This document relates generally to the motor vehicle equipment field and, more particularly, to a deployable coat hanger assembly that may be displaced between a collapsed and concealed position and a fully deployed position in a quick and efficient manner and for the benefit and advantage of the user.
Many motor vehicles today are provided with a clothes or coat hook in some form. Such a clothes or coat hook is typically quite small and often integrated into the grab handle on the headliner above a motor vehicle door opening. Unfortunately, such a small hook of this type may not fully receive and adequately support a larger or heavier coat or other clothes item in the desired manner. For example, a coat may swing and shift as it is subjected to cornering and braking forces during the driving of a motor vehicle. Often that shifting results in a coat falling from such a small hook.
This document relates to a self-contained and deployable coat hanger assembly with opposed displaceable arms that may be deployed to form a full coat hanger better suited for supporting and reliably holding a larger or heavier coat during motor vehicle operation. Advantageously, the coat hanger assembly may also be collapsed and concealed within an aesthetically pleasing housing when not in use.
In accordance with the purposes and benefits described herein, a coat hanger assembly is provided. That coat hanger assembly comprises a housing and a deployable hanger body. The deployable hanger body includes a stem and two displaceable arms carried on the stem.
The housing may include a guide track and the stem may include a guide track follower engaged in the guide track. Further, the housing may include an integral snap lock feature that engages the guide track follower and releasably holds the deployable hanger body in a stowed position within the housing when not in use.
The coat hanger assembly may be said to comprise a housing and a hanger body that is displaceable between a stowed position within the housing and a use position projecting from the housing. The hanger body may include a stem and two arms pivotally mounted to the stem. Those two arms are displaceable between a home position and a deployed position.
The housing may include a guide track. The stem may include a proximal end and a distal end. A guide track follower may be provided at the proximal end of the stem. Two pivots may be provided at the distal end of the stem pivotally connecting the two arms to the stem.
The two arms may rest alongside the stem in the home position and project in opposed directions from the stem in the deployed position. The coat hanger assembly may further include a stop feature to hold the two arms in that deployed position. In addition the housing may further include an integral snap lock feature to hold the hanger body in the stowed position.
A tab may be provided on the distal end of the stem. In addition the housing may include an open end in communication with the guide track. Further, a notch receiver may be provided in the housing adjacent the open end. When the hanger body is held in the stowed position by the snap feature, the tab on the distal end of the stem may be received in the notch receiver of the housing adjacent the open end.
In accordance with an additional aspect, a method is provided of hanging a clothing article. That method comprises the steps of displacing a hanger body from a stowed position within a housing to a deployed position projecting from the housing and deploying two arms on the hanger body to receive and hold the clothing article.
The method may further include the step of sliding the hanger body along a guide track formed in the housing in order to displace the hanger body from the stowed position to the deployed position. Further, the method may include pivoting a first arm of the two arms in a first direction in order to deploy the first arm from a first home position into a first deployed position. In addition the method may include the step of pivoting a second arm of the two arms in a second direction in order to deploy the second arm from a second home position to a second deployed position.
Still further, the method may include the step of hanging a clothing article, such as a coat, from the two arms. In addition the method may include the step of returning the two arms to the home position and returning the hanger body to the stowed position within the housing following use.
In the following description, there are shown and described several preferred embodiments of the coat hanger assembly as well as the related method of hanging a clothing article. As it should be realized, the coat hanger assembly and related method are capable of other, different embodiments and their several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the coat hanger assembly and method as set forth and described in the following claims. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the coat hanger assembly and together with the description serve to explain certain principles thereof.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the coat hanger assembly, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures.
Reference is now made to
The coat hanger assembly 10 includes a housing 12 and a deployable hanger body 14. The hanger body 14 includes a stem 16 and two displaceable arms 18, 20 carried on the stem. More specifically, the stem 16 includes a proximal end 26 and a distal end 28. A guide follower 30 is provided at the proximal end 26 of the stem 16. Two pivots 32, 34 are provided at the distal end 28 of the stem 16. The first arm 18 is connected to the stem 16 by the first pivot 32. The second arm 20 is connected to the stem 16 by the second pivot 34. Note the apertures 33 in the stem 16 and the first arm 18 to receive the first pivot 32 and the apertures 35 in the stem and the second arm 20 to receive the pivot 34.
As best illustrated in
One hangs a clothing article on the coat hanger assembly 10 by displacing the hanger body 14 from a stowed position within the housing 12 (see
Next one deploys the two arms 18, 20. This is done by pivoting the first arm 18 in the direction of action arrow B and the second arm 20 in the direction of action arrow C in
After sliding the hanger body 14 along the guide track 22 into the use position and deploying the two arms 18, 20 into the deployed position as illustrated in
After use, one returns the two arms 18, 20 to the home position and returns or slides the hanger body 14 back into the stowed position. Toward this end one pivots the first arm 18 about the first pivot 32 in the direction of action arrow D and the second arm 20 about the second pivot 34 in the direction of action arrow E (see
The foregoing has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, the tab 36 provided for engagement with a finger may be replaced by another structure such as a ring or loop. The tab 36 may also be softly illuminated if desired to aid one in locating the tab in low light ambient environment. Further, as illustrated in