Claims
- 1. A hanger comprising:(A) an attachment portion for securing said hanger to a support; and (B) at least one pinch-grip for receiving an article for hanging, said pinch-grip including: (i) a pair of vertically extending components, each component defining an upper end and a lower end; (ii) biasing means for biasing the lower ends together to a closed position and for permitting separation of the lower ends to an open position by movement of at least one of the upper ends towards the other; and (iii) a connector for pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector being flexible, integrally molded with the components, and configured and dimensioned to extend between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation.
- 2. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector does not substantially inhibit movement of said lower ends between said closed and open positions.
- 3. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector does not project vertically or horizontally substantially beyond said components when said components are in said folded orientation.
- 4. The hanger of claim 3 wherein said connector lies substantially between said component upper ends and is substantially hidden from view when said components are in said folded orientation.
- 5. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector is molded in a configuration such that, when said components are in said folded orientation, said connector is generally concave.
- 6. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector connects only the tops of said upper ends of said components.
- 7. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector is disposed entirely above said biasing means.
- 8. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector comprises a pair of connector elements, each of said connector elements being adjacent a respective lateral side of said components.
- 9. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said pair of components defines a generally parallel pair of component-containing planes, and said connector extends generally perpendicular to said component-containing planes.
- 10. The hanger of claim 1 wherein opposed ends of said connector connect corresponding opposed points on the facing surfaces of said component upper ends.
- 11. A hanger comprising:(A) an attachment portion for securing said hanger to a support; and (B) at least one pinch-grip for receiving an article for hanging, said pinch-grip including: (i) a pair of vertically extending components, each component defining an upper end and a lower end; (ii) biasing means for biasing the lower ends together to a closed position and for permitting separation of the lower ends to an open position by movement of at least one of the upper ends relative to the other; and (iii) a connector for pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector being flexible, integrally molded with the components, and configured and dimensioned to extend between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation; the pair of components defining two generally parallel component-containing planes, and the connector extending between the component upper ends at a substantially non-perpendicular angle to the component-containing planes.
- 12. The hanger of claim 11 wherein said connector comprises a pair of connector elements, each of said connector elements extending between said component upper ends.
- 13. The hanger of claim 12 wherein said connector elements are laterally offset and parallel.
- 14. The hanger of claim 12 wherein said connector elements are non-parallel.
- 15. A hanger comprising:(A) an attachment portion for securing said hanger to a support; and (B) at least one pinch-grip for receiving an article for hanging, said pinch-grip including: (i) a pair of vertically extending components, each component defining an upper end and a lower end; (ii) biasing means for biasing the lower ends together to a closed position and for permitting separation of the lower ends to an open position by movement of at least one of the upper ends relative to the other; and (iii) a connector for pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector being flexible, integrally molded with the components, and configured and dimensioned to extend between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation; the connector having a pair of opposed ends, each of the opposed ends being connected to a respective component by a respective line of weakness, thereby to facilitate intentional removal of the connector from the components.
- 16. The hanger of claim 15 wherein said lines of weakness are disposed above said component upper ends when said components are in said folded orientation.
- 17. The hanger of claims 15 wherein said lines of weakness are disposed below the tops of said component upper ends when said components are in said folded orientation.
- 18. The hanger of claim 16 wherein said lines of weakness facilitate removal of said connector from said components when said components are in said folded orientation.
- 19. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector is separate and distinct from said biasing means and pivotably secures together said upper ends of said components for movement, prior to application of said biasing means to said components, between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation.
- 20. A hanger comprising:(A) an attachment portion for securing said hanger to a support; and (B) at least one pinch-grip for receiving an article for hanging, said pinch-grip including: (i) a pair of vertically extending components, each component defining an upper end and a lower end; (ii) biasing means for biasing the lower ends together to a closed position and for permitting separation of the lower ends to an open position by movement of at least one of the upper ends relative to the other; and (iii) a connector for pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector being flexible, integrally molded with the components, and configured and dimensioned to extend between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation; the connector being separate and distinct from the biasing means and pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement, prior to application of the biasing means to the components, between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector possessing memory and being of sufficient width and thickness to provide appreciable resiliency.
- 21. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said connector and said biasing means are the same, said connector being formed of a resilient material possessing memory and biasing said component upper ends apart.
- 22. The hanger of claim 21 characterized by the absence of any biasing means except for said connector.
- 23. The hanger of claim 21 additionally including means, separate and distinct from said connector, for pivotably securing together said components intermediate said component upper and lower ends.
- 24. The hanger of claim 23 wherein said components cooperatively define a ball-and-socket joint intermediate said component upper and lower ends.
- 25. A hanger comprising:(A) an attachment portion for securing the hanger to a support; and (B) at least one pinch-grip for receiving an article for hanging, the pinch-grip including: (i) a pair of vertically extending components, each component defining an upper end and a lower end, the pair of components defining a generally parallel pair of component-containing planes; (ii) biasing means for biasing the lower ends together to a closed position and for permitting separation of the lower ends to an open position by movement of at least one of the upper ends relative to the other; and (iii) a connector having a pair of opposed ends for pivotably securing together the upper ends of the components for movement between a substantially unfolded orientation and a substantially folded orientation; the connector being flexible, integrally molded with the components, and configured and dimensioned to extend between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation; the connector being characterized by at least one of the following: (a) the connector extending between the component upper ends at a substantially non-perpendicular angle to the component-containing planes; (b) each of the opposed connector ends being connected to a respective component by a respective line of weakness, thereby to facilitate intentional removal of the connector from the components; and (c) the connector and the biasing means being the same, and the connector being formed of a resilient material possessing memory and biasing the component upper ends apart.
- 26. The hanger of claim 1 wherein the vertical position of the biasing means in the hanger is fixed and not manually variable to effect the movement of one of the upper ends relative to the other.
- 27. The hanger of claim 1 wherein the closed position is characterized by the upper ends being spaced apart by a first distance, and the open position is characterized by the upper ends being spaced apart by a second distance, said first distance being substantially greater than the second distance.
- 28. The hanger of claim 1 wherein the connector lies between the upper ends of the components when the components are in the folded orientation.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/066,890, filed Feb. 4, 2002.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5082153 |
Duester et al. |
Jan 1992 |
A |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10/066890 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Child |
10/128854 |
|
US |