Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02279210 2004-10-05
MODULAR PANTS HANGING UNIT
Brief Summary of the Invention
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to a hanger for one or more pairs of pants, in
particular, it relates to
1o a pants hanger having a stationary arm and a spring or springs biased
against said arm to provide
pressure for gripping a pair of pants between the spring or springs and the
arm.
Numerous types of pants or trousers hangers have been disclosed over a long
period of
time. U.S. Patent 707,192 issued to Aiken describes a trousers supporter
having parallel rods.
The spacing between two rods is barely sufficient to receive the four
thicknesses of the trousers
material but not wide enough to receive eight thicknesses of material which
occurs at the seam
portion at the extreme end of the trouser legs. Since this hanger is not
adjustable, it is limited to
certain trousers with a specific material thickness. This limitation makes
this type of hanger
unsuitable with the wide variety of materials and thicknesses now available.
U.S. Patent 2,492,325 to Schroeder describes a combination hanger comprised of
2o plurality of spaced parallel arms. The arms are spaced to receive the cuffs
of men's trousers
between an adjacent pair, however other garments can be draped over the arms
as well. Since the
arms are fixed with respect to each other, this pants hanger suffers from the
same limitation as the
above pants hanger with regard to the intended method of supporting pants. As
to draping
garments over the arms, the lack of a gripping arm requires careful balancing
of the garment over
the arm to prevent the garment from sliding off and falling to the floor,
where it will inevitably
become wrinkled or soiled.
U.S. Patent 4,557,407 to Bogaczyk describes a pants hanger having parallel
bars in which
a pair of pants are held between a pair of bars by the friction force between
the surface of bars and
pants. This technique is very sensitive to the fabric materials or fabric
thickness and is likewise
3o not suitable for hanging wide variety of pants.
U.S. Patent 853,527 to Tye discloses a trousers hanger with a plurality of
fingers
proximally mounted to a plurality of corresponding pins which are parallel to
each other and
vertically disposed, enabling the distal end of each finger to swing
horizontally. The distal ends
of the first and last forgers are urged together by a compressed spring
between the extended
3s proximal ends of the two forgers on the opposite side of the pins. Since
only the distal ends of the
fingers are compressed together, this hanger does not provide a pressure along
the length of the
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forgers. As a result, the weight of the pants pulling on one side can pull and
stretch the pants
material with undesirable results.
U.S. Patent 2,127,333 to Hall et al. discloses a garment hanger with a
plurality of pairs of
forgers. Each pair of forgers are connected at a proximal end to each other
and are free at the
distal ends. Furthermore, the free ends of each pair are compressed together
by a bolt and nut
adjacent the proximal end of the gripping fingers. This patent suffers from
the same disadvantage
as the previous patent, in that only the distal ends of each pair are
compressed together, which can
result in misshaped pants due to uneven stretching and pulling of the fabric.
U.S. Patent 5,607,066 to Hebberd discloses a pants rack assembly having two
rigid outer
1o fingers and two floating inner forgers which are pressed against the outer
fingers by two springs
disposed between them. The springs are supported by an additional spring
support arm disposed
between the two inner fingers. This patent can support two pairs of pants
between two forger
gripping members but it requires a middle spring support arm which increases
manufacturing
costs and thus increases the price of the assembly. Additionally, the presence
of the two coil
springs prevent a person from draping a garment, such as a skirt, necktie, or
other item, over one
of the inner fingers. If several of these assemblies were to be placed next to
each other, it would
be difficult to figure out which fingers are stationary and which fingers are
floating to determine
which way drape the article of clothing.
Accordingly, none of the prior art hangers provide a simple construction for
providing
pressure along the length of a supporting arm to grip a garment. It is
therefore an object of this
invention to provide a pants hanger which simplifies the pants hanging process
and suffers from
none of the disadvantages of the prior art. It is another object of the
invention to provide a
modular hanging unit that can be easily assembled into hanging array for
hanging and draping
multiple pairs of pants. It is also an object of the invention to provide an
integrated hanging rack
for hanging and draping multiple pairs of pants. It is yet another objective
of this invention that
extend the above mention objectives to hanging skirt, neck tie and other
items. It is finally an
object of this invention to provide all of the features in a device which is
inexpensive to
manufacture.
3o SUMMARY
The embodiments disclosed in the present application are directed towards
pants hangers which
obtain a gripping force by biasing a spring or springs between two stationary
arms. The spring or
springs serve both as a guide during the insertion of a garment between the
two stationary arms
and as a source of gripping pressure, thereby reducing the complexity and
manufacturing costs.
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In a first embodiment, a plurality of springs formed from spring wire are
mounted to a first
stationary arm and gently curves out to apply pressure against a second
stationary arm. The shape
of the spring provides a smooth guide for inserting garments between the two
arms for hanging,
but also maintains the garments in position by gripping them between the
spring and the second
stationary arm.
Each Spring element may be attached at one end to the first stationary arm,
having a single
resilient biasing region, or it may be attached at both ends to the first
stationary arm and have two
resilient biasing regions on either side of the contact region which functions
to grip and hold the
garment in place.
The remaining embodiments provide for various shaped flat metal springs which
serve the
same function and operate in substantially the same way as the formed wire
springs. The flat
metal springs provide a greater surface area of contact against the garment,
which permits more
evenly-distributed pressure, which reduces the likelihood of damage to a
garment due to
stretching and pulling of the fabric. Secondly, the flat metal springs may be
cheaper to produce
~s due to fewer steps in manufacturing.
Brief Description of the Several Views of the Drawings
Figure 1 shows an assembled pants hanger according to a first embodiment of
the
invention in top view.
Figure 2 shows torsion springs of Figure 1 in top view.
Figure 3 shows torsion springs of Figure 1 in side view.
Figure 4 shows the pants hanger of Figure 1 with the torsion springs in a
compressed
condition, as when a pair of pants are hung therein.
Figure 5 shows a pants hanger assembly according to a second embodiment in
which the
spring element comprises flat springs.
Figure 6 is perspective view of a spring from the embodiment shown in Figure
5.
3o Figure 7 shows another embodiment having a single flat spring that exerts
wide, uniform
compression over large contact surface.
Figure 8 shows a perspective view of the spring element of Figure 7.
Figure 9 shows the pants hanger of Figure 7 with the spring in a state of
compression, as
when a pair of pants are hung therein.
Figure 10 shows yet another embodiment including two flat metal springs, each
operating
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in a manner similar to the one spring shown in the embodiment of Figure 7.
Figure 11 shows an isometric view of a variation of the embodiment of Figure 7
in which
the hanger is rotated ninety degrees and the spring element is mounted to the
upper arm and
applies pressure to the lower arm.
Figure 12 shows a plurality of the pants hangers of Figure 11 formed
integrally as a unit.
Figure 13 a multiple pants hanging unit having multiple hanging arms. One side
of each
hanging arm supports the biasing spring which compresses against the adjacent
hanging arm and
hang a pair pants are hanged between the other side of each hanging arm and
the spring supported
by the adjacent hanging arm.
io
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
The first embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 1 through 4. Figure
1 shows the
invention according to the first embodiment in top down, or plan view. The
invention comprises
a pants hanger having a common block 10 from which two fixed parallel arms 11
and 12 extend.
The invention would work equally well if these two arms were reversed, serving
each others'
functions, e.g., if the invention were to be turned upside-down. Left arm 12
has two spring
elements 30 mounted to it. Arms 11 and 12 are formed integrally with common
block 10 but need
not be.
2o Each spring element 30, shown separately in side view in Figure 2 and top
view in Figure
3, are formed from a single piece of spring wire, and include two mounting
terminals 31, two
torsion spring sections 32, and spring arm 33. Terminals 31 fit into terminal
receiving channels
formed into arm 12 and torsion spring sections 32 fit over posts 35 formed
into arm 12. Receiving
channels may be simply holes into which terminals 31 extend, or grooves formed
in the upper and
lower surface of arm 12. Torsion springs 32 fit snugly into torsion spring
coil housing cavity 17.
Posts 35 are shown in profile in Figure 2 for clarity, but may be integrally
formed in arm 12 or
eliminated altogether. When smaller spring wire size is used, posts 35 add
additional mechanical
support to coils 32.
Each spring 30 is biased in an "open" condition shown in Figure 3, but is
compressed
3o slightly by arm 11 when installed onto arm 12. Each spring 30 includes
contact region 34 which
is biased against arm 11 when installed. Contact region 34 gripes an article
of clothing slipped
between arms 11 and 12 to support the article in a hanging condition. When
clothes are present
between arms 11 and 12, springs 30 are placed in a compressed condition as
shown in Figure 4,
and the free ends of springs 30 may be forced into respective cavities 16
formed into the body of
arm 12. Cavities 16 permit the springs to deform to such an extent that the
springs provide nearly
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as much clearance between the springs themselves and arm 12 as would be if the
springs were not
present at all between arms 11 and 12 without sacrificing the gently curving
shape of springs 30
which allow clothing to be easily inserted and removed past spring elements
30.
Figures 5 and 6 show a second embodiment according to the invention. This
embodiment
is similar to the previous one, except that spring elements 40 are formed from
stamped, flat metal
springs instead of spring wire. Flat metal springs 40 provide a greater area
of pressure against an
article of clothing supported by them than do spring wire springs 30 of the
previous embodiment.
Springs 40 are formed in the same basic shape as springs 30 in the previous
embodiment, but due
to their simpler structure, they are easier to manufacture and attach to arm
12 of the hanger unit.
1o Each spring 40 includes a mounting terminal 41 which is embedded into
hanger arm 12,
a substantially U-shaped resilient biasing region 42 which takes most of the
bending stress when
the spring is deformed, contact region 43 which serves to compress an article
of clothing against
arm 11, ramp region 44 to prevent bunching or jamming when removing an article
of clothing,
and spring end 45, which always remains in contact with arm 12, also to
provide for easy removal
of the article of clothing.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 show a third embodiment according to the invention. In
this
embodiment, a single spring is employed which extends a majority of the length
of arm 12. The
single long spring element with two resilient biasing points 55 provides even
greater surface
contact area and more uniform pressure against a garment than previous
embodiments and is
2o assembled with fewer parts.
Spring 50 includes recess region 51 at about the mid-point along its length
which lines up
with recess region 13 formed in arm I1 of hanger unit 10. The recess regions
13 and 51 are
designed to accommodate the seams on pants legs which are usually found at
about the mid point
between creases. Spring 50 is shown in perspective view in Figure 8, and it is
formed from a
single piece of stamped flat metal spring, and it includes two terminals 53
and 54, two
substantially U-shaped resilient biasing regions 55, two ramp portions 56, and
two contact regions
52 formed on either side of recess 51. Terminal 53 is embedded in left arm 12,
and is therefore
fixed in place. Contact regions 52 and recess portion 51 may be stiffened by
being bent along both
edges or by being corrugated lengthwise to minimize bending under pressure. If
formed from
3o plastic, the contact regions 52 and recess portion 51 may be stiffened by
having ribs formed and
extending along the side opposite arm 11. U-shaped bend 55 and ramp portion 56
located adjacent
to terminal 53 and the U-shaped bend 55 and ramp portion 56 located adjacent
to terminal 54
assert substantially independent biasing force toward right arm 11 and apply
uniform pressure
against the right arm 11 through contact regions 52. Spring 50 flattens out
when compressed, and
3s terminals 53 and 54 are urged away from each other as shown in Figure 9.
Because of this,
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terminal 54 slides part way out of its slot 18 but is still retained by the
slot when spring 50 is
compressed as shown in Figure 9. Ramps 56 permit a garment to be smoothly
inserted and
removed without undue pulling, jamming, or stretching on the garment.
Figure 10 shows a variation on the previous embodiment in which a plurality of
spring
elements, each having two substantially U-shaped resilient biasing regions,
are provided along the
length of the hanger. This embodiment shows that a majority of the benefits
derived from the
previous, single-spring embodiment can also be enjoyed by employing more than
one spring. In
particular, a large surface area of compression to grip the garment, a
relatively even distribution
of pressure against a garment, easy insertion and removal of the garment, etc.
Springs 50 each
1o have two ends 54 and 53, which may both slide freely inside their
respective slots 19, or may have
one free end and one fixed end as the spring 52 shown in Figures 7 through 9.
The orientation of the hanger is not material to its utility as a hanger for
garments. If very
long garments are required to be hung in a space not tall enough to
accommodate the full length
of the garments, it may be desirable to rotate the hanger 90° as shown
in Figure 11 and drape the
I5 garment over the lower arm. While Figure 11 shows the hanger shown in
Figure 7 at a different
angle, any hanger disclosed herein may be rotated for a similar effect. In
fact, any hanger
according to the invention will operate substantially the same regardless of
the angle at which it
is rotated.
Each hanger embodiment disclosed herein may be arranged in an array of
hangers, where
20 each hanger is but one module of many. Each hanger module can be mounted
to, or formed
integrally with, a common support as shown in Figure 12.
Figure 13 shows a plurality of hangers according to the embodiment shown in
Figure 10
wherein each support arm may be formed integrally with common block 10 or they
may be
mounted to common block 10. In this example, each support arm except the outer
two are
25 common to adjacent hangers. Thus each support arm, except the outer two,
serve both as a
spring support for one hanging unit on one side and a gripper surface for
another hanging unit on
its other side. In this way a plurality of closely spaced units can be easily
fit into a small space.
A person of ordinary skill may certainly envision other enhancements or
alterations to the
embodiments set forth above without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention. For
3o example, the hanger bodies and springs may be formed of varying materials.
Plastic springs, for
example, may be used in place of metal wire or flat metal springs. The hanger
bodies may be
formed of ceramic, wood, glass, or metal instead of plastic. Composite plastic
may be desired for
the hanger body. The modularity of the hangers can be improved by providing
snapping fixtures
to permit them to be snapped together to create any size array of hangers to
fit any available space.
35 The hangers may be mounted for rotation along a vertical axis at their
bases to permit easy
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viewing of the hung garments to select among them. The hangers may be mounted
to a vertical
pole for display purposes, or to satisfy other requirements of the available
space.
Having now particularly described the preferred embodiments of the invention,
it is
understood that the scope of protection sought is not defined by the detailed
description set forth
s above, but by the claims appended hereto.
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