Abstract:
A lacing system for footwear of a type having a pair of spaced-apart flaps that are pulled together by tightening a lace includes a plurality of lace-receiving elements which are attachable to the flaps at multiple locations which allows the user to tailor the location of the lace-receiving elements to obtain a comfortable fit.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 13/839,245 filed Mar. 15, 2013. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Boots and other footwear have opposed flaps which cover the tongue at the front of the boot. The ends of a lace, which is placed through eyes or around hooks in a zigzag pattern, are pulled to draw the flaps together and tighten the boot on the user&#39;s foot. However, people&#39;s feet are unique, and even for a given shoe size any particular pattern of the eyes or hooks on the flaps does not provide a comfortable fit for everyone. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The subject invention provides a lacing system having lace-receiving elements, which are attachable to their respective flaps at multiple locations, thereby allowing the lacing pattern to be varied to better fit the foot of a user. 
         [0004]    The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is front view of a portion of a boot showing one embodiment of the lacing system of the subject invention. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken along the line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing two different embodiments of an attachment system with one embodiment showing the lace-receiving element separated from the system. 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing two additional embodiments of an attachment system with one embodiment showing the lace-receiving element separated from the system. 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  is a front view of a portion of a boot showing another embodiment of the lacing system of the subject invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the lace-receiving element of the lacing system of  FIG. 7 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 9  is an exploded view of the lace-receiving element of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 10  is a front view of a portion of a boot showing the lacing system of  FIG. 7 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view taken on the line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of another embodiment of an attachment system with one of the lace-receiving elements removed from the system. 
           [0017]      FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view taken on the line  12 - 12  of  FIG. 12 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Referring now to  FIGS. 1 ,  7  and  10  of the drawings, a boot  20 , or other footwear, has a pair of opposed flaps  22 , which are drawn together by a lacing system  24  to tighten the boot on a user&#39;s foot. The flaps have inwardly facing elongate margins  26 . Attached to the margins  26  are a plurality of lace-receiving elements  30 . A lace  32  extends between lace-receiving elements  30  on opposed flaps in a zigzag pattern such that when the extremities  34  of the lace are pulled, the lace acts through the lace-receiving elements  30  to draw the opposed flaps toward one another to tighten the boot on the user&#39;s foot. The lace-receiving elements  30  are attachable to the flaps  22  at multiple locations on the flaps. This allows the manner in which the flaps are drawn toward one another to be adjusted in order that the lacing system is tightened in a comfortable manner for a given user. 
         [0019]    The lace-receiving elements  30  are attached to the flaps  22  by an attachment system  36 . In a first embodiment, shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , the attachment system comprises a pair of elongate rails  38 , which are located adjacent to the inwardly facing edges of the flaps. In the embodiment illustrated, the rails are circular in cross-section and have outwardly extending flat tabs  40 , which are attached to the margins  26  of the flaps  22 . The tabs  40  can be sewn onto the flaps as shown in the drawings, or attached by adhesive or any other attachment method. 
         [0020]    The rails  38  are made from a material that is flexible enough to bend with the flaps to which they are attached but stiff enough to remain generally linear. In this embodiment, the lace-receiving elements  30  are attached to sliders  42 , which are slidably attached to the rails. The sliders wrap around the rails  38  and have openings  43  through which the tabs  40  fit. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the openings  43  located on the sliders are opposite the lace-receiving elements  30 , but they could be slightly offset from one another. The lace-receiving elements  30  can be eyes  44  or hooks  46 . When the lace is loose, the sliders  42  can be moved to any desired position along the rails  38 . However, due to the zigzag pattern of the lace, when the lace is tightened the sliders are twisted slightly on the rails and become fixed at their current position. 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4-6 , in another embodiment the sliders  42  and rails  38  contain a locking system  48 , which allows the sliders to be located immovably at selected locations along the rail. The locking system  48  includes slots  50  located at spaced-apart locations along the tabs  40 . The slots  50  are slightly longer than the sliders  42  and have a width that is slightly less than the width of the sliders. In this embodiment, the openings  43  in the sliders  42  are oriented approximately 90° from the lace-receiving elements  30 . When a slider is rotated around the rail  38  to a first position ( FIG. 6 ), the locking mechanism is disengaged and the slider is free to slide along the rail. When the slider  42  is rotated approximately 90° to a second position ( FIG. 5 ), the slider is located in the slot  50 , which engages the locking system  48  and prevents the slider from moving along the rail. Because the openings  43  in the sliders  42  are oriented approximately 90° with respect to the lace-receiving elements  30 , the locking mechanism is engaged when the lace-receiving elements  30  are rotated to where the locking mechanism is engaged when the lace  32  is tightened. 
         [0022]    In another embodiment, shown in  FIGS. 7-11 , the attachment system  36  includes a plurality of seats  52  located in the flaps  22 . The seats are placed at spaced-apart locations along the longitudinal extent of the flaps and at different locations relative to the inside edges of the flaps. The seats have elongate receptacles  54  located in them. The receptacles open out of the top surface of the seats  52  and extend toward one side of the seats below the top surface of the seats. Clips  56  have downwardly-depending elongate anchors  58 , which fit into the receptacles and can be moved into the portion of the receptacles below the top surface of the seats where they cannot be pulled back out of the receptacles. The clips  56  contain the lace-receiving elements  30 , with either eyes  44  or hooks  46 . 
         [0023]    In use, clips  56  are placed in the desired seats  52  and moved toward the center of the boot to place the anchors in the position below the top surface of the bases. The laces are then fed through the lace-receiving elements in the normal manner. When the lace is tightened, it urges the anchors into the portion of the receptacles that is below the top surface of the bases and locks them in place. 
         [0024]    Referring now to  FIGS. 12 and 13 , in another embodiment the rails  58  are divided into discrete segments which are separated from one another by stops  60 , and have a smaller diameter than in the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 1-9 . The rails  58  have central bores which contain rods  62 . As was the case with the previous embodiments the rails  58  are made from a material that is flexible enough to bend with the flaps to which they are attached but stiff enough to remain generally straight. The rods  62  add strength to the rails  58  and preferably are metal. The tabs  64  in this embodiment are similar to the tabs  40  in the previous embodiments and are attached to the flaps (not shown) in the same manner. In this embodiment the lace receiving elements  66  are attached to elastically deformable hooks  68  which are configured to releasably snap over the rails  58 . The lace receiving elements  66  contain openings  70  which the laces (not shown) fit through. The hooks can be attached to the rails at desired locations as is the case with the other embodiments. However, once attached the hooks cannot move longitudinally beyond the two adjacent stops. 
         [0025]    The terms and expressions that have been employed in the foregoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.