DEVICE FOR FIXEDLY INTERCONNECTING TWO PARTS OF A CLOTHES HANGER

Abstract: A device for fixedly interconnecting two parts (1, 2) of a clothes hanger comprises at least one cylindrical socket (3) on one part and at least one pin (4) on the other part to be inserted into the socket. The pin (4) has at least one portion (9) of a radial extent exceeding the radial extent of the socket. This portion is flexible in the direction of insertion of the pin for wedging the pin in the socket after insertion.

Description: DEVICE FOR FIXEDLY INTERCONNECTING TWO PARTS OF A CLOTHES HANGER The present invention relates to a device for fixedly interconnecting two parts of a clothes hanger, said device comprising at least one cylindrical socket on one part and at least one pin on the other part to be inserted in the socket. More particularly, the invention relates to a trouser crossbar to be fixedly connected to a clothes hanger via cylindrical sockets on the clothes hanger and corresponding pins on the trouser crossbar. Today the producers of clothes hangers aim at high flexibility. As an example, it may be mentioned that a clothes hanger is constructed with elements for receiving a trouser crossbar. The clothes hanger is supplied with or without a crossbar, as desired by the customer. Thus, it is important to be able to manufacture a standard clothes hanger which can be supplemented with the cross¬ bar. Normally such supplementary mounting is effected in the factory, but there is nothing to prevent this from taking place in the garment factory or even in the cloth¬ ing shop. There are different ways of constructing the hanger and the crossbar to permit this supplementary mounting. US 4,046,293 discloses a plastic clothes hanger with down¬ wardly extending sockets on the lower side of the hanger. The sockets are formed with recesses in the inner wall for receiving a resilient tongue on the end of the crossbar, thereby locking the crossbar in the hanger. This design results in satisfactory strength and simple supplementary mounting but renders the manufacture of hanger and cross¬ bar considerably more expensive owing to the complex moulds that are required for forming the recess in the socket. DE 26,24,805 discloses a clothes hanger with cylindrical sockets on the lower side of the hanger for receiving cylindrical pins in the ends of the crossbar. In this construction, the pins must be glued to the sockets in order to attain the requisite strength. Also this method makes the manufacture of the hanger more expensive, since the machine for making the hanger and crossbar must be fitted with components for ' the gluing operation. More- over, the gluing operation causes environmental problems. The main object of the invention is to make the manufacture of clothes hangers, which consist of a plurality of parts assembled afterwards, less expensive. This object is achieved by means of a device of the type described above, which is characterised in that the pin has at least one portion of a radial extent exceeding the radial extent of the socket, and that this portion is flexible in the direction of insertion of the pin to enable the inserted pin to be wedged in the socket. It should be mentioned in the context that all pro¬ ducts for supporting, transporting and presenting garments are to be ranked in the same category as clothes hangers. The invention will now be described in more detail by means of an example, with reference to the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a clothes hanger fitted with a crossbar. Figs 2-4 are different perspective views of one end of the crossbar, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the area of the pin portion which is deformed when engaging the socket. The clothes hanger comprises a hanger part 1 of which an end portion is shown in section in Fig. 1. The hanger part is U-shaped in cross-section, the opening of the U facing downwards. A cylindrical socket 3 is formed inside the U and extends downwards from the bottom of the U. It should be noted that a corresponding socket is to be found on the opposite end portion of the hanger part. A crossbar 2 is, via a pin inserted in the socket 3, mounted on the hanger 1. It will be appreciated that the other end of the crossbar has a corresponding pin to be inserted in a corresponding socket on the hanger. The pin is arranged on a shoulder 6 and consists of two crossed vertical plates 5a, 5b forming a shaft 5. The width of the plates is equal to the diameter of the socket. An upper disc 7a and a lower disc 7b are formed on the shaft to constitute engagement means. Fig. 3 illustrates how the upper disc 7a deviates from the circular shape by having, in each quadrant between the two crossed plates 5a and 5b, a portion 9 of a radius which is greater than the radius of the socket 3. Moreover, the circumferential edge 8 of each disc is bevelled. The discs as well as the shaft and the remaining part of the crossbar are made of a suit¬ able plastic material by injection moulding. The thickness of the discs 7a and 7b is also such as to make the discs flexible or deformable when being inserted into the socket 3. Such flexing takes place at the portions 9 and is illustrated in Fig. 5. The combination of the flexible portion 9 and the bevelled edge 8 leads to the pin being wedged in the socket after insertion of the pin 4 into the socket 3. If one tries to pull the crossbar 2 downwards as seen in Fig. 1, the pin will be wedged more firmly in the socket. Other constructions of the pin than the one illustrat¬ ed in the drawing are, of course, feasible, e.g. only one engagement means engaging with the socket can be used in extreme cases.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Device for fixedly interconnecting at least two parts (1, 2) of a clothes hanger, said device comprising at least one cylindrical socket (3) on one part and at least one pin (4) on the other part to be inserted in the socket, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said pin (4) comprises at least one portion (9) of a radial extent exceeding the radial extent of the socket, and that this portion is flexible in the direction of insertion of the pin for wedging the pin in the socket after insertion. 2. Trouser crossbar to be fixedly connected to a clothes hanger (1) via cylindrical sockets (3) on the hanger, said crossbar (2) having a pin (4) in each end to be inserted in the respective socket, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i s e d in that said pin (4) comprises at least one portion (9) of a radial extent exceeding the radial extent of the socket, and that this portion is "flexible in the direction of insertion of the pin for wedging the pin in the socket after insertion. 3. Trouser crossbar according to claim 2, c h a ¬ r a c t e r i s e d in that said portion (9) is part of a radially oriented disc (7a, 7b) formed on a shaft (5). 4. Trouser crossbar according to claim 3, c h a ¬ r a c t e r i s e d in that said disc (7a, 7b) has a bevelled edge (8) at said portion (9), which facilitates the flexing of said portion and the wedging of said pin (4) in said socket (3).

Inventors: WEGSCHEIDER GUSTAV, WEGSCHEIDER, GUSTAV
Applicants: KARNER & CO AB, KARNER & COMPANY AKTIEBOLAG
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A47G25
IPC codes: A47G25, F16B19