Apparel apparatus – Garment hangers
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-07
2003-04-01
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3765)
Apparel apparatus
Garment hangers
C223S089000, C223S094000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06540121
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
The present invention is generally related to the field of garment hangers, and specifically to a one-piece molded plastic collapsible garment hanger.
Background Art
Garments are sometimes overly stretched and/or damaged as a result of being removed from and placed on rigid hangers in the conventional manner. In addition, the convenience of removing the hanger is impeded by its rigidity.
The stretching of a garment usually occurs because the distance between the hanger arms is greater than the opening of the neck of the garment. To prevent damage to some types of clothing, hangers must be separated from the garment by manipulating the hanger down through the bottom of the garment. In so doing, the hook element may damage the garment. If the garment is a button type, the necessary number of buttons must be undone before removal.
Because of the small necks of some garments, garment hanger manufacturers have attempted to compensate for this problem by making the arm-spans of hangers short enough to manipulate into the necks of most garments. However, the short spans of the hanger arms are inadequate to support the average garment shoulder width.
Certain collapsible garment hangers have been introduced to remedy the deficiencies of rigid garment hangers. In one such device, the hanger has two arms that fold downward after a locking member is released. It also latches with a locking mechanism in the folded position. However, in this design, the release mechanisms need to be manually activated (say with a second hand) in order to release the hanger in either of its locked positions.
In another collapsible garment hanger device, the hanger has hinged elements molded into the mechanism that allow movement so as to latch the hanger in the up position. Application of a force on the center locking components of this device act to release the lock and allow the hanger arms to fold downward. However, in the collapsed position the arms extend outward at an angle of perhaps 40 degrees on either side, restricting its use to large necked garments. In addition, the release mechanism of this device must also be manually activated to release the hanger arms.
In yet another existing collapsible garment hanger device, the hanger has molded hinges and a spring element that allows the arms to latch in the up position. However, like the previous two device described above, a force must be applied to the locking spring element in order to unlatch it. Further, positive actions are required by the user to move the arms from one position to the other. Generally, two hands (or two sequential actions of one hand) are needed to hold and activate the release, and to allow movement to the second latched position.
In still another existing collapsible garment hanger device, the device takes the form of a three-member latching hanger with three separately assembled hinges. A positive squeezing action is needed to unlock the hinge locking mechanism. However, the squeezing force required to release the hanger is significantly larger than the weight of the garment. An alternative version of this design allows for heavier garments by included a fourth, sliding member to latch one of the hinges. However, in this alternate version, manual operation of the sliding member is needed as an additional step in collapsing the hanger.
SUMMARY
The present invention is directed toward a garment hanger that allows the arms of the hanger to be collapsed. This allows garments, and especially small-necked garments such as shirts, blouses and dresses, to be removed from, and placed onto the hanger, with relative ease and without stretch or hook damage. In general, the present collapsible garment hanger is a one-piece molded structure that includes a hook, two arms, at least one spring element, and in some versions, a base. The spring element or elements allow the hanger to be collapsed with one hand and without manual release of some type of locking mechanism, unlike most existing designs. Essentially, the spring or springs provide a positive force that maintains the arms at a desired angle in an extended position for a wide variety of garment weights. In addition, the spring or springs are configured so as to minimize the force required to collapse the hanger and to hold the hanger arms in the collapsed position. Specifically, the spring or springs can be configured to limit the maximum force required to collapse the hanger to be just beyond that of the maximum garment weight intended for the hanger, thereby resolving one of the drawbacks of some existing collapsible garment hangers. It is also noted that the collapsed position of the arms is such that the hanger will easily fit through the neck opening of most any garment being hung with the present hanger. Further, the spring or springs are configured to provide a small restoring force, thus allowing the hanger arms to spring back from the collapsed position when the collapsing force exerted by the user is removed. However, unlike some of the existing designs described previously, the arms do not lock when the hanger arms are collapsed, and so no manual release is required to return the arms to their extended position.
In one version of a collapsible garment hanger according to the present invention, a single spring element is employed that provides for a single-pivot spring action. Specifically, the hanger includes a hook element, which typically resembles the hook portion of any standard clothes hanger. There are also two supporting arms which act to support the garment being hung. These supporting arms are connected pivotally at one end by a hinge. A spring element extends at its midpoint from said hook element with one end terminating at one of the arms and the second end terminating at the other arm. The spring element is connected at its ends to the respective supporting arms by hinges. The spring element imparts a small upwardly-directed bias force to the supporting arms, which keeps them in the aforementioned outwardly extended position. In addition, when a downward force is applied by a user to the supporting arms that just exceeds the biasing force, the supporting arms rotate about their common hinge into the aforementioned collapsed position. As the supporting arms move into the collapsed position, the spring element elastically stretches, thereby creating an upward force that will return the arms to their extended position when the user-applied downward force is removed.
Multiple spring elements can also be employed in a nested pattern. This configuration allows the weight-bearing capacity of the hanger to be distributed among the multiple springs, thereby allowing each spring to be of smaller size than if just one spring were employed. Structurally, the multiple spring version would include at least one additional spring element, each of which is attached via hinges at their ends to the respective supporting arms, just as in the case of the primary spring. Each additional spring would extend between its ends within the boundary created the inward-facing surface of the next adjacent, outwardly-positioned spring element, thereby forming the aforementioned nested configuration.
The above-described multiple-spring hanger configuration could be further modified to allow customization of its weight handling capacity by the user. Essentially, this is accomplished by making the aforementioned additional spring elements of a removable type so the user can self-adjust the hanger collapsing force by adding or removing spring elements. For example, the locations on the supporting arms where the additional spring elements are attached could include a slot and the ends of the additional spring elements a nub that fits into and is secured within the slot. In this way the additional spring elements become push-in springs.
A color coding scheme can be implemented to differentiate the weight handling capacities of the collapsible garment hanger. For example, the color coding scheme as applied to a version of the hanger not employing removable spring element
Harvey & Harvey, LLC
Lyon Richard T.
Lyon & Harr LLP
Smith James G
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