US1062511A - Boot-lace. - Google Patents

Description

H.VVFSHORT. 4

300T LACE. urmuuip'narnmn JUNE 19, 1912.

Patented May 20, 1913.

MVENTORV Hgnr-y William snow NTOENEYS i shown as mounted on a boot-tree.

55 hooks d. arranged (in conti N T D E- ATENT OFFICE HENRY-WILLIAM snoa'r, Ortounom-nuetann.

. Boom-men.

Specification ofLetters 1 atent. 1

- PaitentedMay 2Q, 1913;.

Application med .Tune 19', ion. Seria1No.704;559.

To all whom itmay co'ncem: v p l Be it known that I, Hmvar WIILIAM" SHORT, a subject of the King of)- Great Britain, and resident of 238 Seven Sisters 5 road,-,London, England, scientificsinstrument maker, have invented a' certain jnewf and useful- Improvement in-Boot-Laces, of which the following is a specification;

flexible and extensible spring-coupling;

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a; front view of a lace-up boot-closed bymeans'of theimproved'lace, the boot being Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview of a' similar boot, the upper' or hooked portion of the laced closure being unfastened to allow of the boot being put -on; Fig; 3 is a view of the improved lace, shown separately (on a larger scale) together" with the spring-coupling connecting. its extremities; and: Fig. 4 shows the $5 spring-coupling alone, this being viewed in directionsat right angles to one-another in r 3 and 4 respectively. Figs. o and' 6 are perspective-views ofthespring-couplmg (drawn to a larger scale than Figs-3 and 4), respectively illustrating successive stages in 4 thermanufacture-of the coupling in its pre- .fem'ed-fonn. I

V The: laced closure-,throughout itslower p fi 5. nently fastened), is efiected byipassing the lace arthrough eyelets b ar-Qange off-theboot; while the'closure, throughout .jjits upper or final portion (which alone is "150 commonly unfastened when-the boot is to be fput on or taken off), is as a rule eflecte'd by; .T" pa ing each member a 'and a (Figs. 2lan d' 3) ofthe double-ended lace a from side to side. of the opening-0' so 'as 'ito engage withf fil e mq hfl.

. m g f eyelets Z2) inel 1..

Heretof'ore it'has been customary to leave (which is commonly kept perma-' I in a'series of. 'pa'irsmti, opposite sides iof the opening pairs at opposite'sides of said opening; the

respectlve members al and a? of the lace" crossing; one another between successive pairs of. the'hooks d and each member-an and'a engaging'with' the hooks at alternate sides ofthe openingc; all these features being as usual.

For the purpose of the present-invention .the respective members (1 ,100 of the lace should be ofequal" length and just long enoughto engage with the last or uppermost pair d v of the hooks when the lacing is completed, and to permit'of attachment to the spring-coupling by meansot" whichthe ex-.

tremities of the lace are permanently con 'nected together. On reference to Fig. 1 it,

will be seen thatwhen the boot is laced-up, the spring-coupling constitutes a cross-bar which engages over the tops of the uppermost pair d of the hooks.

vents the; hooks being fully seen, but, their In Fig. 2 the splaying apart of the fi'apsjof the boot pre positions-are indicated by theeyelets whereby theyare secured in position as'usual. I -The spring-coupling comprises a colled spring 6 of a length only sutficient to approximately bridge the distance separating the hooks of a-pair, and a pair of eyes P, f formed on the ends of the coil e and adapted to give passage to the res ective members 0 a of the lace; both 0 said eyes P, f

extending in substantially one plane, which -is parallel to the axis of the-coil e and approximately tangential to. the surface of the latter, as indicated.

Each member a or a of the lace' ais attached to the spring-coupling by being threaded through the corresponding eye 1- or F, knotted as at g to prevent complete retraction through the eye, and drawn back until the knot g engages the eye, the raw extremity of the lace (indicated at hin Fig. 3)

being thereupon tucked into the tubular spring-coil e'so as to become concealed as indicated at the left-hand side of Fig. 3.

In the manufacture of the spring-c011 pling', the eyes f, f are preferably each formed by a terminal-convolution of the coil .e beingbentdown out of its original pos1- tion so as to occupy the. position already described and clearly shownin Fig. the convolutions thus displaced formlng loops as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The mereoperation ofthhs bending down each terminal convolution out of its original position piglet-overs e leave spring wire (whereof the coil 6 is formed) exposed at what may be regarded as the outer (or lower) side of the eye 1 or f as indicated at j in the perspective View, Fig.

against and injure the fingers or any object with which the spring-coupling may be brought 1nto contact. In order to overcome vthis defect, it is preferred to subsequently displace each extremity of the wire from the posltlon indlcated at 7', Fig. 5, to that indicated at is, Fig. 6. This further operation has theeifect of reversing the direction of windingof the loop which constitutes the eye, and bringing each extremity of the wire from the outer '(or lower) s de to the inner (or upper) side of the corresponding eye f or F, in which new and final position the raw extremity of the wire is concealed and completely shielded by the knot g of the lace when the latter is combined with ever, various simple expedients may be re the spring-coupling in the manner already described.

r In the event of the lace a stretching when in wear, its effective length may be permanently shortened by shifting one or both of the knots g farther up the lace. Should this not be convenient at the moment, howsorted to during the lacing operation itself. Thus, for example, where only a slight amount of shortening is desired, the members a a 'of'the lace may, between two or more successive pairs of hooks (Z, be twisted about one another and thereafter brought back to the original side of the opening c, instead of being led right across the opening as shown in'Fig. 1. Or, where a greater amount of shortening is necessary, each member a a of the lace may be wound around both hooks of a pair, and led back to that hook of the pair with which it first engaged, before the lacing is continued. On theother hand. in the event of the lace at any time proving too short to reach to the last or uppermost pair (Z of hooks when the lacing operation is performed in the normal manner, the spring-couphng may yet be -made to engage over said last pair of hooks either by omitting to engage the respective lace-members with a pair or pairs of hooks below the uppermost pair (P, or by omitting (once or more often) to cross the respective lace-members from side to side of the opening 0; each member a and a ofthe lace in the latter case being preferably made to engage (say) two books in direct succession on the same side of the opening of the boot. 7 As the spring-coil e is both flexible and extensible, it will be evident that the springcoupling is adapted, while yielding with the movementof the foot, to maintain the tension of thelaceand the securityof the closure efiectedthereby.

Claims.

1. An improved endless shoe lace consistspring having its ends formed as eyes adapted for application to the lace, but made of less diameter than the knots, as described.

3. The combination with a spring-coupling consisting of a coiled spring provided with eyes at its opposite ends, both ofsaid eyes extending in substantially one plane which is parallel to the axis of the springcoil and approximately.tangential to the surface of the coil, of a boot-lace whose members are threaded through the respective eyes of the spring-coupling and provided with knot-s to prevent complete retraction of said members through the eyes, substantially as described.

a. The combination'with a spring-coupling consisting of a coil of spring wire whereof the terminal convolutions are bent out of their original positions to constitute eves, said terminal convolutions when ,thus displaced extending both in substantially one plane which is parallel to the axis of the coil and approximately tangential to the surface of the latter, and each extremity of the wire being further displaced so as in effect to reverse the direct-ion of winding of the convolution which forms the corresponding eye. of a boot-lace whose members are threaded through the respective eyes of the spring-coupling and provided with knots to prevent complete retraction of said members through the eyes, substantially as clescribed.

HENRY lVILLIAM SHORT. lVitnesses k I HERBERT D. JAunsoN,

O. J. WORTH. r

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