Apparel apparatus – Garment hangers – Coat or dress
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-15
2001-12-11
Mohanty, Bibhu (Department: 3765)
Apparel apparatus
Garment hangers
Coat or dress
C223S089000, C223S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328186
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to devices from which clothes are hung. More specifically, the present invention relates to clothes hangers that can adapt to clothing articles of varying size and materials.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Conventional hangers are usually made of wire or rigid plastic or metal rods with a hook and neck centered perpendicularly to a shoulder with left and right opposing arms protruding at a downward angle. Some articles of clothing may be too narrow or too wide across the shoulder lines to properly fit on a fixed shape conventional hanger. In such situations the article of clothing does not hang properly on the hanger and is at risk of becoming permanently distorted by the hanger.
Typically, stretching or over-stressing localized areas of the clothing fabric, specifically in the neck area, which is pulled in either direction from its center position downward, can cause distortion. Also prone to distortion is the shoulder region where bumps may develop as the weight of the clothing article pulls downward under the force of gravity and the tips of the standard garment hanger push out at the shoulder area causing protrusions or bumps in the shoulder region. The distortion problem becomes worse with heavier garments e.g.: overcoats, jackets and sweaters, especially with open weaves. Knit garments are particularly prone to the problem of distortion.
In addition, some articles of clothing require special wash and dry considerations. It is not advisable to dry any sweaters or knit in the clothes dryer due to shrinkage problems. Since hanging wet items produces significant distortions in the neck and shoulder areas of the garment, wet items need to be laid on a flat surface to dry, which is not always convenient.
Adjustable hangers are known. Adjustable hangers provide a changeable shape that can be adjusted to conform to the shape of given garment. A wide variety of mechanical hangers are available which provide mechanisms to adjust the shape of the hanger to match the shape of the garment. One class of adjustable garment hangers includes those constructed of a deformable wire extending through the center of a tubular foam rubber section. U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,242 to Grahm shows an example of a hanger constructed of a flexible wire and tubular foam rubber section that is deformable by hand so as to conform to various garment shapes.
The arms of a deformable tubular foam and wire hanger should be easily adjustable by the user to conform to the shape of the garment. On the other hand, the arms of a deformable tubular foam and wire hanger that are too easily adjustable may not be rigid enough to support the weight of the garment. As a result, the rigidity/flexibility of the arms of a deformable tubular foam and wire hanger is a design compromise between weight bearing capability and ease of adjustment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is desirable that a deformable tubular foam and wire hanger has different deformation characteristics along the length of each of its arms. In particular it is desirable that the hanger arms be relatively more rigid (less flexible) in the region of the hanger arms nearest the center (i.e., the shoulder region), and relatively less rigid (i.e., more flexible) in the region of the hanger arms furthest from the center.
The improved hanger assembly has a relatively more rigid less flexible section for supporting the main weight of the garment near the center, and a relatively more flexible less rigid section that can be deformed by hand more easily to a desired shape, and retain that desired shape without external support.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, the collar of a deformable garment hanger provides an external skeleton to add rigidity along a first section of each arm of the deformable hanger nearest the center. In one variation of the first embodiment, the hanger collar includes a shoulder support extension beneath each hanger arm. In another variation of the first embodiment, the hanger collar includes a bottom bracket beneath each hanger arm.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, a variable diameter malleable wire provides different deformation characteristics along the length of each of its arms. The malleability/rigidity characteristics are controlled by tapering the diameter of the malleable wire from a larger value near the center, to a smaller value furthest from the center. A tapered malleable wire can provide precise linear or non-linear control over the deformation characteristics of the deformable garment hanger.
In accordance with one variation of the second embodiment, the malleable wire of the deformable garment hanger includes a first section having a relatively thicker diameter to add rigidity along a first section of each arm of the deformable hanger nearest the center. The malleable wire is then tapered to form a second section having a relatively thinner diameter to reduce rigidity (add flexibility) along a second section of each arm of the deformable hanger furthest from the center.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, the deformable garment hanger includes an internal tube to add rigidity along a first section of each arm of the deformable hanger nearest the center. In one variation of the third embodiment, the internal rigidity tube extends through the collar to both left and right arms. In another variation of the third embodiment, the internal rigidity tube terminates in an end receptacle in the collar and does not extend through the collar.
A deformable garment hanger in accordance with the present invention uses combinations of one or more elements of the individual embodiments and variations above.
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Jacobson Allan
Mohanty Bibhu
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