Abstract:
A clip for a clothes hanger having a horizontal bar of a first diameter has a body formed in a portion of a circle having an axis and a first diameter, the circular portion extending more than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees, symmetrical about a vertical axis and closed at the top, a pair of legs extending from the body downward at equal angles away from the axis to a maximum width between the legs greater than the first diameter, and a length in the direction of the axis.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS  
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) to application Ser. No. 09/828,350, filed Apr. 5, 2001, which is a Divisional of Ser. No. 09/507,909, filed Feb. 22, 2000, which claims priority to application Ser. No. 09/369,258. The disclosures of these prior applications are incorporated entirely herein at least by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is in the area of hangers for clothing, and has particular relevance to devices for providing a non-slip characteristic to such apparatus.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Slacks are purposely designed long to extend from the waist to the heels. Their length requires that they are stored unfolded by a special hanger that hangs the trousers from the cuffs or, more popularly, folded and hung across the horizontal bar of a conventional clothes hanger. Often the smooth slacks will slip from the horizontal bar so that the hanging of slacks becomes a task of balancing them on the bar. To counteract this tendency, many people and also retail establishments, use special hangers with a double horizontal rod, one bar for suspending the trousers, the other, a resilient rod that is secured at one end to the horizontal bar and clips to it at the other end to lock the suspended slacks between the bar and the rod. These hangers are fairly satisfactory in hanging trousers and slacks securely but typically cause a marked creasing of the fabric.  
           [0004]    This present invention is for a very inexpensive hanger for holding folded trousers and slacks, without any danger of slipping of the trouser legs, by clipping the legs folded over the bar of the hanger with a cushioned plastic clip. Such a clip may be used with hanger bars of many sorts, including bars that may have a covering.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a clip for a clothes hanger having a horizontal bar of a first diameter is provided, the clip comprising a body formed in a portion of a circle having an axis and a first diameter, the circular portion extending more than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees, symmetrical about a vertical axis and closed at the top, a pair of legs extending from the body downward at equal angles away from the axis to a maximum width between the legs greater than the first diameter, and a length in the direction of the axis.  
           [0006]    In some embodiments the body and legs are formed from a plastic sheet. Also in some embodiments there is a lining of foam material on at least a portion of the inside surfaces of the body. The foam material may be a plastic foam.  
           [0007]    In another aspect of the invention a method for securing an article of clothing to a horizontal bar of a clothes hanger, the bar having a first diameter is provided, comprising the steps of (a) folding the garment over the bar; (b) applying a clip having a body formed in a portion of a circle having an axis and a first diameter, the circular portion extending more than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees, symmetrical about a vertical axis and closed at the top, a pair of legs extending from the body downward at equal angles away from the axis to a maximum width between the legs greater than the first diameter, and a length in the direction of the axis to the garment over the bar, directing the gap between the legs to the garment; and (c) urging the clip toward the folded garment until the clip snaps in place over the garment and the bar, securing the garment to the bar.  
           [0008]    In some embodiments of the method the body and legs of the clip are formed from a plastic sheet. Also in some embodiments the clip further comprises a lining of foam material on at least a portion of the inside surfaces of the body. Further, the foam material may be a plastic foam. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    In the drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a view of a clothes hanger with a plastic foam covered horizontal bar;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a cross section view taken along the lines  2 - 2  of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 illustrates a horizontal bar covered with plastic foam tape;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a plan view of the clip and arm of FIG. 4;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is an end view of the clip of FIG. 4;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 illustrates a hanger with a clip suspended from on a pliable plastic band;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is an sectional end view taken along the lines  8 - 8  of FIG. 7;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 illustrates a hanger with a pad suspended in the center of a pliable strip pivoted at each end to the frame of the hanger;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is a plan view of the pliable strip and pad of FIG. 9;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11 illustrates a hanger with a pad resiliently pressed against the side of the horizontal bar; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view taken across the lines  12 - 12  of FIG. 11.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 13 is an elevation view of a hanger incorporating clips according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 14 is a cross-section of a clip in an embodiment of the invention, taken along the section line  14 - 14  of FIG. 13. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]    A conventional clothes hanger is generally molded of plastic in the form of a ¼ inch circular rod having a semicircular hanging hook at the top and having side bars angularly branching out to the ends of a straight horizontal rod or bar which is used to suspend folded trousers or slacks. This invention is for inexpensive methods for preventing the folded slacks from slipping from the horizontal bar of an inexpensive plastic hanger and includes covering an horizontal bar with plastic foam, such as polyurethane foam.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 illustrates a typical plastic hanger  10  with horizontal bar  12  covered with polyurethane foam. A section of the bar  12  is shown in section to illustrate, along with an enlarged cross sectional view of FIG. 2, a preferred method of attachment of a strip of foam to the circular bar. In FIGS. 1 and 2 a length of stiff resilient plastic tubing  14  having a length approximately equal to the length of the horizontal bar  12  and a diameter of about ¾ inch, is longitudinally split over its entire length so that the split may be pried open to expose the interior surface of the tubing. A strip of ½ inch thick foam strip  16  of the same length is wrapped around the exterior of the split tubing  14  and the edges of the foam strip are inserted into the split in the tubing. The horizontal bar  12  of the hanger is then forced into the foam covered split in the tubing  14 . If desired, a thinner strip of foam strip  16  may be applied to a horizontal bar  12  by using a split resilient tubing of a smaller diameter.  
         [0025]    Continued use with unbalanced loading of a foam covered horizontal bar may result in some rotation of the foam and its split tubing and a possible accidental dropping from the hanger. A simple and effective method of preventing rotation of a foam covering is to extend the split tubing at each end, as shown on the right end of the hanger  10  in FIG. 1, and to notch the ends of the top surface opposite the longitudinal split in the tubing  14  with a notch having a width equal to the diameter of the circular horizontal bar  12 . When the split tubing  14  with foam covering  16  is applied to the horizontal bar  12 , the two notched ends of the tubing  14  are forced into a non-rotational engagement with the curved section  18  of the hanger between the and arm  20  and the horizontal bar  12 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 illustrates the horizontal bar  24  of a clothes hanger wound with strips of plastic foam, such as polyurethane foam  26 , that is merely secured at the ends of the form with plastic ties  28 . This is a very simple design and does not require a split tubing.  
         [0027]    The preferred method of applying plastic foam to a horizontal bar is to mold a tube of the plastic foam to the desired dimensions. Then split the plastic tube and slip it over the horizontal bar and cement it in place. The cross section view of the plastic foam would appear as in the sectional view of FIG. 8.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 illustrates a plastic foam covered horizontal bar  30  with an auxiliary security clamp  32  that holds slacks on the bar and is useful in preventing slipping if a full length hanging of two or more pairs of trousers is desired. Clamp  32  is two to three inches in length and shaped similar to an inverted “U”, as shown in FIG. 6, so that is loosely fits around the foam covered horizontal bar  30 . It is attached to an arm  34  which, at the opposite end, is bifurcated  36  and pivotally pinned to a side arm  38  of a hanger. A small circular magnet  40  is cemented to the top of the arm  34  which magnetically couples to an iron tab  42  on the hanger side arm  38  to hold clamp  32  away from the foam covered horizontal bar  30  during loading of the hanger. Of course, the magnet  40  and tab  42  may be reversed and will operate the same.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 7 illustrates the foam covered horizontal bar  44  of a clothes hanger  45  with a security clamp somewhat similar to the clamp  32  of FIG. 4. In FIG. 7 the inverted “U” shaped clamp  46  loosely fits around the plastic foam covering  48  on the bar  44  as shown in the end view of FIG. 8. The plastic clamp  46  is suspended slightly above the surface of the foam  48  by a thin band of pliable plastic  50 , such as polycarbonate, one end of which is cemented to the top exterior surface of the clamp, the opposite end being cemented to the junction of the side arms of the hanger.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 9 illustrates a clothes hanger  52  with a foam covered horizontal bar  54  having an foam security clamp  56  in contact with the top surface of the plastic foam  58  and cemented to the surface of the center  60  of a resilient strip  62  that is bifurcated at both ends as shown in plan view of the strip in FIG. 10. The resilient strip  62  has an overall length, including the bifurcated ends, two to three inches less than the length of the horizontal bar  54  and its bifurcated ends  64  are formed to be pivotally pinned to the side bars of the hanger  52 .  
         [0031]    The resilient strip  62  is attached to the hanger  52  with the foam surface of the clamp  56  in light contact with the surface of the foam covering  58  at the middle of the horizontal bar  54 . Then each bifurcated end  64  of the resilient strip  62  is bent up and pivotally pinned to a side bar of the hanger  52 . The resiliency of the strip  62  makes it easy to lift the clamp  56  from the bar; lifting the strip on either side of its center  60  will urge the strip into the form of a “stretched S”, causing the strip  62  to spring upward into an arch, shown by the broken lines. The advantage of this type of security clamp is that fabric suspended in the hanger is held by foam from above as well as from below, making it ideal for clamping materials that normally slide such as rayons and silks and when it is desired to hang slacks in a full-length position.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 11 illustrates still another clamp for a clothes hanger with a plastic foam covered horizontal bar. In FIG. 11, a thin pad of foam  65  such as polyurethane foam, is lightly held against the foam covering  66  on the horizontal bar  68  by a plastic sheet backing  70  which is secured to the angularly branching side bars  72  of the hanger near their junction. The width of the foam pad  65  and plastic backing  70  should be at least four inches and its length should extend below the foam covering  66  on the horizontal bar  68  as shown in the sectional view illustrated in FIG. 12. The advantage of this type of security clamp is that slacks and trousers may be easily and very rapidly hung and removed from the cuffs while preserving the crease.  
         [0033]    In yet another embodiment of the invention a spring-clip is provided for securing a garment, such as a pair of trousers, to a bar of a clothes hanger. FIG. 13 is an elevation view of a clothes hanger  74  having a horizontal bar  76  upon which a pair of trousers  75  has been folded and hung. In this case the hanger bar is plastic, and the trousers are subject to the effects of gravity, which will tend typically to cause the trousers to slip to one side or the other, and fall off the bar.  
         [0034]    In this embodiment one or more spring clips  77  and/or  78  are provided, and clipped over the trousers and the bar to secure the trousers to the bar. These clips can be of different lengths and other dimensions, and may be selected for use depending on the garment to be secured, or the diameter and nature of the bar.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 14 is a cross-section of either of clips  77  or clip  78  of FIG. 13 taken along, for example, the section line  14 - 14  in FIG. 13. The clip is shown engaged on rod  76 , as in FIG. 13, so the rod is also shown in cross section. The cross-section of clips  77  and  78  is the same. It is only the effective lengths of the clips that differs. Clip  77  and  78  each have a body  79  formed, in this example, from a relatively thin, heat-formable plastic sheet, the body having a generally rounded top portion  81  and a pair of lower legs  82 . The diameter of the top portion  81  may vary according to the diameter of a bar upon which the clip may be used, and the angle and length of the legs may vary somewhat in different embodiments as well. The angle and length of the legs is to provide an opening of a width W which is substantially greater than the diameter of bar  76  (FIG. 13), tapering to a width w equal to or less than the diameter of bar  76 . Width W makes it easy for a user to place a clip over a bar having a garment folded over the bar, and the narrower throat w allows the clip to engage and stay in place.  
         [0036]    Body  79  of clip  77 , 78  is lined in this embodiment with a foam-type resilient material  80  to act as a cushion and as a protective covering to avoid damaging garments upon which the clip may be used. There are a number of different materials suitable for this purpose, some plastic in nature and some rubber or rubberized. The foam material may be applied by an adhesive, for example, either before or after the body of the clip is shaped. Clips of different lengths may be provided, as described above, for various reasons, from a quite short length to nearly as long as the bar. Further, the foam covering may not extend to the bottom of legs  82 .  
         [0037]    In preferred embodiments, when not used to clip a garment, such as trousers, to the bar of a hanger, the clips may be stored by clipping to the bar or to any other part of the hanger, where they will be ready at hand for use.