Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 2962171 2017-03-27
DESCRIPTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a garment hanger, and more particularly to a
chair-
back mountable garment hanger configured to be removably mounted to the back
of
a chair.
BACKGROUND
It is common in a workplace that professional employees and others arrive at
an
office space formally or semi-formally dressed with a suit or sport jacket or
the like,
or seasonally with an outer garment such as an overcoat. Typically an outer
garment
is removed by the wearer upon entry into the office space, and often the
jacket is
removed for the wearers comfort upon arrival at a personal desk. In particular
regarding suit or sport jacket or the like, the jacket may be simply draped
over the
back of the wearer's office chair, so that the jacket may be readily accessed
as
needed.
While common, the practice of draping a garment over a seat back is
disadvantageous, versus hanging the garment in a closet, using a conventional
coat
hanger, in that the garment may become wrinkled or suffer undue wear as the
wearer leans against parts of the garment draped over the chair.
It is therefore desirable to provide a garment hanger accessory, which can be
easily
attached or removed from a seat back, and in particular a seat back of an
office desk
chair or the like, which avoids damage, wrinkling and undue wear of a garment.
SUMMARY
According to one aspect of the present invention, a chair-back mountable
garment
hanger is provided, comprising: a main supporting body having a pair of
opposite,
laterally extending wings; at least one fastening element disposed on said
main
supporting body, the fastening element being configured to attach to a seat
back
with said main supporting body suspended therefrom; and a hanger element
supported by said main supporting body.
In one embodiment, the hanger element comprises a pair of laterally extending
garment shoulder supports.
In another embodiment, the hanger element further comprises at least one
downwardly extending support member, the support member being engaged with
the main support body.
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In another embodiment, the support member is slidably engaged with the main
supporting body whereby the hanger element is adjustable in a vertical
position
relative to the main support body.
In another embodiment, the at least one fastening element comprises a hook
configured to be hooked over the seat back.
In another embodiment, the at least one fastening element comprise a clamp
configured to secure the hook to the seat back.
In another embodiment, the at least one fastening element is coupled to the
main
supporting body by a flexible coupling.
In another embodiment, the at least one flexible coupling comprises a
pivotable
coupling.
In another embodiment, the at least one flexible coupling comprises a ball and
socket type coupling.
In another embodiment, the at least one fastening element comprises a pair of
fastening elements.
In another embodiment, each of said pair of fastening elements is disposed at
a
respective one of said laterally extending wings of said main supporting body.
In another embodiment, the support member comprises a plurality of latching
elements, the latching elements being configured to be selectively engaged
with the
main supporting body to define a plurality of lockable vertical positions of
the
hanger element relative to the main supporting body.
In another embodiment, the latching elements are notches formed in the support
member.
In another embodiment, the chair-back garment hanger further comprises a
biasing
element configured to bias the support member into a releasably latched
engagement with the main supporting body.
In another embodiment, the biasing element comprises at least one spring.
In another embodiment, the clamp comprises a screw clamp.
In another embodiment, the main supporting body has a front and a back, and
the
back is arranged to lie against a back surface of the seat back when the chair-
back
garment hanger is mounted to the seat back.
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In another embodiment, the main supporting body comprises a receptacle, and
the
support member is slidably received in the receptacle of the main supporting
body.
In another embodiment, the hanger element is formed of a single piece of wire,
and
the at least one downwardly extending support member comprises a pair of
downwardly extending support members each being defined by an end portion of
the single piece of wire.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention
will
become better understood with regard to the following description, appended
claims, and accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a chair-back mountable garment hanger of according
to
the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of an embodiment of a chair-back mountable
garment hanger of according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an exploded rear perspective view of an embodiment of a chair-back
mountable garment hanger of according to the present invention, showing a
manner
of attaching a hanger element to a main supporting body of the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a cross-section view along section 4-4 of FIG. 2, showing an
arrangement of
biasing elements and latching elements providing for latchable positional
adjustment of the hanger element.
FIG. 5 is a partial section view along section 5-5 of FIG. 4, showing biasing
elements
and latching elements in greater detail.
FIG. 6 is a side view of an embodiment of a fastening element of the chair-
back
mountable garment hanger.
FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a chair-back mountable garment hanger
of
according to the present invention, showing an alternative arrangement of
fastening
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, chair-back mountable garment hanger 100 comprises,
broadly
speaking, a main supporting body 110, at least one fastening element 120
disposed
on the main supporting body 110, the fastening element 120 being configured to
attach to a seat back with the main supporting body 110 suspended therefrom, a
hanger element 130 supported by the main supporting body 110.
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In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the hanger element 130 comprises a pair of
laterally extending garment shoulder supports 132, arranged to support a
garment,
such as a jacket or coat, by the garment's shoulders in a generally
conventional
manner. The hanger element 130 may be differently configured to support other
or
additional types of garments or other objects.
As noted above, hanger element 130 is supported by the main supporting body
110.
Preferably, the hanger element 130 is coupled to the main supporting body 110
in a
manner allowing for vertically adjustable positioning of the hanger element
130
relative to the main supporting body 110, when the chair-back mountable
garment
hanger 100 is mounted onto a chair or seat back.
In the illustrated embodiment, the hanger element 130 comprises at least one
downwardly extending support member 134, wherein the support member 134 is
engaged with the main supporting body 110. More particularly, in the
illustrated
embodiment, at least one downwardly extending support member 134 of the
hanger element 130 comprises a pair of downwardly extending support members
134 which are slidably engaged with the main supporting body 110 whereby the
hanger element 130 is adjustable in a vertical position relative to the main
supporting body 110.
In the illustrated embodiment, the hanger element 130 is formed of a single
piece of
wire 136, wherein the support members 134 are each defined by an end portion
138 of said single piece of wire 136. In this embodiment, the laterally
extending
garment shoulder supports 132 are elongated U-shaped sections of the wire 136,
and may have a downward curvature toward their ends to approximate a typical
shoulder profile to support a garment without undue deformation, or an
unnatural
fitting of the garment onto the shoulder supports 132. The hanger element 130
may
be alternatively formed, such as from wood, plastic or another material. For
example, wooden dowels may be used to form shoulder supports, or the entire
hanger element formed of plastic such as an injection molded plastic or the
like. In
certain embodiments, a covering such as a leather, plastic, rubber, fabric or
other
covering may be provided on all or portions of the hanger element, such as a
covering over the shoulder supports 132 to further protect a garment hung on
the
hanger element 130.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, elements of an embodiment of a mechanism attaching the
hanger element 130 to the main supporting body 110 are shown in greater
detail,
including elements providing for vertical position adjustment of the hanger
element
130. In this embodiment, the support members 134 comprise a plurality of
latching
elements which are configured to be selectively engaged with the main
supporting
body 110 to define a plurality of lockable vertical positions of the hanger
element
relative to the main supporting body 110. More particularly, in the embodiment
shown, the latching elements 140 are notches formed in the support members 134
which may be selectively engaged with a latching protrusion 112 formed or
disposed on the main supporting body 110. The latching elements 140 are spaced
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apart lengthwise along the support members 134 to define lockable vertical
positions of the hanger element 130 relative to the main supporting body 110.
Referring in particular to FIG. 5, a rear cover 118 is provided to form a part
of the
mounting assembly of the hanger element 130, wherein the support members 134
are retained in a receptacle defined within a space between the back of the
main
supporting body 110 and the rear cover 118. In this embodiment, the latching
protrusions 112 are formed in side walls 119 of the rear cover 118, as tabs or
the
like extending inward to engage with the latching elements 140 of the support
members 134.
A biasing element 114 is configured to bias the support members 134 into a
releasably latched engagement with the latching protrusion 112 of the main
supporting body 110. In the illustrated embodiment, the notches are formed in
outward facing side of at least one of the support members 134, whereby the
support members 134 can be released from their latching engagement with the
main supporting body 110 by squeezing the support members 134 together against
the bias, to disengage the notches from the latching protrusion 112 to allow
sliding
of the support members 134 into another position. The biasing element 114 may
comprise an arrangement of at least one spring, or another type of resilient
or
compressive element.
The at least one fastening element 120 may comprise a single fastening element
120
(see for example FIG. 7), or a plurality of fastening elements 120 (see for
example
FIGS. 1-3). Turning to FIG. 6, an illustrated embodiment of the at least one
fastening
element 120 comprises a hook 122 configured to be hooked over the seat back. A
single hook 122 may be provided, for example a centrally disposed hook 122 of
sufficient width for stable support. Alternatively, and preferably, a pair of
hooks 122
are disposed on the main support body, such as outwardly on outward extending
wings of the main support body.
The fastening element 120 may further comprise a clamp 124 configured to
secure
the fastening element 120 to said seat back. In the illustrated embodiment,
the
fastening element 120 comprises a hook 122 in combination with a clamp 124. It
can be recognized that the fastening elements 120 may be of varied dimension,
to
accommodate mounting to seat backs of varied dimension. In this regard, in
addition to simply securing or clamping the fastening elements 120 to a seat
back,
the clamp 124 can be seen as providing a degree of adjustment to fit seat
backs of
differing widths.
The fastening element 120 may be coupled to the main supporting body 110 by a
flexible coupling 126, allowing the main supporting body 110 and the hanger
element 130 supported thereby to swing freely with respect to the seat back,
allowing a garment suspended on the hanger element 130 to hang naturally
despite
variations or changes in an angle of tilt of the seat back. For example, a
tilt or recline
of a seat back may vary from one chair to another. And, the tilt or recline of
a seat
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back may be varied according to user preference or habit in chairs with a
reclining
back or rocking feature. The flexible coupling 126 may comprise a pivotable
coupling, such as ball and socket coupling.
The main supporting body 110 itself, in the illustrated embodiment, is a
generally
flat body having a front side 116 and a back side, wherein the main supporting
body
110 is configured so that the back side lies against a back surface of a seat
back
when the chair-back garment hanger is mounted to the seat back. Preferably,
the
main supporting body 110 has a sufficient width to distribute any load against
the
seat back over a sufficient area to avoid creating pressure points against the
seat
back, which may cause undue wear of the seat back, or undue user discomfort.
It will be understood that the above-described embodiments of the invention
are
illustrative in nature, and that modifications thereof may occur to those
skilled in
the art. Accordingly, this invention is not to be regarded as limited to the
embodiments disclosed herein, but is to be limited only as defined in the
appended
claims.
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