US20080016661A1

US20080016661A1 - Structure and method for adjusting tightness of a shoe

Info

Publication number: US20080016661A1
Application number: US11/507,808
Authority: US
Inventors: Munjen Ng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-07-18
Filing date: 2006-08-21
Publication date: 2008-01-24
Also published as: TW200806216A; TWI292305B

Abstract

A structure for adjusting the tightness of a shoe comprises: a shoe, a shoelace, and a plurality of fixing hooks. A plurality of inserting holes is formed at both end of the U-shaped gap of the shoe for insertion of the shoelace. The shoelace is formed with a plurality of fixing holes, and the fixing hooks are to be hooked in the fixing holes. A method for adjusting the tightness of a shoe comprises: inserting the shoelace through the inserting holes at the starting section and the fishing section, adjusting the degree of tightness of the starting and finishing sections of the shoelace, and fixing the hook in any of the fixing holes at the mid section to obtain a comfortable tightness at the mid section of the shoe.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe product, and more particularly to a structure and a method for adjusting the tightness of a shoe, which can provide different tightness for the different portions of the foot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional shoelace structure, in which, the shoe P1 is formed in its vamp with a U-shaped gap, a series of inserting holes P11 is formed at either side of the gap for insertion of the shoelace P12. The problem of this conventional shoelace structure is that:
When the user wants to adjust the tightness of the shoelace P12, the human food includes toe portion, instep, and ankle, and these three portions are different in width and thickness. However, with a single shoelace P12, the shoe P1 only can provides one degree of tightness, and even after adjusting the tightness of one of the three portions, the shoelace P12 will average the tightness of the different portions, without providing different degrees of tightness to the toe portion, the instep and the ankle, differently. As a result, the shoe P1 will be either too tight or too loose, and can't hold the foot comfortably.
U.S. Pat. No. M290,838 (publication date: Feb. 15, 2005) discloses a multipurpose shoelace structure, as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the shoe P2 is formed with a plurality of inserting holes P21, and the shoelace P22 is plain woven by numerous interlaced weft and warp yarns and includes a left strand P23 and a right strand P24. Weft yarns are then equidistantly woven with the warp yarns in the right strand P24, forming a plurality of inserting sections P25 between the left and right strands P23 and P24, and the inserting sections can be opened or closed elastically. After the knot is tied, the two ends of the shoelace can be inserted in any of the inserting sections P25. Once the knot is undone, the both ends of the shoelace are still retained in the inserting sections of the left and right strands P23, P24, thus preventing the shoe from getting loose. However, the problem of this multi-purpose shoelace is that:
The inserting sections P25 in the left and right strands P23, P24 of the shoelace P22 are provided for insertion of the two ends of the shoelace P22, and are unable to adjust the tightness between the shoelace P22, the shoe P2 and the respective inserting holes P21.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a method and a structure for adjusting the tightness of a shoe.
A method for adjusting tightness of a shoe comprises the steps of: a, inserting a shoelace in an inserting hole at the front end of the shoe, and then inserting it alternately through the respective inserting holes in a starting section; b, inserting fixing hooks in any of fixing holes of the shoelace to obtain a desired tightness, thus fixing the degree of tightness of the start section of the shoe; and c, inserting the shoelace through the inserting holes at a rear section of the shoe, meanwhile, fixing the hooks in the fixing holes of the shoelace, thus fixing the tightness of the rear section of the shoe, and finally tying both ends of the shoelace together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a conventional shoelace structure;

FIG. 2 shows another conventional shoelace structure;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view in accordance with the present invention of showing a structure for adjusting the tightness of a shoe;

FIG. 4 shows different shoelaces in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded in accordance with the present invention of showing a fixing hook and a shoelace;

FIG. 6 shows a fixing hook in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an exploded in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention of showing a fixing hook and a shoelace;

FIG. 8 is an exploded in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention of showing a fixing hook and a shoelace;

FIG. 9 shows a fixing hook in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view of showing the shoelace and the ring of the poisoning hook in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an operational view in accordance with the present invention of showing how to adjusting the tightness of a show;

FIG. 12 is another operational view in accordance with the present invention of showing how to adjusting the tightness of a show; and

FIG. 13 is yet another operational view in accordance with the present invention of showing how to adjusting the tightness of a show.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be more clear from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 3, a structure for adjusting the tightness of a shoe comprises: a shoe 10, a shoelace 20, and a plurality of fixing hooks 30.
A U-shaped gap is formed in the vamp of the shoe 10, and a plurality of inserting holes 11 is formed at both sides of the gap for insertion of the shoelace.
The shoelace 20 is provided with two inserting ends and a plurality of spaced apart fixing holes 21 formed between the two inserting ends. The fixing holes 21 may be polygonal, rectangular, circular, or irregular-shaped. The shoelace 20 is provided with a plurality of reinforced ribs 22 (as shown in FIG. 4) to get a desired structural strength, and the reinforced ribs 22 are staggered with respect to the fixing holes 21.
The fixing hooks 30 are located between the shoe 10 and the inserting holes 11 and are to be hooked in the fixing holes 21 of the shoelace 20. A starting section is formed between the front fixing hooks 30 (the fixing hooks located at the front of the shoe) and the front inserting holes 11 (the inserting holes located at the front of the shoe), a finishing section is formed between the rear fixing hooks 30 (the inserting holes located at the rear end of the shoe) and the rear inserting holes 11 (the fixing hooks located at the rear end of the shoe), and a mid section is formed between the mid fixing hooks 30 (the fixing hooks located at the mid portion of the shoe). Each of the fixing hooks 30 includes a fixing portion 31 and a hooking portion 32. The hooking portion 32 (as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 7) may be a conical-shaped hook, a two-piece hook, or a pierced hook. The two pieces of the hook portion 32 may be arranged unidirectionally to define an engaging space therebetween.
The fixing hook 30′ (as shown in FIG. 10) is a ring 31′ in which being formed a hooking portion 32′.
For a better understanding of the present invention, its function and operation, reference should be made to FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, the fixing portion 31 of the respective fixing hooks 30 is arranged between the inserting holes 11 of the shoe 10. And the method adjusting tightness of a shoe comprises the steps of:
A, inserting the shoelace 20 in the inserting hole 11 at the front end of the shoe 10, and then inserting it alternately through the respective inserting holes 11 in the starting section;
B, inserting the fixing hooks 30 in any of the fixing holes 21 of the shoelace 20 to obtain a desired tightness, thus fixing the degree of tightness of the start section of the shoe;
C, tying the two ends of the shoelace together after the shoelace 20 is inserted through the inserting holes 11 at the rear section of the shoe 10, or, the shoelace 20 can be inserted through the ring 31′ of the fixing hooks 30′ and the hook portion 32′ of the fixing hooks 30′ is inserted in the fixing hole 21 of the shoelace, providing a tying and fixing effect;
D, adjusting the degree of tightness of the starting and finishing sections of the shoelace 22, and fixing the hook 30 in any of the fixing holes 21 at the mid section to obtain a comfortable tightness at the mid section of the shoe.
To summarize, the structure for adjusting the tightness of a shoe comprises: a shoe, a shoelace, and a plurality of fixing hooks. A plurality of inserting holes is formed at both end of the U-shaped gap of the shoe for insertion of the shoelace. The shoelace is formed with a plurality of fixing holes, and the fixing hooks are to be hooked in the fixing holes. The method for adjusting the tightness of a shoe comprises: inserting the shoelace through the inserting holes at the starting section and the fishing section, adjusting the degree of tightness of the starting and finishing sections of the shoelace, and fixing the hook in any of the fixing holes at the mid section to obtain a comfortable tightness at the mid section of the shoe.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A structure for adjusting tightness of a shoe comprising: a shoe, and a shoelace, a gap formed in the vamp of the shoe, and a plurality of inserting holes formed at both sides of the gap for insertion of the shoelace, the structure is characterized in that:

the shoelace is formed with a plurality of spaced apart fixing holes;

a plurality of fixing hooks is arranged between the shoe and the shoelace and is hooked in the fixing holes of the shoe lace.

2. The structure for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein a starting section is formed between the fixing hooks located at the front end of the shoe and the inserting holes located at the front end of the shoe, a finishing section is formed between the fixing hooks located at the rear end of the shoe and the rear inserting holes located at the rear end of the shoe, and a mid section is formed between the fixing hooks located in the mid of the shoe.

3. The structure for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 2, wherein the shoelace is provided with a plurality of reinforced ribs to get a desired structural strength, and the reinforced ribs are staggered with respect to the fixing holes;

each of the fixing hooks includes a fixing portion and a hooking portion, the fixing portion is arranged between the shoe and the inserting holes of the shoelace, and the hooking portion is hooked in the fixing hole of the shoelace.

4. The structure for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein the hooking portion is a conical-shaped hook, a two-piece hook, or a pierced hook, the two pieces of the hook portion are arranged unidirectionally to define an engaging space therebetween.

5. The structure for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fixing hook is a ring in which being formed a hooking portion.

6. A method for adjusting tightness of a shoe comprises the steps of:

a, inserting a shoelace in an inserting hole at the front end of the shoe, and then inserting it alternately through the respective inserting holes in a starting section;

b, inserting fixing hooks in any of fixing holes of the shoelace to obtain a desired tightness, thus fixing the degree of tightness of the start section of the shoe; and

c, inserting the shoelace through the inserting holes at a rear section of the shoe, meanwhile, fixing the hooks in the fixing holes of the shoelace, thus fixing the tightness of the rear section of the shoe, and finally tying both ends of the shoelace together.

7. The method for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 6 further comprise a step of: adjusting the degree of tightness of the starting and finishing sections of the shoelace, and fixing the hook in any of the fixing holes at a mid section of the shoe to obtain a comfortable tightness at the mid section of the shoe.

8. The method for adjusting tightness of a shoe as claimed in claim 6, wherein the shoelace is inserted and fixed in a ring of the fixing hooks and the hook portion of the fixing hooks is inserted in the fixing hole of the shoelace, providing a tying and fixing effect.