Clothes hanger

A wire clothes hanger is provided in which the horizontal rung is provided with an encircling serrated sleeve adapted to grip garments draped thereover. To prevent the sleeve from slipping about the horizontal rung the sleeve and horizontal rung are provided with positive interlocking means.

THE PRIOR ART 
That garments are notoriously difficult to retain in place on standard wire 
type clothes hanger horizontal rungs is a matter of common experience. 
That prior art garment gripping means used in association with wire type 
coat hanger horizontal rungs are generally unsatisfactory is also a matter 
of common knowledge. Wire clothes hangers are presently known wherein 
various friction devices comprise or are affixed to the horizontal rungs 
such as abrasive coatings, adhesive treated paper tubes, rubber pads, and 
the like. In one prior art clothes hanger embodiment the horizontal rung 
is wrapped with double coated adhesive tape about which is affixed an 
extruded tube slit longitudinally to be received over the horizontal rung. 
The double coated adhesive tape is intended to bond with the interior of 
the tube to prevent the tube from slipping. This embodiment is expensive 
to make because the adhesive tape must be applied to the hanger by hand. 
It has also been observed that the adhesive reacts with certain plastics, 
such as polyvinyl chlorides, which destroy the effectiveness of the 
adhesives. 
THE OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore among the objects of the subject invention to provide an 
improved clothes hanger that is inexpensive to make, that may be mass 
produced with a minimum of hand labor, that employs a garment holding 
horizontal rung comprising a plastic extruded sleeve made of polyvinyl 
chloride or a similar such plastic; that employs a horizontal rung encased 
in a plastic extruded sleeve wherein the sleeve and the rung are 
interlocked with mating configurations to prevent relative rotational 
movement therebetween.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, the invention as shown in 
FIG. 1 comprises a clothes hanger preferably, although not necessarily, 
formed from a single piece of wire 12 by means well understood by those 
skilled in the art. A horizontal cross member or rung 14 may have any of 
several cross-sections, each of which is adapted to coact with the 
matching interior of a sleeve 16. The sleeve 16 may be extruded in the 
C-shape shown in FIG. 2, or in the alternative it may be extruded in 
tubular form and then slit along a longitudinal axis of the extrusion. 
Polyvinyl chloride and similar plastics, as well as rubber, have been used 
successfully for this purpose. Essentially, the sleeve must be flexible 
enough to receive the rung 14, but sufficiently rigid so as not to be 
easily removed from the rung. 
In like manner, the hanger wire 12 may be extruded or the horizontal rung 
roll formed to any of the cross-sectional shapes shown in FIGS. 2 through 
7 and 13. Also, the rung 14 may be formed separately such as by spot 
forming detents 18 shown in FIGS. 8 through 11. For instance, as shown in 
FIG. 2, the rung 14 is provided with a rib 20 on its underside along which 
the edges 22 of sleeve 16 abut. In FIG. 3, the rib 24 of rung member 14 is 
on the upper side and is received within a matching groove 26 of sleeve 
16. The exterior surface of the sleeve 16 may be longitudinally fluted or, 
as shown in the Figures, provided with discreet serrations 28. Other 
irregular surfaces, such as hobs and indentations on the sleeve 16 
sufficient to provide garment retention are also within the contemplation 
of the invention. 
Any number of ribs 20, 24 and 30 and grooves 26 and 31 may be utilized as 
shown in FIGS. 2 through 6. In FIG. 7 both the exterior surface 32 of rung 
14 and the interior surface of sleeve 16 are provided with interlocking 
serrations. 
In lieu of ribs, detents or serrations the surface of rung 14 may be 
provided with one or more flats, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. 
The foregoing examples of preferred embodiments of the invention are 
illustrative of various means within the scope of the disclosed concept 
for providing a clothes hanger which may be cheaply mass produced with 
high production tools to provide a durable and reliable cross member for 
draping garments such as trousers, skirts, towels, ties, and the like. 
Other equivalent embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art upon a 
reading of this disclosure and such embodiments are contemplated within 
the scope of this invention as set forth in the appended claims.