Patent Publication Number: US-2006011670-A1

Title: Three-piece swimwear hanger

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§ 119(e) from U.S. Ser. No. 60/549,693, entitled “Three-Piece Swimwear hanger,” filed on Mar. 3, 2004. U.S. Ser. No. 60/549,693 was filed by at least one inventor common to the present application, and is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a garment hanger in general, and more particularly to a hanger capable of accommodating and displaying multiple garments at the same time.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Swimwear is often presented and sold in a multi-piece garment set (including, for example, a swimwear bottom, top and skirt or cover). Prior art hangers for displaying such multiple-piece garment sets tend to be very long and/or high to accommodate the presentation of multiple pieces in the set. Thus, there exists the need for a swimwear hanger that can display multiple pieces in less space than has been achieved by prior art hangers, without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      As taught herein, the present invention provides a garment hanger suitable for hanging multiple garments in a garment set together for storage and display. The inventive hanger comprises a hook member, a body member extending downwardly from the hook member, and first and second support arms extending outwardly from the body member. Each of the first and second support arms also includes an elongated slot accessible at a surface of its respective arm. First and second resilient clips extend downwardly from the support arms, and a central member is positioned between the first and second resilient clips. First and second resilient jaws extend downwardly from the central member, and are positioned below the first and second resilient clips. An additional jaw member is positioned between the first and second resilient jaws and extends downwardly from the central member.  
      As applied to a swimwear set, for example, the elongated slots may be used to hold the neck straps of a top for positioning the top, the first and second resilient clips may be used to hold the waistband of a bottom for positioning the bottom, and the first and second resilient jaws and jaw member may be used to hold and position a skirt. In this manner, the garments in the garments set may be compactly displayed by overlapping the garments in a manner that maintains relatively complete view of each garment from at least one of a front side and a back side of the hanger.  
      The features of the present invention taught herein enable the inventive hanger to have a reduced size and profile over prior art designs for multiple garment hangers. In other words, the horizontal distance between the ends of the hanger arms and the overall height of the hanger are reduced over prior art designs, without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
      A more complete understanding of the invention may be obtained by reference to the appended drawing in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the three-piece swimwear hanger of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a front elevation view thereof;  
       FIG. 3  is a rear elevation thereof;  
       FIG. 4  is a left side elevation thereof;  
       FIG. 5  is a right side elevation thereof;  
       FIG. 6  is a top view thereof;  
       FIG. 7  is a bottom view thereof;  
       FIG. 8  is a front elevation view thereof shown with a swimwear piece being held therein;  
       FIG. 9  is a front elevation view thereof shown with an additional swimwear piece being held therein;  
       FIG. 10  is a front elevation view thereof shown with yet an additional swimwear piece being held therein; and  
       FIG. 11  is rear elevation view of the hanger of  FIG. 10 . 
    
    
      In the various figures, like reference numerals wherever possible designate like or similar elements of the invention.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The following detailed description is of the best mode or modes of the invention presently contemplated. Such description is not intended to be understood in a limiting sense, but to be an example of the invention presented solely for illustration thereof, and by reference to which in connection with the following description and the accompanying drawings one skilled in the art may be advised of the advantages and construction of the invention.  
      As shown for example in  FIG. 2 , the hanger  100  of the present invention generally comprises a support hook  10  with two outwardly extending support arms  20   a.    20   b  on opposite sides of the hanger  100  as is know in the art. A side sizer  11  extending between the support hook  10  and a web  12  between the support hook  10  and a hanger body  21  may be provided as is also known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,887 to Bond et al.) to allow a customer to easily ascertain the size of the garment being held on the hanger.  
      An elongated slot  22   a,    22   b  is provided on each arm  20   a,    20   b  for accommodating a garment string, such as neck strap  210  of top  200  as shown, for example, in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Such slot is usually provided on an upper surface of the support arm  20   a,    20   b  as shown for example in  FIG. 2 .  
      A pair of resilient clips  30   a,    30   b  extending downwardly from an area near the slots  22   a,    22   b  is provided to accommodate a garment piece, such as the waistband  310  of a swimwear bottom  300  as shown in  FIGS. 9-11 . Each downwardly-extending clip  30   a,    30   b  has a sinusoidal (wavy) edge profile  31  and a circular end profile  32  for efficient gripping without imparting sharp edge impressions in the garments. The clips  30   a,    30   b  move forward and rearward relative to the hanger  100  as shown in  FIG. 2  for example (i.e., into and out of the paper).  
      A pair of outwardly-extending resilient jaws  40   a,    40   b  extending downwardly and at an angle from the bottom of the hanger  100  is provided to accommodate a garment piece, such a swimwear skirt  400  as shown in  FIGS. 9-11 . Such jaws have outwardly-separating teeth  41  provided to grip the garment held therein.  
      A further single downwardly-extending jaw  50  is provided along a central member  51  of the hanger (at a position along central member  51 , for example, that is in alignment with the hanger hook  10 , for example, as shown in  FIG. 2 ) for gripping a garment such as the same garment being gripped by the pair of outwardly-extending resilient jaws  40   a,    40   b  discussed above (see, e.g.,  FIG. 9 ). Such single jaw  50  could work in conjunction with the above-described pair of outwardly-extending jaws  401 ,  40   b  to securely grip a single garment at multiple locations.  
      As shown in the  FIGS. 9-11 , the hanger  100  of the present invention allows a customer to clearly view all garments without having to move or remove garments from the hanger. Prior art hangers capable of holding multiple garments have usually been designed so that some of the smaller garments are hidden by the larger garments. However, with the hanger of the present invention, even the smallest garment, such as the swimwear bottom  300  shown in  FIG. 11 , is in plain view. For example, the swimwear bottom  300  and skirt  400  are shown most clearly in  FIG. 11 , while the top  200  is shown most clearly in  FIG. 10 . Thus, a consumer is only required to twirl or flip the hanger  100  around to view the front and back of the hanger  100  to view the entirety of the multi-piece garment  200 ,  300 ,  400  held thereon, such that movement and/or removal of garments is not necessary to view all pieces.  
      Furthermore, the positioning and orientation of the clips  30   a,    30   b,  slots  22   a,    22   b  and jaws  40   a,    40   b,    50  as described above and shown in the drawings enables easy access to a consumer. Removal of any garment simply requires a forceful tug from the clips/jaws  30   a,    30   b,    40   a,    40   b,    50 , or movement of a strap from the slots  22   a,    22   b.  Accordingly, operating pinching clips (which may be difficult for some people to operate), removing tape, dismantling the garment or the like is not necessary for using the hanger of the invention.  
      In addition, the orientation and positioning of the clips  30   a,    30   b,  slots  22   a,    22   b  and jaws  40   a,    40   b,    50 , and the manner in which garments are secured thereto, enables the hanger to have a reduced size and profile. In other words, the horizontal distance between the ends of the hanger arms and the overall height of the hanger can be reduced without sacrificing garment control and/or presentation. Prior art hangers for displaying multiple garments tend to be very long and/or high to accommodate the presentation of multiple pieces. Of course, such orientation and positioning of the holding members such as the slots, clips and jaws, may be modified as required by the user and/or manufacturer but without departing from the scope and requirements of the present invention.  
      While the present invention has been described at some length and with some particularity with respect to the described embodiments, it is not intended that it should be limited to any such particulars or embodiments or any particular embodiment, but it is to be construed so as to provide the broadest possible interpretation and to effectively encompass the intended scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing describes the invention in terms of embodiments foreseen by the inventor for which an enabling description was available, notwithstanding that insubstantial modifications of the invention, not presently foreseen, may nonetheless represent equivalents thereto.