GB2378128A

GB2378128A - Expanding garment hanger

Info

Publication number: GB2378128A
Application number: GB0112132A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Anthony Hawkins
Original assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Current assignee: Mainetti UK Ltd
Priority date: 2001-05-04
Filing date: 2001-05-17
Publication date: 2003-02-05
Anticipated expiration: 2021-05-17
Also published as: GB2378128B; GB0110998D0; GB0112132D0

Abstract

A hanger 20 for skirts and trousers has a body 21 which receives sliding arms 25, each with a toothed rack engaging a pinion 27 whereby the arms slide in or out in unison. A releasable catch 31 engages one of recesses 30 to allow outward but prevent inward movement of the arms until released. Garment-engaging end portions 33 are mounted on parts 32 which slide on the arms 25 and are spring 26 biassed outwardly. Protrusion 29 on the body is grasped by a user, together with the adjacent end 33, to slide the end 33 inwards against the spring.

Description

GARMENT HANGER The present invention relates to garment hangers, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to garment hangers adapted to engage the waistband of a garment.

A known garment hanger for engaging the waistband of a garment such as a skirt, shorts or trousers is shown in Figure 1. The hanger 1 has a hanger body 2 in which hanger arms 3 having ends 4 slide in the hanger body 2. The hanger arms 3 are provided with toothed racks 5 which engage a central toothed gear 6, such that movement of one of the arms 3 relative to the hanger body 2 causes similar movement of the other hanger arm 3 in the opposite direction.

The hanger 1 of Figure 1 is attached to a garment by pulling the arms 3 out of the body 2 until the distance between the ends of the hanger arms corresponds to the size of waistband of the garment. However, this known type of hanger suffers from the disadvantage that the length of the hanger arms must be precisely adjusted by the user, and it is extremely difficult to apply the correct amount of pressure to the waistband of the garment to securely locate the garment on the hanger without causing damage to the waistband of the garment.

A known garment hanger which attempts to overcome this problem is shown in Figure 2. The hanger 11 has a hanger body 12 in which hanger arms 13 having ends 14 for engaging the waistband of a garment slide. Compression springs 17 urge the arms 13 outwards of the hanger body 12 so that the hanger arms 13 apply tension to the waistband of the garment to hold the garment in position on the hanger.

However, the hanger of Figure 2 suffers from the drawback that the tension applied to the waistband of the garment is very difficult to control. In particular, on larger garments, where the hanger arms 13 are extended and the compression force generated by the springs 17 is small, the tension applied to the waistband of the garment is often insufficient to securely locate the garment to the hanger. However, on smaller garments, the compression springs 17 are compressed to the extent that excessive force may be applied to the waistband of the garment, which can damage the garment.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a garment hanger comprising: a hanger body; suspension means extending from the hanger body to enable the hanger to be suspended from a support; a pair of hanger arms slidably connected to said hanger body and provided on opposite sides of said suspension means, wherein said hanger arms are connected to each other such that outward movement of one hanger arm relative to the hanger body causes outward movement of the other hanger arm relative to the hanger body; locking means for allowing outward movement of said hanger arms relative to the hanger body and preventing inward movement of said hanger arms relative to the hanger body;

a respective garment engaging member, slidably connected to the distal end of each said hanger arm, each said garment engaging member having a distal end adapted to engage a garment; biassing means for urging at least one said garment engaging member outwards relative to the corresponding hanger arm; and a respective protrusion provided adjacent a distal end of at least one said hanger arm, wherein the or each said protrusion and the adjacent garment engaging member are adapted to be engaged by a hand of a user to urge the garment engaging member inwards relative to the corresponding hanger arm.

By providing garment engaging members connected to the hanger arms which are biassed outwards, this provides the advantage that one or more of the garment engaging members can be urged inwards relative to the hanger arms prior to insertion of the hanger into the garment. The hanger can then be expanded with the garment engaging member or members still urged inwards, which are then released to apply a predetermined level of tension to the waistband of a garment. This provides the advantage of enabling the tension applied to the waistband of the garment to be more accurately controlled than in the case of the prior art. The provision of a respective protrusion adjacent a distal end of at least one hanger arm provides the advantage of facilitating the process of urging at least one of the garment engaging members inwardly of the corresponding hanger arm prior to location of the hanger in the waistband of a garment.

The suspension means may be a hook.

Each hanger arm may be provided with a respective rack, and the racks may be connected to each other by a pinion.

The pinion is preferably adapted to rotate about an axis fixed relative to the hanger body.

This provides the advantage of enabling the suspension means to be fixed midway between the ends of the hanger, regardless of the setting of the hanger arms.

In a preferred embodiment, said locking means comprises a locking member provided on said hanger body or at least one of said hanger arms, and adapted to engage at least one of a plurality of recesses provided on the other of said hanger body or at least one of said hanger arms.

Said locking means may be releasable.

This provides the advantage of enabling the hanger to be used for garments of different sizes.

Said biassing means may comprise a respective compression spring arranged between at least one said garment engaging member and the corresponding hanger arm.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :- Figure 1 is a cross-sectional elevation view of a first prior art hanger ; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation view of a second prior art hanger; and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional elevation view of a garment hanger embodying the present invention.

Referring to Figure 3, a hanger 20 for skirts, trousers or the like has a hanger body 21 having a label area 22 and apertures 23 at each of its ends. A hook 24 extends from the label area for suspending the hanger from a support (not shown).

The hanger 20 is provided with hanger arms 25 which fit within apertures 23 and are each provided with a toothed rack 26, both of which engage a gear 27 which can rotate about a fixed axis 28 below hook 24. In this way, movement of one of the hanger arms 25 relative to the hanger body 21 causes an equal movement in the opposite direction of the other hanger arm 25. One of the hanger arms 25 is provided with a thumb grip 29 (the function of which will be described in greater detail below), while the other hanger arm 25 is provided with a series of recesses 30, each of which can be engaged by a releasable catch 31, so that until the catch 31 is released, the hanger arms 25 can move outwards of the hanger body 21 but are prevented from moving inwards.

An end part 32 having an end face 33 for engaging a waistband of a garment is slidably mounted to an aperture in the distal end of each hanger arm 25. The end parts 32 each have a groove 34 which can slide on a pin 35 on the corresponding hanger arm 25, and the end parts 32 are each urged outwardly of the corresponding hanger arm 25 by a respective compression spring 36 located between the proximal end of the end part 32 and an abutment 37 on the corresponding hanger arm 25.

The operation of the hanger of Figure 3 will now be described.

In order to mount a garment to the hanger 20, the hanger is initially set at its smallest size, i. e. with the hanger arms 25 inwardly of the hanger body 21 so that the distance between the end faces 33 of the end parts 32 is minimised. This can be achieved by releasing the catch 31 to disengage it from the

apertures 30 to allow the hanger arms 25 to move inwards relative to the hanger body 21. The operator then urges together the left side end face 33 shown in Figure 3 and the thumb grip 29 by hand so that the end part 32 is urged inwards of the corresponding hanger arm 25 to compress the compression spring 36. Since the end part 32 can only move a finite distance relative to the corresponding hanger arm 25 before it approaches the abutment 37, this applies a finite amount of compression to the compression spring 36.

The end faces 33 are then moved apart until they abut diametrically opposite parts of the waistband of a garment (not shown). At this point, no tension is applied to the waistband of the garment, but the left end part 32 shown in Figure 3 is still urged inwardly of the corresponding hanger arm 25 against compression spring 36. When this end part 32 is released, it moves outwardly of the corresponding hanger arm 25 so that both end faces 33 apply tension to the waistband of the garment.

As a result, an equilibrium position is reached in which generally equal amounts of compression are provided by the two compression springs 36 to hold the garment in position on the hanger without applying excessive tension to the waistband of the garment.

To release the garment from the hanger, the catch 31 is moved downwardly of the hanger body 21 to disengage it from the corresponding aperture 30 on the hanger arm 25. This allows the hanger arms 25 to move inwardly of the hanger body 21 to enable the hanger 20 to be removed from the garment.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A garment hanger comprising: a hanger body; suspension means extending from the hanger body to enable the hanger to be suspended from a support ; a pair of hanger arms slidably connected to said hanger body and provided on opposite sides of said suspension means, wherein said hanger arms are connected to each other such that outward movement of one hanger arm relative to the hanger body causes outward movement of the other hanger arm relative to the hanger body; locking means for allowing outward movement of said hanger arms relative to the hanger body and preventing inward movement of said hanger arms relative to the hanger body; a respective garment engaging member, slidably connected to the distal end of each said hanger arm, each said garment engaging member having a distal end adapted to engage a garment ; biassing means for urging at least one said garment engaging member outwards relative to the corresponding hanger arm; and a respective protrusion provided adjacent a distal end of at least one said hanger arm, wherein the or each said protrusion and the adjacent garment engaging member are adapted to be engaged by a hand of a user to urge the garment engaging member inwards relative to the corresponding hanger arm.
2. A hanger according to claim 1, wherein said suspension means is a hook.

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3. A hanger according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each hanger arm is provided with a respective rack, and the racks are connected to each other by a pinion.
4. A hanger according to claim 3, wherein the pinion is adapted to rotate about an axis fixed relative to the hanger body.
5. A hanger according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said locking means comprises a locking member provided on said hanger body or at least one of said hanger arms, and adapted to engage at least one of a plurality of recesses provided on the other of said hanger body or at least one of said hanger arms.
6. A hanger according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said locking means is releasable.
7. A hanger according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said biassing means comprises a respective compression spring arranged between at least one said garment engaging member and the corresponding hanger arm.
8. A garment hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.