Collapsible clothing hanger

Aug. 5, 1947.

2,425,146

J. L. COMIS ET AL

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHING HANGER

Filed March 9, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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<td> Aug. 5, 1947.</td><td> J. L. COMIS ET AL</td><td> 2,425,146</td>

<td></td><td> COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHING HANGER</td><td></td>

<td></td><td> Filed March 9, 1945</td><td> 2 Sheets-Sheet 2</td>

<img file="US2425146A_D0002.tif" />

Patented Aug. 5, 1947

2,425,146

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,425,146

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHING HANGER

James L. Comis and George Nestos, Chicago,

Ill., assignors of one-third to Paul Ilher, Chicago, III.

Application March 9,

Claims.

This invention relates to a collapsible clothing hanger supporting articles of clothing including suits, dresses and like garments suspended from or upon garment hangers, as well as neckties, and other articles of clothing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible clothing hanger which may be used in places in which space is an important consideration such, for example, as clothes closets, in trunks, and the like.

An additional object of the present invention is to construct and arrange the new collapsible clothing hanger in such a manner that the same will support substantial loads without collapsing or bending under the weight and stresses and strains thereof.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to construct and arrange the new collapsible clothing hanger in such a manner that the horizontal supporting bar embodied therein is prevented from bending or collapsing under the weight of a plurality of garments such, for example, as suits suspended therefrom by means of garment hangers or the like.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a novel construction and arrangement for operatively interconnecting the horizontal supporting bar and the vertical supporting rod when the new collapsible clothing hanger is in use and in such a manner that the horizontal supporting bar is adequately braced by engagement with the vertical supporting rod or post so as to prevent it from sagging, bending or collapsing under the weight of a plurality of garments carried thereby.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments of the invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing a preferred form of the new clothes hanger in position of use;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the connection , 1945, Serial No. 581,826 (Cl. 211—97) between the horizontal supporting bar and the vertical supporting rod or post;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top sectional plan view on line. 3—3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the horizontal supporting bar operatively engaged with the vertical supporting rod or post;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing 10 the supporting bar in raised or vertical and collapsed position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view illustrating a modified form of the supporting bar which is especially adapted for use in holding 15 neckties; and

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the supporting bar- in vertical and collapsed position.

A typical embodiment of the new collapsible 20 clothing hanger is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, and is therein generally indicated at ! 0, «>nd is shown as being mounted upon or attached to a suitable supporting surface ί f which may be a door frame or wall of 25 a clothes closet or the like. The new clothes hanger 19 includes a vertical supporting rod or post 12 which is swivelly mounted at its upper end upon a bracket !3 which may be fastened, as at 14, to the supporting surface I i. The ver30 tical rod I?, is likewise swivelly mounted at its lower end upon a bracket 15 which may be attached, as at ! 6 to the supporting surface 11.

The new collapsible clothing hanger !0 includes a horizontal supporting bar 17 which is 33 preferably made of strong, flat, steel stock and formed in the lower edge of this horizontal supporting bar Π, is a plurality of slots !8 each of which opens at its lower end along the bottom edge of the bar 17, as the bar 17 appears when 40 in a horizontal position, as in Fig. 1.

The horizontal supporting bar 17 is operatively connected by a link IS to the vertical supporting rod 12. This link J 9 is pivotally connected at its lower end, as at 29, to the bar 17 and is pivotally 45 connected at its upper end, as at 2!, to the vertical supporting rod !2.

In the practice of the present invention we provide a lost motion connection between ths vertical supporting rod 12 and the horizontal 50 supporting bar 17 and this lost motion connection is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. To this end a V-shaped notch 22 is formed in the vertical rod 12, between the upper and lower ends thereof and the lower end of this notch 55 22 provides a horizontal shoulder 23. Mounted

2,425,146 in. the vertical supporting rod 12, above the notch 22, and in the opposite side of the supporting member or rod. 12 from the notch 22, is a stop member in the form of a rivet 24 and slidably mounted upon the vertical supporting rod 12 is a tubular sleeve 25. A pair of parallel arms 2S are formed integrally with the sleeve 25 and these arms 2S embrace an angular end portion 27 of the horizontal supporting bar 17. Formed in the angular end portion 27 of the supporting bar 17 is a slot 28 and projecting through this slot is a pin 29 the ends of which are secured on the outer sides of the arms 26 of the tubular sleeve 25.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, the angular end portion of the horizontal supporting bar 17 terminates in a triangular-shaped end portion or nose 30 and this portion 30 of the horizontal supporting bar ΙΊ is adapted to engage in the notch 22 so as to rest upon the shoulder portion 23 thereof.

In the use of the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the device may be mounted upon a vertical supporting surface 11, as shown, and may be collapsed and disposed in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5 when not in use, with the supporting bar 17 extending vertically and substantially parallel to the vertical supporting rod 12. However, when it is desired to use the new clothes hanger the slotted supporting bar Π may be pivoted downwardly into horizontal position, as in Fig, 1, whereupon the triangular-shaped end portion or nose 30 of the bar Π may be projected into the notch 22 so that it rests upon the shoulder 23, this being accomplished by manually pushing the slotted supporting bar 17 toward the vertical supporting rod 12. This operation is made possible by reason of the lost motion connection 28—29 between the slotted supporting bar il and the slidable sleeve 25—26 on the vertical supporting rod or post 12.

Garments or articles of clothing, such as are indicated at 31, may then be suspended by conventional garment hangers 32 from the slotted supporting bar 17, this being accomplished by inserting the hooks 33 of the garment hangers 32 into the slots 18 in the bar 17.

It will be noted that when the slotted supporting bar 17 is thus disposed in effective and horizontal supporting position, as in Fig. 1, a substantial part of the weight of the garments 31 carried by the bar 17 bears downwardly upon the supporting bar 17 and the force thereof bears downwardly, through the angled inner end portion 30 of the bar 17, onto the horizontal shoulder 23 of the notch 22 in the vertical post or rod 12. In this manner the engagement of the triangularshaped nose 30 of the bar 17 in the notch 22 is assured and the bar 17 is prevented from bending or collapsing under the weight of the garments carried thereby, at the left hand side of the pivoted connection 20 between the link 19 and the bar 17, as seen in Fig. 1. In this manner one of the difficulties heretofore experienced in the use of prior collapsible clothes hangers is avoided, said difficulty having resided in the tendency of such prior devices to collapse under the force of garments carried thereby and particularly when such garments were arranged between the pivotal interconnection between the supporting link, for the horizontal supporting bar, and the vertical supporting rod or post.

The slotted bar 17 and the garments carried thereby may be confined in a relatively small space by merely pulling outwardly on the bar 17 (left to right as seen in Fig. 1) so as to withdraw the angular end portion or nose 30 thereof off from the shoulder 23, whereupon the sleeve 25 may be slid downwardly on the post 12 into the collapsed position in which it is shown in Fig. 5. During this operation the bar 17, with the garments 31 suspended therefrom, will be moved into vertical position, as seen in Fig. 5. When the parts are thus disposed the hooks 33 of the garment hangers 32 will still remain in the slots 18 of the bar 17 and the garments 31 carried by the garment hangers 32 will be cascaded one over the other at the then front and slotted edge of the bar 17.

A modification of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 and this form of the invention is particularly adapted for holding neckties. This form of the invention comprises a bar 17a in which slots 18a are formed, these slots 18a terminating at one end upon the lower edge of the bar !7a, as the bar 17a is seen in horizontal position, but terminating at their inner ends in an arm 37 of the slot 13a which provides two supporting surfaces for a necktie 35. These two supporting surfaces which are provided by each arm 37 of each slot 180¹ are indicated at 34 and 36, in Figs. 6 and 7, and extend at approximately a rightangle to each other.

By reference to Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that the relatively narrow or neckband portions of the neckties 35 are suspended from the then horizontal surface 34 of the slots 18a when the bar 17a is in horizontal position, as in Fig. 6, but that when the bar 17a is raised into vertical or collapsed position, as in Fig. 7, the relatively narrow or neckband portions of the neckties are then suspended from the then horizontal surfaces 36 of the arms 3Ί of the slots 18a, with the neckties 35 suspended or cascaded one over the other, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.

The operating mechanism for the slotted bar 17a, which is embodied in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7, is the same as that embodied in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, and as hereinbefore described.

It will thus be seen from the foregoing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, that the present invention provides a novel and efficient collapsible holder or hanger for garments or articles of clothing, including neckties, and has the desirable advantages and characteristics, and accomplishes its intended objects, including those hereinbefore pointed out and others which are inherent in the invention.