WO1996008988A1

WO1996008988A1 - A garment hanger

Info

Publication number: WO1996008988A1
Application number: PCT/AU1995/000626
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark Llewelyn Brooking
Original assignee: Deepwater Trading Pty Limited
Priority date: 1994-09-23
Filing date: 1995-09-25
Publication date: 1996-03-28
Also published as: AUPM836594A0

Abstract

A garment hanger (1) comprising a head portion (10), a shoulder portion (20) with a pair of garment support arms (30, 40) extending outwardly from opposite sides of the shoulder portion. Each of the support arms has a substantially two-dimensional support member (31, 41) on its free end sized to pass through the belt loop of a garment. The garment hanger (1) is adapted to support a pair of trousers or skirt in a vertical condition by its belt loops (205) without the need for clips or clamps which may damage the garment fabric. The inventive garment hanger is ideal for drying a supported garment since there is no need for pegs or the like which tend to leave unsightly creases or marks on the garment.

Description

A GARMENT HANGER

Technical Field

The present invention relates to garment hangers and particularly hangers for garments with belt loops such as trousers or skirts. Background Art

There exists on the market a wide array of garment hangers adapted to support many different types of garments, eg, shirt hangers, skirt hangers, trouser hangers, etc.

For longer garments such as trousers or skirts, it is preferable that the garment be hung as it is worn, ie, vertically without being folded over.

Unfortunately, previous trouser or skirt hangers have involved some form of clip or clamps which are not only expensive and difficult to use but in many cases are unable to support the weight of the garment due to the lack of grip of the clips or clamps. Increasing the grip of the clips or clamps, however. tends to damage the garment fabric.

Some garment hangers have small indentations or hooks adapted to hold small loops of fabric which are specially provided on the skirt.

However, these hooks or indentations are small, difficult to use and in most cases can only support lightweight fabric. In most cases trousers, in particular jeans, are hung over a standard triangular wire hanger. This leads to unsightly creases in the garment fabric. however, due to the weight exerted by the fabric over the thin wire.

In an effort to ameliorate the disadvantages of the prior art. or at least provide a commercial alternative to the prior art. it is proposed to provide a garment hanger which, at least in the preferred embodiments, provides a cheap and simple apparatus for hanging garments, particularly but not limited to jeans and skirts, but which does not require clips or clamps as in the prior art.

Disclosure of the Invention In a first aspect, the present invention provides a garment hanger constructed from substantially inflexible material and comprising a head portion for releasably attaching said hanger to an appropriate mounting, a shoulder portion extending from said head portion and a pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of said shoulder portion, each of the support arms having a substantially two-dimensional support member on its free end sized to pass through the belt loop of a garment and configured to provide an upwardly outwardly extending edge, such that in use the belt loops engaged by the hanger are urged towards the shoulder portion of the hanger.

In a first embodiment, the support arms are substantially two- dimensional and coplanar with their respective support members.

In another embodiment, each support member is provided by a substantially vertically oriented projection, tab or disc formed integrally with its respective support arm.

In yet another embodiment, said support members are provided by flared portions on each end of said support arms, the greatest dimension of said flared portions being smaller than the belt loop of the garment to be supported, and greater than that portion of the support arm directly adjacent the flared portion.

In still another embodiment, the garment hanger has two or more tiers, each tier comprising a shoulder portion, a pair of outwardly extending support arms and a support member on the free end of each support member, each tier being connected to one or more adjacent tiers to form a mutually parallel spaced apart array of support arms/support members.

In a further embodiment, at least one tier of the garment hanger is provided by a conventional jacket or coat hanger.

In yet a further embodiment, the support arms are naturally extendible to alter the spacing between the support members.

Each support member may also include a plurality of support members to engage two or more belt loops on a single garment. In another aspect, the present invention provides a garment hanger comprising a head portion for releasably attaching said hanger to an appropriate mounting, a body extending downwardly from said head portion, an upper pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of an upper portion of said body, said upper support arms having broad or divergent ends adapted to support a jacket or coat and a lower pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of a lower portion of said body, each of the lower support arms having a substantially two-dimensional support member on its free end sized to pass through the belt loop of a garment and configured to provide an upwardly outwardly extending edge, such that in use the belt loops engaged by the hanger are urged towards the body of the hanger.

The present invention provides a simple, inexpensive hanger to support garments, such as trousers or skirts, without the need for complicated and expensive clips or clamps. By simply passing the belt loops of the garment over the support members of the inventive hanger, the garment is held reliably with little or no prospect of the garment disengaging from the hanger and falling to the ground.

With the inventive garment hanger, there is no need to remove the belt or empty the pockets of the garment since it is held in a vertical position i.e. as it is worn.

In addition, the inventive garment hanger is ideal for drying a supported garment, there being no need for pegs or the like which may tend to leave unsightly creases or marks on the garment. Brief Description of the Drawings

In order that the nature of the present invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are front and end elevational views of the hanger of Fig 1 in use;

Figs.4A and 4B are front elevational views of a hanger according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of a hanger according to a further embodiment of the present invention: and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the hanger of Fig. 5. Modefsl for Carrying Out the Invention The hanger 1 shown in Fig. 1-3 comprises head portion 10. a shoulder portion 20 downwardly extending therefrom and a pair of garment support arms 30,40 extending outwardly from opposite sides of the shoulder portion, in much the same way as a conventional hanger.

The head portion 10 is adapted to releasably connect the hanger to an appropriate mounting such as a rod 100. In this case, the head portion 10 is shaped as a hook to fit over rod 100, but the present inventive hanger is also suitable for other configurations of hangers, such as a continuous circular head portion adapted to fit on a peg, a grooved aperture in the head portion adapted to engage a slide support, or a nail or pin extending upwardly from the shoulder portion 20 adapted to engage a ring slidably held on a rod. This last configuration is particularly popular in hotels/motels since it reduces theft. The hanger may still be removed from the cupboard or closet but, without the appropriate ring mount, the hanger is useless.

The free ends of garment support arms 30.40 are provided with support members 31,41, which are sized to pass through the belt loops 205 of the garment 200. In the embodiments shown, support members 31,41 are provided by projections, tabs or discs formed integrally with support arms 30,40. These tabs or discs are preferably vertically oriented, as seen in Fig. 2. It will be noted that as shown in Fig. 3 the garment support arms 30.40 are also preferably two-dimensional and co-planar with their respective support members 31, 41. Not only does this increase the strength of the hanger in the vertical direction but it also allows the garment 200 to be held flat against the hanger.

Each tab or disc has an enlarged or flared portion the width of which is smaller than the opening through the belt loop 205 of garment 200 but greater than that portion of the support arm directly adjacent the projection tab or disc, ie, the connection between the support member 31,41 and its respective support arm 30.40. In this way, the support arms provide an upwardly, outwardly extending edge 32.42 such that, in use. the belt loops 205 of the garment 200 are urged inwardly towards the shoulder portion 40 of the hanger. Once the belt loop has passed over the support member 31,41. it sits on the garment support arms 30,40 and is held there by the garment's own weight. Any tendency for the belt loops 205 to slip off the garment hanger is prevented by upwardly, outwardly extending edge 32,42. To remove the garment, it is necessary to lift the garment so that the belt loops 205 clear edges 32,42 and slide the respective belt loops 205 over support members 31.41 and off the hanger.

While any garment may be supported by two adjacent belt loops 205. it is preferred that the hanger engages belt loops that are spaced further apart, ie, several belt loop spacings, so that the garment is more evenly supported over its width. In another embodiment, each garment support arm 30, 40 may include a plurality of support members adapted to engage two or more belt loops on a single garment. For example, as shown in Fig. 4A, in addition to the support members 31, 41 at the ends of support arms 30. 40 respectively, additional support members 31A and 41A may be provided part way along each support arm to engage additional belt loops.

Alternatively, the upper edge of each support arm 30, 40 may be corrugated or rippled as shown in Fig. 4B to thereby provide a number of support members 3lA. 31B, 31C etc. to engage the belt loops of the supported garment.

The embodiment of Fig. 4B is particularly useful for supporting the various garments with different belt loop spacings. The hanger 1 may also be available in several sizes so as to match the belt loop spacings of different size clothing, ie, smaller for children's clothing and larger for adult clothing. It is also possible to provide a hanger with laterally extendible arms 30.40 to adjust the spacing between support members 31,41, so as to precisely match the width of the hanger to the belt loop spacing of the garment 200 to be supported.

In place of tabs or discs, novelty items may also be provided as support members 31.41. These support members also provide an opportunity to apply advertising material to the hanger.

As shown in Figs. 5 & 6, the present inventive hanger may also be combined with other conventional type hangers for garments other than trousers or skirts to form a dual or multi-tiered hanger. This embodiment provides a conventional jacket or coat hanger 2 as an upper tier and the inventive garment hanger 1 as a lower tier underneath.

As shown more clearly in Figure 6, the upper tier of this hanger is provided by a conventional jacket or coat hanger 2. The upper support arms 50 are provided with broad or divergent ends to support a jacket or coat in a manner already known.

The lower tier 1 of the garment hanger is constructed in a manner similar to the garment hangers shown in Figs. 1-3. The dual tiered hanger shown in Figures 5 and 6 is ideal for supporting a suit with the jacket hung on upper tier 2 and the trousers or skirt hung on lower tier 1. It is also possible to provide a multi-tiered hanger in this way with any number of hangers being connected to form a mutually parallel spaced apart array of garment support arms 30, 40 and support members 31, 41.

While it is envisaged that the inventive hanger may be formed from any suitable material such as wire, plastic, wood or a combination thereof it will be particularly inexpensive to produce by conventional plastic injection moulding.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A garment hanger constructed from substantially inflexible material and comprising a head portion for releasably attaching said hanger to an appropriate mounting, a shoulder portion extending from said head portion and a pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of said shoulder portion, each of the support arms having a substantially two-dimensional support member on its free end sized to pass through the belt loop of a garment and configured to provide an upwardly outwardly extending edge, such that in use the belt loops engaged by the hanger are urged towards the shoulder portion of the hanger.

2. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein the support arms are substantially two-dimensional and coplanar with their respective support members.

3. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein each support member is provided by a substantially vertically oriented projection, tab or disc formed integrally with its respective support arm.

4. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the support members are provided by flared portions on each end of said support arms, the greatest dimension of said flared portions being smaller than the opening through the belt loop of the garment to be supported and greater than that portion of a support arm directly adjacent to flared portions.

5. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the garment hanger has two or more tiers, each tier comprising a shoulder portion, a pair of outwardly extending support arms and a support member on the free end of each support member, each tier being connected to one or more adjacent tiers to form a mutually parallel spaced apart array of support arms/support members.

6. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 5 wherein at least one tier of the garment hanger is provided by a conventional jacket or coat hanger.

7. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the support arms are laterally extendible to alter the spacing between the support members.

8. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each support arm includes a plurality of support members to thereby engage two or more belt loops on a garment.

9. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims constructed from injection moulded plastic.

10. A garment hanger comprising a head portion for releasably attaching said hanger to an appropriate mounting, a body extending downwardly from said head portion, an upper pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of an upper portion of said body, said upper support arms having broad or divergent ends adapted to support a jacket or coat, and a lower pair of garment support arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of a lower portion of said body, each of the lower support arms having a substantially two-dimensional support member on its free end sized to pass through the belt loop of a garment and configured to provide an upwardly outwardly extending edge, such that in use the belt loops engaged by the hanger are urged towards the body of the hanger.

11. A garment hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.