WO1997001980A1

WO1997001980A1 - Garment hangers

Info

Publication number: WO1997001980A1
Application number: PCT/GB1996/001606
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sebastian Conran
Original assignee: Karner-Batts Limited
Priority date: 1995-07-04
Filing date: 1996-07-04
Publication date: 1997-01-23
Also published as: TR199701753T1; DE29622802U1; GB9513549D0; CA2226265A1; GB2302800A

Abstract

A garment hanger has appropriate structure thereon designed to mount a particular garment, which may take various forms. The hanger also has a hook or other suitable means for suspending the garment hanger with the garment mounted thereon. The hanger is arranged to receive, intermediate the garment mounting structure and the hook, a detachable generally flat plaque bearing size or other appropriate indicia by a push fit between interengageable means on the plaque and on the garment hanger.

Description

GARMENT HANGERS

This invention relates to garment hangers. Such hangers are manufactured in their millions for in-store display of clothing. The problems associated with re-use of such hangers have frequently resulted in them either being disposed of after a single use or of being given away to the customers purchasing the garments. Because the margins in retailing are increasingly tight as a result of competition between garment retailers, there iε a desire to be able readily to reuse garment hangers.

It is usual for stores to display garments of the same style and colour but of different sizes either on the same rail or on adjacent rails. Customers must be able readily to identify a garment of their appropriate size. The indication of the appropriate size is conveniently carried by the garment hanger since otherwise the customer must look inside individual garments to ascertain their size. This leads to an untidy display and they often result in garments slipping off the hangers. Many retailers choose garment hangers with circular square or oval plaque immediately beneath the hanging hook but above the cross piece or other structure on which the garment is actually hung. To this plaque is adhered a label showing a particular size.

As can be appreciated, it is generally inconvenient to have to sought used garment hangers into the different sizes and then to mount the appropriate size labelled hanger to a new garment to be placed on display. The other alternative is to remove the label from the plaque and to stick a new label in place. Often the labels are difficult to detach. In any event, the procedure is time consuming and therefore labour and cost intensive.

The present invention addresses this problem and neatly provides a solution.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, we provide a garment hanger comprising structure for mounting a garment there on, a hook or like means for suspending the garment hanger with a garment mounted there on; and, intermediate the said structure and the hook or the like, means for receiving by a push fit a detachable generally flat plaque bearing size or other appropriate antisera and provided with engagement means into engagable with said receivable means by push fi .

Invention is hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig 1 shows a rear elevational view of the hook and plaque region of a garment hanger;

Fig 2 shows a front elevational view of the hanger of Fig 1;

Fig 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in Fig 1.

Since the structure on which the garment is actually hung may take any of the conventional forms, and its precise structure is quite irrelevant to the present invention, such structure has been omitted from the present drawings. Intermediate that structure and a hook or light means for suspending the garment hanger (in this case a simple hook 1) there is located a receiving means 2 for a detachable plaque 3.

The hanger illustrated may be conveniently moulded from a plastics material and the receiving means in this case comprises a shallowly dished generally oval shaped region generally indicated 4 with a shallow upstanding surround 5 into which the plaque 3 can be received. The plaque 3 comprises a generally oval disk 6 with two posts 7 on its rear side. The posts 7 are hollow having through holes 8 and so are readily deformable to be received by a push fit in corresponding openings 9 in the receiving means. The plaque is readily detachable by simply pushing on the rear side of the post 7 and then simply pulling it out of position.

The retailer can thus employ a common stock of garment hangers for a particular style of garment (for example a blouse) and a supply of plaques each of which can either be labelled or can be integrally moulded with a size or other identification. The appropriate plaque is fitted into the receiving space depending upon the size of the garment being mounted on a particular hanger.

Moreover, since a store may employ different garment hangers with different hanging structures for different garments (for example blouses, jumpers and dresses, any of which could be in say sizes ten, ^' twelve and fourteen, the common stock of identification plaques with sizes 10, 12 and 14 indicated there on can be employed for different style hangers provided that the receiving means for the plaque are identical on the different hangers.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A garment hanger comprising structure for mounting a garment thereon, a hook or like means for suspending the garment hanger with a garment mounted thereon; the garment hanger being characterised in further comprising: intermediate the said structure and the hook or the like, means for receiving by a push fit a detachable generally flat plaque, preferably made of plastics, bearing size or other appropriate indicia and provided with engagement means interengageable with said receiving means by push fit.

2. A garment hanger as claimed in Claim 1, further characterised in that the receiving means comprises one or more openings formed in the body of the garment hanger.

3. A garment hanger as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, further characterised in that the receiving means comprises a shallowly dished region with a shallow upstanding surround.

4. A garment hanger as claimed in any preceding claim, further characterised in that the engagement means comprises one or more posts extending from the detachable plaque.

5. A garment hanger as claimed in Claim 4 , further characterised in that the posts extending from the detachable plaque are deformable for insertion into the receiving means .

6. A garment hanger as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, further characterised in that the posts extending from the detachable plaque are hollow.

7. A kit of parts characterised in comprising a garment hanger according to any preceding claim together with a supply of said detachable plaques bearing differing indicia, for example differing indications as to garment size.

8. A method of mounting a garment to a hanger for display for retail sale, the method comprising providing a garment hanger comprising structure for mounting the garment thereon, a hook or like means for suspending the garment hanger with the garment mounted thereon, and, intermediate the said structure and the hook or the like, means for receiving by a push fit a detachable plaque, preferably made of plastics; mounting the garment on the garment hanger; and, either before or after so mounting the garment, selecting a said detachable plaque which bears size or other appropriate indicia corresponding to the particular garment; and mounting the plaque to the receiving means by engagement means mounted on the plaque which are interengageable with the εaid receiving means by a push fit .