Abstract:
A hanger with a locking mechanism to secure gripping members can be disengaged with a user operated lever. The gripping members engage and securely retain an item such as an article of clothing when the locking mechanism is engaged. A tab located on the gripping members acts as a lever and disengages the locking mechanism with decreased effort by an individual user. With this structure, the item can be easily secured to the hanger by engaging the locking mechanism, and freed by easily disengaging the locking mechanism by operation of the tab.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of, and priority to, South African provisional patent application number 99/3465, filed May 21, 1999. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a hanger, and more particularly, to a clothes hanger having a release mechanism. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Presently, many different types of hangers are available for displaying and organizing clothing or other items in a retail shop or warehouse. Generally, these hangers have a hook to suspend the hanger and item from a bar. With this structure, the hanger and item can be slid along the bar together with other hangers suspending items. These type of hangers generally have a transverse support member such as a bar or dowel to which the hook is attached. 
     One type of hanger of interest has gripping members on either end of the hanger bar for gripping clothing. In these hangers, the gripping members are usually hinged extensions which can pivot into a closed position to grip the item of clothing. The closed position can be maintained with a resilient spring clip, which can be engaged or disengaged to secure the hinged extensions in place. The clip can be formed with the hanger to permit the clip to snap into place on the gripping member, and remain fixed in place until a user wishes to release the item of clothing from the grip. When it is desired to remove the article from the hanger, the clip is moved from its engaged position, and the hinged extensions are free to pivot into an open position. 
     While the above described type of hanger is useful in reliably securing articles of clothing to the hanger for suspension or storage, situations arise in which it is difficult to move the clip from the engaged position. It is fairly easy to move the clip to the location where the clip snaps into the secured position, by applying increasing pressure. Once in place, however, a large directed force is required to “unsnap” the clip. This force is greater than the force required to move the clip into the engaged position where the clip easily slides into place. To unsnap the clip, the end of the clip must be disengaged from a corresponding lip formed on the gripping member. It is often difficult to apply the proper amount of force in the proper direction to unsnap and disengage the clip. This difficulty occurs because it is often hard to direct the right amount of force in the proper direction with a person&#39;s fingers. Thus, when a person attempts to unsnap the clip with their fingers, the process can be awkward and troublesome. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a hanger for hanging an item comprising a support member and at least one clasp disposed on the support member. The clasp is movable between a closed position where the clasp is effective to retain the item, and an open position. The clasp also includes a releaseable locking mechanism that is effective to retain the clasp in the closed position when the locking mechanism is engaged. The clasp also includes a release wherein actuation of the release is effective to disengage the locking mechanism thereby permitting the clasp to move to the open position. 
     Advantageously, the release comprises a lever pivotably coupled to the hanger at a pivot point. The lever disengages the locking mechanism when the lever is pivoted about the pivot point. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a disengagement mechanism for a hanger having a locking mechanism to secure a gripping member. The disengagement mechanism comprises a catch on the gripping member, a locking member movable into a position effective to engage the catch and a user operable release. The release operates to disengage the locking member from the catch thereby permitting the locking member to be moved into a position to free the gripping member. 
     Advantageously, the locking member is resilient, and engagement of the locking member urges the gripping member into the closed position. 
     Preferably, the release is a resilient lever and the lever contacts and urges the locking member to a position disengaged from the catch. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a hanger comprising a support bar, at least one gripping member movable between an open and closed position on the support bar, means for securing the gripping member in a closed position and a release member on the gripping member. The release member is operable to disengage the means for securing. 
     According to a method embodied in the present invention, there is provided a method of disengaging a locking mechanism securing a gripping member on a hanger comprising the steps of: 
     pivoting a lever pivotally attached to the gripping member; 
     contacting the locking mechanism with an end of the lever; and 
     moving the locking mechanism to a disengaged state with respect to a locking catch. 
    
    
     The above features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S) 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a hanger according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a gripping member of the hanger of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the gripping member of FIG. 2 taken along arrows III—III of FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, a hanger in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated at  10 . The hanger  10  includes a support bar  12  provided with a hook attachment  14 . The hook, the support bar  12  and the gripping members  16 ,  18  can be made of any of the known materials by any of the known methods, e.g., plastic materials by injection molding. The gripping arrangements  16 ,  18  can be formed integrally with the support bar  12 . The gripping arrangements  16 ,  18  may also be formed of the same material as the support bar  12 . Moreover, any number of gripping arrangements  16 ,  18  may be provided, e.g. one at either end of the support bar  12 . The gripping arrangements  16 ,  18  may be composed of a material suitable for preventing slippage of a gripped item. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the hook attachment  14  is connected to the support bar  12  and extends upwardly. Two gripping members  16 ,  18  are provided on either end of the support bar  12  to receive and secure an article of clothing. It should be evident that the gripping members  16 ,  18  function in the same way, and only gripping member  16  will be described here. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, an enlarged view of the gripping member  16  is shown. The gripping member  16  includes a gripping clip  20  and a U-shaped spring fitting  22  made of metal, or other resilient material. The gripping clip  20  is invertedly U-shaped and has a rear leg  24  formed integrally with the bar  12 . A transverse bridge  26  extends from the upper edge of the rear leg  24 . The bridge  26  includes a weakened zone defining a hinge connection  28 . A front leg  30  extends downward from the bridge  26  substantially parallel to the rear leg  24 . While the gripping clip  20  is illustrated as a resilient U-shaped band, it should be evident to an artisan of ordinary skill that other structures can be used equivalently. Such equivalent structures can include but are not limited to a peg in a compression fit opening, a butterfly clamp, and other items available to one skilled in the art to accomplish the gripping function. 
     The rear leg  24  and the front leg  30  are provided with protrusions  32 . The protrusions  32  extend from inner surfaces of the rear leg  24  and the front leg  30  toward each other. When the gripping member  16  is in a closed position, protrusions  32  oppose each other and cooperate to secure an article of clothing there between. 
     The front leg  30  is further provided with a lip  34  on an outward surface for retaining the spring fitting  22  in an engaged position. A portion of the outer surface of the front leg  30  is sloped downward and away from a plane of the rear leg  24 . Alternatively, or in addition, the outer surface of the front leg  30  can have a protrusion. 
     The spring fitting  22  is substantially U-shaped in side view and is adapted to slide over the gripping clip  20  and to fit tightly thereon, thereby engaging gripping member  16  in the closed position. The spring fitting  22  can be made of any of the known materials such as plastics or metal, e.g. spring steel. 
     The spring fitting  22  includes a first leg  36 , a bridge  38  and a second leg  40 , the second leg  40  having a bent end  42 . The first leg  36  is adapted to abut against the rear leg  24  while the second leg  40  is adapted to abut against the front leg  30 . The spring fitting  22  is held in place against gripping clip  20  by means of the end  42  which can hook over the lip  34 . 
     The gripping member  16  further includes a release mechanism  44  to release spring fitting  22  from fitting tightly over gripping clip  20 , i.e. to release gripping mechanism  16  from the closed position. Preferably, the release mechanism  44  includes a lever  45  pivotally mounted on the front leg  30  of the gripping clip  20  and adapted to lift the spring fitting  22  off the gripping clip  20 . In particular, lever  45  of release mechanism  44  is hingedly joined to the front leg  30  at pivot point  47 . The lever  45  includes a tab  46  which can be operated by an individual, and an elongated protrusion  48  extending from the tab  46 . When pressed by an individual, the protrusion  48  is adapted to press against the end  42  and to release the end  42  from the lip  34 . 
     It should be realized by those skilled in the art that the release mechanism  44  can be constructed in any manner, just so long as the release mechanism releases spring fitting  22  from fitting tightly over gripping clip  20 . For example, the release mechanism  44  may be adapted to remove the spring fitting  22  from the gripping clip  20 . The release mechanism  44  may itself be resilient and act as a spring to return to an original position after disengaging the spring fitting  22 . In a further example, the release mechanism  44  can be made as a sliding mechanism where the release mechanism includes a wedge portion that is adapted to slide between the end  42  and the lip  34 , thereby disengaging the end  42  from the lip  44 . 
     Referring back now to FIGS. 1-3, in use, an article of clothing is hung up, or suspended, with the hanger  10  by gripping the clothing with the gripping members  16 ,  18 . Before an item is secured to the hanger, the gripping members  16 ,  18  are in an open position. In the open position, the gripping clip  20  is open, with the front leg  30  pivoted away from the rear leg  24 . The clothing is placed against the rear leg  24  between the rear leg  24  and the front leg  30 . The front leg  30  is then swivelled at the hinge connection  28  toward the rear leg  24  so that the protrusions  32  can grip the clothing. 
     To close the gripping member  16 , the spring fitting  22  is placed over the gripping clip  20  and slid downward such that the front leg  30  is forced towards the rear leg  24 . As the spring fitting  22  slides down the gripping clip  20 , the slope or protrusion on the outer surface of the front leg  30  helps to increase the force applied by the spring fitting  22 , which in turn increases the force urging the front leg  30  toward the rear leg  24 . Since the spring fitting  22  is resilient, sliding the spring fitting  22  downward does not require excessive force. The resiliency of the spring fitting  22  also helps to improve the force applied between the front leg  30  and the rear leg  24 . As the spring fitting  22  is moved toward the base of gripping member  16 , the end  42  moves beyond and clears the edge of the lip  34 . After clearing the edge of the lip  34 , the end  42  snaps into place abutting lip  34 . The spring fitting  22  now engages and secures gripping members  16 ,  18 . 
     When it is desired to remove the clothing from the hanger  10 , pressure is applied to the tab  46  thereby causing the tab  46  to swivel around its pivot point  47 . As the tab  46  swivels, the protrusion  48  presses against the end  42  of the spring fitting  22 . Consequently, the end  42  shifts outward as pressure is applied from the protrusion  48 , and eventually clears the lip  34 . Once the end  42  clears the lip  34 , the spring fitting  22  is released and can be easily slid in an upward direction. As the spring fitting  22  slides upward, the distance between the first leg  36  and the second leg  40  decreases due to the slope of the outer surface of the front leg  30 . The combination of the resiliency of the spring fitting  22  and the slope or protrusion on the front leg  30  contribute to urge the spring fitting  22  upward. The force applied by the spring fitting  22  decreases as the first leg  36  and the second leg  40  are permitted to approach each other. As the spring fitting  22  continues to slide upward, the front leg  30  is released, permitting the gripping members  16 ,  18  to be opened. The front leg  30  is swivelled upwards away from the rear leg  24  about the hinge connection  28  and the clothing can be removed. 
     In summary, by providing a release easily operated by an individual user, a securing mechanism for a gripping member on a hanger can be easily disengaged. This provision permits the hanger to be used more quickly and reliably, with less effort on the part of the individual user. 
     Having described preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.