Patent Publication Number: US-4366909-A

Title: Clothes hanger with multiple clothes supports

Description:
This is a division of application Ser. No. 067,302 filed on Aug. 17, 1979 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,177, issued July 14, 1981. 
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a clothes hanger with multiple clothes supports and includes a support rod which can be hung in the vertical position by means of a hook. Transverse struts formed of a bending resistant wire and disposed parallel to one another extend horizontally from the vertically extending support rod and are located in the same plane with the hook. Articles of clothing, folded transversely, such as trousers or skirts, can be hung in a staggered manner one below the other from the struts. 
     A clothes hanger of this general type is disclosed in German Utility Model No. 75 29 103 and includes a support rod formed from a metal bar with a U-shaped or semicircular cross section with the bent ends of transverse rods inserted into the groove formed in the support rod and fastened by spot-welding. In addition, an upper transverse rod or strut of approximately half the length of the others is fastened to the upper end of the support rod and includes a hook bent upwardly from this top transverse strut. The production of this clothes hanger having multiple clothes supports is cumbersome and expensive, especially since the welding must be performed very carefully if the welded areas are to withstand the unilateral and varying loads acting on the transverse struts. The areas of welding connection are concealed and cannot be visually inspected. 
     Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a clothes hanger having multiple clothes supports of the same general type as above which can be produced with at least the same stability and with significantly less material and labor. 
     In accordance with the present invention, the clothes hanger is formed of a U-shaped length of bending resistant wire with the bight portion forming the support rod and the leg portions forming the uppermost and lowermost transverse struts extending laterally outwardly from the bight portion. Additional transverse struts formed of rectilinear rods are located between the leg portions in spaced relation to one another and butt-welded to the bight portion by a fusion welding operation. 
     The welding operation can be performed exactly, quickly and easily by means of a simple pattern guide device. The finished product is clearly visible for inspection. 
     In such a hanger, the hook can be bent from the free end portion of one of the leg portions of the U-shaped member or it can be attached at approximately the mid-point of one of the leg portions by a butt-welding operation. 
     It is more advantageous, however, if the hook is bent from one end of a special angularly shaped rod with the other end of the rod connected to the middle of the bight portion of the U-shaped member. The special angular rod is connected to the bight portion so that it can be rotated about an axis which is parallel to the transverse struts. With this arrangement, it is possible to facilitate significantly the placement of clothes on and their removal from the hanger when it is hung up in a position of use with the transverse struts arranged one above the other in a space-saving manner so that the U-shaped member can be rotated 90° relative to the angular rod. In this rotated position, the struts are located next to one another in a horizontal plane so that the articles of clothing can be placed on or removed from the struts without adjacent articles of clothing presenting any interference or being displaced. In addition, the capacity of the hanger can be doubled if the hook is located on one end of a rod-like support member with two U-shaped members hinged on opposite sides of the other end of the support member. For increased stability, the bight portions of the U-shaped members can be connected together by a short section of rod. 
     To ensure that the hanger will always maintain its given position when the U-shaped member is turned relative to the angular rod independently of the distribution of its load, a specially designed hinge joint is provided between the rod and the U-shaped member. 
     The hinge joint or connection includes a flange-like disc secured to the end of the angular rod adjacent the U-shaped member with the end portion supporting the disc being bent approximately perpendicularly of the bight portion of the U-shaped member. Another disc is fastened to the mid-part of the bight portion and it is connected so that a space is provided between the bight portion and the disc connected to it. The disc on the bight portion has a central opening through which the end of the angular rod extends with the flange-like disc on the angular rod being positioned between the bight portion and the disc connected to it. Because of the spacing between the bight portion and the disc connected to it, the flange-like disc on the angular rod is held between them with a slight amount of play. When a load is placed on the hanger there is a slight tilting of the U-shaped member relative to the angular rod and friction is developed between the flange-like disc and oppositely located surfaces on the bight portion and the disc connected to it. The amount of friction developed increases with an increasing load on the hanger. If, however, the U-shaped portion of the hanger is to be turned, it is only necessary to lift the U-shaped portion slightly to overcome the friction developed in the hinge connection. 
     The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     In the drawing: 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a clothes hanger with multiple clothes supports embodying the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the clothes hanger incorporating the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating yet another embodiment of a clothes hanger incorporating the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the hanger displayed in FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 1-3 illustrating still another embodiment of a clothes hanger incorporating the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In each of the embodiments of the clothes hanger illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, a U-shaped member formed of a length of bending resistant wire consists of a bight portion 1 and a pair of leg portions 2 extending laterally from the bight portion. One of the leg portions forms an upper transverse strut or clothes support 2 and the other forms the lower transverse strut or clothes support 2 with a number of transverse struts 2&#39; formed of rectilinear sections of the same wire being butt-welded to the bight portion 1 between the leg portions. All of the struts are located in a single plane. A hook 3 for supporting the hanger is attached to the U-shaped portion and is located in the same plane with the transverse struts 2, 2&#39;. While each embodiment has these similar features, there are differences between the embodiments basically involving the manner in which the hook 3 is formed or connected to the U-shaped portion. 
     In FIG. 1, the hook 3 is formed from the end portion of the upper transverse strut 2 spaced outwardly from the bight portion 1. The hook is located approximately mid-way between the bight portion 1 and the opposite free ends of the transverse struts 2, 2&#39;. 
     In FIG. 2, the hook 3&#39; is formed of a separate hook shaped rod which is butt-welded at one end to the mid-point of the upper transverse strut 2. 
     In FIG. 3, the hook 3&#34; is formed of an angularly shaped rod having a first leg 4a and a second leg 4b. The hook 3&#34; is formed in the end of the leg 4a spaced from its junction with the leg 4b. The legs 4a, 4b form an obtuse angle. The free end of leg 4b, spaced from the junction with leg 4a, is bent toward the bight portion 1 and is rotatably connected to the middle of the bight portion between the leg portions 2 by a hinge 5. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates on an enlarged scale and partly in axial section, the hinge 5 between the leg 4b and the bight portion 1. 
     In FIG. 5 a pair of U-shaped members are hinged to a dependent support rod 10. 
     As can be seen in FIG. 4, the free end of the leg 4b is bent relative to the remaining portion of the leg and extends approximately perpendicularly relative to the bight portion 1. This bent free end portion of the leg 4b forms a bearing pin 6 with a disc 7 attached to its free end so that the disc provides a flange-like rim projecting radially outwardly from the bearing pin 6. The bearing for pin 6 is formed by a centrally located bore extending through another disc 8. Disc 8 is fastened to the middle part of the bight portion 1 between the leg portions 2 so that a spacing is provided between the bight portion and the adjacent surface of the disc 8. The disc 7 with the flange-like rim is located with a slight amount of play in the space provided between the bight portion 1 and the disc 8. When a load is placed on the hanger formed by the bight portion 1 and the struts 2, the flange-like rim of the disc 7 bears against the disc 8 at its top and against the bight 1 at its bottom, note FIG. 4. Further, under the effect of the load applied to the hanger, the bearing pin 6 is slightly canted in its bearing hole in the disc 8 so that it contacts the surface of the bore at two points located obliquely one above the other. 
     In the double hanger displayed in FIG. 5, the dependent support rod 10 has a circular shaped hook 9 at its upper end with two U-shaped members located each on an opposite side of the rod. The dependent support rod 10 is connected to each of the bight portions 1 of the U-shaped members by a hinge connection 5. Additionally, to afford increased stability for the double hanger, a short rod 11 extends between the lower ends of the bight portions 1. The hinge connections 5 are located approximately mid-way between the upper and lower portions 2 and the rod 11 is located below the hinge connections and slightly above the lower leg portions 2. 
     While the material forming the U-shaped members has been referred to as a bending-resistant wire, it can be appreciated that other bending resistant materials can be used which afford the interconnection of the bight portion 1 and the intermediate transverse struts 2&#39;. 
     While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.