Suspended clothes-rack.

Application filed May 4,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles Corbett, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and 5 State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Suspended Clothes-Racks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to clothes-racks for 20 in-doors and more particularly to improved means of constructing and supporting such racks.

One object of this invention is the production of a rack having detachably secured 15 clothes bars.

Another object of this invention is the production of improved adjustable means for preventing the rack from tilting.

Clothes - racks heretofore provided for 2o drying clothes in-doors have been objectionable—firstly because of the inconvenience and difficulty encountered in hanging the clothes in position on the rack. Another objectionable feature has been the ease with 25 which racks of this kind readily tilt when the clothes are not evenly distributed on the rack. The first of these objectionable features may be overcome by employing detachable clothes-bars, so that when hanging 80 the clothes on the bars, each alternate bar, or as many as desired, may be removed, thereby leaving ample space for placing the clothes on the remaining bars. Also in many cases, it is desirable to remove the 35 bars entirely from the rack and place them in a more convenient position for putting on the clothes—that is the bars mav be removed and placed across and extending between the backs of two chairs or between 40 any other convenient objects—the clothes placed on the bar, and the bar then restored to its position on the rack.

The means for preventing the clothes-rack from tilting beyond a desired amount, con45 sists of adjustable means singular to each of the pendant cords and adapted to be clamped securely thereto to arrest the rack in any desired position by engaging the guide pulley through which each cord is de50 signed to travel.

These and other objects of this invention will be clearly set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of-a clothes-rack embodying this invention. Fig.

1916. Serial No. 95,348.

is a view of a pair of resilient spring members, mounted and adapted to press tightly against the clothes-bars for holding them in position and against rotation. Fig. 3 is an 60 enlarged view of a portion of a clothes-bar with sides cut away near the end to permit of firm engagement by the spring members shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view of a special self-locking pulley, and Fig. 5 is a sec- 65 tional view of an adjustable member adapted to be attached to each of the pendant cords for limiting the downward movement of the rack and to prevent tilting thereof.

The clothes-rack proper is composed of 70 two cross-bars, 10 and 11, which are rigidly connected by side-bars 12 and 13. These side-bars not only serve as a part of the frame, but also as clothes-supports on which clothes may be hung. The side-bars meet 75 cross-bars 10 and 11 at right angles and are secured thereto by screws 15 and screw-eyes 14. It will be noted that screws 15 pass through the over-turned portions of crossbars 10 and 11, and that screw - eyes 14 SO perform the dual function of securely holding the side-bars and cross-bars together, and also as a means for connecting the pendant cords 16,17,18 and 19 to the rack. The cross-bars 10 and 11 must necessarily be 85 strong and are nrererably of angle-iron, although other materials may be used. The side-bars 12 and 13, which are preferably of wood, and somewhat larger than bars 20 to 26 inclusive, are adapted to join the cross- 90 bars and to serve as clothes-supports in the same manner as bars 20 to 26 inclusive. The bars 20 to 26 inclusive are detachably mounted on the cross-bars 10 and 11. These bars rest on the portion —A— of the ang’e-ircns 95 and are secured in place by means of resilient spring members 30, which are securely fixed to the cross-bars and adapted to press against the sides of the bars 20 to 26 inclusive. The bars are cut away at the ends, as 100 shown in Fig. 3, so that the springs 30 may press there-against and prevent turning or rolling of the bars when clothes are not evenly distributed thereon.

The clothes-rack is supported by pendant ¹⁰⁵cords 16, 17, 18 and 19, which are attached at one end to screw-eyes 14, and pass through guide pulleys, 31, 32, 33 and 34 respectively. The guide pulleys 31, 32, etc., may be secured directly to the ceiling or they may be Π0 attached to cleats 40 and 41, as shown in Fig. 1_? which are, in turn, secured to the £2 1,202,166 ceiling in any well-known manner. The cords 16 and 17, forming a pair and supporting one end of the rack, are connected together at 45, at which junction point a B draw-cord 46 is joined to the pair of cords.

The cords 18 and 19, forming another pair and supporting the other end of the rack, are connected together and also to the drawcord 46 at the junction point 48. To each 10 one of the cords 16, 17, 18 and 19 is secured an adjustable clamping member 62 for preventing the rack from tilting. The member 62 is composed of two parts, 64 and 63. The part 64 is adapted to grip the cord passing 15 therethrough, and has a shoulder thereon adapted , to engage the guide pulleys to limit the downward travel of the cords and prevent tilting of the rack. The part 63 is adapted to screw onto the end of 64 and ²⁰ compress the slotted portions thereof tightly onto the cord.

The draw-cord 46 from the junction point 45 passes through a guide pulley 50, thence to junction point 48, and thence through a ²⁵ self-locking pulley 55. This pulley 55 serves as a guide pulley and also to grip the drawcord 46 and hold the rack supported against the ceiling or in any fixed position. Referring to Fig. 4, where this pulley is shown in ³⁰ detail, the draw-cord 46 travels in groove 56 when the rack is being raised or lowered, but when it is desired to hold the rack in any desired position, the draw-cord 46 is pulled just a little side-wise into groove 58 and the pulley is then permitted to turn backward part of a revolution until the draw cord 46 is bound between the shallow part of groove 58 and the frame 61 of the pulley support. To lower or change the position of the rack, the .draw-cord 46 is given a down- 40 ward pull, turning the pulley 55 forward part of. a revolution, when the cord .is· returned to groove 56. A pulley of this type is . quite advantageous as it eliminates the necessity of having means secured to the Avail for 45 tying the draw-cord to ' for anchoring or maintaining the rack in an elevated position. It is especially advantageous when clothesracks are suspended in laundries or large rooms where the walls are far removed from 50 the racks and therefore difficult, if not impossible, to tie the draw-cord to means secured to the Avail.