EXPANDABLE GARMENT HANGER

Abstract: An expandable garment hanger with which the invention is concerned has a body (1), a hook (2) on the body to suspend the hanger and a pair of movable arms (3, 4) slidably mounted on the body. The arms are arranged to move in opposite directions. A locking device (8, 9) is located on the body (1) of the hanger so as to lock the movable arms relative to the body. The locking device is movable along a path parallel to the path along which the arms are movable. A biasing device, preferably a spring (27), is provided for biasing the locking device (8, 9) against movement in one direction so that when the arm of the hanger is set and locked in position the arms of the hanger are movable against the biasing force of the spring (27). The hanger conveniently supports garments of varying waist widths and maintains the hanger at the desired widths once the garment is mounted on the hanger but also allows the garment to be removed from the hanger by a small inward force applied to the end of the arm.

Description: EXPANDABLE GRMENT HANGER The present invention relates to expandable garment hangers. Garment hangers in which the outer ends are intended to grip waistbands of garments such as trousers and skirts are well known. It is also known for the hanger to have a structure which is used to acccrnmodate waistbands of different sizes. However, until now it has been difficult to construct a hanger in which the full range of garment sizes frcm 8 to 20 can be acccrnmodated. Hangers having varying widths have been proposed in which two gripping ends are moved in dependence one upon the other frcm a centre portion and locked in position against the waistband of a garment to be supported so that the hanger is maintained at its selected position. However, it is difficult to remove the garment from the hanger and hangers which have spring biased arms so as to expand outwardly to acc nmodate various size waistbands are rarely replaced by custcmers to support garment sizes according to the labelling on the hanger, particularly when a customer is selecting between two or three samples of the same garment of two or more sizes. There has been at least one attempt to overcome these problems by providing a garment hanger with a central guide body frcm which extends two movable arms, one from each end. The body has a centrally located hook and a mechanism interconnecting the arms so that movement of one arm causes movement of the other in an opposite direction. A locking device in the form of a pivotally mounted lever on the guide body on one side of its pivotal mounting engages with a series of serrations on one arm to lock the arms frcm movement in one direction, and on the other side of the pivot is a release lever. Sien pressure is applied to the release lever the portion thereof engaging the serrations disengages from the serrations to release the arms for movement in either direction. Disadvantagecusly, the hanger when inserted into a garment such as a skirt sometimes lies with the bulk of the hanger inside the garment thus making it difficult to operate the locking device to release the movable arms inwardly and easily detach the garment frcm the hanger. Moreover, it has been shown that customers handling the hangers in large department stores, for example, find the hanger mechanism difficult to handle in that they operate the release mechanism to remove the garment and then have difficulty in correctly replacing the garment on the hanger. Often a custctner will set the hanger prior to re-fitting the garment on it and find the hanger to be too wide. The customer then has to operate the release mechanism and reset the hanger rather than simply insert the hanger into the waistband of the garment and pull the arms out to match the waistband of the garment. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a hanger in which the above mentioned disadvantages are substantially overcome. According to the present invention there is provided a hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger, movable arms slidably mounted on the body for free movement in opposite directions, locking means located on the body for locking the movable arms relative to the body against the movement in one direction, the locking means being movable along a path substantially parallel to the path along which the arms of the hanger are movable, and biasing means for biasing the locking means against movement in one direction so that when the arm of the hanger is set and locked in position the arms of the hanger are movable against the biasing force of the said biasing means. In one preferred embodiment of the invention there is provided a hanger which will support garments with varying waist widths and maintain the hanger which fits the garment at the desired spacing once the garment is mounted on the hanger, but also allow the garment to be removed from the hanger by a small inward force applied to the end of the arm. Preferably, the hanger has a central guide body of a width at least no greater than the minimum width of the desired range of garments. The garment locking means on the central guide body is arranged to lock each of the arms at selectable positions against substantial movement in both outward and inward directions of said arms. The locking means preferably comprises a series of notches or teeth on one movable arm which are arranged to be engaged by at least one stop on the central guide body to locate and lock each arm in a selectable series of positions but alsoto allow a small amount of resilient movement in the arms at each selected position. The small amount of resilient movement is determined by the compressibility of the spring bias against the stop. Conveniently, a ratchet can be provided on the upper or lower sides of the arms for engagement with the stop member on one end of the guide body. Alternatively, each of the arms can be provided with a form of ratchet which engages with a releasable catch conveniently located on the guide body, for example at one or each end of the guide body. Preferably, the innermost end of each arm is provided with a toothed or geared portion engaging with a centrally located gear wheel rotatably mounted on the central guide body so that movement of one arm inwardly or outwardly inherently moves the other arm in the opposite direction so that both arms move either inwardly or outwardly together. Again, to ensure locking of the arms at a series of positions, at least one of the arms or both is provided with a series of notches or stopping portions which engage with an appropriate locking means on the central guide body. In one preferred embodiment the locking means cc prises an elongate plate or tab located on the body with its longitudinal axis extending transversely to the direction of movement of the movable arms. The locking tab extends outwardly of the hanger through a slot in the body of the hanger and inwardly to engage with the teeth of a ratchet on the movable arm. The locking tab is provided with teeth across a transverse face thereof to engage with the teeth of the ratchet and thereby lock the movable arm in a selected position. The tab is arranged to move longitudinally along the slot in the body of the hanger. Preferably the tab is biased towards one end of the slot by a spring, preferably the outermost end of the slot relative to the hook. An anbodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accαπpanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a partial side elevational view of an expandable garment hanger according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of part of the hanger of Fig. 1. Referring specifically to the drawing, an expandable garment hanger is provided comprising a central hollow guide body 1 having a centrally located hook 2 for suspending the hanger, which hook is rotatably mounted in a bush 2A of the guide body 1. Two arms 3,4 are each slidably mounted within the hollow guide body 1 and the innermost end of each arm has a part 3A, 4A of reduced width on which is located a gear toothed portion 5, 6 respectively, extending inwardly along each of the arms. A gear wheel 7, rotatably mounted centrally within the guide body 1 is engaged with each of the toothed portions 5, 6. Consequently, movement of one of the arms 3, 4 in one direction by reason of interaction between the respective gear toothed portion 5, 6 and wheel 7, moves the other arm in the opposite direction. The outer end of each arm 3, 4 is provided with a garment gripping device 10 and 11 which are angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the arms 3,4 to prevent a garment slipping off the hanger in use. One of the arms 4 is provided with a ratchet portion 8 comprising a plurality of teeth being located along the upper surface thereof as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The corresponding end of the guide body 1 has a stop 9 for locking engagement with ratchet teeth 8. The end of the stop 9 remote from that end 9A which projects outwardly of the central guide body 1 is correspondingly toothed and f ee to move upwardly and downwardly so these teeth engage or disengage with the teeth on the ratchet 8. The stop 9 comprises a short, elongate flat sided tab the length of which is longer than the width of its flat side 20. Innermost face 21 of the stop 9 is provided with sawtooth shaped teeth 22 which interengage with the teeth 8 on arm 4 to prevent substantial inward movement of the arms 3, 4 whilst allowing free outward movement thereof. The uppermost part of the stop 9 projects through a slot 23 provided in a raised housing portion 24 on the guide body 1. The housing 24 defines a space 25 therein which is bounded on one side by an L- shaped retainer 26 attached to the stop 9 at the innermost end of the stop with the longer side of the L lying in a plane parallel to the path in which the arms 3, 4 are movable. A spring 27 is located within space 25 as defined by the housing portion 24 and the retainer 26. The spring is a coil spring and the closeness of the walls of the housing prevent the spring from distorting laterally when cαnpressed. However, there is sufficient room in space 25 for the tab 9 to be held and pulled upwardly to disengage teeth 22 frcm ratchet teeth 8. The teeth 22 of the stop 9 remain in engagement with the ratchet teeth 8 on the arm 4 during compressibility of the arms 3, 4 towards each other thereby providing the arms with a relatively small degree of resilience under the force applied by the spring 27 even though the arms 3, 4 have been generally set for a particular size of garment. The amount of movement is determined by the amount the spring will compress. In the present instance the spring will allow the stop 9 to move approximately, for example, 12 mm resulting in 48 mm of slack in the garment waistband. In operation the hanger is set to receive a garment having a particular size of waistband, for example, by pulling outwardly on one end of one arm 3, 4 whereupon the other arm moves accordingly because of the interconnection between the arms by gear wheel 7. Once the garment hanger is at the correct width for a particular sized garment one end of the hanger is placed within the garment against the waistband. The opposite end of this hanger having stop tab 9 is forced inwardly against the biasing force of spring 27 for a very short distance relative to the full movement of the arms 3, 4 in the central guide body 1, to allow the opposite end of the hanger to be inserted into the waistband. The arm is released and expands under the force of spring 23 to fit tightly into the waistband but with the stop 9 substantially against the end of the slot remote frcm the hook 2. The resilience in the relatively fixed arms of the hanger is useful when a customer removes and replaces the garment on the hanger when trying on the garment by the appropriate inward movement of the arms against the influence of the spring 27. However, the garment may not be placed on another hanger set for a different size of garment unless the hanger is reset since inward movement of the arms is relatively small. In describing the operation of the hanger it is assumed the arms 3,4 are in their most inwardly position in which free ends 12, 13 of overlapping portions 3A, 4A overlie end walls 15, 14, respectively, of the opposite arm. The expandable garment hanger is then placed inside the waistband of a garment such as a skirt or a pair of trousers with, garment gripping device 10 against the waistband. The arm 4 is pulled outwardly of the central guide body 1 until the garment gripping device 11 engages the opposite side of the waistband. As the arm 4 moves outwardly the arm 3 automatically moves outwardly until the waistband of the garment is at full width and supported on the hanger. The teeth on stop tab 9 then engage the ratchet teeth 8 and prevent inward movement of the arms 3, 4 thus ensuring the garment is securely supported at its waistband without stretching or distorting the garment. The garment is removable frcm the hanger by applying pressure upon the ends of the arms inwardly towards the centre of the hanger and against spring 27. Alternatively, the tab 9 is pulled upwardly or pushed upwardly to release teeth 22 frcm ratchet teeth 8 whereupon the arms of the hanger are movable inwardly. Whilst the present invention has been described with reference to a locking tab located towards one end of the hanger, such a locking tab can be provided at both ends of the garment hanger, either along the top of the hanger or along the side face of the hanger. In the latter instance the ratchet teeth on the arm are also on the side face thereof adjacent to the side face through which the stop tab 9 projects. In a further alternative expandable garment hanger according to the present invention the movement of the arms 3, 4 is obtained by replacing the gear toothed portion and wheel by a lever pivotally mounted between opposite ends thereof, and connected at the opposite ends to a respective one of the inner ends of the arms 3, 4. Therefore, there has been described a hanger in which the locking stop comprises an arm slidably mounted on the guide body and having a series of notches or teeth on an end face of the locking stop, which teeth are arranged to engage with at least one tooth on the movable arm substantially to lock the arm in a selected series of positions. A ratchet may be provided on the upper and lower sides of the movable arm engagable with a stop member on one or each end of the central guide body. Conveniently, the body comprises a central guide of a width at least no greater than the minimum width of the desired range of garments, two arms mounted in the central guide body for slidable movement in opposite directions relative to each other, a garment gripper at a free outermost end of each arm. The locking- stop is provided on one or both arms of the central guide body to lock each of the arms at selected positions against inward movement of said arms. In a further alternative arrangement one arm or both can be fixed or adjusted independently with its own locking device (without the centr gear wheel) and the other arm move inwardly and outwardly as substantially described previously including the spring locking arrangement.

Claims: -3- CEAIMS : 1. A hanger having a body, a hook extending from the body for suspending the hanger, movable arms slidably mounted on the body for free movement in opposite directions, locking means located on the body for locking the movable arms relative to the body against the movement in one direction, the locking means being movable along a path substantially parallel to the path along which the arms of the hanger are movable, and biasing means for biasing the locking meansagainst movement in one direction so that when the arm of the hanger is set and locked in position the arms of the hanger are movable against the biasing force of the said biasing means. 2. A hanger as claimed in claim 1, ccmprising a central guide body having a width at least no greater than the minimum width of the desired range of garments. 3. A hanger as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the locking means on the central guide body is arranged to lock each of the arms at selectable positions against substantial movement in both outward and inward directions of said arms. 4. A hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the locking means comprises a series of notches or teeth on one surface of one movable arm which are arranged to be engaged by at least one stop on the central guide body to locate and lock each arm in a selectable series of positions but also to allow a small amount of resilient movement in the arms at each selected position. 5. A hanger as claimed in claim 4, wherein the locking means comprises a ratchet on the upper or lower side of one arm engageable with the stop member on one or each end of the guide body. 6. A hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each movable arm is provided with a ratchet which is engageablewith a releasable catch located on the guide body. 7. A hanger as claimed in claim 6, wherein the releasable catch is located at one or each end of the guide body. 8. A hanger as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the innermost end of each arm is provided with a toothed portion engageable with a centrally located gear wheel rotatably mounted on the central guide body so that movement of one arm inwardly and outwardly moves the other arm in the opposite direction so that both arms move either inwardly or outwardly together. 9. A hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of the arms is provided with notches engageable with locking means on the central guide body. 10. A hanger as claimed in claim 9, wherein the locking means comprises an elongate plate located on the body with its longitudinal axis extending transversely to the direction of movement of the movable arms. 11. A hanger as claimed in claim 10, wherein the locking tab extends outwardly of the hanger through a slot in the body of the hanger and inwardly to engage with the teeth of a ratchet on the movable arm. 12. A hanger as claimed in claim 11, wherein the locking tab is provided with teeth across a transverse face thereof to engage with the teeth of the ratchet and thereby lock the movable arm in a selected position. 13. A hanger as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein the locking tab is arranged to move longitudinally along the slot in the body of the hanger. 14. A hanger as claimed in claim 11, 12 or 13, wherein the locking tab is biased towards one end of the slot by a spring.

Inventors: HUNT WILLIAM JOSEPH, HUNT, WILLIAM, JOSEPH
Applicants: BRAITRIM UK LTD, BRAITRIM (U.K.) LIMITED
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A47G25
IPC codes: A47G25