Clothes Hangers Having User-Adjustable Shoulder Portions

Abstract

Clothes hangers that each have a central portion and a pair of shoulder portions that are user adjustable to allow a user to select between a wider shoulder-width profile and a narrower shoulder-width profile. In some embodiments, each shoulder portion is pivotable between a wider shoulder-width profile and a narrower shoulder-width profile. In some embodiments, each shoulder portion comprises side-by-side deformable members that a user can deform to make and/or switch between a wider shoulder-width profile and a narrower shoulder-width profile.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/510,969, filed on May 25, 2017, and titled “CLOTHES HANGER HAVING USER-ADJUSTABLE SHOULDER PORTIONS”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of clothes hangers. In particular, the present invention is directed to a clothes hangers having user-adjustable shoulder portions.

BACKGROUND

Clothes hangers are used to hang many differing types of garments, including shirts, blouses, and sweaters made of a variety of materials, such as woven (e.g., broadcloth) and knitted (e.g., jersey) fabrics. A common, well-known problem with conventional wire-type and other narrow-profile hangers is that they often cause sleeved garments to deform on the upper and laterally outer portion of the shoulders of the garments. These deformations may be conveniently called “shoulder bumps,” which can be quite pronounced and unsightly when a wearer is wearing the garment.

SUMMARY

In an implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a clothes hanger that includes a central portion; a support-engaging member coupled to the central portion, the support-engaging member for engaging a support so as to allow the clothes hanger to provide a clothes hanging function for an article of clothing; and first and second shoulder portions coupled to the central portion so as to extend from the central portion in generally opposite directions from one another, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions has a shoulder-width profile that is user-adjustable between a narrower profile and a wider profile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is an elevational side view of a clothes hanger having pivotable user-adjustable shoulder portions, showing the shoulder portions in their narrower shoulder-width profile orientations;

FIG. 1B is a top-down view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 1A when the shoulder portions are in their narrower shoulder-width profile orientations;

FIG. 1C is an elevational side view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 1A, showing the shoulder portions in their wider shoulder-width profile orientations;

FIG. 1D is a top-down view of the clothes hanger of FIG. 1A when the shoulder portions are in their wider shoulder-width profile orientations;

FIG. 1E is an enlarged view of components of one of the pivotable connections between the shoulder portions and central portion of the clothes hanger of FIGS. 1A and 1B, showing the components disengaged from one another;

FIG. 1F is an enlarged view of the pivotable connection of FIG. 1C showing the components engaged with one another;

FIG. 2A is top-down view of a solid-type pivotable shoulder portion when the shoulder portion is in its narrower shoulder-width profile orientation;

FIG. 2B is a top-down view of the shoulder portion of FIG. 2A when the shoulder portion is in its wider shoulder-width profile orientation;

FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view as taken along line 2C-2C of FIG. 2B;

FIG. 3A is top-down view of another solid-type pivotable shoulder portion when the shoulder portion is in its narrower shoulder-width profile orientation;

FIG. 3B is a top-down view of the shoulder portion of FIG. 3A when the shoulder portion is in its wider shoulder-width profile orientation;

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view as taken along line 3C-3C of FIG. 3B;

FIG. 4A is a top-down view of a non-pivotable user-adjustable shoulder portion when the shoulder portion is in its narrower shoulder-width profile configuration;

FIG. 4B is a top-down view of the shoulder portion of FIG. 4A when the shoulder portion is in a wider shoulder-width profile configuration;

FIG. 5 is an elevational side view of a pivotable shoulder portion having a notch for receiving a strap of a strapped garment;

FIG. 6A is an elevational side view of a central portion that can be used with a user-adjustable hanger of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6B is an elevational end view of the central portion of FIG. 6A; and

FIG. 7 is an elevational side view of another user-adjustable clothes hanger made in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some aspects, the present invention is directed to clothes hangers that include user-adjustable shoulder portions that allow users to select between wider shoulder-width profiles and narrower shoulder-width profiles. As used herein relative to the shoulder portions of a clothes hanger, the term “profile” denotes the shape and width(s) of the shoulder portions when the hanger is viewed in a top-down view, such as seen in FIGS. 1B and 1D. A wider shoulder-width profile can be desirable, for example, for hanging sleeved garments that are prone to developing “shoulder bumps” on the laterally outward and upper portions of the shoulder portions of the garments when hung on conventional narrow-profile hangers, such as wire hangers and narrow-profile plastic and wood hangers. These shoulder bumps are typically caused by the weight of the sleeves bearing down on the narrow ends of the shoulder portions of these narrow-profile hangers, thereby locally overstressing and deforming the fabric. Unsightly shoulder bumps can be formed when a garment is hung when dry but can become even more pronounced and unsightly when the garment is hung when wet. This is due to the additional weight of the wet garment and perhaps also to greater deformability of the wet fabric of the garment. By providing the shoulder portions of a clothes hanger with a wide shoulder-width profile, the bearing area that supports the weight of the sleeves is increased, and this leads to a lower stress in the fabric in the shoulder portions of the garment. This lower stress greatly reduces the likelihood that shoulder bumps will form. A wider shoulder-width profile can also be desirable to aid in drying a garment while hanging on the clothes hanger. While a wider-shoulder-wide profile has a number of benefits, a narrower shoulder-width profile can be desirable, for example, for hanging garments that are not prone to forming shoulder bumps, for maximizing the number of garments that can be hung in a fixed amount of space, and/or for minimizing the space needed for storing and/or shipping a set of such hangers, among others.

In some embodiments, each shoulder portion is composed of a “rigid” (i.e., not user deformable) shoulder member that is pivotably attached to a central portion configured for hanging the clothes hanger from a support, such as a hanger rod or other hanger support. Such a rigid shoulder member would be relatively narrow in one dimension to provide the narrower shoulder-width profile and relatively wide in another dimension to provide the wider shoulder-width profile. In these embodiments, a user switches between the narrower and wider shoulder-width profiles by pivoting each shoulder portion relative to the central hanger portion by 90°. Typically, the perimeter of the wider shoulder-width profile has a gently curved, relatively wide, shape at the shoulder end distal from the central portion of the hanger to provide a large load-bearing area and a more uniform distribution of stress caused by the weight of a sleeve when the wider shoulder-width profile is being used. In the narrower shoulder-width profile, the shoulder portion of the clothes hanger is typically rounded, for example, semicircular, on the surfaces that contact a garment during use. In the wider shoulder-width profile, each rigid shoulder portion may have an open structure (e.g., form a loop shape) (see. e.g., FIGS. 1A-1D, 5, and 7) or have a solid structure (e.g., form a paddle shape) (see, e.g., FIGS. 2A-2C and 3A-3C), among others. Each shoulder portion may be made of any one or more suitable materials, such as plastic, metal, or wood (e.g., bamboo), among others.

In some embodiments, each shoulder portion may include a pair of side-by-side user-deformable members that a user deforms to switch between a narrower shoulder-width profile and a wider shoulder-width profile. Each of such side-by-side members may be any suitable deformable member, such as a gooseneck tube, a sheathed or unsheathed elongate malleable member (e.g., a sheathed lead bar), or other member that can be deformed and hold its shape when changed. In some embodiments, the pair of side-by-side user-deformable members may be connected by a hinge (e.g., a pinned hinge) at their ends distal from the central portion of the hanger. In some embodiments, the side-by-side user-deformable members may be parts of a single user-deformable member, which may or may not have a necked or otherwise hinged region distal from the central portion of the clothes hanger to allow for a sharp bend so that the two members can be deformed into contact or close proximity with one another along their entire lengths. In some embodiments, each of the side-by-side user-deformable members may, but need not, be hingedly attached to the central portion of the clothes hanger. When the user-deformable members are deformed to create the wider shoulder-width profile, they can be configured to generally form a loop as illustrated in FIG. 4B

An embodiment in which each shoulder portion is adjustable by moving opposing user-deformable members toward and away from one another to change the shoulder-width profile, each user-deformable member may be pivotably attached to the central hanger portion and securable in the desired position via a suitable means, such as one or more detents at the pivot points and/or a movable member positioned along the movable members and extending therebetween so as to hold the opposing members apart at least when the shoulder portion is in its wider profile. In one example, the movable member may be positioned at the ends of the opposing side members and have a curved shape having a generally human-shoulder-like profile to aid in the prevention of shoulder bumps on sleeved garments hung on the clothes hanger.

Each shoulder portion or the entire clothes hanger may optionally be coated with a non-slip material, such as flocking or a rubber coating, among others. In addition, each shoulder portion may include one or more depressions or notches (see FIG. 5) useful, for example, for hanging garments having shoulder straps. In some embodiments, such depression(s) or notch(es) may be intended and positioned for use only when a shoulder portion is deployed in its narrower profile. In embodiments in which the shoulder portions are rotatably attached to the central hanger portion, attachments may include rotational couplings that provide a desired level of rotational resistance that inhibit inadvertent rotation of the shoulder portions from the desired rotational position (i.e., either the position for the wider profile or the narrower profile). Each rotational coupling may also include one or more detents for holding the corresponding shoulder portion in its desired rotational position.

The central portion of the clothes hanger may be made of any suitable material, such as metal or plastic, and may have any suitable hanging structure, such as a hook or a bulbous or other shape upper end. A hook can be provided for using the hanger with a clothes hanger-rod and other hook-receiving structure, whereas a bulbous, or otherwise hookless, upper end can be provided for using the hanger with a corresponding receiver, which may itself engage a clothes-hanger rod or other hook-receiving structure. The hookless upper end may be of the type found in many hotel rooms to reduce hanger theft.

In some embodiments, such as in each of the pivotable and non-pivotable embodiments noted above, the shoulder portions may be made removable to provide quick-attach and quick-detach functionality. Such functionality may be useful, for example, for compact storage of the clothes hanger and/or for compactness of the clothes hanger for shipping. In one example having pivotable connections that each include a head of a stud and socket type arrangement, the socket portion may be at least partially made of a temporarily deformable, yet sufficiently stiff (such as a thermoplastic), material that allows it to form a snap-fit engagement with the headed stud. In such embodiments, the connection may be configured to provide a sufficiently tight fit so that play between the shoulder portion and hanger portion is minimized, even under the weight of a heavy garment engaged with the clothes hanger. Many other arrangements are possible as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1A-1F illustrate an example clothes hanger 100 that includes a central portion 104, a pair of shoulder portions 108A and 108B pivotably attached to the central portion, and a hook 112 attached to the central portion. In this example, each shoulder portion 108A and 108B comprises a corresponding open member 116A, 116B that is pivotably attached to central portion 104 using a pivotable connection 120, which is seen more clearly in FIGS. 1E and 1F. In this example, each open member 116A and 116B is in the form of an open loop attached at one end to a base 124 (FIG. 1E). Each shoulder portion 108A and 108B is pivotable about a corresponding pivot axis 126A and 126B (FIGS. 1A and 1D). Typically, each pivot axis 126A and 126B forms an angle θ relative to horizontal to generally mimic the angle of a human shoulder. For example, angle θ will typically fall in the range of 15° to 30°, though a different angle can be used as desired, perhaps depending on the particular configurations of shoulder portions 108A and 108B. Referring to FIGS. 1E and 1F, in this example base 124 includes a circularly headed stud 128 that snap fits into a receptacle 132A of a corresponding receiver 132 on central portion 104 of clothes hanger 100 to form pivotable connection 120 (FIG. 1F).

FIGS. 1A and 1B show shoulder portions 108A and 108B in their narrower shoulder-width profile orientations relative to central portion 104, with the loop shapes of open members 116A and 116B in a vertical plane when clothes hanger 100 is hanging on a suitable support (not shown) in its normal-use orientation. In contrast, FIGS. 1C and 1D show shoulder portions 108A and 108B in their wider shoulder-width profile orientations relative to central portion 104, with the loop shapes of open members 116A and 116B rotated 90° about corresponding respective pivot axes 126A and 126B relative to their narrow shoulder-width profile orientations shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this example, the loop of each open member 108A and 108B has a generally circular transverse cross-sectional shape and provides a gentle curve at the shoulder end of the open member distal from central portion 100. It is noted that the particular cross-sectional and overall shapes of the loop of each open member 108A and 108B are illustrative, and each could be replaced with another shape as desired.

As noted above, central portion 104 and shoulder portions 108A and 108B, and parts thereof such as bases 124, studs 128, and receivers 132, may be made of any one or more suitable materials. In the example shown, these components of clothes hanger 100 are made entirely of a plastic, such as a thermoform plastic. In other embodiments, one or more other materials can be used as needed to create the desired effect(s), such as low cost, durability, quality, attractiveness, etc. Those skilled in the art will understand how to select materials for the various components depending on the desired effect(s).

In the example shown, each stud 128 (FIGS. 1E and 1F) is solid, and each corresponding receptacle 132A (one shown in FIGS. 1E and 1F; the other is a mirror image) includes an opening that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the head of the stud. In this manner and because of the relative flexibility of the thermoform plastic, studs 128 can be snap-fitted into the corresponding respective receptacles 132A. Once headed stud 128 has been snap-fitted into corresponding receptacle 132A, shoulder portion 108B can be rotated to any desired position. In this embodiment, the tightness of the snap-fit and the nature of the materials provides sufficient friction in snap-fit pivotable connection 120 to hold shoulder portion 108B at any user-set angle of rotation relative to central portion 104.

In other embodiments, pivotable connection 120 can be made in a different manner. For example, the components can be reversed, i.e., headed studs 128 may be fixed to central portion 104 and receptacles 132A and receivers 132 may be incorporated into bases 124 of shoulder portions 108A and 108B. As another example, each stud 128 may be split into two lateral portions extending from the corresponding base 124. The two lateral portions of the split stud elastically deform toward one another as the stud is pushed into a neck region of a corresponding receptacle. Once the head of the stud is beyond the neck portion, the stud portions spring back to their undeformed shapes within the receptacle to hold the stud within the receptacle. These are but two of many examples of pivotable connections that can be made between each shoulder portion 108A and 108B and central portion 104 as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate.

It is noted that each pivotable connection 120 can be made to allow the corresponding shoulder portion 108A to be infinitely pivotable relative to central portion 104 or to be pivotable only to a certain degree, such as only 90° between the narrower shoulder-width profile orientation and the wider shoulder-width profile orientation or only 180°, 270°, or 360°, among others. Hook 112 may be made of any suitable material, but in this example it is metal. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that hook 112 shown is sized for a standard hanger rod but that it could be made a different size, such as a smaller size for smaller diameter hanger rods. In addition, those skilled in the art will readily understand that hook 112 can be replaced with a different support member (not shown), such as a small diameter rod having bulbous head designed and configured to engage a corresponding receiver slidably, but not removable, mounted to a hanger rod. This sort of support member is used, for example, in hotels to inhibit hanger theft.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate a solid-type shoulder portion 200 that can be used, for example, in place of each shoulder member 108A and 108B of FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this example, shoulder portion 200 is flat, has a uniform thickness, and has a rounded peripheral edge 204. In another embodiment, a solid-type shoulder portion may not be flat, may have a variable thickness, and/or may have a differently profiled edge. It is noted that, for simplicity, this example shows shoulder portion 200 as having a headed stud 208 similar to headed stud 112 of FIGS. 1C and 1D so that it could be used with central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. In other embodiments, headed stud 208 can be replaced with any other suitable structure that allows shoulder portion 200 to be pivoted about a pivot axis 212 relative to a commensurately designed central portion of a clothes hanger, such as central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A-1D.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate another solid-type shoulder portion 300 that can be used with a suitable central portion, such as central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this example, shoulder portion 300 comprises a thin member 304 having a shape that generally mimics the shape of a human shoulder. This example also includes a headed stud 308 that is similar to headed stud 112 of FIGS. 1C and 1D so that shoulder portion 300 could be used with central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. In other embodiments, headed stud 308 can be replaced with any other suitable structure that allows shoulder portion 300 to be pivoted about a pivot axis 312 relative to a commensurately designed central portion of a clothes hanger, such as central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A-1D. When a pair of shoulder portions 300 are engaged with a suitable central portion, such as central portion 104 of FIGS. 1A and 1B, and the shoulder portions are pivoted to their narrower shoulder-width profile, i.e., with the concave openings facing sideways when the clothes hanger is hanging in its normal use orientation, a set of like hangers can be stacked so that the convex sides of the shoulder portions of one hanger partially nest with the concave sides of the shoulder portions of an adjacent hanger. This allows a set of hangers to be stored efficiently in a relatively small space, unlike conventional hangers having fixed shoulder portions.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a non-pivoting-type of user-adjustable shoulder portion 400 that can be used to perform the same functions as a pivoting-type shoulder portion according to the present disclosure, such as any of shoulder portions 104, 200, and 300, for example. FIG. 4A shows shoulder portion 400 in its narrower shoulder-width profile configuration, whereas FIG. 4B shows shoulder portion 400 in a wider shoulder-width profile configuration. In this example, shoulder-portion 400 includes a pair of side-by-side elongate members 404A and 404B that are shown in FIG. 4A as generally in contact with one another along their entire lengths. Each elongate member 404A and 404B may be composed of a suitable deformable member, such as a gooseneck tube, an articulated segmented elongate body, or a sheathed or unsheathed malleable metal, among others. In the embodiment shown, elongate members 404A and 404B are attached to a base 408 at attachments ends 412A and 412B, respectively, which may be fixedly attached to a suitable central portion (not shown) of an overall clothes hanger (not shown), here using a square-headed stud 414. Alternatively, attachment ends 412A and 412B of elongate members 404A and 404B may be attached directly to the central portion. Depending on the nature of elongate members 404A and 404B, attachment ends 412A and 412B may be fixedly or hingedly secured to base 408, if present, or to the central portion of a clothes hanger.

The ends 416A and 416B of, respectively, elongate members 404A and 404B distal from attachment ends 412A and 412B may be attached to one another by a hinge 420, which can be a pin-type hinge or a component or portion that is simply more flexible than each of the elongate members. In some embodiments, elongate members 404A and 404B may be legs of a continuous deformable member (not shown). Depending on the deformation characteristics of such a continuous deformable member, one or more properties of the continuous deformable member may be different at distal ends 416A and 416B to function as hinge 420 to facilitate the abrupt 180° bend needed for the elongate members 404A and 404B to attain the narrower shoulder-width profile configuration shown in FIG. 4A. It is noted that hinge 120, and/or part of or the entire lengths of elongate members 404A and 404B may be sheathed (not shown) to provide surfaces that will be gentle on any garment hung on the corresponding clothes hanger and/or are more uniform.

As noted above, FIG. 4B shows shoulder portion in a wider shoulder-width profile configuration. In this example, the configuration shown is only one of many wider shoulder-width profile configurations that are made possible by elongate members 404A and 404B being highly deformable into a wide continuum of various curvatures.

FIG. 5 illustrates a pivot-type shoulder portion 500 that is generally the same as each shoulder portion 108A and 108B of FIGS. 1A and 1B but includes a notch 504 for receiving, for example, a corresponding shoulder strap of a garment, such as a spaghetti strap camisole or a spaghetti strap dress, among others. Components of shoulder portion 500 not described may be the same as or similar to components of the other pivot-type shoulder portions shown and/or described herein. It is noted that user-deformable shoulder portions, such as shoulder portion 400 of FIGS. 4A and 4B, may also be provided with similar notching for receiving and holding corresponding straps of a strap-type garment. For example, in the context of shoulder portion 400 of FIGS. 4A and 4B, elongate members 404A and 404B may include corresponding respective notches in registration with one another. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that as used herein, the term “notch” includes not only a partial thickness recess but also any other structural feature that provides the functionality of a notch, such as the depressed region of notch 504 of FIG. 5.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a central portion 600 that can be used in an adjustable hanger of the present disclosure, such as a pivot-type adjustable hanger or deformable-type adjustable hanger. In this example, central portion 600 includes a catch 604 and a horizontal bar member 608. Catch 604 may be used for any suitable purpose, such as vertically chaining multiple hangers (not shown) with one another by hooking the hook of another clothes hanger to catch 604 of central portion 600. Horizontal bar member 608 can also be used for any suitable purpose, such as for hanging one or more relatively narrow items, such as a tie, scarf, suspenders, etc. A user may also use it to support one or more other clothes hangers, among other things. Components of central portion 600 not described may be the same as or similar to components described elsewhere herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a user-adjustable clothes hanger 700 that is generally the same as user-adjustable clothes hanger 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B but has an asymmetrical central portion 704 that is particularly useful for hanging a garment (not shown) having relatively small, fixed, i.e., largely inelastic, neck opening, such as a T-shirt, sweater, and other garment having a crewneck, among others. In this example, asymmetrical central portion 704 has a shoulder-portion support 708 and a hook support 712 that cantilevers from one side of the shoulder-portion support to provide an open central region 716 that a user can use for any of a variety of purposes. For example, as mentioned above, asymmetrical central portion 704 is particularly useful for hanging a fixed-neck-opening garment. As those practiced in the use of conventional hangers know, it can be difficult to insert a conventional hanger through the neck-opening of a fixed-neck-opening garment without stretching the material surrounding the opening. With clothes hanger 700, open central region 716 can allow the user to insert one end of the hanger (left-hand end in FIG. 7) farther into the garment via the neck opening of the garment than with a conventional hanger. This reduces the amount of stretching needed to then insert the other end of clothes hanger 700 (right-hand-end in FIG. 7) into the garment.

As another example of how a user can use open central region 716, similar to horizontal bar member 608 of the clothes hanger of FIGS. 6A and 6B, a user can use the open central region of the clothes hanger 700 to hang one or more relatively narrow items, such as a tie, scarf, suspenders, etc. A user may also use open central region 716 to support one or more other clothes hangers (not shown), among other things. Regarding supporting other clothes hangers, one can readily envision using central open region 716 to support two clothes hangers, one of either side of the central region 708A of the shoulder-support portion 708. In this connection, in this embodiment shoulder-support portion 708 has a side stop 720 opposite the location where hook support 712 joins the shoulder-support portion. Because central region 708A of shoulder-support portion 708 is curved as shown, side stop 720 would prevent a hanger on that side of central open region 716 from sliding toward shoulder portion 724 on that side of clothes hanger 700. In other embodiments, central region 708A need not be curved or may include curvature in the opposite direction. Components of clothes hanger 700 of FIG. 7 not described may be the same as or similar to components of other user-adjustable clothes hangers shown and/or described herein.

Various modifications and additions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Features of each of the various embodiments described above may be combined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments, what has been described herein is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention. Additionally, although particular methods herein may be illustrated and/or described as being performed in a specific order, the ordering is highly variable within ordinary skill to achieve aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not to otherwise limit the scope of this invention.

Example embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that which is specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A clothes hanger, comprising:

a central portion;

a support-engaging member coupled to the central portion, the support-engaging member for engaging a support so as to allow the clothes hanger to provide a clothes hanging function for an article of clothing; and

first and second shoulder portions coupled to the central portion so as to extend from the central portion in generally opposite directions from one another, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions has a shoulder-width profile that is user-adjustable between a narrower profile and a wider profile.

2. The clothes hanger according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions:

is pivotably coupled to the central portion so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis;

has the narrower profile when pivoted to a first orientation about the pivot axis; and

has the wider profile when pivoted about the pivot axis to a second orientation different from the first orientation;

wherein the user is able to switch between the narrower and wider profiles of each of the first and second shoulder portions by pivoting each of the first and second shoulder portions between the first and second orientations.

3. The clothes hanger according to claim 2, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions comprises a planar open loop, wherein the first orientation is when the planar loop lies in a vertical plane when the clothes hanger is hanging from the support structure and the second orientation is when the planar loop lies in a plane rotated 90° about the pivot axis.

4. The clothes hanger according to claim 3, wherein the planar loop has a shoulder end and an attachment end, the planar loop being wider proximate the shoulder end than at the attachment end.

5. The clothes hanger according to claim 4, wherein the planar loop is symmetrical about the pivot axis.

6. The clothes hanger according to claim 4, wherein the planar loop is asymmetrical about the pivot axis.

7. The clothes hanger according to claim 2, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions is joined to the central portion using a snap-fit connection.

8. The clothes hanger according to claim 7, wherein each snap-fit connection includes a headed stud and a corresponding receptacle.

9. The clothes hanger according to claim 8, wherein each receiver includes a side-engagement opening.

10. The clothes hanger according to claim 2, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions comprises a solid member.

11. The clothes hanger according to claim 10, wherein the solid member is a flat paddle-shaped member.

12. The clothes hanger according to claim 10, wherein the solid member comprises a curved shell having a concave interior and a convex exterior.

13. The clothes hanger according to claim 1, wherein the central portion is asymmetrical relative to a plane spaced equidistant from the first and second shoulder portions.

14. The clothes hanger according to claim 13, wherein the central portion includes a shoulder-portion support and a hook support that cantilevers from only one side of the shoulder-portion support to define a central open region.

15. The clothes hanger according to claim 1, wherein the central portion has a lower end when the clothes hanger is hanging from a support in a normal-use orientation and includes a horizontal bar member depending below the lower end when the clothes hanger is hanging from the support in the normal-use orientation.

16. The clothes hanger according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second shoulder portions comprise a pair of side-by-side elongate members that are user-deformable between the narrower profile and the wider profile.

17. The clothes hanger according to claim 16, wherein the pair of side-by-side elongate members are fixedly attached to the central portion.

18. The clothes hanger according to claim 16, wherein each of the pair of side-by-side elongate members is hingedly attached to the central portion.

19. The clothes hanger according to claim 16, wherein the pair of side-by-side elongate members are attached to one another distal from the central portion by a hinge.

20. The clothes hanger according to claim 19, wherein the hinge is a pin-type hinge.