CLOTHES HANGERS AND STACKING ROD

CINTRES ET TRINGLE D'EMPILAGE

English Abstract

A heavy duty hanger rack uses a stocking rod for aligning hangers in a vertically spaced relationship. Each hanger has a hole defined in a reinforced portion in the neck area. The stacking rod has two semi-circular ends offset with an angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the rod.

French Abstract

Un support à cintres robuste utilise une tringle d'empilage pour aligner les cintres dans une relation verticale espacée. Chaque cintre est muni d'une ouverture définie dans une partie renforcée du col. La tringle d'empilage comprend deux extrémités semi-circulaires décalées d'un angle par rapport à l'axe longitudinal de la tringle.

Claims

CLAIMS
1. A heavy duty hanger rack comprising:
at least an upper and lower hanger, each hanger comprising:
a triangular body having two arms depending downward at an angle from a
common apex and a connecting rail connecting respective lower ends
of the two arms, the connecting rail providing a lower contact point;
a neck connected to the triangular body at the common apex and extending
vertically away from the connecting rail, the neck including a hook at an
end opposite the common apex; and
a middle portion located at the connection between the neck and the
triangular body, the middle portion having an aperture providing a
passageway through a plane defined by the triangular body, the
aperture providing an upper support point, the upper support point and
the lower contact point for supporting and aligning generally vertically a
stacking rod; and
at least one stacking rod having two semi-circular openings at respective ends
of
a rod having a longitudinal axis, each semi-circular openings offset with a
predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the rod, one of the
semi-circular openings received within the aperture of the upper hanger, the
other of the semi-circular openings supporting the hook of the lower hanger,
the rod of the stacking rod contacting the connecting rail of the upper hanger
at the contact point;
wherein the respective triangular bodies of the upper and lower hangers are
aligned generally in the same plane.
2. The heavy duty hanger of claim 1, further comprising a reinforced portion
located
below the aperture and connecting the two arms.
3. The heavy duty hanger of claims 1 or 2, wherein the triangular body and the
neck
are integrally formed and have substantially the same thickness.
4. The heavy duty hanger of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the triangular
body
and the neck have a generally circular cross-section having a diameter D1.
7

5. The heavy duty hanger of claim 4, wherein the aperture is has a circular
shape
with a diameter D2.
6. The heavy duty hanger of claim 5, wherein D2 is less than D1.
7. A kit for a heavy duty hanger rack comprising:
at least two hangers, each hanger comprising:
a triangular body having two arms depending downward at an angle from a
common apex and a connecting rail connecting respective lower ends
of the two arms, the connecting rail providing a lower contact point;
a neck connected to the triangular body at the common apex and extending
vertically away from the connecting rail, the neck including a hook at an
end opposite the common apex; and
a middle portion located at the connection between the neck and the
triangular body, the middle portion having an aperture providing a
passageway through a plane defined by the triangular body, the
aperture providing an upper support point, the upper support point and
the lower contact point for supporting and aligning generally vertically a
stacking rod; and
at least one stacking rod having two semi-circular openings at respective ends
of
a rod having a longitudinal axis, each semi-circular openings offset with a
predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the rod.
8. The kit for a heavy duty hanger rack of claim 7, further comprising a
reinforced
portion located below the aperture and connecting the two arms.
9. The kit for a heavy duty hanger rack of claims 7 or 8, wherein the
triangular body
and the neck are integrally formed and have substantially the same thickness.
10. The kit for a heavy duty hanger rack of any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein
the
triangular body and the neck have a generally circular cross-section having a
diameter D1.
8

11. The kit for a heavy duty hanger rack of claim 10, wherein the aperture is
has a
circular shape with a diameter D2.
12. The kit for a heavy duty hanger rack of claim 11, wherein D2 is less than
D1.
9

Description

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
Clothes Hangers and Stacking Rod
Field of invention
The present invention generally relates to a device for interconnecting
garment
hangers and in particular to a heavy duty hanger rack using a stacking rod for
aligning
hangers in a vertically spaced relationship.
Related art
Stacked racks including a plurality of hangers each having two arms and a
conventional inverted-U shaped construction with loop elements, hooks, or
anchors for
vertical placement of hangers with respect to each other in order to save
hanger rack
space are known. Problems related to stacks including two arms conventional
hangers
reside in the fact that it is not easy to replace clothes on the lower hangers
and it is also
difficult to observe supported items on lower hangers.
Stacked racks including hangers with a triangular body and connecting means
for vertical displacement of hangers are also known. The stacked hangers are
offset
from each other in a vertical plane and also in a horizontal plane. This
arrangement
occupies unnecessary hanger rack space.
Summar)~ of the Invention
The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art
associated with stacked clothes hangers.
Clothes hangers with triangular body according to the invention may be moulded
from a resistant plastic as one solid piece. A hole is provided in a
reinforced neck area
below the apex of the triangle.
A stacking rod having a predetermined length and two C-shaped links may be
attached to the hole of a first, or upper hanger at one end while allowing a
second, or
lower hanger to be supported at the other end.

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
According to one aspect of the invention, a clothes hanger is provided. The
hanger comprises a triangular body having two arms and a correcting rail, a
neck
area integrally formed with the arms and a hook. A hole is centrally defined
in the neck
area with and a reinforced portion is defined in a region diametrically
opposite the hook.
Preferably, the hook, the reinforced portion, and the connecting rail have the
same
thickness.
According to another aspect of the invention, a stacking rod is provided. The
stacking rod comprises an elongated shaft, two identical C-shaped links
coplanar with
said shaft and defining respective semECircular openings, and a linear
intermediate
portion for connecting the Gshaped links with the shaft, such that the links
and the
intermediate portion are symmetrically formed at each end of the shaft, and
the
intermediate portion is offset with a predetermined aigle relative to a
longitudinal axis
of the shaft in a direction away from the openings.
According to still another aspect of the invention, a heavy duty hanger rack
is
provided. The heavy duty hanger rack may be assembled from a kit including at
least
an upper hanger, a lower hanger, and a stacking rod. The stacking rod has two
semi-
circular openings offset with a predetermined angle relative to a longitudinal
axis of the
rod, a first opening engaging the hole of the upper hanger and a second
opening
engaging the hook of the lower hanger. The upper and lower hangers are aligned
in
substantially same vertical plane by gravity.
The clothes hanger according to the invention is easy to manufacture from a
resistant plastic as an integral molded item. Clothes hangers with stacking
rods
according to the invention optimize occupancy in the storage area by at least
doubling
the hanger rack capacity, since a plurality of garments may be hanged in
substantially
same vertical plan. Consequently, easy access and visibility to clothes
supported on
lower hangers is provided for conveniently storing and retrieving stored
items.
The "Summary of the Invention" does not necessarily disclose all the inventive
features. The inventions may reside in a sub~ombination of the disclosed
features.
2

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
Brief description of the drawings
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will
be
apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred
embodiments, as
illustrated in the appended drawings, where:
Figure 1 is a front view of a clothes hanger used by a heavy duty hanger rack
according to
the invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the stacking rod according to the invention;
Figure 3 is a front view of a heavy duty hanger rack according to one
embodiment of
the invention illustrating two clothes hangers connected with a stacking rod;
Figure 4 is a sectional view along line IV-IV' in Figure 3; and
Figure 5 is a lateral view of another embodimerit of the heavy duty hanger
rack
according to the invention illustrating three clothes hangers connected with
two stacking
rods.
Similar references are used in different figures to denote similar components.
Description of the preferred embodiments
The following description is of preferred embodiments by way of example only
and without limitation to combination of features necessary for carrying the
invention
into effect.
Figure 1 is a front view of a clothes hanger used by a heavy duty hanger rack
according to the invention Preferably, clothes hanger10 has a triangular body
manufactured from a suitable material with reasonable strength. The triangular
body
includes two shoulder arms 17,18, a connecting rail 19, and a neck 12. Arms
17, 18,
are attached to the connecting rail 19 through rounded corners 11, 11'. Neck
12 is
integrally formed at an apex 14 for connecting arms 17, 18, and a hook 16.
Neck 12
has a large enough area to accommodate a hole 15in a middle region between
apex
14 and a reinforced portion 13.
Arms 17, 18, hook 16, connecting rail 19, and the reinforced portion 13 have
same thickness and preferably a circular cross section with a diameter "d1':
As
3

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
illustrated in Figure 1, the reinforced portion 13has a diameter substantially
equal to
"d1" while the area around apex 14may exceed "d1". When manufactured from
plastic,
neck 12 is integrally molded with arms 17, 18~ and hook 16.
The heavy duty hanger 10 may be manufactured from metal sheets of flexible
nature allowing bending, from fibrous materials, from wood, or any other
suitable
material. Preferably, it is molded from a semi~igid plastic material like
polypropylene,
polyethylene, polystyrene, so that arms 17, rail 19, neck13, and hook 16, form
an
integral body.
Recommended size for hanger 10are as follows: arms 17, 18, about 22 cm,
connecting rail 19 about 40 cm, and d1 about 1 cm. Hole 15 may have a diameter
about 1.5 cm. It is to be noted that these dimensions are given by way of
example and
other sizes may be used when the heavy duty rack 10 is used for a different
application
than hanging garments. A non-slip friction surface made of thermoplastic
elastomer
may be bonded on the exposed surface of arms 17, 18, and on connecting rail
19.
Figure 2 is a front view of the stacking rod according to the invention.
Stacking
rod 20 has an elongated shaft 21, and two C~haped links 26, 27. The C-shaped
links
26, 27, are provided in same plane with shaft 21. Links 2C 27, define openings
28, 29,
having the shape of two quarters of a circle with a diameter "d3".
Links 26, 27, are connected to shaft 21 through two intermediate linear
portions
24, 25, which have a preset length (L) and form a predetermined angle a with
the
longitudinal axis of shaft 21. Links 26, 27, and respective intermediate
linear portions
24, 25, are symmetrically formed at each end of shaft 21 across a symmetry
axis Y-Y'.
Links 26, 27, are sized to fit into hole 15 of an upper clothes hanger and to
support
hook 16 of a lower clothes hanger. Ball-like terminations 22, 23, are provided
on links
26, 27, for either easy insertion of stacking rod 20 in hole 15 or for
attaching hook 16 to
stacking rod 20.
Preferably, stacking rod 20 is made of metal with a circular cross section
having a
diameter "d2" of about 3 mm, a shaft length of about 22 cm, the length (L) of
4

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
intermediate potions 24, 25, is about 1 cm, the angle a between 10E and 15E,
and the
diameter "d3" of about 2 cm.
Figure 3 is a front view of a heavy duty hanger rack according to one
embodiment of the invention illustrating two clothes hangers10, 10', connected
with a
stacking rod 20.
The length (L) of intermediate portions 2~ 25, diameters "d1" and "d2", and
the
angle a are so selected to substantially arrange support points S, S', on
longitudinal
axis X - X' whenever hanger 10 is attached to a convenient support while
hanger 10' is
aligned by gravity with hanger 10 using stacking rod 20. For example, if "d3"
is
selected twice the size of "d1", d2 «d1, and assuming linear portions 24, 25,
tangent to
an imaginary circle with a diameter d3, then d1 ~ L~ tg a. The alignment is
maintained
even when a piece of garment is placed on rail 19.
Figure 4 is a sectional view along line IV IV' in Figure 3. Stacking rod 20 is
supported by hole 15 of the upper hanger 10 in point "S" and supports in turn
the lower
hanger 10' in point S'. Both support points S, S', are on longitudinal axis X -
X'.
Contact point "P" with rail 19 is preferably located in a middle portion of
the horizontal
connecting rail 19, and further aligns stacking rod 20to remain parallel to
axis X -X'.
Figure 5 is a lateral view of another embodiment of the heavy duty hanger rack
according to the invention illustrating three clothes hangers10, 10', 10",
connected with
two stacking rods 20, 20'. The upper hanger 10 is attached to a support 30, as
for
example a rack bar in a closet, while the lower hangers 10', 10", are
supported using
two stacking rods 20, 20'. As shown, the heavy duty hanger rack formed by
three
clothes hangers 10, 10', 10", connected with two stacking rods 20, 20',
aligned by
contact points P, P', and gravity, places hangers and supported items in
substantially
same vertical plane.

CA 02493226 2005-O1-19
Numerous modifications, variations, and adaptations may be made to the
particular embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of
the
invention as defined in the claims. For example, the combination of an uppff
clothes
hanger having an inverted U-shaped construction and a hole defined in a
reinforced
region at the junction of the hanger body with the hook, with a stacking rod
may also
align by gravity, a lower clothes hanger in substantially the same vertical
bane with the
upper hanger.

Representative Drawing