Top sizer

Abstract

An indicator or a sizer is horizontally advanced onto the top of a hanger. The sizer comprises a slotted, open end for easing the sizer onto a hanger web located on the top of the hook portion. The hanger web comprises a laterally open catch and detent. The sizer comprises an internal, sloping cam surface for locking with the hanger web. When the sizer is slid onto the hanger web, internal cam surface enters and locks in an opening created by the laterally open catch and is securely locked in place by the detent.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (e) from U.S. Ser. No. 60/604,104 filed on Aug. 24, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of indicators for garment hangers. More specifically, the present invention is related to indicators that horizontally lock on the top of a hanger and are used to identify the size of a garment.

2. Discussion of Prior Art

Indicators or sizers are provided on garment hangers to identify, for example, the size of a garment. A customer can then easily identify and attain the size of choice. Additional indicia may also be provided on the indicator such garment or company information is readily viewed and accessible.

In the prior art, indicators have been used on the clothes gripping clips on the legs or arms of the hanger, the face of the hanger, and the sides, bottom, and top of the hook member of a hanger. It is most beneficial to place information on the top of the hook of the hanger such that a customer can quickly and easily locate the needed information. The current methods of attaching an indicator to the hook member are difficult as it requires snapping an indicator onto or around the hanger.

Therefore, a method for horizontally or laterally advancing indicators or sizers onto the top of hanger via a slot at one end of the indicator would be beneficial.

The following patents and patent publications are representative of the prior art and they teach various methods of attaching size indicators to a hanger:

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,056,248, 2,801,306, and 4,137,661 illustrate horizontally positioned sizers. However, none of the references show sizers present on the top of the hook portions.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,590 discusses a member or label that is placed around the hanger to snap in place, but fails to show a horizontal sliding connection onto the hanger.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,500 provides finger elements of information that are secured to the garment jaws on the end of a hanger. The information elements, however, are not horizontally engaged with the top of the hook member.

U.S. Patent Application 2003/0019137 describes an information tab for a hanger that is designed to be placed on the side of the hook of the hanger through the use of flanges. The tab must be secured at an angled direction with the tab holder on the bottom side of the hook member. Therefore, it can not be horizontally engaged.

Prior art techniques also teach the use of locking members (for an indicator) such as tabs, protrusions, lips, and hooks of different shapes. Indicators are designed to wrap around an extended member or around a molded surface of the hanger body such that they are secured to the hanger. However, these elements require a substantial amount of effort to secure the locking members with the hanger. Therefore, in addition to horizontal engagement with the top of the hanger, it would be beneficial for an indicator or sizer to possess a lock that provides easily assembly, such as the use of a sloping cam surface.

The following patents and patent publications disclose methods of locking tabs onto hangers using various locking members:

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,388,354, 5,503,310, 5,603,437 and 5,775,553 provide a sizer that locks on top of the hook of a hanger. However, the patents do not describe a cam surface with a sloping edge to facilitate locking.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,641,100 and 5,778,575 illustrate indicia tabs which appear to be horizontally engaged, but fail to discuss their engagement with the hook member of the hanger using an internal cam surface.

U.S. Pat. Nos. D341,947 and D332,180 also illustrate horizontal indicators. However, the indicators fail to illustrate the use of an internal cam surface for locking onto the top of a hanger.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,450,639 and 6,029,868 illustrate indicators on the side of the hanger. Use of indicators or sizers on the top of the hook member or the use of an internal cam surface is not disclosed.

U.S. Patent Application 2002/0095829 discusses an identification tally that is designed to be locked on the hanger hook portion. The tally does not, however, lock on the top of the hook portion or discuss the use of a locking cam surface.

U.S. Patent Application 2003/0136804 illustrates the use of side and top indicia members. The application fails to provide a sizer that engages the hangers horizontally or a cam surface for locking the sizers on the hanger hook.

None of the above references discuss or disclose a hanger having a sizer that is horizontally or laterally advanced onto hanger through a slot at one end and that comprises an internal sloping cam surface for locking with a hanger web on the top of a hook member. Whatever the precise merits, features, and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An indicator or a sizer that is horizontally advanced onto the top of the hook portion of a hanger is securely locked in place through the use of an internal cam surface. The sizer comprises an open leading end and an open bottom, or slot, for easing the sizer onto the top of the hanger. Specifically, the top of the hook portion of the hanger comprises a hanger web comprising a laterally open catch and detent. The sizer comprises an internal, sloping cam surface for locking with the hanger web. When the sizer is horizontally slid onto the hanger web, internal cam surface enters and locks in an opening created by the laterally open catch. The sizer is then securely locked in place by the detent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a bottom view of the preferred embodiment of a sizer for the top of a hanger.

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view showing the inside of the sizer.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the sizer.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the sizer.

FIG. 5 illustrates an end view of the sizer.

FIG. 6 illustrates a hook portion of a hanger with the preferred hanger web.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the hook portion of the hanger.

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the method of attaching the sizer onto the hanger web on top of the hanger.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the method of attaching the sizer onto the hanger web on top of the hanger.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sectional view of the assembled sizer on the hanger.

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view of the assembled sizer on the hanger.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While this invention is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, the device may be produced in many different configurations, forms and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the present invention.

FIGS. 1-5 illustrate alternate views of indicia member or sizer 100 designed to be placed on the top of a hook of a hanger. The top of the hanger is further discussed below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 2 represents section A-A of FIG. 1 and illustrates the inside of sizer 100. Sizer 100 has internal cam surface 102 with a slope 104 that is used to snap or lock onto the top of the hanger. Internal cam surface 102 eases the assembly of sizer onto the top of the hanger. Wall 106 surrounds the top 112 and end 108 to create a closed configuration. The opposite edge, or leading edge 116, and bottom 114 have an open configuration such that a slot is created in sizer 100 is adapted to be slid into place horizontally over the top of the hanger.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate hook portion 600 of a hanger. Hook portion 600 comprises hanger web 602 of substantially rectangular configuration with laterally open catch above or on top of hook 600. Catch member 602 comprises a flat, thin web with bottom 604 and top 606. Top 606 includes detent 800 (see FIG. 8). Opening 608 is formed between bottom 604 and top 606 such that cam surface 102 of sizer 100 locks into the opening of the hanger web, as discussed below.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the method of horizontally advancing sizer 100 onto hanger web 602 by means of the slot on the open ends 114 and 116 of sizer 100. Sizer 100 is aligned with bottom 604 of hanger web. As sizer 100 is horizontally placed onto web 602, top 606 is designed to flex upwardly via contact with slope 104 of internal cam surface 102. As seen in FIGS. 10 and 11, when completely assembled, internal cam surface 102 fits within opening 608 such that detent 800 locks sizer 100 securely in place.

CONCLUSION

A method has been shown in the above embodiments for the effective implementation of horizontally locking a sizer on the top of hook of a hanger that utilizes a sloping, internal cam surface to ease the sizer into place. While various preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit the invention by such disclosure, but rather, it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. For example, the present invention should not be limited by size, materials, or specific manufacturing techniques.

Claims

1. An indicator for a garment hanger, the indicator for identifying a garment on the garment hanger, the indicator comprising:

a pair of walls sandwiching a cam, the cam having a sloping cam surface and a rear edge of the cam, the sloping cam surface slidingly engaging a longitudinal opening in a web and the rear edge locking against a detent of the web, the web crowning a hook of the garment hanger so that the indicator is positioned uppermost on the garment hanger.

2. The indicator of claim 1 further comprising a top wall connecting the pair of walls at a top edge of each of the pair of walls.

3. The indicator of claim 1 further comprising a rear wall connecting the pair of walls at a rear edge of each of the pair of walls.

4. The indicator of claim 1 further comprising a channel defined longitudinally between a bottom edge of the cam and a bottom edge of each of the pair of walls and defined transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on a lower portion of the web.

5. The indicator of claim 2 further comprising a channel defined longitudinally between the sloping cam surface and the top wall and transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on an upper portion of the web.

6. A web and indicator combination for identifying a garment on a garment hanger, the combination comprising:

a indicator comprising pair of walls sandwiching a cam having a sloping cam surface and a rear edge;

a web crowning a hook of a garment hanger, the web comprising a longitudinal opening and a detent, the sloping cam surface slidingly engaging the longitudinal opening in the web and the rear edge locking against the detent so that the indicator is positioned uppermost on the garment hanger.

7. The combination of claim 6, wherein the web is substantially C-shaped.

8. The combination of claim 6, wherein the web comprises a sloping web surface, a top edge of each of the sloping web surface and the sloping cam surface being opposite the other when the indicator is positioned on the garment hanger.

9. The combination of claim 6, wherein the indicator further comprises a top wall connecting the pair of walls at a top edge of each of the pair of walls.

10. The combination of claim 6 wherein the indicator further comprises a rear wall connecting the pair of walls at a rear edge of each of the pair of walls.

11. The combination of claim 6, wherein the web further comprises a lower portion and the indicator further comprises a channel defined longitudinally between a bottom edge of the cam and a bottom edge of each of the pair of walls and defined transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on the lower portion of the web.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein the web further comprises an upper portion and the indicator further comprises a channel defined longitudinally between the sloping cam surface and the top wall and transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on the upper portion of the web.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein the upper portion comprises a rounded leading edge.

14. A garment hanger for identifying a garment, the hanger comprising:

a hanger frame for supporting the garment;

a hook connected for supporting the hanger frame therefrom;

an indicator for the garment, the indicator comprising a cam with a sloping cam surface and a rear edge;

a web crowning a hook of a garment hanger, the web comprising a longitudinal opening and a detent, the sloping cam surface slidingly engaging the longitudinal opening in the web and the rear edge locking against the detent so that the indicator is positioned uppermost on the garment hanger.

15. The garment hanger of claim 14, wherein the web is substantially C-shaped.

16. The garment hanger of claim 14, wherein the web comprises a sloping web surface, a top edge of each of the sloping web surface and the sloping cam surface being opposite the other when the indicator is positioned on the garment hanger.

17. The garment hanger of claim 14, wherein the indicator further comprises a top wall connecting the pair of walls at a top edge of each of the pair of walls.

18. The garment hanger of claim 14, wherein the indicator further comprises a rear wall connecting the pair of walls at a rear edge of each of the pair of walls.

19. The garment hanger of claim 14, wherein the web further comprises a lower portion and the indicator further comprises a channel defined longitudinally between a bottom edge of the cam and a bottom edge of each of the pair of walls and defined transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on the lower portion of the web.

20. The garment hanger of claim 19, wherein the web further comprises an upper portion and the indicator further comprises a channel defined longitudinally between the sloping cam surface and the top wall and transversely between the pair of walls, the channel for guiding the indicator on the upper portion of the web.