Adjustable garment rod

• US 7,040,589 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2004
• Issued: 05/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Chi Yu Steel Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Chi Yu Steel Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Wang, Chi-Chung
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, Robert P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): EPPS, TODD MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US10/791,543
• Publication Number:
  US 20050189457A1
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 248/289.11, 248/288.11, 248/274.1, 248/200, 248/251, 24829211- 14, 248/222.51, 248/222.52, 248/240, 248/241, 248/242, 248/246
• US Class Current: 248/289.11
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 25/0685 Collapsible clothes racks, e.g. swingable, foldable, extendible A47G25/0671 takes precedence; wardrobes with extensible garment holders A47B61/02

Abstract

An adjustable garment rod includes a mounting bracket, an inner housing, a resilient element and a suspension arm. The mounting bracket has an arm slot and a first toothed ratchet surface and second toothed ratchet surface formed alongside the arm slot. The inner housing is mounted pivotally in the arm slot and holds the suspension arm. The suspension arm extends out of the arm slot and has two toothed protrusions. The resilient element presses the suspension arm so that the toothed protrusions engage the toothed ratchet surfaces to hold firmly the suspension arm at a given angular position. Further, the garment rod uses several simple parts so that assembling the garment rod is easy and quick, which saves costs and time.

Claims

1. An adjustable ratchet garment rod comprising:

a mounting bracket having an arm slot defined completely through the mounting bracket in a vertical direction and a first toothed ratchet surface and a second toothed ratchet surface formed alongside the arm slot;

an inner housing mounted pivotally in the arm slot and having an arm passage with a front opening and a rear opening, and a resilient element holder formed adjacent to the rear opening in the arm passage;

a resilient element mounted on the resilient element holder and having two free ends bent toward the rear opening of the arm passage; and

a suspension arm mounted in the inner housing and having an insert slidably extending into and retractably held in the arm passage through the front opening and two toothed protrusions formed transversely on the insert to engage respectively the toothed ratchet surfaces to hold the suspension arm at a specific angular position, and the insert having an inner end abutting the free ends of the resilient element, wherein the mounting bracket comprises

a mounting plate with multiple mounting holes; and

an outer housing mounted on the mounting plate and comprising

a stationary half casing integrally formed on the mounting plate and having the first toothed ratchet surface and a through hole;

a detachable half casing attached to the mounting plate, aligned with the stationary half casing to define the arm slot and having the second toothed ratchet surface and a through hole aligned with the through hole in the stationary half casing; and

a fastener mounted and held in the through holes in the detachable half casing and the stationary half casing;

wherein the fastener pivotally holds the inner housing in the arm slot.

2. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner housing comprises two half casings, and each of the half casings has an aligned pivot hole to pivotally hold the fastener and a front recess corresponding to a respective one of the toothed protrusions to receive the corresponding toothed protrusion.

3. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 2, wherein the suspension arm further has a top edge and multiple annular holes defined completely through the suspension arm along the top edge to hang objects.

4. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 3, wherein the suspension arm further has a bottom edge and multiple elongated holes defined completely through the suspension arm along the bottom edge to hang objects.

5. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner housing further has a positioning nub extending toward the resilient element holder to define a gap, and the resilient element is inserted and held in the gap between the positioning nub and the resilient element holder.

6. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 5, wherein the fastener is a bolt.

7. An adjustable ratchet garment rod comprising:

a mounting bracket having an arm slot defined completely through the mounting bracket in a vertical direction and a first toothed ratchet surface and a second toothed ratchet surface formed alongside the arm slot;

an inner housing mounted pivotally in the arm slot and having an arm passage with a front opening and a rear opening, and a resilient element holder formed adjacent to the rear opening in the arm passage;

a resilient element mounted on the resilient element holder and having two free ends bent toward the rear opening of the arm passage; and

a suspension arm mounted in the inner housing and having an insert slidably extending into and retractably held in the arm passage through the front opening and two toothed protrusions formed transversely on the insert to engage respectively the toothed ratchet surfaces to hold the suspension arm at a specific angular position, and the insert having an inner end abutting the free ends of the resilient element, wherein the mounting bracket comprises

a post sleeve to mount the garment rod on a post; and

an outer housing mounted on the post sleeve and comprising

a stationary half casing integrally formed on the post sleeve and having a first toothed ratchet surface and a through hole;

a detachable half casing attached to the post sleeve, aligned with the stationary half casing to define the arm slot and having a second toothed ratchet surface and a through hole aligned with the through hole in the stationary half casing; and

a fastener mounted and held in the through holes of the detachable half casing and the stationary half casing;

wherein the fastener pivotally holds the inner housing in the arm slot wherein the inner housing comprises two half casings, and each of the half casings has an aligned pivot hole to pivotally hold the fastener and a front recess corresponding to a respective one of the toothed protrusions to receive the corresponding toothed protrusion.

8. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 7, wherein the suspension arm further has a top edge and multiple annular holes defined completely through the suspension arm along the top edge to bang objects.

9. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 8, wherein the suspension arm further has a bottom edge and multiple elongated holes defined completely through the suspension arm along the bottom edge to hang objects.

10. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 9, wherein the inner housing further has a positioning nub extending toward the resilient element holder to define a gap, and the resilient element is inserted and held in the gap between the positioning nub and the resilient element holder.

11. The adjustable ratchet garment rod as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fastener is a bolt.