Clothing hangers are well known in the art. It is desirable to have clothing hangers with a relatively thin width, so that a large number of hangers can fit in a given length of hanging rod. Additionally, a thinner width means that less material is used to make the hanger, creating cost savings in manufacturing, shipping and storing the hangers. However, a hanger with a thin width almost always bends more easily when a heavy item is hung on it and/or can create undesirable crease lines in the clothing hanging on them.
The foregoing example of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a hanger that can attach to a substantially identical hanger to create a thicker hanger that is less likely to bend and less likely to create creases in clothing hung on the hanger.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the hanger can interlock with a substantially identical hanger in at least one interlocking region.
In other embodiments, the hangers are joined together with one or more attachment pieces that can be removed from the hanger when not in use.
The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tool and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other improvements.
In one embodiment a hanger has two interlocking regions, each located at the lower corners of the hanger arms. The interlocking regions have a hole that extends at least part way through the body of the hanger and an extruded lip that extends beyond the body of the hanger at the interlocking region. In one embodiment the outer surface of the interlocking region is narrower than the upper hanging arms of the hanger and the outer edge of the extruded lip is substantially co-planar with the outer surface of the upper hanging arms. This allows the upper hanging arms to be in direct contact with each other when the two hangers are locked together, creating a smooth upper surface.
In another embodiment, two hangers are locked together with separate joining pieces. Multiple different joining pieces can be used to allow the user to create multiple different configurations of the joined hangers for different uses.
In any of the embodiments, the hanger and/or the connection pieces can all be formed of the same material, most likely a suitable plastic, or can be made of two or more different materials. In one example, the hanger connecting feature might be formed of a soft over molded rubber or a separate attached rubber part, thus allowing the softer rubber part to either fit over or inside the mating feature on the other opposite side of the hanger, locking the two hangers together.
In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than limiting. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.
Referring first to
The lower ends 106, 107 have interlocking regions 108, 109 that allow two hangers 100 to be attached together as shown in
On each side of the hanger a first lip 111 and second lip 112 extend from the body of the hanger around the interior cavity. The interior cavity 110 tapers from one side to the other, such that lip 111 has a smaller circumference than 112. Lip 111 is sized such that it friction fits into the interior of lip 112 as seen in
Referring next to
While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations therefore. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims hereinafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations are within their true spirit and scope. Each apparatus embodiment described herein has numerous equivalents.
The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. Whenever a range is given in the specification, all intermediate ranges and subranges, as well as all individual values included in the ranges given are intended to be included in the disclosure. When a Markush group or other grouping is used herein, all individual members of the group and all combinations and subcombinations possible of the group are intended to be individually included in the disclosure.
In general the terms and phrases used herein have their art-recognized meaning, which can be found by reference to standard texts, journal references and contexts known to those skilled in the art. The above definitions are provided to clarify their specific use in the context of the invention.
This application is a non-provisional application claiming the benefits of provisional application No. 62/028,370 filed Jul. 24, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62028370 | Jul 2014 | US |