GB2396805A

GB2396805A - Cardboard garment hanger

Info

Publication number: GB2396805A
Application number: GB0329557A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Michael Woodworth
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-12-21
Filing date: 2003-12-22
Publication date: 2004-07-07
Also published as: GB0329557D0; GB0229956D0

Abstract

A garment hanger (10) comprises a strip of cardboard that is folded to form a rail (20) and rail supports (22) extending from opposite ends of the rail, and means (26) for securing the ends of the rail supports together. The means for securing the ends together may comprise a stud (34, figure 3b) formed on a shield (30, figure 3a). A hook may be formed integrally or separately to the shield. The hook may alternative be constructed by folding the cardboard strip (fig. 9A).

Description

Title: Garment hangers

Description

This invention relates to garment hangers.

Garment hangers made of wood or plastics material are difficult to dispose of when damaged. Depositing used hangers in landfill sites is the most likely means of disposing damaged hangers but they take considerable time to degrade, especially the more commonly used plastics hangers. Some garment hangers can be recycled but recycling can be expensive due to the costs of À À À transporting, sorting, granulating and re-moulding. À.e

Another problem with plastics garment hangers is the cost of transporting À À.

them to and from stores, as many designs take up relatively large amounts of À . space due to their shape and have a relatively high weight per product ratio. À. e.

À À.. It has been proposed to make garment hangers from cardboard but these have suffered from being complicated to manufacture or from insufficient strength to withstand the rigours of use in commercial applications.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved garment hanger made principally from cardboard.

According to this invention a garment hanger is made from a strip of cardboard that is folded to form a rail and rail supports extending from opposite ends of the rail and means for securing the ends of the rail supports together.

The preferred hanger according to the invention is formed as a triangle, although it is envisaged that more complicated hanger shapes may be produced according to the invention, such as, for example, with the rail supports having two components, such as first minor component angled outwardly and a major component extending therefrom angled inwardly to the securement point.

The strip of cardboard is preferably firstly folded longitudinally for strength.

Further transverse folds are preferably provided whereby the cardboard strip can be folded to form the rail supports. The transverse folds on opposite sides of the longitudinal fold for forming the rail supports or major components thereof are preferably angled away from the ends of the strip towards the centre thereof.

Preferably at opposite ends of the cardboard strip and preferably on opposite sides of the longitudinal fold slots are provided that in the formed hanger overlie each other to receive the securing means. The preferred securing means À À À comprises a stud or the like that can be inserted through the overlying slots to À e.

hold the ends of the cardboard strip together. The stud or the like is preferably À À À Àe part of or linked to a hook component, whereby the hanger can be supported on a rail, hook or other supporting means. The stud is preferably made from plastics À. e.

material. The hook component may also have a shield area, on which garment details, such as product description, size and price can be affixed in the form of an adhesive label. The stud preferably extends from the shield area when that is present. The hook and shield may be moulded in one-piece from plastics material. Alternatively, the hook may be of metal mounted to a plastics shield.

The securing means may additionally comprise means whereby the ends of the cardboard strip in forming a hanger are sandwiched for additional security.

In an alternative preferred embodiment of the invention the cardboard strip is further folded to form a hook for supporting the hanger on a rail or the like.

Preferably the hook is reinforced with a sheath of plastics material that also serves to hold the hanger together.

Garment hangers of the invention may be simple to produce and assemble as well as being light and collapsible or compressable for transportation. Also, because they are made principally of cardboard, when used for transporting garments, ties or the like can be secured through the garments and the hangers to prevent them becoming detached.

This invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a cardboard strip prepared for making a garment hanger; Figures 2a, b and c show the stages in forming a garment hanger of the invention from the cardboard strip of Figure1; À À À Figures 3a, b and c are front, side and rear views of a first securing means À.e for making hangers of the invention; À À À À.

Figures 4a, b and c are front, side and rear views of a second securing means for making hangers of the invention; Figures 5a, b and c are front, side and rear views of a third securing means for making hangers of the invention; Figures 6a and b are front and side views of a fourth securing means for making hangers of the invention; Figures 7a, b, c and d are respectively front, side, top and rear views of a fifth form of securing means for use in the invention; Figures 8a and b show alternative forms of the securing means of Figure 7; Figures 9a and b show an alternative hanger according to the invention partly assembled and then fully assembled; Figures 1 Oa, b, c and d are front, side section, rear and side views of a component of the hanger of Figure 9; and Figures 1 1 a, b, c, and d show yet another form of garment hanger according to the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a garment hanger 10 is made from a strip of cardboard 12 as shown in Figure 1. The cardboard strip 12 has a longitudinal crease 14 for forming a first fold and a pair of transverse creases 16 and 18 forforming second and third folds in the cardboard strip. The creases 16 and 18 have two components each, each component being angled away from the ends of the strip. The creases 16 and 18 delimit the rail 20 and rail À À À supports 22 of the finished hanger. Near each end of the strip on opposite sides À...

of the longitudinal crease 14 are slots 24. The slots are sized and angled, so that À Àe when the ends of the strip are overlapped to form the hanger shape as shown in À Figure 2a, the slots overlie each other. À.

À À. The hanger is formed by folding the strip 12 along its longitudinal crease and then by folding the ends of the strip towards each other by means of the creases 16 and 18, so that the fold in the rail part 20 opens downwardly as illustrated. To secure the ends of the rail support components together a securing means in the form of a stud (not shown) extending from a shield 26 having a wire hook 28 is inserted through the slots 24. The stud has an enlarged end, which can pass through the slots but is resistant to being pulled out from the slots.

Examples of securing means as alternatives to that shown in Figure 2 of the drawings are shown in Figures 3 to 8 of the accompanying drawings. Those shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 use the principle of a stud as in the embodiment of Figure 2 for securing ends of the cardboard strip together. In Figure 3 there is shown a plastics hook and shield securing member 30. Extending from the rear of shield 32 is a stud 34 having an enlarged end 36. The shield can be used for positioning of product information usually applied as an adhesive label.

In Figure 4, securing member 40 has no shield area but has its stud 42 near the bottom end of hook 44. Figure 5 shows a securing member 50 that is similar to that of Figure 3 except for the shape of the shield area 52.

Turning to Figure 7 of the drawings, a shield 70 of a securing means is shown but without a hook. Figures 8a and 8b show alternatives respectively with a wire hook 72 and with an integrally moulded plastics hook 74. The shield 70 has a relatively thin main part 76, from the rear of which extends a securing stud À À À 78. The main part has a lip 80 along its top edge and a lug 82 on its bottom edge.

The lip and the lug respectively are intended to fit above and below the cardboard À Àe hanger rail supports where they overlap.

À À In Figure 6, a different type of securing means 90 is shown, which is À..

À.. moulded in one piece of plastics material. The securing means 90 has a first pairs of depending formations 94/95 and 96/97 between each of which the cardboard hanger is sandwiched. Each pair of pending formations has a first outer formation 94, 96, both of which are aligned centrally and a second formation 95, 97 on opposite sides of the securing means. Thus, the cardboard strip of the hanger has to be bent to fit between the two pairs of depending formations to improve the grip thereon.

Turning to Figures 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings, a garment hanger 100 is made of cardboard strip folded to form a rail 102, sides 104, rail supports 106 and a hook 108. The hook is formed from overlapping ends of the cardboard strip and a C-shaped sleeve 110 (see Figure 10) slides over the hook 108 to hold the hook parts and hence the hanger together and to give the hook additional strength.

Finally, in Figure 11 of the accompanying drawings there is shown a garment hanger 200 again formed from folded cardboard strip and a securing means of the type shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. A piece of card 203 is added to the hanger and has clips 204 thereon that extend through slots in rail supports 202. The clips 204 are to receive garment straps or the like to hold them on the hanger. As can be seen in Figures 11c and 11d, with weight exerted on the hook, the rail supports are able to flex downwards to facilitate fitting a garment to or removing a garment from the clips 204. When the weight of the À garment is applied to the hanger, the clips close against the rail supports.

I. The ability of the cardboard hanger to flex is an advantage of all of the ÀÀe hangers illustrated herein, along with the ability to be packed tightly and to have garments secured thereto by tags or the like fro transportation. Furthermore, the Àe À.

: cardboard parts of the hangers are biodegradable and the plastics components can be easily removed for recycling.

Claims

Claims: 1. A garment hanger made from a strip of cardboard that is folded

to form a rail and rail supports extending from opposite ends of the rail and means for securing the ends of the rail supports together.
2. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 formed as a triangle.
3. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 formed with the rail supports having two components, such as first minor component angled outwardly and a major component extending therefrom angled inwardly to the securement point.
4. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the strip of À À À cardboard is firstly folded longitudinally for strength.
5. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 4 having further transverse folds are À À À Àe provided, whereby the cardboard strip is folded to form the rail supports.

À À
6. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the transverse folds on À. . . À. opposite sides of the longitudinal fold for forming the rail supports or major components thereof are angled away from the ends of the strip towards the centre thereof.
7. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein at opposite ends of the cardboard strip slots are provided that in the formed hanger overlie each other to receive the securing means.
8. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein slots are also provided on opposite sides of the longitudinal fold.
9. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the securing means comprises a stud or the like insertable through the overlying slots to hold the ends of the cardboard strip together.
10. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 9, wherein the stud or the like is part of or linked to a hook component, whereby the hanger can be supported on a rail, hook or other supporting means.
11. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein the stud is made from plastics material.
12. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein the hook component has a shield area, on which garment details, such as product description, size and price can be affixed in the form of an adhesive label.
13. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the stud extends from the shield area when that is present. À À À
14. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the hook and shield are moulded in one-piece from plastics material. À .e
15. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the À À hook is of metal mounted to a plastics shield. À...

À..
16. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the securing means additionally comprises means, whereby the ends of the cardboard strip in forming a hanger are sandwiched for additional security.
17. A garment hanger as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the cardboard strip is further folded to form a hook for supporting the hanger on a rail or the like.
18. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 17, wherein the hook is reinforced with a sheath of plastics material that also serves to hold the hanger together.
19. A garment hanger substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of the accompanying drawings.