US2141801A

US2141801A - Shoelace

Info

Publication number: US2141801A
Application number: US140605A
Authority: US
Inventors: Taft Seymour
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-05-04
Filing date: 1937-05-04
Publication date: 1938-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 1955-12-27

Description

Dec. 27, 1938. T Ff 2,141,801

SHOELACE Filed May 4, 1937 Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES SHOELACE Seymour Taft,

Flushing, N. Y.

Application May 4, 1937, Serial No. 140,605

Claims.

The present invention relates to an improvement in shoe laces, and has for its main advantage, the provision of means on said laces, whereby said laces, when in use on shoes and the ends are tied in the usual bow or tie knot, will not become inadvertently untied.

Said means, however, may be easily tied or untied, manually as desired, as the present advantageous feature does not, in any way interfere with the normal lacing up of the shoe, either with eyelets or hooks and the final tying of the lace end holding knots.

As is well known, after ordinary shoe laces have been tied at their ends to maintain the desired lacing snugness on a shoe, they often become loosened, and the knot opens, liberating the tie ends of the lace, thereby permitting the shoe to have an unpleasant looseness, until the wearer reties the loose ends.

The foregoing noted and other features of advantage will be apprehended as the herein description proceeds, and it will be obvious that modifications may be made in the structures herein disclosed, without departing from the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a shoe lace, broken for convenience in showing;

Fig. 2 is a View of a broken lace showing the customary end securing tie knot;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section of a shoe lace, showing a modified form of means for preventing the untying of a tie knot; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken on line 5--5, Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In Fig. 1 is shown a shoe lace generally denoted by i, the extreme ends 2-2 of which are tipped by the usual threading lace tips TT.

Adjacent the both ends of the lace and the tip ends T--T, and at spaced intervals are located a series of protuberances 3--333, Fig. 1, these protuberances being formed of small spherical objects such as beads i, Fig. 5, which may be made of any suitable hard material, of a diameter which will permit of their being easily passed through an ordinary shoe eyelet.

The lace shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 is of the well known tubular weave, and the beads I, may be introduced within the tubular weave of the lace, during the weaving operation, or the beads may be inserted therein after th lace has been out to length and tipped. The natural snugness of the weave about the beads 1, prevents them from inadvertently moving from their operative location in the lace ends.

The operative location of the beads i in plural spaced end positions, is for the purpose of providing a plurality of tie-knot positions on shoes of varying sizes and in accord with the varying arch dimensions of the wearers foot. In this arrangement the tie knot such as 4, Fig. 2, may

occur at any point between the tip ends T- T, and the protuberance furthest away from said ends TT, and a random tie knot 4, when made up, will always have, on opposite sides thereof at least one or more protuberances or obstructing bu1ges 3', Fig. 2, which if the tie knot should loosen, would prevent the lace ends from pulling through the knot d, and thus prevent the tie knot from becoming entirely loosened and thereby slipping the lace ends entirely free of the knot 4. The protuberances 3 or 3' effectively prevent the inadvertent untying of knot 4, but do not, in any manner, prevent the easy manual untying of the knot 4 or its easy manual tying.

In Fig. 4, there is shown a modified form of protuberance 6, on a shoe lace 5-5, which lace, whileit may be of the tubular woven type as described for Fig. 1, it may also be of a fiat woven type, which would not permit of the introduction in its interior of a bead I or the like, and in which instance the protuberance may consist of a plurality of tightly tied knots, such as 6, Fig. 4, there being a spaced plurality of these to correspond to the protuberances 3-3 of Fig. 1. These knots I, when the ends of the lace is tied in a knot like 4, Fig. 2, are located at random positions I on opposite sides of the tie or bow knot i, and while they act exactly as described for the protuberances of the lace of Fig. 1, they permit of easy manual tying and untying.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A lace for a shoe having eyelets, said lace being adapted to be laced through the eyelets and having end tips and a tying portion at each end adapted to betied in a bow knot; both tying portions being provided with a series of permanently fixed and spaced protuberances small enough to pass through the eyelets and disposed throughout and beyond each tying portion and said knot; one or more of said protuberances being adapted to engage the cross portion of the knot and having the new function of preventing the protuberance and adjacent portion of the lace from passing said cross portion when tied, thereby preventing the knot from coming untied, thereby adapting the lace to any ordinary type of shoe or other article to be fastened.

2. In combination, a shoe having eyelets; a shoe lace laced through the eyelets and having end tips and a tying portion at each end adapted to be tied in a double bow knot; each tying portion being provided with a series of spaced protuberances small enough to pass through the eyelets and disposed throughout and beyond each tying portion and said knot; one or more of said protuberances engaging the cross portion of the knot and having the new function of preventing the protuberance and adjacent portion of the lace from passing said cross portion, thereby preventing the bow-knot or other tie-knot from coming untied.

3. A lace for a shoe having eyelets, said lace being adapted to pass through the eyelets and having end tips and a tying portion at each end adapted to be tied in a bow knot; each tying portion being formed into means engaging the cross portion of the knot and ,having the new function of preventing the means and adjacent portion of the lace from passing said cross portion, thereby preventing the knot of the lace of any type of shoe eyelet or hook fromcoming untied, thereby preventing untying by means carried only by the lace and not by the shoe, thereby saving expense.

4. In combination, a shoe having round eyelets and free of lace fastening means other than the round eyelets; a shoe lace laced through the eyelets and having end tips and a tying portion at each end adapted to be tied in a knot; each tying portion being formed with a protuberance; one or more of said protuberances engaging the cross portion of the knot and having the new function of preventing the protuberance and adjacent portion of the lace from passing said cross portion, thereby preventing the knot from coming untied, without the use and expense of means additional to the laces.

5. A lace for a shoe having lace-engaging means by which the shoe is held closed by the lace, said lace being adapted to be laced on said engaging means and having a tying portion at each end adapted to be tied in a bow knot; both tying portions being provided with a series of permanently fixed and spaced protuberances disposed throughout each tying portion and said knot; one or more of said protuberances being adapted to engage the cross portion of the knot and having the function of preventing the protuberance and adjacent portion of the lace from passing said cross portion when tied, thereby preventing the knot from coming untied.

SEYMOUR TAFT.