101 |
Footwear having a lacing system |
US13258787 |
2010-06-08 |
US08782926B2 |
2014-07-22 |
Etsuo Kishino |
The present invention provides footwear that is very easy to tighten. One end of a shoelace (6) is threaded between left to right sides in a staggered state through an instep opening (3A) to constitute tightening means (4) for the instep opening (3A), and the other end of the shoelace (6) is threaded between left to right sides in a staggered state through an upper opening (3B) to constitute tightening means (4) for the upper opening (3B). A medial portion of the shoelace (6) between the tightening means (4) for the instep opening (3A) and the upper opening (3B) forms a pull part (11), and tightened-state-holding means (12) is provided for holding the pull part (11) in a pulled state. |
102 |
EASY ACCESS ARTICLES OF FOOTWEAR |
US13744052 |
2013-01-17 |
US20140196313A1 |
2014-07-17 |
Tobie D. Hatfield; Michael R. Friton |
Articles of footwear, including athletic footwear, may include: (a) an upper including an opening through which a leg of a wearer extends, wherein the upper includes a foot insertion opening extending rearwardly and downwardly from a front portion of the leg opening at least to a heel area of the upper; (b) a closure system for releasably closing the foot insertion opening and optionally tightening the shoe on the foot; and (c) a sole structure engaged with the upper. The foot insertion opening widely opens the side and/or rear area of the shoe to allow for easy insertion and removal of a foot. Such uppers can be particularly useful for hightop athletic footwear, boots, or other footwear that extends up to or at least partially over a wearer's ankles. |
103 |
Lacing closure system for an object |
US12985882 |
2011-01-06 |
US08756833B2 |
2014-06-24 |
Joshua P. Heard |
A closure system for an object having a first portion with first eyelets and a second portion with second eyelets includes a first lace that is resiliently flexible. The first lace is operable to extend continuously through the plurality of first eyelets and continuously through the plurality of second eyelets to define a first bridge portion and a second bridge portion of the first lace. The first bridge portion is defined between the plurality of first eyelets, and the second bridge portion is defined between the plurality of second eyelets. Additionally, the closure system includes a second lace that is substantially inelastic. The second lace engages both the first bridge portion and the second bridge portion to secure the first and second portions of the object together. |
104 |
Zipper Lace |
US13367327 |
2012-04-18 |
US20140007457A1 |
2014-01-09 |
Anton Warren Jones |
The Zipper Lace is an innovative zipper design used as a shoelace for footwear. It provides a method for securing a foot in the housing of footwear, especially athletic footwear, which may loosen thus creating a potentially hazardous condition for athletes. The Zipper Lace is designed as a closure system for holding the foot in the foot-housing member using the existing eyelet design of footwear. It is flexible and can be threaded through the eyelets of existing shoes instead of standard fabric laces. The zipper design allows the wearer to firmly secure the foot to the shoe housing. Instead of tying cloth shoelaces to maintain a secure fit and comfort, the Zipper Lace employs a fastening means which is used to lock both ends of the Zipper Lace in place. This combined with the natural locking of the Zipper Laces, secures the footwear. |
105 |
FOOTWEAR |
US13963486 |
2013-08-09 |
US20130318820A1 |
2013-12-05 |
Etsuo KISHINO |
The present invention provides footwear that is very easy to tighten. One end of a shoelace (6) is threaded between left to right sides in a staggered state through an instep opening (3A) to constitute tightening means (4) for the instep opening (3A), and the other end of the shoelace (6) is threaded between left to right sides in a staggered state through an upper opening (3B) to constitute tightening means (4) for the upper opening (3B). A medial portion of the shoelace (6) between the tightening means (4) for the instep opening (3A) and the upper opening (3B) forms a pull part (11), and tightened-state-holding means (12) is provided for holding the pull part (11) in a pulled state. |
106 |
ILLUMINATING SHOELACE DEVICE |
US13475949 |
2012-05-19 |
US20130308299A1 |
2013-11-21 |
Shen-Ko Tseng |
An illuminating shoelace device includes an illuminating unit and a light guide fiber. The casing of the illuminating unit includes a first through hole and a first opening, and the illuminating unit includes the first light emitting element therein for emitting light to the first opening. One end of the light guide fiber passes through the first through hole and then is plugged in the first opening to receive the light emitted by the light emitting element. The first through hole and the fastening structure in the first opening can hold the light guide fiber to prevent it from falling out from the opening easily. |
107 |
SHOE CLOSURE DEVICE |
US13446023 |
2012-04-13 |
US20130269210A1 |
2013-10-17 |
Desiree Lynette Woods |
A shoe closure that includes a flexible elongated tubular member having a central section, a first and second end regions connected to the central section, the second end region distal to the first end region, the flexible elongated tubular member having a first flexibility characteristic. The shoe closure also includes end members connected to the flexible elongated tubular member and located proximate to the respective first and second ends of the flexible elongated tubular member, the end members projecting inward toward the central interior section, the end members having a second flexibility characteristic, wherein the first flexibility characteristic is greater than the second flexibility characteristic. |
108 |
SINGLE EYELET LACES WITH INTERLOCKING AGLETS AND METHODS OF LACING THE SAME |
US13901829 |
2013-05-24 |
US20130255046A1 |
2013-10-03 |
Timothy J. TALLEY |
A kit including (a) an article having a plurality of pairs of opposing eyelets, including a first pair of opposing eyelets near a top of the article and a second pair of opposing eyelets disposed beneath the first pair of opposing eyelets; (b) a first lace that is threadable through respective eyelets of the first pair of opposing eyelets and fixable at insides of the eyelets, said first lace having (i) a first elastic body; and (ii) one of a stop or openable stop on one end of the first body; and (iii) an openable stop on an opposite end of the first body; and (c) a second lace that is threadable through respective eyelets of the second pair of opposing eyelets and fixable at insides of the eyelets, said second lace having (i) a second elastic body; and (ii) one of a stop or openable stop on one end of the second body; and (iii) an openable stop on an opposite end of the second body; and wherein at least the openable stop on the opposite end of the first body can interlock with the openable stop on the opposite end of the second body with the first and second laces threaded through the first and second pair of eyelets respectively. Also, a method for using the kit. |
109 |
FOOTWEAR LACING SYSTEM |
US13314944 |
2011-12-08 |
US20120151795A1 |
2012-06-21 |
Richard G. Ivester; Kevin Fisher |
A shoe includes a shoe upper, a first lace and a second lace. The shoe upper includes a heel end, a toe end, and a mid-foot portion between the heel end and the toe end. The first lace is connected to the shoe upper and includes a wide portion and a narrow portion with a tapered portion in-between. The wide portion of the first lace is fastened to the mid-foot portion of the shoe upper at a first position that is nearer to the toe end than the heel end. The second lace is also connected to the shoe upper and also includes a wide portion and a narrow portion with a tapered portion in-between. The wide portion of the second lace is fastened to the mid-foot portion of the shoe upper at a second position that is nearer to the heel end than the first position. |
110 |
Wire Core Lace |
US12702063 |
2010-02-08 |
US20110195268A1 |
2011-08-11 |
Harold J. Schaffer |
An exemplary embodiment includes new product technology that greatly improves the lace used for shoes, boots, clothing, climbing, and other similar activities. This invention includes technology enhancements for laces that result in a lace that is substantially stronger, and more resilient than current lace technology. The lace described herein has a strong flexible multi-core design, and is capped by a metal tip that is wrapped around the ends of the lace and locked to the wire core with inverted metal prongs. |
111 |
Article of manufacture for providing a method of a grippable lace or cord |
US12454339 |
2009-05-15 |
US20090297793A1 |
2009-12-03 |
Adrian Daniel Yun |
An article of manufacture that provides an integral protective coating that improves lace, cordage, rope, twine, or other tie substrates that will not untie under normal, high performance, or inclement conditions and is stainproof, waterproof, and safer than currently available products. This invention is typically used in fastening shoes, garments, webbing, bags, cinch, or other application where holding fast without slipping is advantages. A coating by example but not limited to, surrounding, permeating, striping, edging, encapsulating the tie substrate consisting of either silicone, rubber, latex, urethane, polyurethane, polyethylene, or other coating type materials that present the desired properties. |
112 |
FOOTWEAR WITH LIGHTED LACES |
US12126304 |
2008-05-23 |
US20090288318A1 |
2009-11-26 |
Rudy Guzman |
An article of footwear is provided having a decorative lighting arrangement wherein one or more LEDs are mounted within the interior of one or more sleeves, having the appearance of a shoelace, which are located in the toe portion of the shoe. |
113 |
Crazy strangs |
US11699800 |
2007-01-30 |
US20080313925A1 |
2008-12-25 |
Deborah Ruth Fucles |
The present invention was created for the purpose of allowing individuals to make a casual pair of shoes unique and trendy. The fashion laces do not require tying and are made exclusively for shoes that have eyelets for shoe laces. The laces are strung through the eyelets on the shoe that provides the wearer with the ability to customize the fitting of the shoe. The laces are especially designed to accommodate the open shoe style trend, but are versatile enough for the wearer to wear loose shoes that you can slip on or off the foot, thus allowing for a more comfortable fit, or the wearer can use a smaller size lace, thus allowing for more tension to be applied for a more snug fit. |
114 |
MAGNETIC SHOE LACE |
US11744369 |
2007-05-04 |
US20080271299A1 |
2008-11-06 |
Aaron Kilbarger |
A magnetic shoe lace includes a flexible magnetic member or material of a size and configuration to be laced through conventional shoe eyelets of a shoe, wherein at least part of a first half of the member is charged of a first polarity and at least part a second half of the member is charged with an opposite polarity. |
115 |
Instructional shoelaces, an instructional shoelace-tying system, and a method of tying instructional shoelaces |
US11159050 |
2005-06-22 |
US07309235B2 |
2007-12-18 |
Kelly A. Wilk |
An instructional system for teaching the tying of shoelaces using at least one shoelace (1) having a first half section (2) which is preferably light in color, for example, yellow, and a second half section (3), which is preferably dark in color, for example, blue. The two half sections (2) and (3) are permanently secured to one another to form the shoelace (1). Markings (5) are located at a predetermined distance on the first half section (2) of the shoelace (1) to assist a person in learning to tie a shoelace (1). |
116 |
Woven shoe with integral lace loops |
US10945867 |
2004-09-22 |
US07293371B2 |
2007-11-13 |
Michael A. Aveni |
An article of footwear includes a woven region. A fit adjustment system includes a lace strap superimposed with strands of material forming the woven region. The lace strap is routed around the shoe and forms opposing pairs of lace holding elements such as lace loops. More specifically, the lace strap extends downwardly from a lace holding element on a first side of the upper, across and underneath the footbed, around the heel region, back across and underneath the footbed, and upwardly to form a lace holding element on the second side. By the routing of the lace strap, the lace strap is integrated with the heel and arch portions of the shoe. A shoe lace is routed through the lace holding elements and may be adjusted to affect the fit of the upper to a foot of a user. |
117 |
Illuminated shoes and illuminated fashion accessories |
US11132706 |
2005-05-19 |
US20060002134A1 |
2006-01-05 |
Jonathan Capriola |
An apparatus for illuminating shoes and fashion accessories includes a fiber optic cable, a clasp and a control circuit. The fiber optic cable has a first coupling point and a second coupling point. The clasp has a housing, a retention mechanism, a first connector and a second connector. The first connector is configured to couple to the first coupling point and the second connector is configured to couple to the second coupling point of the fiber optic cable. The control circuit is disposed within the housing and has a power source and at least one illuminating device. The illuminating device is optically coupled to one or both of the first and second connectors in order to illuminate at least a portion of the fiber optic cable with light. At least one of the clasp and the illuminating device is removable to permit interchangeable selectivity of the color of the illuminating light. |
118 |
Novel enhanced shoelaces for maintaining tension with new process for manufacturing and products thereby |
US10737039 |
2003-12-14 |
US20050125971A1 |
2005-06-16 |
James Lee; Dong Chang; Jin Kim |
Enhanced lace tightening system including a plurality of apertures extending through the main body of a shoelace and smoothly finished end caps allowing unimpeded passage therethrough. A process includes a finishing step whereby end caps are generated without frayed edges to facilitate passage of the same through apertures to position appropriate aspects of the laces rapidly in a position from whence little tension loss occurs when properly disposed. Products by the process incorporate silicone, metallic elements, and related enhancements providing specifically improved shoelaces for any number of applications for a stated goal of drawing and fixing together two opposite edges. |
119 |
Reflectorized lace and the like |
US10361182 |
2003-02-10 |
US06796008B1 |
2004-09-28 |
Ke-Chieh Huang |
A reflectorized lace or the like includes an inner layer, a reflectorized outer layer encasing the inner layer, and a protective layer covering the reflectorized outer layer. The protective layer is made of a woven material having a number of open spaces to allow passage of light rays. The protective layer is provided with one or more attachment patches by which the lace may be attached to an object. |
120 |
Shoelace with enhanced knot retention and method of manufacture |
US09950200 |
2001-09-10 |
US06493910B1 |
2002-12-17 |
Louis Dischler |
The present invention relates to a sheath/core shoelace having enhanced knot retention and to the method of manufacture. |