Patent Application
20250009157
The present invention relates to a garment hanger for hanging an article of clothing.
Travelers often bring garment (or clothes) hangers with them for hanging clothes. With the limitation of space in a suitcase or bag, hangers can be awkward to store unless their size can somehow be reduced as necessary. Space is particularly an acute issue for transportation of clothes packed with garment hangers therein, as freight space is expensive.
Inside a piece of luggage or packaging, whilst the body of a garment hanger can be used in the upper part of a jacket or the like to maintain its shape, the hook is particularly unwieldy. Garment hangers with a folding hook are known, but existing designs have shortcomings.
The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such shortcomings by providing a new or otherwise improved garment hanger.
According to the invention, there is provided a garment hanger comprising a body for hanging an article of clothing, the body including a central body portion having an upper side and a lower side, a hook with a base connected to the central body portion, and a connection adapted to connect the hook by the base to the central body portion for pivotal movement between an upper position in which the hook is on the upper side of the central body portion and a lower position in which the hook is on the lower side of the central body portion. The hook in the lower position is located within at least part of the thickness of the central body portion.
Preferably, the hook in the lower position is located clear of the upper side of the central body portion.
Preferably, the central body portion has an upper edge delineating the upper side, and the hook in the lower position is located below the upper edge.
Preferably, the hook in the lower position is located within the thickness of the central body portion.
More preferably, the hook in the upper position is located within the thickness of the central body portion.
In a preferred embodiment, the connection is provided by at least one first connecting part of the base in pivotal connection with at least one second connecting part of the central body portion, and the connection includes resilient means adopted to hold the hook in at least one of the upper position and the lower position, the resilient means acting between the first connecting part and the second connecting part.
More preferably, the resilient means comprises complementary formations provided on and acting between the first connecting part and the second connecting part.
Further more preferably, the complementary formations are arranged in an 180° symmetrical manner such that it is operable to hold the hook in the upper position or the lower position whichever position the hook is moved to.
More preferably, the connection is provided by two said first connecting parts of the base in pivotal connection with two said second connecting parts of the central body portion respectively, the two first connecting parts being resiliently movable relative to the base to provide the resilient means.
Further more preferably, the two first connecting parts are resiliently movable relative to the base by virtue of resiliency of the base.
It is preferred that the connection includes a snap fitting action by which the base is first connected to the central body portion, the snap fitting action being operable based on the resilient means.
It is preferred that the connection includes a snap fitting action by which the base is first connected to the central body portion, the snap fitting action being operable with the hook in an intermediate position between the upper position and the lower position.
Preferably, the central body portion has an abutment arranged to be abutted by the base from below when the hook is in the upper position, thereby reinforcing connection of the hook to the central body portion.
More preferably, the central body portion has an upper flange that provides the abutment.
In a preferred embodiment, the central body portion has a first lateral side including a recess, into which the hook is pivotable to the lower position, thereby occupying at least part of the thickness of the central body portion.
More preferably, the base is located wholly in the recess when the hook is in the lower position.
More preferably, the base extends through an upper side opening out of the recess when the hook is in the upper position.
More preferably, the connection is provided in the recess.
In a preferred construction, the base has an upper end connected with the hook and a pair of spaced-apart lower ends connected to the central body portion.
In a preferred construction, the base is molded from plastics material onto a lower end of the hook.
The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:
Referring to
In terms of specific construction, the body 100 of the garment hanger 10 is molded from a hard plastics material such as polystyrene in particular or one of polypropylene, nylon, polycarbonate and methacrylate. The hook 200 is bent from a metal wire. The base 210 is also molded from a hard plastics material and is molded onto a lower end of the hook 200. The base 210 has a tubular upper end 211 joined with the hook 200, a crossbar 212 connected below the upper end 211, and a pair of spaced-apart lower end lugs 213 provided at opposite ends of the crossbar 212 and connected to the central body portion 110. The base 210 acts as the lower end of the hook 200 and is suitably shaped for connecting to the central body portion 110. Thus for all intents and purposes the base 210 may be considered part of the hook 200.
The hook 200 (including the base 210), when it is folded to the lower position not in use, is located clear of the upper side of the central body portion 110, such that the folded hook 200 does not protrude upwardly beyond the central body portion 110 and therefore it does not take up any space above the central body portion 110. The central body portion 110 has an upper edge U delineating the upper side, and the hook 200 in the lower position is located below the upper edge U. The folded hook 200 is also located within at least part of the thickness of the central body portion 110, for space saving. In the described embodiment, the folded hook 200 is contained within the whole of the thickness of the central body portion 110, with the result that the folded hook 200 does not increase or add anything to the thickness of the overall garment hanger 10. It is noted that the hook 200 (including the base 210), when it is in use in the upper position, is likewise contained within the thickness of the central body portion 110. The garment hanger 10 has a relatively thin profile, whether in use or not in use.
The hanger body 100 includes a pair of arms 120 extending from opposite left and right sides of the central body portion 110, inclined downwards at a small angle. The central body portion 110 has a first lateral side that is formed with a flat recess 111, in which the connection C is provided i.e. the hook 200 is connected at the base 210 to the central body portion 110 within the recess 111. The hook 200 is pivotable into the recess 111 to the lower position, thereby occupying at least part of the thickness of the central body portion 110. In practice, the base 210 is located wholly within the recess 111 when the hook 200 is in the lower position, such that the entire thickness of the base 210 (which is the thickest part of the hook 200) is contained within the thickness of the central body portion 110.
The recess 111 is surrounded and delineated by a flange 112. The flange 112 includes an upper flange section 112U which runs along the upper edge U of the central body portion 110 and is broken to form an upper side opening 1120 of the recess 111. The base 210 protrudes out of the recess 111 through the upper side opening 1120 when the hook 200 is unfolded to the upper position.
In general, the connection C is provided by at least one (e.g. two) first connecting part 213 of the base 210 in pivotal connection with at least one (e.g. two) second connecting part 113 of the central body portion 110. The connection C includes resilient means R adopted to hold the hook 200 in at least one of the upper position and the lower position, with the resilient means R acting between the first connecting part 213 and the second connecting part 113. In the described embodiment, the base 210 includes two said first connecting parts 213 which are the base's pair of spaced-apart lower end lugs 213 mentioned above, and they are connected to two said second connecting parts 113 of the central body portion 110 respectively. The second connecting parts 113 are provided by two tabs 113 integrally formed on the bottom of the recess 111. The tabs 113 are positioned symmetrically behind the upper side opening 1120, for engagement by the two lower end lugs 213 of the base 210 respectively.
Each tab 113 has a hole 114 right next to an inclined (i.e. chamfered) surface 116 on the outer side of the tab 113 leading from above to the hole 114 (as best shown in
To connect the lower end lugs 213 of the base 210 with the tabs 113 of the central body portion 110 (i.e. effecting the connection C), a user should first position the hook 200 in an intermediate position (
It is noted that the connection C includes a snap fitting action by which the base 210 is first connected to and is engaged with the central body portion 110. The snap fitting action is operable based on the resilient means R, with the hook 200 in an intermediate position between the upper position and the lower position.
At the interface between each lower end lug 213 and the associated tab 113, there are a rib 215 on the inner surface of the lower end lug 213 and a groove 115 on the outer surface of the tab 113, both being straight and centered about the aforesaid common hinge axis. The rib 215 intersects the associated stud 214, and similarly the groove 115 extends across the associated hole 114.
The rib 215 and the groove 115 are complimentary formations of complementary shapes, such that they fit in mesh together when they are angularly aligned in one direction or the opposite direction. In either one of these two directions, the rib 215 and the groove 115 fit in mesh together under the action of resilience of the crossbar 212 i.e. the same resilient means R. The two directions correspond to respective pivotal positions of the base and hence the hook 200 relative to the central body portion 110, which are the aforesaid upper position and lower position. Conversely, and in short, the resilience of the crossbar 212 holds the hook 200 in the upper position or the lower position. Being straight, the rib 215 and the groove 115 are arranged in an 180° (i.e. diametrically) symmetrical manner such that they are operable to hold the hook 200 in the upper position or the lower position whichever position the hook 200 is moved to.
At the interface between each lower end lug 213 and the associated tab 113, the rib 215 and the groove 115 are biased together under the action of resilience of the crossbar 212, thereby involving and together constituting the aforesaid resilient means R. Such resilient means R comprises complementary formations i.e. the rib 215 and groove 115 that are provided on and acting between the lower end lug (i.e. first connecting part) 213 and the tab (i.e. second connecting part) 113. The two lower end lugs 213 are resiliently movable relative to each other and to the base 210 to provide the resilient means R, by virtue of resiliency of the base 210 and in particular its crossbar 212.
The base 210 of the hook 200 is formed with a step 212S which extends on the upper side of and along the length of the base's crossbar 212. The upper flange 112U offers an abutment 112A as provided by a shortened (as in height) or dwarfed part of the upper flange 112U across the bottom of the upper side opening 1120 of the recess 111. In the upper position of the hook 200, the step 212S of its base 210 abuts the abutment 112A of the central body portion 110 from below, thus retaining the base 210 (
The retaining engagement between the base 210 and the central body portion 110 is particularly advantageous as it shares, with the aforesaid pivoting engagement between the hook 200 and the hanger body 100, the combined weight of the hanger body 100 and the article of clothing hanged thereon when the garment hanger 10 is in use. Whilst the hook 200 of the garment hanger 10 can be retracted through pivoting into the hanger body 100, the hanger body 100 will remain in general shape for supporting an article of clothing disposed thereon with minimum creasing during storage or transportation. In either or both situations, the hook 200 (including its base 210) does not add any thickness to the overall garment hanger 10, by staying within the thickness of the hanger body 100. When folded, the hook 200 (i.e. in the lower position) does not protrude from or beyond the upper edge U of the hanger body 100.
The invention has been given by way of example only, and various modifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims.
