Abstract:
A foldable and self-opening hanger has two arms that fold down to a closed position away from the hanger&#39;s hook member with adjacent bottom arm edges proximal to each other. The arms are closed manually in opposition to a restoring force provided by an internal resilient member that tends to move the arms away from each other toward an open position suitable for hanging light garments such as shirts and blouses that exert opposing forces on the arms less than restoring force provided by the internal resilient member. For heavier garments, a lock-release mechanism is provided that holds the arms in a fully open-locked position that supports coats, heavy sweaters and the like. A pair of release buttons on opposite sides of the hanger release the lock-release mechanism allowing arms to be folded manually to the fully closed position so the hanger may be inserted into the neck of a garment without opening buttons or zippers. The arms then can be released from the closed position by merely letting go of them and allowing the resilient member to spread the arms open to support the garment to be hung.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to hangers used in clothing stores, dry cleaning establishments, and more particularly household use. 
   Garment hangers are commonly used in clothing stores, garment factories, garment-cleaning companies, and in common households. Conventional fixed hangers are normally used to hang many different types of garments: suits, sweaters, T-shirts, dress shirts, dresses, blouses, and turtle neck sweaters, among them. It is particularly difficult to use conventional hangers on some types of garments, e.g. T-shirts and pull-over sweaters, due to the stresses exerted on the neck-opening for example, when attempting to insert a fixed arm hanger through the neck-opening. Some garments can be damaged when arranging on a fixed arm hanger. For example, the looped weave of a knitted sweater will easily tangle in the hook possibly causing threads to break or be pulled out of the weave. 
   There are many varieties of foldable hangers that have not found acceptance in the market. The hangers shown in existing patents are either not cost-effective, are not reliable in performance, or have no redeeming return on investment to the garment industry, consumer, or otherwise. Some types of collapsible hangers require excessive garment manipulation to place on such hangers. Hangers with shortened arms are also unsatisfactory as other garments with large or scooped neck-openings can easily fall off. 
   Accordingly, it is desirable to have an economic, foldable and self-opening hanger. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is a foldable and self-opening hanger that uses a few simple parts. The number of garments that can utilize this feature is very large, for example, some types are suits, sweaters (standard and turtleneck), blouses, dress shirts, T-shirts, and lingerie. The foldable and self-opening hanger prevents stretching of the collar. The foldable and self-opening hanger is economical to manufacture and very convenient for the industry and consumer to use. 
   Advantageously, the present invention is very easy to use by folding down the two arms (right and left), holding them together while insert the hanger into a collar or neck of a garment, once the two arms are placed inside the garment collar, or neck, and merely released, the arms will automatically open by spring action of a resilient member inside. 
   Another advantage of the present foldable hanger invention is that it provides opening resilience sufficient to support light garments such as shirts and blouses without further attention. 
   Yet another advantage is the lock-release mechanism which is engaged by spreading the hanger arms to a fully open-locked position that cause one or more inward projecting inner studs inside the arms to bear against one fixed face of an internal anchor member, preventing the arm from rotating toward the closed position with both arms together. 
   The blocking stud and blocking face provided by the present invention are constructed to minimize wear and extend the life of the present foldable hanger invention. 
   Other advantages of the present invention will becomes apparent from the detailed 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  front and back elevation views of an embodiment of the present hanger invention in the open-lock position. 
       FIG. 2  front and back elevation views of an embodiment of the present hanger invention in the fully closed opening-tension mode. 
       FIG. 3  front and back elevation perspective views of the hanger in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a bottom perspective view of one arm and the anchor body of the hanger in  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 4  there are shown views of a preferred embodiment  100  of the present collapsible hangar invention.  FIG. 1  shows front and back views of the hangar  100  in a fully open locked mode in accordance with the present invention.  FIG. 2  shows front and back views of the hangar  100  in the fully closed mode ready for insertion into or removal the neck of a garment. 
   With regard to  FIG. 1  there is shown a front (F) and back (B) view of one embodiment  100  of the present collapsible hangar invention in a fully open and locked position (the open-lock mode) ready to accept and support clothes as an ordinary hangar would.  FIG. 1  shows the front (F) and back (B) elevation views of the hanger  100  with a hook member  102  and two opposed arms,  104  right and  104  left, extending right to left in the front view and left to right in the back view. The orientation of the hanger  100  is that of normal use, that is with a hook member  102  centered between, and vertically above the adjacent, proximal ends of two depending hanger arms  104 R and  104 L. The arms  104  right and  104  left have spaced apart upper and lower edges  106  right,  108  right,  106  left,  108  left. The upper and lower edges are not parallel but are disposed at a slight acute angle  107  from respective distal ends  118 . Each arm is notched at its proximal upper edge to form a top shoulder  109  set back from the hook member  102  and recessed below the top of the arms. 
   The proximal end of the outer wall of each arm has flange portion  112  whose perimeter extends around about ¾ of a circle 
   The bottom surface of shoulder  109  extends to a proximal 2nd shoulder  111  forming a load-bearing face below the bottom of  109  to perpendicular to the base edges  108  arms and coplanar with the plane bisecting the hanger. 
   On the opposite arm  104  and on the same (front or back) side, a proximal load-bearing finger  113  projects from the opposite top shoulder  109  as an extension of the opposing arm&#39;s outer wall on the same side of the hanger. The bearing face of 2nd shoulder  111  and the complementary bearing finger  113  distribute loads caused by an attempt to force the arms to rotate toward the hook member beyond the natural lock position. They are proportioned so that a reasonable load induced by such an attempt will be supported by the strength of the material chosen for the hanger. 
   The proximal end of the outer wall of each arm  104  has a flange sector  112  whose perimeter has a circular extent from the bottom of the load bearing face  111 , about 3/2 pi-radians around to the base edge  108  of its own arm. The circular flange sector  112  on the front and the back has its center coaxial with a pivot axis  116  perpendicular to the plane of the arms  104 . A pair of opposing rivets,  120  are centered on the flanges  112 , and fixed to the interior of the hanger. The rivets  120  are sized to fit closely, but freely through the center of a respective flange in order to give the flanges  112  and thus the two arms  104 , the capability to rotate with respect to the hanger hook, if not otherwise locked together. For reference purposes, a baseline  122  is shown that intercepts the pivot axis  116  and is co-linear with the base edges  108  when the hanger is locked, as in  FIG. 1 . The pivot axis  116  is the center about which the base edges  108  move toward each other and the arms  104  rotate away from the lock position of  FIG. 1  under the influence of forces from above (indicated by arrows  126  on the top edges  106 ), when they are released as is described below. 
   A longitudinal release lever  127  in the form of cantilever tongue is defined in the plane of the flange by a U-shaped slot extending through the flange plane. The tongue has a release button  128  projecting outward from the outer surface of the flange at its distal end. The longitudinal aspect of the tongue is centered on the pivot axis, spaced away from the flange&#39;s center, in line with the pivot axis  116  but on the side opposite to the hook stem, and extends distal from the axis  116  to reach adjacent to, but short of the flange perimeter  124 . Part of the slot defining the tongue  127  is partially covered in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  by the head of rivet  120 . Thus, the release tongue  127 , flange  112  and arm  104  are unitary and move together in rotation, about the central axis  116 . 
   With regard to  FIG. 2  there are shown front and back views of the hangar  100  in which the arms  104  are rotated down to a fully closed position with the base edge  108  of each arm in facing contact with its opposite base edge  108 . The base edges  108  are aligned with the hook stem  130  since the rotation axis  116  is centered on the hanger hook stem, in this embodiment. Keeping the hanger in this closed position requires the arms to be held together against the urging of an internal spring member, described below, by exerting equal and opposing forces indicated by arrows  202  against the two top arm edges  106 . Typically the arms would be held in the closed position shown in  FIG. 2  by a person&#39;s hand (not shown) wrapped around the arms near their distal ends, in order to pass the distal end of the hangar arms into or out of the neck of a garment. 
   The flanges  112  and their extending arms  104  are arranged to pivot around a pivot axis  116 , toward or away from the hook member  102 . The arms tend to rotate toward each other in the direction of the closed position of  FIG. 2  under influence of forces exerted from above toward the top edges  106  of the hangar arms as indicated by arrows  126 , when front and back release buttons  128  on opposite sides of the hanger are depressed toward the interior of the hangar sufficient to release the arms from the lock position shown in  FIG. 1 . Release buttons  128  are part of a releasable lock mechanism for hangar  100  and is described further below with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
   A resilient member in the hanger  100  (described below) exerts restoring forces  129  coupled between the pivot axis and the opposite arms, where the restoring force tends to rotate the arms toward the lock position of  FIG. 1  when the forces  126  are overcome by the restoring force of the resilient member. 
   The hook member  102  may be formed from a round rod of semi rigid material such as metal or plastic. The rod  102  has an intermediate length longitudinal segment  130  extending distal from between the two hangar arms, and is centered on the pivot axis  116  and is perpendicular to the baseline  122 . Between a distal end  132  of the intermediate length segment  130  and a free end  134 , the rod  102  forms a curved segment  136  that is doubly curved, first toward one of the arms of the hangar and then reversing curvature to extend back toward the other, opposite arm, extending thereby over about three-quarters of the perimeter of a circle centered on the central pivot axis. The free end  134  and the distal end of the segment  130  are spaced apart so that the hook  102  can be placed over a clothes rod found in a typical closet. 
   The hook portion is formed so it will partially encircle a common clothes rod or clothes peg in a closet while leaving enough separation between the free end of the hook and the upper end of the shaft to remove the hook from the rod or peg. The hook shape may be other than circular as long as the free end of the hook curves sufficiently around its most distal extent from the body piece, to keep the hanger and the clothes it is supporting, safely suspended on the clothes rod whenever it is disturbed slightly, from the vertical (in the plane defined by the curved hook portion). 
   Referring to  FIG. 2 , the hanger  100  is shown in the closed position with both arms having bottom edges contacting the other. 
   The release buttons  128  on the front and back of hanger  100  are unitary with the flange and the arm on that side and therefore rotates together with them around the pivot axis from the fully open and locked position of  FIG. 1  to the fully closed position of  FIG. 2 . 
     FIG. 3  is an exploded front and back perspective of the hangar  100  shown in  FIG. 1  in which the same elements have the same reference labels. 
   An inner anchor body member  302  is disposed between the two flanges. Anchor  302  defines an open end, upside down lateral channel  304  below a top cross piece  305  as the channel base between two spaced apart, front and back sidewalls  306   f . The cross piece  305  is located above the pivot axis  116 . The sidewalls  306  extend parallel and distal from the cross piece  305  on opposite sides of the stem  130  axis perpendicular to the pivot axis  116 . The channel sidewalls  306  have an upper portion  314  and a lower portion  315 . The lower portions  315  extend away from the pivot axis  116  to respective rounded free ends  308  distal to the pivot axis. The upper portion  314  of each sidewall is a planar, parallel pivot mount member, each defining a cylindrical borehole  310  coaxial with pivot axis  116 , the borehole of each sidewall being the same diameter. A flat lower face  312  is perpendicular to the upper portion of each sidewall and located parallel to and below the pivot axis. The lower face  312  defines the interface between upper  314  and lower  315  portions of each anchor sidewall  306 . The lower portion of each sidewall is a rectangular, blocking cantilever  315  projecting from its fixed end at face  312  to its distal free end  308 . Each cantilever  315  is formed to be laterally rigid but axially flexible with respect to the pivot axis. The cantilever  315  is preferably formed with a wedge-shaped cross-section as described further below. 
   Lateral channel  304  is perpendicular to the pivot axis with its open-end facing down. Top crosspiece  305  of the channel provides a base to which the stem  130  is fixed at its lower end. A cylindrical tube  318  with flat, opposite end faces is mounted inside the bore holes  310 , with its end faces coplanar to the outside surfaces of the sidewalls  314 . 
   The two channel sidewalls  306  are spaced apart to receive a spring coil  320  disposed around the mounting tube. The spring coil has a pair of lateral spring arms  322 ,  324  extending in opposite directions in the channel  304  parallel to the sidewalls  306  and below the top cross piece  305 . The spring coil has a winding diameter larger than the OD of the cylindrical mounting tube  318 . 
   The two opposing rivets,  120 , are located at the front and back of the hanger  100  and centered on the pivot axis  116 . The rivets  120  have flat, smooth faces  340  that fit slidably proximal to the outer surface of the flanges and have short posts  342  that extend to fit rotatably, through rivet apertures  344  formed in the center of the flanges. The rivet posts are sized to be pressed into and permanently fixed into the ID of tubular core member  318 . The posts can be fixed by glue, soldering or press-fit by conventional means. The rivets are fixed into the mounting tube ID so that respective rivet faces  340  are spaced away from the corresponding opposite anchor body sides and the end faces of the tubular core member  318  are sufficient to allow the flanges  112  to slidably rotate. It is sufficient to allow spacing equal to the thickness of the flange plus an allowance tolerance about 0.01 inches. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 4 , a blocking stud  350  is mounted on the inside of each of the flange&#39;s inner surfaces and projects inward there from to a depth that is a significant fraction of the thickness of the adjacent anchor body sidewall  306 . For one preferred embodiment of the present invention the blocking stud projection depth is about (Daniel, what is the dimension of the stud projection?) and the wall thickness is about (Daniel, what is the preferred wall thickness?) Each stud  350  is located on the inside of its flange adjacent to, but not touching, the locking cantilever  306  disposed on the same side of the anchor body as the stud&#39;s flange, when the arm and supporting flange are in the open-locked position with respect to the anchor body. The stud is proportioned so that it provides an immovable impediment to rotational, closing movement of the arm on which it is mounted when the flange  112  on which the stud  350  is mounted rotates the arm toward the closed position of  FIG. 2  from the open-locked position of  FIG. 1  and the blocking edge of the adjacent wedge cantilever  315 , contacts it&#39;s the adjacent blocking stud  350 . 
   The coil spring  320  and the spring arms  322 ,  324  are proportioned so that the oppositely directed spring arms  322 ,  324  contact the respective opposite underside of the hanger arms  104 . The spring arms  322 ,  324  thus provide restoring force  129  to each hanger arm tending to cause them to move toward the fully open-locked position of  FIG. 1  when the restoring force  129  exceeds the load force  126  exerted by clothes hung on hanger  100 . 
   The release cantilever tongue and the locking cantilever cooperate to release a hanger arm from the locked position of  FIG. 1 , when the release button  128  of one tongue  127  is pressed inward toward the anchor body and the inside of that tongue bears against the facing outside surface of blocking wedge  314  disposed on the same side of the anchor body, with sufficient force to move that locking cantilever wedge inward, toward the anchor body a sufficient distance so that the adjacent blocking stud  350  on that side of the anchor body can rotate past the wedge when rotating from the lock open position of  FIG. 1  toward the closed position of  FIG. 2 . 
   This provides an easy means to close the hanger arms by merely pressing inward on the two release buttons while applying closing forces  126  sufficient to overcome the restoring forces  129  provided by the spring arms acting on the underside of the hanger arms on either side of the anchor body. The closing forces can be provided manually with one or both hands of a person. 
   With regard to  FIG. 4 , in addition to the same elements of previous figures having the same reference numbers, there is shown an underside perspective view of the hanger  100  with the back arm  104  of  FIG. 1  removed. This view shows more clearly the lower portion of the sidewalls  306  with the rectangular cantilever wedges  315  and one of the two locking studs  350 . The discussion here of one side wall  306  and its cantilever wedge  315  applies equally for the ones on the opposite arm  104  since the arms are mirror images of each other; thus the description of one arm and its interaction with cooperating elements is sufficient for both arms. 
   Each cantilever wedge  315  on the front or back of hanger  100 , and the associated locking stud  350 , the cantilever lever  127  and the release button  128  on the same front or back side form parts of the lock-release mechanism of the anchor body  302  referred to above with reference to  FIG. 1 . In accordance with the present invention, each wedge  315  has opposite wedge faces: an inside face  402  and an outside face  404 . Inside face  402  is a coplanar extension of the inside surface of the upper portion of sidewall  306 . The wedge faces  402 ,  404  extend distal from the chord face  312  to the free end  308  between two opposite edge faces: an entry face  406 , and a blocking face  408 , defining a blocking cantilever cross section. The two cantilever edges  406 ,  408  are spaced apart by a width, Wb, Wb and the location and size of the stud  350  are selected so that blocking edge  408  faces one proximal side of the edge perimeter of the blocking stud  350  when the arm is in the fully open, latched mode, and the entry edge  406  faces an opposite proximal side of the blocking stud edge perimeter when the arm and stud are in the fully closed position. 
   Blocking edge face  408  preferably has the same thickness as the upper sidewall portion. The different thickness of the entry face and the blocking face give the lower sidewall portion  315  its wedge-shaped cross section. The blocking stud  350  on the adjacent flange extends inward from the inside surface of that flange to a stud depth that is a significant proportion of the sidewall thickness. 
   The stud  350  is located adjacent to the blocking edge  408  when the flange is in the open-locked position. The blocking edge  408  is proportioned so that it provides an immovable impediment to the stud  350  to move over, or though, it when the flange  112  rotates the stud  350  from the open-locked position toward the closed position to contact the blocking edge  408 . 
   Entry edge face  406  is preferably a narrow edge, thinner than the thickness of the upper sidewall portion and is disposed distal to and facing away from blocking stud  350  on the inside surface of the adjacent flange  112  when the arm is in the open, locked position of  FIG. 1 . 
   The projection of the stud inward from the inner surface of its flange and the respective thickness of the entry edge  406  and blocking edge  408  and the width of the blocking cantilever arm  315  between the entry edge  406  and blocking edge  408  are proportioned so that the entry edge  406  will clear the stud  350 , when the stud is rotated toward the open-locked position of  FIG. 1  from the closed position of  FIG. 2  or a less than fully open, intermediate closed position. The thickness of entry edge  406  is less than the difference between the thickness of the blocking edge and the projecting depth of the stud  350 . Continued rotation of the stud over the entry edge  406  and the slanted, outside wedge face  404  will cause the stud  350  to begin to come into contact with the outside wedge face  404  and then will cause the wedge  315  to deflect inward as the wedge face rides along the rotating stud. The wedge  315  continues to deflect inward with further rotation of the arm and stud  350  until the stud passes beyond the blocking edge  408 , where it resiliently returns to its original, undeflected state, positioning the blocking edge  408  facing the proximal edge of stud  350  in the latched, fully open mode as an immovable impediment to closing rotation of the stud  350 . 
   The slanted outside wedge face and the narrower entry edge reduce frictional wear on both the entry edge  406  and stud  350  thereby potentially extending the useful life of the present hanger invention. 
   These proportions therefore make it easy to put the hanger arms in the open-locked position from a fully-closed or intermediate closed position merely by rotating the arms into the open-locked position, taking advantage of the automatic deflection of the blocking wedge provided by the angled wedge face established by the different edge thickness  406 ,  408 . Only when it is desired to close the hanger arms is it necessary to operate the release buttons  128 . 
     FIG. 4  shows more clearly the restoring force  129  supplied by one end (spring end  322 ) of the resilient coil spring  320  of this embodiment being applied to a lower bearing edge  420  of a supporting rib  422  molded integrally with the two side panels of  104 . Besides providing the lower bearing surface  420  the rib  422  provides additional stability and strength for the arm  104  against twisting and bending forces tending to deform the arm  104 . 
   Returning again to  FIG. 1 , another of the advantages of the present invention is shown in regard to the shoulder  109  and the hanger stem  130 . The shoulder  109  is set back from the stem  130  sufficiently so that the fingers or skin of one operating the hanger  100  will be much less likely to be pinched between the recessed shoulder  109  at the proximal ends of the hanger arms and the hanger stem  130  when opening the arms toward the fully open and latched position shown in  FIG. 1 .