Attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar

Abstract

A supplemental clothes hanger bar is carried on upstanding arms, the arms each terminating in a hook at the top. The hooks are sized and spaced so that they can engage on the bar of a conventional wire clothes hanger to provide an attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar under the wire clothes hanger. A series of such attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bars can be serially connected below the wire clothes hanger so that a sufficient number is provided for the number of flexible items such as garments which are to be hung together.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE

This application relies for priority on Provisional Application 61/572,376 filed Jul. 13, 2011, entitled “Attachment to Increase Versatility of a Garment Hanger” and on Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/626,414 filed Sep. 26, 2011, entitled “Attachment for Garment Hanger Bent Wire and Tube” and on Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/626,415 filed Sep. 26, 2011, entitled “Attachment for Garment Hanger Bent Wire”, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by this reference.

BACKGROUND

In the garment retail business, the provision of uniforms and in the garment cleaning business, garment hangers are widely used. These hangers must be strong enough to hold various garments in the position required. They must be easy to use put the garment on the hanger and remove it therefrom. The garment hanger must hold the garment in place and not permit it to easily slip off. The garment hanger must not cause any undesired creasing of the garment. It must not leave any unwanted marks on the garment regardless of the environment in which the hanger is used. The garment hanger must not be bulky for shipping and storage reasons. In addition, the garment hanger must work well with all garment racks. Such garment hangers can be made out of many different materials, including but not limited to wood, metal wire, plastic moldings, die cut plastic, or paper products.

In addition, in some utilizations, the garment hanger must be very economic. The demand for inexpensive hangers arises severely in the garment cleaning business. When the garment is cleaned, it is returned to the owner on a hanger. In order to keep costs down, the garment hanger must be inexpensive. Wire hangers can be utilized to meet this need in the garment hanger business.

It will be desirable to provide one or more supplemental hanger bars to a conventional single wire hanger to permit several garments to be conveniently supported together by a single hanger. This has the advantage of reducing the space needed to hang the garments. In dry cleaning businesses, the garments which are ready to be returned to the customers are commonly held on an overhead chain. Hanging several garments on one hanger reduces the need for chain length, and this is advantageous. In addition to reducing the chain length, it is more convenient to the cleaner to keep garments together when they belong to the same customer. In this manner, there is less likelihood of separating garments which belong in a group. In addition, attaching a supplemental bar requires less material and manufacturing time than a complete hanger. Thus it is an economic value for the attachable supplemental clothes hanger bar to be attachable onto a conventional clothes hanger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to aid in the understanding of this invention it can be stated in essentially summary form that it is directed to an attachable supplemental clothes hanger bar configured to be attachable and detachable to a conventional wire and similar coat hanger.

It is a purpose and advantage of this invention to provide an attachable supplemental clothes hanger bar which can be attached and detached from a conventional garment clothes hanger so as to provide one or more additional attachable and detachable clothes hanger bars.

It is another purpose and advantage of this invention to provide an attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar which is strong enough to hold various items and garments in the position required, easy to use, hold the garment in place and not allow it to slip off, not cause any undesired creasing of the garment, not leave any unwanted marks on the garment and be inexpensive. The attachable and detachable clothes hanger bar is capable of holding various items, including garments, bed clothing, drapery, and other fabric and nonfabric flexible items.

Other purposes and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following portion of the specification, the claims, and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the first preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing the attachable supplemental clothes hanger bar attached to wire coat hanger.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view showing two attachable supplemental clothes hanger bars sequentially engaged on a conventional wire clothes hanger.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the second preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view thereof.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view thereof showing it attached to a conventional wire coat hanger.

FIG. 8 is an elevational view thereof, showing two of the supplemental clothes hanger bar attached sequentially to the wire coat hanger.

FIG. 9 is perspective view of the third preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing it attached to a conventional clothes hanger.

FIG. 11 is an elevational view showing two of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bars sequentially attached to a wire coat hanger.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged section through the right end of the supplemental attachable clothes hanger bar.

FIG. 13 is a detailed view of upper portion of the arm of FIG. 12, showing its snap-on attachment to the lower hanger bar.

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of another preferred embodiment of the supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention as applied to a clothes hanger.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view thereof.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of the right end of the clothes hanger bar, as seen along the line c-c of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a detailed side view of a first preferred embodiment of an attachment insert.

FIG. 18 a similar view of a second preferred embodiment of the insert.

FIG. 19 a similar view of a third preferred embodiment of the insert.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A conventional wire clothes hanger is generally indicated at 10 in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the most common form, it is a single piece of wire. Hook 12 is formed at the top. Hook 12 is sized to engage over the normal closet bar and other similar types of supporting structures, including clothes racks and drycleaner's overhead chain. Below the hook 12 are shoulders 14 and 16 which are slightly angularly directed downward in order to engage within the shoulders of the garment. The shoulders are connected together by bar 18. This is a common type of an inexpensive clothes hanger for which the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention is suitable. Commonly the bar 18 carries folded paper stock to soften the crease line. In another inexpensive clothes hanger of similar construction, the bar 16 is made of a paper stock tube. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention is suitable for either style of wire coat hanger.

The first preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of this invention is generally indicated at 20 in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. The attachable and supplemental bar 20 is comprised of a single piece of wire, preferably wire stock of similar nature tube that utilized in the coat hanger 10. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 20 includes a clothes bar 22 which is substantially the same length as the bar 18. At the end of the clothes bar 22 are the upwardly extending arms 24 and 26. These arms respectively carry on the upper termination thereof hooks 28 and 30. The hooks are sized and shaped, as shown in FIG. 13, to resiliently engage and snap onto the bar 18 of hanger 10, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The clothes bar 22 is optionally fitted with folded paper stock, similar to the option for bar 18.

FIG. 4 shows the attachable and detachable bar 20 as being engaged on the bar 18 of hanger 10. It also shows attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 32, which is identical to the bar 20, detachably engaged on the clothes bar 22. In this way, it can be seen that a series of depending attachable and detachable supplemental clothes bars can be utilized. The number utilized is determined by the number of garments or other items to be hung on a single hanger. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of thus is suitable for a variety of different purposes with the selected number of the supplemental bars attached sequentially below the principle coat hanger to carry successive items, such as garments.

A second preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar is generally indicated at 34 in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 34 is the same as the bar 20, except that it is made of a rod of synthetic polymer composition material. It is molded into the shape of a straight bar 36 and upwardly directed arms 38 and 40 and hooks 42 and 44. As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 36 is detachably engaged on the cross bar of hanger 10. The hooks are configured to snap onto the hanger bar. In FIG. 8, an additional attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 46, which identical to the clothes hanger bar 34, is detachably attached to the bar of clothes hanger bar 34. There is sufficient flexibility in these attachable and detachable supplemental bars to permit the side bending to achieve this engagement. This is also true in the structure shown in FIG. 4. The cross bars of these supplemental bars can be equipped with a folded paper stock protector soften the fold line of the item hanging thereon.

FIGS. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 show a third preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar generally indicated at 48. In this preferred embodiment, the cross bar 50 is a paper stock tube. The lower ends of arms 52 and 54 are engaged in the ends of the tube, with the arm 54 shown in more detail in FIG. 12.

The tops of the arms have hooks 56 and 58 which are sized to engage over the bottom cross bar of the conventional garment hanger. The lower end of each arm includes an entry section 60 which extends into the open end of the cross bar 50. The entry section terminates in the hook 62 which is sized to resiliently engage into the inside of the paper stock tube. In this way, it resists pulling out of the cross bar 50. The same construction applies to the arm 52. The arm 52 and 54 are spaced, like the other upstanding arms of the embodiments, to engage on the cross bar 18 of the coat hanger 10. FIG. 13 shows the hook 58 with a bill 59 angularly directed away from the upright 54 to make it easy to snap unto the bar 18.

FIG. 11 illustrates the attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar 48 engaged on the cross bar of the hanger 10. It also shows an attachable and detachable supplemental bar 64 detachably attached to the bar 48. This illustrates that multiple attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bars can be serially attached to the hanger 10, with a number related to the number of garments or other items which are to be hung on a single clothes hanger 10.

FIGS. 14, 15 and 16 show another preferred embodiment of the attachable and detachable clothes hanger bar of this invention. The conventional wire hanger is shown at 10. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar is indicated at 66. The bar 66 is comprised of a paperstock, or the like, tube with attachment clips 70 and 72 in the ends. The attachment clips are sized to slide into and engage in the ends of the tube. As seen in FIG. 17, the attachment clips may be injection polymer material molded with barbs 74 and 76 across from slot 78. Eye 80 is sized as an attachment hook to engage on the wire hanger at its bends between shoulders 14 and 16 and bar 18. When the attachment clips are inserted into the ends of the tubular crossbar, the attachment clips are snapped onto the wire hanger at the bends. This places the paperstock tube just above the hanger crossbar to protect any garment or other item against creasing on the wire hanger crossbar.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show two other optional constructions of attachment clips. Attachment clip 82 shown in FIG. 18 is molded of polymer material in a U shape. The outer sides of the U legs are barbed and are sized to press into the paperstock tube. The U is sized to engage around the hanger wire. FIG. 19 shows attachment clip 84, which is formed of resilient wire. It is sized to press into the ends of the paperstock tube and lock therein. The loop 86 is sized to engage the hanger wire.

The sizing and configuring of each attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar is such that an item such as a garment can be hung onto the supplemental bar and the hooks on top of the arms can be engaged onto the cross bar of the conventional hanger. This permits positioning of the garment onto the cross bar of the supplemental bar and then hooking the supplemental bar onto the hanger. This can be repeated serially on the hanger with one supplemental clothes hanger bar depending from the next above until the need for that particular garment hanging function is satisfied.

This invention has been disclosed in several embodiments. It is clear that further embodiments and modifications are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. An attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar comprising:

a cross bar having first and second ends, said cross bar be suitable for the hanging of a flexible item such as a garment thereon; and

first and second arms respectively attached to said first and second ends of the said cross bar and extending upwardly with respect thereto, said first and second arms respectively having first and second hooks, said hooks being sized to engage on the cross bar of wire coat hanger, said first and second arms being spaced from each other so that both of said hooks can engage at the same time on the crossbar of a conventional wire garment hanger so that said supplemental clothes hanger bar can be attached and detached from a wire coat hanger to provide additional hanging space.

2. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 1 wherein said clothes hanger bar is formed of a single piece of material.

3. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 2 wherein said bar and said arms and said hooks are formed of a single piece of steel wire.

4. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 2 wherein said cross bar, said arms and said hooks are formed of a single piece of synthetic polymer composition material.

5. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 1 wherein said cross bar is formed of tubing and said arms and hooks are each formed of steel wire attached to said tubing.

6. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 5 wherein said arms are sufficiently flexible that a plurality of said supplemental clothes hanger bars can be serially hung with respect to each other and said hooks of a specific clothes hanger bar are engaged on the clothes hanger bar thereabove to provide a selectable series of attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bars.

7. An attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar comprising:

a cross bar suitable for hanging flexible material such as clothing thereon, said cross bar having first and second ends;

first and second arms respectively attached to said first and second ends of said cross bar, said first and second arms each having a top end and a bottom end, first and second hooks respectively positioned at the top end of each of said first and second arms, said first and second hooks being configured to detachably engage upon the crossbar of a wire clothes hanger, said first and second arms being spaced sufficiently so that said first and second hooks can both engage at the same time on the cross bar of a wire clothes hanger, said first and second arms being sufficiently flexible so that when an attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar is attached to a wire clothes hanger, a second attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar substantially identical to first attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar can be detachably attached to said first attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar.

8. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 7 wherein said cross bar, said arms and said hooks are made of one piece of steel wire.

9. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 7 wherein said cross bar, said arms and said hooks are made of one piece of synthetic polymer composition material.

10. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 7 wherein said cross bar is made of non-metallic tubing and said arms and hooks are made of steel wire, said first and second arms being respectively engaged into the ends of said non-metallic tubing.

11. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 10 wherein engagement of said arms into said tubular cross bar includes a hook which engages within said tubular cross bar to resist withdrawing of said arm from said cross bar.

12. An attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar comprising:

a tubular cross bar having first and second ends, said cross bar be suitable for the hanging of a flexible item such as a garment thereon; and

first and second attachment clips respectively attached to said first and second ends of the said cross bar and, said first and second attachment clips respectively having first and second wire clothes hanger attachment devices, said attachment devices being sized to engage on the wire of a wire coat hanger, so that said supplemental clothes hanger bar can be attached and detached from a wire coat hanger.

13. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 12 wherein each of said attachment clips is molded of polymer material and has external barbs thereon, said barbs being sized to engage into said tubular crossbar.

14. The attachable and detachable supplemental clothes hanger bar of claim 12 wherein each of said attachment clips is formed of resilient wire and has an external hook thereon, said hook being sized to engage into said tubular crossbar.