US3028974A - Article-carrying device - Google Patents

Description

April 10, 1962 s. H. I oEB 3,028,974

ARTICLE-CARRYING DEVICE Filed Aug. s1, 1960 FIG.|.

5 E? 5 fz j v if J 'fiiiallglnm Immun-num `illlaullllllvl mum-umn i L (T 4.. FleaT 10 a 5 1f d t@ w w b1@ V 9 FIGA' INVENTOR an@ 7/ 1Z"""""` ff FIGS. AT ORN" United States Patent 'C 3,028,974 ARTICLE-CARRYING DEVICE Stephen H. Loeb, 4 Faunridge Court, St. Louis County, Mo. Filed Aug. 31, 1960, Ser. No. 53,170 3 Claims. (Cl. 2l1113) This invention relates to improvements in an articlecarrying device, but more especially to such a device that is most convenient for use by detachably suspending from an already installed elongated rod, such as is found for instance in the usual form of household clothes closet.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to so construct such la device that it will occupy about the same space as do the usual coat hangers for use in such a closet, and yet will permit of carrying a multiplicity of individual articles therefrom, and wherein any of said articles may be selectively removed from the device after movement of said article to adjacent the front of said closet.

Another object of my invention is to so construct such a device with an endless belt that is movable thereon and which may be manually shifted while in said closet or the like, to bring any desired one of the articles to the front of the closet for ready removal from the device, or for the purpose of inspection.

A further object of the invention is to so construct such a device with rotatable rollers at its ends and about which said belt is movably mounted, said belt provided with resilient clips at predetermined intervals longitudinally therealong, said clips being so designed that they will not be deformed through passing over said rollers.

Still another object of my invention is to so construct such a device that the attaching means associated therewith for suspending the device from the elongated clothes rod will grip the latter with suicient force and contact to prevent accidental pivoting of said device about said rod, even though the device is unevenly loaded.

Added objects of the invention are to make such a device relatively light in weight, inexpensive, neat and compact in appearance, durable, mountable and releasable from one place to another, long-lasting, and that will be otherwise efficient and satisfactory for use wherever found applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described, and the uses mentioned, will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention appcrtains, all as will be more clearly evident from the disclosures hereinafter given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, combination and form of parts as herein shown and described and as will be more completely pointed out in the speciication and claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings, wherein like or corresponding parts are represented by like reference characters throughout the views, y

FIGURE l is a perspective View showing the device as hung in a clothes closet, only a fragment of the closet being indicated;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the device as clamped on a clothes rod;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the carrier device;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same, taken substantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2; and

FIGURE S is an enlarged fragmentary detail, taken substantially along the line 5--5 of FIG. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 indicates the region wherein my article-carrying device is most likely to be installed, as for instance, in an ordinary clothes closet of the home, said closet nearly always being shallow, just about deep enough to have the usualsized coat hanger 2 detachably suspended on an elongated rod 3 that is carried between the opposite ends of the closet. Normally, such hangers must be placed on said rod and removed therefrom, from adjacent the front of said closet.

My article-carrying device is so constructed that it may be mounted on and removed from the rod in a manner similar to the manipulation of said coat hangers, thatfis, from in front of the closet, and is so shaped and sized that it will occupy about the same space as is occupied by the coat hangers ordinarily carried on said rod.

In the form shown, I have constructed said device with an elongated bar 4 of sufficiently sturdy material that will not sag when fully loaded with the full complement of individual articles to be carried, said bar adapted to extend substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rofl when mounted on the latter.

Some form of clamping means, as for instance the spring means 5 is carried by said bar and is provided with a pair of oppositely facing jaw'elernents 6--6 that are preferably lined with rubber 7 or other suitably resiliently elastic material, each of said jaws preferably shaped as a V so as to grip the latter at several points when said jaws are sprung onto said rod, such gripping being with sufficient force as to prevent any accidental tilting or pivotal swing of the device about said rod. Thus, although it might sometimes happen that more of the load is carried by said bar, to one side of its mid-length, than is carried to the other side, the firm clamping of said bar to said rod will prevent such tilting, and will retain the bar substantially horizontally mounted.

At each end of said bar a roller 8 is rotatably mounted, in this instance depending from said har and carried by a dowel 9 or axle fixed in place on said bar, the length of said rollers being such as will best accommodate an articlecarrying belt 10.

This belt is preferably endless and is of any suitable material best serving its purpose, as for instance, of cloth or of plastic, of such length as to extend lengthwise of said bar and be received over the end rollers 88, having suicient tension or frictional engagement with the latter so that a lengthwise pull on said belt at any point will actuate the belt to travel lengthwise about said bar, as indicated.

Spring clips 11, 11 are carried by said belt at selectively predetermined intervals therealong, said clips being attached' at one of their ends to said belt and extending substantially horizontally toward their free ends, said clips being of a length that is found best able to carry the speciiic articles for which the device is intended, as for instance the neckties indicated. The clips are sufficiently resilient to enable them to be sprung by their free ends, away from said belt and to retrieve themselves to their original relationship upon release of said actuating force.

Although said clips may be separately formed and then mounted on said belt, I have shown them as formed integrally with the latter, and if believed desirable they m-ay be suitably reinforced as shown at 12 to better enable them to carry their load for a long service.

Obviously, when the device as so constructed is suspeuded in the ordinary clothes closet, it will occupy about the same space as that of the usual coat hanger therein, and will permit of selectively choosing any one of the multiplicity of the articles carried by the device, simply by manually actuating the belt to cause it to travel past the front of the closet, within full view of the operator standing in front of the closet, and from whence the operator may extract any one of the articles from the front end of the carrier.

It is hardly thought necessary to add that other articles than neckties may be carried on the device, as for instance belts, necklaces, etc., andfurther that the device may be t 3 suspended in places other than closets, and in fact, in any place wherein it is desired to store or display a multiplicity of generally elongated articles for selective dismounting one by one, as needed.

I claim:

1. A device for detachably carrying a plurality of articles for selective removal and adapted to be hung on a supporting rod, said device comprising an elongated bar, means for detachahly hanging said bar from said rod and constituting the sole support for said device, with said bar substantially at right angles to said rod, rollers positioned on the ends of said bar and of approximately the same diameter as the thickness of the latter so as to occupy a minimum of transverse space, an endless belt mounted on and between said rollers and shiftably movable lengthwise of said bar, and clips longitudinally spaced apart on said belt and each adapted to releasably carry one of said articles for selective removal of the latter from any one of said clips.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that said means that detachably hangs said bar on said rod clamps said bar to said rod includes spring clips with yieldably compressible bar-engaging faces that grip said bar with sufficient force to prevent accidental pivotal movement of the bar about said rod.

3. A device for detachably carrying a plurality of articles for selective removal therefrom and adapted to be hung on a rod in a relatively shallow enclosure, said device comprising an elongated bar, a clamp for non-rotatably mounting said bar on said rod and constituting the single support for said bar, with said bar extending substantially at right angles to the length of said rod, rollers of approximately the diameter of the bar thickness carried at the opposite ends of said bar, an endless belt mounted on said rollers so that the opposed faces of said belt are relatively close together to movably travel lengthwise of the bar, and spring clips spaced at intervals along said belt and each adapted to frictionally releasably hold one of said articles on said belt and permit selective removal of any one of said articles from one end of said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 830,804 Schoenebeck Sept. 11, 1906 928,980 Kaufman July 27, 1909 2,608,306 Mins Aug. 26, 1952 2,638,301 Smith May l2, 1953

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