US2824350A - Clothespin - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 25, 1958'.

R. C. L EE CLOTHESPIN Filed May 9, 1955 v INVENTOR.

Ramon C. L ee @1 en-i' Y fi ,s24,35

StiltfiS .BatentaQ C3 "hastenedrains;i952

,treyerfsible, it c. it may, .be secured, to,. a clothesline with ..'-...,either,of..the1 flat surfaces-.ofbody 10 engaging the line. ."Thei. lower, portion of theibody :10, is prov-idedgwith a 3 5 1 "ti-rshaped slo r t e .l g; 16. .of-, W- intercepts -the. r gj riphery of; the ,body, jltl and, communicates Sat its ,inward CLOTHESHN end with later open' as! 1. 11 1.1 11 ?.p iiif l dfi "Ramolf'Ci Lee,"'Beaverton,fOr eg.; ,a'ssignor to'T'Beaman j bgdimentillustrated, the, lateral ,ppeningsf17,,18,,are ;re-

-i a 'P ofloilegoll stricted slightly adjacent;thep openi gr@1,6,j ,for,,pprposes 1 .7 -te plained. more .fu y hereinafiter- ApphcauopMay9 1955 Senal NQLSM 171 10 LIhe "clothespin, described hereinbefore, may vbev,,con 4 Claims. .(Cl. 24-.1I37) .structed vfofgany .suitable resilient material, ,such; as sheet ,gmetai or; synthetic gplasticof ,thelthermopla'stic type. 1,.The

f, 'lattertispreferred foritsadaptabilityto mass production techniques, itsglightv weight, ,inertness, rand, attractiveap- This invention pertainsto clothespins, and relates par- ,15 pearance. ln eitherflcase, .when the, clothespin is, pro- "ticularly to the novel construction of a 'clothespinby ,yided,,wi th, but asinglepair ,ofprojecting ,flanges '13, -14,

which to securesclothingto a,line,or hanger for drying or ',it may=b ,produeed from sheet material by atsimplestampstorage. ing operation in which the shapeof .body,10,.the.,openings fit is a principalobject 'of the.prese'nt.invcntiomtoipro- 11, 16,,11;.and,,1 are,,formed tandttheitflanges .,1 3,,-14 are vide a clothespin'of ,unitaryconstruction having resiliently ztigformed by heiidipg lateralvextensions of. tongue .12.

' displaceable sections which funct on frictionallyloiengage Alternatively, the ,,lclo,thespin.,may.- bevconstructed. of a clothesline.. or hanger .at ajpluralityjof, POLIItSLIQMi ,synthetic,.tplastics.bynconventionalinjection ton vacuum "sure stability ofsupport. andLto,inhibit;lateral.f.displacemolding',,,tec,hniques. MQBY Suclr processes, both. pairs; of ment. projecting'l'tflanges mayu bt; provided ,and. ,the entire .struc- Another important object, 'ofvthisiinvention. isthe into- 25,, v.tur e,producedcas.anintegral ,unit. vision or anclutn ebpln which may PfiIIQIIIi. tne,,dua1.=1.un r Q.ReferringInowJo'figure 5..of.,.thej,drawing,wherein is tionof securingfclothes toaclothesline andtof. supporti g .fifiilustrated; themrocednre by .wl1ich, the.clothespinisse other clothes: 1hdpei1 ently. .offlthe) clothesline. cured to..a..clothsline.,20 or clothes,hanger,. the clothespin further importannobjectnof this.,invention is,to..,pro 1 body,10.,is ,grasped .atits,upper...end,,betwfin..the.fingers,

"'vide a clothespin: which may be. constructed from agsulgler;3tlusowthat, one.surface .of.,the, .body.. below.;to,ngue;12.Trests heet of fl xwlesma rialn r m yn eu ns ru t d ite Masainst'the clotheslinelt). Pressure isthenrexertedinrthe synthetic plastic materials by conventional molding techlj directiongtovvard; the,line. ,so..thatithe tqngue..12; is.;dis niques. t placediromihesbody 10, whereby totplacetheiclothesline The oin fi h r.obiectsmandadvantag 0f the 2Q,b twe n-the. abuttingsurface, ofgthe. body luandthe present invention-will appear trom the' following detai1ed ,35 edges of the projecting flanges 13, 14, as shown. ,jlhe

tadescri'ption lakencin.COHDECtiOllEWiIhJhG accompanying c1othesp1n,,1stthen ;forced,.,downwardly,,.until,;the clothes- ,\,drawing-,1in1wl1ich:. ineis brought intoengagement,withthe. arcuatehrecesses Figure .l. is aplan .view.-of a.clothespin embodying the ;,15f,,as, shoyvninilfigure4.

tfeatureswf the..present.invention; I, Io,remoye,the,clothespintfrom ithe line; then ppenedge Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2.i;--49 ,,,Tof, the, clo.thespin-.and,,the,.lower.edge of,.tongue ;12,are

in Figure l; grasped between .theiingers and .the tongueispulledaway Figure/3', is a front. elevation showing thetlclothespin j; frombod r10..suflicientlyto releaselthe.line20.from.the --.=securedY.-to:a clothesline randy-functioning tonsnpport a .,v ,arcuate., recesses. ,...,whereupon:.the.clothespiny,-may;be

garment independently of said line; removed upwardly away from the line.

Figure 4 is a side view of the clothespin as viewed from It will be understood that clothes may be draped over the right in Figure 3; clothesline 20 in the usual manner and secured thereto Figure 5 is a side view showing the manner in which the by attaching a plurality of clothespins in the manner clothespin is secured to a clothesline; and previously described. In addition, the clothespin functions Figure 6 is a side view showing the manner in which conveniently as a support for garments, independently the clothespin is removed from a clothesline. of the clothesline. Referring to Figure 3 of the drawing,

Referring particularly to Figure l of the drawing, the the clothespin is shown secured to a clothesline 20, or a clothespin is shown to comprise a flat body portion 10 of conventional wire clothes hanger. A garment may then substantially oval shape. It will be understood, of course, be supported from the body 10 by means of the T-shaped that various other shapes, such as round, rectangular, slot. For example, in the ease of a garment having or others, may be chosen, if desired. in the upper central shoulder straps, a pair of clothespins are secured in portion of the body 10 there is providedan opening 11, spaced relation on the line 20 and one shoulder strap into which extends a resilient tongue 12. To the lateral 21 inserted in the T-shaped slot of each clothespin. Other edges of the tongue are secured the flanges 13, 14, which articles of clothing having a loop section or a buttonhole project outwardly, substantially normal to the plane may be supported in similar manner from the T-shaped of the body 10. slot, as will be apparent. Due to the restriction of the As best shown in Figure 2, the flanges 13, 14 curve outlateral openings 17, 18 and the narrowness of the slot wardly from the bottom end of tongue 12 and are each 16, the possibility of inadvertent release of the clothing provided at their upper edge with a downward indentation is reduced to a minimum.

15. This indentation is preferably arcuate in shape to The provision of the T-shaped slot afiords an additional conform to the conventional round clothesline. The advantage, as follows: A pair of spaced clothespins may flanges 13, 14 terminate below the upper ends of the be employed to secure a large article of clothing, such central opening 11 to permit a clothesline or hanger rod as a sheet, to a clothesline 20, and the T-shaped slots to be inserted therebetween. employed to support other clothing, such as a garment of As shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, a second pair of delicate fabric. In this manner, the delicate fabric is flanges 13, 14' may be provided to extend outwardly supported against the larger cloth, whereby to prevent from the lateral edges of tongue 12 in the direction opdamage to the delicate fabric due to whipping by the posite flanges 13, 14. In this manner the clothespin i8 wind.

From the foregoing, it is believed to be apparent thatv the line. This feature is of particular advantage when a" pair of such clothespins are mounted on a line or clothes hanger in spaced relation for purposes of supporting a garment from the T-shaped slots.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in the details of construction described hereinbefore may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. For example, a simple flange may be provided for the pair 13, 14 or the space between the pair of flanges may be filled in to provide a single flange of substantial width. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is primarily illustrative of the invention and is not to be considered as limiting the scope thereof.

Having now described my. invention and the manner in which the same may be used, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A clothespin comprising a fiat body having an opening therein, a flat resilient elongated tongue member secured to the body and havinga free end extending downwardly into said opening for movement transversely of the plane of said opening, the body and tongue member normally being coplanar, and elongated flange means on the tongue extending outwardly therefrom substantially normal to the plane of the tongue in the longitudinal direction of the tongue and terminating at its upper end a spaced distance below the upper end of the opening, the flange means being tapered and being wider at said upper end whereby to receive a clothesline or the like between said flange means and the upper end of the opening.

2. A clothespin comprising a flat body having an opening therein, a flat resilient elongated tongue member secured to the body and having a free end extending downwardly into said opening for movement transversely of the plane of said opening, the body and tongue mem-" ber normally being coplanar, and elongated flange means on the tongue extending outwardly from both sides of the tongue substantially normal to the plane of the tongue a 4' in the longitudinal direction of the tongue and terminating at its upper end a spaced distance below the upper endof the opening, the flange means being tapered and being wider at said upper end whereby to receive a clothesline or the like between said flange means and the upper end of the opening.

3. A clothespin comprising a flat body having an opening therein, a flat resilient elongated tongue member secured to the body and having a free end extending downwardly into said opening for movement transversely of the plane of said opening, the body and tongue member normally being coplanar, and elongated flange meanson thelateral edges of the tongue extending outwardly therefrom substantially normal to the plane of the tongue in the longitudinal direction of the tongue and terminating at its upper end a spaced distance below the upper end of the opening, the flange means being tapered and being wider at said upper end whereby to receive a clothesline or the like between said flange means and the upper end of the opening and to stabilize the clothespin relative to said clothesline.

4. A clothespin comprising a flat body having an opening therein, a flat resilient elongated tongue member secured to the body and having a free end extending downwardly into said opening for movement transversely of the plane of said opening, the body and tongue member normally being coplanar, and elongated flange means on the lateral edges of the tongue extending outwardly from both sides of the tongue substantially normal to the plane of the tongue in the longitudinal direction of the tongue and terminating at its upper end a spaced distance below the upper end of the opening, the flange means being tapered and being wider at said upper end whereby to receive a clothesline or the like between said flange means and the upper end of the opening and to stabilize the clothespin relative to said clothesline.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,878,861 Krasnow Sept. 20, 1932 1,886,882 Huber Nov. 8, 1932 2,011,634 Hirsh Aug. 20, 1935 2,547,349 Tegarty Apr. 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 514,010 Great Britain Oct. 27, 1939 666,721 Great Britain Feb. 20, 1952

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