Abstract:
A foldable coat hanger, which is constructed to be easily folded and unfolded as desired, so that the volume thereof can be reduced as desired and the space-related problem occurring in the use of the conventional hangers can be solved. Further, the size of the coat hanger can be stepwisely adjusted between a plurality of size stages, so that the size of the coat hanger can be appropriately adjusted according to the size of a garment, thus efficiently fitting garments having different sizes and efficiently hanging and protecting the garments.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates, in general, to coat hangers and, more particularly, to a foldable coat hanger configured to be folded and unfolded as desired. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Generally, a conventional coat hanger includes a shoulder-shaped frame for hanging a garment on when the garment is not in use, with a hook provided at the top of the frame to allow hanging on a hanging member, such as a hanging hook or a hanging rod, installed in a wardrobe, etc. When using the coat hanger, a garment is draped on the frame and is hung on a hanging member by the hook. However, the above-mentioned conventional coat hangers are problematic in that they have been designed to have the same width regardless of the size of garments to be hung on the hangers, so that the size of the hangers may not be appropriate for the size of the garment, thereby not allowing the garments to be efficiently hung. Further, conventional coat hangers may occupy an excessive amount of space in the wardrobe, thereby reducing space-related efficiency of the wardrobe. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended to propose a foldable coat hanger, which is configured to be folded and unfolded as desired, so that the volume thereof can be reduced as desired and efficiently fitting garments having different sizes and solving the space-related problem occurring in the use of conventional coat hangers. 
     In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foldable coat hanger including a hook unit having a hook in an upper part thereof; a housing unit with which the hook unit is assembled such that the hook unit can be moved upwards or downwards vertically; and a pair of hanging arms rotatably assembled with opposite sides of the housing unit, wherein the hook unit includes: a control gear connected to a lower end of the hook and extending in an axial direction, with a plurality of teeth formed along a side edge of the control gear in the axial direction; a rack gear connected to a lower end of the control gear and extending in the axial direction, with a plurality of teeth formed along each of opposite side edges of the rack gear in the axial directions; and an actuating unit removably caught by one of the teeth of the control gear and stopping a position of the control gear, the housing unit includes: two first pinion gears symmetrically provided in the housing unit at locations in opposite sides of the rack gear and rotatably engaging with the teeth formed along the opposite side edges of the rack gear, and the two hanging arms are rotatably fitted over respective bearing shafts provided at opposite locations inside the housing unit and extend outwards from the housing unit while being bent toward each other, with second pinion gears formed around respective ends of the two hanging arms fitted over the bearing shafts and rotatably engaging with the respective first pinion gears. 
     As described above, the foldable coat hanger according to the present invention is advantageous in that the foldable coat hanger can be easily folded and unfolded as desired, so that the volume thereof can be reduced as desired and it can be fit garments having different sizes, and solving the space-related problem occurring in the use of the conventional hangers. In addition, the foldable coat hanger according to the present invention is advantageous in that users can easily fold the foldable coat hanger at a clip by pushing a switch (an actuating unit) and unfold the foldable coat hanger by putting two hanging arms apart at the width of a garment to be hanged. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent by describing in further detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a foldable coat hanger according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view illustrating the construction of the foldable coat hanger according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged plan view illustrating the interior construction of the foldable coat hanger fabricated inside the dotted circle of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view illustrating the construction of a hook unit of the foldable coat hanger according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating the shape of an actuating unit included in the hook unit of the foldable coat hanger according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 6A through 6D  are views illustrating the operation of the foldable coat hanger according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals refer to similar elements throughout. 
     It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     It will be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” “third” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the nature of the present invention. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof. 
     Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top” may be used herein to describe one element&#39;s relationship to other elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on the “upper” side of the other elements. The exemplary term “lower” can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of “lower” and “upper,” depending upon the particular orientation of the figure. Similarly, if the device in one of the figures were turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented “above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath” can, therefore, encompass the orientations of both above and below. 
     Unless otherwise defined, the meaning of all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein is the same as that commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning which is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to cross-section illustrations which are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the present invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes which result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, a region illustrated or described as flat may, typically, have rough and/or nonlinear features. Moreover, sharp angles which are illustrated may be rounded. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a foldable coat hanger according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a plan view illustrating the construction of the foldable coat hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is an enlarged plan view illustrating the interior construction of the foldable coat hanger fabricated inside the dotted circle of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 4  is a plan view illustrating the construction of a hook unit of the foldable coat hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating the shape of an actuating unit included in the hook unit of the foldable coat hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 5 , the foldable coat hanger  10  according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a hook unit  100 , a housing unit  200  and hanging arms  400 . 
     In the embodiment of the present invention, the hook unit  100  is assembled with the housing unit  200  in such a way that they can move relative to each other, but cannot be disassembled from each other. In other words, a first end of the hook unit  100  is inserted into the housing unit  200  in such a way that the hook unit  100  can move upwards or downwards in vertical directions relative to the housing unit  200 . Further, two hanging arms  400  are rotatably assembled with the housing unit  200  in such a way that the hanging arms  400  can rotate relative to the housing unit  200 . Here, the rotating angles of the hanging arms  400  are determined by the vertical movement of the hook unit  100 . That is, when the hook unit  100  is moving upwards to a raised position, the two hanging arms  400  open such that the free ends thereof become distant from each other. On the contrary, when the hook unit  100  is moving downwards to a lowered position, the two hanging arms  400  fold such that the free ends thereof become close to each other. 
     The hook unit  100  includes a hook  110  which hangs the coat hanger  10  on a hanging member, such as a hanging hook or a hanging rod, installed in a wardrobe, etc. The hook  110  is made of metal or plastic, and has a first end which is rounded into a hook shape suitable for being hung on a hanging member and a second end that extends straight. In other word, the upper end of the hook  110  based on the vertical direction of the coat hanger  10  is shaped to have a hook shape, while the lower end of the hook  110  extends straight. Further, the lower end of the hook  110  is provided with a toothed part  130 . The toothed part  130  may be integrally formed with the hook  110  into a single structure or may be integrated with the hook  110  into a single body after being produced separately from the hook  110 . In the following description, the technical terms “upward”, “downward”, “upper” and “lower” are designated based on a state in which the coat hanger  10  is hung on a hanging member. 
     The toothed part  130  axially extends in a vertical direction, with a control gear  131  formed in the upper portion of the toothed part  130  and used for controlling the relative movement between the hook unit  100  and the housing unit  200 , and a rack gear  133  formed in the lower portion of the toothed part  130 , the rack gear  133  being used to control the rotating motion of the hanging arms  400 . The control gear  131  is formed by a plurality of teeth  131   a  which are repeatedly formed along an axial edge of a generally rectangular plate part. Each of the teeth  131   a  has an inclined edge, which is inclined relative to the axis of the control gear  131  at a predetermined angle, and a perpendicular edge, which is perpendicular to the axis of the control gear  131 . The inclined edges and the perpendicular edges of the teeth  131   a  are alternately arranged along the axial edge of the control gear  131 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the rack gear  133  is provided with a plurality of teeth  133   a  along each of opposite axial edges, that is, each of the left and right edges of the rack gear  133 . In the rack gear  133 , the numbers and shapes of the teeth  133   a  formed along the opposite axial edges are the same and are symmetric with each other. Further, the rack gear  133  is longitudinally depressed along an axial surface except for the two axial edges having the teeth  133   a , thus forming an axial depression  137 , with a first locking protrusion  138  provided in the upper end of the axial depression  137  for locking one end of a tension spring  135  which will be described later herein. The lower end of the axial depression  137  is open downwards, with a notch  133   b  cut upwards from the lower open end of the axial depression  137 . The notch  133   b  allows a second locking protrusion  213  of the housing unit  200 , which will be described later herein, to be located in the axial depression  137  after passing through it when the hook unit  100  is fully retracted into the housing unit  200 . 
     Further, a tension spring  135  which elastically biases the hook unit  100  in a downward direction is located in the axial depression  137 . Opposite ends  135   a  and  135   b  of the tension spring are locked to the first and second locking protrusions  138  and  213 , respectively. Described in detail, the upper end  135   a  of the tension spring  135  is hooked on the first locking protrusion  138  and thereby locked to the hook unit  100 , while the lower end  135   b  of the tension spring  135  is hooked on the second locking protrusion  213  and thereby locked to the housing unit  200 . During vertical movement of the hook unit  100  relative to the housing unit  200  in the above state, the tension spring  135  is extended and put under tension in response to upward movement of the hook unit  100  and is compressed in response to downward movement of the hook unit  100 . 
     Further, as shown in the drawings, a T-shaped actuating unit  150  is caught by the hook  110  of the hook unit  100 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the actuating unit  150  includes a manipulating knob  151 , which is located in a direction parallel to the extending direction of the hook  110 , and an actuating body  153  which extends in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the hook  110 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the actuating body  153  of the actuating unit  150  is housed in the housing unit  200 , while the manipulating knob  151  of the actuating unit  150  is exposed outside the housing unit  200 . Here, the actuating body  153  is provided with a through opening  153   a , which is formed through the actuating body  153 . The through opening  153   a  extends in an axial direction of the actuating body  153  within a range including the entire length of the actuating body  153 . However, one end of the actuating body  153 , which is opposed to the manipulating knob  151 , is closed, with an inclined stop surface  153   b  being defined in the closed end of the through opening  153   a . In the above state, the inclined stop surface  153   b  of the actuating unit  150  selectively catches the teeth  131   a  of the control gear  131 , thus holding the control gear  131  in a desired position. 
     Here, the actuating unit  150  reciprocates in directions perpendicular to the moving directions of the hook unit  100 . One end of the actuating body  153 , which is opposed to the manipulating knob  151 , comes into contact with a compression spring  155  which will be described later herein. Further, to allow the actuating unit  150  to reciprocate in axial directions of the actuating body  153 , the manipulating knob  151  protrudes outside the housing unit  200 , thus being biased in a direction toward the interior of the housing unit  200  (in a rightward direction of  FIG. 2 ), and the compression spring  155  elastically biases the manipulating unit  150  in an outward direction from the housing unit  200  (in a leftward direction of  FIG. 2 ). 
     As described above, the actuating unit  150  can reciprocate in directions perpendicular to the moving direction of the hook unit  100 , so that, when no external force is applied to the manipulating knob  151 , the actuating unit  150  is elastically biased by the compression spring  155  and the stop surface  153   b  of the actuating body  153  is brought into engagement with one of the teeth  131   a  of the control gear  131  and stops the hook unit  100  at a determined location. However, when an external force acts on the manipulating knob  151  and thereby the actuating unit  150  is pushed toward the interior of the housing unit  200 , the stop surface  153   b  is released from the teeth  131   a  and allows the hook unit  100  to be movable. Here, the teeth  131   a  may comprise a plurality of teeth which can stepwisely stop the hook unit  100  at a plurality of locations. For example, the hook unit  100  may comprise four teeth  131   a  so that the hook unit  100  can be controllably stopped at one of four locations. 
     Further, the housing unit  200  cooperates with a housing cover  200 ′ and defines therebetween an elliptical chamber having a predetermined height. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the housing unit  200  includes a neck  250 , which defines therein a moving chamber  255  within which both the lower end of the hook  110  and the toothed part  130  can move, and an elliptical housing body  210 , which is integrated with the neck  250  into a single structure and defines therein an elliptical chamber communicating with the moving chamber  255 . Here, the neck  250  extends from the housing body  210  in a direction of the minor axis of the elliptical housing body  210 . Further, the housing cover  200 ′ has a shape corresponding to that of the housing unit  200  so as to completely cover the open sides of both the housing body  210  and the neck  250 . 
     A part of the hook unit  100  is received in the neck  250 . In the neck  250 , the moving chamber  255  communicating with the elliptical chamber of the housing body  210  is defined in a direction parallel to the moving direction of the hook unit  100 . Both the lower end of the hook  110  and the toothed part  130  are received in the moving chamber  255 . In the upper end of the moving chamber  255 , to prevent the toothed part  130  from being undesirably removed from the moving chamber  255 , a stopper  257  having a vertical hole allowing the hook  110  to extend outwards from and retract into the moving chamber  255  is provided. In other words, the stopper  257  includes a stop depression which has a cross-section larger than that of the hook  110  and smaller than that of the upper end of the control gear  131  so that, when the hook  110  extends outwards from the moving chamber  255 , the upper end of the control gear  131  is caught by the stopper  257 , thus being stopped. 
     Further, a depressed seat  251  is formed in the outer surface of the sidewall of the neck  250  at a predetermined position in such a way that the seat  251  communicates with the interior of the neck  250 . The actuating unit  150  is inserted into the lower part of the hook  110  in a radial direction, in which the manipulating knob  151  of the actuating unit  150  can be seated in the depressed seat  251  of the neck  250  and the actuating body  153  is located inside the neck  250 . In the above state, the actuating body  153  located inside the neck  250  extends in a direction parallel to the depressed direction of the seat  251 . Further, the depressed shape of the seat  251  formed in the outer surface of the sidewall of the neck  250  corresponds to the shape of the manipulating knob  151  so that, when the actuating unit  150  is pushed into the neck  250  by an external force, the manipulating knob  151  of the actuating unit  150  can be seated in the seat  251 . Further, a spring seat  253  is formed in the inner surface of the sidewall of the neck  250  at a location diametrically opposite to the location of the seat  251  so that the spring seat  253  can face the distal end of the actuating body  153 . The compression spring  155  is seated in the spring seat  253 , in which a first end of the spring  155  is fixed in the seat  253  and a second end of the spring  155  opposed to the fixed end comes into close contact with the distal end of the actuating body  153 . Here, the compression spring  155  is arranged in such a way that the compression spring  155  can be compressed in a direction parallel to the axis of the actuating body  153 . Therefore, when the actuating unit  150  is pushed into the neck  250 , the compression spring  155  elastically biases the actuating unit  150  outwards. 
     The rack gear  133  is placed inside the elliptical camber defined in the housing body  210 . Here, the rack gear  133  is arranged in a direction parallel to the minor axis of the elliptical chamber of the housing body  210 . When the actuating unit  150  is pushed into the neck  250  and the control gear  131  moves in a vertical direction in a state in which the control gear  131  is released from the actuating unit  150 , the rack gear  133  can move in the vertical direction inside the housing body  210 . In the above state, when the uppermost tooth of the plurality of teeth  131   a  formed in the control gear  131  is caught by the actuating unit  150 , that is, when the toothed part  130  is fully moved from the neck  250  into the housing body  210 , the second locking protrusion  213  provided in the housing body  210  is aligned with the lower end of the rack gear  133 . As described above, the second locking protrusion  213  of the housing unit  200  is located in the axial depression  137  of the rack gear  133  after passing through the notch  133   b  formed in the lower end of the rack gear  133 , and the lower end  135   b  of the tension spring  135  is locked to the second locking protrusion  213 . Therefore, when the hook unit  100  moves upwards in the vertical direction relative to the housing unit  200 , the tension spring  135  is put under tension. On the contrary, when the hook unit  100  moves downwards in the vertical direction relative to the housing unit  200 , the tension spring  135  elastically returns to the original state thereof. Therefore, the elastic restoring force of the tension spring  135  generated when the hook unit  100  has moved upwards elastically biases the hook unit  100  downwards, so that the hook unit  100  can be elastically retracted into the housing unit  200 . In other words, when the control gear  131  is not engaged to the actuating unit  150 , the hook unit  100  is pulled down by the elastic restoring force of the tension spring  135 . 
     Further, the plurality of teeth  133   a  formed along the opposite edges of the rack gear  133  engage with respective first pinion gears  300 . To install the two first pinion gears  300  in the housing body  200  at respective locations, two gear shafts  214  perpendicularly protrude from the inner surface of the housing body  210  toward the housing cover  200 ′ and the two first pinion gears  300  are rotatably fitted over the respective gear shafts  214 . Here, the two gear shafts  214  are symmetrically arranged outside the toothed opposite edges of the rack gear  133 . Each of the first pinion gears  300  is provided with a plurality of teeth  300   a , which are formed around the circumferential edge of the first pinion gear  300  and engage with the teeth  133   a  of the rack gear  133 . The two first pinion gears  300  have the same shape. Therefore, when the rack gear  133  moves upwards, the two first pinion gears  300  are rotated in respective directions, in which the teeth of the gears  300  engaging with the rack gear  133  are rotated upwards and the teeth opposed to the engaging teeth are rotated downwards. On the contrary, when the rack gear  133  moves downwards, the teeth of the two first pinion gears  300  engaging with the rack gear  133  are rotated downwards and the teeth opposed to the engaging teeth are rotated upwards. 
     As described above, the two hanging arms  400  are rotatably assembled with the housing unit  200  at opposite locations on the major axis of the elliptical housing body  210 , that is, in the left and right ends of the housing body  210  of the drawings. Further, the two hanging arms  400  extend in opposite directions away from the housing unit  200  and have a specific bent shape. A depression  410  may be formed in each of the hanging arms  400  at a predetermined position. The depressions  410  of the hanging arms  400  can stably hold a garment, thereby preventing the garment from slipping down from the coat hanger when hanging the garment on the hanger. 
     Here, to rotatably hold the two hanging arms  400  in the housing body  210 , two bearing shafts  215  perpendicularly protrude from the inner surface of the housing body  210  in directions toward the housing cover  200 ′ at symmetrically opposite locations based on the rack gear  133 . The hanging arms  400  are rotatably fitted over the respective bearing shafts  215 . To realize the assembly of the hanging arms  400  and the bearing shafts  215 , the first ends of the two hanging arms  400  are provided with respective bearing holes  420 , which have a diameter corresponding to that of the bearing shafts  215  and are rotatably fitted over the respective bearing shafts  215 . The first ends of the two hanging arms  400  having the respective bearing holes  420  are shaped in the form of rounded and holed ends defining the respective bearing holes  420  therein, so that the hanging arms  400  can be easily rotated in the housing body  210  without interfering with other elements. Second pinion gears  430 , each having a plurality of teeth, are partially formed around the rounded edges of the first ends of the two hanging arms  400  and engage with the respective first pinion gears  300 . The second pinion gears  430  of the two hanging arms  400  are configured in such a way that they can engage with the respective first pinion gears  300  within predetermined rotating angles of the two hanging arms  400  relative to the housing unit  200 . In the embodiment of the present invention, when each of the hanging arms  400  are configured to be rotatable within an angular range of a maximum angle of 80 degrees, the teeth of each second pinion gear  430  are formed around a part of the circumferential edge of the first end of an associated hanging arm  400  within an angular range of at least 80 degrees around the bearing hole  420 . Therefore, when the two first pinion gears  300  are rotated in opposite directions in response to vertical movement of the rack gear  133 , the two second pinion gears  430  of the two hanging arms  400  are rotated at the same time in the same directions as those of the respective first pinion gears  300 . 
     Hereinbelow, the stepwise folding and unfolding motion of the coat hanger  10  will be described.  FIGS. 6A through 6D  are views illustrating the operation of the foldable coat hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 6A , when the coat hanger  10  is not in use, the actuating unit  150  may be actuated by a user such that the control gear  131  can be released from the actuating unit  150  and the actuating unit  150  can be caught by the uppermost tooth  131   a  of the control gear  131  by the elastic restoring force of the tension spring  135 . In the above state, the hook unit  100  can be stopped at the fully retracted position inside the housing body  210 . Further, because the rack gear  133  in the above state is moved to the lowermost position inside the housing body  210 , the first pinion gears  300  and the second pinion gears  430  are rotated at the same time in response to the linear movement of the rack gear  133 , so that the hanging arms  400  are rotated in opposite directions in such a way that the outside ends of the hanging arms  400  are put close to each other. Therefore, the two hanging arms  400  can realize a fully folded state in which the hanging arms  400  are arranged in a downward parallel arrangement. 
     Further, when the two hanging arms  400  are stepwisely rotated outwards, the actuating unit  150  is stepwisely shifted from the uppermost tooth  131   a  of the control gear  131  to lower teeth  131   a  one by one, so that the hanging arms  400  can be stepwisely opened as shown in  FIGS. 6B ,  6 C and  6 D. When the actuating unit  150  is caught by the lowermost tooth  131   a  of the control gear  131 , the two hanging arms  400  can be fully opened to a maximum angle of 160 degrees. 
     Here, to adjust the engaging position of the actuating unit  150  relative to the control gear  131 , a user can grip the hanging arms  400  with a hand and can easily widen the space between the hanging arms  400  to a desired position. In addition, to fold the hanging arms  400  and simultaneously to put the hook  110  into the housing unit  200 , a user has only to push the manipulating knob  151  of the actuating unit  150  toward the housing unit  200 . 
     As described above, the foldable coat hanger according to the embodiment of the present invention is advantageous in that, when the hanger is not in use, the two hanging arms of the coat hanger can be folded into a fully folded position and the hook can be fully retracted into the housing body, thus realizing a reduction in the volume of the coat hanger. Another advantage of the foldable coat hanger of the present invention resides in that, when the hanger is used to hang a garment, the size of the coat hanger can be stepwisely adjusted between a plurality of size stages according to the size of the garment, so that the garment can be efficiently hung and protected. 
     The present invention should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the present invention to those skilled in the art. 
     While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.