Patent Publication Number: US-2009229095-A1

Title: Hook Elastic Shoelaces

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/998,358, filed Oct. 11, 2007 by the present inventor. 
    
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not applicable 
     SEQUENCE LISTING 
     Not applicable 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention generally relates to methods and mechanisms for securing a shoe having laces on the foot of its wearer. More particularly, this invention relates to elastic shoelaces and mechanisms for facilitating their use and closure. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Shoelaces have been in widespread use for hundreds of years. The conventional shoelace is a smooth linear member made of cloth, leather, plastic, or elastic. The shoe lace is wound through a series of holes arranged in the upper portion of the shoe as to straddle the opening in the shoe through which the wearer&#39;s foot is inserted into or retracted from the shoe. To use the shoelace, the foot is first inserted into the shoe. Ten, the two ends of the shoelace are pulled so as to bring the openings in the shoe upper together, thereby tightening the shoe around the foot. The two ends of the shoelace are then tied or inserted into a mechanism to prevent the inadvertent loosening of the shoe. 
     Conventional shoelace arrangements suffer from a number of disadvantages. These include: (1) the need to tie the ends of the shoelace together, with these ties often loosening during the wearing of the shoe, (2) the need to have a mechanism to hold the laces tightly together, with these mechanisms often loosening the laces during the wearing of the shoe, (3) the inability to configure the shoe upper to the foot so as to obtain a suitable snug fit, (4) the inability to provide a streamlined aesthetic lacing system, and (5) difficulties in feeding the shoelace ends through the evermore complex, shoelace eyelet geometries being introduced to improve the fit of the shoe. 
     Another significant disadvantage of conventional or improved shoe lace systems are the tendency for the ends of the shoelaces to dangle thereby creating a safety issue for the wearer. This safety issue does not discriminate between age, ethnicity, or gender. 
     Many U.S. patents have been directed to providing improved fastening systems for shoelaces. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,157,813, 5,158,428, 5,335,401, 5,572,778, 5,613,283, 5,649,342, 5,657,557, 5,852,857, and 6,026,548. Although these patents disclose a wide variety of fasteners, none of these address all of the disadvantages listed above. 
     Despite the prior art, there is a widely recognized need for an improved system for securing a laced shoe on the foot of its wearer—a system that will address safety as well as aesthetics while promoting a snugger fit of the shoe, avoiding the need to tie shoelace ends, eliminating unwanted shoelace loosening, and eliminate all shoelace lacing problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     This invention is generally directed to satisfying the needs set forth above and the problems identified in the prior arts. The safety problem with dangling ends creating a hazard for its wearer and the lack of aesthetics is resolved by the present invention. In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foregoing need can be satisfied by providing a system for securing a shoe on the foot of a wearer, the shoe having an upper part with a pair of opposed edges with eyelets which are drawn together in securing the shoe on the foot, the system comprising; an elastic shoelace having a pair of ends, each end having an elongated, covering of material with one end having a hook and the other end having an eye. The hook and eye system adapted to allow shoelace ends to fasten avoiding dangling shoelace ends. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings and the detailed description that follows. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS—FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a shoe with the shoe securing system of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the elastic shoelace of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DRAWINGS—REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       10  elastic shoelace 
       11  end with hook 
       12  end with eye 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION—PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the shoe with the present invention which has an upper part with a pair of opposed edges with eyelets which are drawn together in securing the shoe on the foot. The shoe securing system comprises an elastic shoelace  10  with permanently attached hook  11  and eye  12  end fasteners. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view which shows a preferred embodiment of the elastic shoelace  10  of the present invention. It is seen to have a finished look with hook  11  and eye  12  ends configured into a cylindrical shape with its longitudinal axis having a specified radius of curvature so as to promote the ease with which the shoelace end can be threaded through a shoe&#39;s eyelets. 
     OPERATIONS 
     In operation one uses the elastic shoelace  10  in a normal manner threading the lace through a shoe&#39;s eyelets and finally fastening the hook  11  and eye  12  ends together creating a never before finished look thereby eliminating the hazard of dangling lace ends.