Shoe Lace Apparatus and Locking Mechanism
Shoe Laces and locking apparatus for locking a lace section a desired location with a knot in the lace, the apparatus including a restorably deflectable opening for holding a lace section or portion at a desired location.
The present application claims priority to application Ser. No. 61/484,223, Attorney Docket CE001US, entitled “Shoe Lace Apparatus and Locking Mechanism”, and filed on May 10, 2011 and co-pending application Ser. No. 13/469,082, Attorney Docket CE001US1, entitled “Shoe Lace Apparatus and Locking Mechanism”, and filed on May 10, 2012, which are both incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to shoe lacings and in particular systems and apparatus for locking the laces.
2. Description of Related Art
It may be desirable to lock shoe laces, the present invention provides apparatus for locking laces.
The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:
Throughout this description, embodiments and variations are described for the purpose of illustrating uses and implementations of the invention. The illustrative description should be understood as presenting examples of the invention, rather than as limiting the scope of the invention.
In a product having one or more adjustable laces it may be desirable to be able to releasably lock the position of one or more ends or sections of the lace without using a knot or knots in the lace. In shoes, a lace may be threaded through several eyelets and then adjusted to a desired tension for a wearer. To maintain the desired or selection tension, one or more sections of the lace may be desirable fixed in position relative to an eyelet. Further, the lace may desirably include one or more elastic sections where the lace length may be restorably expanded. A lace with one or more elastic sections may enable the product incorporating the lace to be employed without locking or unlocked one or more lace sections relative to the product. For example, a user may be able to remove a shoe or put on a shoe without releasing a section of the lace while having a desired tension formed by the lace (between one or more threaded eyelets in an embodiment).
The locking apparatus 40A may have multiple openings 12A, 12B for multiple laces sections 22A, 22B or lace ends. The locking apparatus 40B may have multiple openings 12A, 12B, 12C for multiple lace sections or ends. It is noted in an embodiment that the locking apparatus 10, 40A, 40B, 40D may optionally include restorably deflectable slits 14 (
Similar to apparatus 40A-40F, the apparatus 40G front and rear planar surfaces 15A, 15B may form various shapes (at their envelope or edge 15C) including a polygon, circular, or semi-circular. As noted, the separation between the front surface 15A and rear surface 15B may be substantially uniform and form the edge 15C. In an embodiment, the apparatus 40G may be disc-like in shape.
As shown in
The combination of the slits 13F, 13G and tabs 12F, 12G may securely hold the lace system 20C at a desired position of the lace body or segment 22B. This segment may be the length that securely holds or may hold a user's foot in a shoe 50. As shown in
In an embodiment an apparatus 10, 30, 40A-40H may have about a 0.5 to 1.5 inch diameter and about 0.1 to 0.5 inch thickness (from front to back side). An opening 12, 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, 12E may be any shape and may have an envelope from about 0.1 to 0.4 inches in diameter. In an embodiment, the apparatus 10, 30, 40A-40H may be formed primarily of PET or BoPET. While this invention has been described in terms of a best mode for achieving the objectives of the invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations may be accomplished in view of these teachings without deviating from the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A lace system locking apparatus for a lace having a first end and a second end with a longitudinal length between the ends and a substantially uniform width along its length, the apparatus including:
- a substantially planar front surface;
- a substantially planar rear surface; and
- a first restorably deflectable tab between the front surface and rear surface formed by a first slit extending between the front surface and the rear surface along a portion of the planar surfaces
- wherein the first slit and the first tab are sized to enable a first or second end of the lace and a desired portion of the lace longitudinal length to pass therethrough in a first direction while limiting or preventing the passage of the lace portion in an opposite direction.
2. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is comprised of a restorably flexible material.
3. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus has a substantially disc-like configuration.
4. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first deflectable tab includes a plurality of teeth along its edge.
5. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a monolith.
6. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, wherein apparatus consists of BoPET.
7. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 1, further including a second restorably deflectable tab between the front surface and rear surface formed by a second slit extending between the front surface and the rear surface along a portion of the planar surfaces, the second slit and the second tab sized to enable a first or second end of the lace and a desired portion of the lace longitudinal length to pass therethrough in a first direction while limiting or preventing the passage of the lace portion in an opposite direction.
8. A lace system locking system, including:
- a lace including a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal length between the ends with a substantially uniform width along its length; and a lace locking apparatus, the apparatus including: a substantially planar front surface; a substantially planar rear surface; and a first restorably deflectable tab between the front surface and rear surface formed by a first slit extending between the front surface and the rear surface along a portion of the planar surfaces wherein the first slit and the first tab are sized to enable a first or second end of the lace and a desired portion of the lace longitudinal length to pass therethrough in a first direction while limiting or preventing the passage of the lace portion in an opposite direction.
9. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, wherein the lace locking apparatus is comprised of a restorably flexible material.
10. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, wherein the lace locking apparatus has a substantially disc-like configuration.
11. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, wherein the first deflectable tab includes a plurality of teeth along its edge.
12. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, wherein the lace locking apparatus is a monolith.
13. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, wherein lace locking apparatus consists of BoPET.
14. The shoe lace locking system of claim 8, the lace locking apparatus further including a second restorably deflectable tab between the front surface and rear surface formed by a second slit extending between the front surface and the rear surface along a portion of the planar surfaces, the second slit and the second tab sized to enable a first or second end of the lace and a desired portion of the lace longitudinal length to pass therethrough in a first direction while limiting or preventing the passage of the lace portion in an opposite direction.
15. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 8, the lace including one or more elastic sections along its longitudinal length.
16. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 4, the lace including an aglet at a first end and a t-shaped bar at a second end.
17. The shoe lace locking apparatus of claim 8, the lace elastic along the majority of its longitudinal length.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 25, 2015
Publication Date: Aug 13, 2015
Inventor: Edward Arthur Cox (San Marcos, CA)
Application Number: 14/696,429