HANGER ASSEMBLY FOR VEHICLE USE
A hanger assembly includes a flexible gripping member and a hanging member. The gripping member has two gripping portions adapted for gripping two headrest rods of a headrest of a car seat, and an intermediate segment provided with two insert holes. The hanging member includes a hanger body and a leg unit having left and right shanks that are insertable removably into the insert holes to thereby couple the hanging member to the gripping member.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hanger for use in a vehicle, more particularly to a hanger assembly that can be conveniently attached to or detached from a headrest unit of a car seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
A car hanger is a device specifically designed for use in a car to facilitate hanging of clothes in a car compartment. A conventional car hanger includes two sleeves that are sleeved onto two headrest rods of a headrest unit of a driver seat or a passenger front seat. During assembly, the entire headrest unit is detached from the seat to permit the sleeves to be sleeved onto the headrest rods, and the headrest unit is then mounted in place. This is very inconvenient especially under the circumstances that the car hanger is required to be removed from the headrest unit after use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTherefore, an object of this invention is to provide a hanger assembly which can be conveniently attached to or detached from a headrest unit of a car seat to overcome the problem of the aforesaid conventional car hanger.
Accordingly, a hanger assembly of this invention is Adapted for mounting detachably on a car seat that includes a headrest unit having a headrest body and two headrest rods extending downward from the headrest body. The hanger assembly includes a gripping member and a hanging member. The gripping member is formed from a flexible material, and includes left and right gripping portions opposite to each other in a longitudinal direction and adapted to respectively grip the headrest rods in a state of use, an intermediate segment interposed between the left and right gripping portions and including a major wall surface which extends in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, and a mounting wall surface which extends in a transverse direction relative to both the upright and longitudinal directions. The mounting wall surface has an insert hole unit that extends in the upright direction. The intermediate segment is bent to enable the gripping portions to be placed in the state of use such that the insert hole unit is moved away from the headrest rods. The hanging member is adapted for hanging an article of clothing, and includes an elongated hanger body which has left and right end portions opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction, and a middle portion interposed between the left and right end portions, and a leg unit extending downwardly from the middle portion in the upright direction to terminate at at least one engaging end that is insertable removably into the insert hole unit to thereby connect the hanging member to the gripping member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSOther features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
Referring to
The hanger assembly includes a gripping member 2 attached removably to the headrest rods 12, and a hanging member 3 connected releasably to the gripping member 2.
The gripping member 2 is formed from a flexible material, and includes left and right gripping portions 21 opposite to each other in a longitudinal direction and adapted to respectively grip the headrest rods 12 in a state of use, an intermediate segment 23 interposed between the left and right gripping portions 21 and including a major wall surface 231 which extends in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, and a mounting wall surface 232 which extends in a transverse direction relative to both the upright and longitudinal directions. The mounting wall surface 232 has two insert holes 221 that extend in the upright direction. The intermediate segment 23 is bent to enable the gripping portions 21 to be placed in the state of use such that the insert holes 221 are moved away from the headrest rods 12, as best shown in
The hanging member 3 is adapted for hanging an article of clothing, and includes an elongated hanger body 32 which has left and right end portions 323 opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction, and a middle portion 321 interposed between the left and right end portions 323, and a leg unit which includes left and right shanks 31 that are insertable removably into the insert holes 221, respectively, and that extend downwardly from the middle portion 321 in the upright direction to terminate respectively at left and right engaging ends 310, which are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, the hanger body 32 is formed by bending a bendable wire into an open-ended straightened loop which has left and right bent portions to serve as the left and right end portions 323, and two terminal ends 322 that are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction and that form a part of the middle portion 321. The left and right shanks 31 are integrally formed with and extend from the terminal ends 322, respectively. Each of the left and right engaging ends 310 has two radial protrusions 311 for engaging the recessed portions 223 of the respective insert hole 221 such that the left and right engaging ends 310 are respectively in a splined engagement with the inner peripheral wall surfaces defining the insert holes 221, thereby preventing undesired rotation of the left and right shanks 31 relative to the insert holes 221.
A friction unit 4 includes two friction blocks 41 which are configured to be retained and shiftable in the straightened loop so as to be shifted to be adjacent to the left and right bent portions 323, respectively, thereby helping prevent slippage of the article of clothing from the hanger body 32. Each of the friction blocks 41 has an outer surface provided with a plurality of anti-slip bosses 411.
Referring to
As shown hereinabove, the hanger assembly of this invention can be attached to or detached from the headrest unit 1 of a car seat with relative ease.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Claims
1. A hanger assembly adapted for mounting detachably on a car seat that includes a headrest unit having a headrest body and two headrest rods extending downward from the headrest body, said hanger assembly comprising:
- a gripping member formed from a flexible material, and including left and right gripping portions opposite to each other in a longitudinal direction and adapted to respectively grip the headrest rods in a state of use, an intermediate segment interposed between said left and right gripping portions and including a major wall surface which extends in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, and a mounting wall surface which extends in a transverse direction relative to both the upright and longitudinal directions, said mounting wall surface having an insert hole unit that extends in the upright direction, said intermediate segment being bent to enable said gripping portions to be placed in the state of use such that said insert hole unit is moved away from the headrest rods; and
- a hanging member adapted for hanging an article of clothing, and including an elongated hanger body which has left and right end portions opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction, and a middle portion interposed between said left and right end portions, and a leg unit extending downwardly from said middle portion in the upright direction to terminate at at least one engaging end that is insertable removably into said insert hole unit to thereby connect said hanging member to said gripping member.
2. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said leg unit includes left and right shanks which extend in the upright direction to terminate respectively at left and right ones of said engaging ends, which are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction, said insert hole unit including two insert holes for receiving said engaging ends, respectively, said intermediate segment having two inner peripheral wall surfaces respectively defining said insert holes, which extend from said mounting wall surface in the upright direction.
3. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said major wall surface has left and right ends opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction, each of said left and right gripping portions including a gripping wall which extends integrally from a respective one of said left and right ends outwardly and in the longitudinal direction and which bends inwardly to cooperate with the respective one of said left and right ends to define a gripping space adapted to accommodate the respective one of the headrest rods, said gripping wall terminating at a snap end which is spaced apart from the respective one of said left and right ends to define a clearance that is of a dimension slightly smaller than that of the respective one of the headrest rods and that is communicated with the gripping space, said gripping wall being configured to impart said snap end with a biasing force which urges said snap end to move toward the respective one of said left and right ends such that, when a respective one of said gripping portions is being fitted onto a respective one of the headrest rods, said snap end is forced to move away from the respective one of said left and right ends against the biasing force thereof so as to enlarge said clearance.
4. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said left and right gripping portions includes a guiding wall that extends from said snap end to be away from the respective one of said left and right ends and that cooperates with said major wall surface to define an access opening communicated with said clearance and having a dimension greater than that of said clearance.
5. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein said hanger body is formed by bending a bendable wire into an open-ended straightened loop which has left and right bent portions to serve as said left and right end portions, and two terminal ends that are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction and that form a part of said middle portion, said left and right shanks being integrally formed with and extending from said terminal ends, respectively.
6. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein said left and right engaging ends are configured to be in a splined engagement with said inner peripheral wall surfaces of said intermediate segment of said gripping member, respectively.
7. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a friction unit which is configured to be retained and shiftable in said straightened loop so as to be shifted to be adjacent to one of said left and right bent portions to thereby help prevent slippage of the article of clothing from said one of said left and right bent portions.
8. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said inner peripheral wall surfaces of said intermediate segment of said gripping member is provided with a plurality of teeth, said hanger assembly further comprising two adaptors, each of which includes a tubular body having upper and lower ends opposite to each other in the upright direction and insertable into a respective one of said insert holes, an outer wall surface provided with a plurality of teeth for engaging said teeth on said inner peripheral wall surface of the respective one of said insert holes, and an inner wall surface radially opposite to said outer wall surface and confining an engaging hole for receiving a respective one of said left and right shanks of said leg unit, thereby connecting said hanger body to said intermediate segment of said gripping member.
9. The hanger assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein said hanger body is a tubular body having two tubular end portions, said hanger assembly further comprising a friction unit that includes two anti-slip members fitted respectively into said tubular end portions to help prevent slippage of the article of clothing from said hanger body.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 29, 2005
Publication Date: Nov 2, 2006
Inventor: Chin-Fu Chiang (Tainan City)
Application Number: 11/117,835
International Classification: A41D 27/22 (20060101);