Clothespin holder

A sash-like holder for clothespins comprises parallel strips joined together at spaced intervals along their lengths by stiffeners or gussets and optionally also by a web which gives the holder a trough-like configuration. The strip intended to be worn next to the body is longer than the outer strip by terminal portions which can be fastened together at chosen positions to form a loop of the right size for the user. As well as being shorter the outer strip is less wide than the inner strip and the top or free edge of the outer strip is arranged for the mounting thereon of a row of clothespins. In use the inner strip is made into a loop of convenient size and is passed over one shoulder so that it rests against the opposite side of the body. A row of clothespins mounted on the edge of the outer strip is thus at hand even when reaching up to a clothes line and the number of pins remaining available is immediately visible. The "sash" can be rotated around the body to gain access to pins previously out of reach.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
When hanging laundry to dry on a clothes line the use of clothes pins is 
complicated by the fact that both hands are occupied much of the time and 
when only one is needed, e.g. to hold an item ready to be pegged, movement 
is severely limited and it is difficult or impossible to reach any 
distance for a pin. This makes a basket or similar container for the pins, 
which generally must rest on the ground, impractical to use as one cannot 
stoop to it while reaching up to the line and there is the additional 
inconvenience of having to remember to move it to keep pace with one's own 
movements along the clothes line. 
People adopt many expedients to try to ensure that a pin is within reach 
when required, such as stuffing pins into pockets or even holding them in 
the mouth. The latter measure is unsatisfactory for obvious reasons which 
are exacerbated by changes in the form taken by clothes pins. The 
traditional wooden pin has been largely superseded by a bifurcated 
plastics item with a metal spring part and this is uncomfortable as well 
as unhygienic to place in the mouth. Pockets are generally unsuitably 
shaped and positioned and there is a risk of damage to the clothing. 
Perhaps the optimum solution currently known is to keep pins in the pocket 
of an apron, although aprons are less commonly used than they were and few 
now on the market have a pocket. Even this expedient, however, is not 
ideal as one must remember to refill the pocket and its capacity is 
limited. Using one hand to hold an item of clothing on the line one may 
grope into the pocket only to find that there are no pins left. 
The only previously published document of relevance known to the Applicants 
at the time of filing this Application is U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,917 
(Zellmer) granted on Jan. 13th 1976. This has come to the Applicants' 
attention by being the sole document listed in the search report of the 
British Patent Office on their co-pending British Patent Application No. 
8502504. The personal materials carrier of Zellmer is a band worn like a 
sash and having a number of pockets at least some of which open diagonally 
upwardly and at first sight would be suitable, or could be modified to be 
suitable, for the purposes of the present invention. However there is no 
awareness in the Zellmer specification of the particular problems 
encountered in the use of clothes pins as outlined above and the pockets 
of Zellmer serve an entirely different purpose. In the case of the 
personal materials carrier there is no attempt to space any part of the 
band from the body or clothing of the user since instant accessability to 
something "pegged" onto the outer edge of a pocket is not envisaged except 
in the case of a single, transverse pocket 15 which opens upwardly and is 
specially located. Although not so stated it is positively undesireable 
that the diagonal pockets should be too open or accessable in case their 
contents fall out or are too easily stolen, so that it does not matter if 
the pockets "collapse" over their contents or if their openings are 
obstructed e.g. by the folds of the garmet over which the band is worn. 
The series of pockets is interrupted by plain band portions 4 and 6 and it 
is not envisaged that the band should be rotated around the body to gain 
access to different pockets. If it were, "unpegged" items would tend to 
fall out. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a holder specifically 
designed to facilitate the use of clothes pins and, in a simple and 
economical manner, to provide a holder whereby clothes pins are presently 
individually at the right location. Another object is to provide that the 
greater part of the length of the loop, including the part passing behind 
the user, can be used for clothes pins storage and yet the holder can be 
manipulated with one hand so as to bring clothes pins within reach as they 
are used. Another and important object of the invention is to provide 
means whereby clothes pins mounted on the holder are held away from the 
body or clothing of the user so that e.g. folds of the latter will not 
interfere with access to the pins. Another object of the invention is to 
provide a holder which displays the pins so that the number remaining 
available can be seen at a glance. Another object of the invention is to 
provide a holder which will protect the clothing of the user from being 
soiled by the clothes pins. 
In accordance with one aspect of the invention these objects are achieved 
by the provision of a holder for clothes pins comprising a first, flat, 
elongated member capable of forming a loop to be placed on one shoulder of 
the user so as to rest against the opposite side of the body, a second, 
flat, elongated member dimensioned for the mounting thereon of a row of 
clothespins in side-by-side relation and means for maintaining the second 
member in a relation generally parallel to but spaced from the first 
member such that in use of the holder the second member is held away from 
the body or clothing of the user to facilitate access to clothes pins 
mounted on the second member. 
Said means for maintaining the second member in spaced relation to the 
first member preferably comprises a plurality of gusset means between the 
members at spaced intervals along the lengths of the members and 
transverse thereto. The width of the second member is preferably less than 
that of the first member. Opposite end portions of the first member may be 
provided with releasable attachment means whereby the first member may be 
formed into a loop. The said releasable attachment means are preferably 
provided on terminal portions of the first member and the second member is 
preferably shorter than the first member by the extent of said terminal 
portions. The said attachment means preferably permits the formation of a 
loop of different dimensions to suit different users. The said means for 
maintaining the second member in spaced relation to the first member may 
comprise web means extending between the members longitudinally thereof 
whereby the holder is generally U-shaped in cross section. 
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is 
provided a holder for clothes pins comprising a first, flat, elongated 
member of flexible material which can be looped and worn in the manner of 
a sash on one shoulder to pass diagonally across the body and rest against 
the opposite side of the body in the hip region, a second, flat, elongated 
member of flexible material and a plurality of spacer means extending 
transversely of said first and second members in mutually spaced relation, 
the second member having a thickness such that clothes pins may be mounted 
side-by-side thereon and said spacer means serving, in use of the holder, 
to maintain clothes pins on the second member away from the body or 
clothing of the user. 
The transverse width of the first member is preferably greater than that of 
the second member and one longitudinal edge of the second member is 
preferably inset relative to the nearer longitudinal edge of the first 
member such that in use of the holder portions of the pins mounted on said 
one edge of the second member which protrude from the space between the 
members will rest against the area of the first member exposed from the 
second member. 
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is 
provided a clothes pin holder which comprises a first, flat, elongated 
member of flexible material which can be worn in the manner of a sash over 
one shoulder to extend diagonally across the front and back of the body 
and rest against the opposite side of the body in the hip region, terminal 
end portions of said first member, attachment means on said terminal end 
portions whereby they may be releasably connected in overlapping relation 
in different positions selected by the user, a second, flat, elongated 
member of flexible material coextensive with said first member between 
said terminal end portions of the latter, said second member being 
narrower in transverse width than said first member and having one lateral 
edge inset relative to the nearer lateral edge of said first member and 
means for maintaining the first and second members in mutually spaced 
relation throughout the length of the second member, said means comprising 
gussets transverse to said members and in spaced relation along the length 
of the second member and a generally flat web portion which extends 
between and longitudinally of said members so that the holder, between 
said terminal end portions of the first member, is generally of 
flat-bottomed, U-shaped cross section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
The clothes pin holder 10 illustrated comprises a first, elongated flat 
strip 11 of flexible material which may be straightened out but which is 
shown with terminal portions 12 and 13 joined together to form a loop. 
This is intended to be worn like a sash over one shoulder with the 
opposite end of the loop resting against the waist or hip region of the 
opposite side of the user's body. To enable the length of the loop to be 
altered to suit the height of the user the terminal portions 12 and 13 may 
be joined at different positions. By way of example they have on their 
facing sides integral strips 14 and 15 of a self-adherent material such as 
strips of VELCRO-type hook and eye fastener to allow infinite adjustment 
but it will be clear that any known suitable means may be provided for 
effecting the releasable attachment of the terminal portions 12 and 13 at 
different, selected positions such as one of the adjustable buckles 
provided for trouser belts. 
Parallel with the first strip 11 is a second strip 16 of less width and 
which stops short of the terminal portions 12 and 13 of the first strip. A 
base or web 17 joins the strips 11 and 16 along one of their respective 
edges, and the effect is that the narrower strip 16 forms the lower wall 
of a channel. The channel is kept open--or in other words the two strips 
11 and 16 are held in spaced relation--not only by the base 17 but by 
stiffeners or gussets 18 which extend between the two strips 11 and 16 at 
spaced intervals along their lengths. 
In use of the holer 10 it is made into a loop of a size suitable for the 
wearer and passed over the head to rest on one shoulder with the narrower 
strip 16 presented outwardly. Either before it is put on or afterwards 
clothes pins (not shown) are mounted over the free edge 19 of the lower, 
outer wall 16 of the channel, gripping the said wall 16 in a row. As, of 
course, there are no pins where there is no strip 16 it is convenient to 
position the joined end portions 12 and 13 either on the shoulder or 
behind the body, but the sash-like loop is easily fed circularly round the 
body, while worn, to gain access to different parts of the loop so that, 
using one hand only, the user can rotate the loop round the body to bring 
more pins within reach. 
When mounted on the strip 16 the pins are ideally positioned to be grasped 
by one hand while the other is, for example, reaching upward to a clothes 
line. Right-handed people will tend to prefer to wear the loop on the left 
shoulder so that pins can be reached by the right hand, and vice-versa. 
The holder can act as a storage device for the clothes pins when not in 
use, being coiled into a tight spiral to occupy the minimum of space. In 
use it presents the pins to the user individually, like the rounds of 
ammunition in a bandolier, from the most convenient position and the use 
of the holder provides the added advantage that one can see at a glance 
how many clothes pins are available from it. 
The materials used for the construction of the holder and its manner of 
manufacture are capable of great diversity. A plastics material such as 
polyurethane is probably the most pratical material from which to form the 
strips 11 and 16, having the necessary stiffness yet flexibility and being 
considerably cheaper than leather. It is envisaged that the strips 11 and 
16 and the base 17 may be integral, the gussets being inserted into the 
fixed in slots (not shown) in the opposed sides of the strips. The gussets 
may be made integral with the walls 11 and 16, and if desired with the 
base or web 17, by fusion bonding or by means of an adhesive. 
Alternatively the holder 10 may be a moulded item. 
Provision of the base or web portion 17 is optional. It may be preferred to 
omit it or to provide apertures in it so that, e.g. long-legged pins (of a 
kind now rather unusual) may be mounted on the strip 16. An advantage of 
the "trough" configuration, however, is that a dislodged pin is less 
likely to fall to the ground.