Three-piece swimwear hanger

Abstract

A garment hanger for hanging multiple garments in a garment set includes a hook member, a body member extending downwardly from the hook member, and first and second support arms extending outwardly from the body member. Each of the first and second support arms also includes an elongated slot accessible at a surface of its respective arm. First and second resilient clips extend downwardly from the support arms, and a central member is positioned between the first and second resilient clips. First and second resilient jaws extend downwardly from the central member, and are positioned below the first and second resilient clips. An additional jaw member is positioned between said first and second resilient jaws and extends downwardly from the central member.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§ 119(e) from U.S. Ser. No. 60/549,693, entitled “Three-Piece Swimwear hanger,” filed on Mar. 3, 2004. U.S. Ser. No. 60/549,693 was filed by at least one inventor common to the present application, and is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a garment hanger in general, and more particularly to a hanger capable of accommodating and displaying multiple garments at the same time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Swimwear is often presented and sold in a multi-piece garment set (including, for example, a swimwear bottom, top and skirt or cover). Prior art hangers for displaying such multiple-piece garment sets tend to be very long and/or high to accommodate the presentation of multiple pieces in the set. Thus, there exists the need for a swimwear hanger that can display multiple pieces in less space than has been achieved by prior art hangers, without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As taught herein, the present invention provides a garment hanger suitable for hanging multiple garments in a garment set together for storage and display. The inventive hanger comprises a hook member, a body member extending downwardly from the hook member, and first and second support arms extending outwardly from the body member. Each of the first and second support arms also includes an elongated slot accessible at a surface of its respective arm. First and second resilient clips extend downwardly from the support arms, and a central member is positioned between the first and second resilient clips. First and second resilient jaws extend downwardly from the central member, and are positioned below the first and second resilient clips. An additional jaw member is positioned between the first and second resilient jaws and extends downwardly from the central member.

As applied to a swimwear set, for example, the elongated slots may be used to hold the neck straps of a top for positioning the top, the first and second resilient clips may be used to hold the waistband of a bottom for positioning the bottom, and the first and second resilient jaws and jaw member may be used to hold and position a skirt. In this manner, the garments in the garments set may be compactly displayed by overlapping the garments in a manner that maintains relatively complete view of each garment from at least one of a front side and a back side of the hanger.

The features of the present invention taught herein enable the inventive hanger to have a reduced size and profile over prior art designs for multiple garment hangers. In other words, the horizontal distance between the ends of the hanger arms and the overall height of the hanger are reduced over prior art designs, without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

A more complete understanding of the invention may be obtained by reference to the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the three-piece swimwear hanger of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation thereof;

FIG. 4 is a left side elevation thereof;

FIG. 5 is a right side elevation thereof;

FIG. 6 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view thereof;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation view thereof shown with a swimwear piece being held therein;

FIG. 9 is a front elevation view thereof shown with an additional swimwear piece being held therein;

FIG. 10 is a front elevation view thereof shown with yet an additional swimwear piece being held therein; and

FIG. 11 is rear elevation view of the hanger of FIG. 10.

In the various figures, like reference numerals wherever possible designate like or similar elements of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is of the best mode or modes of the invention presently contemplated. Such description is not intended to be understood in a limiting sense, but to be an example of the invention presented solely for illustration thereof, and by reference to which in connection with the following description and the accompanying drawings one skilled in the art may be advised of the advantages and construction of the invention.

As shown for example in FIG. 2, the hanger 100 of the present invention generally comprises a support hook 10 with two outwardly extending support arms 20a. 20b on opposite sides of the hanger 100 as is know in the art. A side sizer 11 extending between the support hook 10 and a web 12 between the support hook 10 and a hanger body 21 may be provided as is also known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,887 to Bond et al.) to allow a customer to easily ascertain the size of the garment being held on the hanger.

An elongated slot 22a, 22b is provided on each arm 20a, 20b for accommodating a garment string, such as neck strap 210 of top 200 as shown, for example, in FIGS. 10 and 11. Such slot is usually provided on an upper surface of the support arm 20a, 20b as shown for example in FIG. 2.

A pair of resilient clips 30a, 30b extending downwardly from an area near the slots 22a, 22b is provided to accommodate a garment piece, such as the waistband 310 of a swimwear bottom 300 as shown in FIGS. 9-11. Each downwardly-extending clip 30a, 30b has a sinusoidal (wavy) edge profile 31 and a circular end profile 32 for efficient gripping without imparting sharp edge impressions in the garments. The clips 30a, 30b move forward and rearward relative to the hanger 100 as shown in FIG. 2 for example (i.e., into and out of the paper).

A pair of outwardly-extending resilient jaws 40a, 40b extending downwardly and at an angle from the bottom of the hanger 100 is provided to accommodate a garment piece, such a swimwear skirt 400 as shown in FIGS. 9-11. Such jaws have outwardly-separating teeth 41 provided to grip the garment held therein.

A further single downwardly-extending jaw 50 is provided along a central member 51 of the hanger (at a position along central member 51, for example, that is in alignment with the hanger hook 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 2) for gripping a garment such as the same garment being gripped by the pair of outwardly-extending resilient jaws 40a, 40b discussed above (see, e.g., FIG. 9). Such single jaw 50 could work in conjunction with the above-described pair of outwardly-extending jaws 401, 40b to securely grip a single garment at multiple locations.

As shown in the FIGS. 9-11, the hanger 100 of the present invention allows a customer to clearly view all garments without having to move or remove garments from the hanger. Prior art hangers capable of holding multiple garments have usually been designed so that some of the smaller garments are hidden by the larger garments. However, with the hanger of the present invention, even the smallest garment, such as the swimwear bottom 300 shown in FIG. 11, is in plain view. For example, the swimwear bottom 300 and skirt 400 are shown most clearly in FIG. 11, while the top 200 is shown most clearly in FIG. 10. Thus, a consumer is only required to twirl or flip the hanger 100 around to view the front and back of the hanger 100 to view the entirety of the multi-piece garment 200, 300, 400 held thereon, such that movement and/or removal of garments is not necessary to view all pieces.

Furthermore, the positioning and orientation of the clips 30a, 30b, slots 22a, 22b and jaws 40a, 40b, 50 as described above and shown in the drawings enables easy access to a consumer. Removal of any garment simply requires a forceful tug from the clips/jaws 30a, 30b, 40a, 40b, 50, or movement of a strap from the slots 22a, 22b. Accordingly, operating pinching clips (which may be difficult for some people to operate), removing tape, dismantling the garment or the like is not necessary for using the hanger of the invention.

In addition, the orientation and positioning of the clips 30a, 30b, slots 22a, 22b and jaws 40a, 40b, 50, and the manner in which garments are secured thereto, enables the hanger to have a reduced size and profile. In other words, the horizontal distance between the ends of the hanger arms and the overall height of the hanger can be reduced without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation. Prior art hangers for displaying multiple garments tend to be very long and/or high to accommodate the presentation of multiple pieces. Of course, such orientation and positioning of the holding members such as the slots, clips and jaws, may be modified as required by the user and/or manufacturer but without departing from the scope and requirements of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described at some length and with some particularity with respect to the described embodiments, it is not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed so as to provide the broadest possible interpretation and to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing describes the invention in terms of embodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling description was available, notwithstanding that insubstantial modifications of the invention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalents thereto.

Claims

1. garment hanger comprising:

a hook member;

a body member extending downwardly from said hook member;

first and second support arms extending outwardly from said body member, each of said first and second support arms including an elongated slot accessible at a surface of said arm;

first and second resilient clips respectively extending downwardly from said first and second support arms;

a central member, said central member being positioned between said first and second resilient clips;

first and second resilient jaws extending downwardly from said central member below said first and second resilient clips; and

a jaw member positioned between said first and second resilient jaws and extending downwardly from said central member.

2. The garment hanger of claim 1, further comprising:

a side sizer positioned between said hook member and said body.

3. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein said elongated slots of said first and second support arms are each accessible at an upper surface of a respective one of said first and second support arms.

4. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein each of said first and second resilient clips includes an edge profile having at least one portion that is wavy.

5. The garment hanger of claim 4, wherein said edge profile has a rounded portion at a free end of each respective resilient clip.

6. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein movable members in each of said first and second resilient clips are movable forward and rearward relative to a plane defined by said first and second support arms.

7. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein said first and second downwardly extending resilient jaws extend outwardly from a vertical axis of said garment hanger.

8. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein said first and second downwardly extending resilient jaws each outwardly-separating teeth for gripping a garment held therebetween.

9. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein said jaw member further includes outwardly-separating teeth fro gripping a garment held therebetween.

10. The garment hanger of claim 1, wherein said garment hanger is configured for displaying a swimwear garment set including a top, a bottom and a skirt.

11. The garment hanger of claim 10, wherein said elongated slots are configure to hold a neck strap of the top, said first and second resilient clips are configured to hold a waistband of the bottom, and said first and second resilient jaws and said jaw member are configured to hold the skirt.