High Rack Density Ship on Hanger With Offset Clamp Assemblies

This invention pertains generally to garment hangers and more specifically to a garment hanger adapted to be employed as a shipping hanger for garment-on-hanger use, said garment hanger having offset clamp assemblies and means for precluding dislodgement of a garment from its hanger by dislodgement forces encountered during transportation and push/pull forces arising during normal manipulation of garments by customers in retail outlets.

A worldwide mode of doing business in the garment industry has evolved in recent years due to economic factors. For example, garments may be very inexpensively manufactured in less developed countries such as Sri Lanka, the garment hanger factory may be located in Taiwan or Hong Kong, and the garments may be destined for sale in the U.S. Thus it is quite common today for garments to be made in one country, the hangers on which the garments are to be displayed made in another country, and the garment displayed for sale in yet a third country.

At the retail sales level, there is an increasing trend to employ fewer and fewer selling personnel; indeed, the trend has almost reached a self-service mode of selling, though a few sales personnel will always be required for providing style information and fitting. The result however is that the ratio of number of garments to each sales person is increasing. While this ratio does not, in itself, present problems at the retail sale level (due to some extent at least, to lowered expectations of sales clerk assistance by retail customers), the greater number of garments in a retail store department presents logistics problems. For example, at the end of a selling day it is the duty of the sales personnel to straighten up the racks so that a neat and tidy appearance is presented to the eyes of the customers as they enter the department on the next selling day. The greater the number of garments on the racks per each sales person, the greater will be the time required by each sales person to straighten the racks, a fact which is not appreciated by sales personnel at the end of their shift. Part of the straightening process involves pulling a garment, say a size 36 men's slacks, which has been inadvertently placed in the size 38 section of the rack and inserting it into the size 36 section. At the present time this task can be very time consuming and frustrating, especially when the rack space is limited as it always is for a period of time after a new season's inventory has been received. Specifically, the pulling out and pushing in motions of extracting a garment from one location on a rack and inserting the garment into another location on the rack can result in a garment on either the moved hanger or a racked hanger dropping its garment, or at least one side of the garment. This usually occurs when the clip of one hanger engages the clip of another hanger in a direction and with a force to cause one jaw of one of the interfering clips to open slightly, thereby releasing the gripping pressure on the garment and letting it drop under the impetus of its own weight. When such an event occurs the time to straighten a rack is increased, much to the annoyance of the sales personnel.

The problem of contact between two hangers with resultant spillage also occurs in the absence of a need to change the physical location of a garment along the axis of a suspending rack. Specifically, during the course of a selling day adjacent garments will be pulled off the racks, or tilted upwardly for viewing, by customers, following which little or no effort is made to make sure that the viewed garment is returned to a level position. Indeed, at the end of a selling day, some hangers will be level, some will be tipped upwardly at their outer end (i.e.: the end closest to the customer), and some will be tipped upwardly at their inner end. The result is a very untidy appearance. To return the garments to a neat, organized condition sales clerks prefer to either simply press downwardly on the upturned hangers or, at most, wiggle adjacent off-tilted hangers back and forth slightly so as to enable the garments to come back to a neutral position in which they hang straight down. Unfortunately these simple hand motions can also result in dropped garments due, to a considerable extent, to unlocking forces being exerted on one jaw of the two jaws which form the clamp at the end of each hanger. A basic cause of this problem is the fact that in most hangers in use today the upper portion of the clip which extends upwardly above the jaw is exposed in the sense that it projects into space outside the boundaries, and particularly the width dimensions, of the hanger. This problem is of special concern with hangers which have offset clamp halves since somewhat less clamp-against-clamp clamping area is available in such a style of clamp as contrasted to a clamp assembly having a co-terminous clamp half configuration.

A further problem which is keenly felt by the clothing manufacturers, though only indirectly by the ultimate consumer, is the high cost of freight attendant to shipping hangers from a hanger manufacturing facility to a garment hanger manufacturing facility. A hanger by its very design does not lend itself to neat, compact packaging and hence many hangers are shipped loose or in only a roughly aligned formation. In either event each hanger occupies the maximum shipping space defined by its maximum dimensions, and hence the number of hangers which can be shipped per cubic foot of shipping space is finite. It would be a great advantage for both the hanger manufacturer and the garment manufacturer to be able to ship hangers in a compressed or nested condition so that each hanger would occupy less space than the space its maximum dimensions define.

This invention is a garment hanger which overcomes all of the above described problems in a single hanger. Specifically, the garment hanger of this invention is manufactured so that each hanger nests within a similar hanger and, in turn, provides a nest for a similar hanger. In addition the hanger is so constructed that, it will, (a) during transportation following assembly to a garment, (b) in the retail sales outlet, and (c) at all other times, grip a garment in such a fashion that the gripping pressure is not released and a garment dropped no matter how many shakes and bumps the hanger is subjected to during transportation or how quickly and carelessly garments are pulled from a rack and reinserted by customers, or pressed downwardly from above by the hands of a sales clerk passing over a series of hangers to bring the series into level alignment.

It is a further aim of this invention to accomplish all of the foregoing in a hanger which has offset clamp halves and, in addition, a very low profile; that is, a hanger in which the clamp at each end of the generally horizontally oriented hanger body does not project above the upper surface of the hanger body.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing particularly the front side of the garment hanger of this invention in a normal, empty condition;

FIG. 2 is a front side elevation of the hanger;

FIG. 2A is a front side elevation of the hanger body without the hang means or the balance of the clamp assemblies;

FIG. 3 is a top view;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view;

FIG. 5 is an end view of FIG. 2 as viewed from the left end;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective of the front half of the clamp assembly;

FIG. 8 is an end view with the garment omitted but showing the position of the jaws when holding a garment; and,

FIG. 8A is an end view of prior art, bulky clamp assembly.

Like reference numerals will be used to refer to like or similar parts from Figure to Figure in the following description of the invention.

The garment hanger of this invention is particularly well suited for assembly to a garment at a remote garment manufacturing location and thereafter retention of the garment on the hanger until the hanger is separated from the garment at the retail sales outlet by a retail sales clerk or by the purchaser at his home. In view of this highly desirable characteristic the hanger will sometimes hereinafter be referred to as a "ship-on" hanger.

The ship-on hanger of this invention is indicated generally at 10 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 6. The hanger includes a horizontal body, indicated generally at 11, hook means, indicated generally at 12, and left and right clamp assemblies, indicated generally at 13 and 14 respectively. A hook boss is indicated generally at 15, the hook boss being, in this instance, formed integrally with the body 11 to provide a base or socket for receiving the tail section 16 of the hook means 12. It should be understood that the hook means 12 can be either rigidly held in the hook boss 15 or be rotatable with respect thereto. Both systems are conventional in the art though the advantages of the invention may be more markedly appreciated when the hook means is non-rigidly received in the hook boss.

Body 11 is formed in the shape of an I-beam consisting of an upper flange 18, a lower flange 19, and a web 20. The rear half 21 of upper flange 18 extends the length of the body and then, at its far left end portion, blends into and forms the upper surface 22 of left clamp assembly 13. By the same token the far right end portion blends into and forms the upper surface 23 of right clamp assembly 14. The front half 25 of the upper flange 18 terminates a short distance from the ends of rear half 21 as indicated by the rounded end edges 26 and 27.

The rear half 30 of lower flange 19 terminates at the clamp assemblies which are located at the ends of the body as will be noted from the, in this instance, rounded end portions 31 and 32 in FIG. 6. The front half 33 of lower flange 19 terminates well short of the clamp assemblies at the ends of the body as will be noted from the, in this instance, tapered end portions 34 and 35, which are spaced inwardly from their respective adjacent clamp assemblies.

A pair of internal vertical beams which, in this instance, extend from both sides of the web are indicated at 36 and 37, the inner ends of the beams forming an abutment surface from which left and right guide ramps, indicated generally at 38 and 39, respectively, extend in an outward direction, the guide ramps functioning as deflecting means as will appear hereinafter. Each deflecting ramp has an outward taper, as best seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. From FIGS. 4 and 5 it will be noted that the horizontally outwardmost peripheral portions 40 and 41 of the outward taper is very closely aligned with the outside surface of the front half of its adjacent clamp assembly.

Since the clamp assemblies 13 and 14 are mirror images of one another only one need be described of which right clamp assembly 14 best illustrates the structure and advantages of this portion of the invention.

From FIGS. 1, 6 and 8 it will be seen that right clamp assembly 14 includes a rear half 42 and a front half 43, only the lower portion of the front half being shown in FIG. 6. The rear surface 44, see FIG. 3, of the rear half 42 is, in this instance, flush with the edges of the upper and lower flanges 18 and 19. A curved flange portion 45, see FIG. 2, extends outwardly and downwardly from the rear half 42 as best seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 2A. The left end 46 of curved flange portion 45 and right end edge 27 of the rear half of upper flange 21 are spaced apart to form an opening of width sufficient to receive a U-shaped spring which is inserted from above to complete the assembly of the clamp as will be further amplified hereinafter. It will be noted that the rear half 42 of the clamp assembly includes a pair of spaced legs or prongs, 42A and 42B, at the lower portion thereof, and the lower portion of the front half 43 of the clamp assembly narrows down to a single narrow centrally disposed leg or prong 43A. The prong 43A on the front half 43 of the clamp assembly thus is aligned with the space 48 between the legs 42A and 42B so that the major garment clamping surfaces, which are on the lower inside surfaces of legs 42A, 42B and 43A, are offset with respect to one another. It will be appreciated that the gripping power of this general style of clamp assembly is somewhat less than the gripping power of a clamp assembly in which the front and rear halves of the clamp assembly are co-terminous. Thus, in the illustrated structure, forces imposed on the clamp assembly by shipment or human handling raise a greater prospect for dislodgement than the conventional, co-terminous type clamp assembly would. FIG. 7 is a clear showing of the access to the interior of the front clamp half 43A by a spring clip. It will be noted that the bottom of the leg of the clip which lies on the outside face front half 43 terminates above the leg 43A.

An end shield is indicated at 50 projecting outwardly from the downwardly extending portion of the curved flange portion 45, the end shield being therefore perpendicular to web 20. From FIG. 8 particularly it will be noted that the outwardmost extending edge of end shield 50 lies in a plane which is substantially flush with the outside surface 51 of the front half 43 of the clamp assembly. The internal facing surfaces of the rear half 42 and front half 43 of the clamp assembly carry pivot structure, see for example FIG. 7, which enables the two halves to pivot with respect to one another, in a conventional manner, under the resistance to separation provided by inverted U-shaped clamp spring 52.

The nesting function of the hanger is best appreciated from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 Referring first to FIGS. 3 and 4 it will be noted that the right side of the rear half 42 of the clamp assembly has been cut away, as indicated at 53, a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the end shield 50. From FIG. 3 it will be noted that the width of the front and rear clamp halves do not extend beyond the inner edge of end shield 50; indeed, a slight clearance is indicated at 54. Further, a similar clearance 55 is shown on the inner side of the clamp assembly between the clamp assembly and the right edge 27 of the front half of the upper flange. Thus, since the distance between right edge 27 and the wide surface of the end shield 50 is greater than the maximum width of the clamp halves in an assembled condition, the lower end of a clamp assembly on an upper hanger may project downwardly into the open maw formed at the upper end of the clamp assembly on a lower hanger. By partially nesting the clamp assemblies at each end into adjacent clamp assemblies a considerable amount of shipping space can be saved when the hangers are shipped in bulk from a hanger manufacturing source to a garment manufacturing location.

The guide ramps 38 and 39, and the end shields 50, provide great advantages to the retail store operator.

The ramps 38 and 39 aid the user in getting a hung garment on and off a display rack. Specifically, as a hung garment is pulled off a rack for example, the hanger of the pulled garment will strike the inclined surfaces of the guide ramp and deflect the pulled hung garment and its hanger outwardly away from contact with the outer half of a clamp assembly of the adjacent hung garment on the rack. In other words, the edges of the clamp assemblies are not exposed to contact with a hung garment sliding in and out of the rack, and hence the opportunity for the clamp of a stationary hung garment being snagged and forced into an open position is eliminated.

The end shields 50 are particularly effective when hung garments are placed back onto a rack. Customers who have extracted a hung garment from a rack for observation are often quite careless in returning the garment which has just been observed back onto the rack. At the present time retail sales personnel are faced with the frequent task of picking up garments which have been completely or partially knocked off their hanger by careless and hurried handling by potential buyers. Since end shields 50 cover the outermost edges of the front halves of their associated clamp assemblies, there is no opportunity to snag a clamp on a racked garment and cause it to open and drop its garment.

It should also be noted that the illustrated and described construction provides maximum rack density and thus provides a significant advantage over a typical prior art structure as exemplified in FIG. 8A, since the greater the number of garments which can be displayed per lineal foot of rack, the greater will be the sales of garments. By ensuring that (a) the edge of the end shields 50, (b) the outward most projecting portions of the guide ramps 38 and 39, and (c) the outside surface of the outer half of the clamp assembly, lie in the same plane when the hanger supports a garment, only the absolute minimum of rack length is required to display a garment. Indeed, in trials to date, a rack density of 12% greater than hangers which do not have ramps and shields has been achieved, all as can be best seen from FIG. 8 and FIG. 8A.

It should also be noted that the greater than usual drop of the clamp assemblies from the hanger body enables a spring clip of a much longer vertical dimension to be used than was heretofore customary. With the illustrated construction the spring is able to reach down all the way to the tooth clamping areas of the inner portions of the jaws, and hence maximum spring derived clamping force is obtained. As a result creep of the clip during shipping of garments on hangers is eliminated and no garments are to be found lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the shipping container when it is opened at its destination. This is surprising and of particular significance in the offset leg construction of the clamp assemblies here shown because one skilled in the art would not expect to be able to provide an offset type clamp assembly with the above described gripping power.

And finally, a further advantage of the illustrated I-beam construction of the hanger body is that maximum strength can be obtained from a given quantity of material because of the high modulus of elasticity of the I-beam construction. In practical applications the thickness of the web and the flanges of the I-beam can be considerably thinner than has been the practice heretofore.

Although a specific example, and modifications thereof, have been illustrated and described, it will at once be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications to the basic inventive concept may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. Hence the scope of the invention should only be limited only by the scope of the hereafter appended claims when interpreted in light of the relevant prior art, and not by the foregoing exemplary description.