Patent Application
20110010903
1. Field
This invention pertains to article hangers. In particular, it pertains to an S shaped hanger accessory for women's/men's purses, handbags, backpacks, diaper bags, and lightweight travel bags for use in public restrooms that do not have hooks on the doors.
2. State of the Art
There are a wide variety of article holding devices primarily directed to suspending a purse from a hook having a horizontal support surface to removably contact and hang from a counter or table to suspend a hook from which the purse or article is suspended—See for example expired patent, Schultz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,714 issued Mar. 25, 1980; Creed, U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,417 issued Mar. 10, 1992; Kennedy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,093 issued Dec. 18, 1990; and design patents Olson, Des. 300,882 issued May 2, 1989; Osterholt, US D435,722 issued Jan. 2, 2001; and Osterholt et al, US D517,732 issued Mar. 21, 2006.
These Osterholt design patents are based on similar support principles as expired design patent, Rohrmuller, Des. 244,883 issued Jun. 28, 1977. The Osterholt patents may be adapted to hang purses from the top flat edges of bathroom stalls.
Expired patent, Bolton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,288 issued Nov. 20, 1973 uses a C-shaped member, which has a rod affixed at right angles to secure to the top surface of a table.
Cited for general interest are: Osterholt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,672 issued Jun. 26, 2007 for a retractable hanger to hold a purse during gambling activities; Samples, Des. 377,866 issued Feb. 11, 1997 coat hanger type design; and Robinson, Des. 409,399 issued May 11, 1999 for a combination coat and purse hanger affixed to a wall or vertical support surface.
The hanging device described below provides an S shaped article hanger, which removably fits over the top of bathroom stalls or doors of public restrooms to provide a hook of simple construction to suspend purses and bags to keep them from getting wet by contacting wet floors. Thus suspended, they also avoid contact with germs on the floor providing sanitary temporary storage.
The invention comprises an S shaped hook with one open end sized to fit over and removably secure to the top edge of a vertical partition, such as the bathroom stall or door of a public restroom. The opposite open end of the S shaped hook is thus positioned to extend s outwardly on the opposite side of a vertical support surface to provide a hook sized to removably secure therein a purse handle or strap to suspend the same from contacting the floor.
The S shaped hook is made of a durable, flexible acrylic plastic material or similar lightweight material. It is approximately 6 inches in length and has a flat cross-section to fit better inside a purse or bag. Preferably, it has the strength to support up to 8 pounds, although other stronger sizes are contemplated for larger bags and packs.
The ends of the S shaped hook are rounded to better secure objects within its ends and prevent snagging the contents of the purse or bag, when stored therein. It is patterned and colored to suit the preference of a user to provide a decorative purse or bag accessory.
The S shaped hook may be segmented and hingedly connected to fold segments of the S shaped hook into a more compact arrangement for storage. When needed, the segments are unfolded to form an S shaped hook for hanging articles from top edges of vertical wall stalls or dividers.
The ends 12, 14 of the S shaped hook 10 are angled and symmetric to contact the top edge of a vertical support surface and removably secure the same in position to hold the opposite end 14 with its opening 18 forming a cradle to support a purse handle or strap. Although the embodiment shown has symmetric ends 12, 14, it is contemplated within the scope of this invention that these ends may be sized differently.
The ends 22, 24 of the S shaped hook 10 are rounded to assist in holding onto the top edge of the partition 20, and prevent snagging the contents of the purse or bag, when stored therein. It is patterned and colored to suit the preference of a user.
This particular embodiment is approximately 4½ inches tall and approximately ½ inches thick. The S shaped hook 10 construction has I-Bar reinforced edges 25 as shown in
To use the S shaped hook 10, it is removed from a purse, bag, or backpack, and placed on the top edge of a vertical bathroom stall or door 20 as discussed above. The opposite end 14 thus forms a support hook on the opposite side of the vertical bathroom stall or door 20 so that a strap or purse handle may be supported thereon without contacting the ground. To remove the S shaped hook 10, the strap or purse handle is first removed from the opposite end 14. The S shaped hook 10 is then removed from the vertical support surface and placed in the purse, bag, or back pack.
The S shaped hook 10 is made of a durable, flexible acrylic plastic material or similar lightweight material. It is up to 6 inches in length and has a flat cross-section to fit better inside a purse or bag. Preferably, it has the strength to support up to 8 pounds, although other stronger sizes are contemplated for larger bags and packs.
The embodiments of
Although this specification has referred to the illustrated embodiments, it is not intended to restrict the scope of the claims. The claims themselves recite those features deemed essential to the invention.
