross bars (108, 110). The hanger may also include a lockably rotatable hook (100).

Description

ADJUSTABLE CLOTHES HANGER

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in an adjustable clothes hanger.

Summary

The present invention in one preferred aspect provides for an adjustable clothes hanger, including a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a first side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said first shoulder portion; a second side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said second shoulder portion; an upper cross bar connecting said first and second side members; and a lower cross bar connecting said first and second side members, said upper and lower cross bars each including at least two portions adapted for telescopic movement with one another, said portions of said upper cross bar being asymmetrically positioned relative to said portions of said lower cross bar when the hanger is in a non-expanded position.

In another preferred aspect, the present invention provides for an adjustable clothes hanger, including a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a first side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said first shoulder portion and a lower arm at an angle relative to said upper arm; a second side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said second shoulder portion and a lower arm at an angle relative to said upper arm of said second side member, said lower arms of said first and second side members being of different lengths and adapted for telescopic movement with one another, one of said upper arms having a length greater than the length of one of said lower arms.

In yet another preferred aspect, the present invention provides for a clothes hanger, including a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a hook rotatively attached to said body; and a locking mechanism for selectively locking the rotative position of said hook relative to said body. In another preferred aspect, the present invention provides a method for selecting a radial position of a hook of a clothes hanger relative to a body of the hanger, the method including axially moving the hook relative to the body in a first direction; moving the hook in a second direction to engage the hook with a portion of the body to prevent the hook from rotating about its axis.

Brief Description of the Figures

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of an adjustable clothes hanger in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of the hanger of Fig. 1 in an expanded position.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of the hanger of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3A is an enlarged partial cross sectional view of an adjustment mechanism of the hanger of Fig. 1 taken along line A — A of Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial cross sectional side view of a hook of the hanger of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the hook of Fig. 4 engaged with the hanger body.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged partial cross sectional side view of the hook of Fig. 4 in a disengaged and rotatable position.

Fig. 7 is an upper perspective view of an adjustable clothes hanger in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the clothes hanger of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is an upper perspective view of the clothes hanger of Fig. 7 in an expanded position.

Fig. 10 is a partial cross sectional front view of an adjustable clothes hanger in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

Alternative embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the claims which follow. Wherever possible, like numbers will refer to like parts. Figs. 1 to 6 show a preferred embodiment of an adjustable clothes hanger 10 having a hook 100, body 102, first and second side members 104, 106, upper and lower cross bars 108, 110, and first and second shoulder boards 112, 114. In general use, first and second side members 104, 106 are selectively adjustable relative to body 102. As first and second side members 104, 106 are adjusted, portions of upper and lower cross bars 108, 110 move relative to the side members. The preferred elements of and their interrelationship are described below.

As shown in Fig. 3, body 102 includes first and second shoulder portions 116, 118, preferably in a diverging relationship relative to one another and braced by a headstock 120. As shown in Fig. 4, shoulder portions 116, 118 meet to form an apex 122 having a bore or recess 124 adapted to receive a portion of hook 100. Recess 124 preferably includes eight circumferential detentes 125 (Fig. 5) for engagement with hook 100 (described further below).

Body 100 is preferably of round tubular material having tubular spigots 126, 127 pressed into shoulder portions 116, 118, respectively. Spigot ends 126, 127 may be formed by moulding or die forming or may be fabricated by insertion of a tubular or round bar spigot into free ends of the divergent shoulder portions formed of tubular material. Alternatively, body 100 may be tubular with open ends to receive complementary spigot ends of the side members. It will be appreciated that the ends of shoulder portions 116, 118 may be formed with a reduced diameter instead of pressing a tubular spigot therein. Body 102 may be formed of solid or tubular material such as metal or plastic.

As shown in Fig. 3, first and second side members 104, 106 are preferably adapted for telescopic engagement with spigots 126, 127. The structure of second side member 106 is similar to that of first side member 104, so unless otherwise noted, the description of first side member 104 will be understood to apply to second side member 106 as appropriate. First side member 104 preferably includes an upper arm 128. Upper arm 128 preferably includes an end 134 having a recess 136 (Fig. 3A) configured to receive at least a portion of spigot 126, and a plurality of apertures or openings 138 configured for engagement with a portion of a selective securing means 140 (described further below). Upper arm 128 may further include a hook, such as skirt hanging loop hook 142 or other securing means adapted to hold a portion of clothes to the hanger.

Referring to Fig. 3A, selective securing means 140 is preferably a spring lock device including a button 144 and spring 146. In use, spring 146 urges button 144 through an opening in the spigot and into one of openings 138 in upper arm 128. Button 144 may selectively engage one of openings 138 to locate the tubular spigots relative to the respective tubular side members. Selective securing means 140 is preferably located in a portion of the spigot. It will be appreciated that selective securing means 140 may alternatively be located in a portion of the side member. Mechanisms other than a spring lock may be used to selectively adjust the side member relative to the body as desired. A depth stop may be included to limit travel of the side members relative to the hanger body. For example, a change in diameter of either the side members proximate end 134 of upper arm 128 and/or proximate the end of spigot area 126 may be sized for a friction fit and act to stop the side members from completely disengaging from the hanger body.

With reference to Fig. 3, upper cross bar 108 and lower cross bar 110 each preferably includes at least two portions, more preferably three portions adapted for telescopic movement with one another. In particular, upper cross bar 108 and lower crossbar 110 are each preferably formed as an asymmetric telescoping arrangement. Upper crossbar 108 preferably includes a relatively long upper tubular receiver 130 on second side member 106 and adapted to receive an upper rod 156 secured into a socket 131 formed on first side member 104. Conversely lower crossbar 110 preferably includes a relatively long lower tubular receiver 132 on first side member 104 and adapted to receive a lower rod 158 secured into a socket 133 formed on second side member 106. Preferably, socket 131 and tubular receiver 132 are connected by a generally U-shaped bend 148. Tubular receiver 130 and socket portion 133 are preferably connected to one another by a generally U-shaped bend 150. It will be appreciated that the tubular receivers and socket portions of the cross bars may be attached to the appropriate side member or integral with the appropriate side member. It will further be appreciated that the upper and lower cross bars may be configured in other manners. For example, one or more of the tubular receivers and sockets may be configured to fit within the respective rods. Upper rod 156 may be fixedly attached or moveably engaged with socket 131. Likewise, lower rod 158 may be fixedly attached or moveably engaged with socket 133.

Upper cross bar 108 and lower cross bar 110 are preferably asymmetrically arranged relative to one another so that the end of each of tubular receivers 130 and 132 are not in the same vertical plane in both the unexpanded position (Fig. 1) and the expanded position (Figs. 2 and 3).

The opposed asymmetries of upper cross bar 108 and lower crossbar 110 provides enhanced stability. Upper and lower cross bars 108, 110 are preferably oriented parallel to one another and at an acute angle relative to each of the upper arms of the side members. Preferably one of the portions of one of the cross bars extend from one of the side members through a central vertical plane (CVP) separating first and second side members 104, 106. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, tubular receivers 130 and 132 each have a length extending from a respective side member and passing through the central vertical plane dividing the hanger into left and right portions generally along the axis of hook recess 124. One or both of the rods are preferably arranged so that when the hanger is moved from a contracted or non-expanded position to an expanded position (see, e.g., Figs. 1 and 2), the respective rod is exposed only on one side of the central vertical plane. Such a configuration contributes to the over-all stability of the hanger in an expanded configuration.

Preferably one of each of the upper and lower crossbar portions attached to each of the side members is tubular and the other is a spigot so that the side members are telescopically interengageable. The use of an asymmetrically disposed spigot and socket arrangement for the telescopic cross bar portions enables a greater scope for expansion.

As shown in Fig. 3, upper cross bar 108 may include ancillary clothing suspension means such as one or more hanger clips 152, skirt hooks, or the like for holding onto an article of clothing. The hanger may be provided with other components. For example the shoulder portions and/or side members may be provided with shoulder boards or the like, such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Shoulder boards 112, 114 are preferably moulded of relatively hard plastic and have an integral stiffening spine (shown in Fig. 8). The shoulder boards may be fixed or may be removable. Removable shoulder boards may be secured by press studs, hook pile fastening or other suitable means. The shoulder boards may be selectively secured to both the side member and shoulder portion and may thereby form the securing means providing the plurality of combined lengths.

Figs. 4 to 6 show a hook in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The rotatable closet hook 100 is preferably of tubular form and is mounted for rotation relative to apex 122. As shown in Fig. 4, hook 100 preferably includes a substantially hollow shaft 160 having a free end 162 with an end plug 164 and an engagement end 166 adapted for engagement with the hanger body. Hook 100 further preferably includes a locking mechanism 168 that includes a spring loaded key 170 transversely mounted in hook 100 proximate engagement end 166 and urged by a spring 172 into engagement with a selected one of detentes 125 to locate hook 100 rotationally relative to apex 122 of hanger body 102. Preferably, a limit stop 174 is pressed into engagement end 166 of hook 100 to retain the hook to the apex portion of body 102.

Pushing hook 100 downward through recess 124 enables key 170 to pass out of detente 125 and spring outward, as illustrated in Fig. 6. In this configuration hook 100 is free to rotate in apex portion 122 with key 170 bearing on the underside thereof.

Having described the preferred components of the clothes hanger, a preferred method of use will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. To expand hanger 10 from an unexpanded position to an expanded position, the user may depress button 144 (Fig. 3A) on the side members to disengage selective securing means 140 and move side members 104, 106 down and away from hanger body 102, thus moving hanger 10 from an unexpanded position (Fig. 1) to an expanded position (Fig. 2). While side members 104, 106 are being moved away from hanger body 102, the ends of upper rod 156 and lower rod 158 siideably travel within the tubular receivers of side members 104, 106 to accommodate the increasing lateral expansion. The user keeps expanding the hanger until the desired size is achieved, at which point the user simply permits the selective securing means to re-engage one of openings 138. To reduce the size of the hanger, the user disengages the selective securing means and moves the side members towards hanger body 102 until the desired position is achieved, at which point the selective securing means is re-engaged with one of openings 138.

To operate the lockable rotatable hook, a user may select a radial position of hook 100 relative to body 102 by axially moving hook 100 relative to body 102 in a first direction, for example, pressing hook 100 towards body 102. Next, the user may move hook 100 in a second direction to engage hook 100 with a portion of body 102 to prevent hook 100 from rotating about its axis. For example, the user may rotate hook 100 about its axis and then release the hook, permitting the biasing force of spring 172 to cause a portion of hook 100 to move upwards and into contact with detentes 125.

Referring now to Figs. 7 to 9, an adjustable clothes hanger 20 is shown in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Hanger 20 is similar to hanger 10 except that the bends connecting the upper and lower cross bars are formed as separate attachable sections. For example, as shown in Fig. 9, bend 248 is formed as a section attachable to the upper arm of side member 204 and the socket portion of lower cross bar 210. Bend 250 is formed as a section attachable to the upper arm of side member 206 and the tubular receiver of lower cross bar 210. The interchangeability of the bend sections allows a user to form the hanger into different shapes, for example, with different separation distances between the cross bars. To facilitate user preferences, the hanger may be sold in a kit with differently shaped and/or sized bend sections as well as cross bar portions, which may all be configured for interchangeability. Hanger 20 may be used in a similar manner as that described relative to hanger 10 above.

Fig. 10 shows an adjustable clothes hanger 30 in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Side members 304, 306 are in this example provided each with two slots 376 which are selectively in register with one or more corresponding slots in the respective shoulder portion spigots 326. A stiffening spine 378 has a tag (not shown) adapted to lock side members 304, 306 to shoulder portion spigots 326, 327 through slot 376 in a selected position. The upper portions of shoulder boards 112, 114 are preferably stabilised on the divergent shoulder portions 116, 118 by hook pile fastening (not shown).

The foregoing description is by way of example only, and may be varied considerably without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example only, the telescopic connections between the side members and the spigots or the shoulder portions of the body of the hanger may include a track or tongue and groove configuration. Selective securing means other than spring locks or tabs may be used. For example, peripheral clothing holders such as clips 152 or hooks 142 may be configured with an extension adapted for insertion (screw-in or push-in) into a recess to lock the position of the side member relative to the hanger body (in a manner similar such as described relative to the tabs of hanger 30 above).

The upper and lower cross bars may be configured so that each side member has a pair of lower arms that engage a pair of corresponding lower arms of an opposed side member directly, without an intervening rod. A single cross bar may be utilised instead of two or more cross bars. Where the cross bars include rods, the upper and lower rods may have the same length or different lengths.

The hook may include an alternative locking mechanism, or omit the locking mechanism altogether. For example, the hook may be fixedly attached to the hanger body, or integrally formed with the hanger body. The locking mechanism of the hook, where present, may include a ratchet mechanism so that as the hook is rotated about its axis, at preselected intervals the hook will ratchet into position. Where the locking mechanism includes detentes, the detentes may be included on the shaft of the hook. The number of detentes may be varied as desired. The hook shaft may be solid or hollow as desired or appropriate. The rotatable closet hook enables the hanger to be rotated relative to a hanging rail. The rotatable closet hook may be freely rotatable relative to the body member. Alternatively the rotatable closet hook may be provided with one or more detentes or other means of selectively locating the closet hook at a particular angular disposition relative to the body member, as described above. For example, the spring may be included in a portion of the hanger body to resiliently interact with detentes included on the hook shaft.

The use of a rotating hook enables, amongst other things, the use of the hanger at maximum extension in shallow wardrobes. The locking mechanism enables the user to select an angle for the position of the hanger relative to the bar on which the hook engages. One advantageous result is that the user may arrange their wardrobe so that all of their clothes are displayed at a locked angle instead of the traditional stacked front and back arrangement. The angled presentation permits greater visibility of the clothes and is adaptable to varied closet configurations.

The hanger may be constructed from materials such as metal, plastic and/or wood.

The present invention provides numerous advantages. For example only, the presence of the two crossbar portions provides an unexpected stability of the adjustable hanger assembly thus permitting the use of minimum sections for the tubular parts. When in a lateral asymmetrical arrangement, additional stability is provided by the cross bars.

The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, or combined with or interchanged with the features other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. An adjustable clothes hanger, including: a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a first side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said first shoulder portion; a second side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said second shoulder portion; an upper cross bar connecting said first and second side members; and a lower cross bar connecting said first and second side members, said upper and lower cross bars each including at least two portions adapted for telescopic movement with one another, said portions of said upper cross bar being asymmetrically positioned relative to said portions of said lower cross bar when said hanger is in a non-expanded position.

2. The hanger of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said cross bars includes a third portion adapted for telescopic movement with said other two portions.

3. The hanger of either claim 1 or 2, wherein one of said portions of one of said cross bars extends from one of said side members through a central vertical plane separating said first and second side members.

4. The hanger of either claim 1 or 2, wherein one of said portions of each of said cross bars extends from one of said side members through a central vertical plane separating said first and second side members.

5. The hanger of either claim 1 or 2, wherein one of said portions of one of said cross bars is a rod that is exposed when said hanger is moved from the non- epxanded position to an expanded position.

6. The hanger of claim 5, wherein said rod is exposed only on one side of a central vertical plane separating said first and second side members.

7. The hanger of claim 5, wherein one of said portions is adapted to move within said rod.

8. The hanger of any one of the preceding claims, further including a depth stop configured to prevent said first and second side member from completely separating from said body.

9. The hanger of any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of said first and second side members include an opening and each of said first and second shoulder portions include an opening, the openings of said first side member and said first shoulder portion being alignable to form a first pair of aligned openings, the openings of said second side member and said second shoulder portion being alignable to form a second pair of aligned openings, further including a shoulder board having a projection for insertion into one of said pair of aligned openings.

10. An adjustable clothes hanger, including: a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a first side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said first shoulder portion and a lower arm at an angle relative to said upper arm; a second side member having an upper arm adapted for telescopic movement with said second shoulder portion and a lower arm at an angle relative to said upper arm of said second side member, said lower arms of said first and second side members being of different lengths and adapted for telescopic movement with one another, one of said upper arms having a length greater than the length of one of said lower arms.

11. The hanger of claim 10, wherein one of said shoulder portions of said body has a length longer than that of one of said upper arms of said side members.

12. The hanger of claim 10, wherein each of said first and second side members includes a second lower arm adapted to be in telescopic relationship with each other.

13. The hanger of any one of the preceding claims, further including a hook adapted to be in rotative engagement with said body, said hook including a locking mechanism for selectively locking the rotative position of said hook relative to said body.

14. A clothes hanger, including: a body having a first shoulder portion and a second shoulder portion; a hook rotatively attached to said body; and a locking mechanism for selectively locking the rotative position of said hook relative to said body.

15. The hanger of either claim 13 or 14, wherein said locking mechanism includes a plurality of detentes radially dispersed about the rotative axis of said hook.

16. The hanger of any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein said locking mechanism includes a spring.

17. The hanger of claim 16, wherein said spring is configured to bias said hook into engagement with one of said detentes.

18. A method of selecting a radial position of a hook of a clothes hanger relative to a body of the hanger, the method including: axially moving the hook relative to the body in a first direction; moving the hook in a second direction to engage the hook with a portion of the body to prevent the hook from rotating about its axis.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of moving includes axially moving the hook in the direction opposite to the first direction.

20. The method of either claim 18 or 19, wherein the step of axially moving includes moving the hook towards the body.

21. The method of any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the step of moving includes contacting a portion of the hook with at least one detente.

22. The method of any one of claims 18 to 21 , wherein the step of moving includes permitting a biasing force to move the hook into engagement with the portion of the body.