Clothing Hanger Fold-Quick-Release

Abstract

The inventive subject matter provides a device being capable of hanging a cloth with minimum effort on the part of a user, and with less potential damage on item being hung. In general, the inventive hanger comprises an upper coupling, left and right arms extending laterally away from opposite sides of the upper coupling. The arms are further coupled with a lower coupling, at least one of the couplings includes a pivot that allows the lower coupling to move closer to the upper coupling, allowing the hanger to easily adapt to fit into the neck of a shirt without stretching out the neck. A biasing component biases the lower coupling away from the upper coupling, allowing the hanger to keep the shirt hanged on.

Claims

1. A clothing hanger comprising: left and right arms extending from an upper coupling; the left and right arms further coupled with a lower coupling; at least one of the upper and lower couplings having a pivot configured to allow the lower coupling to travel at least 2 cm towards the upper coupling; and at least a first biasing component configured to resiliently bias the lower coupling away from the upper coupling.

2. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the upper coupling comprises a pivot.

3. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the lower coupling comprises a pivot.

4. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the at least one biasing component is part of the left or right arms.

5. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the first biasing components is part of the left arm, and a second biasing component is part of the right arm.

6. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the left arm comprises a bend that operates as the first biasing component.

7. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the left arm comprises a first bend that operates as the first biasing component, and the right arm comprises a second bend that operates as a second biasing component

8. The hanger of claim 1, wherein each of the left and right arms extend from the upper coupling to the lower coupling.

9. The hanger of claim 1, wherein each of the left and right arms has a slip joint configured to allow alteration of a length of the hanger.

10. The hanger of claim 1, wherein each of the upper and lower couplings includes mating male and female pieces configured to be non-destructively snapped together and apart.

11. The hanger of claim 1, wherein each of the upper and lower couplings includes mating male and female pieces configured to be non-destructively slid together and apart.

12. The hanger of claim 1, wherein each of the left and right arms has a U-shape.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of a clothing hanger.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective disassembled view of the clothing hanger of FIG. 1.

[0018] FIGS. 3A and 3B are plan views of the clothing hanger of FIG. 1, in opened (3A) and closed (3B) configurations.

[0019] FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of a pivot of the hanger of FIG. 1, in disassembled (4A) and assembled (4B) configurations.

[0020] FIGS. 5A and 5B are perspective views of an alternative pivot, in disassembled (5A) and assembled (5B) configurations.

[0021] FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective views of an extensible clothing hanger.

[0022] FIGS. 7A and 7B compare uses of the clothing hanger of FIG. 1 with that of a typical clothing hanger.

[0023] FIG. 8A-8C show other embodiments of a clothing hanger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a right embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.

[0025] The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each intermediate value falling within the range. Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commercially practical values.

[0026] Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.

[0027] The present invention describes a clothing hanger to be used to hang a cloth with a user's minimum effort.

[0028] FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary clothing hanger 10. The hanger generally has a curved coupling 15, and left and right arms 13, 14 that extend from the upper couplings 11. The arms 13, 14 are further coupled (directly or indirectly) with the lower coupling 12. Upper 11 and lower 12 couplings comprise pivots 25a, 25b, respectively, allowing the left and the right members to rotate about the respective axes of the pivots.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows a disassembled depiction of the clothing hanger 10 of FIG. 1. Upper coupling 11 includes user-disassemblable components 21a and 21b, which collectively operate as an upper pivot. Lower coupling 12 includes user-disassemblable components 22a and 22b, which collectively operate as a lower pivot. Disassembling allows hanger 10 to fit more conveniently into a small suitcase or bag.

[0030] FIGS. 3A and 3B show how a user (depicted in part by hand 16) can easily bend one of the arms to move the upper and lower couplings 11, 12 closer together, thereby effectively reducing the overall length of the hanger 10. Such motion also reduces the angle 31 between the arms to 90 degrees or less.

[0031] The resilient characteristic of one or both of the arms 13, 14 allows the hanger 10 to repeatedly transition between opened and closed configurations, and also operates to bias the upper and lower couplings 11, 12 away from each other.

[0032] FIGS. 4A and 4B show detail of components 25A, 25B that effectively comprise the pivot pin of pivot of 11. Components 25A, 25A are configured to mate in a manner that can be non-destructively snapped together and apart.

[0033] FIGS. 5A and 5B show an alternative pivot 51, comprising mating pieces 54, 55 that slide together, with pivot pin 52 non-destructively slidable into and out of channel 53. Pieces 54, 55 can be integral with arms extending out from the upper or lower couplings.

[0034] FIGS. 6A and 6B show an embodiment of an arm 60 of an alternative clothing hanger. Arm 63 generally comprises an upper member 63, a lower member 67, and an intermediate member 68 that is slidably coupled with the upper 63 and lower members 67. In some embodiments the degree of sliding is such that the length of the hanger can be laterally adjusted to be functional from child to adult clothing. Intermediate member 68 is resiliently flexible.

[0035] FIGS. 7A and 7B contrasts intended use of the hanger 10 of FIGS. 1, 2, 3A and 3B with that of a typical clothing hanger 100. As should be apparent, hanger 10 is easily adapted to fit into the neck of a shirt 110 without stretching out the neck 110.

[0036] FIG. 8A-8C show alternative embodiments contemplated herein. FIG. 8A shows hanger 70 having a single pivot 71 as an upper coupling, left and right arms 73, 74 bending around to couple with two lower pivots 72A, 72B collectively operating as a lower coupling. FIG. 8B shows hanger 80 having two upper pivots 81A, 81B collectively operating at an upper coupling, and left and right arms 83, 84 bending around to couple with a single lower pivot 83 operating as a lower coupling. FIG. 8C shows hanger 90 having a two upper pivots 91A, 91B collectively operating as an upper coupling, and left and right arms 93, 94 bending around to couple with two lower pivots 92A, 92B, collectively operating as a lower pivot. It is also possible to have more than two pivots operating as upper or lower couplings.

[0037] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.