US2513806A - Rack - Google Patents

Description

July 4, 1950 B. H. KENNEDY RACK Filed Oct. 4, 1945 mm MM NK mR w Mm .3 m W z A 9 WWW $0M July 4, 1950 B. H. KENNEDY 2,513,806

RACK I Filed Oct. 4, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qt /7 O 6 INVENTOR BENJAMIN h. MFA/NED) BY EM,UM,MMM

ATTORNEYS Patented July 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RACK Benjamin:H.-Kennedy,.PittsforlLN. Y. Application October-4, 1945; Serial No. 620,270

4-Claims. 1=

This invention relates to racks and'ha'sfor its object the provision ofan improved rack for supporting clothing and the like. The invention provides a many-purposerack of very simple construction which may easilybe adjusted from operative to inoperativepositions and which may be folded into a compactformfor storage or shipment. The rack of the invention comprises at least-' two spaced strips of spring metal with a plurality of connected cross bars, means for attaching the rack at its top to a wall,,door, or the like, and means for supporting the rack in a bowed or arcuate position.

The various bars attached to the metal strips are preferabl connected by rivets or the. like which. provide a suflicient' pivotal; movement of the bars with respect to the metal strips that the rack'may be folded to a narrow compact form for'storage or shipment.

The. invention provides meansfor removably attaching the rack to a door whereby the rack may be suspended in afiat position in parallelism with thei door or raised to assume a bowed position for receiving various. articles of clothing. The door-attaching means ar so constructed and arranged that they may be attached to a door without marring the finish and be set at various positions on the door without interfering with the normal opening and closing of the door.

The invention also provides :an improved hanger for garments, especially adaptable for use in combination with horizontally disposed supporting bars or the like. The hanger comprises a pair of rods held in close pressing contact by means of lbowed end springs which serve the additional purpose of engaging the horizontal supporting bar.

These and other novel features of the invention will be better understood after considering the following discussion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a rack of the invention in two positions, together with means for supporting the rack on a door;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view along th line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the rack of Fig. 1, with Parts removed.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of the rack of Fig. 1, with parts removed;

Fig. *6 is a view of the rack of Fig. 1 in a folded position;

Fig. '7 is a front view of apart of the rack hangerof Fig. 1;

Fig; 8 is a detailed side view of a modified mounting for the rack; and

Fig. 9 is a front view of a part of the apparatus of Fig. 8.

The rack illustrated in the drawings comprises two thin strips of spring steel I and 2 serving'as end'supports for :a plurality'of bars 3' which are pivotally connected to the strips by rivets 4.- The upper ends of the strips may beprovidedwith any suitable form of attaching) means, such as hooks BandG', by means of which the rack may be' suspended from a bar, rod, or other attaching device". The strips l' and 2 are preferably'formed ofspring'steel which is fairly rigid'but sufficiently resilient to assume the bowed position shown in Fig. 1 when the lower". end of the rack is raised and fastened in its raised position. When the lower end is released, the strips straighten out and-the rack ma be-lef-t hanging i'n a flat position:

As shown in Fig. 1, the closet door has-a removable bracket attached thereto-for supporting therack. This bracket comprises endcleats'or stirrups l0 and H to which are attached angular brackets I2 and I3 through which the rod 14 is inserted. By means of the wing nuts l5 and I6, the stirrups may be drawn into tight gripping engagement with the door and the rod I4 is accordingly held in a rigid position spaced a short distance outwardly from the door. The hooks 5 and 6 on the ends of the strips may be placed over the rod M and the rack normally assumes the flat hanging position in substantial parallelism With the door, as shown in broken lines. In order to shorten the distance between the ends of the rack to bring it into the bowed position, the lower end is raised and attached. To this end the hanger I5 is provided for attachment to rod M. This hanger, as best shown in Fig. 7, has hooks l6 and H at the top for engaging the rod 14, spacing bars l8 and I9 and supporting bars 20 and 2| with bottom hooks 22 and 23 for engaging the lowermost bar of the rack, as shown in Fig. 1, to support it in its bowed position.

The rack, as shown in greater detail in Figs. 1 and 5, may be attached to any fiat upright wall by the simple means illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, for example. In this adaptation of the invention, the wire bracket 25 is attached to the wall 26 by means of the screw 27. The hook 5 on the end of the s trip 2 is hooked over the wire bracket from which member it may hang in a flat position along the side of the wall or be bent to its bowed position for use. A very simple means of accomplishing this purpose is shown in Fig. 8 Where a simple angle screw 28 is screwed into the wall for receiving the lowermost rail 3 to thereby hold the rack in its bowed position.

The improved rack of the invention has many uses in addition to those illustrated. For example, the rack may be inserted in an open window with the lower end bearing against the window sill and the upper end bearing against the window sash. By adjusting the position of the window, the rack may be bowed the desired amount.

The garment hanger, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, comprises a pair of spring steel loops 30, the

ends of which are attached, as by welding, to two 4 they normally assume a flat position, support means for removable attachment to a door including means for grippingly engaging the side edges of the door, means on the upper part of the rack for effecting its suspended attachment to the support means, and means near the bottom of the rack to secure the rack with the strips bent in the form of a bow.

3. An improved rack which comprises at least two spaced strips of spring metal, a plurality of spaced bars attached near their ends to the metal strips, the metal strips being so flexible that they may easily be bent into a bow and so resilient that bars 3i and 32 which are held in' yieldable press-. I

ing contact, as shown in Fig. 3. This hanger may be used for various purposes but is particularly suitable for the hanging of skirts which maybe drawn through between the bars 3| and 32 and held in that position by reason of the gripping contact of the bars. To facilitate the use of the hanger for this purpose, the ends of the bars project a short distance beyond the spring loops and are bent outwardly, as best shown in Fig. 1.

I claim: 1. An improved rack which comprises at least two spaced strips of spring metal, a plurality of spaced bars attached near their ends to the metal strips, the metal strips being so flexible that they may easily be bent into a bow and so resilient that they normally assume a flat position, means at the upper end of the rack to suspend it froma wall, door or the like with the bars in a horizontal position, and means for attaching the lower end of the rack to the wall, door or the like which may be so spaced with respect to the aforementioned means that when the lower end of the rack is attached the strips are bent into a bow and when not attached the strips assume a flat position. v

2. An improved rack which comprises at least two spaced strips of spring metal, a plurality of spaced bars attached near their ends to the metal strips, the metal strips being so flexible that they may easily be bent into a bow and so resilient that they normally assume a fiat position, means near the upper part of the rack to suspend it with the bars in a horizontal position, and means near the lower part of the rack to secure the metal strips in a bowed position.

4. A rack for attachment to a door which comprises means for gripping the side portions of the door, means for connecting the gripping means to the rack, said: rack comprising at least two'upright spring metal strips and a, plurality of spaced bars attached thereto, and means for holding the rack in a bowed position.

BENJAMIN H. KENNEDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS] Number Name H Date 163,928 Heath June 1, 1875 366,013 Martin July 5, 1887 871,703 Keith -4. Nov. 19, 1907 1,663,176 Reyher Mar. 20, 1928 1,696,128 Shee Dec. 18, 1928 1,769,805 Solofi July 1, 1930 1,998,899 Kratt Apr. 23, 1935 2,024,892 Soper Dec. 17, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date 20,719 Great Britain 1905

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