ACCESSORIES FOR STRING OF FOOTWEAR

The present invention relates to a shoelace accessory provided to a shoelace to create an aesthetic appearance on the midfoot portion of a shoe while preventing the shoelace from being loosened, by preventing respective ornamental elements, threaded on the shoelace, from being moved or deformed. The shoelace is inserted through pairs of eyelets of an eyestay provided to the midfoot portion of a shoe so that the shoelace can be tightened and loosened to allow the shoe to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with a size of the foot, ornamental elements are threaded on the shoelace such that they are respectively placed between the respective pairs of eyelets and are positioned side by side in a rearward direction so as to independently or cooperatively provide an aesthetic appearance, and stoppers are integrally formed on surfaces of the ornamental elements.

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Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a shoelace accessory which is provided to a shoelace to provide an aesthetic appearance on the midfoot portion of a shoe while preventing the shoelace from being loosened, by preventing respective ornamental elements threaded by the shoelace from being moved and deformed.

BACKGROUND ART

As is generally known in the art, a shoelace is inserted through pairs of eyelets of an eyestay provided on the midfoot portion (corresponding to the instep of a foot) of a shoe so that the shoelace can be tightened or loosened to allow the shoe to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with the size of the foot (the circumference or the width of the instep portion).

Shoelaces can be applied to various kinds of shoes, such as sports shoes, dress shoes, and so on, to allow the shoe to be properly secured around a foot. In addition, recently, the shoelace is used as means for customizing a shoe to have various shapes and colors.

However, limitations exist in producing an aesthetic appearance using a shoelace. In an effort to overcome these limitations, separate accessories are attached to shoelaces to improve the aesthetic appearance of a shoe. In this regard, the present applicant has disclosed a plurality of shoelace accessories. Among these shoelace accessories, describing the shoelace accessory disclosed in Korean Patent No. 680852 (dated Feb. 2, 2007), a shoelace accessory placed on a shoelace to ornament a shoe comprises an ornamental panel provided on the upper surface thereof with various shapes or patterns, a coupler coupled to the lower surface of the ornamental panel and having a sectional shape in which a closed loop is partially cut away, and a slider fitted into the coupler, wherein the lowermost portion of the shoelace is received in the coupler, and the slider is fitted between the slider and the lower surface of the lowermost portion of the shoelace.

However, in the conventional shoelace accessories including those disclosed by the present applicant, since the shoelace accessory is fitted on only one shoelace portion, among a plurality of shoelace portions which are placed between pairs of eyelets, to perform an ornamental function, the ornamenting effect of the shoelace accessory is limited to some extent.

Although it is conceivable that shoelace accessories can be fitted on respective portions of a shoelace depending upon a user's choice to provide an aesthetic appearance, because the conventional shoelace accessories are not secured to the shoelace portions but move on the shoelace portions (upward, downward, leftward and rightward, in particular, leftward and rightward) the shoelace accessories become disorder, and thus the aesthetic appearance of the shoe is deteriorated.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shoelace accessory which is provided to a shoelace to provide an aesthetic appearance on the midfoot portion of a shoe while preventing the shoelace from being loosened, by preventing respective ornamental elements threaded on the shoelace from being moved and deformed.

Technical Solution

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a shoelace accessory wherein a shoelace is inserted through pairs of eyelets of an eyestay provided to a midfoot portion of a shoe so that the shoelace can be tightened and loosened to allow the shoe to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with the size of the foot, ornamental elements are threaded on the shoelace such that they are respectively placed between the respective pairs of eyelets and are positioned side by side in a rearward direction so as to independently or cooperatively provide an aesthetic appearance, and stoppers are integrally formed on surfaces of the ornamental elements, which come into contact with one another, so as to prevent the ornamental elements from moving with respect to one another.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

Thanks to the features of the present invention, a shoelace accessory can be provided to a shoelace to provide an aesthetic appearance on the midfoot portion of a shoe while preventing the shoelace from being loosened, by preventing respective ornamental elements threaded by the shoelace from being moved or deformed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the state in which a shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is applied to a shoe;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view illustrating the construction of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the construction of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the way of threading a shoelace through the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating the state in which element bodies are moved when stoppers are not formed;

FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the state in which element bodies are not moved when stoppers are formed;

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the assembled state of a shoelace accessory in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating the assembled state of a shoelace accessory in accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a shoelace accessory in accordance with a still further embodiment of the present invention.

 DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS FOR MAIN PARTS IN DRAWINGS

    • 10: shoelace accessory
    • 11: ornamental element
    • 12: element body
    • 13: fastening part
    • 13a: opening
    • 13b: support block
    • 13c: groove
    • 14: stopper
    • 14a: fixing groove
    • 14b: protuberance
    • 14c: flange
    • 14′: curved surface
    • 1: shoe
    • 2: shoelace

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the present invention, a shoelace is inserted through the pairs of eyelets of the eyestay provided to the midfoot portion of a shoe so that the shoelace can be tightened and loosened to allow the shoe to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with the size of the foot, and ornamental elements are threaded on the shoelace such that they are respectively placed between the respective pairs of eyelets and are positioned side by side in a rearward direction so as to independently or cooperatively provide an aesthetic appearance. Stoppers are integrally formed on the surfaces of the ornamental elements, which come into contact with one another, so as to prevent the ornamental elements from being moved with respect to one another.

Therefore, in the present invention, the respective ornamental elements are threaded on the shoelace and are horizontally placed between the respective pairs of eyelets to cooperatively define one ornamental surface. Thanks to this fact, each of the ornamental elements can be independently used to provide an aesthetic appearance, or all of the ornamental elements can be coupled like a puzzle to visually form one symbol to thereby provide an aesthetic appearance.

At this time, while the shoelace may be moved or the respective ornamental elements may be moved with respect to one another due to the movement of the shoe, in the present invention, since the stoppers are formed on the surfaces of the ornamental elements, which come into contact with one another, the respective ornamental elements, which cooperatively define one ornamental surface, are prevented from being moved leftward or rightward, so that the aesthetic symbol represented on the ornamental surface is not deformed.

Before describing the present invention in detail, the attached drawings, which will be referred to in the explanation of the present invention, will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the state in which a shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is applied to a shoe, FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view illustrating the construction of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the construction of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the way of threading a shoelace through the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the shoelace accessory in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating the state in which element bodies are moved when stoppers are not formed, FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating the state in which element bodies are not moved when stoppers are formed, FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the assembled state of a shoelace accessory in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating the assembled state of a shoelace accessory in accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a shoelace accessory in accordance with a still further embodiment of the present invention.

Hereafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the above-described drawings.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, a shoelace accessory 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that a shoelace 2 is inserted through the pairs of eyelets of the eyestay provided to the midfoot portion of a shoe 1 so that the shoelace 2 can be tightened and loosened to allow the shoe 1 to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with the size of the foot, ornamental elements 11 are threaded by the shoelace 2 such that they are respectively placed between the respective pairs of eyelets and are positioned side by side in a rearward direction so as to independently or cooperatively provide an aesthetic appearance, and stoppers 14 are integrally formed on the surfaces of the ornamental elements 11, which come into contact with one another, so as to prevent the ornamental elements 11 from moving with respect to one another.

Here, in the present invention, the ornamental elements 11 include element bodies 12 which have aesthetic symbols represented, for example, on the upper surfaces thereof and provide an aesthetic appearance independently or cooperatively when coupled, fastening parts 13 which are formed on both lengthwise ends of the element bodies 12 to provide paths through which the shoelace 2 can pass to be fastened, and stoppers 14 which have fixing grooves and protuberances respectively formed in and on the sidewalls of the element bodies 12 such that the protuberances can be inserted through the fixing grooves to prevent the element bodies 12 from being moved leftward or rightward.

At this time, for example, the upper surface of each element body 12 can be streamlined, similar to the curved contour of the instep of a foot, or can be flat. An ornamental design as an aesthetic symbol is represented on the upper surface of each element body 12.

The ornamental design can include letters or a picture, and can be represented through engraving, embossing, printing, copying or embroidering. Alternatively, other representation techniques, which can be used depending upon the material of the element bodies 12, can be adopted.

For example, each fastening part 13 can comprise an opening 13a which is defined through each end portion of each element body 12, and a support block 13b which is installed across the opening 13a such that the shoelace 2 can be fastened on the support block 13b as the shoelace 2 is inserted upward and then downward through the opening 13a on both sides of the support block 13b.

Grooves 13c are defined in the element body 12 on both ends of each opening 13a, and both ends of the support block 13b are respectively engaged in the grooves 13c so as not to move.

By these facts, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shoelace 2 is inserted through one portion of each opening 13a in one direction and through the other portion of each opening 13a in the opposite direction such that the shoelace 2 can be supported by the support block 13b, which is engaged in the grooves 13c. Then, the shoelace 2 is passed through an opposite eyelet which is formed in the eyestay of the shoe, and is inserted through one portion of an opposite opening 13a defined in that element body 12.

Each stopper 14 comprises a fixing groove 14a which is defined in one sidewall of the lengthwise middle portion of the element body 12 to extend vertically, and a protuberance 14b which projects outward from the other sidewall of the lengthwise middle portion of the element body 12 such that the protuberance 14b can be inserted through the fixing groove 14a of an adjoining element body 12 to be fixedly positioned.

Consequently, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, due to the fact that the protuberance 14b, which is formed on the other sidewall of an element body 12, is arranged to face the fixing groove 14a or hole, which is defined in one sidewall of an adjoining element body 12, and is inserted through the fixing groove 14a or hole, the respective element bodies 12 can be fixed so that they do not move leftward or rightward.

Therefore, when an aesthetic symbol, for example, the logo of a company, is represented on the element bodies 12, if the stoppers 14 of the present invention are not provided, the logo can be deformed, as shown in FIG. 7 due to the leftward or rightward movement of the element bodies 12. In this regard, in the present invention, since the positions of the respective element bodies 12 are fixed by the stoppers 14, the shape of the logo can be maintained as it is without being deformed, as shown in FIG. 8.

Another embodiment of the present invention, which is associated with stoppers, can be realized as shown in FIG. 9.

In detail, a flange 14c is integrally formed on the free end of the protuberance 14b of each stopper 14 such that the flange 14c is brought into contact with one sidewall of an adjoining element body 12 on both sides of the fixing groove 14a so that the element bodies 12 are prevented from being moved leftward, rightward, forward or rearward.

Moreover, in the present invention, while the stopper 14 can be configured by forming the fixing grooves 14a and the protuberances 14b in and on the element bodies 12, as illustrated and explained in the aforementioned embodiment, it can be envisaged, as shown in FIG. 10, that curved surfaces 14′ can be formed on both sidewalls of the element bodies 12 which are brought into contact with one another such that the curved surfaces 14′ come into contact with one another to be prevented from being moved with respect to one another.

The fixing groove 14a of the stopper 14 can be replaced with a hole, as shown in FIG. 11.

The sidewalls of the element bodies 12 can be formed to have a curved sectional shape, as shown in the drawing, or to have a sectional shape having prominences and depressions.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention relates to a shoelace and to the provision of an aesthetic appearance on the midfoot portion of a shoe while preventing the shoelace from being loosened, by preventing respective ornamental elements threaded on the shoelace from being moved and deformed.

Claims

1. A shoelace accessory wherein a shoelace (2) is inserted through pairs of eyelets of an eyestay provided to a midfoot portion of a shoe (1) so that the shoelace (2) can be tightened and loosened to allow the shoe (1) to be secured around a wearer's foot in conformity with a size of the foot, ornamental elements (11) are threaded on the shoelace (2) such that they are respectively placed between the respective pairs of eyelets and are positioned side by side in a rearward direction so as to independently or cooperatively provide an aesthetic appearance, and stoppers (14) are integrally formed on surfaces of the ornamental elements (11), which come into contact with one another, so as to prevent the ornamental elements (11) from being moved with respect to one another.

2. The shoelace accessory according to claim 1, wherein the ornamental elements (11) include element bodies (12) which have aesthetic symbols represented on upper surfaces thereof and provide an aesthetic appearance independently or co-operatively through coupling therebetween, fastening parts (13) which are formed on both lengthwise ends of the element bodies (12) to provide paths through which the shoelace (2) can pass to be fastened, and stoppers (14) which have fixing grooves and protuberances respectively formed in and on sidewalls of the element bodies (12) such that the protuberances can be inserted through the fixing grooves to prevent the element bodies (12) from being moved leftward or rightward.

3. The shoelace accessory according to claim 2, wherein each fastening part (13) comprises an opening (13a) which is defined through each end portion of each element body (12), and a support block (13b) which is installed across the opening (13a) such that the shoelace (2) can be fastened on the support block (13b) as the shoelace (2) is inserted upward and then downward through the opening (13a) on both sides of the support block (13b).

4. The shoelace accessory according to claim 2, wherein each stopper (14) comprises a fixing groove (14a) which is defined in one sidewall of a lengthwise middle portion of the element body (12) to extend vertically, and a protuberance (14b) which projects outward from the other sidewall of the lengthwise middle portion of the element body (12) such that the protuberance (14b) can be inserted through the fixing groove (14a) of an adjoining element body (12) to be fixedly positioned.

5. The shoelace accessory according to claim 1, wherein the stopper (14) comprises curved surfaces (14′) which are respectively formed on both sidewalls of the element body (12).

Patent History
Publication number: 20090205175
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 27, 2008
Publication Date: Aug 20, 2009
Inventor: Chang Hun Han (Seoul)
Application Number: 12/305,140
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Includes Separate Device For Holding Drawn Portion Of Lacing (24/712.1)
International Classification: A43C 11/24 (20060101);