Patent Application
20060278594
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to devices for storing clothing items and the like in a closet or wardrobe. More specifically, it relates to a device for attachment to a closet rod from which clothes hangers can be suspended, and that maintains a desired amount of space or clearance between clothing items hung on the rod.
The typical closet or wardrobe includes a horizontal pole or rod, extending across its interior, from which clothes hangers are suspended. The rod or pole has a generally smooth or at least continuous surface. Therefore, clothes hangers cannot be spaced at regular intervals, and thus there is a tendency for clothes that are hung in the closet or wardrobe to be bunched or packed too closely together, often resulting in unwanted wrinkles or creases.
One possible solution would be to configure the rod or pole so that it has a series of spaced apart notches or ribs to provide separation between adjacent hangers. This would increase the cost of manufacturing the rod or pole, and would offer little in the way of flexibility of spacing. Thus, for example, it may be desired to have a first portion of the closet or wardrobe space with widely-spaced part hangers for thick or bulky items of clothing (e.g., winter coats and jackets), a second portion with intermediate spacing between the hangers for items such as suits and dresses, and a third portion with closely spaced hangers for shirts and blouses and the like. At different seasons, or for other reasons, it may be desired to change the respective percentages of the total rod or pole length occupied by each of these three portions. A notched or ribbed rod or pole would offer, at best, fixed percentages of its length for each of these three portions, and event then the cost of the rod or pole would be increased substantially by the need for the integral notches or ribs.
Accordingly, it would be greatly advantageous to provide a device or an mechanism for maintaining a desired degree of hanger spacing on a closet hanger pole or rod, and that would allow different hanger separation distances at different positions on the pole or rod. It would be further advantageous to provide such a device or mechanism that could be applied to or used on an existing pole or rod; in other words, that would allow the retrofitting of the pole or rod to achieve the advantages of the invention. Of still further advantage would be to allow the user to change the percentages of the total rod or pole length dedicated to each of several different hanger spacings. These functional advantages should be offered in a device that is economical to manufacture and easy to use and install.
Broadly, in one aspect, the present invention is a closet hanger spacing device, comprising an elongate body of a rigid or semi-rigid material (e.g., plastic, metal, or wood) having a series of spaced-apart spacing elements arranged along its length on a first side, and an adhesive element applied on a second side opposite the first side, whereby the spacing device can be adhesively attached to a hanger pole or rod in a closet or wardrobe. The spacing elements define notches between them, in each of which the hook of a clothing hanger is received, while the spacing elements themselves maintain the desired degree of separation or spacing between adjacent hangers and thus the clothing items hung on them. The spacing distance or interval between the notches may be a fixed constant, or the device may have two or more portions with different spacing intervals. In a preferred embodiment, the adhesive element comprises a strip of double-sided tape.
In another aspect, the present invention is a modular system for spacing the hangers on a hanger pole or rod, comprising at least first and second self-adhesive spacing components, each of which comprises an elongate body of rigid or semi-rigid material having a series of spacing elements (as described above) on a first side of the body, and an adhesive element on a second, opposite side of the body, wherein the spacing elements on the first component are spaced apart by a first fixed distance or spacing interval, and the spacing elements on the second component are spaced apart by a second spacing interval that is measurably different from the first spacing interval. In a preferred embodiment, the adhesive element is a double-sided tape. Also, the first and second spacing components may advantageously be of different colors, and these colors may be coded to specific spacing intervals. The use of the modular system allows different portions of the hanger pole or rod to be dedicated to specific and different spacing intervals, thus accommodating clothing of different thicknesses and susceptibility to wrinkling or creasing.
As will be better appreciated from the detailed description that follows, the present invention provides the desired degree of hanger separation or spacing, without requiring a specially designed hanger rod or pole, because the invention is designed for use on existing, conventional hanger rods or poles. Flexibility of spacing within the closet or wardrobe is provided by employing two or more modular spacing components having different spacing intervals. The spacing device or components be easily removed or changed, offering additional flexibility in their application. Finally, the spacing device or components of the present invention are simple and economical to manufacture, and they are easy to install and use.
Referring now to
The spacing device 10 comprises an elongate body 20 of rigid or semi-rigid material (such as plastic, metal, or wood), having a first side that is castellated to form a series of spacing elements 22 or risers extending from the first side thereof. The spacing elements 22 define spaces or notches 24 between them, so that a hanger (such as that indicated by the numeral 26) can be received in each of the notches 24. The body 20 can be made in a variety of lengths, depending on the length of the closet rode or pole 12, and whether the device meant to be fixed to all or only a portion of the length of the rod or pole 12.
As shown in
As shown in
It will thus be appreciated from the foregoing description that the present invention provides any desired degree of hanger separation or spacing, without requiring a specially designed hanger rod or pole, because the invention is designed for use on existing, conventional hanger rods or poles. Flexibility of spacing within the closet or wardrobe is provided by employing two or more modular spacing components having different spacing intervals. The spacing device or components be easily removed or changed, offering additional flexibility in their application. Finally, the spacing device or components of the present invention are simple and economical to manufacture, and they are easy to install and use.
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated that this embodiment is exemplary only, and that a number of modifications and variations, other than those specifically mentioned above, may suggest themselves to those skilled in the pertinent arts. For example, as shown in the drawings, the spacing elements 22 and the notches 24 are configured as a “square wave” (defined broadly to encompass a configuration in which the spacing elements are of a length that is equal to or greater than their height). This configuration is exemplary only, and other configurations (such as a sawtooth configuration or a “scalloped” configuration) may be satisfactory functionally, and even preferable aesthetically. Such variations and modifications should be considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the claims that follow.
