CN1198912A - Hanger color coding method and system and method for reusing a hanger with size markers - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of reusing hangers with removable size indicia includes transporting a first batch of hangers to a discrete garment fab, transporting removable size indicia to a discrete garment fab where the removable size indicia is affixed to the hangers, assembling the hangers, garments and size indicia in batches and transporting them to a retail store where the garments are displayed and sold, unloading the size indicia hangers from the sold garments in a defined percentage and then transporting the size indicia back to a reuse center, unloading the size indicia from the hanger center, inspecting the hangers to pick out reusable hangers, replenishing the selected hangers with new hangers to provide a first batch of hangers, and repeating the steps to form a reuse hanger loop.

Description

Hanger color coding method and system and method for reusing hangers with size markers

The invention relates to the field of clothes hangers, in particular to a method for reusing clothes hangers equipped with size markers. The present invention also relates to the field of display of garments in retail stores and provides methods and systems for hanging and color coding displayed garments to assist a group of customers in selecting garments that suit their body shape.

Garments typically include one or more labels present in the garment. The designation often includes the size, fibers contained, manufacturer specific information and information about the country of origin and care instructions. In addition, there are tags attached to the clothing to mark the price and size of the clothing. The label often includes additional information about the store name, processing plant and a barcode that may provide this information at the time of inspection.

Sometimes special retail stores and garment factories are also attached to the garments with labels showing the number, which are partially colored to classify according to the characteristics of the garments such as style, color or size. For example, blue on the part of the label indicates that the women's clothing size is 6, or green indicates that the women's clothing size is 8, or blue indicates that the men's clothing size is 44, or green indicates that the men's clothing size is 48. When this information is included in the label attached to the garment, the customer or retailer no longer needs to look at the label number of each garment but only choose the label of the corresponding color.

However, tags are often attached to the front, back and sleeves of the garment so that they are not easily seen by the customer or retailer. The retailer or customer must remove the garment from the shelf to find the label with the attached information. If the garments are stacked instead of hanging on the shelf (especially cardigans and chinos), the labels are often rolled on the inside of the garments to keep the exhibits simple, making it necessary to open the garments to find the corresponding information.

Additionally, there is no substantial uniformity among manufacturers and/or retailers as to markings that display desired garment characteristics. For example, blue may represent a size 6 for one factory or retailer, but a size 12 for another factory or retailer. Also, blue can mean a large size in a men's jacket and a medium size in men's slacks. Thus, customers cannot be helped by the colored markings as they enter different areas of the retail store.

In order to display the clothes hanging on the clothes hanger to customers in an orderly and vivid manner, when the clothes hanger is hung on the shelf, it is often necessary to install a sign on the clothes hanger at a position visible to the customer. The identification piece can identify some characteristics of the garment hanging on the hanger, such as size, quality, color, production data or production method.

Visual size markers on garment hangers are currently offered by retailers as accessories on garment hangers. To accommodate the variety of hanger models that exist in the industry, markers have been developed in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. Similarly, various clothes hangers have been developed to accommodate various identification pieces.

In patent AU638436 and the corresponding US5,388,354 to the applicant for whom this invention is claimed, a shallow profile plastic marker molded for a garment hanger that requires marking on the hanger hook is described. Limited modification to allow the marker to be securely attached to the hook end where most of the marker is visible. As in the US5,272,806 patent and US5,285,566 patent of the applicant of the present invention, the marker described can also be designed to select a predetermined direction so as to automatically operate and install the marker on the hanger.

These hangers and tags are generally only used once, and then shipped as waste to garbage dumps or recycling centers, where plastic hangers are crushed into pellets and resold.

But garbage dumps are taking up more and more space, and recycling often carries the high-priced risk that the cost of choice alone will not suffice, whether or not it is needed to preserve natural resources. In addition, many companies do not want to buy plastic products with recycled content due to safety (such as food containers) and aesthetic requirements.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a uniform system and method for color coding garment features so that customers and/or retailers can differentiate between different models.

The present invention provides a method and system for color coding the sizes of garments displayed in a retail apparel store that stocks multiple garment styles for multiple groups of customers so that customers can display a garment from the retail store From the style area to the area where other clothing styles are displayed, it is easy to find the clothing styles suitable for their body shape according to the same color code.

In particular, the present invention relates to a method of color coding, comprising:

(a) Divide each offered clothing model into multiple clothing styles;

(b) divide each garment style into class sizes with common size designations present in all garment styles;

(c) identification of grade sizes among the different styles of clothing chosen by the customer choosing to suit his body type;

(d) each class size designation identified in step (c) is assigned a common color code to form a matching set of class sizes that conforms to the body shape of the corresponding customer; and

(e) display each garment model hanging on a hanger with a color-coded size cover corresponding to the color of the same color code to which it belongs.

In this way, customers can go from the area displaying one clothing style to the area displaying other clothing styles in the retail store, and easily find the clothing style suitable for their body shape according to the same color code.

The method of the present invention specifically allows for color coding of sizes for individual garment styles, such as women's wear, men's wear, women's tank tops, men's tank tops, tailor-made garments, toddler and baby garments, youth garments, bodysuits.

Clothing divides individual clothing styles into size tags by tier. The grade size is obtained based on the statistics of large-scale customers. Therefore, for the clothing model whose size is determined by the waist circumference, in the logo of the grade size, the marked size is consistent with the grade size of the clothing model whose size is determined by the bust circumference. The garment conforms to the body shape of the same customer.

Common size designations include S (small), M (medium), L (large) and XL (extra large). Less popular but still commonly used are the following size designations XS (extra small), P/S (thin/small), S/M (small/medium), M/L (medium/large), XXL (extra extra large) and XXXL (Super super super large).

In some cases, more specific size marks are required, and ordinary size marks can be converted into numerical size marks such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 or 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and so on. In toddler clothing styles, size markings can be 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 18 months and 24 months.

The same color coding is assigned to each class size marking, resulting in a matching set of class sizes corresponding to the customer's specific body shape. Colors of the same color code can be selected from 16 easily distinguishable colors. The colors selected in the preferred embodiment are: lemon, pink, sea blue, red, brown, yellow, light blue, green, sky blue, purple, olive, royal blue, orange, deep purple, light green, wine red, brown , pink, gold, lavender, bronze, beige, light blue. Repeated colors in class size markings can be reused in garment styles that cannot be tried on by the same customer, such as in toddler/infant garment styles and in custom size garment styles.

For example size XXS, newborn and 3 months can be used as size markers in different clothing styles. However, all of these garments are about the same size so that they fit similarly shaped toddlers. By displaying all of the individual garment models hanging on hangers with pink size covers, it can be seen that the pink color represents that the garment is suitable for a toddler's specific body shape.

The same colors denoting e.g. small toddler clothing can also be used in other clothing styles such as women's clothing denoting small clothing i.e. XXS, size 3 and waist size 28. This allows shoppers to go from one section of the retail store to another, color-coding by size, to find garment styles that fit their particular body shape.

On the other hand, a female customer with a normal body shape can browse multiple clothing styles from different factories or designers from one area to another in the retail store, such as from slacks to suits, to jackets, to long skirts, to the bodysuit and find the right size for her specific body shape, which is identified by having the same color code for each individual clothing style in each zone. When the same customer buys clothes for someone else, he can still use the same common color coding to choose styles for someone else.

The system of the present invention color codes the sizes of clothing on display in a retail clothing store that stocks a variety of clothing styles for multiple customer groups, where each customer group is comprised of individual customers with similar body shapes, the system A uniform color-coded size code is provided to assist individual customers in selecting clothing sizes from a variety of clothing styles that fit their body shape in different sections of the retail store, the system includes:

(a) multiple clothing models for sale at independent prices, and each model belongs to one of the multiple clothing styles;

(b) a plurality of class sizes for each of said garment styles, said class sizes having a plurality of size markings common to all of said styles;

(c) the same coded group with the same coded label for the purpose of identifying class sizes in different garment styles selected by customers who choose clothing that suits their body shape;

(d) a plurality of color-coded logo covers, each color code belonging to a same code group identified in step (c) above to form a matching set of color-coded logo covers for use in Identifies the grade size consistent with the customer's specific body shape;

(e) a plurality of clothes hangers for displaying various clothing models, each hanger is equipped with a color-coded logo cover, and the color of the logo cover corresponds to the same code group to which it belongs.

Customers can thus go from one section displaying one style of clothing to another section of the retail store displaying other styles of clothing, finding a style of clothing hanging on a hanger that matches their body shape based on the color of the same logo cover.

The grade size is obtained based on large-scale customer body shape statistics, so for the clothing style whose size is determined by the waist circumference, in the grade size logo, the marked size is consistent with the grade size of the clothing style determined by the bust circumference of. Additionally, in the preferred form of the invention, a customer of average body shape can browse a plurality of clothing styles from one area to another in a retail store, such as from slacks to suits to long skirts to coats to bodysuits, And find the right size for her particular body shape, which is identified by having the same color code for each individual clothing style in each zone.

The colors used for the color-coded logo cover are selected from approximately 16 easily distinguishable colors as described above. Each color represents a size. Each color-coded logo cover in this system also visually displays a marking of the same size as described. In this way, the customer can first confirm the size of the garment hanging on the hanger by the color of the logo cover, and then verify the size according to the size mark.

For the purpose of conserving natural resources, it is desirable that the color coded logo cover be detachable from the hanger so that the hanger can be reused for different garment styles. Additionally, the system of the present invention includes means for removing the color coded logo cover from the hanger.

Preferably, the emblem cover can be automatically connected to the hanger. That is, the system of the present invention also includes automatic means for attaching the color coded logo cover to the hanger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of reusing clothes hangers with detachable size markings, wherein plastic hangers used to display garments in retail stores can be reused many times before being shipped as waste or recycled.

Specifically, the method of the present invention includes:

(a) shipping multiple first batches of hangers to garment processing factories at multiple dispersed locations;

(b) shipping a plurality of detachable size markers adapted to be detachably attached to the first batch of hangers to multiple dispersed locations of garment processing plants;

(c) fitting a said garment hanger with a detachable size marker, wherein the size marker represents the size of the garment and is preferably automatically attached to the hanger;

(d) Assembling a plurality of hangers with garments hung thereon and size markings affixed thereto, and transporting the lot to a retail store where the garments are displayed and sold;

(e) removing a defined percentage of the size-marked hangers from said sold garments and returning that percentage of the size-marked hangers to a reuse center;

(f) at a reuse center, remove the size markings from the hangers, inspect the hangers to single out multiple reusable hangers, preferably automatically remove the size markings from the hangers; and

(g) augmenting the selected hangers with freshly molded hangers to provide a first batch of hangers, and then repeating step (a) to form a loop of reusable hangers.

The method of the present invention is particularly suitable for the environmental industry to reduce plastic waste by reducing the overall amount of plastic hangers produced.

The first hangers were molded and shipped to various garment factories all over the world. In the preferred embodiment, batches of removable size markers corresponding to the hangers in the first batch of hangers are molded from plastic and shipped to individual garment factories. The batch of markers are molded in size and color to create a batch of color coded size markers in multiple different colors. In the preferred embodiment, batches of color-coded size markers are bundled into stacks and automatically mounted on hangers. For color uniformity, color-coded size markings can be molded in at a separate location. Each size mark is attached to the hanger on which the garment is hung so that the size of the garment matches the size mark.

According to the retail store's order, several sets of hangers with size marks and garments are confirmed, and then the hangers and size marks are shipped together with the garments to the retail store or the retail distribution center where the garments are displayed and sold. The garments are storefront ready, ie the garments go from the container directly to the shelf as is. This eliminates multiple warehouses for sorting, sizing and pricing. Since the garments are already on the hangers when they arrive at the retail store, the number of hangers to be stored in the retail store can be greatly reduced. It should be noted that after the hangers with the garment and size markings are shipped to the retail distribution center, the center then ships the corresponding number of models to the corresponding retail outlets.

In the method of the present invention, when the garments are sold in a retail store, the size marked hangers are removed from the garments and bundled separately for return to a reuse center. Considering that some customers also need it, they can keep a hanger at the point of sale. In addition, the hanger may be accidentally damaged, thrown away or kept by the retail store, so the number of hangers set aside for reuse is limited to its percentage. In the preferred embodiment, the defined percentage of hangers removed for reuse is 65%-90%, and it has been found that about 10%-35% of the first hangers are not recoverable.

At the reuse center, the size markers are automatically removed from the hangers and the hangers are inspected for damage or other contamination. Undamaged and uncontaminated hangers are singled out for reuse. It can be seen that about 10%-30% of the return hangers are non-recoverable, that is, in the preferred embodiment, the number of hangers picked out for reuse is about 50 of the first batch of regionally molded and sent to garment processing plants. %-80%. In a preferred embodiment, unselected hangers for reuse are ground into pellets and recycled or sold as waste plastic. In the preferred embodiment the recovered plastic is ground up, fed into a hopper and melted in a barrel extruder to form molten plastic which is then injected into a molding machine to form recycled retail plastic for consumer use Hangers, the customer grade hangers are returned to the retail store for sale.

The reused hangers are picked out and returned to the garment factory to repeat the process with the newly molded hangers. Statistical averages indicate that the hanger can complete 2-6 reuse cycles before being considered non-recoverable. In particular, hangers are washed before being returned to garment processing factories for reuse.

Since less than 100% of the hangers are reused, it is necessary to maintain the supply with newly molded hangers added to the reusable hangers, which ensures a constant and sufficient supply. In a preferred embodiment, the expanded supply of selected hangers is about 20%-50% of the number of hangers in the first batch. However, the number of overall molded hangers is less than that of molded hangers without reusing the hangers.

In another embodiment of the invention the re-use of color-coded markings is contemplated. The invention also includes the step of sorting the size markings removed from the hanger according to color. If different size designations are used for the same color-coded size marking, a second sort must be done by size. The sorted size marks are bundled and shipped to garment processing factories where they are assembled on hangers. In a preferred embodiment, the method further includes the step of cleaning the color coded size markings.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will now be made more apparent by describing in detail the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a coat hanger hook with color coded size caps functional in an application of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view along 2-2' section line among Fig. 1, and this figure shows the internal structure of clothes hanger and hook combination among Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an illustration of multiple grade sizes assigning the same color code to various sub-levels, based on a large scale customer body shape;

Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a common set of dimension notations for multiple sub-level class dimensions in the present invention;

Figure 5 is a diagram of a family of garment styles commonly used in retail clothing stores to uniformly display clothing styles for sale and to display the color-coded hanger designs of the present invention;

Figure 6(a), 6(b), 6(c) are three figures that, when combined together, illustrate a representative example of a color-coded chart of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the apparatus functioning in the automatic assembly of the color coded sign cover and hanger of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the combination device of the color-coded sign cover and hanger shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the apparatus for removing the color-coded logo cover from the hanger to allow the hanger to be reused;

Figures 10(a), 10(b) and 10(c) are a series of illustrations of the operation of the device of Figure 9 when the color-coded logo cover and hanger are not assembled;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a method for realizing the reuse of a clothes hanger with size markings.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, and to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a hook 2 with a color-coded size mask 18 which serves a substantial role in an embodiment of the invention. The hook 2 of the molded plastic hanger is of simple shape, suitable for mounting on a pole or other support. In use, the hook typically includes ribs 12a and 12b extending around the perimeter of the hook. It should also be noted in Figures 1 and 2 that the main body and clips of the hanger are not shown. The structure of the main body of the hanger and the clips can take many different types of configurations so long as the hanger is capable of supporting the garments hung thereon. A number of typical hanger types that may fit various types of garments are shown in FIG. 5 . Each hanger shown in FIG. 5 includes a mechanism for attaching color-coded size caps 18 .

The color coded size masks 18 attached to the hangers are more clearly illustrated in FIG. 2 . As shown, the size cover includes side walls 20, 22 and at least one retention hole 24, 26, as described in AU638436 patent and US5388354 patent, the present invention refers to the content corresponding to the present invention. Apertures 24 and 26 are through holes which facilitate marker 18 to overlap with other markers already mounted on the hanger. The marker is fixed on the hook through the marker connecting device. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hook 2 is formed with a flange 14 to define a top region 16 which in the preferred embodiment is flat and has a circumference slightly greater than the lowermost end of the marker 18 . The protruding web 4 extends centrally from the top region 16 of the hook 2 . The web 4 may be shaped like a cavity similar to the marker 18 to fit into the cavity. Alternatively, the web 4 can also be shaped to conform to the standard contour of the hook.

The web 4 is integrally molded with the marker attachment means 28 . In this embodiment, the marker attachment means comprises a central hole 6 and a resilient detent arm 8 extending downward from the upper portion of the hole 6 and terminating at a transverse projection 30, the configuration of which projection 30 is It corresponds to a hole 24 or 26 on the side wall of the marker 18, as shown in FIG. 2 .

Because the detent arm 8 is narrow and elastically connected to the web 4, it is easy to spring back the detent arm 8 laterally by inserting a cross pin or bolt in the hole 24 or 26, thereby allowing the hole 24 or 26 to pass through and the logo The device is removed from the web 4. This operation can be accomplished simply and quickly with little or no damage to the marker 18 or the connection means 28 . When the lateral projection 30 remains in the position shown in FIG. 2, the marker will be tightly secured to the web 4, which saves the usual manual work to make the hook suitable for day-to-day use.

In order to enhance the elasticity of the bayonet arm, the thickness at 200 in FIG. 2 can be reduced.

Other devices for connecting the marker to the hook can also be used, such as the device described in the US5388354 patent, wherein the marker can also be mounted on the hook by at least one support protruding outward from the hook, and the support is connected to the side of the marker. The holes in the wall engage. However, when the marker is caught by the standoff, the marker is not easily removed from the hook, and either the hook or the marker may be damaged during operation.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the size shield, such as that shown in Figures 1 and 3, is rectangular and fits on top of the hook. However, other shapes and configurations are also possible for the size caps according to the invention.

The method and system of use of the marker 18 in the preferred embodiment has been clearly recognized by retailers and customers, but its use in the present invention is still applicable.

In the method and system, individual garments are categorized according to their styles, such as men's clothing, women's clothing, toddler and baby clothing, youth clothing, girls' clothing, boys' clothing, tights, men's tank tops, women's tank tops, light garments and Accessory clothing. Each style of clothing is also classified according to the type of clothing. Further categories such as women's clothing include dresses, blouses, blouses, skirts, slacks, suits, cardigans, coats, jackets, trousers, bras and bathrobes.

Each style of clothing can be divided into multiple class sizes and common size designations that are reflected in all styles of clothing. Common size labels can include XXL (extra small), XS (extra small), P/S (thin/small), S (small), S/M (small/medium), M (medium), M/L ( Medium/Large), L (Large), L/XL (Large/Extra Large), XL (Extra Large), XXL (Extra Extra Large), XXXL (Extra Extra Extra Large). Among these size labels, S, M, L and XL are almost universal. Each of these common size labels designs the garment to tend to fit the particular body shape of the customer.

In some typical cases, when more clothing is sold, more special size labels are required, which are referenced by numbers such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18 and 20; 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13; or 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, and 15/16, which are reflected in multiple of clothing styles.

Specific class sizes in different clothing styles are selected by customers who choose clothing to match their specific body shape, and then identified, color coding is assigned to each class size label to form a matching set of class sizes suitable for the customer's specific body shape. The garments are hung on hangers with color coded size caps so that the size caps are of the same color as the color code to which they belong.

For example, in the color coding system shown in Figure 3, blue represents 7 different size designations: L, M/L, 24M, 9, 9/10, 24W and 38. Blue represents plus-size garments, as indicated by the matching sizes in this system. In women's clothing, the sizes applied to different clothing styles are typically L or M/L and 9 or 9/10 to indicate clothing that fits a particular woman's body shape. The lady of this figure can know her own figure by using the method and system of color coding in the present invention, find the clothes that hang on the hook that has blue size cover, thereby find the clothes that match with her figure.

In toddler clothing, this size is typically large or 24 months, both of which identify clothing that fits a particular body shape of a toddler. This way the customer can look for the garment hanging on the hanger with the blue size cover to find the corresponding garment.

It should be noted that the same color used to represent plus-size clothing in women's clothing styles is also used to represent large-size clothing in toddler clothing styles. The system can be applied to garments whose size is determined by the waist circumference. For example, blue indicates a waist circumference of No. 38, and it can also indicate a No. 24W in a special-size garment, where the special-size garment styles range from No. 16W to No. 26W. The system allows shoppers to go from one cabinet of a retail store to another to find the clothing styles that best fit the customer's body shape based on color-coding of sizes. In addition, the same customer may purchase clothing for another person even though only the general shape of that person is known.

Fig. 4 shows a set of common size labels in the present invention, which shows a plurality of sub-level grade sizes, wherein:

Lemon color represents XXL

Purple represents XL or L/XL

Blue stands for L or M/L

green for M

yellow for S

Pink stands for XXS and different colors represent each class size in the size uniform system. Note that purple and blue represent two sizes. This is possible because a single garment factory cannot typically have two sizes for the same garment model. However, there are two sizes that can be found in a single category of clothing. By using a single color to identify all garments that fit a buyer's particular size, shoppers can easily know when selecting garments to look for size caps in that color.

Figure 5 shows a set of hanger designs that can be commonly used in retailer's clothing cabinets to uniformly display the clothing styles for sale and to display the color coding in the present invention. Hooks 300, 302 and 304 are typically used to hang tops such as shirts, blouses, dresses, coats, jackets, bathrobes, pajamas, overalls, overalls, swimwear and cardigans. Hanger 300 is 12 inches long and can be used to hang toddler and baby tops, hanger 304 is 17 inches long and can be used to hang adult tops, and hangers 306, 308, and 310 are especially useful for hanging bottoms, such as slacks, overalls, and skirts , hanger 306 is 8 inches long and can be used to hang toddler and baby bottoms, hanger 308 is 10 inches long and can be used to hang children's bottoms, and hanger 310 is 12 inches long and can be used to hang adult bottoms. Hanger 312 can be used to hang bras, panties, swimming trunks and bathrobes. The hook body about 10 inches long can be adjusted relative to many different sizes. Clothes hanger 314 is a wooden clothes hanger, which can be used to hang infants and infants' matching clothes and unmatched clothes. The varying lengths of the hangers 300-310 are adapted to the characteristics of all different garment styles from infants to custom sizes.

Each hanger includes marker attachment means as previously described to display the described color coded size caps located on top of the hooks. Retail stores in particular use many different hanger designs depending on the style and make of the garment. Limiting the number of hangers used throughout the store to 8 different designs is an exercise that greatly reduces costs and also standardizes the exhibits and gives them a cleaner look. However, it should also be noted that the eight designs in Figure 5 constitute the preferred embodiment of the invention. Any garment hanger with marker attachment means adapted to receive color-coded size covers may be used with the methods and systems of the present invention.

Figures 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) show a typical example of a color-coded chart of the present invention that can be adapted to various clothing styles and sizes required in a large retail store counter.

Columns A-G shown on the far left of Figure 6(a) have multiple size classes that can be used for multiple garment styles, denoted as Universal, Tall/Multiple, Toddler or Infant, Metric, Multi-Size, Special Size and waist measurement. It should be noted that there may be more than one size classification in a single style. For example, in women's clothing, garments may be marked with universal size (column A), metric size (column D) (typical, odd, even, or multiple sizes), specific size (column F) or waist size (column G).

To the right of each class mark in each column is a series of size designations corresponding to each class class. Size markings are based on statistics of the body shape of a wide range of customers. Therefore, in the identification process of determining the grade size of the clothing style by the waist size, the size identification is consistent with the grade size of the clothing style determined by the bust size, or consistent with the general size of the same customer's body shape.

Among the different clothing styles selected by the customer to fit a particular body shape, specific class sizes are published in columns, marked with a color in each column. Each color represents a particular size for a customer's specific body shape. Color coded size masks are mounted on the hangers on which the garments are hung (such as any of the hangers described in Figure 5) and can be used to identify which garments have been selected as matching class sizes consistent with a customer's particular body shape.

There are about 16 different colors to discern in all the different sizes. Columns 1-20 in Figure 6 disclose a family of colors including: lemon (Pantone 101U), pink (Pantone 189U), sea blue (Pantone326U), red (Pantone 192U), brown (Pantone 145U), yellow (Pantone 121U), light blue (Pantone 306U), Green (Pantone 340U), Sky Blue (Pantone 2975U), Light Purple (Pantone 2715U), Olive (Pantone 398U), Blue (Pantone 285U), Orange (Pantone 165U), Deep Purple (Pantone 2593U), Light Green (Pantone 375U) and Dark Red (Pantone 246U). Colors may be repeated in different garment styles where sizes do not overlap but still typically represent a large, small or medium size.

As in this example it should be noted that yellow, sea blue, brown and sky blue have been used more than once in representing body shapes. For example, using Ocean Blue (columns 3 and 18), size 2 and waist size 29 represent one body shape, while XXXL, 15 and 15/16 represent completely separate customer shapes. Garment styles represented by a single size between the two size groups will not overlap. Size 4T is also indicated in navy blue, this size does not overlap with the other two sets of sizes, it allows for repeated use in baby clothing styles. It should also be noted that size 4T is one of the largest baby clothing sizes, which brings the application of color to the styles of the larger size numbers. In non-overlapping styles of clothing, when a color is used to represent multiple sizes, that color will not be the color used to represent one of the common sizes such as S, M or L.

However, a particular color is only applied once to make it denote a specific body shape. More than 70% of all size covers will be attributed to the color representing one-fifth of the body shape to fit the common sizes XS, S, M, L and XL, with the column number indicating the corresponding size class. In order to improve the visibility of the most common size size mask, the size mask is designed in the brightest and most basic colors, respectively - red, yellow, green, blue, purple.

For example blue in this embodiment indicates a large size, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 3 . Yellow indicates a small size, which corresponds to women's body shapes of S, 5, 5/6 and a waist circumference of 32. Clothing logos with these sizes are suitable for women with certain body shapes, sizes S and 12M are also suitable for toddlers with certain body shapes, and sizes 20W are considered small tailor-made clothing. Therefore, having a yellow size cap on the hanger that hangs each garment of that size allows the customer to find the appropriate variation from multiple garment styles and multiple finished products that fit a particular body shape identified as a small size. costumes. In this way, customers can browse multiple clothing styles from slacks to suits to jackets to maxi skirts to bodysuits from counter to counter and find the right size for the customer's specific body shape. Customers can even identify colors that represent a particular size profile in other apparel styles, such as toddler clothing or menswear.

Having color-coded size caps on the top of each hanger helps shoppers find all garments indicated as being suitable for a particular body shape, whether in universal or metric sizes, from a variety of garment styles at many different counters size. It also helps in assisting the customer's salesperson to find a specific garment at the counter or in store stock where various additional garments are stocked, helps in replenishing a certain rack of garments, confirms that a certain rack fits a garment of that size or at the end of the day Then check a certain rack of clothing against the size.

In the preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention, the color coded size masks and garments are preferably assembled at the manufacturing site and then shipped on hangers to the retail store. That is, the actual assembly of color-coded size masks and the style of the garment replaces the form of shipment of the garment previously produced from the factory. When garments arrive at retail stores and counters, pre-hanged, color-coded sizes are simply unpacked from bins and hung on racks. Most of the typical retail store warehouse can be omitted, which greatly reduces the cost of manufacturing the system of the present invention. In an embodiment of the invention, the assembly of the color coded size mask and hanger is performed automatically when the garment is hung. Although the assembly may also be manual.

One method of automatically attaching color-coded size caps to hangers is shown in Figures 2 and 8 and described in more detail in US5,272,806; US5,285,566 and US5,507,087, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference There are correspondences everywhere. It should be noted that the patent rights of each patent belong to the applicant of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment of the system for attaching markers to clothes hangers, the assembly includes a pair of storage tanks 101 and 102 spaced apart to accommodate a set of vertical clothes hangers therebetween, a third The hopper 108 is used to receive a bundle of overlapping sign covers. The hangers rest on the platform 104 and are selectively mounted by a reciprocating plate 105 which includes a notch 105a which conforms to the outer dimensions of the marker code cover 18 .

Immediately adjacent to the notch 105a is an alignment cam 109, and the ends 111a and 111b of the reciprocating plate 105 are provided with spring-loaded blades to which the hanger 11 is mounted. In addition, hoppers 101 and 102 are independently adjustable via stand 110 and support 112 so that the system can be configured to accommodate width variations including the coat hanger type shown in FIG. 5 . Each hopper 101, 102 and 108 has a notch 101a, 102a and a marker to allow the passage of a clothes hanger. The marker is removed from the hopper when the plate 105 reciprocates forward as shown. Stand legs 113-115 are used to elevate the system above the workbench to assist the operator in hanging items of clothing on the hangers before they exit the system. Additionally, the individual legs are interchangeable in length to provide a slanted configuration to facilitate hanging garments on the hanger.

A bundle of overlapping covers is added to the system at 18, as shown in FIG. The hopper 108 is suspended above the reciprocating plate 105 and platform 104 by brackets 116,117. The spring-loaded blades 111a, 111b of the reciprocating plate 105 are fully expanded before the hanger 11 is installed. When the plate 105 is moved forward or backward as shown in FIG. 8, it first installs a logo cover in the recess 105a at the overlapping cover. The alignment surface 109 surrounds the hook 2 in the reciprocating plate 105 so that the marker mounting means on the hook is properly aligned with the marker cover 18 during installation. The plate 105 is positioned so that the logo cover is mounted on the hook 2 by pressing the plate 105, with the floating spring loaded blades 111a, 111b seated in the central part of the hanger 11. The hangers are then forwarded out of the hoppers 101, 102 to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG.

The hanger is fitted with deflection stoppers 106a, 106b, offset beyond the end of platform 106, as shown in FIG. The spring-loaded blades 111a and 111b compensate for irregularities in the hanger's forming and reduce compression of the reciprocating plate 105 against the middle of the hanger. This greatly eliminates the breakage and crumbling of hangers that is common in units of this model. When the pneumatic cylinder 103 drives the plate 104 , the spring-loaded blades 111 a , 111 b are squeezed, and the spring-loaded table 107 is placed between the platform 104 and the platform 107 . As shown in Figure 8, the hangers are delivered to the operator by clips 32a-32b above the workspace and disengaged from any adjacent obstructions so that the operator can quickly and easily access the garments there. When the garment is placed on the hanger, it is lifted out of the resilient blades 111a, 111b of the plate 105, which is close to the platform 107, and the drive system controls the mechanism to return the reciprocating plate 105 to its original starting position . If an automatic device is provided, when the plate 105 reciprocates to its maximum position, it automatically reciprocates forwards to automatically assign another index code cover and hanger.

In another embodiment, a system for color-coding sizes of garments displayed in a retail clothing store includes automatic means for moving color-coded logo covers onto hangers.

Figures 9 and 10(a), (b) and (c) show such a dismounting device in which the marker mounting means is the embodiment described in Figures 1 and 2 . The laterally extending portion 30 of the marker mounting device is easily snapped back by inserting a pin 220 in the hole 24 of the marker 18, which deflects the laterally extending portion to the plane of the web 4 so that the hole 24 Through and the marker 18 is separated from the hanger 1 . The system is described in more detail in International Application No. PCT/US96/01286, the content of which is hereby referred to, by which color coded logo covers can be automatically disengaged from the respective hangers 1 .

In this embodiment, the clothes hanger 1 is fed through the feed rail 205 to the device for moving the color-coded logo cover. The feed rail is inclined so that the hanger 1 can move down onto the device due to gravity. To start the process, the hanger 1 can be placed on the feed rail 205 manually or automatically. Another means of conveying the hanger 1 onto the device comprises a screw conveying device, a conveyor belt conveying device or any other suitable means of delivering the hanger 1 onto the device.

The device in the present invention includes a front board 206 , a rear board 207 and a driving device 208 . The front plate 206 and the rear plate 207 are vertically assembled and face each other. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the two plates 206 and 207 are almost square, but of course any other suitable shape, such as a rectangle, can also be used. The actuator 208 includes an air actuated brake valve with two rods. Each rod is connected to a plate 206 or 207 by means of a respective connection 209 and 210 . In application, the drive means 208 moves the mutually parallel front plate 206 and rear plate 207 between vertical planes. This cycle of motion is repeated to allow the cover to go from hanger to hanger.

The rear panel 207 has a notch 219 on the outer portion of the surface facing the front panel 206 . The size of the notch 219 corresponds to the size of the marker 18 so that the marker is received at the notch 219 when the hanger 1 is pressed against the back plate 207 . A pin 220 is arranged on the rear wall of the recess 219, and its position corresponds to the hole 24 of the marker 18. The size of the pin 220 such as size and shape can be selected according to the size of the hole 24, especially its shape and depth. , so that the pin bolt 220 enters the hole 24 and the lateral protrusion 30 of the web 4 in the clothes hanger 1 can be offset to pass through the hole 24, and the marker 18 can also be disengaged from the clothes hanger. In the preferred embodiment in FIG. 9 , the cross section of the pin 220 is rectangular, but other suitable shapes can also be adopted.

The front panel 206 includes a through hole or window 218 , the size of the opening of which preferably corresponds to the configuration of the recess 219 of the rear panel 207 . However, window 218 may have any suitable shape so long as a marker can pass through it. When the rear panel 207 is on top and the front panel 206 is on the bottom, the notch 219 and the window 218 overlap so that the marker 18 can pass through the window 218 from the notch.

In the depicted embodiment, the method of moving marker 18 from recess 219 is by means of air compression through a hole 221 in the rear wall of recess 219 . The hole 221 is connected to the air control device through a tube 227, as shown in Fig. 10(c). The air compression device passing through the opening 221 is controlled so that when the rear plate 207 reaches the upper position and the front plate 206 is in the lower position, the air compression device generates power or activates, that is, pushes the marker 18 through the window of the front plate 206 218. Released markers pass through window 218 and are collected by output tube or chute 224, positioned in front of window 218 and directing the released markers to container 225 (shown in Figures 10(a) and 10(c)).

The feed rail 205 extends under the two plates 206 and 207, and when the plates are in their lower positions, the spacing between the plates 206 and 207 and the feed rail 205 is preferably such that the pins 220 of the back plate 207 are in contact with the markers. 18, the height of the combination is adjustable to provide automation for different types of hangers and hooks.

As shown in Figure 9, the rear panel 207 is in its lower position and the front panel 206 is in its upper position. When the clothes hanger 1 moved down to the cover stripping device along the feeding rail 205, the movement of the clothes hanger 1 was stopped by the back plate 207.

Figures 10(a), 10(b) and 10(c) illustrate the sequence of operations for automatic removal of color coded logo covers from hangers according to the present invention.

Specifically, Figure 10(a) shows the starting point of a cycle for moving color-coded logo covers from a plurality of hangers. As shown, note that the rear panel 207 is lowered to its lowest position, and a plurality of hangers are lined up in front of the stripping device on the feeding rail 205 to transport the logo covers one by one.

The front plate 206 rises but only until it no longer covers the notch 219 . On the other hand, the amplitude of movement of the plates 206 and 207 is at least the height of the notch so that the marker 18 can be received in the notch.

Gravity pushes the frontmost hanger and marker into the notch 219 of the back panel 207 . When the marker 18 enters the notch 219 of the rear plate 207, the front plate 206 is moved downwards to securely mount the marker 18 or at least securely capture the marker in the notch 219 of the rear plate 207. In this position, the pin 220 of the rear plate 207 deflects the laterally extending portion 30 of the hanger 1 to allow the marker 18 to be disengaged from the hanger 1 . The pin 220 is long enough so that the laterally offset portion is sufficiently offset from the notch 24 of the marker 18 , but not so long that the laterally offset portion enters the hole 6 of the hook 2 .

Figure 10(b) shows the half-cycle process of the marker 18 disengaging from the hanger 1 when the front and rear panels 206 and 207 are in their lower positions. After the pin 220 releases the marker mounting device, the front plate 206 is lowered to separate the released marker and hanger 1 from the other hangers and place the frontmost hanger 1 . To assist in separating the frontmost hanger and released marker from the other hangers, the bottom edge 246 of the front panel 206 clamps the hanger 1 by abutting against the edge of the top 16 of the hanger 1 hook. As shown in FIGS. 10( a )-10( c ), the bottom edge 246 of the front panel 206 is inclined toward the rear panel 207 . In addition, the bottom edge 246 can be stepped.

Figure 10(c) shows the end of the cycle, wherein the pin 220 deflects the laterally extending portion 30 from the marker 18 so that when the back plate 207 moves up to its upper position, the marker can be removed from the hanger 1. out of the way, with the front panel 206 staying in its lower position. Because the pin 220 of the rear plate 207 extends into the hole 24 of the marker 18, the rear plate 207 drives the marker 18 to move upward. The front plate 206 is fitted with the hanger 1 and also prevents the hanger 1 from being driven upwards.

Therefore, the pin 220 has two functions: to make the laterally extending part 30 on the clothes hanger 1 deflect to release the marker 18 ;

Marker 18 is moved from notch 219, preferably by air compression through aperture 221 in back plate 207, as previously indicated. The compressed air pushes the marker 18 through the window 218 of the front panel 206 . The released markers 18 pass through the window 218 of the front plate 206 and are collected by the delivery tube, which is located in front of the window 218 and guides the released markers to the container 225 .

When the marker 18 is detached from the hanger 1 and after the rear plate 207 moves upward, the hanger 1 continues to slide down along the feeding rail 205 . As shown in FIG. 10( c ), the clothes hanger 1 with the web 4 moves downward along the feeding rail 205 after the cover is removed. The clothes hanger after taking off the cover is manually or automatically collected from here, as by screw conveyor, it can collect the clothes hanger after taking off the cover from a plurality of delivery rails 205 places outside the cover taking off device respectively.

As shown in Figures 9 and 10 (a), the automatic way for moving the marker from the hanger is air-driven, and also includes a position control device 211, an air control device 214, a first timer 216, a second timer 217 and Air valve 237. Air valve 237 activates and/or controls the compressed air through which the stripping device of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is controlled and actuated.

For pneumatic control, the air valve 237, the timers 216 and 217, the driving device 208, the air control device 240 and the position control device 211 are respectively connected by air pipes. And all devices are restrained and fixed on restraints (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 10( a ), the position control device 211 includes a first detector 212 for determining the position of the front plate 206 , and a second detector 213 for determining the position of the rear plate 207 . The first detector 212 and the second detector 213 operate by air pressure and have a similar structure. Each of the first and second detectors 212 and 213 generally includes a respective column tube as shown in illustrations 244 and 245 and a respective piston 222 and 223, which are both shown in the column tubes 244 and 246. Movable. The outer ends of the pistons 222 and 223 have contact plates that come into contact with the upper sides of the front plate 206 and the rear plate 207, respectively.

In the upper position, the front plate 206 and the rear plate 207 respectively press the pistons 222 and 223 inwardly, forming an air pressure signal in the position controller 211, so that the movement and position of the plates 206 and 207 are stably controlled. FIG. 10( a ) shows a cross-section of the controller 211 and the boards 206 and 207 , where the boards 206 and 207 are in the same position as in FIG. 9 . In addition, the delivery tube 224 and the collector 225 for releasing the marker 18 are also shown in the figure.

Figure 10(c) shows a side view of the air controller 214 and the hollow plates 206 and 207. The air controller 214 includes a third detector 215 for determining the position of the rear plate 207 . The third detector 215 contains a column tube 249 and a piston 226, which generally have the same shape and function as the first and second detectors 212 and 213 as previously described. In FIG. 10(c), the rear plate 207 In its high position, the front panel 206 is in a lower position. The rear plate is released and moves the marker 18 upwards from the hanger 1, touches the contact plate 226 of the position detector 215 and moves the contact plate 226 and its piston into the column tube of the detector 215. This creates an air signal in the air controller 214 which causes the compressible air in the tube 227 to be connected to the opening 221 of the back plate 207 via a suitable connector 228 . Compressed air extrudes the released marker 18 through opening 221 through window 218 of front plate 206 into delivery tube 224 . Arrows in FIG. 10( c ) indicate the direction of movement of the marker 18 .

In operation, the rear plate 207 moves down to its lower position, which action is accompanied by the front plate 206 moving up to its high position. The entire cyclical movement is repeated periodically so that multiple hangers 1 can be easily and safely unhooded in an automated process. Because one of the plates 206 and 207 is always at a lower position, there are always many clothes hangers 1 positioned at the delivery rail 205 waiting to be stripped one by one, as shown in Figures 10(a)-10(c).

The drive unit 208 controls the movement of the two plates 206 and 207 so that the front plate 206 cannot move upwards when the rear plate 207 is not in its lower position, and the rear plate 207 cannot move upwards when the front plate 206 is not in its lower position . This guarantees that the hanger that has been stripped off can not slide along the feed rail 205 under the plates 206 and 207 when it is not stripped off.

A first timer 216 controls a regular cycle of movement of the two plates 206 and 207, and likewise a second timer 217 allows repeated downward movement of the front plate 206. For example, if the hook of the hanger 1 is bent or damaged or the marker is bent or damaged, the front plate 206 will not allow to slide down and squeeze or jam the marker 18 in the notch 219 because the bottom edge of the front plate touches the marker The upper side of the tool 18 and thus is stuck during its downward movement. Thus, the timer 217 gives a signal to the drive means 208 to raise the front plate 206 again and move it down again. This process will repeat until the marker 18 is just received by the notch 219 of the rear plate 207 and the front plate 206 can move freely to its lower position. This problem can be partially avoided by providing appropriate angles and bends on the bottom edge of the front panel 206 .

Although the system of Figures 9 and 10 shows only one type of hanger shown in Figure 5, it is believed that any other hanger, including the type shown in Figure 5, is suitable.

As shown in Fig. 11, a reusable method with a detachably attached size marking hanger is shown in a flow chart. The clothes hanger manufacturing center 401 molds the clothes hangers and transports the clothes hangers to a plurality of local garment processing factories 405 through the distribution channel 403 . Figure 11 shows a single group of garment processing factories 405. It should also be noted that in practical applications, hundreds of garment processing factories will provide clothing to any large retail store.

Simultaneously, a plurality of detachable size markers are molded at 407 and bundled size markers 413 are transported to the same garment processing plant 405 via distribution channels 409 .

Individual hangers 411 and individual logo covers in a bundle 413 are hand-assembled locally with garments at any one of a number of garment factories using US garment equipment. The size indicium represents at least one garment characteristic and is preferably represented as a size designation of the garment in the country where the retail store to which the garment is shipped is local. A plurality of hangers, garments and size marks are bundled together as shown at 415, and the batch is then shipped to a retail store 419 or a regional distribution center 417 consisting of a chain of retail stores 419.

The regional distribution center 417 provides a sufficient supply of garments on hangers 421 to various retail outlets 419 distributed locally for sale to customers. At the point of sale in the retail store 419, the garments are then unloaded from the hangers and the hangers 411 are returned to the regional distribution center 417. Hangers are best shipped to distribution centers with plastic covers in removable standard rack containers. When returning all hangers to the regional distribution center 417, it should be noted that in practice, 10-25% of the hangers 421 with garments on them are transported from the distribution center to the retail store, instead of returning Garment sold together to customer or damaged or lost in use.

At the regional distribution center 417, the hangers are bundled and sent to a recycling center 433, still preferably shipped in detachable coded rack containers, where the detachable size markers are Type check and store hangers, then wash.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the size markers are automatically removed as previously described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 .

At the recycling center 423, it was found that 10-30% of the returned hangers were no longer suitable for reuse due to excessive wear, breakage, warping, resin tags and other debris that could not be easily removed.

Clothes hangers and sign covers that have not passed the inspection are returned to 427 as shown in the figure through the distribution channel 425, and the defective clothes hangers and sign covers are ground or crushed. The hangers are also separated at 427 to sort the hangers according to the material from which they are molded, polypropylene and polypropylene being the two starting materials from which the hangers are molded. The ground polypropylene material is used to mold a hanger for sale which can be returned through the distribution channel 431 sold to the customer. Material not suitable for remolding is sold as scrap at 433 .

At the recycling center 423, 30-50% of the hangers that entered the recycling loop regionally at 403 were found to be potentially redistributed. Clothes hangers 411 without any size marks are sent to the clothing supplier 405 as part of the order executor at the supply line 435 . The supply of hangers at 435 is increased by the new molded hangers at 403, and the recycled and newly added hangers are combined 437 and returned to the garment supplier 405, as shown in FIG. Each hanger will go through the loop 2-6 times before becoming unrecoverable. The hangers shipped from the recycling center 423 as reused can be shipped to US or foreign garment processing plants. However, because only 50-80% of the original molded hangers will be reused, the supply is only sufficient for near-regional needs, such as US garment processing plants. When dealing with garment factories abroad, international shipping costs for molded parts vs. international shipping must be considered. However, higher shipping costs are often beneficial to meet the needs of specific foreign customers.

Simultaneously, a new batch of detachable size marks are molded at 407 and transported to garment processing factory 405 via channel 409 to assemble with hangers coming from production line 437.

At this time, it has been found that the amount of labor and material handling required to sort the removable size markers at the recycling center 423 is more expensive than remolding the removable size markers at 407 . Not only are the removable size markers molded in multiple colors, but each color can represent up to ten different sizes as previously described. In addition to sorting, the detachable size markings must be inspected and then reloaded at the garment processing plant 405 into storage bins or multiple overlapping covers suitable for automatic assembly with hangers. Subsequently, in a standard part of the process, the removable size markings are ground at 427 and picked out at 433 before being returned to the garment factory for reuse.

Currently, the garments sold in the retail store 419 are mainly foreign processing factories such as China, Thailand, India, Ceylon, Turkey and Near East countries. These foreign processing plants indicate at 441 that they provide substantially the same functions as the domestic processing plants at 405. Because each such entity produces a garment, then assembles the hanger 411, binds a logo cover in the complete set 413 and the garment arrangement in the automated production to form a finished product that is ready to be displayed in the retail store 419 G.O.H (hanging clothing on hangers). The G.O.H garments are then bundled in stacks at 443 and then delivered to the regional distribution center 417 by international transport, generally in intermodal or air freight containers.

Molding hangers abroad at 445 and shipping hangers 411 to a regional hanger distribution center 447 is less expensive than molding and shipping hangers from a US processing plant 401 when molding a substantial number of hangers. The regional hanger distribution center 447 may be located in an isolated area such as Hong Kong, India or Turkey and may be a cluster of processing plants within a few hundred miles of the regional distribution center.

Stacks or bundles of detachable size markers 413 can also be molded at 417 and transported via distribution channels 409, 449, 457 to foreign distribution centers 447 or foreign garment factories 441. The foreign distribution center 447 separates the clothes hanger 411 again, and sends the bundled detachable size marks 413 to the foreign garment processing factory 441. Then foreign garment processing factories assemble a hanger, a detachable size mark and a garment into a garment hanging on the hanger (G.O.H), wherein the detachable size mark is consistent with the size of the garment.

Molding the detachable size markers at a single location such as 407 assures detachable sizing when the detachable size markers are sent to a retail store 419 or even assembled in a factory thousands of miles away for matching garments and hangers Mark the selected color to match.

In the preferred embodiment the removable size markings are all molded at a single location, it is entirely possible to mold the removable size markings at one or more foreign molding plants so that the pigments used for the color indicator charts can be controlled s price.

It is also possible to return the remaining hangers along the distribution channels 450 and 450a shown, so that the supply of hangers at 435 can be expanded instead of molding new hangers at 401 .

In a preferred embodiment, the hanger of the present invention is made of styrene, K resin, H.I. styrene, polypropylene and other suitable thermoplastics or combinations thereof. The markers in the present invention are made of styrene or any other suitable plastic material.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood that various modifications and changes in form or details could be made without departing from the inventive concept. It is therefore intended that the invention not be limited to the exact forms and details shown and described, and that the entirety of the invention disclosed be hereinafter claimed.

Claims (34)

1. A method for reusing a clothes hanger with detachable size marks, characterized in that the method comprises: (a) shipping multiple first batches of hangers to garment processing factories at multiple dispersed locations; (b) Ship a plurality of detachable size marks to garment processing factories in multiple scattered locations, and the detachable size marks are detachably fixed to the first batch of hangers; (c) assembling a said hanger, a garment and a removable size marker, wherein the size marker represents said garment; (d) one said hanger, one garment and one detachable size marker are assembled in batches and shipped to a retail store where the garments are displayed and sold; (e) remove a defined percentage of size-marked hangers from said sold garments and return that percentage of size-marked hangers to a reuse center; (f) remove the size markings from the hangers at the reuse center, inspect the hangers to single out multiple reusable hangers; and (g) augmenting the picked hangers with freshly molded hangers to provide a first batch of hangers, and then repeating step (a) to form a cycle of reusing hangers. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of molding said detachable size markers into bundles for each initial shipment of hangers. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of grinding up inspected hangers not selected for reuse to form recycled hangers for retail sale to consumers. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of molding said detachable size markers in a plurality of colors to provide a color coded hanger with a color code relating to when the Features of the tags, hangers and garments that hang on the hangers when the garments are assembled. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said color coded size markings are molded in one location to ensure uniformity of color. 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of molding said refill hangers at each point of shipment to said garment factory. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said defined percentage ranges from 65% to 95% of said first batch of hangers. 8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of hangers in the range of 50%-80% of said first batch of hangers is picked out. 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of washing said hanger after removing said removable size marker from the hanger. 10. The method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the average number of cycles completed by the statistical clothes hanger is 2-6 times. 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising picking and cleaning said size marks, verifying said size marks to obtain a plurality of picked size marks and shipping said plurality of picked size marks to The steps of the garment processing factory. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of supplementing said picked out dimension markings with newly molded dimension markings. 13. A method of color coding the sizes of garments on display in a retail store that stocks multiple styles of clothing for multiple groups of customers, wherein each group of customers consists of individual customers of similar body shape, said The method provides uniform color size coding to assist individual customers in selecting a clothing model that fits their body shape among different clothing styles, and the method includes: (a) categorizing each clothing model offered for sale into a plurality of clothing styles; (b) divide each garment style into class sizes and common size designations reflected in all garment styles; (c) identify grade sizes for different styles of clothing chosen by customers who choose to fit the same customer's body type; (d) assigning each class size designation identified in step (c) to a common color code, thereby forming a matching set of class sizes that conforms to the customer's specific body shape; and (e) display each garment style hanging on a hanger with a color coded size cover corresponding to the color of the same color code to which it belongs. In this way, customers can go from an area displaying one clothing style to an area of the retail store displaying other clothing styles and find clothing styles that fit their body shape according to the same common color coding. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the individual garment styles include women's garments, men's garments, women's vests, men's vests and custom size garments. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the individual garment styles further comprise toddler and baby garments, youth garments, tights. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of common size designations includes S (small), M (medium), L (large), XL (extra large). 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of common size designations further includes P (thin), XS (extra small), M/L (medium/large) and XXL (extra extra large). 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the class sizes identified in step (c) are obtained according to the statistics of large-scale customers, so that for garment models that are sized by waist circumference, in class In the size identification, the marked size is consistent with the grade size of the clothing model determined by the bust measurement, and the clothing model conforms to the body shape of the same customer. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein a female customer of average body shape can browse a plurality of clothing styles from one section to another in the retail store, such as from slacks to suits, to long skirts, to coats , to the tights, and find the size that fits her particular body shape, identified by the same color code in each zone for each individual clothing style. 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the same color-coded color is selected from about 16 easily distinguishable colors. 21. A method as claimed in claim 20, characterized in that the color repetition repeated in the class size designation is used in garment styles which cannot be tried on by the same customer, such as in toddler/infant garment styles and in custom size garment styles middle. 22. A system for color coding the sizes of garments on display in a retail store that stocks multiple styles of clothing for multiple groups of customers, wherein each group of customers consists of individual customers of similar body shape, said The system provides a unified color size code to assist each customer in choosing a clothing model that fits their body shape in different clothing styles. The system includes: (a) multiple separate clothing models offered for sale, each model divided into one of multiple clothing styles; (b) a plurality of class sizes in each of said garment styles, said class sizes having a plurality of common size designations reflected in all garment styles; (c) have the same coding group with the same coded label for identifying the same grade and size in different clothing styles selected by customers who choose clothing suitable for their body shape; (d) a plurality of color-coded sign covers, one for each of said same coded groups identified in step (c), thereby forming an assembled set of color-coded signs identified by grade size Covers, the size of this class is consistent with the customer's specific body shape; (e) a plurality of clothes hangers for displaying various garment models, each hanger having said color coded logo cover mounted thereon, the color of the logo cover being consistent with the color of the same code group to which it belongs. In this way, customers can go from the area where one style of clothing is displayed to the area of the retail store where other styles of clothing are displayed, and find the style of clothing on the hanger that suits their body shape based on the same logo cover color. 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the individual garment styles include women's garments, men's garments, women's vests, men's vests and custom size garments. 24. The system of claim 23, wherein the individual garment styles further include toddler and baby wear, youth wear, tights. 25. The system of claim 22, wherein the plurality of common size designations includes S (small), M (medium), L (large), XL (extra large). 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of common size designations further includes XS (extra small), M/L (medium/large) and XXL (extra extra large). 27. The system of claim 22, wherein the class sizes identified in step (c) are statistically derived from a large number of customers, so that for waist-sized garment models, the class sizes In the size identification, the marked size is consistent with the grade size of the clothing model determined by the bust measurement, and the clothing model conforms to the body shape of the same customer. 28. The system of claim 22, wherein a female customer with a general body shape can browse a plurality of clothing styles from one area to another in the retail store, such as from slacks to suits to long skirts to Outerwear, to tights, and finding the right size for her specific body shape, identified by having the same color code for each individual clothing style in each zone. 29. The system of claim 22, wherein the color coded emblem cover is selected from about 16 easily distinguishable colors. 30. A system as claimed in claim 29, characterized in that the color repetition repeated in the class size designation is used in clothing styles which cannot be tried on by the same customer, such as in toddler/baby clothing styles and in custom size clothing styles . 31. The system of claim 22, wherein each color-coded logo cover also visually displays said common size designation. 32. The system of claim 22, wherein the color coded logo cover is detachable from the hanger to allow the hanger to be reused for different garment styles. 33. The system of claim 22, further comprising means for removing said color coded size mask from said hanger. 34. The system of claim 22, further comprising automatic means for attaching said color coded size masks to said hangers.

Images