In the clothing business it is necessary to transport clothing in containers for delivery to a site. Presently large shipping containers are used to transport pressed clothing to an end destination. Typically the clothing, e. g. pressed trousers, are hung on a garment hanger and then surrounded in a plastic sheath.

The hangers are hung from ropes attached to rails running the length of the container. Each rope has a plurality of loops along the length thereof and each loop will hold about 3 hangers. It is a very labour intensive effort to load the container and the workers must use stools to reach the highest loops. This system is not secure as many hangers can fall down during transportation requiring a re-pressing of the trousers. When the destination is reached the garments must be unpacked by removing the hangers from the loops and placing the hangers on racks. Again this procedure is labour intensive and prone to some trousers falling to the ground.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a better packing system which reduces the amount of re-pressing required when unpacking clothing from a container.

A further object of the invention is to provide a packing system which will reduce the effort to pack and unpack clothing.

With these and other objects in view the present invention provides a method of packing garments in a container or framework, said method including the steps of using a garment hanger which includes a rail, a frame for connecting the ends of said rail thereto, and a pair of inverted clips or hooks at or adjacent each end of said rail; folding a garment over said rail; inverting said garment hanger; and attaching said clips or hooks over the free ends of opposing walls

of said container or elements of said framework so that said garment is located inside said container or framework.

Preferably a plurality of garments with respective garment hangers are inserted inside said container or framework and abut one another. The garment (s) are preferably pressed before being folded over their respective rail.

In yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of packing garments in a container or framework, said method including the steps of using a garment hanger which includes a rail and clips at or adjacent each end of said rail; attaching one end of said garment to said rail by said clips; folding said garment to allow the other end of said garment to be adjacent said rail; providing securing means to secure said other end of said garment to said rail; and hanging said hanger on a rack inside said container or said framework.

In yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a garment hanger including a rail for supporting a garment folded thereover, a frame for connecting the ends of said rail thereto, and a pair of inverted clips or hooks at or adjacent each end of said rail, said clips or hooks adapted to, in use, be located over the free ends of opposing walls or elements of a storage container or framework into which said clothes hanger is inserted inverted.

Preferably said clips or hooks have an inverted U-shape.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a side view of hanger used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the first step in inserting the hanger into a-container ;

Fig. 3 is a similar view to that of Fig. 2 showing a second step in inserting the hanger into a container; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention showing a hanger used in accordance with the invention; Fig. 5 is a plan view of a container having a plurality of the hangers shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a part perspective view of the top of the container shown in Fig. 5.

In Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings there is shown a garment hanger 10 having a trouser rail 12 and a pair of shoulder rails 14,16. Shoulder rails 14,16 are joined to trouser rail by vertical joiners 18,20. If desired, trouser rail 12 can be axially rotatable on axle stubs 22,24 as shown or can be formed in one piece to be non-rotatable. A hook support 26 bridges shoulder rails 14,16 and has a hook 28 engaged therewith. The hanger so far described is a typical hanger of the prior art. The shape of the hanger can be varied to suit requirements and is not limited to the shape shown. The invention includes a pair of inverted clips or hooks 30,32 which extend from vertical joiners 18,20 respectively.

In use, a pair of pressed trousers 34 are placed over trouser rail 12 and preferably held by clips 36,38 to prevent the trousers 34 from slipping off the trouser rail 34. The trousers 34 are then placed inside a carton 40, e. g. a cardboard shipping carton, whose width corresponds with the width between clips or hooks 30,32 (Fig. 2). The hanger 10 is then pivoted in the direction of arrow 42 to the position shown in Fig. 3. The clips or hooks 30,32 then engage over the ends 44,46 of carton 40 to allow the trousers 34 to be located inside the carton. This procedure is repeated until carton 40 has been filled with pressed trousers. As the trousers are folded the depth of the carton 40 is halved compared with clipping the trousers to a hanger. The carton can then be sealed for transportation by having a lid or cover (not shown) placed over the opening of the carton.

Upon reaching its intended destination the trousers are removed by lifting the clips or hooks 30,32 to remove the trousers from the carton. Hook 28 can then be grabbed which will rotate the hanger 10 to its normal hanging position. The hanger can then be hung on a clothing rack (not shown). As the hanger is engaged by two clips or hooks 30,32 it is unlikely that the trousers will move during transportation. Accordingly, when the trousers are removed from carton 40 there will be no re-pressing required. The packing and unpacking does not rely on a stool to reach higher placed hangers as every hanger is on the same level at a convenient height.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4,5 and 6 a traditional trouser hanger 50 is used. A horizontal rail 52 has a pair of spring clips 54,56 which grip one end 60 of a pair of trousers 58. A hook 62 allows the hanger to be held on a rack (not shown). Again the shape of the hanger can vary to suit requirements.

Typically, trousers 58 would be hung full length as indicated by feint lines 59 on Fig. 4. In this embodiment trousers 58 are folded in half and attached to hanger 50 by U-shaped spring clips 64,66. The folded trousers are then inserted into a carton 68 having four sides. A pair of U-shaped brackets 70,72 slide over the ends of sides 74,76. A pair of rails 78,80 are mounted between brackets 70,72 and are offset in a vertical direction to prevent interference between the garments inserted into carton 68. Preferably, for ease of storage when not in use, rails 78, 80 may include a hook 84 at each end which can be readily inserted into a respective aperture 82 in U-shaped brackets 70,72. Such an arrangement will allow flexibility to suit various size containers as a plurality of apertures 82 can be located along the length of U-shaped brackets 70,72.

In use, the garments are inserted into carton 68 in an interleaved manner as seen in Fig. 5. At the final destination the trousers 58 can be removed and hung on a rack as they are unloaded, or can be hung full length by simply removing clips 64,66 and letting the trousers unfold. Again no pressing will be required for the trousers and the trousers are easily removed. It is clear that a

single U-shaped bracket 70 may also be used to reduce the size of carton 68.

As can be seen by the embodiments the invention allow an easier packing of garments with a substantially reduced risk of requiring a re-press at its final destination. The cartons are more convenient to pack than a shipping container and allow many cartons to fill a shipping container. Trousers of the same size, pattern or colour can be packed into separate cartons to allow for easy set up on racks at the retail outlet. By folding the trousers a clothing rack may have two racks one above the other to reduce the floor space occupied by conventional full length racks. If full length racks are required then the second embodiment will easily accommodate such a selection. It is to be understood that the cartons can be replaced by a framework (not shown) over which hooks 30,32 can be placed, or over which U-shaped brackets 70,72 can be placed. Such a framework can be inserted into a box or covered in plastic film or similar material to prevent dust from soiling the garments.

The invention will be understood to embrace many further modifications as will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art and which will be deemed to reside within the broad scope and ambit of the invention, there having been set forth herein only the broad nature of the invention and a certain specific embodiments by way of example.