WO2021245369A1

WO2021245369A1 - A clothes hanger

Info

Publication number: WO2021245369A1
Application number: PCT/GB2021/050652
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lisa HUTCHINSON
Original assignee: Rh Smith & Sons (Wigmakers) Limited
Priority date: 2020-06-03
Filing date: 2021-03-16
Publication date: 2021-12-09
Also published as: GB2586912B; GB202008365D0; GB2586912A

Abstract

A clothes hanger (10) having an upper section (12) and a lower section (14) connected thereto. The upper section (12) comprises a rail engaging hook (16) and a broader, garment engaging portion below the hook. The lower section (14) comprises at least one guideline (26) for indicating a separation location for separating part of the lower section (14).

Description

A Clothes Hanger

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a clothes hanger, particularly for use in a retail and/or domestic environment and, more particularly, for use with clothing, costumes and/or fancy dress.

Background to the Invention

Costumes, or fancy dress, are popular items for children and adults and are often sold in retail outlets; however, such outfits may benefit from being augmented with accessories that are normally sold separately. Selling these outfits and accessories separately involves increased overall cost of the items and also increases the environmental impact. Furthermore, more packaging is required when selling the items separately, which is particularly disadvantageous when plastics material packaging is used that can be difficult to recycles. Additionally, increased rail space is required in retail outlets for displaying the outfits and accessories separately, thereby reducing stock density for the outfits.

In addition to the above, traditionally, these outfits are hung on plastics material hangers, often with a plastics material covering. Oftentimes, all of the plastics material packaging ends up in landfill and, whilst some of the plastics packaging and hangers may be recycled, the logistics involved in transporting, sorting and recycling or re-using the hangers can result in more energy being used than is saved. Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a clothes hanger comprising an upper section and a lower section connected thereto, wherein: the upper section comprises a rail engaging hook and a broader, garment engaging portion below the hook; and the lower section comprises at least one guideline for indicating a separation location for separating part of the lower section.

Thus, the present invention provides for a clothes hanger that supports a garment, or garments, and has a further portion in the form of the lower section extending from the hanger. That lower portion has guidelines for removing part of the lower section from the rest of the lower section, which can be used to provide accessories in the form of two- dimensional elements or parts that can be folded to create three-dimensional elements. Therefore, the clothing item can be provided with accessories to augment the outfit and that are provided on the same hanger as the outfit itself, thereby saving on rail space and increasing the stock density, whilst also reducing the amount of packaging required to provide all items.

The upper section may be provided with an integrally formed hook or it may be provided with a separate hook that is attached to the upper section. The guideline(s) on the lower section may provide an outline for an item that can be separated from the rest of the lower section. The guideline is, preferably, internal to the periphery of the lower section.

Preferably, the at least one guideline is formed by at least one of a group comprising: embossing; debossing; stamping; printing; heat-transferring; and perforating. The guidelines can be created through a variety of methods, as set out herein. It is particularly preferable for the guidelines to be perforations in order that the customer can readily remove the element from the lower section in a quick and convenient manner, for example, by pressing the separable section out from the rest of the lower section. Thus, the separable part may be removed from the lower section by cutting or tearing along the guidelines to remove a predetermined shape from the lower section. It is advantageous that the width of the lower section is between one third of the width of the upper section and the full width of the upper section, and, it may be that the width of the lower section is between half of the width of the upper section and the full width of the upper section or it may be between two thirds of the width of the upper section and the full width of the upper section. If the lower section is too narrow, there will be limited space for providing the removable sections and so having the width of the lower section greater than half of the width of the hanger provides plenty of space on the lower section for providing removable element. The lower section could be wider than the upper section; however, it is preferable for the lower section to fit inside or behind any garment supported by the hanger and having a lower section that is wider than the upper section may require folding or manipulating into position. Therefore, a lower section that is narrower than broadest part of the upper section has advantages in respect of practical usability.

It is preferable that the lower section is at least the same height as the upper section and, it is more preferable that the lower section is at least one and a half times the height of the upper section. The lower section should extend from the hanger in a manner that provides space on the lower section for reasonably sized removable elements and so it should be at least the same height as the upper section, which is to say the distance from the top of the upper section, adjacent or including the hook, to the bottom of the garment engaging portion. In an advantageous arrangement, the lower section is larger in height than the upper section. It may also be advantageous that the lower section narrows towards the middle of its length. From the middle of the length of the lower section, the width of the lower section may increase to create an ‘hour glass’ appearance, which may assist in presenting the garment in a more attractive fashion.

In one arrangement, the upper section and the lower section are the same material. Where the material is a recyclable material, this allows the whole to device to be recycled without the need for prior processing to separate the different materials. Thus, the whole device may be placed into a recycling collection receptacle without the need to break or disassemble it into separate parts. Whilst the upper section and lower section may be releasably connected to one another, it is preferred that the upper section and lower section are fixedly attached to one another. This attachment may be put into effect through the use of adhesive, which may be a continuous deposit or discontinuous series of deposits. By fixedly attaching the upper section to the lower section, the likelihood of the sections being separated is reduced so that the relevant accessories or other separable parts can be provided with the intended outfit.

In one arrangement, the upper section comprises a first part and a second part and the lower section is partially sandwiched between the first part and the second part of the upper section. Sandwiching the lower section between two parts of the upper section provides a solid binding between the two parts and also allows for different thicknesses of materials. Advantageously, the lower section is thinner than the upper section and so, whilst it is envisaged that the upper section could be sandwiched between two parts of the lower section, it is likely that the upper section will be thicker than the lower section to provide sufficient strength to the upper section, thereby making it more practical to have the lower section sandwiched between two parts of the upper section. In one arrangement, the upper section may be 3mm thick and the lower section may be 1mm thick.

In another arrangement, the upper section and the lower section are formed integrally with one another. This may reduce the manufacturing time and reduces the need for adhesive, whilst also providing a solid connection between the respective parts.

It may be that the lower section is provided with a plurality of guidelines and the plurality of guidelines may form a plurality of shapes in the lower section. Thus, a number of shapes can be formed using a plurality of guidelines so that a plurality of accessories may be provided in the lower section that can be separated therefrom.

Preferably, the upper and/or lower section comprises cardboard. As cardboard is readily recycled, often from household collection, the use of cardboard provides an easily recyclable material that can be reduce landfill waste. It may be that at least one plastics material hook is connected to the hanger to provide further strength to the hanger; however, that can be readily releasable so that the respective parts can be recycled.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a view of a hanger in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

Figure 1 shows a clothes hanger 10 having an upper section 12 and a lower section 14.

The upper section 12 is provided with a hook portion 16 that has a base 18 extending from a top part of the upper portion 12, and a free end 20 for engaging a rail in a retail or domestic environment.

From the base 20 of the hook portion 16, the upper section 12 extends outwardly in opposing directions to from a substantially triangular shape with opposing vertices 22 on either side of the hook portion 16. The vertices 22 are each provided with a series of notches, recesses or indents 24 that may be used to engage a garment and support it on the hanger 10, for example an elasticated waistband or straps.

The lower section 14 is in the form of a generally planar sheet of material that is preferably cardboard and that has an hourglass shape, which is to say that it has a wider top and bottom than the middle section. Within the periphery of the lower section are guidelines in the form of perforations 26 that indicate shapes 28 that can be readily removed from the lower section. The shapes 28 can be pushed out from the lower section 14 and may be used as two-dimensional or three-dimensional accessories.

The narrower part of the lower section 14 may be used as a fold line to allow the lower section 14 to be folded in half to reduce the drop length of the hanger 10. To that end, a clear space may be provided across the lower section 14 that has no guidelines thereupon so allow the lower section 14 to be folded without damaging any of the guidelines 26. Alternatively, the lower section 14 may fold along a guideline 26.

The lower section 14 is provided with a perforated guideline 30 adjacent the interface between the lower section 14 and the upper section 12, which indicates a location at which the lower section 12 can be separated from the upper section 12. After the initial display of the outfit, for example, when the customer has purchased the item, this separation of the lower section 14 from the upper section 12 allows the hanger 10 to be used without the lower section 14 attached thereto, which may be useful when storing an outfit, or other clothing, at home.

The separated shape may be folded into a three-dimensional shape, and tabs may be provided, or adhesive may be employed, to retain the folded parts in place.

Although an hourglass shaped lower section is shown in Figure 1, the lower section may be of any desired shape and it may be useful to employ a rectangular or square shape. Furthermore, a tapered or arcuate bottom edge, that is, the edge distal from the upper section, may assist with inserting the lower section into a garment.

The lower section may be provided with a guideline that indicates a location at which the lower section can be separated from the upper section. After the initial display of the outfit, for example, when the customer has purchased the item, this separation of the upper and lower sections allows the hanger to be used without the lower section attached thereto, which may be useful when storing the outfit at home.

Although described and shown as a single sheet, the lower section may comprise a plurality of sheets, which can provide more space on which removable elements can be provided.

It may be desirable to print on the hanger prior to hanging a garment thereupon. For example, in addition any printed cut lines that might be provided upon the lower section, a pattern or other images may be printed onto the hanger to make it aesthetically more interesting. Where cardboard is employed for the hanger, printing may be easier than with other materials.

In one embodiment, the upper section is the part to which the hook is attached and elements extending away therefrom to create shoulder portions. The lower section may then be taken to be therebeneath and having a narrower width than the upper section. Alternatively, the lower section could be equally as wide and extending from the upper section or it may be wider than the upper section. Where the lower section is wider than the upper section, the lower section may be folded to allow a garment to be hung on the hanger, with the folded part of the lower section either retained in the folded position or positioned to create a three-dimensional section to the hanger that provides more depth to the hanging garment.

The hanger may be provided with one or more holes in the upper and/or lower section, which may be used for kimbles. Thus, a garment and/or other items can be more securely fastened to the hanger using kimbles,

The lower section of the hanger may be provided with separable, or removable, puzzles, games, accessories pictures and/or other items.

Claims

1. A clothes hanger comprising an upper section and a lower section connected thereto, wherein: the upper section comprises a rail engaging hook and a broader, garment engaging portion below the hook; and the lower section comprises at least one guideline for indicating a separation location for separating part of the lower section.

2. A clothes hanger according to claim 1, wherein the at least one guideline is formed by at least one of a group comprising: embossing; debossing; stamping; printing; heat-transferring; and perforating.

3. A clothes hanger according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the width of the lower section is between one third of the width of the upper section and the full width of the upper section.

4. A clothes hanger according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, the lower section is at least the same height as the upper section.

5. A clothes hanger according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper section and the lower section are the same material.

6. A clothes hanger according to any preceding claim, wherein the upper section and lower section are fixedly attached to one another.

7. A clothes hanger according to claim 6, wherein the upper section and lower section are attached to one another by adhesive.

8. A clothes hanger according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the upper section comprises a first part and a second part and wherein the lower section is partially sandwiched between the first part and the second part of the upper section.

9. A clothes hanger according to claim 6, wherein the upper section and the lower section are formed integrally with one another.

10. A clothes hanger according to any preceding claim, wherein the lower section is thinner than upper section.

11. A clothes hanger according to any preceding claim, wherein the lower section is provided with a plurality of guidelines.

12. A clothes hanger according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of guidelines forms a plurality of shapes in the lower section.

13. A clothes hanger according to any preceding claim and comprising cardboard.