Abstract:
A garment hanger adapted for hooking over a clothes rail. The garment hanger having a hanger frame for supporting a garment, a hanger support hook adjacent an apex of the frame, and a handle portion depending downwards from an end of the frame. The frame being generally perpendicular to a notional vertical plane containing the clothes rail. The end being offset downwardly from the apex and laterally of the notional vertical plane. The handle portion has a handle positioned substantially directly below the end for use by a user for more easily handling the hanger when it is loaded with one or more garments.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is an U.S. national phase application under 35 U.S.C. §371 based upon co-pending International Application No. PCT/AU03/00020 filed Jan. 9, 2003. Additionally, this U.S. national phase application claims the benefit of priority of co-pending International Application No. PCT/AU03/00020 filed Jan. 9, 2003, Australian Application No. PR 9951 filed on Jan. 14, 2002, and Australian Application No. AU 2002950244 filed Jul. 18, 2002. The entire disclosures of the prior applications are incorporated herein by reference. The international application was published Jul. 17, 2003 under Publication No. WO 03/056982 A1. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a garment hanger designed for easier usage by many different types of users. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Conventionally, a garment hanger includes an upper garment support for a jacket or other upper body garment, a lower garment support for trousers or other lower body garment such as a skirt, and a hook for suspending the garment hanger on a transverse clothes rail. 
   When a garment or suit positioned on a conventional garment hanger has to be placed or removed from the clothes rail this often becomes difficult since access to a crowded clothes rails is typically hindered. It will be even more difficult for a person of normal height to hook the hanger over a high clothes rail, or for a person of short stature or with a disability to hook the hanger even on a conventional height rail, without tilting of the hanger, which may cause the trousers on the hanger to slide sideways and crumple, or to slip off the hanger. 
   Moreover, some conventional garment hangers are made with thin, wire like frames or far-too-flexible plastic. As a result, the weight of the clothes is distributed which or when lifted causes undue pressure on the hand, which often is at an uncomfortable angle. 
   The same inconvenience arises in other numerous quite different operations involving conventional garment hangers, such as transporting clothes on such a garment hanger, even for a short distance, demonstrating a suit to a customer in a shop, removing or placing a garment when several garments positioned on individual hangers are packed closely on the clothes rail, etc. 
   In other words, conventional garment hangers are simply not ergonomically suited to the structural and functional characteristics of human hand and arm, nor to the manner in which the hangers are used. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention aims to address all of these deficiencies by providing a new, ergonomically improved garment hanger. 
   The present invention provides a garment hanger adapted for hooking over a clothes rail, including: a hanger frame for supporting a garment, said frame being generally perpendicular to a notional vertical plane containing said clothes rail; a hanger support hook adjacent an apex of the frame; and a handle portion depending downwards from an end of said frame, said end being offset downwardly from said apex and laterally of said notional vertical plane, said handle portion including a handle positioned for use by the user for handling the hanger. 
   Preferably said hanger frame includes a support arm extending from the apex of the frame to said end of the frame, and the handle portion depends downwards from a distal end of the support arm. 
   Preferably said handle portion depends downwards from a right-hand end of said frame. 
   Preferably said garment hanger further including orientation means for orientation of said clothes hanger relative to said clothes rail. 
   Preferably an opening of said hanger support hook faces away from the end of the frame having said handle. 
   Preferably said support arm is downwardly angled from the apex of the frame to the frame end. 
   In one embodiment, the hanger frame includes a generally horizontal garment rail adapted to support a lower body garment, and said handle is readily accessible by a user when the lower body garment is supported on the garment rail. 
   Preferably the hanger frame includes a generally horizontal garment rail adapted to support a lower body garment, the garment rail being supported by the support arm, and extending from a junction of the support arm and the handle portion. 
   In another embodiment the hanger frame includes a further support arm extending downwardly from the apex of the frame to an opposite end of the frame, and the support arms together are adapted to support an upper body garment. 
   In a further embodiment, the garment hanger includes a generally horizontal garment rail adapted to support a lower body garment, and the garment rail is supported by at least one of the support arms, and extends from a junction of said at least one support arm and the handle portion. 
   In one embodiment, the support arms include means for retention of straps of the upper body garment. 
   Preferably, said handle portion is sized and shaped to be received within the top of a sleeve of an upper body garment, such as a jacket, supported on the hanger frame. 
   Preferably, said handle portion, when received within said sleeve, does not cause substantial deformation of the sleeve. 
   Preferably said handle is readily accessible through the material of said sleeve. 
   In one embodiment, said garment hanger further includes a garment clip hinged relative to the hanger frame, being movable from a first position in which said garment clip cooperates with said generally horizontal garment rail to secure a lower body garment on said garment rail, and a second position in which said garment clip is moved away from said garment rail to permit the lower body garment to be placed or removed from said garment rail. 
   Preferably said garment clip includes resilient means for imposing a clamping force on said lower body garment, and adapted to compensate for variations in the thickness of lower body garments positioned on the garment rail. 
   Preferably said garment hanger further includes a retainer clip for holding said garment clip member in said second position. 
   In one embodiment said garment clip extends between a support arm of the frame and said generally horizontal garment rail. 
   In a preferred embodiment said garment clip includes first and second hinge members, said first hinge member being fixed to said support arm, said second hinge member being pivotally connected to said first hinge member for hinged movement between said first and second positions. 
   In one embodiment said support arms and said garment rail lie in substantially the same vertical plane. 
   In one form the hanger frame is a substantially triangular frame, optionally a closed triangular frame. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective front view of a suit hanger according to a first embodiment of the present invention with trousers; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective front view of the suit hanger of  FIG. 1  with a jacket and trousers; 
       FIG. 3  is a front elevation of the hanger shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a plan view of the hanger shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5   a  is a perspective side view of the suit hanger of  FIG. 1  with the clip closed; 
       FIG. 5   b  is a perspective detail view of the suit hanger of  FIG. 1  with the clip open; 
       FIG. 6  is a front elevation of a trouser hanger according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a plan view of the hanger shown in  FIG. 6 ; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective detail view of the suit hanger of  FIG. 6  with the clip open; 
       FIG. 9  is a front elevation of a trouser hanger according to a third embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 10  is a plan view of the hanger shown in  FIG. 9 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a front elevation of a suit hanger according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 12  is a front elevation of a closed triangular frame of the present invention. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The garment hangers  10  in  FIGS. 1-11  are each of the type based on two or more sides of a notional triangle, with a hook  14  for hooking onto a transverse clothes rail. 
   Referring now to the embodiment of the invention shown in  FIGS. 1-6 , the garment hanger  10  includes a substantially triangular hanger frame  11  which is generally perpendicular to a notional vertical plane  15   a  containing a clothes rail  15   b , and a main hanger support hook  14  for supporting the hanger  10  on the clothes rail  15   b.    
   The frame  11  includes a jacket hanger portion  12  having a pair of shoulder-shaped, downwardly angled garment support arms  16  over which a jacket  17  shown in  FIG. 2  can be positioned, and a trouser hanger portion  18  having a trouser support  20  over which trousers  19  shown in  FIG. 1  have been positioned. 
   As shown clearly in  FIGS. 1-3 , the hanger unit  10  is provided with a handle  22 , readily accessible to the user when the jacket  17  is on the hanger, for improved ease of handling and positioning of the hanger, as will be described in more detail later in this specification. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 3-5   a , the trouser hanger portion  18  includes a substantially horizontal garment rail  20  for supporting trousers. Preferably, the garment rail  20  is cantilevered from the lower end of the support arm  16 , so that the other side of the trouser hanger portion presents an open recess for easier positioning of the trousers on the rail  20 . 
   Alternatively, the rail  20  may be connected to both support arms  16  to form a strong, closed triangular frame, as illustrated in  FIG. 12 . 
   In  FIGS. 3-5   b , both the support arms and trouser rail are formed as a generally I-shaped section, with edge flanges providing stiffness and a support surface for garments. 
   The handle  22  extends down from the junction of the support arm  16  and the rail  20  at the end of the hanger frame opposite that faced by the hook opening  25 , providing a far more convenient means for the user to position the hanger onto, or remove the hanger from, the clothes rail  15   b  without undue tilting of the hanger. 
   As best seen in  FIG. 2 , the handle  22  is sized and shaped to be received within the top of the sleeve of the jacket  17  hanging freely from the jacket hanger portion  12  when the garment hanger is suspended from the clothes rail  15   b . Preferably, the size, shape and placement of the handle  22  are such that the handle causes little or no deformation of the sleeve. Preferably, the handle  22  is readily accessible through the material of the sleeve. Preferably, the length of the handle is such that the handle fits freely into an arm hole of the jacket. 
   In a preferred embodiment the handle  22  is straight and longitudinally oriented along a substantially vertical axis  23  (refer to  FIG. 3 ). The handle could also be angled, curved or contoured so long as it can be conveniently grasped by a human hand. The handle shown has a substantially flat I-beam shaped cross-section formed by a web  22   a  and a pair of end flanges  22   b , though many other cross-sections are possible. 
   In a preferred embodiment the handle has a length L of about 10 cm and a width W of about 2.5 cm. The width of the web  22   a  is about 0.5 cm measured perpendicular to plane  23   a . Preferably, the end flanges  22   b  have arcuate shaped external surfaces thereby allowing a user to hold the garment hanger by hand with ease and comfort. 
   The handle  22  may be moulded into either the left or the right bottom end corner of rail  20 , allowing ready access to and operation of the handle when both upper and lower garments are on the hanger. Preferably, however, the handle is in the right hand corner of the hanger frame to suit the 90% of the population which is right-handed. In this way, the position of the handle may be predicted even when obscured by the jacket sleeve. Furthermore, this will help consistent orientation of the hangers on the rail so as to take up less room. 
   As best seen in  FIG. 3 , the garment hanger further includes a hinged trouser retention clip construction  24  having first  26  and second  28  hinge members connected along a hinge line  29 . The first hinge member  26  is fixed to the support arm  16 . The second hinge member  28  is a hinge flap provided with a clip member  30 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b , the first and second hinge members  26  and  28  are pivotally connected to one another for hinged movement between a first position ( FIG. 5   a ) in which the clip member  30  cooperates with the garment rail  20  to secure trousers on the garment rail, and a second position ( FIG. 5   b ) in which the flap  28  is moved away from the garment rail  20  to permit the trousers to be placed or removed from the garment rail. The lugs  27   a  and  27   b  act as stop tabs to keep the flap  28  from hinging beyond the first position. 
   The garment hanger further includes a retainer clip  32  located on the support arm  16  for holding the flap  28  in the second position. Alternatively, a compound hinge including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements may be used for the purpose of holding the clip  30  in the open position. 
   In a preferred embodiment the hinge construction  24  is resiliently flexible to apply a clamping force, via the clip  30 , to the trousers on the garment rail  20 . Such resilience helps to compensate for variations in the thickness of the lower body garment positioned on the garment rail  20 , thereby enabling the hanger  10  to be used for a wide range of lower body garments. 
   Any suitable resilient means may be employed for this purpose. In particular, the hinge members  26  and  28 , or the clip  30 , or both, may be formed of a resilient material. Also, the hinge construction  24  may include any suitable shape configurations which are capable of being deformed to a limited extent. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  each hinge member  26  and  28  includes a curved portion  60   a  ( 60   b ), optionally weakened by a hole  62   a  ( 62   b ) for this purpose. 
   The trouser support portion  18  and the hinge construction  24  are preferably integrally moulded with the jacket support portion  12  from a plastics material such as polypropylene. Alternatively, the trouser support portion  18  and/or the hinge construction  24  may be manufactured separately from the jacket support portion  12  and then subsequently connected to the jacket support portion during a succeeding manufacturing step. 
   It should be noted that the trouser hanger with handle is a useful and inventive item in its own right, separately of the jacket hanger, and forms a separate embodiment of the present invention. 
   There is illustrated in  FIGS. 6-8  a trouser hanger  10  embodying the present invention. The trouser hanger  10  includes a single downwardly-angled support arm  52 , a generally horizontal rail  53 , supported by the support arm  52 , a hanger support hook  14 , and a handle  58  extending downwards from the junction of the support arm  52  and the rail  53 . 
   In one embodiment, the trouser hanger  10  further includes the integral hinge  24  already discussed above in relation to  FIGS. 1-5   b . The hinge  24  includes a projection  32  located on the flap  26  which will engage with a matching opening  31  located on the flap  28  when the flap  28  is lifted, to hold the hinge  24  out of the way while the trousers are being positioned on the garment rail  53 . Alternatively, a compound hinge construction may be used for this purpose. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the construction of the present invention is adapted also to manufacture of premium suit hangers with a contoured jacket support. As can be seen from  FIG. 10 , the jacket hanger portion includes a pair of broad, forwardly-curved jacket support arms  85   a  and  85   b  for hanging a jacket, while the trouser support portion  80  has a substantially straight, planar construction. The support arms  85   a  and  85   b , and  10  and  12  have an inverted U-shaped cross-section. Members  10  and  18  may also be fully connected 
     FIG. 11  shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment the garment hanger includes a pair of upper garment support arms  16 . Each arm  16  can be provided with a notch  102   a  ( 102   b ) for retention of clothes with straps, as is known in the art. Other known accessories/modifications may also be included. 
   The handle located at the bottom end corner of the hanger allows convenient positioning of the hanger onto a high clothes rail without having to unduly tilt the hanger, and importantly will be of significant benefit to the disabled or those of short stature, who otherwise may have trouble reaching a clothes rail of standard height. The handle configuration described and illustrated herein will provide an additional reach of up to approximately 250 mm, which means that a conventional clothes rail will be able to be positioned about 250 mm higher and that in many instances a second clothes rail may then be able to be provided underneath. This will be of particular benefit to clothing retailers and residential and hotel wardrobe designers, who can therefore make effective use of the extra available storage space. 
   The handles, being positioned along the front of the wardrobe, make it easier to have access to the garments in the wardrobe. 
   While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments and examples are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all modifications which would be obvious to those skilled in the art are therefore intended to be embraced therein. For example, the jacket and trouser hangers described herein are each useful items in their own right and each of these, as separate articles, is intended to be covered by the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will further be understood that any reference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contrary indication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art is commonly known by those skilled in the art to which the invention relates.