Shoe fastener

A fastener replacing the laces in a shoe. The fastener is comprised of a strip of soft, elastomeric plastic material having openings near its ends for receiving posts on button members which also pass through shoe lace holes. The distal ends of the button posts have enlargements thereon which are received in retainer members which are snapped onto the posts after the latter are in place in the shoe. The buttons and retainer members are also preferably molded of elastomeric plastic material.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention is concerned with fasteners intended to replace string laces 
in shoes, such as athletic shoes. 
BACKGROUND ART 
It was suggested some time ago that replacing the normally inelastic lace 
of a shoe with a single elastic lace or a plurality of elastic laces 
should make it possible to insert the foot into the shoe and remove the 
foot from the shoe without untying or loosening the lace. See, for 
example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,225 granted Feb. 21, 1933 to L. G. Szabo for 
"SHOE LACE". This patent suggests the use of a single lace or a series of 
laces made entirely of rubber and having lateral heads at the ends of the 
laces. One of the deficiencies of the Szabo lace is that the soft rubber 
lateral heads on the ends of the laces cannot be relied upon to hold the 
ends of the laces in engagement with the shoe. There is a strong tendency 
for the lateral heads to collapse and pull out of the shoe lace holes in 
the shoes. 
An earlier U.S. Pat. No. 1,595,630, granted Aug. 10, 1926 to R. F. Stockton 
for "SHOE SPRING LACE", discloses the use of a series of helical springs 
to connect opposed shoe opening eyelets. U.S. Pat. No. 1,966,135 granted 
July 10, 1934 to M. Reh for "RESILIENT GRIP FOR SHOES" proposes, for a 
similar purpose, the use of two loops of elastic material connected by a 
metal link and washers, or disks, to prevent the loops from pulling 
through the shoe eyelets. Although possibly more reliable than the Szabo 
lace, the Stockton and Reh lace replacements are both fairly complex and 
expensive to manufacture. 
There continues to be a need for an inexpensive and reliable shoe fastener 
to replace conventional laces and permit the foot to be inserted in and 
removed from the shoe without undoing the fastener. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
This invention contemplates the use of strips of soft elastomeric plastic 
material as the body of the shoe fasteners. At the ends of each such strip 
there are openings through which a post on a button is received. The 
button posts are adapted to pass through opposed openings on the shoe to 
connect the strips to the shoe. Enlargements on the ends of the posts are 
received in cavities in retainer members which are snapped onto the posts 
and grip the enlargements on the posts after the latter are in place in 
the shoe lace openings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring particularly to FIG. 1, there shown is a shoe of the type which 
can utilize fasteners constructed in accordance with this invention. The 
shoe is conventional in construction having an elongated opening 11 in the 
upper portion 12 beneath which lies a tongue 13. Arranged alongside each 
edge of opening 11 are a series of lace holes (not visible in this view) 
through which a conventional string lace normally is threaded. The holes 
commonly are arranged in opposite pairs and may or may not be reinforced 
with eyelets. 
In accordance with this invention, the conventional shoe lace is replaced 
by a series of fasteners indicated generally by reference number 14. 
The several components of each fastener are illustrated in FIG. 2. The main 
component of the fastener is a flat strip 15 of elastomeric material. 
Strip 15 is preferably molded from a soft, elastic plastic material, such 
as polyurethane plastic, having a room temperature durometer of 
approximately 30 to 40. Each strip 15 preferably has an intermediate 
region 16 of substantially uniform width and wider end regions 17. Each 
end region 17 has a hole 18 therethrough by which the strip is affixed to 
and retained on the shoe. 
The means for retaining each fastener strip 15 on the shoe comprises a pair 
of buttons, or button-like members, 19 having posts 20 projecting from one 
face of the base thereof for engagement by retainer members 21. The distal 
end of each button post 20 has an enlargement 22 thereon adapted to be 
retained in a cavity 23 in a retainer member 21. Each retainer member 21 
has a somewhat conical configuration to provide a broad base and a narrow 
upper portion. Entry to cavity 23 is provided by an opening 24 in the base 
of each retainer member 21, which opening has a diameter that is less than 
the enlargement 22 on button post 20 and which is approximately the same 
diameter as the remainder of the post. Thus, each retainer member 21 is 
adapted to be snapped onto and over the enlargement 22 on a button post 
20. 
To facilitate the snap joinder of retainer members 21 and button post 20, 
the retainer members 21 or the buttons 19 or both should be made of 
resilient material. For convenience of manufacture the buttons 19 and the 
retainer members 21 can be molded of the same polyurethane plastic 
material as the strips 15. However, if desired, a slightly different 
plastic material formulation can be selected for either the buttons 19 or 
the retainer members 21 or both to make these components somewhat less 
resilient. Additional stiffness for the buttons 19 and the retainer 
members 21 can make separation of these elements more difficult and 
improve the reliability of the fasteners 14. 
The manner in which a fastener 14 is affixed to the shoe upper portion 12 
is illustrated in FIG. 3. Note that button 19 has its post 20 projecting 
through hole 18 in one end of strip 15 and upwardly through an eyelet 25 
making a lace hole in the shoe upper 12. A retainer member 21 engaged in 
place over the enlargement 22 on the end of button post 20 firmly affixes 
the strip in place beneath the shoe upper and above the shoe tongue 13. 
With a series of fasteners 14 in place on the shoe in the manner 
illustrated in FIG. 1 it is possible to stretch the fasteners to enlarge 
shoe opening 11 for insertion and removal of the foot. Because of the 
extensibility and elasticity of the fastener strips 15, the fasteners 14 
need not be disconnected to insert or remove the foot. Moreover, the 
reliable connections provided by retainer members 21 and buttons 19 insure 
that the shoe will be held in place on the foot once the foot is in place. 
It should be recognized that the spacing between opposite lace holes along 
the edges of shoe upper opening 11 may vary along the opening depending on 
the cut of the shoe and the shape of the wearer's foot. To compensate for 
this it is desireable to provide a set of fastener strips 15 of different 
lengths as shown in FIG. 4 with each fastener kit. The shoe owner need 
only note where the lace holes are farther apart or closer together when 
the shoe is laced on the foot. When substituting fasteners 14 for the lace 
formerly employed the owner places the longer fastener strips 15 where the 
holes are farther apart and the shorter fastener strips where the holes 
are closer together.