Garment hangers formed from plastics material are known which consist of a central hanger body for receiving a hook or label area and a pair of arms extending outwardly from the label area for supporting a garment. It is known to provide a notch (i. e. a slot into which a garment strap can fit) in each of the hanger arms for receiving straps of a garment to be mounted to the hanger.

Garment hangers of the above type often have an inverted U- shaped cross-section, and the notch is generally formed in the upper or lower surface of each hanger arm. As shown in Figure 1, in order to mould a hanger 1 having a notch 2 in the upper surface of each of the arms thereof, the hanger must be moulded in a moulding tool 3 in the orientation shown in Figure 1.

As a result, the number of moulding cavities in the tool 3 is generally limited to two, thus only enabling inefficient use of tool space. In addition, it is often desirable to manufacture a notch in a hanger as narrowly as possible. The difficulty in manufacturing the necessary moulding tools makes it difficult to construct a notch in the upper surface of a hanger narrower than certain limits. In order to overcome this problem, as shown in Figures 3 (a) to 3 (c), it is often the practice to replace the notch in the upper surface of the hanger by a notch member 4 inserted in the underside of the hanger 1 so as to define a notch 5 in the underside of the hanger. As shown in Figure 2, a moulding tool of similar dimensions to that shown in Figure 1 can be used to mould six U-section hangers in the upright orientation, and two notch members 4 are subsequently fitted to the underside of each hanger. The notch member 4 can be attached to the underside of the hanger by means of an interference fit or bonding (as shown in Figure 4 (a)), or by a mechanical fixing (as shown in Figure 4 (b)).

However, it is generally the case that notches in the underside of a hanger are much less effective than notches in the upper surface of the hanger. Referring to Figures 3 (a) to 3 (c), a strap 6 of a garment (not shown) is applied to each arm of the hanger 1 by passing the strap around the upper part of the arm, and locating the strap in the notch 5. A strap 6 has a tendency to slide off the top of the hanger 1 with the result that garments are difficult to secure to hangers having notches on the underside thereof, and the presentation of garments on such hangers is often poor.

A further difficulty associated with the manufacture of hangers having notches in the upper surface thereof is posed by the application of non-slip surfaces to selected parts of the hanger. The application of non-slip surfaces, such as rubber, to hangers is becoming increasingly widespread, for example, by means of a moulding step subsequent to the formation of the hanger body.

If a non-slip surface is applied to the hanger by moulding, the hanger needs to be firmly clamped in a moulding tool to ensure that the application of the non-slip material is limited to the desired areas. However, a hanger 1 such as that shown in Figure 1 having a notch 2 in the upper surface of the desired length suffers from the drawback that the flexibility of that portion of the hanger above the notch makes the hanger 1 very difficult to clamp.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above disadvantages of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a garment hanger comprising: a hanger body having a central portion for suspension of the hanger, and a pair of hanger arms extending from the central portion for supporting a garment thereon, each said hanger arm having a respective recess defined in the upper surface thereof; and a pair of insert members, each of which is at least partially receivable in a respective said recess and having an upper surface defining a portion of the upper surface of the hanger when received in the recess, wherein each said insert member and recess pair further comprises engaging means to enable the insert member to be mounted to the corresponding recess.

By providing the hanger in the form of a separate hanger body and insert members, the process of moulding the upper surface of the hanger arms is greatly simplified. As a result, greater efficiency of use of a moulding tool can be achieved. In addition, by varying the shape of the upper surface of each insert member, the design of the hanger can be varied while avoiding the expense of altering the moulding tool for the main hanger body,-such that modifications can be made, at lesser cost, to the moulding tool for the insert members. For example, a series of hangers of different sizes may be produced using a single body moulding tool by providing a single size of body member and insert members of varying sizes to vary the width of the hanger.

In a preferred embodiment, each said insert member defines a notch in the upper surface of a hanger arm when mounted to the corresponding recess.

By providing notches defined by separate insert members mountable to corresponding recesses in the hanger body, this has the advantage of enabling the notches to be made narrower than in the prior art.

The engaging means may comprise a projection on each said insert member adapted to be received in an aperture through the hanger body in the corresponding recess.

This gives the advantage of enabling the insert members to be snap-fit to the hanger body, thus simplifying assembly of the hanger.

In a preferred embodiment, each said projection is provided with a hook means at a lower portion thereof.

This has the advantage of enabling further garment features, such as skirt loops, to be mounted to the hook means.

Each said insert member may comprise a non-slip coating.

In the case of hangers having a notch, this provides the advantage of enabling the non-slip coating to be applied to the underside of the insert member, thus enhancing the gripping effect of the hanger on garment straps when in use.

The non-slip coating may cover the hanger arm adjacent to the insert member on which the coating is provided.

In a preferred embodiment, each said closure member has one or more ribs on the underside thereof. Alternatively, or in addition, each said closure member may have a web on the underside thereof.

The insert members may constitute the ends of the hanger arms.

This gives the advantage of enabling a set of hangers of varying sizes to be produced by providing a single size of hanger body and insert members of different sizes.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of making a garment hanger, the method comprising forming a garment hanger as defined above, and mounting each said insert member in position in the corresponding recess.

In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises the step of applying a non-slip coating to the or each insert member prior to mounting thereof in position in the corresponding recess.

As an aid to understanding the invention, preferred embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a two cavity moulding tool for producing a prior art hanger having notches in the upper surface thereof; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of part of a six cavity moulding tool for producing a prior art garment hanger having notches on the underside thereof; Figures 3 (a) to 3 (c) illustrate the mounting of a garment strap to a hanger formed by means of the moulding tool of Figure 2; Figures 4 (a) and 4 (b) illustrate arrangements for mounting notch members to the hanger of Figures 3 (a) to 3 (c); Figure 5 is an elevational view of a garment hanger of a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 (a) is a partially exploded view of the hanger of Figure 5; Figure 6 (b) (i) and (ii) are cross-sectional views along the line A-A in Figure 6 (a); Figure 7 shows part of a hanger of a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 shows part of a hanger of a third embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view along the line B-B in Figure 8.

Referring in detail to Figure 5, a garment hanger 100 comprises a hanger body 101 of inverted generally U-shaped cross-section (see Figure 6 (b) (ii)) formed of plastics material, to which a metal hook 102 is attached. The hanger body 101 comprises a central portion 103 from which a pair of profiled arms 104 for supporting a garment extend, and is formed from a suitable plastics material by means of injection moulding.

As shown in greater detail in Figures 6 (a) and 6 (b), each hanger arm 104 has an inverted U-shaped cross-section, and a recess 105 is formed in the generally straight portion of each arm. An aperture 106 extends through the lower end of each recess 105.

An elongate insert member 107, also moulded of plastics material, but in a separate moulding tool to the hanger body 101, has a non-slip coating 108 of a material such as rubber applied thereto by means of a suitable method as will be known to persons skilled in the art, for example overmoulding or spraying. The non-slip coating covers the all of the surface of the insert member except for an enlargement 109 at one end of the insert member 107. The enlargement 109 is so dimensioned as to be received in the aperture 106 in the recess 105 such that when the insert member 107 is located in position in the recess 105, a notch 110 having an opening 111 is defined in the upper surface of the hanger arm 104 between the underside of the insert member 107 and the upper surface of the recess 105.

The enlargement 109 is received in aperture 106 by means of a push-fit to locate the closure member 107 in the undercut 105.

By means of this construction, the notch 110 can be made narrower than notches formed by means of conventional moulding techniques, and the non-slip layer 108 can be applied to the underside of the insert member 107 to enhance the gripping effect on garment straps.

The enlargement 109 may also be provided with a hook (not shown) at its lower end for receiving a skirt loop thereon.

Referring to Figure 7, in which parts common to the embodiment of Figures 5 and 6 are denoted by like reference numerals but increased by 100, the gripping effect of closure member 207 is enhanced by the application of a series of ribs 212 to the underside thereof.

Referring to Figures 8 and 9, in which parts common to the embodiment of Figures 5 and 6 are denoted by like reference numerals but increased by 200, the gripping effect of closure member 307 is enhanced by the provision of a web 313 on the underside of the closure member 307.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, the non-slip coating 108 on each insert member 107 may by wider at its upper part than the remainder of the insert member 107 in order to provide a non-slip surface on the portion of the hanger arm 104 adjacent to the recess 105. Alternatively, or in addition, the insert members 107 may constitute the distal ends of the hanger arms, in which case a set of hangers of varying sizes can be produced by providing a single size of hanger body 101 and insert members 107 of different sizes.