HK1148442B - A crown-type sizer for a hanger - Google Patents

Description

Crown-type sizer for a hanger

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a crown sizer for mounting on a garment hanger. More particularly, the present invention relates to the combination of a crown sizer and a hanger, preferably for use with undergarments, lingerie and similar items.

Background

The use of crown-type sizers is very widespread in many areas, particularly in the large retail industry, for identifying products on sale.

In the current state of the art, many known crown-type sizers have the disadvantage of being able to be easily detached from their positioning seats. This easy removal entails the risk of the hanger losing the crown sizer and consequently of some products being exchanged for others by ill-intentioned persons in warehouse management or in shops selling goods. This negative situation may occur particularly when applying crown sizers to garment hangers for garment size identification marking.

Moreover, since garment hangers are typically found in the home environment, there is another risk: because the size clip is attractive to children due to its small size and color, children may misunderstand it as a candy and swallow it, among other things, precisely because the size clip is easily separated.

In the state of the art, as shown in us design patent D528807, in order to block the possibility of the above-mentioned negative events, crown-type sizers have been designed, which are assembled to the hangers in an integral manner, making them more difficult to separate or remove; moreover, the possible removal jeopardizes the integrity of the support, making it impossible to use the hanger for garments of different sizes.

US patent 7240813 and US design patent D510198 and published US2006/006204 describe examples of crown sizers for use with hangers having metal hooks extending perpendicularly from the garment hanger body. However, these size clips cannot be easily applied to hangers made entirely (in terms of the body and hook) of plastic because the hook itself extends at an angle other than 90 degrees relative to the body before forming its rounded shape.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a crown sizer for use on a garment hanger, which sizer can be positioned on the respective seat so that it becomes very resistant to possible removal attempts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a crown sizer that is applicable to garment hangers made entirely of plastic and having a plastic hook extending from the body of the garment hanger at an angle other than 90 degrees.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a crown sizer for a garment hanger which is pleasing when applied to a plastic garment hanger.

Briefly, the present invention provides a crown-type sizer applicable to a plastic garment hanger having a body and an integral hook extending upwardly from the body itself, the sizer being constructed from a peripheral wall defining an open base at a bottom end and an open base at an upper portion to allow the sizer to be passed over the hanger hook.

Also, there is at least one projecting boss on one wall of the sizer for engaging the sizer to the hanger and ensuring that the sizer remains blocked on the hanger itself.

In particular, the peripheral wall of the clip comprises a pair of longitudinal side walls, preferably trapezoidal in shape, and a pair of transverse side walls, preferably rectangular in shape, to form a prismatic shaped housing structure, both bases of which are open, and thus forming a different and opposite clip to the so-called "side" clips as known in the art or to conventional clips inserted from the top.

Furthermore, the longitudinal side walls of the peripheral wall are of greater height than the transverse side walls to form a recess or undercut adapted to receive the hanger body; all of this provides the sizer with stability against possible twisting of the hanger hook.

In a preferred embodiment, the hanger hook has a recess or cavity extending along one side and a projection inside the recess, and the sizer has a projection on each of two opposing side walls of the peripheral wall for selectively locking into the recess and for engaging the projection in the recess below to secure the sizer on the hanger. Having two projections on both side walls of the perimeter wall allows a sizer to be placed on the end of a hanger hook, the sizer being randomly oriented in either of two possible orientations.

In embodiments where the hanger hook extends at an angle other than 90 degrees from the hanger body prior to forming the hook shape, the protruding projection on the peripheral wall allows the sizer to properly "fit" the hanger and be held in place by the projection being located inside the recess of the hanger hook.

Further, the hanger hook is tapered at the free end such that the thickness of the free end of the hook is less than the space between the projecting tab and the opposite side wall of the sizer peripheral wall.

In this embodiment, to enable the size clip to be mounted on a hanger, the aforementioned size clip is positioned over the tapered end of the hook and then moved along the hook itself. As the size clip moves along the hook, the protruding projection of the size clip enters the groove on the hook, thereby limiting lateral movement of the size clip relative to the hook.

Continued movement of the size clip causes the protruding boss on the size clip to abut the protruding portion of the hanger. At this point, the size clip is forced to continue moving toward the hanger body to allow the protruding tab of the size clip to snap under the protrusion in the hook recess with a "click" sound common in snap-fit closures.

To facilitate this operation, each projecting tab on the sizer is tapered to slide over the projecting portion of the hook toward the hanger body while resisting reverse movement that must be initiated to separate the sizer from the hook.

The size clip and hanger are sized such that when the projecting tab of the size clip snaps under the projection located in the hook recess, the rectangular lateral side wall of the perimeter wall of the size clip rests on the crossbar of the hanger, which is disposed in the recess defined in the upper portion of the size clip.

Furthermore, the upper surface of each projecting tab of the sizer is flat and perpendicular to the plane of the sizer peripheral wall and thus opposite the surface of the projection on the hanger hook. This blocks the sizer from exiting the hanger body after the sizer is applied by the snap-fit operation described above.

The sizer is particularly suitable for use on plastic garment hangers having hooks that extend at an angle other than 90 degrees in a direction opposite the hanger body before forming the typical hook shape. For such a hook configuration, the width of the sizer must be much greater than the width of the filamentary body forming the hook to create a space within which the hook can extend at its particular angle. Such a large width of the sizer provides a substantial area for size indicia or other advertising on the longitudinal wall.

Finally, the offset and asymmetric placement of the projecting tab within the size clip allows the size clip to be positioned on the hanger body from the point at which the size clip engages under a projection located within the hook recess, the projection being laterally disposed relative to the point at which the hook engages the hanger body.

In another embodiment, a size clip is provided in which the protruding bumps are spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the hanger hook, such that when the size clip is initially slid over the hook, the protruding bumps are disposed on the exterior of the hook. Once the sizer is seated on the hanger body, the sizer is slid laterally, i.e., laterally, so that one or the other of the protruding tabs slides into the groove of the hanger hook and under the protrusion of the hook, thereby snapping the sizer into place.

In a third embodiment, a sizer is provided that is slidable onto the hanger hook and blocked in position as in the first embodiment, or slidable onto the hanger hook and moved laterally into position as in the second embodiment.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a garment hanger with a crown sizer according to the present invention being mounted on a hook of the garment hanger;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the garment hanger of FIG. 1 with the crown sizer in place, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a partial perspective view of the hanger and sizer of FIG. 1 during sliding of the sizer over a hanger hook in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a view similar to FIG. 3 with the size clip blocked on the hook of the hanger in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective side view of the size clip of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of the size clip of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates a view of the size clip and hanger taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 illustrates a partial perspective view of a hanger with a second embodiment of a sizer in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a side elevational view of the size clip and hanger of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 illustrates a view taken along line X-X of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the size clip of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the size clip of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 illustrates a broken longitudinal side elevational view of the size clip of FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 illustrates a lateral side view of the size clip of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 schematically illustrates the manner of sliding the sizer of FIG. 8 onto a hanger hook according to the present invention;

FIG. 15A shows a view along line XV-XV of FIG. 15;

FIG. 16 illustrates the size clip of FIG. 8 in position on a garment hanger immediately prior to snapping into place;

FIG. 16A shows a view along line XVI-XVI of FIG. 16;

FIG. 17 illustrates the size clip of FIG. 8 in position on a garment hanger after snapping into place in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17A shows a view along line XVII-XVII of FIG. 17; and the position of the size clip of figure 8 on the hanger immediately prior to snapping into place; and

figure 18 shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment of a sizer according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the garment hanger 1 is of unitary construction of an article made of plastics material suitable for its intended use and has a body 2 and a hook 3, the body 2 being provided at both ends with a clip formation 2.1 suitable for holding one or more lingerie, underwear and similar articles of clothing, the hook 3 extending upwardly from a mid-point of the body 2 and having a lower portion 3.1, the lower portion 3.1 being oriented at an angle of less than 90 degrees relative to the body 2.

The hook 3 has a rear portion which is smooth and coplanar with the rear portion of the body 2 and a front portion having a channel-shaped groove 4 which extends over the entire longitudinal length of the hook 3. The groove also extends over the entire length of the body 2.

A lug 5 in the form of an integral projection is provided in the groove 4 at the inclined portion 3.1. The tabs 5 extend across the entire width of the channel-shaped groove 4 and are positioned parallel to the body 1 with a flat lower wall 5.1 and possibly also a flat upper wall 5.2 (see fig. 7).

The size clip 10 is fitted to the hook 2 and is held in place by the tab 5 in a manner described below so as to block itself against the body 1.

As seen in fig. 5, the sizer 10 includes a peripheral wall that defines an open base "B1" at a lower portion and an open base "B2" at an upper portion to allow the hook 3 of the hanger 1 to pass through the interior of the sizer 10.

The peripheral wall of the sizer 10 is defined by two longitudinal walls 11, preferably trapezoidal in shape, and two transverse walls 12, rectangular in shape, the longitudinal walls 11 having a greater height than the two transverse walls 12 to define a recess 13 suitable for receiving the body 2 of the hanger 1 by locking when the sizer is in position.

The size clip 10 is equipped with two projecting projections 14 and 15, which project inside the two longitudinal walls 11, which, when the size clip 10 is in position, come into contact with the tabs 5 of the hooks 2, in such a way as to ensure that the size clip 10 is blocked on the hanger. The two protruding projections 14 and 15 are located on the upper portions of the two longitudinal walls 11 and are disposed opposite to each other, and are symmetrical about the midpoint "K" (fig. 6) of the upper opening "B2".

Each of the two projections 14 and 15 has a profile that tapers towards the lower base "B1" to facilitate the clip 10 sliding over the side of the hook 3 into the groove 4 and over the tab 5 of the hook 2 during movement of the clip 10 towards the body 2.

In order to mount the size clip 10 on the hanger 1, the open lower base "B1" of the size clip is positioned above the free tapered portion 3.2 (fig. 3) of the hook 3, which has a thickness less than the distance between the projecting portions of the two projections 14 and 15 of the size clip, and is therefore free to move laterally.

Once the projection 14 of the sizer 10 is positioned inside the channel-shaped groove 4 of the hook 3, the sizer 10 is guided by the channel-shaped groove 4.

As movement continues along the hook 3, the sizer 10 contacts, slides over the tab 5, and snaps under the tab 5, the tab 5 spanning the channel-shaped groove 4. In such final position, the upper surface 14.1 of the projection 14 of the size clip is located below the lower wall 5.1 of the tab 5 of the hook; in this way, the size clip 10 cannot move back any more due to the presence of the tab 5, the tab 5 being in the groove 4 and blocking any upward movement of the size clip 10.

Furthermore, when the size clip 10 is snapped into place, as shown in figure 4, the body 1 of the garment hanger is arranged inside the recess 13, i.e. the size clip 10 is locked or mounted "straddling" the body 1, thus hindering any twisting and/or rotation relative to the body 1 as previously described.

Referring to figures 8 to 17, in a second embodiment the construction of the sizer 20 is such that the sizer 20 is slid over the hook 3 of the garment hanger 1 and then laterally into a blocking condition on the garment hanger.

With reference to fig. 14, the size clip 20 is constituted by a peripheral wall defined by two longitudinal walls 21, preferably trapezoidal in shape, and two transverse walls 22, rectangular in shape, the height of the two transverse walls 22 being less than the height of the two longitudinal walls 21, to define a lower recess 23.1 suitable for receiving the body 2 by locking as shown in fig. 8, and an upper recess 23.2 to allow the inclined portion 3.1 of the hook 3 to come away when the size clip 20 is snapped into position as shown in fig. 8.

Referring to fig. 8 to 10, the sizer 20 is equipped with two projections 24 and 25 projecting inside the longitudinal wall 21. When the size clip 20 is in place, one or other of the two projecting projections 24, 25 contacts the underside of the tab 5 of the hook 2, as shown in figure 10, in this way ensuring that the size clip 20 is blocked on the hanger body 2.

The two protruding protrusions 24 and 25 are located at the upper and end portions of the two longitudinal walls 21 and are disposed opposite to each other, and are symmetrical about the midpoint "K" of the upper opening "B2" (see fig. 12). The projections 24 and 25 are spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the hanger hook 3 as shown in figure 8 so that when the sizer 20 is initially slid over the hook 3, the projections 24 and 25 are each located outside the hook as shown in figure 15.

The two projections 24 and 25 each taper in opposite directions to facilitate sliding on the sides of the hook 3 during lateral movement of the sizer 20.

As shown in figures 15 to 17, to mount the size clip 20 on the garment hanger 1, the free end of the hook 3 is fitted to the size clip between two projections 24 and 25; for the above purpose, the internal distance between the two longitudinal walls 21 is slightly greater than the thickness of the hook 3, to guide the clip during its sliding along the hook.

With continued movement along the hook 3, the sizer 20 comes into contact with and locks into the recess 23.1 on the body 1 (fig. 16 and 16A) and in this way blocks any twisting and/or rotation with respect to the body 1 as previously described.

With subsequent horizontal sliding along the body 1, the size clip 20 slides along the hook 2 and snaps into the tab 5, the tab 5 straddling the channel-shaped groove 4 (fig. 17 and 17A). In such final position, the projection 24 is housed inside the channel-shaped groove 4 and its upper surface is positioned below the lower wall 5.1 of the tab 5 of the hook. In this way, the size clip 20 can no longer slide due to the presence of the tab 5, which blocks the size clip 20 from above, and due to the channel-shaped groove 4, which blocks the size clip 20 from the side.

Referring to FIG. 18, in another embodiment, the size clip 30 is configured so that it can be slid onto the hook of a hanger and blocked in place as in the first embodiment, or slid onto the hook of a hanger and moved laterally into place as in the second embodiment.

As shown, the size clip 30 is constructed with a peripheral wall defined by two longitudinal walls 31, preferably trapezoidal in shape, and two transverse walls 32, rectangular in shape, the height of the transverse walls 32 being less than the height of the two longitudinal walls 31 to define a lower recess 33.1 and an upper recess 33.2. The size clip 30 is also equipped with two projections 34 and 35 which project inside the two longitudinal walls 31 and have a tapering profile 36 towards the lower base and a further tapering profile 37 with opposite directions to each other, which facilitate the sliding of the size clip 30 on the tab 5 of the hanger 2 during the downward movement and on the side of the hanger 2 during the lateral movement, respectively.

The present invention thus provides a sizer having a longitudinal wall 11, 21 or 31, preferably trapezoidal in shape, which has a substantial width and thus provides a surface which allows indicia thereon to clearly show the size of a garment hanging on the hanger.

The size clip 10, 20 or 30 may be made of any suitable material, preferably a plastics material, and the thickness of the longitudinal walls 11, 21 and 31, particularly at the projections 14, 15 and 24, 25 and 34, 35, allows the walls to flex outwardly, allowing the projections to slide over the tabs 5 or hooks 2 respectively to snap into the channel shaped recesses 4 of the hooks.

Moreover, because the sizer 10, 20, 30 has the projections 14, 15 and 24, 25 and 34, 35 opposite each other, the sizer is able to slide over the portion 3.1 of the hanger 3 extending angularly from the body 1 at an angle less than 90 degrees, and the sizer can be positioned in either of the two possible positions of the hanger for display purposes.

Finally, it will be appreciated from what has been described so far that once the sizer 10, 20, 30 has been snapped into the aforementioned position, the sizer cannot be easily removed from the hanger. To remove the sizer, a tool must be inserted inside the sizer to make the projections 14, 15 and 24, 25 and 34, 35 of the sizer itself come out of the recess 4 of the hook 2.

The sizer 10, 20, 30 is described and illustrated with respect to an lingerie or undergarment hanger; however, the plastic garment hanger may have any suitable construction for use with various types of garments.

The present invention also provides a sizer that can be easily mounted onto any type of hook or "peg" that extends or is shaped at an angle from any plastic hanger body.

Claims (3)

1. A hanger and sizer combination, comprising:

a hanger having a body, and a hook extending from a midpoint of the body, the hook having a lower portion oriented at an angle less than 90 degrees relative to the body, and a tab protruding on one of two sides of the hook; and

a sizer having a perimeter wall defining a lower open base and an open base on an upper portion of the sizer for passage of a hook, and at least one projecting boss on an interior of the perimeter wall and engaging under the tab to block the sizer on the hanger in a stable manner,

wherein the hook has a front portion with a channel shaped groove extending the length of the body and hook, and a smooth rear portion coplanar with the rear portion of the body, wherein the tab extends across the entire width of the groove parallel to the body, the tab having a flat lower wall in contact with the projection of the sizer to block the sizer on the hanger.

2. The hanger and sizer combination of claim 1, wherein the sizer has a pair of said projections spaced apart from one another and disposed on opposite sides of the peripheral wall, wherein the width of the hook is less than the distance between the pair of projections, whereby after sliding the sizer along the hook with one of the pair of projections in the groove, the one projection can be slid over the tab to snap under the tab.

3. The hanger and sizer combination of claim 1, wherein the sizer has a pair of said projections spaced apart from one another and disposed on opposite sides of said peripheral wall, wherein the width of said hook is less than the distance between said pair of projections, whereby after said sizer is slid along said hook onto said body, said sizer can be slid laterally to snap a selected one of said pair of projections into said recess and under said tab.