Patent Application
20220031103
The present invention relates to a device for hanging shirts and other clothing. In the case of shirts, the device facilitated hanging without stretching a neck portion of the shirt. The device is designed to be opened and closed by one hand without extra steps.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
A basic problem for hanging shirts is that from time to time the neck is too small to conveniently insert a hanger from above. One could unbutton the top one or two buttons, or in the case of a shirt without buttons, one could stretch out the neck of the shirt. Either solution is undesirable.
European patent, EP1817989A1 to Ferrarini describes a clothing hanger with pivoting arms. That solution, however, is problematic because weight of the shirt can force inadvertent closure. One can use a stopper of some sort to prevent closure, but that introduces an extra step, and extra complexity.
The '989 patent is incorporated by reference herein. Where a definition or use of a term in the incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Thus, there is still a need for a pragmatic hanger requiring only minimum effort for a user to hang a shirt or other item of clothing.
The inventive subject matter provides a device being capable of hanging a cloth with minimum effort on the part of a user, and with less potential damage on item being hung.
In general, the inventive hanger comprises an upper coupling, left and right arms extending laterally away from opposite sides of the upper coupling. The arms are further coupled with a lower coupling, at least one of the couplings includes a pivot that allows the lower coupling to move closer to the upper coupling. A biasing component biases the lower coupling away from the upper coupling.
In preferred embodiments, at least one of the arms is resiliently flexible, and operates as the biasing component. Additionally or alternatively, a different biasing component can be used including a spring.
Flexibility of one or both of the arms is sufficient to allow the lower coupling to travel at least 2 cm closer to the upper coupling. The arms can be any suitable length, and can include a bend such that either or both of the arms extend all the way from the upper coupling to the lower coupling. Alternatively, either or both of the arms can telescope to effectively adjust the overall side to side length of the hanger.
In some embodiments, the arms and/or couplings can be user disassembled and reassembled in a non-destructive manner.
As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “coupled to” is intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). Therefore, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are used synonymously.
Also as used herein, the meaning of the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, and the meaning of the term “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a right embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.
The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each intermediate value falling within the range. Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commercially practical values.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
The present invention describes a clothing hanger to be used to hang a cloth with a user's minimum effort.
The resilient characteristic of one or both of the arms 13, 14 allows the hanger 10 to repeatedly transition between opened and closed configurations, and also operates to bias the upper and lower couplings 11, 12 away from each other.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63060606 | Aug 2020 | US |
