Patent Application
20150230558
The embodiments herein relate generally to footwear, and more particularly, to a shoelace having a metal t-locking fastener.
Many types of shoes are secured to feet using shoelaces. Tying a shoelace can be a difficult task for many groups of people, including children, disabled people, the elderly, and many others. Additionally, tying shoelaces can be time consuming, especially if a person is lacking the dexterity required for tying shoelaces. A conventional shoelace is a single piece of material, such as a cord, having a first end and a second end, wherein the shoelace is threaded through openings on the top of the shoe and that the two ends are tied together to secure the shoe. Conventional shoelaces can also be unsightly to many people, as the end of the shoelaces hang down from the shoe. Other options are possible for securing shoes to a person's feet, but these options lack the look of typical shoelaces. For example, many shoes have a hook and loop fastener strap, such as a Velcro strap, to secure the shoe to the foot. Alternatively, some shoes have a plurality elastic straps that attach a first hole on the top of the shoe to a second hole on the top of the shoe, but the plurality of straps are not connected. Rather, each strap connects a pair of shoelace holes, instead of all of the shoelace holes being connected by a single lace.
Therefore, what is needed is a shoelace that has the appearance of a conventional shoelace, but is not required to be tied in order to secure the shoe to a foot.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure include a shoelace device for securing a shoe onto a user, the device including a lace having a first end and a second end, a first t-locking fastener attached to the first end, and a second t-locking fastener attached to the second end. The lace may be made of an elastic material. Each t-locking fastener may be capable of pivoting about its respective end from a first position to a second position, wherein the second position is substantially perpendicular to the lace and creates a t-locking functionality.
The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention is made below with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals represent corresponding parts of the figures.
In the following detailed description of the invention, numerous details, examples, and embodiments of the invention are described. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth and that the invention can be adapted for any of several applications.
The device of the present disclosure may be used to secure a shoe to a foot and may comprise the following elements. This list of possible constituent elements is intended to be exemplary only, and it is not intended that this list be used to limit the system of the present application to just these elements. Persons having ordinary skill in the art relevant to the present disclosure may understand there to be equivalent elements that may be substituted within the present disclosure without changing the essential function or operation of the device.
1. Elastic Lace
2. T-locking fastener
The various elements of the shoelace device for securing a shoe on a user of the present disclosure may be related in the following exemplary fashion. It is not intended to limit the scope or nature of the relationships between the various elements and the following examples are presented as illustrative examples only.
By way of example, and referring to
As shown in
In embodiments, the t-locking fastener 12 may be positioned into the second position by just letting go of the lace 10 once the t-locking fastener 12 is inserted through the shoelace hole 14 or by pulling on the lace 10 after the t-locking fastener 12 is inserted through the shoelace hole 14. Thus, in embodiments, a user may lace up their shoes using the shoelace device similarly to a conventional shoelace, but without having the need to tie the ends of the shoelace together.
The t-locking fastener 12 may have a first portion that clamps around the diameter of the lace 10, securing the lace 10 to the t-locking fastener 12, and a second portion that is configured to partially surround the lace 10 when the t-locking fastener 12 is in its first position. The first portion of the t-locking fastener 12 may curve inward toward an interior of the t-locking fastener to clamp onto the end of the lace 10, securing the lace to the t-locking fastener. For example, in some embodiments, the first portion of the t-locking fastener 12 may curve inward about 20°. When the t-locking fastener 12 is moved into the second position, the second portion no longer partially surrounds the lace 10, and the t-locking fastener 12 becomes perpendicular to the length of the lace 10.
The lace may be made of any suitable material and, in embodiments, is made of a material having an elastic property. When the lace has an elastic property, the lace is pulled taut from shoelace hole to shoelace hole, until lace is secured through the last pair of shoelace holes by the t-locking fastener. The elasticity of the lace will allow the shoe to be snugly secured to a foot. If the lace is not made of an elastic material, the lace may be too loose and the shoe may not be sufficiently secured onto the foot. In other words, the lace may have a length and an elasticity sufficient to lace up a shoe without there being any slack in the lace when the shoe is laced up. The lace may have any length necessary to secure a shoe to a foot, and the length of the lace may vary depending on the size, brand, or type of footwear. In some embodiments, the lace may be from about 10 to about 40 inches long.
The shoelace device of the present disclosure may be used to lace up any type of footwear that requires laces, such as sneakers, dress shoes, boots, and so on. The width of the shoelace device may vary and, in embodiments, is smaller than a diameter of a shoelace hole. A user may use the shoelace device by inserting the lace at the two holes at the base of the shoe, as with a conventional shoe lace, and proceeding to lace the remaining holes, securing the lace into the last two holes using the t-locking fasteners. As a result, the shoe may be secured to a user's foot comfortably without tying of laces being required, there being zero slack in the lace because of the elasticity of the lace.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous design configurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of the inventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations and arrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of the invention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather than narrowed by the embodiments described above.
