Garment drying hanger

Abstract

A sturdy and inexpensive garment drying hanger apparatus used for drying multiple items of lingerie, bathing suits, delicate articles of clothing, and similar items in an efficient space and manner. The garment drying hanger comprises a central hook and upper and lower support bars that run parallel and are joined by side vertical support bars that slope downward from top to bottom. Attached to the upper and lower support bars are multiple hooks extending in opposite directions from which multiple items of clothing can be hung in spatial relationship to one another in order to allow maximum separation and air flow to accommodate drying of wet clothes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. U.S. 60/995,415 filed on Sep. 26, 2007 by the present inventors.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None.

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

None.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention is directed to the field of garment hangers specifically a hanger with multiple hooks located on opposite sides of the hanger body that may be used for hanging undergarments, bathing suits, and similar nontraditional clothing.

2. Prior Art

Hangers have been used to support clothing in various settings such as to display the garment, to store the garment, to transport the garment, and to dry the garment. Most hangers employ a similar design consisting of a hook attached to a horizontal structure generally triangular in shape. This classic hanger design and the modifications and improvements on that design were focused on use with a singular garment such as a shirt, coat, or pants. These hangers did not adequately address the needs of unique items of clothing such as brassieres, bathing suits, and small, delicate garments.

Most lingerie, bathing suits, and delicate garments are constructed of materials such as nylon, spandex, and other synthetics which require special washing and drying care. In order to retain their form and function, most of these garments may be machine washed in cold water, but not machine dried. Consequently, these garments must be draped or clipped over various objects or on a clothes line in order to air dry. This can require a significant amount of household space, be inefficient and unsightly and it is often difficult to secure the garments so they do not become dislodged from their drying location by wind or movement.

Certain garment hangers were developed to address these special items of clothing. U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,825 to Grimberg (1955) discloses a hanger design with a hook attached to a horizontal bar at the midpoint position. Attached to the horizontal bar are four clothes pins to which undergarments may be attached. This hanger is generally unnecessarily bulky and unattractive in appearance. Construction and assembly is made more difficult with the separate and distinct parts that must be combined to create the final product. This design is also limited by the presence of only four structures for hanging that place all of the garments in the same plane. U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,860 to Urich (1964) discloses a hanger that possesses indentations within the body of the hanger frame. These indentations remove the need for a bulky additional element such as the clothes pins, but the hanger faces limitations in the number and types of items that may be placed on the hanger.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,549 to Driscoll (1973) discloses a brassiere hanger and display system designed to easily and conveniently display and presumably dry brassieres. However, this invention is only able to hold one brassiere per hanger and appears to be designed exclusively for brassieres. Additional drying apparatus have been disclosed such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,114 to Douglas (1987) disclosing a hanger designed specifically for drying garments. However, this invention is not designed specifically for undergarments and delicate items, and it is not designed to hold multiple items at once. The prior art in this field generally suffer a number of disadvantages such as a failure to present a clean and attractive design that can be mass produced in an efficient form that is also sturdy and able to last for a long period of time, the inability to hold unique garments such as lingerie or bathing suits, or the inability to hold multiple unique items simultaneously without resulting in a cluttered and unmanageable configuration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment a garment hanger comprises a central body consisting of a four-sided elongated body in a general parallelogram design with the top shaft shorter in length than the bottom shaft. A hanging hook is positioned at the midline of the upper shaft to be used for hanging on closet rods or similar permanent supports. The lower shaft contains four garment hooks that are evenly spaced and protruding away from the body of the hanger. Along the opposite side of the upper shaft, three garment hooks are evenly spaced at the outer edges and midpoint. Beneath the large hook is an open space in the form of pentagon wherein the middle hook is attached to the lower shaft of the pentagon.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a garment drying hanger that allows multiple garments to be dried at the same time within a limited space. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simple, easy to use device that does not require extensive directions, maintenance, or prior knowledge on the part of the user. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hanger that is generally lightweight, sturdy, and compact for the storage of multiple garments that may be hung in spatial relationship to one another in order to allow maximum separation and air flow to accommodate drying of wet clothes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front elevation view of the hanger showing the positioning of the garment hooks on that side;

FIG. 2 shows a back elevation view of the hanger showing the positioning of the garment hooks on that side;

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the hanger displaying the relative horizontal positioning of the garment hooks;

FIG. 4 shows an isolated view a single garment hook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings labeled FIGS. 1 and 2, the garment drying hanger of the present invention is identified generally as 10 of general construction of light-weight plastic or other material of similar strength, weight, and durability. The garment drying hanger 10 is comprised of four support bars 12, 14, 16, and 18. The upper horizontal support bar 14 runs at a slight downward angle away from the center of garment drying hanger 10 and generally maintains a constant width. The lower horizontal support bar 12 is of the same vertical width as upper horizontal support bar 14, but runs straight across the width of garment drying hanger 10 without any slope. Left vertical support bar 16 and right vertical support bar 18 are of equal lengths and serve to connect upper horizontal support bar 14 and lower horizontal support bar 12 at rounded corners 20, 22, 24, and 26. Left vertical support bar 16 and right vertical support bar 18 generally slope downward from upper horizontal support bar 14 downward to lower horizontal support bar 12.

Upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 are evenly spaced along the length of upper horizontal support bar 14. Lower hooks 36, 38, 40, and 42 are evenly spaced along the length of lower horizontal support bar 12. Upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 extend away from upper horizontal support bar 14 in a direction opposite from the direction that lower hooks 36, 38, 40, and 42 extend from lower horizontal support bar 12. Upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 and lower hooks 36, 38, 40, and 42 protrude from upper horizontal support bar 14 and lower horizontal support bar 12, respectively, at a sufficient length and upward curvature to securely retain garments on the hanger so that garments within one plane of garment drying hanger 10 do not interfere with garments on the opposite side of garment drying hanger 10.

At the midpoint of upper horizontal support bar 14 is a pentagonal cavity 50 comprised of base 52, side arms 54, and upper arms 56. Base 52 is a straight, horizontal bar that runs just below upper horizontal support bar 14. Hook 32 is attached to base 52. Side arms 54 slope upward and outward away from base 52 and toward upper horizontal support bar 14. Upper arms 56 complete the enclosure of pentagonal cavity 50 by sloping upward from upper horizontal support bar 14 to central hook 60.

Attached to garment drying hanger 10 is central hook 60 having a curved end 62 to engage a bar, rack, or rod for hanging garment drying hanger 10. Curved end 62 of central hook 60 is connected to garment drying hanger 10 through a curved neck 64 that joins in a continuous mold with upper arms 56 of pentagonal cavity 50.

Referring now to the drawings labeled as FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, which illustrates an overhead or top view of garment drying hanger 10 and an isolated view of upper hook 32. As shown in FIG. 3, upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 extend away from upper horizontal support bar 14 in a certain direction to be determined by the maker while lower hooks 36, 38, 40, and 42 extend away from lower horizontal support bar 12 in the opposite direction. FIG. 3 also illustrates that upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 are equally spaced along upper horizontal support bar 14 while lower hooks 36, 38, 40, and 42 are also equally spaced along lower horizontal support bar 12 at locations in between the points where upper hooks 30, 32, and 34 are located.

The embodiment of garment drying hanger 10 as described and shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 will generally provide surfaces that are smooth and rounded in order to avoid clothing and garments from snagging or catching during use. From the description and drawings referenced above, a number of advantages may be perceived including the ability to hang multiple undergarments, bathing suits, and similar unique clothing items from a single hanger to provide more efficient and effective air drying. This embodiment allows for garments to be hung in spatial relationship to one another in order to allow maximum separation and air flow to accommodate drying of wet clothes.

While there have been shown and described what are considered to be certain embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail can be implemented without varying from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is understood that the embodiments described herein is merely an example of the application of the principles of the invention, and it is therefore intended that the invention not be limited to the exact form and detail described and shown herein nor to anything less than the whole of the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A hanger for holding articles of clothing comprising:

(a) An elongated body member of lightweight material having an upper horizontal support that slopes downward from the center toward a generally straight lower horizontal support of greater length than said upper support bar joining a left vertical support and a right vertical support of equal lengths that slope downward from said upper support bar to said lower support bar;

(b) a central hook member extending upward from the approximate center of said upper support bar with said central hook containing a curved neck region and a U-shaped end;

(c) multiple upper hook members with upward curvatures extending outward and perpendicular to said upper horizontal support and multiple lower hook members extending outward and perpendicular to said lower support bar in the opposite plane from said upper hook members.

2. The garment drying hanger according to claim 1 wherein said upper support bar forms a pentagonal cavity beneath the area where said central hook member extends upward from said upper support bar having a base support that runs parallel to said lower support bar, two side arms that slope upward away from said base, and two curved upper arms that join said side arms to said central hook member.

3. The garment drying hanger according to claim 2 wherein said lower support bar contains four lower hook members equally spaced and extending outward and perpendicular to said lower support bar and said upper support bar contains three upper hook members extending outward and perpendicular to said upper support bar in a plane opposite from said four lower hook members with all said lower hook members and upper hook members possessing an upward curvature.