Display hanger

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention herein pertains to a hanger for displaying socks or other similar articles and specifically pertains to a hanger having multiple arms which are offset from one another as they descend whereby the articles freely hang without straddling or bowing behind the article next below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

Retail merchandising in recent years has required that socks, underwear, handkerchiefs and similar articles be conveniently displayed so that consumers can examine and easily view, compare and select the merchandise they desire. Hosiery such as stockings, pantyhose, socks and the like are often openly presented on small plastic hangers which contain multiple article pairs. Certain of the standard plastic hangers in use today allow for two or more pairs to be displayed in vertical fashion with the upper pair partially bowed and displaced by the pair directly below. Such display hangers provide for an efficient use of the display space but the appearance is bulky and unappealing to the consumers. Thus, if a sock display hanger has multiple arms for a plurality of sock pairs, the upper arms present a partial view of the socks whereas the sock on the lowermost arm can be fully viewed. As additional pairs are added the bow and displacement becomes more exaggerated.

Thus, with the problems and disadvantages of conventional display hangers for multiple articles, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide a display hanger which is easy to load with multiple articles for display.

It is still another objective of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, molded plastic display hanger which allows multiple articles to hang freely without interference from the article below.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a display hanger which includes multiple arms for supporting articles such as socks with each succeeding arm being horizontally offset from the arm above. The end result is a more appealing package for the consumers.

It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a method of displaying articles in which each article freely hangs without being displaced behind another for ease in packaging by the manufacturers.

Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing a hanger for displaying multiple articles such as sock pairs in a manner for better handling in manufacturing and viewing by the consumers. The display hanger includes a hook, a neck, a first support arm and a second support arm whereby the second support arm is horizontally offset from the first support arm to allow socks or other articles being displayed to be freely hung without interference from the article next below. The display hanger may have a variety of designs or configurations yet each has a plurality of arms arranged in a descending offset or “stair-step” fashion. A connector attaches each succeeding arm to the one immediately above and may have a “L” or other shape for the necessary offset. The display hanger herein is integrally molded from a suitable polymeric material such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polystyrene or other standard plastic or other suitable materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

shown front elevational view of a six pair display hanger;

FIG. 2

illustrates a cross-sectional view along lines

2

—

2

as shown in

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 3

depicts a rear elevational view of the embodiment shown in

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 4

features a bottom plan view of the hanger as shown in

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 5

demonstrates a top plan view of the display hanger as shown in

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 6

pictures a left side elevational view of the display hanger as shown in

FIG. 1

along lines

2

—

2

, the right side being a mirror image thereof;

FIG. 7

shows a front view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8

illustrates a rear elevational view of the embodiment as shown in

FIG. 7

;

FIG. 9

depicts a top plan view of the embodiment as shown in

FIG. 7

;

FIG. 10

features a bottom elevational view of the embodiment as shown in

FIG. 7

;

FIG. 11

demonstrates a left side elevational view of the embodiment as shown in

FIG. 7

; and

FIG. 12

pictures a right side elevational view of the embodiment as shown in FIG.

7

.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

For a better understanding of the invention and its operation, turning now to the drawings,

FIG. 1

show a front view of the preferred embodiment of invention whereby display hanger

10

includes hook

11

joined to neck

12

. Neck

12

is attached to first arm pair

13

,

13

′ in a plane for supporting and displaying for example two pairs of men's socks. Connector

14

is affixed to arm pair

13

,

13

′ and is also joined to second arm pair

15

,

15

′. Second arm pair

15

,

15

′ is horizontally offset from first arm pair

13

,

13

′ as shown in

FIGS. 2 and 6

. Third arm pair

17

,

17

′ is joined to connector

16

which is attached at its upper end to second arm pair

15

,

15

′. The preferred method of manufacturing display hanger

10

utilizes conventional polymeric materials such as polystyrene through conventional molding techniques. As seen, arm pairs

15

,

15

′ are horizontally offset from first arm pairs

13

,

13

′ by connector

14

whereby in the method of use, articles such as sock pairs are placed on arms

13

,

13

′ and hang freely and do not interfere or bow behind succeeding articles on arms

15

,

15

′ or

17

,

17

′ for ease in loading and convenience in viewing. Upward projecting tips

18

,

18

′ as located at the terminal ends of arms

13

,

13

′ respectively as seen in

FIGS. 1 and 3

and are somewhat C-shaped to stabilize socks placed thereon.

For a clearer view of the offset,

FIG. 2

demonstrates in cross-sectional representation the view of the display hanger with fabric articles

20

shown in ghost fashion on arms

13

,

15

and

17

.

FIG. 3

shows a rear view of the preferred embodiment of display hanger

10

, whereas

FIGS. 4 and 5

also illustrate the horizontal offset of arms

13

,

13

′,

15

,

15

′ and

17

,

17

′.

In

FIG. 7

a “half” display hanger

30

is shown having a neck

31

with an attached hook

32

. First arm

33

is joined to neck

31

by connector

34

. Below first arm

33

and offset therefrom is second arm

35

attached by second connector

36

.

FIG. 8

depicts a rear view of the alternate embodiment demonstrated in FIG.

7

.

In

FIGS. 9

,

10

,

11

and

12

the amount of horizontal offset of second arm

35

from first arm

33

is shown. This offset allows for a better display of all articles thereon, and allows them to freely hang as hereinbefore mentioned regarding display hanger

10

in FIG.

2

.

Display hanger

30

could likewise be molded of suitable standard polymeric materials using conventional molding techniques although metal, wood or other materials may be utilized. Also, while only two arms are shown for display hanger

30

, additional arms could be provided, each offset in the same manner as shown with arm

35

by connector

36

.

The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.