Garment supporting stand

Apparel apparatus – Supports – bases and strands

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06176400

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus configured to support garment at a convenient level above the floor.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Garments are optimally maintained on hangers sized appropriately to the garment. Unsuitable sized hangers will result in distortion at the shoulder portion of the garment especially to the expensive knit wear and leather jackets. The correction result can be achieved either by using differently sized fixed width hangers or by using adjustable width hangers.
Hotel guests are of a wide range of body sizes. It is impossible for hotel operators to predict the body size of the hotel guests and to supply suitable fix sized hangers. Therefore the adjustable size hanger is a necessity for hotel operators to appropriately service the hotel guests and protect their valued fashion and overcoat. It is also convenient for the hotel guests if each hotel room is equipped with an adjustable width garment hanger mounted on a floor stand. In addition to the convenience, the bulky size of a floor stand integrated with an adjustable hanger will prevent an innovative adjustable garment hanger to be removed from the room by the customers. Alternatively, a securely wall mounted adjustable garment hanger will also achieve the same service enhancement and security effects.
The prior art is replete with various configurations of garment hangers which incorporate structure for selectively adjusting the hanger's width to accommodate different size garments. Applicant's issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,019, 5,511,701 and 5,664,710 disclose some such structures as do certain ones of the references U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,024,954, 5,044,535, 2,477,873, European patents DE-C-286 192, WO-A-94 02056, DE-U-88 04 572 and DE-A-40 07 320 cited therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an adjustable garment hanger integrally mounted on a floor stand or securely mounted onto a panel. The garment hanger is incorporated with improved reciprocal adjustment mechanism for adjusting the hanger's width. An improved reciprocal transfer mechanism perfectly tracks the movement of both extension members and maintain the exact symmetry of the garment hanger.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an adjustable garment hanger having first and second elongated support arms, a transfer mechanism; and first and second extension members mounted respectively for translation along the first and second support arms. The first and second support arms are supported relative to one another at an obtuse angle therebetween; and in that each of the extension members couples to the transfer mechanism for reciprocal translation of the extension members along their respective support arms.
In one preferred embodiment of an adjustable garment hanger in accordance with the present invention when force is applied on the first extension member in the direction along the axis of the respective first support arm, the force is translated to the second extension member for reciprocal motion of the second extension member along the second support arm.
In another preferred embodiment the transfer mechanism is at least one wheel and in that each of the extension members includes a tongue coupled to the wheel for reciprocal translation of the extension members along their respective support arms.
In a further preferred embodiment means are provided for guiding each of the tongues along a path that is tangent with the wheel for engagement thereof. Conveniently, each of the paths includes a first segment substantially aligned with one of the support arms and a second segment substantially aligned with the other of the support arms. Moreover, the tongue of each extension member is preferably a flexible tongue.
In another preferred embodiment the transfer mechanism composed a driving means such as a turning knob. The turning knob is coupled to the wheel to facilitate manual turning thereof for translation of the extension members. When the knob is turned, the driving power is distributed into two paths, each directs the adjustment of an extension member. In many preferred embodiments, the reciprocal adjusting characteristics and the distribution of turning power to both extension members can be achieved at the same time. Conveniently, a motor is included in the transfer mechanism to deliver the driving power.
In a further embodiment there are provided at least first and second wheels mounted approximate to the medial portion between the support arms for rotation; the first extension member being coupled to the first wheel; said second extension member being coupled to the second wheel; and the first wheel coupled to the second wheel for reciprocal translation of the extension members along their support arms.
In yet a further embodiment a transfer mechanism preferably comprising at least a first wheel mounted approximal to the medial portion for rotation; each of the extension members having an inner end and an outer end, the movement paths of the inner end of the extension members cross over each other side by side at a location proximal to the top of the medial portion; and the inner ends of each extension member is coupled to the transfer mechanism for reciprocal translation of the extension members along their support arms. Conveniently, there are provided two wheels mounted for rotation on spaced apart axes and with peripheral coupling therebetween; and a substantially non-flexible tongue extending from each of the first and second extension members to contact a respective one of the wheels, the tongues being arranged to cross-over in the medial portion when the extension members are at their innermost position on the support arms. In this design room is required on top of the transfer mechanism to accommodate the terminal ends of the tongues. Advantageously, in any of the embodiments the wheels or the first wheel includes a plurality of peripherally defined teeth and each inner end of the extension members defines a plurality of teeth. Although the tongues of each extension members is preferably to be of a rigid structure for this embodiment, it can also comprise a flexible region.
The reciprocal adjustment assembly is then mounted onto a supporting structure such as a frame, which stands on the floor. The assembly is preferably to be permanently mounted, such as by bonding or by screws in order that the hanger assembly and the stand assembly not to be easily separated.
Alternatively the adjustable hanger assembly is configured to be mounted against a panel such as the wall inside a closet, a wall inside a hotel room or behind a door.
The combination of the reciprocal adjustment assembly with a supporting structure such as a floor stand or panel is very important for hotel operators. Firstly it provides dimension perfect to the valuable clothing of the hotel guests of different body sizes. Secondly, it provides a much better usage convenience to the hotel guest which is incomparable by a regular hanger positioned inside a closet. Thirdly, with a proper supporting structure, the adjustable hanger assembly is consistently positioned at convenient height level above the floor which better service the hotel guests when they return to their rooms. Fourthly, the location of the supporting structure is usually selected to be positioned at a convenience location, such as close to the hotel room entrance area or just outside a bath room door, while all regular hangers are located inside a closet. Fifthly, this combination will be very effective to resolve an unexpected problem for hotels willing to pay the premium for any innovative adjustable hangers to better service their customers. The problem was that many hotel guests took away the innovative adjustable hangers from the rooms when they check out. This problem is much less serious when only regular hangers are used. The securely wall mounted design or relative bulky floor stand mount design makes the innovative adjustable hanger impossible to be removed when the guests check out.
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