Abstract:
A garment hanger includes a hook portion and first and second arms, which extend outwardly from the hook portion for supporting an article of clothing. The hook portion has a generally C-shaped portion with an open side for receiving a support bar therethrough for mounting the garment hanger on the support bar. The hook portion is adapted to releasably engage the support bar and to be retained on the support bar even when the garment hanger is subject to vibration and/or movement relative to the support bar.

Description:
[0001]    The present application claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 60/411,139, filed Sep. 16, 2002, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is generally directed to a garment hanger and, more particularly, to a garment hanger that is especially suitable for use in a vehicle, including a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home or a boat, in which the support rod or bar on which the hanger is mounted or the garment suspended on the hanger may be subjected to tilting and/or vibration.  
           [0003]    Garment hangers typically comprise a hook portion with a pair of angled arms that extend in opposite directions from the hook portion. The arms are adapted to support, for example, the shoulder portions of a garment, such as a shirt, jacket, or the like. The arms are typically interconnected at their ends by a transverse rod or bar that is adapted to support or retain, for example, trousers thereon and/or may include clips mounted thereon for supporting a skirt, pants, or the like. The hook portion is typically C-shaped with an open section for hooking onto the support bar or rod to suspend the hanger and, therefore, the respective garment from the support rod or bar. However, when such hangers are mounted on support rods or bars in vehicles, in which the support bar and/or the garment may be subjected to vibration and/or tilting due to the motion of the vehicle, the hook portion commonly becomes disengaged from the support rod allowing the garment to fall onto the floor of the vehicle; thus, permitting the garment to become wrinkled.  
           [0004]    Accordingly, there is a need for a garment hanger that will minimize disengagement of the hanger from a support bar in the event that the support bar and/or garment is subject to vibration or tilting.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Accordingly, the present invention provides a garment hanger that is adapted to engage a support bar in a manner to minimize disengagement of the hanger from the support bar in the event that the support bar or garment suspended by the hanger is subject to vibration and/or tilting or the like. Furthermore, the garment hanger is adapted to provide easy engagement with and disengagement from the support bar.  
           [0006]    In one form of the invention, the garment hanger includes a hook portion and first and second arms, which extend outwardly from the hook portion for supporting an article of clothing on the garment hanger. The hook portion has a generally C-shaped portion with an open side for receiving a support bar therein. In addition, the hook portion is adapted to releasably engage the support bar to be retained on the support bar even when the garment hanger is subject to vibration or tilting or movement relative to the support bar.  
           [0007]    In one aspect, the first and second arms are angled downwardly with respect to the hook portion.  
           [0008]    In other aspects, the hook portion and the first and second arms are formed from a wire member. For example, the wire member may have a generally uniform thickness. In addition, the wire member preferably comprises a plastic wire member.  
           [0009]    According to yet other aspects, each of the first and second arms includes a recessed portion for receiving a strap of a garment. In a further aspect, each of the first and second arms includes a raised shoulder to provide lateral support to a garment hanging on the first and second arms. Optionally, the recessed portions may be located adjacent to the raised shoulders.  
           [0010]    According to yet another form of the invention, a garment hanger includes a hook portion for engaging a support bar and first and second arms, which extend outwardly and downwardly from the hook portion. Each of the first and second arms has a support surface for hanging a garment on the first and second arms. The hook portion includes a spring for releasably engaging the support bar whereby the hanger is retained on the support bar even when the garment hanger is subject to vibration or tilting or movement relative to the support bar. In one aspect, at least one of the first and second arms includes a raised shoulder, which forms a lateral support for a garment hanging on the respective arm.  
           [0011]    Preferably, each of the first and second arms includes a raised shoulder. In a further aspect, each of the arms includes a recess for receiving a strap of a garment.  
           [0012]    According to yet another aspect, the hook portion has a generally C-shaped portion with an open side for receiving a support bar. For example, the hook portion may further include an engagement arm, which opens the open side further for receiving a support bar having a greater dimension than the dimension of the open side wherein the support bar is releasably captured in the C-shaped portion when the hook portion is mounted on the support bar. For example, the engagement bar may include a cam surface for engaging the support bar when the garment hanger is mounted on the support bar wherein the camming surface urges the open side to open further when the hook portion is urged into engagement with the support bar.  
           [0013]    Accordingly, the present invention provides a simple garment hanger that releasably engages a support bar in a manner to minimize disengagement of the hanger with the support bar in the event that the support bar or the garment suspended by the hanger is subject to vibration and/or tilting or the like.  
           [0014]    These and other objects, advantages, purposes, and features of the invention will become more apparent from the study of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is an elevation view of one side of the garment hanger of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the other side of the garment hanger of FIG. 1;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the garment hanger of FIG. 1;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the garment hanger of FIG. 1;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a right side elevation view of the garment hanger of FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is a left side elevation view of the garment hanger of FIG. 1;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is a cross-section taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 1;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is a similar view to FIG. 1 illustrating the hanger being placed on a support rod to illustrate the movement of the hook portion of the garment hanger; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 9 is an elevation view of another embodiment of a garment hanger of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]    Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral  10  generally designates a garment hanger of the present invention. Garment hanger  10  includes a hook portion  12 , which is adapted to releasably engage a support bar or rod, as will be more fully described below, and a pair of outwardly extending arms  14  and  16 . Arms  14  and  16  are angled downwardly with respect to hook portion  12  and provide support surfaces for a garment, such as the shoulder portions of a garment. In addition, arms  14  and  16  are interconnected at their distal ends by a crossbar  18 , which provides a support surface for folded trousers or other articles of clothing or the like.  
         [0025]    Hook portion  12  includes a generally C-shaped portion  20 , which includes an open side  21 , and a mounting arm  22 . Mounting arm  22  is adapted to open side  21  further to allow a support rod or bar to move into the inner portion or space  20   a  of C-shaped portion  20  and, further, return the open side to its original rested state when the support bar or rod is positioned in inner portion  20   a  of C-shaped portion to thereby releasably retain hook portion  12  on the support bar.  
         [0026]    As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, mounting arm  22  includes an angled portion  24  that provides a cam surface  25 . As will be more fully understood in reference to FIG. 8, when mounting hook portion  12  is mounted on a support rod or bar, mounting arm  22  makes initial contact with the support arm or bar B, which typically has a dimension D1 of a range of about 1 to 2 inches, for example. Preferably, C-shaped portion  20  includes an inner diameter D2 which is substantially equal to diameter D1 of support bar B. Furthermore, the distance between the lower surface of mounting arm  22  and upper surface  26  of base  27  of hook portion  12  D3 is less than the dimension D1 of support bar B. When mounting arm  22  makes initial contact with support bar B, the person placing garment hanger  10  onto support bar B applies a force generally in the direction of the arrow indicated at  28  in FIG. 2, which urges cam surface  25  to engage support bar B. Cam surface  25  translates the applied force into a lifting force to lift mounting arm  22  to thereby open open side  21  and increase the space between mounting arm  22  and upper surface  26  to increase distance D3 to permit the support bar B to pass into inner portion or space  20   a  defined by C-shaped section  20 . As a result, mounting arm  22  forms a spring. In this manner, when support bar B is positioned in space  20   a , mounting arm  22  will at least partially and more preferably substantially return to its initial rested state until an equal and opposite force is applied to garment hanger  10  to disengage hook portion  12  from the respective support bar. Preferably, garment hanger  10  is formed from a low-friction material, such as a plastic, including a high-density polyethylene or the like, or may be formed from a metal material, such as stainless steel or the like.  
         [0027]    Referring again to FIG. 1, hook portion  12  includes an inverted U-shaped base  32  that mounts hook portion  12  to arms  14  and  16 . U-shaped portion  32  provides stiffness to upper surface  26  and substantially retains upper surface  26  stationary relative to mounting arm  22  so that when hook portion is urged into engagement with support bar B, only the upper portion of the C-shaped portion deflects (see FIG. 8).  
         [0028]    In the illustrated embodiment, garment hanger  10  is formed from a wire member  34  that has a generally uniform cross-section; however, it can be appreciated that wire member  34  may have a varying cross-section to provide increased or decreased stiffness where desired. Referring to FIG. 7, wire member  34  has an elongate rounded cross-section with rounded upper and lower surfaces and generally planar sides that interconnect the upper and lower surfaces. As used herein, the reference to wire member generally refers to an elongate unitary member. Though it can be appreciated that hanger  10  may be formed from other members and may be formed by molding, such as injection molding. Also, it should be understood that hanger  10  may be formed from a composite material or a coated material, for example, two plastics 13  one providing or forming a base member, and the other forming a softer outer shell. In addition, noted above, hanger  10  may be formed from a metal wire or the like.  
         [0029]    To provide increased retention of the respective garment on garment hanger  10 , arms  14  and  16  optionally include raised shoulders  36  and  38 , which have outer surfaces  36   a  and  38   a  that are elevated a distance D4, D5 above the support surfaces  14   b ,  16   b  of support arms  14  and  16 . In this manner, when a garment is hung on the garment hanger  10 , at least portions of the garment will be retained on surfaces  14   b  and  16   b  by abutments  36   b  and  38   b  formed by the raised shoulders.  
         [0030]    In addition, support arms  14  and  16  may include U-shaped recessed portions  40  and  42  for suspending, for example, skirt loops, straps, shoulder straps, or the like. Recessed portions  40  and  42  are provided at the juncture of upper portion  14   a  and  16   a  of arms  14  and  16  and shoulders  36  and  38 . However, it can be appreciated that recessed portions  40  and  42  may be located in shoulder portions  36  or  38  or in upper portions  14   a  and  16   a  of arms  14  and  16 .  
         [0031]    Referring to FIG. 9, the numeral  110  generally designates another embodiment of the garment hanger of the present invention. Hanger  110  includes a hook portion  112  and a pair of outwardly extending arms  114 , which are of similar construction to arms  14  and  16  of the previous embodiment. Arms  114  and  116  extend outwardly from hook portion and are interconnected at their distal ends by crossbar  118  and are further interconnected at their proximal portions by a second crossbar  119 . Crossbar  118  provides a similar function to support bar  18  and provides a support surface for draped garments, such as trousers, ties, or other garments that can be folded. Crossbar  119  may also provide a support surface for ties or belts or the like and further provides reinforcement to the proximal portions of arms  114  and  116  and also to hook portion  112 .  
         [0032]    Similar to the previous embodiment, hook portion  112  is adapted to releasably engage a support bar, and is especially suited for releasably engaging a flat or plate-like support bar. Hook portion  112  includes an inverted U-shaped portion  120  that includes a first downwardly depending leg  121  and a second downwardly depending leg  122 , which is spaced from leg  121  and has a curved configuration to form a narrowed open side  123  for receiving their respective support bar. In this manner, when hook portion  112  is urged into engagement with the respective support bar, arm  122  will deflect to permit the support bar to move and pass into the inner portion or open space  124  of hook portion  112 , with arm  122  optionally generating a spring force to clamp onto the respective support bar. Where the height of the support bar is sufficient to clear the innermost surface or point  122   a  of arm  122 , arm  122  will return to its rested position to thereby releasably mount hanger  110  on the support bar, similar to the previous embodiment.  
         [0033]    Also similar to the previous embodiment, hanger  110  is formed from a wire member  134  that is bent or otherwise formed into the shape of hanger  110 . In the illustrated embodiment, wire member  134  has a circular cross-section; however, it can be appreciated that wire member  134  may have a different cross-section or a variable cross-section. In addition, similar to the previous embodiment, wire member  134  preferably comprises a relatively rigid material, such as plastic, metal, or the like.  
         [0034]    While several forms of the invention have been shown and described, other forms will now become apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims that follow as interpreted under the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.