GB2177747A

GB2177747A - Stackable hook or ornament

Info

Publication number: GB2177747A
Application number: GB08511480A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roland Chong
Original assignee: MELODIC Ltd
Current assignee: MELODIC Ltd
Priority date: 1985-05-07
Filing date: 1985-05-07
Publication date: 1987-01-28
Also published as: GB8511480D0

Abstract

A stackable hook (e.g. for hanging coats) or ornament comprises a hook portion (2) projecting in front of the main body (5) of the article. The hook portion (2) is shaped to stabilise the hook portion of an adjacent article in a stack against lateral movement. The main body (5) forms the wall attachment portion if the article is to be used as a hook or, if the article is an ornament, the main body (5) provides a display surface for decorative material and the article is hooked over a picture rail, for example. The front and back surfaces of the main body are generally complementary for stable stacking. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Stackable hook or ornament The present invention relates to ornaments and to hooks, especially to household hooks which may be used for hanging coats or cups, for example.

Such hooks are commonly sold in blister packs or in boxes but because the hooks do not readily stack together when a plurality of hooks are put in a single pack there is often wastage of space and packaging, which is costly. Although some hooks may stack one upon another they do not form stable stacks and this may create problems in packaging and in the case of bulk-packed hooks stacking will generally not be feasible.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide hooks which may be stacked relatively stably. It would also be desirable to provide hooks which can form an attractive display in a shop.

The present invention provides a stackable hook, comprising: an attachment portion for fixing to a wall or other surface and having generally complementary front and back surfaces; and a hook portion projecting outwardly and upwardly in front of at least part of the attachment portion from at or near the periphery of the attachment portion and adapted to stabilise the hook portion of an adjacent hook in a stack against lateral movement.

It is to be understood that terms of orientation, such as "front" and "back" refer to the position of the hook in use.

In a preferred embodiment the hook portion has at least a region laterally inward of its outer edges wherein its upper surface is raised above the surface outwardly of the said region and the lower surface is complementarily shaped. It is also preferred that the hook portion be angular or arcuate in the lateral direction to achieve the desired stabilisation.

The hook portion is desirably shaped as a piece formed from a plate or tube (i.e. relatively thin) and, for ease of hanging articles over the hook portion, We prefer the hook portion to taper towards its free end.

For greater stability, the hook portion should usually be relatively wide and we have found that a separation, as measured in a straight line, between the outer edges of the hook portion at its juncture with the attachment portion of substantially in the range of from 2 to 5 cm is to be preferred. There are relatively few articles which are large enough for a hook much larger than 5 cm across whilst better stability may be achieved if the hook is not too small. A separation of 3 to 4 cm is suitable for a wide range of applications and is to be most preferred.

The attachment portion is preferably generally plate-shaped both for ease of manufacture and to provide a display surface, on which a sheet may be attached which carries decorative or informative material. Preferably a recess is provided in which the sheet is attached to protect the edges of the sheet from being contacted so as to lift them from the surface or damage them.

The present invention is further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a front view of a stack of the hooks of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates a hook of the invention comprising an attachment portion 1 and a hook portion 2. The attachment portion is for mounting on a wall or other surface by, for example, one or more screws 3 or by a selfadhesive pad (not shown) on the rear surface of the attachment portion. The attachment portion need not include any fixing means or aids since a screw-hole, for example, could be made in the attachment means at the time of mounting.

The hook portion 2 projects upwardly and outwardly from the attachment portion 1 and projects in front of a part of the attachment portion. In the illustrated embodiment the hook portion 2 is an arcuate plate tapering towards a rounded end 4. As can be seen with the aid of Figure 2, the hook portion is shaped as if cut from a piece of tube.

It will be seen in Figure 2 that the hooks stack relatively stably since each hook is prevented from substantial forward or backward movement by being wedged between the attachment and hook portions of the hook below, whilst each hook portion stabilises the next hook portion above it against lateral movement in the direction of the arrow a. The particular shape of the hook portion does not matter as long as it extends outwardly and upwardly so as to achieve a wedge effect and is adapted to stabilise adjacent hook portions against lateral movement, in other words each hook portion must present to its neighbours surfaces capable of exerting on its neighbours transverse force against lateral movement. The stabilisation obtained will not necessarily prevent all possibility of movement, however.

It should be appreciated that the hook of Figures 1 and 2 is highly versatile in terms of stacking: it is possibie to stack hooks when they are upright as shown in the Figures, when the attachment portion 1 is lying flat or when the hooks are inverted by 1800 from the position shown in the Figures.

In Figures 1 and 2 the attachment portion 1 is shown as a plate. A picture or other decoration may be applied to the plate, e.g. by sticking to it a self-adhesive sheet carrying a picture, in order to make the hook visually attractive. Alternatively decoration may be ap plied directly to the front of the attachment portion 1 or information, e.g. of a trade mark character, may be carried on the attachment portion 1. If a sheet is to be stuck on the attachment portion a recess 5, generally of corresponding size, should be supplied because the edges of the sheet will otherwise be vulnerable to being knocked or brushed against and may become unstuck or damaged.

Thus, a preferred embodiment of the invention resides in an attractive ornamental hook which may be stably stacked for packaging or display purposes. An effective display may be provided in a shop by securing one hook to a wall and stacking further hooks on it.

The article of Figures 1 and 2 is further versatile since if a picture or other decoration is applied to the rear of the attachment portion 1, the article may be used purely ornamentally by hooking it upside down over a picture frame, the edge of a mantelpiece or even over the top bar of a baby's cot.

The separation s (Figure 2) between the outer edges of the hook portion 2 at its juncture with the attachment portion 1 is of some importance, since if it is too little stability will be low but if it is too high many articles will not be able to fit over it. Generally, a minimum separation of about 2 cm can be recommended and a hook portion more than 5 cm or so across is of limited value. A separation of substantially 3 to 4 cm is optimum for general household purposes. The hook portion 1 may be more easily used if it tapers.

Turning now to Figure 3, a second embodiment of the invention is illustrated, in which the attachment portion 1 is a rectangular plate and the hook portion 2 is formed as a tapering plate with a channel 6 running along it. It will be noted that in the illustrated embodiments the hook portion 2 has at least a region laterally inward of its outer edges wherein its upper surface is raised above the surface outwardly of the region and the lower surface is complementarily shaped, and this is a preferred design. More preferably the hook portion 2 is arcuate, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 for example, but angular hook portions 2 are an alternative.

The shape and size of the attachment portion 1 are not critical, but its front and back should be generally complementarily shaped, in the sense that the back of one hook will be generally stably on the front of another.

The hook may be made of any suitable material, for example plastics, ceramics, metal or wood but is preferably made of plastics and is most preferably a one-piece plastics injection moulding. As the plastics material we prefer impact polystyrene.

As indicated above, the article of the invention may be used as an ornament and thus the invention includes an ornament of generally flat configuration with at least one of its sides forming a display area, there being a projection extending outwardly from the ornament to provide a hook for hanging, the projection being situated at or near the periphery of the ornament and extending in front of at least part of the ornament, and being shaped so as to allow successive ornaments to be stacked one upon the other and to stabilise an adjacent ornament in a stack against lateral movement.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the ornament need not be strictly flat and especially may be indented to receive a decorative sheet, for example, but overall the ornament will be flat so as to provide easy, compact stacking.

To define the invention in summary, therefore, a stackable hook (e.g. for hanging coats) or ornament comprises a hook portion projecting in front of the main body of the article.

The hook portion is shaped to stabilise the hook portion of an adjacent article in a stack against lateral movement. The main body forms the wall attachment portion if the article is to be used as a hook or, if the article is an ornament, the main body provides a display surface for decorative material and the article is hooked over a picture rail, for example. The front and back surfaces of the main body are generally complementary for stable stacking.

Claims

1. A stackable hook comprising: an attachment portion for fixing to a wall or other surface and having generally complementary front and back surfaces; and a hook portion projecting outwardly and upwardly in front of at least part of the attachment portion from at or near the periphery of the attachment portion and adapted to stabilise the hook portion of an adjacent hook in a stack against lateral movement.

2. A hook as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hook portion has at least a region laterally inward of its outer edges wherein its upper surface is raised above the surface outwardly of the region and the lower surface is complementarily shaped.

3. A hook as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the hook portion is angular or arcuate in the lateral direction.

4. A hook as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hook portion is shaped as one piece formed from a plate or tube.

5. A hook as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hook portion tapers towards its free end.

6. A hook as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at the juncture of the attachment portion and the hook portion the separation, as measured in a straight line, between the outer edges of the hook portion is substantially in the region of from 2 to 5 cm.

7. A hook as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the attachment portion is generally plate-shaped.

8. A hook as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least one surface of the attachment portion has a recess in which may be adhered a sheet having thereon decorative or informative marking.

9. A hook as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sheet is adhered to the attachment portion.

10. A hook as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which is a one-piece plastics moulding.

11. A hook or ornament substantially as hereinbefore described or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. An ornament of generally flat configuration with at least one of its sides forming a display area, there being a projection extending outwardly from the ornament to provide a hook for hanging, the projection being situated at or near the outside of the ornament and extending in front of at least part of the ornament, and being shaped so as to allow successive ornaments to be stacked one upon the other and to stabilise an adjacent ornament in a stack against lateral movement.

13. An article structured as defined in claim 7 or claim 8 which is an ornament.