| 摘要 |
<p>A caddy for garment hangers which includes a tube, a retainer strip coextensive therewith and latch members which connect the tube and the strip to permit broadwise movement of the strip between an overlying clamping position in which the hooks of the garment hangers are clamped to the tube and a captive retracted position in which the strip is spaced parallel to the tube. The retainer strip is sufficiently weighty so that when the caddy is freely supported in horizontal position, the strip swings down into a pendulous out-of-the-way position clear of the hooks. In a preferred form of latch member the active latch portion is integrally formed by reversely bending the end of the member, with the tip thereof forming a latching surface which engages the wall of the tube but which may be manually released by finger pressure. The invention has method aspects including the steps of supporting the caddy horizontally at a garment unpacking station in the retracted and pendulous state for dispensing of the hangers one by one, transporting the garments and empty caddy to a place of sale, supporting the caddy horizontally at the place of sale with the caddy in the retracted and pendulous state for depositing of hangers thereon one by one as they are removed from sold garments, snapping the filled caddy into locked condition, and then returning the caddy to the place of original support for storage and dispensing of the hangers so that the hangers are at all times either (a) in a garment or (b) organized on a caddy.</p> |
