Garment bag assembly

A clamp for the upper wire portion of a garment support, comprising

• (a) a pair of congruous sheet metal channels pivotally mounted to each other at one end thereof with the open edge of each channel facing the other,
• (b) a hinge pin extending through the walls of said channels at said one end,
• (c) a sleeve surrounding said hinge pin to reenforce the pivotal joint of said channels,
• (d) a strip of resilient material seated within each channel and protruding beyond the open edge thereof,
• (e) an indentation in a lateral wall of each channel for impaling and securely anchoring said strip therein, and
• (f) a latching device of high mechanical efficiency on the opposite free ends of said channels for alternately permitting the spreading of said channels or the clamping thereof together, for embracing the wire portions of the spaced garment supports and to maintain them in fixed position, said latching device comprising a bail having one end thereof rotatably mounted on one of said channels at the free end thereof remote from its pivotal connection to the second channel and a manipulative fingerhold on the opposite end of said bail, stop means adjacent to the free end of the end wall of said second channel, and a continuous loop of wire having the opposite aligned free ends thereof pivotally mounted within eccentrically disposed aligned openings at an intermediate portion of said bail with the terminal portion of said ends being flattened to prevent the withdrawal of said ends from said aligned openings and the opposite closed end of said loop adapted for selective engagement with said stop means.

A clamp for the upper wire portion of a garment support, comprising

• (a) a pair of substantially congruous sheet metal channels pivotally mounted to each other at one end thereof with the open edge of each channel facing the other,
• (b) a hinge pin extending through the walls of said channels at said one end,
• (c) a sleeve surrounding said hinge pin to reenforce the pivotal joint of said channels,
• (d) a strip of resilient material seated within each channel and protruding beyond the open edge thereof, and
• (e) a latching device of high mechanical efficiency on the opposite free ends of said channels for alternately permitting the spreading of said channels or the clamping thereof together, for embracing the wire portions of the spaced garment supports and to maintain them in fixed position, said latching device comprising a bail having one end thereof rotatably mounted on one of said channels at the free end thereof remote from its pivotal connection to the second channel and a manipulative finger-hold on the opposite end of said bail, stop means adjacent to the free end of the end wall of said second channel, and a continuous loop of wire having the opposite aligned free ends thereof pivotally mounted within eccentrically disposed aligned openings at an intermediate portion of said bail with the terminal portion of said ends being flattened to prevent the withdrawal of said ends from said aligned openings and the opposite closed end of said loop adapted for selective engagement with said stop means.

In a frame type garment bag assembly having means on the outside of the top thereof for suspending the bag while loading therein or unloading therefrom a plurality of garments on supports therefor, each comprising a vertical wire shank extending upwardly from the center of the support and terminating in a downwardly extending curved hook portion, and means for securely locking a plurality of the garment supports entirely within the bag, the improvement comprising

• (a) a jointed clamp disposed in a generally vertical plane and having an upper channel fixed to the top of the garment bag and a lower channel pivotally mounted to said upper channel at one end thereof, with the open edge of each channel facing the other,
• (b) a horizontally disposed hinge pin at said end extending beyond the external surfaces of said channels,
• (c) a reenforcing sleeve surrounding said hinge pin between the internal surfaces of said channels,
• (d) a strip of resilient material seated within each channel and protruding beyond the open edge thereof,
• (e) a latching device of high mechanical efficiency at the opposite end of said jointed clamp for alternately permitting the spreading of said channels or the clamping thereof together, for embracing the hook portions of the garment supports to maintain them in fixed position, and
• (f) means extending between said last-mentioned upper channel and said lower channel for limiting the pivotal movement of the latter in the open position of said jointed clamp, to provide an inclined support for the hook portions of the garment supports in the course of loading and unloading the latter into and from the garment bag.