Abstract:
A strap-retaining hanger for hanging garments with straps such that the garments do not become entangled with adjacent garments and/or hangers. The strap-retaining hanger includes a main hanger body and one or more strap-retaining components. Each strap-retaining component includes a housing attached to the main body of the hanger. The housing retains therein a strap hook joined to a spring member. An actuator is used to place the spring member in compression to cause protraction of the strap hook out of the housing. When pressure is released from the actuator, the spring compression is released and the strap hook retracted into the housing. The strap hooks hold the straps of the garment and are only exposed when there is a desire to put the garment on the hanger or to take it off the hanger.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to hangers. More particularly, the present invention relates to hangers for hanging garments with straps. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to hangers modified to include one or more strap retainers to hang garments with thin straps including, for example, dresses.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     A hanger is a device used to hold a garment in a manner that allows a person to observe the entirety of the garment. There are many forms of hangers available commercially. They vary based on the type of garment to be displayed. However, in most instances, the hanger includes a main body on which the garment hangs, and a hook for placement of the hanger on a rod or other type of support structure. The hook extends from the main body, which includes one or more outwardly extending wings. Many such hangers angle the outwardly extending wings to maintain the shape of the hanger with the shape of a garment as worn by a person. In a private setting, the support structure may be a closet rod or a hook attached to a wall or door. In a commercial setting, the support structure may be a fixed or movable rack.  
         [0005]     A plurality of garments may be displayed on a support structure by placing a plurality of hangers on the structure, each having its own associated garment, by placing a plurality of garments on a single hanger and placing the single hanger on the support structure, or a combination of the two. In a commercial setting, such as a dry cleaner or a retail clothing store, it is common for substantial numbers of garments to be hanged in close proximity to one another. An individual garment of interest may be accessed by forcibly separating it from adjacent ones and then removing it from the support structure. The garment may be replaced on the support structure by forcing an opening on the support structure and returning the hanger thereto.  
         [0006]     There are many different types of garments which are placed on hangers. In particular, there are many types of garments worn on a person&#39;s shoulders. They range from those types which extend fully over an individual&#39;s shoulders, such as a coat or a long-sleeve shirt, to those which do not extend fully, such as bras and dresses with straps, including spaghetti straps, for example. The hangers that may be suitable for hanging a full-shoulder garment may not be suitable for holding a strapped garment. That is, for the most common form of hanger, the one with angled outwardly-extending wings, the straps simply slip off the hanger and the garment may fall to the ground or become inaccessible in the mix with other garments hanging on the support structure.  
         [0007]     Hangers have been modified to account for this limitation. They have been fabricated to include slots or openings in the upper sections of the outwardly-extending wings. Unfortunately, when a plurality of such strap-based garments are pressed together in close proximity to one another, and as individual ones are removed from and then replaced on the support structure, they become entangled with one another. That is, one or more straps from one garment on one hanger may engage with the slot or opening of a different hanger. The person seeking to remove and observe a particular garment may spend a considerable amount of time detangling the garment from one or more other hangers. That effort discourages the person and may limit garment sales. It also results in racks of garments having an overall appearance of untidiness. A retailer may therefore be forced to expend considerable employee time fixing the garment hangings, or lose sales to customers who may wish to shop where the garments do not appear to be well cared for.  
         [0008]     Therefore, what is needed is an improved hanger suitable for hanging garments with straps. Further, what is needed is a hanger suitable for hanging strapped garments next to other strapped garments with reduced possibility of adjacent garments becoming entangled. The improved hanger should be easy to manufacture and use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved hanger suitable for hanging garments with straps. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hanger suitable for hanging strapped garments next to other strapped garments with reduced possibility of adjacent garments becoming entangled. Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a hanger, which is easy to manufacture and use.  
         [0010]     These and other objects are achieved with the present invention, which is a strap-retaining hanger suitable for hanging garments with straps including, for example, dresses with spaghetti straps. The hanger of the present invention includes a conventional hook section, a body with outwardly extending wings, and one or more strap retaining components forming part of, or affixed to, the outwardly extending wings. The wings may extend outwardly from the base of the hook on the same plane as the base, or they may extend therefrom at a downward angle. Further, the downwardly extending wings may be joined together at ends thereof by a joining section of the body.  
         [0011]     Each of the strap retaining components is a spring-loaded device positioned substantially entirely in a housing. The spring-loaded device includes a strap hook at one end and an actuator at the opposing end. The strap hook is arranged to be retracted within the housing when the strap of a garment is being hanged or has been removed from the hanger. The application of pressure to the actuator forces the strap hook out of the housing such that the strap may be removed therefrom or placed thereon. The spring-loaded device allows for protraction and retraction of the strap hook with respect to the housing.  
         [0012]     This arrangement of the strap retaining component ensures that only the garment or garments with straps to be applied to a particular hanger can be retained by that hanger. Since the strap hook is only exposed for the purpose of applying or removing the straps of the garment(s) of interest when application or removal is desired, it cannot hook the straps of other garments. Garments will not become entangled with the hangers of adjacent garments. This arrangement eliminates the difficulty for the consumer of removing from a rack or replacing on a rack a garment of interest. It also improves the appearance of the garment display and reduces the retailer&#39;s need to expend time to maintain the display. In addition, the retaining component may easily be applied to an existing type of hanger.  
         [0013]     These and other advantages of the strap-retaining hanger of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the strap-retaining hanger of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is an exploded side view of the strap-retaining hanger of the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the strap-retaining hanger with the actuator extending above the housing, and a partial cutaway view showing the strap hooks retracted into the housings with the straps of a garment held thereon.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the strap-retaining hanger with the strap hooks protracted out of the housings with the straps of a garment held thereon and a partial cutaway view showing the actuator forced into the housing. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     A strap-retaining hanger  10  of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The strap-retaining hanger  10  includes a conventional hanger  12  having a hook  14  and a main body  16 . The hook  14  is arranged to hang the hanger  10  on a support structure, such as a retail store rack. The hook  14  and the main body  16  are joined at interface  18 . The conventional hanger  12  may be formed as a single integral device or in sections joined together. The main body  16  includes a first extended wing  20  and a second extended wing  22 . The first extended wing  20  and the second extended wing  22  extend downwardly at an angle from the interface  18 . The hanger  12  may be of the type shown in the drawings, in which the first extended wing  20  and the second extended wing  22  are joined together at ends  24  and  26  thereof by joining section  28 . Alternatively, the hanger  12  may be of the type having only the first extended wing  20  and the second extended wing  22  without the two joined together. Further, the hanger may be the type wherein the first extended wing  20  and the second extended wing  22  may extend directly outwardly from the interface  18  rather than at a downward angle. It is therefore to be noted that the hanger  12  may be most any type of commercially available hanger.  
         [0019]     The strap-retaining hanger  10  further includes a first strap-retaining component  30  and a second strap retaining component  32 . The first strap-retaining component  30  forms an integral part of, or is attached to, the first extended wing  20  and, if the conventional hanger  12  has one, the joining section  28 . The second strap-retaining component  32  forms an integral part of, or is attached to, the second extended wing  22  and, if the conventional hanger  12  has one, the joining section  28 . The first-strap retaining component  30  may be positioned at any location of interest along the first extended wing  20  between the interface  18  and the end  24 , but is preferably located about equidistant between the two. The second strap-retaining component  32  may be positioned at any location of interest along the second extended wing  22  between the interface  18  and the end  26 , but is preferably located about equidistant between the two. If not integrally formed therewith, the first strap-retaining component  30  and the second strap-retaining component  32  may be attached to the hanger  12  using an attachment means, such as an adhesive or a mechanical attachment including, but not limited to, one or more of nails, screws, bolts and rivets, but the attachment means is not limited thereto.  
         [0020]     The first strap-retaining component  30  and the second strap-retaining component  32  may include the same type of elements arranged in the same manner. Therefore, common types of elements will be assigned the same numerical designation. With reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  in particular, each of strap-retaining components  30  and  32  includes a housing  34 , a strap hook  36 , a first spring  38 , a spacer  40 , a second spring element  42  and an actuator  44 . The housing  34  is attached to or forms an integral part of the hanger  12 . The housing  34  includes a space established within housing walls. The other elements are located within that spacing. The housing  34  includes an upper opening  46  and a lower opening  48 . The housing may be a pipe or tubing section. It may be fabricated of any material of interest, such as a metallic material or a non-metallic material. It is preferably fabricated of plastic tubing.  
         [0021]     The housing  34  is sized with sufficient length to ensure that when the strap hook  36  is in a relaxed or retracted position, it is positioned within the housing  34 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The strap hook  36  is coupled to the spacer  40  by attachment means such as an adhesive or a mechanical attachment. Preferably, the strap hook  36  is screwed into the spacer  40  at end  41 . The strap hook  36  may be made of a metallic material or a non-metallic material as desired. The first spring element  38  and the second spring element  42  may be joined together to form a unitary spring extending substantially the length of the housing  34 . Alternatively, a single spring device may be used to replace the combination of the first spring element  38  and the second spring element  42 . The actuator  44  may be a solid rod or hollow cap arranged to be engaged with the second spring element  42 . That is, the actuator  44  may be affixed to the second spring element  42  if solid, or the second spring element  42  may be forced into the actuator  44  if it is hollow. The spacer  40  is positioned within the interior space defined by the spring elements  38 / 42  and acts as a structural member of the strap retaining component  30 / 32 .  
         [0022]     The actuator  44 , the spring elements  38 / 42  and the spacer  40  are arranged such that the application of pressure on the actuator  44  places the spring elements  38 / 42  in compression and moves the spacer  40  downwardly. The downward movement of the spacer  40  forces the strap hook  36  to protract downwardly such that it moves beyond end  48  of the housing  34  and is exposed for either removal of a strap thereon, or application of a strap thereon, as shown in  FIG. 4 . Release of pressure from the actuator  44  eliminates pressure on the spring elements  38 / 42  such that they return to their natural position, and in doing so, causes the actuator  44  to return upwardly. That action causes the spacer  40  to move upwardly, resulting in retraction of the strap hook  36  into the housing  34 , as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0023]     The strap-retaining hanger  10  may be fabricated in any of a number of ways known to those skilled in the art. The strap-retaining hanger  10  shown specifically in the accompanying drawings may be fabricated using the following steps. First, two pieces of the spacer  40  are created, such as by cutting two wooden dowels of a selectable length. Second, two pieces of the housing  34  are created, such as by cutting two pieces of tubing to a selectable length suitable to ensure that the strap hook  36  will be retained therein when the strap retaining components are in a retraction state. Third, a guide hole is drilled into each spacer  40  at top end  43  thereof and a hook attachment hole is drilled into the spacer  40  at bottom end  41 . Fourth, the strap hook  36  is screwed into the hook attachment hole of the spacer  40 . Fifth, attach and/or otherwise secure each housing  34  to the hanger  12  at a selectable location. For example, an adhesive compatible with the materials of the housing  34  and the hanger  12  may be used to join the two. The housing  34  may be further secured to the hanger  12 , such as with mechanical attachment including, for example, one or more tie wraps.  
         [0024]     The sixth step of the process of making the strap-retaining hanger  10  includes drilling a spring end guide hole into the housing  34  at top end  35 . Seventh, drill a hole into top of the actuator  44 , which is preferably a hollow cap, such as a pen cap, for example. Eighth, join together the first spring element  38  and the second spring  42  together by twisting at least the first ring at top end  39  of first spring element  38  to at least the first ring of at bottom end  45  of second spring element  42 . Alternatively, a single spring element may be substituted for the joined combination of the first spring element  38  and the second spring element  42 . Ninth, insert the second spring element  42  into the actuator  44  such that a tight friction fit exists between the combined spring element and the interior of the actuator  44 .  
         [0025]     The tenth step of the process of making the strap-retaining hanger  10  includes inserting the spacer  40  into the interior side of the combination of the first spring element  38  and the second spring element  42  such that the top end  43  of the spacer  40  is positioned within the actuator  44 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the top end  43  of the spacer  40  may include a guide post arranged to extend into the interior of the actuator  44 . Eleventh, secure the spacer  40  in the actuator  44  by physical attachment through the hole in the top of the actuator  44  created in the seventh step. For example, the physical attachment may be a screw screwed into the guide hole at top end  43  of the spacer  40 . Twelfth, insert the spacer  40  with joined strap hook  36  and actuator  44  into the housing  34 . Finally, extend at least one end of at least one of the spring elements  38 / 42  through the spring end guide hole of the housing  34  at the top end  35  thereof.  
         [0026]     The strap-retaining hanger  10  solves the difficulty of retrieving a garment with straps from a support structure, such as a clothing rack, that may otherwise be entangled with other similar types of garments. The invention may be used as follows and in view of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In order to place a garment on the strap-retaining hanger  10 , one or more of one or more actuators  44  thereof is/are pushed to compress the spring elements  38 / 42  and cause the strap hook  34  to protract outwardly from the housing  34  through opening  48 . Straps  50  of the garment may then be placed on the strap hooks  34 . Pressure is then removed from the actuators  44  such that the strap hooks  36  retract into the housing  34 . The garment is retained on the strap-retaining hanger  10  such that the strap  50  is partially within the housing  34 .  
         [0027]     In order to remove a garment from the strap-retaining hanger  10 , one or more of one or more actuators  44  thereof is/are pushed to compress the spring elements  38 / 42  and cause the strap hook  34  to protract outwardly from the housing  34  through opening  48 . This exposes the entire strap  50  of the garment outside of the housing  34 . The garment may then be removed from the strap hooks  34 . Pressure is then removed from the actuators  44  such that the strap hooks  36  retract into the housing  34 . In both instances of usage, the strap hooks  36  are only exposed when the person forces them out of the housing  34 . That may be done when the strap-retaining hanger  10  is positioned away from other hangers and garments. At all other times the strap hooks  36  are not exposed and therefore cannot entangle any adjacent garments.  
         [0028]     While the present invention has been described with particular reference to certain embodiments of the strap-retaining hanger  10 , it is to be understood that it includes all reasonable equivalents thereof as defined by the following appended claims.