SHOULDER SUPPORT FOR GARMENT HANGERS

Abstract

A garment retention system includes a garment hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger from a support, first and second arms extending laterally from the body to respective first and second distal ends. At least one arm has an attachment retention surface with a surface normal directed generally towards the body and in a generally opposite direction from the distal end of that. A garment retention attachment extends between the attachment retention surface and the distal end of the at least one arm. The garment retention attachment includes a first means for engaging the attachment retention surface, and a second means for engaging the distal end of the at least one arm. The garment retention system is enhanced by providing the garment retention attachment with friction-increasing surface features on an upwardly facing side of thereof, and/or by judicious selection of material for the garment retention attachment.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

Under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), this application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/775,316 filed Feb. 21, 2006, entitled Shoulder Support for Hangers, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of garments and more particularly to a hanger for suspending a garment top during handling, transport, and for display on a retail sales floor.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

In the area of retail garment sales, so-called Garment-On-Hanger (GOH) programs have become preferred to retailers. In a GOH program, garments are suspended from hangers by the manufacturer at the manufacturing site, and are shipped as such to retail merchants. Whereupon arrival at the retail location, the garments may immediately be placed on display for sale. Formerly, retailers accomplished the task of hanging garments from hangers with labor provided at their own expense.

At least one drawback of the GOH program is the fact that garments may become inadvertently dislodged from their respective hangers during handling, transport, shipment or display. Such dislodged garments naturally fall to the floor, ground, or bottom of their shipping container, and may become soiled, damaged, or otherwise unfit for sale. Therefore, a hanger that securely retains the garment suspended therefrom is desirable.

Towards this end, and particularly with respect to a hanger for a garment top, e.g., shirt, blouse, sweater, jacket, coat, or the like, certain hangers have been proposed that have integrated features to improve retention of the garment. This is particularly demanding when dealing with inherently heavier garments, for example a knitwear sweater. One such hanger is disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication US 2005/0139625, published 30 Jun. 2005, entitled “Knitwear Hanger”, filed 12 Nov. 2004 under Ser. No. 10/987,716 by the present inventor and commonly assigned with the present application. The complete disclosure of the foregoing application is hereby incorporated by its reference for all purposes.

On the other hand, hangers such as the Knitwear Hanger must be manufactured with their defining features in order to be effective. It would be advantageous to have a system for improving the retention of garments on hangers where the great number of hangers without adequate provisions for garment retention may be retrofitted to improve their characteristics. Moreover it would advantageous to have a system for improving the retention characteristics of garments on hangers where the components of such system are inexpensive and simple to manufacture, handle, and assemble.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in order to overcome these and other deficiencies in the prior art, provided according to the present invention is a garment retention system including a garment hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger from a support, first and second arms extending laterally from the body to respective first and second distal ends. At least one arm has an attachment retention surface with a surface normal directed generally towards the body and in a generally opposite direction from the distal end of the at least one arm. A garment retention attachment extends between the attachment retention surface and the distal end of the at least one arm. The garment retention attachment includes a first means for engaging the attachment retention surface, and a second means for engaging the distal end of the at least one arm.

The garment retention system is enhanced by providing the garment retention attachment with friction-increasing surface features on an upwardly facing side of thereof. The friction-increasing surface features may include either recesses in or raised structure on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment. The friction-increasing surface features may be ribs, ridges, or dimples and arranged any of transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, echelon, chevron, herringbone or dimple patterns, at regular, semi-regular or random spacing. The garment retention attachment may also include a lower flange extending downward from the attachment along either or both lateral edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, benefits and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like structures across the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front elevation view of a garment retention system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top plan view of an attachment portion of the garment retention system according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the attachment portion taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a front elevation view of a garment retention system according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrated is a front plan view of a garment retention system, generally 10, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Retention system 10 includes at least a garment hanger 20 and an attachment portion 40. Garment hanger 20 may be a conventional hanger for garment tops, including at least a hook 22 for suspending the hanger 20 from a support, and a body 24 having two arms 26, 28 laterally extending away from the body 24 to respective distal ends 27, 29. Arms 26, 28 may be sloped downward from the body, enhancing the need for improved retention characteristics, though this is not necessary to the present invention.

Each of arms 26, 28 includes a recess 30 in an upwardly facing surface, and may include some overhang 32 at least partly covering the recess 30, and extending proximally towards the body 24 from a distal side of the recess 30. More generally, each arm 26, 28 presents an attachment retention surface 34 having a surface normal 36, i.e., a vector extending perpendicularly from that surface, which is oriented generally in the direction of the body 24 and in an opposite direction from a respective distal end 27, 29. In the preferred embodiment, the surface 34 is a wall of recess 30 to avoid any projections above the upper surface of arms 26, 28. A garment hanger 20 generally as above described is known in the art, for example from U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 507,419, issued 19 Jul. 2005 to the present inventor and commonly assigned with the present application, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by its reference for all purposes.

However, if applicable, for example for hanging a garment top having a particularly wide neck, or of a material of the garment top being hung is such that an upward projection would not pose a problem, and where no recess 30 is provided in the arms 26, 28 of hanger 20, the attachment retention surface 34 can be formed by an upward projection 62 (See, FIG. 4) from the upper surface of the arms 26, 28. Such an upward projection 62 may include a portion 64 extending in the direction of the body 24, preferably from the upper extent of the upward projection 62, in a similar fashion as overhang 32, or alternately from anywhere associated with the upward projection 62.

In the exemplary embodiment hook 22 includes an upward flange 37 having a retention clip 38 to receive and retain a top-mounted indicator (not shown). However, other indicator configurations, e.g., side indicators, lower neck indicators, or no indicator at all, may be employed.

Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a plan view of the attachment portion 40, detached from the hanger 20 and extended to a is full length. The attachment 40 includes a through opening 42 at one end thereof for engaging the retention surface 34 of the hanger 20. At an opposite end of the attachment 40 a second through opening 44 is sized to admit at least a portion of the distal end 27, 29 of the hanger arms 26, 28 for engaging the distal end 27, 29. The attachment 40 is preferably formed with a material having at least some elasticity, and is stretched between the retention surface 34 and the distal end 27, 29.

As is typical in the industry, garment hanger 20 may be formed of an injection molded plastic, more commonly a rigid plastic such as polystyrene, SAN, ABS, PPO, nylon, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene, PET, polycarbonates (PC), acrylics, K resin, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) among others. Such rigid plastic materials present relatively low-friction surfaces unless specifically molded to enhance friction. Therefore, where, as in a preferred embodiment, the attachment 40 comprises a material having some degree of elasticity, for example ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), low density polyethylene, PVC, thermoplastic elastomer, or thermoplastic rubber (for example the material sold under the trade name KRATON), the elastic material of the attachment 40 presents a higher coefficient of friction than the base hanger 20. This higher friction material of itself improves the retention characteristics of the garment hanger 20.

Alternately or additionally, attachment portion 40 can include surface features 46 on an upwardly facing side to further enhance the friction of the attachment 40. In the embodiment shown, raised ribs 48 either partly or completely traverse the width of the attachment 40. Additionally, ridges 50 run the length of the attachment 40 along either lateral edge thereof. In alternate embodiments, surface features 46 may comprise recesses in place of or in addition to the raised structure of the exemplary embodiment. The surface features 46 may be arranged as any geometric shape or configuration desired, including without limitation transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, echelon, chevron, herringbone or dimple patterns, arranged with regular, semi-regular or random spacing.

In the exemplary embodiment, the attachment 40 has as an optional feature a first width 52 at it distal portion wider than a second width 54 at its proximal portion, to accommodate hangers 20 that are similarly shaped. Referring now to the longitudinal cross-section view of FIG. 3, the attachment 40 also has as an optional feature a lower flange 56 extending downward from the attachment 40 along either or both lateral edges. Where present, the lower flange resists lateral displacement of the attachment 40 from the arm 26, 28 of the hanger 20.

Preferably, flanges 56 extend from both lateral edges of the attachment 40, to form a channel 58 in an underside of the attachment 40. Channel 58 receives the lateral arm 26, 28 within itself and more preferably centers the attachment 40 on the lateral arm 26, 28. Accordingly, the attachment is stably attached to the lateral arm 26, 28 and resists relative movement.

In an alternate embodiment of the garment retention attachment 40a, illustrated for example in FIG. 4, either or both of through openings 42, 44 may be obviated by a lip 41 extending downwardly and optionally towards the center of the attachment 40a, thereby forming a pocket 43 at a respective end of the attachment 40a. The pocket 43 is sized and positioned for engaging the retention surface 34 at a proximal end, or for engaging the distal ends 27, 29 at a distal end, in order to secure the attachment 40a to the hanger 20.

The present invention has been described herein with reference to certain exemplary embodiments. Various alterations and/or modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the present disclosure. Therefore, these embodiments are offered as merely illustrative, and not limiting, of the scope of the present invention, which is defined solely with reference to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A garment retention system comprising:

a garment hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger from a support, first and second arms extending laterally from the body to respective first and second distal ends, at least one arm having an attachment retention surface with a surface normal directed generally towards the body and in a generally opposite direction from the first or second distal end of the at least one arm; and

a garment retention attachment extending between the attachment retention surface and the distal end of the at least one arm, having a first through opening for engaging the attachment retention surface, a second through opening sized to admit at least a portion of the distal end of the at least one arm, and a channel formed in an underside of the attachment for receiving the at least one arm.

2. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the garment hanger further comprises a recess in the at least one arm, and the attachment retention surface comprises a distal wall of the recess.

3. The garment retention system according to claim 2, wherein the at least one arm further comprises an overhang at least partly covering the recess and extending proximally towards the body.

4. The garment retention system according to claim 3, wherein overhang in contiguous with the upper surface of the at least one arm, and is positioned at an upper extent of the attachment retention surface.

5. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the attachment retention surface is formed by an upward projection from the upper surface of the at least one arm.

6. The garment retention system according to claim 5, wherein the upward projection further comprises a portion extending in the direction of the body.

7. The garment retention system according to claim 6, wherein the portion extending in the direction of the body is positioned at an upper extent of the upward projection.

8. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the garment hanger comprises an injection molded plastic selected from one or more of polystyrene, SAN, ABS, PPO, nylon, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene, PET, polycarbonates (PC), acrylics, K resin, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

9. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises a material selected from one or more of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a thermoplastic elastomer, and a thermoplastic rubber.

10. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises friction-increasing surface features on an upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

11. The garment retention system according to claim 10, wherein the friction-increasing surface features comprise one or more of recesses in and raised structure on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

12. The garment retention system according to claim 10, wherein the friction-increasing surface features comprise one or more of ribs, ridges, or dimples on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

13. The garment retention system according to claim 10, wherein the friction-increasing surface features are arranged in one or more of a transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, echelon, chevron, herringbone and dimple pattern.

14. The garment retention system according to claim 10, wherein the friction-increasing surface features are arranged with regular, semi-regular or random spacing.

15. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the garment retention attachment further comprises a lower flange extending downward from the attachment along at least one lateral edge of the garment retention attachment.

16. The garment retention system according to claim 15, wherein the lower flange extending downward from the attachment along at least one lateral edge of the garment retention attachment comprises two lower flanges extending downward from the attachment along each lateral edge of the garment retention attachment, the two lower flanges defining the channel formed in the underside of the attachment.

17. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein garment retention attachment further comprises a reinforcing grommet for either or both of the first and second through openings.

18. The garment retention system according to claim 17, wherein at least one of the reinforcing grommets is integrally molded with the garment retention attachment from the same material as the garment retention attachment.

19. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein width of the garment retention attachment varies along it length.

20. The garment retention system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one arm comprises the first and second arms.

21. A garment retention system comprising:

a garment hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger from a support, first and second arms extending laterally from the body to respective first and second distal ends, at least one arm having an attachment retention surface with a surface normal directed generally towards the body and in a generally opposite direction from the first or second distal end of the at least one arm;

a garment retention attachment extending between the attachment retention surface and the distal end of the at least one arm, having a first pocket on an underside of the proximal portion of the garment retention attachment for engaging the attachment retention surface, a second pocket on the underside of the distal portion of the garment retention attachment for engaging the distal end of the at least one arm, and a channel formed in an underside of the attachment for receiving the at least one arm.

22. The garment retention system according to claim 21, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises a material selected from one or more of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a thermoplastic elastomer, and a thermoplastic rubber.

23. The garment retention system according to claim 21, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises friction-increasing surface features on an upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

24. The garment retention system according to claim 23, wherein the friction-increasing surface features comprise one or more of recesses in and raised structure on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

25. The garment retention system according to claim 23, wherein the friction-increasing surface features comprise one or more of ribs, ridges, or dimples on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

26. The garment retention system according to claim 23, wherein the friction-increasing surface features are arranged in one or more of a transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, echelon, chevron, herringbone and dimple pattern.

27. The garment retention system according to claim 23, wherein the friction-increasing surface features are arranged with regular, semi-regular or random spacing.

28. The garment retention system according to claim 21, wherein garment retention attachment further comprises a lower flange extending downward from the attachment along at least one lateral edge of the garment retention attachment.

29. The garment retention system according to claim 28, wherein the lower flange extending downward from the attachment along at least one lateral edge of the garment retention attachment comprises two lower flanges extending downward from the attachment along each lateral edge of the garment retention attachment, the two lower flanges defining the channel formed in the underside of the attachment.

30. The garment retention system according to claim 21, wherein width of the garment retention attachment varies along it length.

31. A garment retention system comprising:

a garment hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger from a support, first and second arms extending laterally from the body to respective first and second distal ends, at least one arm having means for retaining a garment retention attachment;

a garment retention attachment extending between the means for retaining a garment retention attachment and a distal end of the at least one arm, having a first means for engaging the means for retaining a garment retention attachment, a second means for engaging the distal end of the at least one arm, and means for receiving the at least one arm in an underside of the attachment.

32. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the garment hanger further comprises a recess in the at least one arm, and the means for retaining a garment retention attachment comprises a distal wall of the recess.

33. The garment retention system according to claim 32, wherein the at least one arm further comprises an overhang at least partly covering the recess and extending proximally towards the body.

34. The garment retention system according to claim 33, wherein overhang in contiguous with the upper surface of the at least one arm, and is positioned at an upper extent of the attachment retention surface.

35. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the means for retaining a garment retention attachment comprises an upward projection from the upper surface of the at least one arm.

36. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the means for retaining a garment retention attachment comprises an element extending in the direction of the body.

37. The garment retention system according to claim 36, wherein the element extending in the direction of the body is positioned at an upper extent of an upward projection.

38. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the garment hanger comprises an injection molded plastic selected from one or more of polystyrene, SAN, ABS, PPO, nylon, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene, PET, polycarbonates (PC), acrylics, K resin, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

39. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises a material selected from one or more of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), low density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a thermoplastic elastomer, and a thermoplastic rubber.

40. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein the garment retention attachment comprises means for increasing surface friction on an upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

41. The garment retention system according to claim 40, wherein the means for increasing surface friction comprise one or more of recesses in and raised structure on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

42. The garment retention system according to claim 40, wherein the means for increasing surface friction comprise one or more of ribs, ridges, or dimples on the upwardly facing side of the garment retention attachment.

43. The garment retention system according to claim 40, wherein the means for increasing surface friction are arranged in one or more of a transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, echelon, chevron, herringbone and dimple pattern.

44. The garment retention system according to claim 40, wherein the means for increasing surface friction are arranged with regular, semi-regular or random spacing.

45. The garment retention system according to claim 31, wherein garment retention attachment further comprises a means for resisting lateral displacement of the garment retention attachment.

46. A garment retention attachment for use on a garment hanger, the garment retention attachment having a first means for engaging the garment hanger at a discontinuity along the length of an arm of the garment hanger, a second means for engaging the distal end of the arm of the garment hanger, and means for receiving an arm of the garment hanger in an underside of the attachment.

47. The garment retention attachment according to claim 46, wherein the means for receiving an arm of the garment hanger in an underside of the attachment comprises a lower flange extending downward from the attachment along two lateral edges of the garment retention attachment, the two lower flanges forming a channel therebetween.