Garment refreshing hanger

This invention is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. non-provisional utility application Ser. No. 11/955,726, filed Dec. 13, 2007, of the same inventive entity as herein, incorporated herein by reference.

This invention is drawn to the field of apparel apparatus, and more particularly, to a novel garment refreshing hanger.

Wearing a garment several times in a row can be economical (save dry cleaning costs), beneficial to the environment (less chemicals and/or water used) and also prolong the life span of the clothing. With these benefits comes the challenge of keeping the shirt, dress, jacket or other garment smelling fresh on the subsequent wearings.

Heretofore, there have been attempts to deodorize garments individually as well as collectively by exposure to activated carbon. The collective techniques are exemplified by the garment bag having an inlet filter of US publication 2005/0120757 to Jackson, published Jun. 9, 2005; the dehumidifier pouch having desiccating and/or odor absorbing components of U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,980 to Cunanan et al., published Jun. 1, 1999, that may be hung in a closet; and the cover for a hanger for a wash that includes activated carbon for odor control of JP2003154197 to Tomoko, published May 27, 2003. The collective techniques, however, are disadvantageous, in that they tend to be costly; utilize a great deal of closet real estate; and are less than easy and straightforward to use or maintain.

The individual garment techniques heretofore are exemplified by JP200237029 to Takayuki, published Sep. 5, 2000; JP11239676 to Atsuko, published Sep. 7, 1999; JP11244125 to Sakuji, published Sep. 14, 1999; and JP2002053180 to Yoichi, published Feb. 19, 2002. JP200237029 discloses a hanger and accessory tool for the same having a charcoal bag that is removably mounted to the main body of the hanger. JP11239676 discloses a charcoal chip containing hanger shaped as a toy animal having a deodorizing/dehumidifier effect. JP11244125 discloses deodorant sheets for hangers that include activated carbon. JP2002053180, likewise, discloses active charcoal clothes storing sheets usable with hangers. However, the heretofore known charcoal bag and chip individual garment deodorizing techniques have been less than effective to absorb odors from high odor areas such as neck or garment underarm areas; have been costly to manufacture; and/or have been difficult to use or replace. Although the heretofore known deodorant sheets have a much higher odor absorbing effectivity than charcoal bags and charcoal chips due to their greater cross-sectional area and more open air flows, their comparatively large size makes them not only expensive and difficult to use, manipulate and store but also inefficient and wasteful, as it is typically the upper parts of a garment that need deodorizing the most.

It accordingly is one object of the present invention to disclose garment refreshing hangers effectively absorbing odors from garment\'s underarm, neck and other target areas most likely to contain odors.

Another object of the present invention is to disclose garment refreshing hangers that are efficient and minimize waste, using no more odor absorbing material than necessary to effectively absorb odors from the targeted areas.

It is a further object of the present invention to disclose garment refreshing hangers that are low in cost and as easy to use and store as ordinary garment hangers.

The garment refreshing hangers in accord with these and other objects of the present invention include hanger and odor absorbing elements; the hanger element including a suspension head and garment suspension arms connected to the suspension head shaped to provide a hollow torso below and between the garment suspension arms defining an air plenum in which garment odors may accumulate by air convection; the odor absorbing element including activated carbon material conformably shaped to the hollow torso and substantially coextensive with the air plenum below and between the garment suspension arms to absorb garment odors that waft into the air plenum of the hollow torso by air convection from underarm, neck and other target high odor areas. The activated carbon sheet material conformably shaped to and substantially coextensive with at least a major portion of the plenum or “odor triangle” between the armpit and neck areas also actively promotes odor migration from the target areas due to the attractive physical properties of activated carbon to pull odors from the targeted high odor areas.

The hanger and odor absorbing elements of the garment refreshing hangers of the present invention may be variously embodied in different replaceable and/or disposable configurations. In one presently preferred embodiment, the hanger element includes an open bottom web and the odor absorbing element is a replaceable, activated carbon filter cartridge that is slidably receivable by said open bottom web.

In another presently preferred embodiment, the hanger element includes a wire hanger member, and the odor absorbing element includes a replaceable clam case that is pivotally attachable about the wire hanger member.

In another presently preferred embodiment, the hanger element includes a wire hanger member, and the odor absorbing element includes a jacket that slidably receives and is seated upon the wire hanger member.

In a further presently preferred embodiment, the hanger element includes a wire hanger member, and the odor absorbing element includes a resilient skirt that is stretched over and attached to the wire hanger member.

In another presently preferred embodiment for use with a hanger element, the odor absorbing element includes opposing side panels partially attached about confronting top edges to provide a jacket having an open neck, open ends and an open bottom.

In a further presently preferred embodiment for use with a hanger, the odor absorbing element includes a semirigid panel that is laterally symmetrical having an upstanding neck that includes an aperture thereinthrough for mounting it to the hanger element.

A setable date monitor may be employed to indicate suggested time for replacement.

Perforated activated carbon sheet material selectively separable along the perforations may be used to line a drawer or folded into or between garments.