US3171577A - Garment hanger - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1965 E. D. LINDEGREN GARMENT HANGER Filed Feb. 4, 1963 INVENTOR ERIK D. LINDEGREN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,171,577 GARMENT HANGER Erik B. Lindegren, 303 Dahl St, Rhinelander, Wis. Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 255,748 3 Claims. (Cl. 22395) This invention relates to garment hangers and resides more particularly in a hanger having a vertical supporting rod with suspension means at its upper end, a horizontal garment supporting bar that is laterally spaced from the rod with a well therebetween to receive, for example, trouser cuifs or the waistband of a skirt, and garment holding means associated with the bar.

Hangers formed according to this invention are especially suited for hanging trousers or skirts, although they may be useful for many types of garments, and are particularly suitable for use by commercial cleaners and laundries since they are extremely eifective, inexpensive, and easy to use.

After trousers or skirts have been cleaned, pressed or laundered, they are usually returned to the customer on conventional bow-type hangers. Trousers are usually laid across the crossbar of the hanger, and the crossbar is usually provided with a cardboard protector extending along its full length which serves to prevent the formation of a sharp, unsightly transverse crease at about the knees of the trousers and to prevent the trousers from sliding off the hanger. In the case of skirts, safety pins are often used to attach the waistband of the skirt to the hanger.

These usual hangers and methods of attaching garments are not fully satisfactory from many standpoints. It is, for example, didicult and time consuming to place trousers on the usual hanger since it is necessary first that they be laid carefully across the crossbar at their center of gravity to prevent sliding off to one side or the other. After the trousers have been so placed, it is then necessary to arrange the creases carefully. Even after all of this has been done, the trousers are likely to slide off the hanger or become disarranged by handling. Also, hanging the trousers in this manner does not allow for wrinkles to hang out as satisfactorily as when the entire weight of the trousers is hung from the cuifs. In the case of skirts, the application of safety pins is difficult and tedious.

Aslo, conventional hangers, cardboard protectors and safety pins are relatively quite expensive and are not fully satisfactory for this additional reason. This is especially true in low factory for this additional reason. This is especially true in low profit operations such as clean only" services. Clean only service involves cleaning without pressing, and is offered to compete with coinoperated dry cleaning machines. In order to provide successful competition, clean only services must be offered at a minimum cost and the few extra cents necessary to provide conventional hangers, protectors and pins may be the critical factor preventing a profitable operation.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an improved, inexpensive hanger that is effective and easy to use.

It is one of the specific objects of this invention to provide a hanger having a well to receive trouser cuffs, skirt Waistbands and the like.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hanger having a garment supporting bar that offers full support for a garment and is provided with holding means that insure against the garment slipping oif the hanger.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hanger which is exterernely simple to use.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a hanger in which the vertical supporting rod may have a lateral offset to insure that the garment is hung directly below a hook or other suspension means at the upper end of the supporting rod.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a hanger which may be formed of conventional wire construction or of molded plastic materials and the like at a relatively low cost.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof, in which there are shown by way of illustration and not of limitation four embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of the invention with a portion of a pair of trousers shown thereon in broken lines to illustrate its operation.

PEG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and a portion of a pair of trousers, with an alternative position of the hanger and trousers shown in broken lines to illustrate the manner in which the embodiment of FIG. 1 is used in hanging a pair of trousers,

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective of another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective showing a third embodiment of the invention, and

FfG. 5 is a view in perspective with parts broken away and in cross-section showing a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Referring again to the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that this embodiment is formed of a single piece of metal wire of the conventional type used for garment hangers. The hanger comprises a vertical support rod 1 which is bent back at its free upper end to provide a hook 2 which serves as a suspension means for suspending the hanger on a clothes rack or the like.

Below the hook 2, and intermediate its upper and lower ends, the rod 1 is provided with an offset portion 3. Below the offset 3, the lower end of the rod 1 is bent back upon itself to provide a forked, upwardly extending portion 4, terminating in divergent, upwardly extending branches 5, which portion 4 is laterally spaced from the rod 1 to provide a well therebetween. The upper ends of the branches 5 terminate below the oifset 3.

A horizontal garment supporting bar 6 spans the distance between the ends of the branches 5, and is laterally spaced from the rod 1 to lie directly below the hook 2, as can be seen in FIG. 2. A pair of spaced metal pins 7 extend through the bar 6 with their pointed ends extending upwardly therefrom, and are securely held to the bar 6 by solder or other suitable means.

The hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed of a single piece of Wire which, as seen in FIG. 1, extends downwardly from the hook 2 and, at the bottom of the rod 1, is bent upwardly and to the right to form one branch 5 and thence to the left to form the bar 6 and thence downwardly and to the right to form the other branch 5, with the end thereof being joined to the rod 2 by means of a wrap connection 8. Regardless of this one piece construction, the various parts of the hanger are referred to separately herein for the sake of clarity and since, as will be discussed more fully below, other constructions not untilizing a single piece of wire are possible within the scope of the invention.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, the hanger is shown as it appears with a pair of trousers 9, having cuffs iii, placed thereon. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the cutfs 10 are disclosed in the well formed by the lateral space between the branches 5 of the upwardly extending portion 4 and the bar 6 and the rod 2. The remaining portion of the trousers 9 hangs across the bar 6 and downwardly therefrom, with the pins 7 piercing therthrough.

The method of using the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrated in FIG. 2. From FIG. 2, it can beseen that with the trousers 9 lying on a flat surface 11, such as a laundry table, the hanger can be used by sliding the upwardly extending portion 4, with the branches 5, and the bar 6 under the trousers 9 with the rod lying above the trousers 9. It is then necessary only to twist the hanger in a clockwise direction to the broken line position seen in FIG. 2 whereupon the trousers 9 and hanger will be as seen in FIG. 1'.

The hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 has many important advantages over conventional bow type hangers. First, the pins 7 serveas garment holding means which serve to prevent the trousers 9 from shifting or sliding off the hanger. The pins 7 should, of course, be of sutficiently small diameter so that they will not cause damage to the material of thetrousers 9. The cuffs of the trousers lie in the well between the upwardly extending portion 4 and bar 6 and the rod 2, and by virtue of this construction the pins 7 are required to pierce only four thicknesses of material and thus can be of shorter length. Also, the well construction allows the hanger to be used in the manner shown in FIG. 2 which allows a considerable saving in time over usual methods of arranging trousers on a cardboard protected hanger bar. The oifset 3 allows for the trousers 9 to hang directly below the hook 2 which helps in preventing the hanger from twisting or slanting when it is on a clothes rack. Also, the bar 6 supports the full width of the trousers 9.

It should also be apparent that the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2 is considerably less costly than conventional hangers. This embodiment of the invention uses, for example, only about 65% as much wire as a conventional bow-type hanger designed for garments of the same size.

The pins 7 make it unnecessary to provide safety pins or cardboard protectors to prevent a garment from sliding oil of the hanger. Cardboard protectors are also unnecessay because the tousers 9 are hung from their cuffs 10 where a transverse crease will not be so readily apparent. The fact that the trousers 9. are hung from their cuffs 10 is also helpful in that folds or creases tend to hang out, which is especially important in connection with a clean only operation where garments are not pressed by the cleaner.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FlG. 3 is also constructed of a single piece of wire. It comprises a vertical support rod 12 having a hook suspension means .13 at its upper end. The lower end of the rod 12 is bent back upon itself to provide an angled, upwardly extending portion 14 which terminates below the hook 13 and is laterally spaced from the rod 12 to provide a well therebetween. The wire is then bent to the left as seen in FIG. 3 to provide a horizontal garment supporting bar 15 which is laterally spacedfrom the rod 12. The far end of the bar 15, to the left as seen in FIG. 3, is bent back upon itself and, at approximately the center of the bar 15, a short, pointed end'16 of the wire is bent upwardly to extend above the bar 15 and serve as a garment holding means or pin.

It should be readily appreciated that the hanger of FIG. 3 is used in substantially the same way and offers substantially the same advantages as the hanger of FIGS. 1 and 2. This embodiment of the invention does not have an offset in the rod 12, although one could easily be provided if desired. Also, this embodiment does not have a branched upwardly extending portion like the portion 4 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 but instead has the single, angled portion 14. This construction is suitable in almost all cases, but where especially heavy garments are to be hung the fact that the portion 14 otfers somewhat less support may make it necessary to use a heavier gauge wire in forming this embodiment of the invention. This embodient of theinventionmay be somewhat simpler to form and uses somewhat less wire than the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 and may be advantageous for these reasons.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4 is formed of two pieces of wire. It comprises a vertical support rod 17 provided at its upper end with a hook suspension means 18. The lower end of the rod 17 is bent back upon itself to lie parallel to but laterally spaced from the rod 17, thus forming-an upwardly extending portion 19 that is laterally spaced from the rod 17 to provide a well therebetween. A garment supporting bar 29 is attached to he upper terminus of the portion 19 by means of a wrap connection 21 so that the bar 20 lies in a horizontal position laterally spaced from the rod 17. A pair of pins 22 extend upwardly through the bar 24 at its ends with their pointed ends extending upwardly thereabove. Again, the pins 22 are secured to the bar 20 by any suitable means such a soldering.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 may also have somewhat less strength than the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 because the upwardly extending portion 19 is not branched as is the portion 4. It may, therefore, be necessary to use heavier wire for certain applications. Also, this embodiment is not provided with an oifset, although one could easily be formed in the rod 17 is desired.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5 is formed of a piece of wire and a wooden dowel. It comprises a vertical support rod 23, provided at its upper end with a hook suspension means 24. An offset portion 25 is provided in the rod 23 below the hook 24, and the lower end of the rod 23 is bent back upon itself to lie parallel tothe :rod 23, thus providing an upwardly extending portion 26 so that is laterally spaced from the rod 23 to provide a Well therebetween. The portion 26 terminates below the offset 25. The upwardly extending end 27 of the portion 26 is pointed to serve as a pin or garment holding means.

A horizontally disposed wooden dowel 28, which serves as a garment supporting bar, is mounted on the portion 26, directly below the hook 24, with the pin 26 extending thereabove. A transverse pin 29 extends through the drowel bar 28 and portion 26 to hold the dowel 28 in place and to prevent it from twisting in use.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 is advantageous in that the relatively large diameter of the dowel 28 helps in eliminating transverse creases in trousers or skirts hung therefrom. Also, any possibility of the rust spots which may occur when damp garments are hung on metal hangers is eliminated.

Although the operation of the embodiments of the invention shown herein has been described with reference to hanging trousers, it should be apparent that they will function equally well for hanging garments such as skirts. When skirts are to be hung, the waistband of the skirt is placed in the well between the upwardly extending portion,

garment bar and support rod of the particular hanger embodiment. Also, it should be apparent that other garments than skirts and trousers may be hung effectively with the hangers shown herein.

Four particular embodiments formed according to the invention have been shown and described herein, but other embodiments or variations on the embodiments which have been shown are possible within the scope of the invention. For example, each of the embodiments shown herein utilizes a hook as its suspension means. It should be apparent, however, that other conventional suspension means may be used. Also, each of the embodiments shown herein involves the use'of wire such as that used in conventional bow-type hangers. It should be apparent that other materials may be used, for example molded plastics.

Also, the number and arrangement of garment holding pins may be changed. For example, the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 could have a single pin at the center of the bar 6. T embodiment of 5 could have pins at the outer ends of the bar 2% and no pin in the center. Similar variations may be made with all the embodiments.

Also, it is not necessary that upstanding pins be used and, for example, corrugated rubber holders might be substituted and still serve adequately as garment holding means.

Since the foregoing and other variations are possible Within the scope of the invention, the invention is not intended to be limited except insofar as such limitations appear in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising: a generally vertical support member having suspension means at its upper end and a bifurcated portion at its lower end, said bifur cated portion comprising divergent branches originating at the support member and diverging outwardiy toward opposite sides thereof and a garment bar spanning the distance between the ends of the branches, said support member having a first portion directly below the suspension means that is in a vertical plane, a lateral offset below the first portion and a second portion below the offset that is laterally spaced from said piane, the second portion of the support member being bent back upon itself below the ofiset so that the garment bar is horizontally disposed in said plane to be laterally spaced from said second portion to form a cuff well therebetween, the bar being substantially below the ievel of the ofiset with its midpoint substantially directly under the suspension means and being supported from below at both ends by the branches.

2. A garment hanger according to claim 1 including garment holding means on the garment bar.

3. A garment hanger according to claim 1 in which the support member is formed of a single piece of Wire, the wire being bent back upon itself at the upper end of the support member to provide hook suspension means, and the wire at the lower end of the support member angling away from the vertical line of the support member from the point of beginning of the bifurcated portion to form one of the branches and thence extending toward and across the vertical line of the support member to form the garment bar and thence angling back to said point of beginning to form the other branch and terminate at a Wrap connection at said point of beginning.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 505,578 9/93 Sweeney 223-88 300,250 9/05 Walker 223--92 863,236 8/07 Sundin 223 89 1,087,067 2/14 Loudenslager 211-117 1,723,980 8/29 Freeman 223-88 2,023,392 12/ 35 Backer 22388 2,499,188 2/50 Freeman 211113 2,936,076 5/60 Harris 211113 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,113 10/31 Australia. 236,307 7/25 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

0 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A GARMENT HANGER COMPRISING: A GENERALLY VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING SUSPENSION MEANS AT ITS UPPER END AND A BIFURCATED PORTION AT ITS LOWER END, SAID BIFURCATED PORTION COMPRISING DIVERGENT BRANCHES ORIGINATING AT THE SUPPORT MEMBER AND DIVERGING OUTWARDLY TOWARD OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF AND A GARMENT BAR SPANNING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ENDS OF THE BRANCHES, SAID SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A FIRST PORTION DIRECTLY BELOW THE SUSPENSION MEANS THAT IS IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A LATERAL OFFSET BELOW THE FIRST PORTION AND A SECOND PORTION BELOW THE OFFSET THAT IS LATERALLY SPACED FROM SAID PLANE, THE SECOND PORTION OF THE SUPPORT MEMBER BEING BENT BACK UPON ITSELF BELOW THE OFFSET SO THAT THE GARMENT BAR IS HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED IN SAID PLANE TO BE LATERALLY SPACED FROM SAID SECOND PORTION TO FORM A CUFF WELL THEREBETWEEN, THE BAR BEING SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THE LEVEL OF THE OFFSET WITH ITS MIDPOINT SUBSTANTIALLY DIRECTLY UNDER THE SUSPENSION MEANS AND BEING SUPPORTED FROM BELOW AT BOTH ENDS BY THE BRANCHES.

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