Perfect shirt hanger

Abstract

Perfect Shirt Hanger is a premium-quality, hook-topped collapsible shirt hanger, manufactured in injection-molded thermoplastic or wood having the collapsible shoulder and upper-arm portions contoured and shaped to provide a crease-free hang for the shirt or other garment, and is flared somewhat to further preserve the garment's natural shape.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/191,407, filed Sep. 8, 2008, of common title and inventorship herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of clothing hangers and more specifically to the field of collapsible shirt hangers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The prior art has put forth several variation on retractable clothing hangers. These include:

U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,696 to Lam wherein is disclosed a foldable and self-opening garment hanger. Lam's hanger comprises a resilient force such as a spring for opening the hanger.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,257 to Ward discloses a folding hanger for garments and the like. The hanger of Ward comprises 2 wings, one of which has an integral hook for engaging a closet rod or the like, wherein the two wings latch together.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,584 to Adams describes a foldable hanger. The hanger of this invention comprises two arms and a central link. The central link is attached to the hook for engaging the closet rod. The link also comprises a latch for engagement of the arms.

None of these prior art devices describe or contemplate the collapsible hanger of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

President Thomas Jefferson invented a wooden coat hanger in the early 1800s, but it wasn't until the 1930s that modern, wire coat hangers were in universal use. Coat hangers are a good alternative to folding shirts, a good way to keep shirts from getting creased and wrinkled, but because the coat hanger frame is rigid, taking a shirt off a hanger is also, unfortunately, a good way to tear or otherwise damage the shirt. The invention to be discussed in this report is an improvement on the coat or shirt hanger, and is marketed to both household consumers and retailers.

Recognizing the potential to create a better shirt hanger, a new product, entitled the Perfect Shirt Hanger was invented. Simply stated, the Perfect Shirt Hanger is a premium-quality, hook-topped shirt hanger, manufactured in injection-molded thermoplastic by the plastics products industry, Standard Industrial Code 3089. (The Perfect Shirt Hanger could alternatively be manufactured in wood, at a considerably higher cost.) The shoulder and upper-arm portions of the Perfect Hanger are contoured and shaped to provide a crease-free hang for the shirt or other garment, and is flared somewhat to further preserve the garment's natural shape.

One embodiment is contemplated to be injection molded out of inexpensive plastic for the retail trade.

An alternative embodiment is contemplated to be a slightly heavier version for general consumer use.

A further alternative embodiment comprises a cedar version for more affluent consumers.

A further alternative embodiment comprises a spring actuated means for ease of opening the hanger.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved collapsible hanger.

This invention is directed to a foldable garment hanger of unitary plastic construction which incorporates a pair of opposed, pivotable, garment-supporting arms that can be articulated between open (i.e., unfolded and assembled) and closed (i.e., folded and disassembled) positions.

The articulation is achieved by means of a combination of hinges and an integral interconnecting link that extends between the shoulders of the arms.

Latches are provided for maintaining the arms in their respective fully open (i.e., fully assembled) and fully closed (i.e., fully disassembled) positions.

The hanger is simple and easy for the user to open or closed.

Moreover, the hanger employs relatively few flexible interconnections and interconnected movable parts, and incorporates a simple, reliable latching mechanism.

The hanger is believed to offer features and use advantages, including structural simplicity and reliability, that have not previously been available so far as now known in a foldable plastic garment hanger.

These and other objects, aims, purposes, features, benefits, advantages, embodiments and the like will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the present specification taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the collapsible hanger of the present invention showing the arm sections in the folded position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the collapsible hanger of the present invention showing the arm sections in the upright position.

FIG. 3 shows the collapsible hanger of the present invention in use.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the hanger of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Perfect Shirt Hanger, a shirt hanger featuring quick-release shoulders that fold down to allow a garment to simply glide off, presents a number of distinct and significant benefits and advantages. Foremost, the Perfect Shirt Hanger provides for crease-free hanging in a closet or on a retail store's racks, yet protects shirts and other garments from the tearing, ripping, and pulling that so often occur in removing garments from standard hangers. To the household consumer, of course, the Perfect Shirt Hanger means enhanced conservation and protection of valued garments; to a retail store operator, the Perfect Shirt Hanger means less damage to costly inventory.

One distinguishing feature of the Perfect Shirt Hanger is the ability of its two shoulder/upper-arm supports to fold downward, such that a shirt or other garment (dress, coat, jacket, sweater) could simply glide down off the hanger. This feature is achieved by equipping the two arms of the hanger with hinges, these hinges operated by a pair of spring-release locks at the base of the hanger's hook. A pair of molded release clips, one on either side of the hanger hook's shaft, is pressed together, releasing the locks and allowing the two arms of the hanger to fold downward vertically, and thus allow the shirt or other garment to simply slide down off the hanger with no possibility of ripping, stretching or tearing.

The Perfect Shirt Hanger is simple to use, requires no assembly or maintenance, and is sturdy enough to provide many years of reliable service.

The Perfect Hanger can be produced in several versions to accommodate the needs of retailers, average consumers, and more affluent consumers.

Simple in concept and designed for single-handed operation, the Perfect Shirt Hanger constitutes a vast improvement on the standard hangers now universally in use, suggesting an enormous potential market for this product.

A folding or collapsible shirt hanger, the shoulder sections of which fold downward to allow the shirt or other garment to safely glide off the hanger, the Perfect Shirt Hanger protects shirts, jackets, and other upper-body garments from tearing, ripping, or stretching when being removed from their hangers. Cleverly designed and eminently useful, the Perfect Shirt Hanger presents a considerable advance on the technology of garment hangers, and as such will find a wide and enthusiastic market among both the consumer households and clothing retailers.

Turning to FIG. 2, Hanger 10 incorporates a pair of arms 11 and 12 which can be articulated in longitudinally opposed relationship to each other between a fully open position as shown in FIG. 2, and a fully closed position as shown in FIG. 1. Various plastics can be employed; however, it is presently preferred to employ a thermoplastic polypropylene (including homopolymers, copolymers with other monomers, polyblends or the like) due to the capacity of such a polymer to be molded into a body.

Each arm 11 and 12 is generally symmetrically configured and similarly sized relative to the other arm.

In hanger 10 assembly, the upward and outward movement of the arm 11 relative to the arm 12 is limited by the edge 24 of central portion 28. When the arms 11 and 12 are in their extended and hanger 10 assembled, unfolded, and normal use configuration as shown in FIG. 2, the lower straight section of central portion 28 abuttingly engage and thereby limit or prevent further pivotal extension of the arms 11 and 12.

Thus, the arm 11 is pivotable relative to central portion 28 and the arm 12 is pivotable relative to central portion 28. Central portion 28 acts as the pivotal portion of a hinge during pivotal movements of the arms 11 and 12.

A hook 19 that is conveniently sized for engagement over a closet bar (not shown) or the like outwardly extends from integral association with central portion 28. Although alternative hook connecting arrangements and locations are possible, the presently preferred one is as shown in the FIG. 2 and involves the positioning of the base of hook 19 in the region of the joining between the arms 11 and 12 on central portion 28.

To stabilize and secure the arms 11 and 12 in the assembled hanger 10 use configuration shown in FIG. 2, a latch assembly is provided. Various latch assemblies and variations in latch assembly location can be used. Preferably, hanger 10 employs a latch assembly clip 14 that is positioned just above the pivot point of arms 11 and 12 on central portion 28.

Preferably, the interrelationship between the latch assembly clip 14 and the hook 19 is such that, when hanger 10 is fully assembled and latched, and the hook 19 is engaged fully and properly with a closet bar (not shown), the hanger 10 is in a centered and balanced relationship so that the arms 11 and 12 tend to hang in equally spaced relationship relative to the closet bar.

Thus, the arms 11 and 12, the central portion 28, and the hook 19 are interconnected with one another and movable relative to one another. These sections are, as shown, preferably generally equally spaced from one another, when the hanger 10 is in its collapsed or storage configuration.

The hanger 10 is openable from a disassembled storage configuration as into an assembled use configuration as shown in FIG. 2 with one hand, and also hanger 10 is closable from the assembled use configuration into the disassembled storage configuration with one hand.

In an alternative embodiment, the arms are spring loaded and actuated by the pressing of a button mounted on the central portion. When the button is pressed, the arms spring open into the ready to use position.

Although this invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto and various modifications which will become apparent to the person of ordinary skill in the art are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

Claims

1. A collapsible hanger comprising two arm sections which are joined by a central portion, the central portion comprising a hook for hanging and two clips for securing the two arms in place on the central portion.

2. A unitary foldable garment hanger comprising:

a) a pair of elongated arm means each having a shoulder, said shoulders being in adjacent relationship, each shoulder having a top portion and a bottom portion;

b) hinge means interconnecting adjoining respective said bottom portions so that said arm means articulate in opposed relationship to each other between respective outwardly extended positions and lowered adjacent positions; and

c) latch means.

3. The hanger of claim 2 which is openable from a disassembled storage configuration into an assembled use configuration with one hand, and which is closable from said assembled use configuration into a disassembled storage configuration with one hand.

4. The hanger of claim 2 wherein each said shoulder includes a portion which abuts against the other when said arm means are in said extended positions.

5. The hanger of claim 2 wherein, when said arms are in said lowered adjacent positions, said hook means and said latch means are in non-interfering relationship with each other and with said link means and said arm means.

6. The hanger of claim 2 wherein said arms, said link means, said hook means and said latch means are generally coplanar.

7. The hanger of claim 2 which is openable from a disassembled storage configuration into an assembled use configuration with one hand, and which is closable from said assembled use configuration into a disassembled storage configuration with one hand.