Garment hanger

Abstract

A garment hanger has a spring urging a pair of clamp arms from first positions, in which the clamp arms are spaced apart from one another, towards second positions, in which the clamp arms are adjacent another; and a slide member in wedging engagement with the arms. By displacing the slide member longitudinally between the arms, the arms can be displaced from the second positions to the first positions against the action of the spring.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a garment hanger and, more particularly, to a garment hanger of a type comprising a spring for urging a pair of clamp arms toward one another.

2. Description of the Related Art

In U.S. Pat. No. 1,102,545, issued Jul. 7, 1914, there is disclosed a trousers hanger comprising a carrying member made of a spring metal wire forming a coil from which two resilient stems extend to arms which end in oblong square spring loops. In use, these loops extend over the ends of trousers legs, when clamped upon a pair of trousers. The loops are provided with wooden jaws for engaging the trousers.

Another garment hanger comprising a spring formed by coiled wire and having clamping jaws is shown in Canadian Patent 2,211,311, issued Nov. 17, 1998.

In these prior trousers hangers, no provision is made for releasibly securing the spring loops and their jaws apart from one another while the ends of the trousers are inserted between them.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved garment hanger.

According to the present invention, there is provided a garment hanger which has a spring urging a pair of clamp arms from first positions, in which the clamp arms are spaced apart from one another, towards second positions, in which the clamp arms are adjacent one another, and a slide member in wedging engagement with the arms.

By sliding the slide member between the arms, the arms can be moved apart against the action of the spring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of embodiments thereof given, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 shows a view in perspective of a garment hanger according to a third embodiment of the present invention in a closed condition;

FIG. 2 shows a view in perspective of the hanger of FIG. 1 in an open condition;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of components of the hanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a broken-away view in perspective of parts of the hanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a view in side elevation of a slide member forming part of the hanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a view taken in horizontal section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a view in end elevation of the slide member of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 shows a broken-away view, in perspective, of parts of one of the clamp arms of the hanger of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 shows a view similar to FIG. 8 but with the addition of the slide member of FIGS. 5 to 7;

FIG. 10 shows a view in side elevation of a modification of the slide member of FIGS. 5 to 7;

FIG. 11 shows a view taken in horizontal cross-section along the line 11-11 of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 12 shows a view taken in end elevation of the slide member of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown in the accompanying drawings, a garment hanger illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and indicated generally by reference numeral 10 has a pair of clamp arms 12 and 14, which are in the form of identical mouldings of plastic material. The clamp arms 12 and 14 are urged towards one another by a generally U-shaped metal spring 16, which is fixed to the arms 12 and 14 and from which a metal hook 18 extends upwardly for suspending the garment hanger 10.

Between the clamp arms 12 and 14, there is provided a longitudinally slidable slide member 20, which serves as a retainer for releasibly holding the clamp arms 12 and 14 apart from one another, in the positions in which they are shown in FIG. 2, in a manner described in greater detail below.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 to 7, which illustrate the slide member 20 in greater detail, it will be seen that the slide member 20 has an elongate, generally rectangular shape in plan view.

Oppositely facing openings 22 and 24 are formed in opposite longitudinal sides of the slide member 20 and merge with one another, as can be seen from FIG. 6, leaving a wedge formation 26 which projects, in the interior of the slide member 20, between the merged openings 22 and 24.

As can also be seen from FIG. 6, the merged openings 22 and 24 form a slot 28 extending across the entire width of the slide member 20, and at the end of the slide member 20 remote from the wedge formation 26, a slot extension 30 projects beyond the slot 28.

As can be seen from FIG. 9, the slide member 20 is formed above and below the slot extension 30 with openings 32 and 34.

The openings 32 and 34 are identical in shape to one another and, as shown in FIG. 6, which illustrates the opening 34, are formed with a plurality of arcuate detent recesses 268 at opposite sides thereof, the sides of the opening formed by the detent recesses 268 being convergent longitudinally of the slide member 20 in a direction extending away from the wedge formation 26.

The clamp arms 12 and 14 are each formed with a projection in the form of a flange 38 of trapezoidal shape, which projects laterally from its respective clamp arm 12 or 14 into a corresponding one of the slots 22 and 24 in the slide member 20 and, more particularly, into contact with the wedge formation 26. By longitudinally displacing the slide member 20 relative to the flanges 38, the wedge formation 26 slides along the inclined side surfaces of the trapezoidal flanges 38 and thereby exerts a wedging action on the flanges 38 to cause the clamp arms 12 and 14 to be forced apart from one another, from the positions in which they are shown in FIG. 1 to the positions in which they are shown in FIG. 2, against the action of the spring 16.

FIG. 8 shows two pairs of cylindrical projections 40 and 42 at the top and the underside, respectively, of one of the flanges 38, and the other of the flanges 38 is likewise identically formed with two pairs of these cylindrical projections. The detent recesses 268 and the cylindrical projections 40 and 42 are interengageable detent formations.

FIG. 9 shows two of the cylindrical projections extending into the openings 32 and 34, respectively, into sprung detent engagement with the detent 268, whereby the slide member 20 is releasibly retained against longitudinal displacement, thus releasably maintaining the clamp arms 12 and 14 in their spaced-apart positions.

FIGS. 10 to 12 show a modification of the slide member 20, indicated by reference numeral 110.

In the modified slide member 110, the openings 32 and 34 have been omitted, and replaced by a second wedge formation 112, which is directed oppositely from the wedge formation 26. When this modified slide member 110 is employed, the cylindrical projections are omitted from the flanges 38, and the slide member 110 can be displaced longitudinally to and fro to cause either the wedge formation 26 or the wedge formation 112 to wedge the clamp arms 12 and 14 apart from one another.

Various modifications to the above-described embodiments of the invention may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

For example, advertisements may be provided on labels adhered to the hangers or on printing and/or embossing on the hangers.

The hanger components, other than the spring and the hook, may be molded from e.g. polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon or ABS.

Claims

1. A garment hanger, comprising:

a pair of clamp arms;

a spring urging said clamp arms from first positions, in which said clamp arms are spaced apart from one another, towards second positions, in which said clamp arms are adjacent another; and

a slide member in wedging engagement with said arms.

2. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slide member includes a wedge formation and said arms have projections is sliding engagement with said wedge formation.

3. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slide member is elongate and has opposite longitudinal sides, said slide member having openings extending longitudinally of said opposite longitudinal sides thereof, and said projections extend through said openings to said wedge formation.

4. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slide member and said arms have interengageable detent formations.

5. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said projections comprise trapezoidal flanges on said clamp arms.

6. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clamp arms are identical to one another.