The hanger strap and shoulder covers relate in general to a hanger, and more specifically to covers that are attached to a hanger that may be used to adequately support clothing such that it retains its proper form. They may also be used to save space.
A hanger is an excellent device for storing garments including shirts, pants, jackets, or any other type of garment made out of any particular material, be it natural or synthetic. If it can be worn, it can be hung. Hanging garments, however, presents a host of issues.
Generally, hangers have a tendency to cause bumps and creases in clothing, making it look unnatural or improperly cared for. For example, after washing and drying a particular garment such as a shirt, one may hang it on a typical plastic hanger. These hangers are relatively thin and provide very little support. Even if a shirt is perfectly placed upon such a hanger, after time, gravity pulls downward while the hanger stubbornly resists, leaving a perceptible aberration upon the shirt.
Various hangers have been developed to address these issues. Broad shouldered hangers, for example, provide much more support while eliminating the aberration problem. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,201,298 and 6,964,360 are examples of such hangers. The problem with these types of hangers, however, is that they tend to be relatively expensive to manufacture, assemble, and ship. They may also be heavy. Other hanger forms such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,446 are generally formed into a given length and may only be efficiently used with garments of specific sizes. These captive design hangers lack adjustability.
A further limitation that is of particular note with broad shouldered hangers relates to the issue of efficiently using available closet space. These hangers require more horizontal space on the closet hanging rod, thus reducing the number of garments that may be hung. Moreover, in a poorly designed closet, one may be able to hang two dozen shirts in a row, but still be left with several inches of empty space below the shirts that cannot be realistically utilized.
Yet another limitation with all of the hangers described above is that more new hangers lead to more unnecessary waste. Perfectly good old hangers will likely be discarded to make room for the newly purchased hangers.
There is a need in the art for a hanger form that provides adequate support, that conserves valuable space, and that may be adapted to a wide variety of common hangers. It is to these ends that the hanger strap and shoulder covers have been developed.
To minimize the limitations in the prior art, and to minimize other limitations that will be apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the hanger strap and shoulder covers describe a hanger accessory, comprising a first shoulder cover configured to extend longitudinally along an upper surface of a first shoulder rail of a hanger, and a second shoulder cover configured to extend longitudinally along an upper surface of a second shoulder rail of the hanger. The first shoulder cover is wider than the first shoulder rail of the hanger. The second shoulder cover is wider than the second shoulder rail of the hanger.
The hanger accessory further comprises a first fastener configured to securely attach the first shoulder cover to the hanger. The first fastener is configured to fasten the first shoulder cover to a hook of the hanger. The first fastener comprises a first portion attached to or integrated with the first shoulder cover, and a second portion comprising an opening configured to receive a hook therethrough, or a linear array of openings, wherein each of the openings is configured to selectively receive a hook therethrough for adjusting the position of the first shoulder cover with respect to the hook along the longitudinal axis of the first shoulder cover.
The hanger accessory further comprises a second fastener configured to securely attach the second shoulder cover to the hanger. The second fastener is configured to fasten the second shoulder cover to the hook of the hanger. The second fastener comprises a first portion attached to or integrated with the second shoulder cover, and a second portion comprising an opening configured to receive a hook therethrough, or a linear array of openings, wherein each of the openings is configured to selectively receive a hook therethrough for adjusting the position of the second shoulder cover with respect to the hook along the longitudinal axis of the second shoulder cover.
The hanger accessory further comprises a first clamp, a first clamp fastener configured to attach to the first clamp, a second clamp, and a second clamp fastener configured to attach to the second clamp, all to secure the first and second shoulder covers to the first and second shoulder rails.
The hanger accessory further comprises a first channel through which the first shoulder rail of the hanger extends, a second channel through which the second shoulder rail of the hanger extends, and a clip for holding the first and second fasteners together.
The hanger accessory further comprises a hanger support member including a first portion configured to attach to a hanger, and a second portion configured to support a second hanger wherein the first portion comprises an aperture configured to be placed around a hook of the hanger and thereafter rest at the base of the hook, and the second portion comprises an aperture configured to support the second hanger by receiving a hook of the second hanger. The hanger support member also comprises an elongated section situated between the first and second portions of the additional hanger support member.
It is an objective of the hanger strap and shoulder covers to provide adequate support to a garment. It is another objective of the hanger strap and shoulder covers to conserve space. It is yet another objective of the hanger strap and shoulder covers to be adaptable to a wide variety of common hangers.
These and other advantages and features of the hanger strap and shoulder covers are described herein with specificity so as to make the hanger strap and shoulder covers understandable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Elements in the FIGS. have not necessarily been drawn to scale in order to enhance their clarity and improve understanding of these various elements and embodiments of the hanger strap and shoulder covers. Furthermore, elements that are known to be common and well understood to those in the industry are not depicted in order to provide a clear view of the various embodiments of the hanger strap and shoulder covers.
In the following discussion that addresses a number of embodiments and applications of the hanger strap and shoulder covers, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, where depictions are made, by way of illustration, of specific embodiments in which the hanger strap and shoulder covers may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the hanger strap and shoulder covers.
Shoulder cover 106 has two features including shoulder cover fastener 108, and stability channel 112 that may be fluidly connected during the manufacturing process of shoulder cover 106. Shoulder cover 106 may be comprised of a plastic, plastic like material, or other compound.
Shoulder cover 106, when viewed from above, may be substantially wider than hanger 101 upon which it rests. Shoulder cover 106 may generally be arced in shape such that a line drawn from the center of one long edge of shoulder cover 106 to the center of the other long edge would be curved if viewed from a side elevation. Such curvature may allow for a garment to naturally rest upon shoulder cover 106 such that it does not crease, bend, or take on an unnatural shape. The proximal end of shoulder cover 106 may have a similar curvature and purpose as described above.
Shoulder cover fastener 108 may be fluidly connected near the distal end of shoulder cover 106 and extend beyond the distal end of shoulder cover 106. Shoulder cover fastener 108 may be positioned such that it would rest directly above hanger 101 when shoulder cover 106 is attached to hanger 101. From the proximal end of shoulder cover fastener 108 to its distal end may be a series of arced voids 109, openings 110, and opening grooves 111. Arced voids 109, openings 110, and opening grooves 111, may give flexibility to the shoulder cover fastener 108 allowing for shoulder cover 106 to be adapted to a wide array of hangers that may have dramatically different shaped shoulder rails. Opening grooves 111 in particular may help to add flexibility as they provide a joint like function and may be located perpendicularly across from one another on any particular opening 110.
Openings 110 may be of wide nature, such that they allow for hook 102 of hanger 101 to be easily guided through any particular opening 110. Moreover, shoulder cover fastener 108 may be comprised of several openings 110 that may be aligned single file, extending from near the center of shoulder cover fastener 108 to the distal end of shoulder cover fastener 108. Such an array of openings may give the entirety of shoulder cover 106 its adjustable nature. For example, if there were to be three openings aligned in a row from the distal end of the shoulder cover fastener extending toward the proximal end of said shoulder cover fastener, placing the hook of a hanger through the opening on the extreme distal end of the shoulder cover fastener would allow the shoulder cover to extend to its greatest length. It would thereby be amenable to a larger shaped hanger and ultimately a larger garment. By contrast, if the hook of a hanger were placed in the opening closest to the proximal end of the shoulder cover fastener, this would only allow the shoulder cover to extend to a lesser distance. But this may be desirable for a hanger of smaller dimensions for a smaller garment. In either scenario, the opening may provide a level of stability such that the shoulder cover may stay positioned upon the hanger.
Another feature of shoulder cover 106 that gives further overall stability is stability channel 112. In
Another measure of stability that may be used to secure shoulder cover 106 to hanger 101 is clamp 113 and clamp fastener 114. Clamp 113 may be manually connected to shoulder cover 106 and hanger 101 through a hole or series of holes in shoulder cover 106. As depicted in
Wherever these holes are situated, they may be of such a nature that they are able to house clamp 113 such that clamp 113 may not slip through shoulder cover 106, but allow for the posts of clamp 113 to rest on the underside of shoulder cover 106. For example, the two posts of clamp 113 may be guided through the two preexisting holes in shoulder cover 106 as depicted in
Clamp 113 may generally consist of the same material as shoulder cover 106 as described above. Clamp 113 may also generally consist of a base and two posts situated parallel to one another and fluidly connected to said base in the manufacturing process. Said posts may be of such a length that when inserted into shoulder cover 106 they extend slightly beyond the plane of the arced edges of shoulder cover 106. However, this length may be adjusted more or less depending upon the shape of hanger 101 to which clamp 113 may be attached.
To further effectuate the function of clamp 113, clamp fastener 114 may be manually connected and secured to clamp 113. Clamp fastener 114 may be generally constructed of the same material as shoulder cover 106 as described above. Clamp fastener 114 may also be constructed so that it is compatible with clamp 113. Clamp 113 and clamp fastener 114 may be generally regarded as a male/female pair. As such, clamp fastener 114 may have two holes situated at such a distance as to allow the dual posts of clamp 113 to be inserted with relative ease.
Moreover, clamp fastener 114 may be of a dual nature. Clamp fastener 114 may generally consist of two parts including a base with two holes and an extension that may be fluidly connected during the manufacturing process. Said extension may be situated between said holes, and may have an indent on the distal end to allow for accommodation of a thin hanger. For example, a shoulder cover placed on a wire hanger would be amenable to the distal portion of the extension where the indent may be found and substantially house the wire hanger.
In another embodiment, such as depicted in
Once the requisite number of shoulder covers 106 has been appropriately attached to hanger 101, hanger support strap 116 may also be attached to hanger 101. However, hanger support strap 116 may be attached to hanger 101 before or after any shoulder cover 106 has been attached to hanger 101. Hanger support strap 116 may generally be comprised of the same material as shoulder covers 106 as described above.
Hanger support strap 116 may have two functional features at either end to effectuate its purpose. The proximal end of hanger support strap 116 may contain first aperture 117. First aperture 117 may be used to attach hanger support strap 116 to hanger 101 such that first aperture 117 hangs around the base of neck 103 of said hanger 101. The distal end of hanger support strap 116 may contain second aperture 118. This second aperture 118 may be formed as depicted in
In
Once the posts of clamp 113 have been properly inserted, clamp fastener 114 may be attached. Clamp fastener 114 may be pressed upon the ribbed posts of clamp 113. The holes of clamp fastener 114 may be of such a diameter that one must apply a certain amount of pressure in order for clamp fastener 114 to be securely attached to clamp 113.
Once attached, clamp fastener 114 may be detached, for example, to remove shoulder cover 106 in order to apply it to another hanger. Clamp fastener 114 may also be detached and reversed, such that its extension (discussed above) is able to securely attach to, for example, a wire hanger.
A hanger strap and shoulder covers have been described. The foregoing description of the various exemplary embodiments of the hanger strap and shoulder covers have been presented for the purposes of illustration and disclosure. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the hanger strap and shoulder covers not be limited by this detailed description.