US2699263A - Clothes hanger rack - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 11, 1955 c. v. ORE

CLOTHES HANGER RACK Filed Sept. 27, 1950 United States Patent thee Patented Jan. 11, 1955 CLOTHES HANGER RACK Carl V. Ore, Harvey, 11]. Application September 27, 1950, Serial No. 187,003 3 Claims. (Cl. 211--113) This invention relates to an appliance for supporting a plurality of hangers such as clothes hangers or the like, and is particularly concerned with a clothes hanger rack for supporting a plurality of clothes hangers side by side in predetermined spaced position.

Clothes hangers are usually placed in clothes closets in a more or less haphazard manner. This practice results in disorderly and confused arrangements of the articles of clothing, consequent bunching thereof, and thus requires frequent shifting and unnecessary handling of the articles. It also induces carelessness, wastes space and causes irritation to the user.

If it is desired to air the garments or other articles carried on the hangers, the corresponding hangers are usually individually placed on a clothesline in the open. The line sags and the hangers carrying the various articles slip toward the lowest point, again causing bunching of the articles and thus preventing proper airing thereof. The sagging of the line and consequent slipping of the hangers and bunching of the articles occur even if the hangers are initially widely spaced from each other, longitudinally of the clothesline, because gusts of wind or even a slight breeze blowing against the articles of clothing promotes such slipping.

The invention avoids these drawbacks by the provision of a rack comprising a relatively rigid elongated supporting member from which extends downwardly a carrier provided with spaced slots for receiving clothes hangers and having hook means for suspending the relatively rigid supporting member either from a pole, as in a clothes closet, or from a line when it is desired to air the corresponding articles of clothing.

Some of the specific objects of the invention may be briefly summarized as follows:

One object is to provide a clothes hanger rack comprising an elongated relatively rigid supporting member, means extending from said supporting member forming a carrier member having downwardly and outwardly directed longitudinally extending yieldable walls, a plurality of holes provided in each of said walls forming in said walls longitudinally spaced transversely aligned pairs of openings, each pair for receiving the hook of a clothes hanger in camming engagement therewith so as to hold said clothes hangers side by side against twisting and properly spaced from one another longitudinally of the carrier member, and hook means for suspending said supporting member either from a pole or from a line.

Another object is to provide a clothes hanger rack as outlined in the preceding paragraph, having a carrier member which comprises a plurality of individual sections each comprising a pair of transversely spaced, transversely inwardly yieldable carrier wings to form a carrier support for a hanger, e. g., a clothes hanger in camming engagement therewith.

A further object is to provide hanger racks of the type indicated before, in which the carrier member may be either integral with the relatively rigid supporting member or separate therefrom and pivotally secured thereto.

Still another object is to provide a hanger rack of the type noted before having a carrier member which comprises two downwardly and outwardly flaring resilient wings provided with transversely aligned slots for receiv ing a corresponding plurality of hangers in camming engagement therewith, and stop means for limiting the camming motion of these wings under the load of the hanger supporting articles of clothing.

The objects noted in the foregoing paragraphs and additional objects and features of the invention will appear from the detailed description of certain embodiments, which will presently be rendered with reference to the accompanying drawings. In these drawings,

ig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational side view of a rack, made in accordance with the invention, which is assumed to be suspended from a pole;

Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic sectional views of the rack, taken approximately along lines 2-2 and 3--3, re spectively, of Fig. l;

d 4 and 5 indicate modifications of certain structural eta s;

Fig. 6 illustrates in diagrammatic elevational side view another embodiment of the rack; and

7 represents an end view of the rack shown in Like numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings. Known elements and details will be discussed only to the extent required for conveying an understanding of what is believed to be new.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a relatively rigid elongated supporting member 11 which is integral with the carrier member, the latter comprising a plurality of pairs of downwardly and outwardly extending carrier wings such as indicated at lift-1.2a and 1313a. The structure may be formed by bending a strip of suitable sheet material upon itself to form the riblike relatively rigid supporting member 11. The side walls of the strip extend from the relatively rigid riblike supporting member 11 angularly downwardly and outwardly. These side walls are slotted, as indicated at 14-14a, to form a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transversely inwardly yieldable pairs of carrier and camming Wings. Each wing of each pair is provided with a hole such as 15-450 for receiving the hook of a hanger, such as fractionally indicated in Fig. 2 at 16. The weight of the article of clothing on the hanger 16 produces a downward pull, causing a camming action of the hook 16 on the corresponding pair of yieldable carrier wings. This camming action holds the corresponding hanger against twisting. The camming motion of each pair of carrier wings is limited by a stop such as 23, 24 which may be formed by an inwardly bent portion of the corresponding wing 12 or 13. Each remaining pair of carrier wings is similarly constructed and provided with a stop member for similar purposes.

Hook members are in suitable manner secured to the relatively rigid supporting member 11 of the rack, for suspending the rack from a support. Each hook member may be made of a strip of material bent upon itself to form a small hook 21 and a larger hook 22the small hook for suspending the rack on a support such as a clothesline (not shown) and the larger hook for suspending it on a pole, for example, a pole 2% in a clothes closet. The small hook 21 provides for a gripping action on a clothesline and thus aids in holding the rack against undesired slipping.

The slots 14 may be omitted in this and in other embodiments, if desired, in which case we would have a carrier comprising two longitudinally continuous elongated carrier wings which are integral with and extend from the relatively rigid supporting member 11. These wings are again relatively yieldable, i. e., they will yield to inward pressure exerted thereon. From one of the wings projects an extension such as 23, 24 shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to provide for a stop so as to limit the camming motion of the two wings of the carrier. The extension 23 or 24 extends in such case longitudinally throughout the associated wing.

The stop means between the wings of the carrier member, whether the carrier is continuous or comprises a plurality of individual pairs of wings, may be an elastic material, for example, rubber, as indicated in Fig. 4 by numeral 25. Numeral 26 in Pig. 4 illustrates the relatively rigid supporting member of the rack and 27, 27a are the two transversely inwardly yieldable carrier wings. Hooks for suspending the structure from a pole or clothesline may of course be provided, as already discussed in connection with Figs. L3.

The supporting and carrier members or sections of the rack may also be formed integral, of a plastic material, as

indicated in Fig. 5, numeral 30 designating the carrier portion and 31 the longitudinally extending supporting portion. Double hooks may again be provided, each comprising a mounting portion 32 which is embedded in the supporting portion 31. The hook structure may be made of a strip material forming a large hook 22a for suspending the rack from a pole 20a, and asmall hook 21a for suspending it in gripping engagement with a support such as a clothesline (not shown). The small hook 21a may be punched out from the material of the larger hook and bent downwardly, as indicated in Fig. 5. Such integral double hook structure may of course be provided in any of the embodiments. Transverse holes such as 15 in Fig. 1 are of course provided in the carrier portion 30 at longitudinally spaced intervals thereof, to receive the hooks of clothes hangers in camming engagement therewith, as previously described. These apertures may carry metal linings, if desired, in order to protect the plastic material against undue Wear. The camming action is in this embodiment (Fig. 5) practically restricted to the hook of the hanger in engagement with the relatively rigid carrier 30, whereas in the previously described embodiments and also in the embodiment according to Figs. 6 and 7 the camming action involves transverse inward displacement of the carrier wings responsive to the pressure exerted thereon by the hangers.

The structure indicated in Figs. 6 and 7 comprises a relatively rigid rodlike supporting member 40 to which are secured a number of double hooks of the type described in connection with the previous structures, each double hook forming a small hook 41 for gripping engagement with a clothesline (not shown) and a large hook 42 for suspending the rack from a pole 43.

The carrier member in this embodiment is made of strip material bent upon itself to form a fulcrum for pivotal suspension on the relatively rigid rodlike supporting member 40. The two walls of the carrier member are yieldable,

as in the previous embodiments, and are slotted, as indi-' cated at 44, to form a plurality of pairs of transverse-' 1y inwardly yieldable carrier Wings such as 45--46. Each pair of wings ming engagement with the hook of an individual hanger, as in the previously described structures. One wing of each pair of carrier wings may again be provided with a stop extension such as indicated in Fig. 7 at 50, so as to limit the relative camming motion of the two yieldable wings of the corresponding carrier section. The slots 44 (corresponding to the slots 14 of Figs. 1 and 3 and to similar slots in Fig. 4) may be omitted, as previously explained with reference to Figs. 1-3, to provide a carrier having only two longitudinally extending transversely spaced wings, each provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 47 to form pairs of holes for receiving hangers, as described.

The stop extensions 23, 24, 50, shown in Figs. 2, 3, 6 and 7, may be modified by bending the material thereof back upon the corresponding wings 13, 12, 45, respectively, to form a reinforced stop consisting of a double layer of material or a stop of triangular formation in which the apex engages the coacting wing in stop position. The holes such as 1515a and 47 for receiving the clothes hangers may be formed by displacing the sheet material of the corresponding areas inwardly to is provided with holes 47 for camform inwardly and, if desired, downwardly extending ears (between the corresponding wings), thus providing larger areas for engagement with the clothes hangers. Such ears, which may be members separately secured to the inside of said Wings, may also function as stop members for limiting the camming motion of the wings, and special stops 'may in such case be eliminated.

Modifications as mentioned in the preceding paragraph may be employed particularly when using relatively thin sheet stock for producing the rack. Such stock may be thin strip or sheet steel, e. g., stainless steel. The finished rack may be enameled, if desired.

Changes may be made within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A rack for supporting clothes hangers or the like comprising an elongated relatively rigid rod, a member consisting of a sheet material bent upon itself to form an elongated cross-sectionally generally V-shaped carrier, said carrier being in inverted position pivotally supported on said rod with the apex portion thereof engaging said rod and with the legs thereof downwardly diverging, cutouts being formed in the apex portion of said carrier to expose said rod at corresponding longitudinally spaced intervals, hook means in engagement with said rod at each of said intervals and extending therefrom for suspending said rod and therewith said carrier from a suitable support, downwardly open slots being formed in the legs of said carrier at longitudinally spaced points thereof to form a plurality of pairs of individual downwardly diverging wings, and holes being formedin the wings of each pair for inserting clothes hangers therein, the downward pull of each clothes hanger attempting to draw the downwardly diverging wings of the corresponding pair together in a camming action to an extent depending on the weight of the garment supported thereon so as to inhibit the twisting of the corfjesponding clothes hanger and garment supported there- 2. The structure defined in claim 1, together with stop means extending from one wing of each pair to limit the relative mutual displacement resulting from the camming action thereof.

3. The structure defined in claim 1, comprising a second hook element extending from said hook means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 371,665 Brinkerhoif Oct. 18, 1887 643,818 Headland Feb. 20, 1900 1,671,725 Jones May 29, 1928 1,695,661 Montague Dec. 18, 1928 1,825,310 Engstrom Sept. 29, 1931 1,828,851 Smith Oct. 27, 1931 2,047,068 Heine July 7, 1936 2,151,964 Gay Mar. 28, 1939 2,278,813 Wheeler Apr. 7, 1942 2,442,410 Harpole et a1. June 1, 1948 2,447,132 Meyer Aug. 17, 1948 2,517,072 Zimmer Aug. 1, 1950 2,523,682 Corwin Sept. 26, 1950

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