Clothes hanger package

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6772880
  • Patent Number
    6,772,880
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, October 2, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 10, 2004
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Ackun; Jacob K.
    Agents
    • Bovasso; Louis
    • Greenberg Traurig LLP
Abstract
A package comprised of a plurality of clothes hangers bound together by spaced frangible straps encircling their arms and an indicia bearing tag which has an aperture receiving therethrough hooks of at least one or more of the hangers encircling the same and extending downwardly below the main body portions of the hangers between the encircled hangers and an abutting hanger providing indicia thereon identifying the hangers.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The invention relates to clothes hangers; and, more particularly, for a package for binding together a plurality of hangers.




RELATED ART




Clothes hangers are well known in the art. Such hangers generally have a hook for hanging the same from a bar in a closet or the like. The hook is connected to the main body portion of the hanger which has spaced arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of the main body portion. Clothes, such as jackets or skirts, may be supported on the arms of the hanger.




Generally, such hangers are sold individually or packaged together in a plurality of hangers having an indicia bearing card encircling the main body portion of the hangers, the hooks thereof extending upwardly through an aperture in the card. Such cards cover the front and back of the body portions of the hangers so that the entire body portion is not visible. If the hanger is made of a desirable product, such as solid wood, the beauty of the product is not fully apparent. The hanger arms are generally not separately bound so that they may move apart and separate from the display card, especially during rough handling in a retail store or the like. This requires sale of the product at a distress price and possibly no identification to the customer of the manufacturer of the product.




There is thus a need for a package for a plurality of hangers that binds them together neat and tight yet displays information about the hangers in a pleasing manner.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of this invention to provide a package for a plurality of clothes hangers.




It is further object of this invention to provide such a package which binds together the spaced arms of the hangers while holding together the main body portions of the hangers in a manner displaying information about the hangers.




These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a package comprised of a plurality of clothes hangers bound together by spaced frangible straps encircling their arms. An indicia bearing tag which has an aperture receives therethrough hooks of one or more hangers encircling the same and extending downwardly below the main body portions of the hangers between the encircled hangers and an abutting hanger providing indicia thereon identifying the hangers.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING





FIG. 1

is an elevational view of the hanger package in accordance with the teachings of the invention;





FIG. 2

is a side view of the hanger of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a top plan view of the hanger of

FIG. 1







FIG. 4

is a plan view of a placard binding certain of the hangers of

FIG. 1

removed therefrom for convenience of illustration;





FIG. 5

is a rear view of the hanger of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is a bottom plan view of the hanger of

FIG. 1

; and





FIG. 7

is a partial view taken along lines


7





7


of

FIG. 2

illustrating how the placard folds about the hangers of FIG.


1


.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring now to

FIG. 1

of the drawing, a hanger package


10


is shown. As seen in

FIG. 2

, package


10


includes a plurality of hangers, such as four hangers


11


through


14


. These hangers are identical and each comprises a main body portion


15


(

FIG. 1

) having a hook


16


′ connected thereto at generally the midpoint thereof for hooking the same on a pole in a closet or the like.




Each hanger includes a pair of spaced arms


16


,


17


integral with and extending from opposite sides of main body portion


15


. Arms


16


,


17


may be angled downwardly as shown and may include notches, such as notches


18


,


19


, respectively, for hanging garment straps therein.




As particularly contemplated in the present invention, a pair of bands


20


,


21


encircle all


4


arms of the hangers in a tight, close fitting relationship. For example, band


20


encircles arms


16


and band


21


encircles arms


17


. These bands


20


,


21


may be transparent and are easily cut or frangible. They may have indicia, such as indicia


22


thereon. Such indicia might relate to the quality of the hanger or to its composition. For example, the hangers may be made out of wood, the indicia might indicate the type of wood, e.g., maple, and the transparency of the bands


20


,


21


allows the grain of the wood to be visible therethrough.




Referring again to

FIG. 1

, a securement placard


23


is provided which, as will be discussed, wraps around a plurality of the hangers. For example, placard


23


is shown in

FIGS. 1 and 3

as wrapped around


3


of the hangers (hangers


12


,


13


and


14


) and abutting against the 4


th


hanger


11


.




Placard


23


is shown in plan view in

FIG. 4

removed from the hangers


12


to


14


. Placard


23


may be of a relatively stiff material, such as cardboard, and includes a generally rectangular main body portion


24


having indicia


25


at one end and an elongated tab


26


extending from the other end. Tab


26


terminates in a cross-piece


27


. Main body portion


23


also includes a first fold line


28


spaced from tab


26


and a second fold line


29


spaced from fold line


28


. An elongated oblong slot


30


extends between fold lines


28


,


29


having a longitudinal axis generally normal to the longitudinal axes of fold lines


28


,


29


. The portion of main body portion


24


having indicia


25


thereon also has a generally T-shaped cut-out slot


31


with a fold line


100


. The configuration of slot


31


is generally related to the configuration of cross-piece


27


and the configuration of that portion of tab


26


from fold line


100


to the terminal end of cross-piece


27


as will be discussed further hereinbelow.




In operation, placard


23


is folded along fold lines


28


,


29


and placed over the tops of the main body portions


15


of hangers


12


to


14


as shown in

FIG. 3

with the hooks


16


′ thereof entering and exiting out of slot


30


. The portion


33


(

FIG. 4

) of main body portion


24


having tab


26


thereon extends down from hanger


14


(see

FIG. 5

) with tab


26


(

FIG. 6

) extending across the bottom of hangers


12


,


13


and


14


. Tab


26


is folded at fold line


100


, extends upwardly between the hangers


11


and


12


with cross-piece


27


fitting into slot


31


as seen in FIG.


7


.




The friction of one hanger against the other, such as hanger


11


against hanger


12


, holds the portion


27


of tab


26


in place which locks into slot


31


(see FIG.


7


). As seen in

FIG. 1

, this arrangement provides for the portion


34


having indicia


25


thereon is visible to the customer. The hangers


11


to


14


are held together in a tidy neat package, do not separate under rough handling on a shelf or the like and can be prominently displayed on a store shelf with the material of the hangers, such as the grain of the wood, visible through bands


20


,


21


.




Although a particular embodiment of the invention is disclosed, variations thereof may occur to the artisan and the scope of the invention should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A hanger package comprised of:a plurality of hangers abutting against each other, each hanger having a central main body portion with an upper surface and a lower surface and a pair of spaced integral arms extending outwardly from opposite sides of said main body portion, and a hook fixed to the main body portion extending upwardly therefrom for hooking said hanger onto a closet bar or the like; a pair of frangible bands encircling each of the abutting arms of all of said hangers in a tight, close fitting relationship; and a placard encircling at least one or more of said abutting hangers, said placard having a first portion with an oblong slot therein, said hooks of said hangers encircled by said placard extending upwardly through said slot, said placard having a second portion hinged to said first portion extending downwardly from said first portion between one of said hangers encircled by said placard and another of said hangers not encircled by said placard and abutting thereagainst, said second portion extending below the lower surface of the main body portions of said hangers, said placard having a third portion spaced from said second portion hinged to said first portion and extending downwardly from said first portion to the lower surface of one of said hangers encircled by said placard and remote from the hanger from which said second portion extends downwardly with respect thereto, said third portion having a tab extending across the lower surface of said hangers encircled by said placard and upwardly forming an end portion disposed between said second portion and said hanger from which said second portion extends downwardly with respect thereto, the engagement of said hanger not encircled by said placard and said hanger encircled by said placard abutting thereagainst trapping said end portion of said tab therebetween functionally holding the end portion of said tab in place.
  • 2. The package of claim 1 wherein said bands are of transparent material.
  • 3. The package of claim 2 wherein said bands have indicia thereon.
  • 4. The package of claim 1 wherein the main body portion and arms of said hangers are of wood.
  • 5. The package of claim 1 wherein the second portion of said placard has indicia thereon below the lower surfaces of said hangers.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number Name Date Kind
2976990 Nevai Mar 1961 A
3357544 Gingher Dec 1967 A