Hanger support

Abstract

A hanger support assembly for use with clothes hangers comprising a frame having a plurality of hanging retaining clips thereon, a support arm pivotally connected to the frame, and a mounting bracket for mounting the support arm to a substrate. The hanger support assembly may be secured in one or more locations with the frame also being designed be used in conjunction with a clothesline.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a support structure, and more particularly relates to a support structure for hangers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The use of hangers for holding clothing items has been known for many years. Hangers have evolved from a bent wire frame to more recent plastic molded hangers. However, the shape and function have remained basically the same.

[0003] Normally, the hangers are used to hang the clothes in a cupboard or other storage place. Occasionally, the hangers are themselves merely placed on hooks or the like which are mounted on a wall or other substrate.

[0004] When the laundry is done, clothes are frequently dried on a clothesline wherein they are either clipped to the line by means of clothes pins or alternatively, hung on hangers which are then put on the clothesline. However, a problem is that the hangers tend to slide along the clothesline and will not retain the position where they are placed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a support for hangers and which support may be utilized in a variety of locations and for different purposes.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hanger support assembly suitable for use with clothes hangers, the hanger support assembly comprising, a frame, the frame having hanger retaining means thereon, a support arm pivotally secured to the frame, and a mounting bracket for mounting the support arm to a substrate.

[0007] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a frame suitable for use with clothes hangers and designed to operate in conjunction with a clothesline, the frame having a body with apertures extending therethrough, a plurality of hanger retaining members mounted on an upper portion and a lower portion of the frame, and a plurality of guide members on an upper portion of the frame, each of the guide members being designed to fit over a clothesline and be retained thereby.

[0008] The frame member, as stated above, is designed to receive a plurality of clothes hangers thereon. To this end, the frame member is provided with hanger retaining means in a plurality of locations on the frame member. In a preferred embodiment, the hanger retaining means comprise a plurality of resilient clips designed to receive the conventional neck of a clothes hanger. The clips preferably are of the well know type having a pair of resilient ears designed to receive a member therebetween. Different sizes may be employed depending upon the size of the hanger intended to be supported thereby.

[0009] The support arm is pivotally connected to the frame by suitable means such that the frame may be pivoted thereabout to a plurality of different positions and retained in a given position. A separate connecting member may be utilized as is well known in the art.

[0010] The support arm, in one embodiment of the invention, is of an L-shaped configuration although it is within the scope of the invention that other suitable configurations may be utilized.

[0011] The other end of the support arm is designed to fit within a mounting bracket which in turn may be connected to a suitable substrate. Conventional mounting means such as mechanical fasteners that may be employed.

[0012] The assembly of the present invention may be formed of any suitable materials such as metallic or plastic material. It suffices to say that such materials have been well known in the art for many years for similar uses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating embodiments thereof, in which:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a hanger support system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the hanger support;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a mounting bracket;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the support arm;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the system mounted on a wall; and

[0019] FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating views of the hanger support on a clothesline.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Referring to the drawings in a greater detail, and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a support assembly which is generally designated by reference numeral 10. Support assembly 10 is formed of a support arm generally designated by reference numeral 12, a mounting bracket generally designated by reference numeral 14, a frame mounting member generally designated by reference numeral 16, and a frame generally designated by reference numeral 18.

[0021] Support arm 12, as may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, has a horizontal section 20 and a vertical section 22 which are connected by an arcuate connecting section 24. The sections are formed of a tubular material and there is a first aperture 25 formed proximate a distal end of horizontal section 20 and an aperture 26 located proximate the distal end of vertical section 22.

[0022] Mounting bracket 14 has a base plate 28 in which there are provided a pair of mounting apertures 30. Secured to base plate 28 is a cylindrical tube portion 32 and which has a vertical slot 34 formed on the front face thereof. A horizontal slot 36 is also formed on tube 32 proximate a lower end thereof. A plurality of downwardly extending recesses 38 are formed in conjunction with horizontal slot 36. An enlarged portion 40 is formed in vertical slot 34 for reasons which will be discussed hereinbelow. A connecting pin 42 having an enlarged head 44 is provided and which is designed to extend through aperture 26 in vertical section 22.

[0023] Frame mounting member 16 has a vertical plate 48 from which extend a pair of spaced rear flanges 70 and a pair of front flanges 68.

[0024] Frame 18 includes a central body 56 having a plurality of openings 58 formed therein for purposes of appearance and weight. Mounted on an upper portion of body 56 are a plurality of upper hanger retaining means 60 while on a lower portion there are provided lower hanger retaining means 62. Each hanger retaining means comprises a clip having a base plate 64 along with a pair of C-shaped ears 66 to receive a portion of a hanger therebetween.

[0025] Thus, each of the hanger retaining means 60 and 62 are formed of a resilient type material and are designed to retain a portion of a hanger thereon. It will be noted that in the illustrated embodiment, upper hanger retaining means 60 extends upwardly from the central body while lower hanger retaining means 62 extends outwardly therefrom.

[0026] Frame mounting member 16, as may be seen in FIG. 1, is mounted to horizontal section 20 of support arm 12 by means of a bolt 72 which extends through flanges 70 and is retained by means of a wing nut 74. Similarly, frame mounting member 16 has frame 18 mounted thereon by means of a bolt 76 and wing nut 78.

[0027] As may be seen in FIG. 5, mounting bracket 14 may be suitably secured by means of screws 82 to an adjacent wall structure.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 6, frame 18 may be utilized alone by means of a plurality of guide members 84 to be supported on the upper portion of a clothesline C while the bottom of frame 18 is supported by the lower portion of clothesline C. Hangers H are retained by hanger retaining means 60.

[0029] It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A hanger support assembly suitable for use with clothes hangers, the hanger support assembly comprising:

a frame, said frame having hanger retaining means thereon;

a support arm pivotally secured to said frame; and

a mounting bracket for mounting said support arm to a substrate.

2. The hanger support assembly of claim 1 wherein said mounting bracket is pivotally connected to said support arm such that said support arm may move between first and second positions.

3. The hanger support assembly of claim 2 further including means for retaining said support arm in each of said first and second positions.

4. The hanger support assembly of claim 1 wherein said hanger retaining means comprises a plurality of hanger retaining members mounted on an upper portion and a lower portion of said frame.

5. The hanger support assembly of claim 4 wherein said hanger retaining members comprise resilient C-shaped clips.

6. The hanger support assembly of claim 5 wherein said frame is formed of a plastic material.

7. The hanger support assembly of claim 1 wherein said frame further includes a plurality of guide members extending upwardly therefrom, said guide members being designed to engage a clothesline.

8. A frame suitable for use with clothes hangers and designed to operate in conjunction with a clothesline, the frame having a body with apertures extending therethrough, a plurality of hanger retaining members mounted on an upper portion and a lower portion of said frame, and a plurality of guide members on an upper portion of said frame, each of said guide members being designed to fit over a clothesline and be retained thereby.