Finned tube support for coat hangers

A finned tube support for coat hangers comprising a hollow plastic tube of sufficient length and sufficient internal diameter to slip over a closet rod of the type normally employed for holding hangers thereon in a closet, the plastic tube having a wall thickness of between about 1/32 and 1/16 inch, a plurality of circular plastic disks mounted in spaced parallel relation on the tube and at right angles to the longitudinal central axis of the tube, the disks having an axial thickness of about 1/16 of an inch and a central opening equal to the outer diameter of the tube, the disk having an outer diameter equal to about 2 and 1/2 inches, the center-to-center spacing from one disk to the next adjacent disk being equal to about 1/2 inch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a support for coat hangers. More 
particularly this invention involves a finned tube support adapted to be 
slipped over a closet rod for separating adjacent coat hangers. 
2. Prior Art 
It is conventional practice to store coats, shirts and other garments on 
hangers in a closet or the like by placing the hook portion of the hanger 
over a metal or wooden rod which is customarily supported at its ends from 
the side walls of the closet. Difficulty has been experienced in the past 
in maintaining the coat hangers in spaced relation with respect to each 
other so that a given garment can be removed from the closet without 
interferring with the garments on adjacent coat hangers. 
A patentability search was conducted on the invention disclosed herein, and 
the following patents represent the prior art uncovered as a result of the 
search: 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,746 issued to Ferguson on Dec. 9, 1969 shows spacers 22 
slidable along a rod 24. Each spacer includes a groove 30 which will 
receive a coat hanger. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,597 issued to Brennan on Sept. 2, 1975 shows a hanger 
bar having spaced nibs 33 which can be used for separating garments 
supported on hangers. 
German Pat. No. 1,252,386 (Mar. 3, 1965) shows a portable carrier bar for 
carrying a plurality of coat hangers thereon. More particularly, the 
German invention includes a central cylindrical portion 1 attached to a 
hanging hook 2 which is used for carrying the device as well as for 
hanging the device at a later time. A rod (not shown) extends through the 
cylindrical portion 1 on both sides thereof. Alternate chips or disks 6 
and spacing rings 7 are received on the rod and extend outwardly from the 
center portion 1 to the ends of the device. End caps 4 having handle 
portions 5 are screwed to the ends of the rod (not shown) to hold the 
alternate disks and spacers on the rod. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,337,370 issued to Frisch et al on Mar. 6, 1956; 3,004,328 
issued to Pepper et al on Oct. 17, 1961; 3,216,095 issued to Kurtz et al 
on Nov. 5, 1965; and 3,467,180 issued to Pensotti on Sept. 16, 1969 all 
relate to heat exchange elements, principally tubes having parallel fins. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention involves a finned tube support for coat hangers. The 
finned tube support includes a hollow plastic tube attached to fit over a 
rod or pipe which is normally employed in a closet for supporting coat 
hangers thereon. The rod can be made of metal or wood. The rod is 
conventionally supplied in two standard diameters, one being about 1-1/16 
inch and the other being about 1-7/16 inches. The length of the rod is 
dependent upon the width of the closet but will normally be between 2-6 
feet in length. The ends of the rod are generally supported in grooves, 
notches, or holes in wood or metal pieces attached to the sides of the 
closet. 
Thus, the hollow plastic tube will have an inner diameter slightly larger 
than the outer diameter of the rod upon which the tube is received. The 
wall thickness of the tube is preferably between 1/32 of an inch and 1/16 
of an inch. Mounted on the plastic tube are a plurality of parallel 
circular disks or fins which are separated from each other by at least the 
thickness (or width) of a coat hanger. The maximum spacing will also be 
determined by the maximum width (or thickness) or conventional coat 
hangers. There are certain plastic coat hangers which are thicker (or 
wider) than the conventional wire coat hangers. Thus, the spacing between 
adjacent disks must be enough to accommodate any commercially available 
coat hanger. 
One of the problems involved in supporting coat hangers on a rod is that 
the coat hangers tend to twist thereby interferring with articles on 
adjacent coat hangers. Therefore, the spacing between adjacent disks 
should be small enough or close enough to minimize the twisting problem. 
With both of the above considerations in mind, the spacing between 
adjacent disks should be between 3/8 of an inch and 3/4 of an inch, and 
preferably about 7/16 of an inch. 
The disk should be made as thin as possible, but these disks must be 
sufficiently rigid to prevent undue bending thereof by the coat hangers; 
preferably, the thickness of the disk is about 1/16 of an inch. Assuming 
that there are a plurality of coat hangers disposed in certain of the 
spaces between the disks on the plastic tube, if one were to withdraw a 
garment by lifting one of the coat hangers away from the tube, it would be 
desirable to prevent contact between this garment and the end of a hook of 
any other hanger that might be supported on the finned tube support. 
Accordingly, the outer diameter of each disk is large enough that the disk 
extends beyond the tip of the coat hanger to prevent such contact. 
When storing heavy and bulky garments, such as overcoats, it may be 
desirable to use only every third of fourth space to provide proper 
spacing between adjacent garments. The spacing between adjacent disks, 
however, still prevents undue twisting of the coat hanger while, at the 
sametime, providing sufficient space to accommodate any commercially 
available coat hanger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a rod 10 of the type 
normally employed in closets or the like for supporting coat hangers 
thereon. The rod 10 can be metal or wood. These rods are conventially 
supplied in two standard diameters one being about 1-1/16 inch and the 
other being about 1-7/16 inches; the length of these rods will vary, of 
course, depending upon the width of the closet, but will normally be 
between 2 feet to 6 feet in length. When the rod 10 is made of wood it is 
generally solid, but when the rod 10 is metal it is generally a standard 
hollow pipe. The ends of the rod are generally supported in grooves or 
notches or holes (not shown) in wood or metal pieces (not shown) attached 
to the sides of the closet. 
The present invention involves a hollow plastic tube 12 having an inner 
diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rod 10 which 
normally hangs in a closet (not shown) at about eye level and upon which 
the tube is received. The wall thickness of the tube 12 is preferably 
between 1/32 and 1/16 inch thick. The plastic tube 12 is provided with a 
plurality of parallel circular disks or fins 14 which are separated from 
each other by at least the thickness (or width) of a coat hanger. This 
spacing which will be described further in detail below is shown on FIG. 2 
by the reference letter "d". It is recognized that there are numerous 
different types of coat hangers available in the market place; some of 
these hangers are made of plastic and are thicker than the conventional 
wire coat hanger. Thus, the spacing "d" between the adjacent disks 14 is 
at least equal to the width of any commercially available coat hanger. 
Another one of the problems involved in supporting coat hangers on a rod, 
such as rod 10, is that the coat hangers tend to twist thereby 
interferring with articles on adjacent coat hangers. Thus, the spacing "d" 
between adjacent disks should be small enough or close enough to minimize 
the twisting problem. With both of the above considerations in mind, 
spacing between adjacent disks should be between 3/8 of an inch and 3/4 of 
an inch and preferably about 7/16 of an inch. 
The disks 14 should be made as thin as possible, but these fins must be 
sufficiently rigid to prevent undue bending thereof between coat hangers; 
preferably the thickness of the fin 14 is about 1/16 of an inch. As far as 
the outer diameter of the disk 14 is concerned, this will be dictated by 
the size of the conventional coat hanger and, more properly, by the tip of 
the hook of the coat hanger. As shown in phantom in FIG. 3, the tip 16 of 
the hook portion 18 of a conventional wire coat hanger (the remainder of 
which is not shown) would normally be situated as indicated in this 
figure. The outer periphery of the disk 14 would extend beyond the 
location of the tip 16 as indicated. In practice, the diameter of the disk 
14, therefore, should be about 21/2 inches. The inner diameter of the disk 
(the hole through which the tube 12 passes) is equal to the outer diameter 
of the tube 12. The disks 14 can be attached to the tube 12 by suitable 
plastic cement or adhesive; alternatively, the tube 12 and attached disks 
14 can be molded as a single piece. 
The configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 represent a finned tube adapted to 
be inserted over a 1-1/16 inch o.d. wooden rod or metal pipe; if it were 
desired to provide a similar finned tube for a larger rod or pipe, the 
size of the tube 12 and the corresponding central opening in the disk 14 
would be larger, but all other dimensions would remain the same, 
Utilizing the optimum dimensions indicated above, the center-to-center 
spacing (from the longitudinal center of one disk to the longitudinal 
center of an adjacent disk, or from the longitudinal center of one open 
space to the longitudinal center of the adjacent open space) is 
approximately 1/2 inch. When the 1/2 inch center-to-center spacing is 
used, this provides for the optimum number of light weight garments, such 
as shirts and blouses, to be hung along a given length of rod without 
severly compressing the garments together. This spacing may compress the 
garments slightly, but they are not packed together as would be the case 
without the use of the present invention. When every alternate garment 
space is used, creating an approximately one inch center-to-center 
spacing, items such as shirts and blouses will hang freely without 
compression. 
As indicated above, the 21/2 inch outer diameter of the fin or disk 14 will 
fully cover the tip of the hanger; in the case of closet rods being 
located one above the other in order to double the amount of hanging 
space, as is the case in may of today's closets, removal of an upper 
garment will not create the chance for the garment being removed to catch 
on the tip of a hook of a lower hung garment and tear the garment being 
removed or cause the removal of a lower hung garment if the hook tip of 
the lower garment were otherwise able to snag on a portion of the upper 
garment being removed. The same considerations hold true with respect to 
the removal of a garment from one of a pair of closet rods arranged in 
side by side relationship; also, this sizing of the outer diameter of the 
disk prevents or minimizes possible snagging by other hangers on the same 
rod when removing a garment. 
If one were storing heavy and bulky articles such as overcoats, it might be 
desirable to space the hangers for these garments in every fourth space 
such as spaces "A" and "B" shown in FIG. 2; with this type of hanger 
spacing the interference between adjacent disks will still prevent undue 
twisting of the coat hanger while at the same time, accommodating the 
largest commercially available coat hanger. 
The finned tube support of the present invention will be manufactured in 
standard lengths of two, three, four, five, or six foot lengths depending 
upon consumer demands. Obviously, a pair of two foot supports could be 
placed end to end on a four foot rod, etc. For odd lengths of rod it is 
possible to cut through the plastic tube of one of the finned tube 
supports and to utilize the cut portion by itself or in combination of 
another standard length of finned tube support. 
Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relation to 
the drawings and sketches attached hereto, it should be understood that 
other and further modifications, apart from those shown or suggested 
herein, may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.