US20100132170A1

US20100132170A1 - Bow retainer clips for shoes

Info

Publication number: US20100132170A1
Application number: US12/315,068
Authority: US
Inventors: John A. Armistead
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-11-28
Filing date: 2008-11-28
Publication date: 2010-06-03

Abstract

Standard bow knots—which are favored on lace-up shoes—are prone to come untied. The latter is both an inconvenience and a safety issue. But no bow knot can come untied until one end of the bow has passed back through the loosened knot. The present bow retainer clips are unitary, bent wire, spring clips which fit through the upper grommets of lace-up shoes. Such clips have recesses which are aligned with a row of grommets on either the left or right side of a shoe. While the bow knot is being tied, one or both halves of the bow on either side of the knot are inserted under the clip. The wire of the latter will indent and grip the shoelace so as to make it difficult or impossible for such to be pulled back through the knot. But by deliberately removing the bow portions from under the bow retaining clips, the bows can be untied in a conventional manner. These functional bow retainer clips are small and decorative, and can be used as attachment points for jewelry charms, if desired.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Lace-up shoes have the utility of providing adjustable fit, and a secure retention of the shoes on the feet, through the use of an easy-to-tie bow knot. The latter bow knot is easy to untie, as well, to facilitate removing the shoes. Unfortunately, conventional bow knots are prone to untying themselves—sometimes several times a day—during the stress cycles of normal walking. The most securely tied bow knots may cause the shoes to constrict blood circulation in the feet. Much of the desirable adjustability in the tightness of the fit of shoes is lost, simply to try to make the bow knots secure enough not to keep coming untied.
The present invention is a simple wire clip, or clips, fitted through the top grommets of lace-up shoes to serve to grip and hold from one to three of the lace portions which extend from each side of a conventional bow knot. In order for a bow knot to be untied, or to untie itself, at least three of the six lace portions which extend to the sides of the bow knot must become loose enough to slip back through the central knot portion. But with the present Bow Retainer Clips holding even one of the six lace portions, the knots cannot come undone.
Keeping shoes tied can prevent dangerous tripping due to a person stepping on a loose shoe lace with their adjacent foot. Mothers with young children must stop what they are doing to retie their kids' shoes. When the latter happens in a public place, or on a street, there is diminished safety and an increased vulnerability to crime. But loose shoe laces don't need to be a fact of daily life—if shoes are equipped with, and correctly utilize, the present Bow Retainer Clips.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Lace-up shoes usually have evenly spaced grommets on each side of the tongue area of the shoes. Typically, those grommets have a large enough inside diameter to allow portions of a bent wire clip to pass through the same grommets which will be holding the laces. An ideal bow retainer clip will function much like the metal or plastic pocket clips on pens and mechanical pencils. If such a clip type were located in the shoe area below the bows of shoes, then from one to three of lace portions, which extend beyond the bow knot on either side, could be retained under such a clip.
Bow retainer clips, when installed in the grommets, need to have a small enough cross section to allow the laces to still be threaded through the grommets. Bent wire retainer clips, in addition to being compact in cross section, have the added advantage of being both neat and decorative on shoes. The horseshoe loops on the bow retainer clips, also, can serve as attachment points for jewelry charms. The latter usage should not reduce the bow retaining ability of the clips.
The present disclosure describes two types of bow retainer clips. Both are made of either plated spring steel, or other springy wire; or made of vinyl coated wire in various colors. Retainer clip Type One has two side-by-side wire portions which are exposed to view when installed. There are two out-of-sight, looped end portions which are located between the tongue of the shoes and the adjacent sides of the shoes. During the installation of the clips, the shoe laces are threaded through one, or both, of those looped ends to help to maintain the exposed portion of the clips in a neat and straight alignment.
Bow retainer clips Type Two have just a single strand of bent wire exposed to view. But such has two bow retention areas—a lower and an upper. Either of those can retain three bow portions. But bows retained in a group are not as conventional looking nor attractive. Type Two bow retainer clips will function perfectly well with just one of the three bow portions retained. But by using both the upper and the lower clip areas, the fit of the clip on the bows is made much tighter and more secure. A single strand of wire will bite into the laces more tightly for better retention.
The Type Two bow retainer clips project up vertically from the plane of the grommets. The latter orientation is maintained by a 90 degree bend in the wire that is integral with two zigzag bends in the wire. When correctly installed, the latter zigzags will be located between the tongues of shoes and the sides of the shoes. The alignment of the exposed portions of Type Two bow retainer clips is maintained by having the terminal end of the zigzag portion of the wire, bend up through the adjacent grommet of the shoes. The zigzag itself will act as a spring to adapt to the variable grommet spacing on different makes and models of shoes. And the horseshoe-shaped end loop is both snag proof and can serve as an attachment point for (optional) jewelry charms.
A final and important functional aspect of both clip types is that the laces are wedged more tightly in those grommets which have the wires threaded through. That extra tightness can reduce the tendency of the bow knots to come untied. But the clips themselves must be correctly utilized in order to have the most secure bows.

BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of Bow Retainer clip Type One. The alignment of such is in the approximate same relationship to the same part, also shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a “flattened” view, or top elevation, of the lace area of a typical six grommet lace-up shoe. Note: The present invention is also apt for shoes having a fewer or greater numbers of grommets.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of Bow Retainer clip Type Two. The alignment of such is in the same approximate relationship to the same part, also shown in FIG. 2.

Though two different clip types are shown on a single bow knot of a lace-up shoe, only one clip—of either Type One, or Type Two—is required to keep the bows tied. Because most people tie their shoes while seated, and with their legs crossed, the arch side of the shoe is the more ergonomically correct for easy utilization of the clips.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A typical lace-up shoe as shown in FIG. 2 has a tongue, 3, that fits below the grommet areas of the shoe, 1 and 2. Shoe lace, 5, is threaded through the various grommets, 4, to allow bows, 7 and 8, to be formed by bow knot, 6. Type One bow retainer clips, as shown in FIG. 1, can be installed by removing the laces from the two rows of grommets at the top of the shoes. The upturned, horseshoe bend, 10, is then threaded from the tongue area, 3, outward, though the top grommet, which is below 11, in FIG. 2. Such insertion is facilitated by the overall springiness of the formed wire part which is shown in FIG. 1. Once the parallel wire portions, 10, 9, 11, are inserted through the top grommet, the looped ends, 12 and 13, can be positioned below the second grommet so as to allow lace, 5, to be threaded through the second grommet above 4, and then through one or both loops, 12 and 13. Due to the flexibility of the clip shown in FIG. 1, the teardrop shaped loops, 12 and 13, may be squeezed together so as to partially overlap. The latter double thickness of wire, when constrained between the tongue, 3, and the grommet area of the shoe, 1, will cause the wires to indent the lace, 5, the tongue, 3, and underside of the grommet area, 1. The totality of the latter indentions will retain the Type One bow retainer clip in place, once the lace, 5, is threaded through the top two grommets. Even in shoes having very small grommets, there is enough room for both the (compressible) lace, 5, and the two side-by-side wires at 11 to fit.
To utilize the Type One bow retainer clip, a standard bow knot, 6, is tied. At the end of the tying operation, bow, 7, will be in the user's hand—pulling the knot, 6, tight. By positioning the lower half of bow, 7, against the upturned, horseshoe bend, 10, and pulling upward on the same bow portion, the latter can be pulled up to position, 9. Position, 9, allows the springiness of the bow retainer clip to compress, and bite into lace, 5, and provides enough grip on the lower half of bow, 7, to prevent such bow from passing back through knot, 6. Without the Type One bow retainer clip in place, knot, 6, could be untied simply by pulling on the opposite end of the lace, 5, which is shown in FIG. 2, just below 15 in the drawing. But with the Type One bow retainer clip in place, even if the opposite end of lace, 5, is pulled, the bow retainer clip will make it difficult or impossible for the knot to be untied. However, the knot can easily be untied if the bow portion, 9, is simply slipped downward off of end, 10, of the Type One bow retainer clip. The time required for the insertion of the lower half of bow, 7, and the removal of such, is about one second for each operation—which makes this product very user friendly.
Type Two bow retainer clips are shown in FIG. 3. The latter clip has the capacity to retain both the upper and lower halves of bow, 8, and to retain the adjacent end of lace, 5, as well. To install Type Two bow retainer clips, the top two rows of laces are removed from the grommets. Horseshoe bend, 18, is inserted downward through the topmost grommet of side, 2. The zigzag beginning at 17 is then maneuvered through the topmost grommet. The springiness of the wire of the bow retainer will allow such part to be inserted until the entire zigzag is located between the tongue, 3, and the grommet area of the shoe, 2. Once in the latter position, the upturned horseshoe bend, 18, can be inserted up through the second grommet of side 2. Portion 18 will maintain the now installed Type Two bow retainer clips in correct alignment. There will be enough space left in the two utilized grommets to allow the lace, 5, to be inserted and tied into bow knot, 6, in a normal way.
As bow knot, 6, is being tied, the upper and lower halves of bow, 8, will be in the user's hand, pulling knot, 6, tight. By a simple upward motion of the lower half of bow, 8, such can be pulled under wire loop, 15. Loop, 15, will have been fitting against the outside of the grommet area of the shoe, 2. By a simple downward motion of the top half of bow, 8, such can be pushed below bow retainer portion, 16. Because the wire is springy, portions 15 and 16 will bite into bow, 8, with sufficient force to prevent such from being pulled back through knot, 6. It is optional whether the user wishes to insert the end of lace, 5, under the projecting clip at 14. Because the diameters of laces, 5, can vary, the insertion of the end of lace, 5, can, if needed, provide additional compression to retain bow, 8, in place.
It will take approximately three seconds to fully retain bow, 8, under clip, 14. But because both the upper clip at 16, and the lower clip at 15, can be used independently, Type Two bow retainer clips should function on the widest range of shoe, lace, and grommet sizes and spacings. The springiness of the metal in the zigzag beginning at 17, will allow such clip type to adapt to variations in shoe makes and models. It should be noted that both Type Two bow retainer clips, and Type One bow retainer clips may be used, interchangeably, in either grommet area 1 or 2. A single bow retainer clip per shoe will make it difficult or impossible for knot, 6, to come untied. And knot, 6, need not be pulled exceptionally tight in order for the two clip types to function. Laces, 5, which happen to be too short, or too long, may need to be replaced to assure the proper function of the bow retainer clips.

Claims

1. Unitary, bent wire spring clips—which attach through the upper grommets of lace-up shoes—will retain one or both of the bow loops of standard bow knots, and reduce the likelihood that the bow knots will come untied.

2. Bow retainer clips are made of plated or vinyl coated wire of various types and colors.

3. Bow retainer clips have horseshoe bends which can serve as attachment points for optional jewelry charms.

4. Bow retainer clips have out-of-sight portions which serve to keep the clips in proper alignment.

5. Bow retainer clips are suitable for installation on either side of a shoe's laced area.

6. Bow retainer clips have open ends that are'aligned, vertically, to facilitate the easy insertion and removal of the bow portions during the shoe tying and untying processes.