Clothes hanger and method for producing the same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a clothes hanger 1 comprising a suspension hook 3, first and second shoulder elements 5, 7 extending in opposite directions from the suspension hook 3, and a cross piece 9 connected to the first and second shoulder 5 elements 5, 7 adjacent to their distal ends 11, 13. The cross piece 9 is formed at least partly from adhesive coated paper rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core 16, wherein first and second dowels 15, 17 are inserted into the hollow core 16 at the ends of the cross piece 9. The dowels 15, 17 is attached to the first and second shoulder elements 5,7. 10

Description

[0001] CLOTHES HANGER AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a clothes hanger comprising a suspension hook, first and second shoulder elements extending in opposite directions from the suspension hook and a cross piece connected to the first and second shoulder elements adjacent to the distal ends thereof.

[0004] Background

[0005] Such clothes hangers are widely available and have been for a long time. Typically, the shoulder elements and the cross piece may be made of wood, and the hook may be a metal component. This however makes the product relatively expensive in mass production. There exists less expensive variants where for instance the shoulder elements and the cross bar are injection moulded in one piece in a plastic material, or where the clothes hanger as a whole is made of metal wire. Such cheaper clothes hangers are however somewhat flimsy and not appreciated, especially not in domestic use.

[0006] One problem with known clothes hangers is therefore how to produce clothes hangers with the appearance and feel of the initially mentioned type made from wood but at a lower cost.

[0007] One object of the present disclosure is therefore to provide a low cost clothes hanger.

[0008] This object is achieved with a clothes hanger as defined in claim 1 . More specifically, in a clothes hanger of the initially defined type, the cross piece is formed at least partly from adhesive coated paper. The paper is rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core. First and second dowels are inserted in the hollow core at the respective ends of the cross piece. The first dowel is attached to the first shoulder element and the second dowel is attached to the second shoulder element.

[0009] This allows a clothes hanger to be produced with the shoulder element formed in wood, for instance, but where the wooden cross bar is replaced with a paper tube cross bar, which may have the same dimensions, but being considerably less expensive to produce. As the requirements for producing a long and slender cross piece in wood are relatively demanding, e.g. having to be free from knots and having fibres extending largely in the longitudinal direction of the cross piece to have sufficient strength, this cross piece may be relatively costly, so the replacement according to the present disclosure can lower the cost of the clothes hanger significantly, while maintaining the look, performance and feel of a legacy type clothes hanger.

[0010] The cross piece may be cut at each end in a slanted direction such that a respective inclined surface is formed, facing each of the respective shoulder elements. This facilitates the attaching of the cross piece to the shoulder elements. Typically, the cross piece may be cut at an angle <p between 15-35 degrees to the axial direction of the cross piece, more preferred where <p is between 20-30 degrees.

[0011] The dowels may be attached to the first and second shoulder elements, by means of at least one of: nail, rivet, pin, screw, or adhesive.

[0012] The outer cross section dimension, such as a diameter, of the cross piece may be in the range 7-20 mm, and the inner dimension, such as a diameter, of the hollow core may be in the range 5-16 mm. The material thickness of the cross piece may be 1 - 5 mm, and the outer cross-section of the cross piece may have the shape of a circle, an oval, a drop, or a convex polygon.

[0013] The shoulder elements may extend obliquely downwards in opposite directions from the suspension hook, thereby forming a free space in between the lower or distal ends of the shoulder elements, where the cross piece may be fitted.

[0014] The dowels may be made from wood, such as solid wood chosen from a group including beech, spruce, oak, birch, aspen, bamboo and pine, or from a fibrous wood material, such as particle board or fibre board, such as MDF or HDF.

[0015] The first and second dowels may have an outer dimension, such as a diameter, which is within + / - 0.5 mm, preferably within + / - 0.3 mm, of the inner dimension, such as a diameter, of the hollow core. The first and second dowels may be attached to the cross piece by means of an adhesive, and / or by means of a friction fit. The dowels may each have a length of 15 - 60 mm. The two dowels may totally extend 5- 35 % of the total length of the cross piece. Each dowel may extend at least 5 mm, preferably at least 10 mm, into the cross piece, as measured at the upper side of the cross piece. The present disclosure also considers a method for producing a clothes hanger comprising a suspension hook, first and second shoulder elements extending from the suspension hook and a cross piece connected to the first and second shoulder elements adjacent to the distal ends thereof. In this method, the cross piece is formed by adhesive coated paper rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core. First and second dowels are inserted in the hollow core at the respective ends of the cross piece, and the dowels are fastened to the first and second shoulder elements.

[0016] According to one embodiment, said plurality of layers of adhesive coated paper may be 5-30 layers. This provides for obtaining a good strength at a low cost.

[0017] The present disclosure also considers more generally a method for producing a construction element, not only useful in clothes hangers. This method includes cutting a sheet of paper from a web of a paper roll, the paper being rolled on the paper roll in a first direction. A layer of adhesive is applied on the sheet, and the sheet is rolled on a pin in a second direction, which is perpendicular to the first direction, and the pin is removed.

[0018] The web of paper on the paper roll may have been rolled on the roll in the machine direction of the paper making machine that produced the paper. The pin may have a circular outer cross-section. The tube formed on the pin may be cross-cut in one or more positions along its length to form more than one cross-piece from the tube.

[0019] This method may include inserting dowels in both ends of the construction element.

[0020] Brief description of the drawings

[0021] Fig 1 shows a front view of a clothes hanger according to the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig 2 shows a top view of the clothes hanger in fig 1 .

[0023] Fig 3A-3D illustrates steps in producing a cross piece for a clothes hanger according to the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig 4 illustrates examples of cross piece cross sections.

[0025] Detailed description

[0026] The present disclosure relates to clothes hangers, as illustrated with the example clothes hanger 1 , of fig 1. Such clothes hangers 1 usually comprise a suspension hook 3, which allows the hanger with clothes applied thereto to be suspended from a wardrobe rack, for instance. The suspension hook 3 is attached to a first 5 and a second 7 shoulder element, which extend from the hook 3. The shoulder elements 5, 7 are connected to each other at their proximal ends, and at that location the hook 3 is attached, typically screwed into the joint between the shoulder elements 5, 7. It is also possible to provide the first and second shoulder elements 5, 7 as one piece.

[0027] Typically, the shoulder elements 5, 7 are made from wood such as beech, pine, or birch, but fibre materials such as MDF or HDF would be a conceivable alternative. The hook 3 may typically be made in metal.

[0028] The shoulder elements 5, 7 extend obliquely downwards in substantially opposite directions from the suspension hook 3, thereby forming a free space in between the lower or distal ends 11 , 13 of the shoulder elements, where a cross piece 9 can be fitted as will be discussed. As seen in the top view of fig 2, the shoulder elements 5, 7 extend in opposite directions in the same vertical plane, but there may also be an angle 0 slightly smaller than 180 degrees in between them as indicated, which may be preferred in some clothes hangers such as for storing jackets, coats etc. Typically, the angle 0 is at least greater than 120°.

[0029] Returning to fig 1 , the cross piece 9 is connected to the first and second shoulder elements 5, 7 adjacent to the distal ends 11 , 13 thereof, typically at a distance d smaller than 30 mm as measured from said distal ends 11 , 13 to the centre of the point of connection of the cross piece 9, to allow the use of a cross piece 9 with a sufficient length, capable of suspending a pair of pants, for instance.

[0030] Thus far described, the clothes hanger does not deviate from clothes hangers as known for many decades. Usually however, the cross piece in such hangers have been made of a slender piece of wood, and the necessary quality of that piece, free from knots and having fibres extending almost parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cross piece 9, has made the clothes hanger as a whole rather expensive. Using sub-standard quality wood has in many cases caused the cross piece to break even at insignificant loads.

[0031] Therefore, this disclosure describes a clothes hanger where the cross piece 9 is made of paper, while retaining the look and feel of the clothes hanger as a whole despite being produced at a lower cost. As illustrated in fig 1 , the cross piece 9 is formed at least partly from adhesive coated paper rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section, such as a circular, oval, drop-shaped or triangular, square, or other polygonal shape with rounded edges, as will be discussed, and a hollow core 16. This process will be described in more detail and results in a light and strong cross piece. First and second dowels 15, 17 are inserted into the hollow core 16 at the ends of the cross piece 9, as indicated in fig 1 . The first and second dowels 15, 17 may have an outer dimension, in the illustrated embodiment a diameter, which is in the same range as the inner diameter of the hollow core 16.

[0032] For example, the dowels 15, 17 may have an outer dimension, such as a diameter, which is within + / - 0.5 mm, or often within + / - 0.3 mm, of the inner dimension, such as a diameter, of the hollow core 16. The first and second dowels 15, 17 may, for example, be attached to the cross piece 9 by means of an adhesive, and / or by means of a friction fit.

[0033] The dowels 15, 17 may typically have a length of 15 - 60 mm each. Since the length of the cross piece 9 is typically 250-450 mm, this means that the dowels totally extend typically 5-35 % of the total length of the cross piece 9, and the rest of the cross piece 9 is hollow, making the weight thereof lower. Each dowel 15, 17 should preferably extend at least 5 mm, preferably at least 10 mm, into the hollow core 16 of the cross piece 9, as measured at the upper side of the of the cross piece 9.

[0034] Then, by connecting the dowels 15, 17 to the shoulder elements, the clothes hanger 1 is finished. Specifically, the first dowel 15 is attached to the first shoulder element 5 and the second dowel 17 is attached to the second shoulder element 7. This ensures a strong connection between the paper cross piece 9 and the shoulder elements 5, 7.

[0035] The dowels 15, 17 may be attached in different ways to the shoulder elements 5, 7. Typically, mechanical fasteners such as nails, pins, rivets or screws may be used, nails 19 being used in fig 1 , as illustrated. Alternatively, or in combination therewith, attaching the dowels 15, 17 to the shoulder elements 5, 7 by means of an adhesive could be considered, particularly if the cross piece 9 is cut as will be discussed in the following.

[0036] As illustrated in fig 1 , the lower sides of the shoulder elements 5, 7 form an acute angle <p with the cross piece 9. The attaching of the dowels 15, 17 and thereby the cross piece 9 to the shoulder elements 5, 7 may be facilitated by cutting, wholly or partly, the dowels 15, 17 and the cross piece 9 to form respective surfaces of the cross piece 9 facing, in a parallel manner, those lower sides of the of the shoulder elements 5, 7.

[0037] Thus, as illustrated in the enlarged portion of fig 1 , the cross piece 9 may be cut at each end in a direction being slanted vis-a-vis the longitudinal direction 21 of the cross piece 9, such that an inclined surface 10 is formed at the respective end of the cross piece 9 facing each of the respective shoulder elements 5, 7. At the outermost ends of the cross piece 9 an acute angle may be formed that is the same or close to the aforementioned acute angle <p between the shoulder elements 5, 7 and the cross piece 9.

[0038] The cross piece 9 may be cut at an angle <p between 15-35, more preferred 20-30, degrees to the longitudinal or axial direction 21 of the cross piece 9. Forming such an inclined surface 10 also makes gluing a viable option for attaching the dowels 15, 17 to the shoulder elements 5, 7. The bottom side of the shoulder elements 5, 7 need not be flat and can be given various configurations.

[0039] The cross piece 9 in this configuration may be made as thin as a wooden cross piece in a legacy-type clothes hanger but at a much lower cost. Typically the outer cross section diameter of the cross piece 9 may be in the range 7-20 mm.

[0040] The dowels 15, 17 may typically be made from solid wood chosen such as beech, spruce or pine, for instance. Alternatively, a fibrous wood material could be considered, for instance providing pressed wood fibre composites such as comparable to particle boards or fibre boards, e.g. MDF or HDF. The dowels 15, 17 may typically be attached inside the cross piece 9 by means of an adhesive, although in some cases, since the cross piece 9 is formed by rolling paper which has been coated with glue or other adhesive, the adhesive substance inside the tube may be sufficient to keep the dowels attached thereto. As alternative, or in combination therewith, the dowels 15, 17 may also be connected to the cross piece 9 by means of a press-fit.

[0041] The present disclosure also considers a method for producing a clothes hanger 1 as described above. This method involves the steps of forming a cross piece 9 by rolling adhesive coated paper into a plurality of layers to form a tube with a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core. Said plurality of layers of the adhesive coated paper may be 5-30 layers, the exact number can be adjusted to achieve the desired strength and performance of the cross piece 9, also taking into account the surface weight of the paper.

[0042] Further, the method includes inserting first and second dowels 15, 17 in said hollow core at the respective ends of the cross piece 9. Finally, the dowels 15, 17 are attached to the first and second shoulder elements 5, 7, as described above.

[0043] Optionally, the cross piece 9 may be cut, prior to this fastening, at least partly through the dowels 15, 17 at each end in a slanted direction, such that an inclined surface 10 is formed facing each of the respective shoulder elements 5, 7.

[0044] Fig 3A-3D illustrates steps in producing a cross piece 9 for a clothes hanger 1 according to the present disclosure. Beginning with a roll of paper 31 illustrated in fig 3A, paper sheets (37 cf. fig 3B) are formed by cutting the web 33 of the paper roll 31 . The paper may be for instance a kraft paper having a surface weight of 80-200 g / m2, such as 130g / m2made from 100% virgin (non-recycled) fibre. Several other alternatives exist, including craftliner with 30% recycled fibre, for instance. Other types of paper, with or without recycled fibres, may also be used.

[0045] As shown in fig 3B the sheets 37 are covered with a layer of adhesive 39. Different adhesives are possible in this context, such as a silicate-based adhesive such as COLLOSIL, available from Wdllner GmbH or GLUTURA available from Bollerup- Jensen A / S, for instance. A lignin-based glue may be an alternative, such as WOODMER available from Ecohelix AB. Other alternatives include Polyurethane, Pll, glue for instance.

[0046] The sheet 37 with the applied adhesive 39 is then rolled, as illustrated in fig 3C, on a long pin 41 with a cross sectional dimension and shape corresponding to the desired inner dimension and shape of hollow core 16 of the cross piece 9. In an alternative embodiment more than one cross piece 9, such as 2-3 pieces, may be cut from the tube formed on the pin 41 , if the pin has a suitable length. The pin 41 may have different cross-sections as will be discussed.

[0047] The pin 41 is then removed and dowels 15, 17 are inserted in the ends of the cross piece 9. The process as a whole is well suited for automation.

[0048] Returning to fig 3A it is noted that paper production tends to orient fibres to a greater extent in the direction indicated, i.e. in a direction 35 perpendicular to axis of the paper roll 31 . This direction 35 coincides with the machine direction of the paper machine in which the paper was produced. As illustrated in fig 3C, paper is rolled on the pin 41 in a direction 43 being perpendicular to the direction 35 that the paper was rolled on the paper roll 31 . This means that a large proportion of the fibres in the cross piece 9 will be oriented along the longitudinal direction thereof, which improves the stiffness of the cross piece 9. This effect can be useful also in other applications than cross pieces for clothes hangers, i.e. in other construction elements that should be long and slender and produced at low cost.

[0049] If a cross piece with an outer cross section other than circular is desired, then the pin 41 could be given a different cross than circular. For example the pin 41 could be given, in contrast to the circular shape shown in Figs. 3B and 3C, an oval shape, a drop shape or a polygonal shape, to provide a cross piece having a non-circular shape. Also in the case of the pin having a polygonal shape, such as a triangular shape or a square shape, the resulting cross piece would have a rounded shape, such as a square shape with rounded edges, due to the winding of the paper in several layers on the pin.

[0050] Fig 4 illustrates examples of cross piece or construction element cross sections with a hollow core, including polygonal, circular, oval, and drop-shaped. For instance triangular, square, or other shapes would also be possible. Shapes that are noncircular may in some cases provide increased stiffness to the cross piece. For example, a cross piece having an oval cross section with its larger dimension extending in the vertical direction and its smaller dimension extending in the horizontal dimension, may have better support for a heavy garment, e.g. a pair of heavy pants. The various cross sections also enable a desired contact surface with the type of garment intended for hanging on the cross piece, and / or additional options for design.

[0051] It is also possible to make some post processing to the cross piece. For example a cross piece with an originally circular cross section could be slightly squeezed to its sides, preferably before the adhesive has completely hardened, to obtain an oval cross-section. The present disclosure thus also considers generally a method for producing a construction element, typically a long and slender construction element, e.g. with a length exceeding 10 times its diameter.

[0052] The present disclosure thus considers generally a method for producing a construction element including cutting a sheet 37 of paper from a web 33 of a paper roll 31 , the paper being rolled on the paper roll in a first direction 35, applying a layer of adhesive 39 on the sheet 37, rolling the sheet on a pin 41 in a second direction 43, which is perpendicular to the first direction 35, and removing the pin 41 . This may be combined with using dowels as already described to improve the function of the component.

[0053] The present disclosure is not restricted to the above described examples and may be varied and altered in different ways within the scope of the appended claims.

[0054] For example, the clothes hanger 1 described in Fig. 1 is of a type suitable for hanging a coat, a shirt or similar and a pair of pants on it. It will be appreciated that as alternative also a clothes hanger of the type mainly suitable for hanging pants on it may also be designed using the principles described hereinabove. Furthermore, both clothes hangers suitable for adults and for children may be designed using the principles described hereinabove. Still further, it will be realized that the shoulder elements 5, 7 could be made of other materials than those described hereinabove, including metal and plastic.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A clothes hanger (1 ) comprising a suspension hook (3), first and second shoulder elements (5, 7) extending from the suspension hook (3), and a cross piece (9) connected to the first and second shoulder elements (5, 7) adjacent to the distal ends (11 , 13) thereof, characterized by the cross piece (9) being formed at least partly from adhesive coated paper rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core (16), wherein first and second dowels (15, 17) are inserted in said hollow core (16) at the respective ends of the cross piece (9), and the first dowel (15) is attached to the first shoulder element (5) and the second dowel (17) is attached to the second shoulder element (7).

2. Clothes hanger according to claim 1 , wherein the cross piece (9) is cut at each end in a slanted direction such that a respective inclined surface (10) is formed, facing each of the respective shoulder elements (5, 7).

3. Clothes hanger according to claim 2, wherein the cross piece (9) is cut at an angle <p between 15-35 degrees to the axial direction (21 ) of the cross piece (9), preferably at an angle <p between 20-30 degrees.

4. Clothes hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the dowels (15, 17) are attached to the first and second shoulder elements (5, 7), respectively, by means of at least one of: nail, rivet, pin, screw, or adhesive.

5. Clothes hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the outer cross section dimension, such as a diameter, of the cross piece (9) is in the range 7-20 mm, and / or wherein the inner dimension, such as a diameter, of the hollow core (16) is in the range 5-16 mm, and / or wherein the material thickness of the cross piece (9) is 1 - 5 mm, and / or wherein the outer cross-section of the cross piece (9) has the shape of a circle, an oval, a drop, or a convex polygon.

6. Clothes hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first and second dowels (15, 17) are made from wood, such as solid wood chosen from a group including beech, spruce, oak, birch, aspen, bamboo and pine, or a fibrous wood material, such as particle board or fibre board, such as MDF or HDF.

7. Clothes hanger according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first and second dowels (15, 17) have an outer dimension, such as a diameter, which is within + / - 0.5 mm, preferably within + / - 0.3 mm, of the inner dimension, such as a diameter, of the hollow core (16), and / or wherein the first and second dowels (15, 17) are attached to the cross piece (9) by means of an adhesive, and / or by means of a friction fit, and / or wherein the dowels (15, 17) each have a length of 15 - 60 mm, and / or wherein the two dowels (15, 17) totally extend 5-35 % of the total length of the cross piece (9), and / or wherein each dowel (15, 17) extend at least 5 mm, preferably at least 10 mm, into the cross piece (9), measured at the upper side of the cross piece (9).

8. A method for producing a clothes hanger (1 ) comprising a suspension hook (3), first and second shoulder elements (5, 7) extending from the suspension hook (3) and a cross piece (9) connected to the first and second shoulder elements (5, 7) adjacent to the distal ends (11 , 13) thereof, characterized by the cross piece (9) being formed by adhesive coated paper rolled into a plurality of layers to form a tube having a rounded outer cross section and a hollow core (16), wherein first and second dowels (15, 17) are inserted in said hollow core (16) at the respective ends of the cross piece (9), and the dowels (15, 17) are fastened to the first and second shoulder elements (5, 7).

9. A method for producing a construction element (9), the method characterized by-cutting a sheet (37) of paper from a web (33) of a paper roll (31 ), the paper being rolled on the paper roll in a first direction (35),-applying a layer of adhesive (39) on the sheet (37),-rolling the sheet on a pin (41 ) in a second direction (43), which is perpendicular to the first direction (35), and-removing the pin (41 ).

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein the web (33) of paper on the paper roll (31 ) has been rolled on the roll (31 ) in the machine direction of the paper making machine that produced the paper, and / or wherein the pin (41 ) has a circular outer cross-section, and / or wherein the tube formed on the pin (41) is cross-cut inone or more positions along its length to form more than one construction element (9).

11. Method according to any of claims 9 - 10, further including inserting dowels (15, 17) in both ends of the construction element (9).

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