Patent Application
20100282788
Ever since humans started clothing themselves, they have been confronted with the problem of storing such items when they were not in use. Undoubtedly, as clothing evolved and became more sophisticated, the need to store such items in a manner that preserved them so that they are suitable for reuse would have become apparent. Thus the improvisation of suitable clothing hangers, undoubtedly, involves a long and evolving history.
The problem of improvising suitable hangers for clothing that is worn on the upper torso is for the most part quite straight forward. Devices that mimic shoulders are easily constructed and have been used throughout history to hang shirts, jackets, smocks or any other items that primarily are worn by having them rest upon the shoulders of the wearer.
Hangers for trousers or pants, on the other hand, present some unique problems. This is so because pants by the nature of their function (individually covering legs as well as the lower portion of the trunk) require a complex structure. Essentially, the components of pants are two approximately cylindrical tubes that accommodate the covering of legs. These tubes are made to hang from the underside and on opposite sides of a larger open, approximately cylindrical tube that is worn around the lower part of the body from the waist down to the crotch. Accordingly, pants hangers have had to deal with considerations that result from these complex structural elements.
To date most pants hangers take advantage of what is referred to here as the well known pressed alignment of pants to store them in an essentially wrinkle-free state. As known to those skilled in the art and even those less skilled, this pressed alignment is achieved by arranging first one leg, and then the second, such that the seams (traditionally on the inside and outside of each leg) for each leg lie atop each other in preparation for ironing or hanging. Pressing pants so arranged results in the formation of a crease in the front and back of the leg, approximately midway between the inner and outer seams. To complete the pressing process the crease on the front of each pant leg is extended to just below the waistband, typically to a point where the belt loops closest to the fly are placed or to a pleat which often occurs there. When pressed properly, pants can be stored in a wrinkle free state by folding them such that the four seams of the pants legs are atop each other, and the front and rear creases are aligned. Pants so folded can be laid flat for wrinkle-free storage, hung from the bottom of the aligned legs or they can hang over a bar which might be coated with some material that keeps them from slipping off, or they can be placed over a bar such that the weight of the legs on one side of the bar is about equal to the weight of the upper part of pants—the body of the pants. Alternatively, they can be hung from the waist by using a simple hanger with two clasps, where one clasp grasps the pants at the waist near the fly side of the pants, the other grasping the rear section of the pants. It is common to see pants hung in this manner that are offered for sale.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,261 to Tsai et al discloses a pants hanger that uses spring loaded gripping arms that fit over the bottom ends of pants legs in the pressed alignment wherein the gripping arms not only grasp the pant legs, they can accommodate the extra thickness of material created by the overlaying of four seams. Accordingly, the pants are hung upside down and remain in a wrinkle-free state. Tsai et al describe several similar US patents that also hang pants in the upside down configuration. Those patents include U.S. Pat. No. 707,192 to Aiken, U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,325 to Schroeder, U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,407 to Bogaaczyk, U.S. Pat. No. 853,527 to Tye, U.S. Pat. No. 2,127,333 to Hall et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,066 to Hebberd.
There are also a number of patents that disclose pants hangers or racks that hang pants in their pressed alignment with the legs over some kind of bar arrangement. They include U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,385 to Lessard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,265 to Morgan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,096 to Kohlhepp, and US Pat. No. Des. 244,244 to Burke.
There are several issues the previous art has not addressed in the hanging of pants, particularly short pants, sometimes called walking shorts. One problem is that the user must first arrange the pants in the pressed alignment, so defined above. Next the aligned pants must be affixed to the hanger. Hangers that are hand held require some level of dexterity in order to affix them to aligned pants. Consequently, one spends considerable time in folding, affixing and finally adjusting so as to obtain wrinkle-free hanging. The hangers of the type disclosed and cited by Tsai et al which are mounted on a vertical surface have similar issues but are judged superior because of their mountings. However, they are arrayed in such a way that the hanging or removal of a single pair of pants presents some level of difficulty.
One objective of this invention is to create a system for hanging pants (short or long) that starts with folding them in a very simple manner suitable for hanging. Another, objective is to provide hanging devises that facilitate affixing pants to them. The hanging device accomplishes this by taking advantage of a fundamental aspect of pants construction. A third objective is to arrange a set of mounted hanging devises in an array such that pants are displayed in a manner that allows immediate visual inventory without touching or moving any part of the system. This arrangement is suitable where wall mounting of such an array is feasible, or where there is sufficient room for a floor stand. A fourth objective is to provide a telescoping hanger device that facilitates the hanging, viewing or removal of pants. This arrangement can be used in a typical closet/cabinet, or for that matter any open space, eliminating the need for the traditional transverse clothes holding rod, or pole. The telescoping concept is indeed applicable and adaptable to an entire spectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung from a closet pole or clothes rod.
The present invention is based on a novel asymmetric hanging device for long or short pants that takes advantage of fundamental elements of the construction of pants. The asymmetric device in one embodiment can simply be hung on a traditional transverse closet pole to hang an individual pair of pants. Alternatively several of these devices can be arrayed in some convenient manner and be mounted to a vertical surface such as inside a closet or on a dressing room wall, or for that matter in any appropriate vertical surface. In another embodiment a unit that can accommodate many such devices can be constructed on an appropriate stand so that viewing of all pants hung thereon is facilitated. Such a unit would be of significant benefit in a commercial setting where pants are being offered for sale or in a domestic setting where space is not limited.
Further, the simplicity in using asymmetric hanger devices affords easy removal of items as well as simple re-hanging. The use of this simple principle, disclosed herein, in such devices confers significant advantages to the user as well as to retail employees who spend considerable time re-hanging sale items.
In a third embodiment single pairs of pants can be hung on an asymmetric hanging device that telescopes horizontally towards the user and away from adjacent hanging objects. This concept like the array to be described below facilitates inspection, hanging and removal and affords economy of space. The telescoping concept is readily adapted to the entire spectrum of hanging devices that normally are hung on the traditional transverse closest pole.
If a traditionally pressed pair of long or short pants is examined by holding the pants from the waist with the fly at the center and facing the observer, it will be noted that the front creases of the pants will extend up to the front belt loops that are on either side of the fly. This will generally be the case for pants with a flat front (no pleats) or with pants that have front pleats. To fold pants so pressed such that the leg creases align (front to front, back to back), it is typical to unzip the fly, grasp the front belt loops so mentioned and bring them together such that the fly section of the pants folds inwards. Depending on the pants and in order to maintain front crease alignment, the front belt loops either face each other in the folded position or they define the leading edge where the fly section of the pants folds inward. Hence, looking at pants so folded from the side, in the first case the belt loops are not visible, whereas in the second case the belt loops are just at the edge of the fold.
In those instances where the pleats associated with the leg creases do not align with the belt loops nearest the fly, for this invention pleat alignment generally dominates.
When so folded the front creases begin just below the waistband at the front of the body of the pants and continue down the front of the pant legs. Secondly, the waistband of the pants is folded on itself at its rear most point and, thirdly, the front of the pants body that encompasses the fly as already noted must fold inward. Anyone knowledgeable about clothing manufacture or sales will be familiar with this method of folding pants. This means of folding short or long pants is commonly used when pants that are offered for sale are laid in a pile, or in many cases for pants offered for sale that are hung waist side up.
Pants folded as described above can be hung upside down from a variety of hangers such as those described herein in the background section. Similarly, hanging pants so folded in an upright position, i.e. from the waist can be accomplished with a simple hanger having two spring loaded clasps, one to grasp the top of the pants near front belt loops of the pants and a second to grasp a region near the rear fold in the waistband. Hanging pants in this fashion requires some dexterity and it is not always easy to hang pants correctly without several clasping/unclasping adjustments.
There is, however, a simpler solution to hanging pants in this right-side-up fashion that this invention discloses that affords a number of significant advantages to the user. Rather than having to deal with two spring loaded clasps which is one typical approach, it is noted that in the construction of pants, the waistband (typically 1.5 to 2.0″ thick) not only is of rather robust construction, it has a smaller diameter than the body of the pants immediately below it. This is a consequence of the need to accommodate the normal anatomy, i.e. the buttocks. For pants of extremely large waist, the diameter just below the waistband often approximates that of the waistband. None-the-less, because of the difference in construction of the waistband and the body of the pants, the region below the waistband can more readily be deformed by outward pressure than the waistband itself. Consequently, the invention disclosed below functions even in those cases.
Given the robust construction of waistbands, as well as the change in diameter (or in pants construction) immediately below the waistband, a novel means for hanging pants upright (waist at top) is to affix the rear section of pants, so folded as described above, onto a hanging device using an appropriately designed finger that inserts into the fold of the waistband at the rear of the pants. If the finger that retains the rear side of the folded pants is coupled with a clasp that grasps the folded pants at the waistband on the fly side of the folded pants, and if the clasp exerts some outward pressure away from the finger by being spring loaded, or by some other means of exerting force, pants can readily be held in place. A device that incorporates these principles for hanging pants is herein disclosed and hereafter referred to as an asymmetric hanger.
For clarity in describing how the asymmetric hanger is used and to better understand the drawings incorporated herein, the convention that is used is that pants are hung from these devices in their upright position, i.e. waist at top, with the fly side on the right and the rear of the pants on the left. Further, they are folded in the traditional fashion as described above.
Alternatively, rather than a spring loaded clasp that exerts force away from the finger, a clasp that rides on support post “a” that is kept in place when it is released can be employed. Such clasps are well known in the art. Thus, the user would insert the grasping finger into the folded waistband at the rear of pants, clasp the folded pants at the waistband, on the fly side or front side of the pants, and exert sufficient tension on the folded pants to keep them in place by moving the clasp away from the finger. The grasping character of the clasp keeps its position fixed and, hence, sufficient tension is maintained on the folded pants to keep them hung.
One alternative for grasping pants on the fly side would be to eliminate altogether the spring loaded clasp “c” depicted in
As is evident the horizontal support post “a” needs to be long enough to accommodate the width of pants folded in the traditional manner that are to be hung top down employing the finger at the rear of the folded pants and the clasp near the front.
Referring now to the left side of the asymmetric hanger device of
An alternative to the finger structure described here is a finger that uses just friction with no protruding element, such as element “h” of
Hanging pants using the asymmetric hanger is a simple matter. Pants are folded in the traditional manner as described above. The pants are next grasped by clasp “c” at the waistband near the front of the pants and the clasp moved to the left by compressing the spring sufficiently to allow the rearmost section of the folded waistband to be fitted over the finger. An alternative procedure that requires less dexterity is to hold a pair of appropriately folded pants by the waistband near the fly side of the pants in one hand, grasp the asymmetric hanger by the clasp with the other hand, insert the finger of the asymmetric hanger into the rear fold of the pants with enough pressure to compress the spring and finally clasp the fly side of the waistband.
Although the asymmetric hanging device depicted in
There are significant benefits of an array of individual telescoping asymmetric hangers. First, because one hanger can be extended away from its near neighbors, the user has ready access to a hanger that is held in a position that facilitates hanging. Further, the individual telescoping nature of the hangers so described also facilitates inspection of any hanging article. Additional inspection can be obtained by mounting the telescoping hangers in a stair step fashion, rather than in a horizontal plane. Both disclosures are in contrast to wardrobes mounted on telescoping rods where the entire wardrobe telescopes. (Emanual, U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,124) or where an entire array telescopes.
There are many other ways of creating a telescoping asymmetric hanger that will be obvious to those skilled in the art. One such arrangement can be achieved merely by drilling horizontal holes of the diameter of rod “a” into some fixed member such as a transverse bar. By inserting the sliding portion of the asymmetric hanger device depicted in
The concept of individual telescoping supports for any kind of hanger has general utility. It can be adapted to the entire spectrum of hangers that are normally used with a transverse clothes rod. The obvious advantages of this kind of arrangement in addition to the facilitation that occurs by fixing the hanger in its telescoped position is that clothing can be hung, inspected or removed without having to reach in and remove the hanger from a rod, and without the item of interest being encumbered by near neighbor hanging items. Arrangements that telescope arrays of hanging devices do not have this advantage.
The base member can be constructed out of a variety of materials—metals, woods, composite materials, etc. Besides supporting the hanger array, the base member in this embodiment serves as a mount for the individual vertical posts whereby the latter can be pivotally inserted into the base member and swivel away from the wall or back towards the wall. If, for example the vertical posts are constructed by appropriately bending 3/16 or ¼ inch steel, the array can be constructed such that the vertical posts can be made to swivel on the base member simply by inserting them into 3/16 or ¼ inch holes, respectively, drilled into the base member.
In addition to the systematic decrease in the height of the vertical posts depicted in
A simple alternative to spring loading the support posts to their most retracted position is to note that their design has a built-in natural moment. Thus if any of the vertical posts is inserted into a drilled hole that is not precisely vertical, the post will by simple physics swing towards the position which places the tip of the arm closest to the ground. Thus by drilling aperture in the base member (item b of
Clearly an array that uses the principles of
In addition to incorporating the asymmetric hanger device into traditional closet pole hangers, telescoping or wall mounted pants hanging arrays; there are a variety of other arrangements that can be made using the disclosure of the asymmetric hanger provided herein. Such arrangements would be very suitable in settings where pants are offered for sale or where sufficient room is available in a domestic setting. Pedestals that display pants like spokes on a wheel can readily be envisioned. Additionally, tiered pedestals can be constructed for this purpose.
Another possible arrangement is an array that is not staggered laterally such as the embodiment of
In all of the embodiments disclosed herein, the asymmetric hanger concept provides significant advantage to the user over conventional clasping hangers. Essentially half of the manipulations required to hang a garment are eliminated. With the exception of the disclosure of the asymmetric hanger fashioned for use with a closet pole, these disclosures also provide a significant advantage by having hanger elements fixed to some holder. This affords the user the advantage of not having to deal with holding the hanger device while also hanging clothes. This simple concept in concert with advantages the asymmetric hanger assembly provides make inspection, removal and hanging of pants considerably easier. It should also be noted that this invention has application to a variety of garments used by women such as skirts which also have common construction elements.
While there have been shown and described, and pointed out, fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments herein, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the disclosed invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, but that they are merely conceptual in nature.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/215,382 filed May 6, 2009
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61215382 | May 2009 | US |
