Patent Publication Number: US-9894948-B1

Title: Fastener for garment drawstrings, laces, and the like

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 14/339,311, filed Jul. 23, 2014, and claims priority in part under 35 U.S.C. §120 therefrom. The &#39;311 application is incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to fasteners for garment drawstrings, laces, and other flexible string cable fasteners. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Several types of garments such as sweatpants and pajama bottoms use drawstrings to secure the garment to the wearer. Aprons frequently use fabric ties (apron strings). Shoes and sneakers commonly use laces. In all such cases, knots and/or bows are commonly used to secure the free ends of the tying members. 
     The prior art of Cox (USPTO published application US 2012/0284976) pertains to a shoe lace apparatus and locking mechanism. A rigid disk with a central hole and locking slit directly connecting the hole to the periphery of the disk is used to secure or lock the shoe laces within the hole of the disk. The laces are pinched by the disk at one point and the friction is used for the locking action. 
     Cox teaches that the lace is inserted all the way through the slit until the slit is tightened by the hole or gripping and/or locking holes in the center or central area of the disk. However, Cox does not teach the use of partially extending slits separated from the central hole. Cox is concerned with using the slit to gain access to the central hole or holes, not to provide a surface area against which to bend the draw string or lace while the draw string or lace is bent over the surface between the central hole and the partially extending slit. 
     Thus, Cox teaches full access must be provided through the slit to access the central hole or holes, within which the drawstring or lace is tightened. 
     To that end, Cox does not provide for tightening the draw string or lace through one or more central holes, then bending a draw string or lace over a surface of the disk separating the inner end of a slit and the central hole or holes, and then again bending each draw string or lace again through the slit for further retightening in place in the disk. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fastener for garment draw strings or shoe laces which tightens the draw string or shoe lace against a portion of a disk or other flat geometric fastener and then again through a slit or slits spaced apart from and terminating without communication with either of the central gripping and/or locking hole or holes. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide a draw string or shoe lace fastener which is easily used but which provides a tight fit for the draw string or shoe lace, without the need to tighten the draw string or shoe lace with a time consuming knot, which may untie by continued use. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide one or more bands slidably movable over said drawstring to enhance locking resistance against the drawstring. 
     Other objects will become apparent from the following description of the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In keeping with these objects and others which may become apparent, the present invention is a lace and string fastener, which is used to fasten together the two strings contained in a pair of sweatpants in such a way so that the wearer&#39;s sweatpants won&#39;t fall down. The fastener can be easily tightened and loosened without the worry and inconvenience of knot formation. The fastener can be used in a variety of other ways. For example, it can also be used in joining together the two laces in a pair of sneakers. 
     The present invention uses a disk, such as a geometrically shaped body or buckle with one or more centrally located gripping and/or locking holes and one or more locking slits on the periphery of the disk to secure drawstrings, laces, apron strings or similar items in lieu of tying with knot and/or bow. In this manner the worry and inconvenience of knot formation is avoided while providing a fastener that can be tightened and loosened easily. It is important that the peripheral locking slits are separated from the central gripping and/or locking hole or holes to support the method of secure locking involving bending the drawstring taut over the front surface and providing more than one point of squeezing the drawstring. 
     One or more accessory bands may be provided over the fastener to extend locking pressure against the drawstring, increasing locking resistance against the drawstring. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the body of the fastener is a thick disk of dense, flexible, yet strong material such as dense polyurethane foam. This material also has a high coefficient of friction which engages laces or drawstrings well. Other synthetic or man-made materials that are flexible and/or rigid may be used in making the body of the fastener. For high end decorative keepsake memorabilia items, the fastener can alternatively be made of metal or precious metal. 
     One or more small separate gripping and/or locking holes are in the central area of the disk. They are significantly smaller than the relaxed crossectional diameter of the drawstring. The free ends of the drawstring are passed through each hole respectively by stretching the disk holes locally thereby grasping the drawstring securely. The disk is then adjusted as desired to secure the garment, then each end of the drawstring is bent taut over the front surface of the disk and pulled into a locking peripheral slit. When using a material such as dense polyurethane foam, the locking slits can be formed as simple slits since the flexibility of the material will yield locally to permit entry of a drawstring end thereby locking it securely. The slits are sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of the slits having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service of being worn or otherwise used. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, each drawstring end is first grasped by the central hole which still permits adjustment, then a second point of frictional locking in series with the first is provided by sliding the free end in the peripheral slit. This provides a locking fastener with great pull-out resistance by virtue of the high coefficient of friction, the grasping of the drawstring by the central hole, and the locking in the slit whereby each free end also undergoes two right angle bends. This is because in this embodiment, the gripping and/or locking holes in the fastener are more like potential holes and slits, because after the gripping and/or locking hole or slit is made, the dense polyurethane foam all but closes up again. When the shoelace is passed through the gripping and/or locking holes and slits, the dense polyurethane foam grips the lace tightly. 
     The method of use the preferred first embodiment of fastening a drawstring extending from a garment without use of a knot, using one or more central gripping and/or locking holes includes the following steps of: 
     a) using a first aglet on an end of a first end portion of the drawstring to push the first end portion through at least one first central gripping and/or locking hole in a disk; 
     b) using a second aglet on an end of a second end portion of the drawstring to push the second end portion optionally through the first central gripping and/or locking hole or through a second central gripping and/or locking hole in the disk, the central holes being spaced from each other; 
     c) folding and pulling taut said first end portion through at least one first peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from an outer periphery of the disk; and, 
     d) folding and pulling taut the second end portion optionally through the first peripheral locking slit or through a second peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the disk; and, 
     e) the slits being sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of the slits having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service of being worn or otherwise used. 
     In the first embodiment, the disk can have a variety of peripheral shapes. Also, the thickness of the disk material can be uniform, or it can vary with a variation from the center to the edges so that side profiles such as hemispheres, cubes or spheres are also possible. Extra peripheral slits afford more convenience and more locking power when needed, as well. 
     In a second embodiment, a rigid plastic disk with a single central hole is used with two parallel locking slits (one longer than the other) on each side of the hole. The plastic disk material may be selected from a wide variety of resins such as rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Nylon, polypropylene, or a rigid closed-cell foamed PVC such as, for example, SINTRA® of 3A Composites USA, Inc., Statesville, N.C. In this embodiment, wrapping of the drawstring free ends completely around the median disk material between the two slits on each side of the hole produces great pull-out resistance even using a thinner disk with lower friction between drawstrings and disk material. For high end decorative keepsake memorabilia items, the fastener can alternatively be made of metal or precious metal. 
     The method of use of the second embodiment of fastening a drawstring extending from a garment without use of a knot using the preferred embodiment with a single central hole includes the following steps of: 
     a) using a first aglet on an end of a first end portion of the drawstring to push the first end portion through at least one central gripping and/or locking hole in a disk; 
     b) using a second aglet on an end of a second end portion of the drawstring to push the second end portion through the at least one central gripping and/or locking hole or a second central gripping and/or locking hole, 
     c) folding and pulling taut the first end portion through a first peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from an outer periphery of the disk; 
     d) folding and pulling taut the second end portion through a second peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the disk; 
     e) folding and pulling taut the first end portion through a third peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the disk; and 
     f) folding and pulling taut the second end portion through a fourth peripheral locking slit extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the disk; 
     g) the slits being sized to squeeze the end portions and provide some pull-out resistance with only a moderate amount of friction. 
     Therefore, in general, the fastener for drawstrings, laces and the like includes a disk with one or more gripping and/or locking holes in a central region and one or more peripheral locking slits spaced apart from and terminating without communication with either of the one or more gripping and/or locking holes. The fastener fastens drawstrings for clothing, such as sweat pants, as well as laces, such as shoe or sneaker laces, each having two free ends, wherein the free ends are passed through the one or more gripping and/or locking holes in central region of the fastener. The free ends are pulled through the one or more gripping and/or locking holes and then bent against the upper outer surface of the disk and locked in place in the respective one or more peripheral locking slits. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of the fastener of the preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment with drawstring ends engaged through the two central gripping and/or locking holes permitting adjustment; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment in a locked configuration with drawstring ends locked in peripheral slits; 
         FIGS. 4A to 4F  are plan views of outer contours of the disks that can be used with this invention; wherein a round shape is shown at “ 4 A”, an oval shape is shown at “ 4 B”, a rectangular shape is shown at “ 4 C”, a hexagonal shape is shown at “ 4 D”, an octagonal shape is shown at “ 4 E” and a circular shape with two opposite pairs of slits is shown in  4 F; 
         FIGS. 5A to 5D  are side views of four different disk implementations; a thick disk of uniform thickness is shown at “ 5 A”, a hemispherical side contour is shown at “ 5 B”, a spherical side contour is shown at “ 5 C” and a cubic side contour is shown at  5 D; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the disk fastener of the second embodiment; 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are side views of two steps of using the fastener of  FIG. 6 ; wherein step  1  of  FIG. 7A  involves pulling both drawstring free ends through the central hole providing the adjustment configuration, while step  2  of  FIG. 7B  shows the locking method of inserting a free end in a long slit at “A”, bending over the back surface and engaging a short slit at “B” and then bending over front surface again and reinserting in the long slit at “C”; and, 
         FIG. 8  is a plan view of the fastener of the second embodiment in a locked configuration. 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a fastener with at least one central gripping and/or locking hole and no slit. 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the fastener of  FIG. 9 , shown with a portion of a drawstring extending therethrough. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a fastener with two central gripping and/or locking holes, with no slits, showing portions of a drawstring extending therethrough. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the disk fastener of an alternate embodiment with a normally closed central locking/gripping hole. 
         FIG. 12A  is a side view of using the fastener in the disk fastener of  FIG. 12   
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the unlocked state of an alternate embodiment of this invention using a generally rectangular body and/or buckle, and bands, to enhance the locking capability of the drawstrings or laces. 
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of the embodiment of  FIG. 13  showing the position of the flexible and/or rigid bands and drawstrings in the locked state. 
         FIG. 15  is a plan view of the unlocked state of an embodiment having a body and/or buckle with a single hole and one flexible and/or rigid band for use in engaging a pants loop. 
         FIG. 16  is a plan view of the locked state of the embodiment of  FIG. 15  showing the position of the flexible and/or rigid band and pants loop. 
         FIG. 17  is a plan view of the edge of the body and/or buckle substrate with an enhanced top surface curvature. 
         FIG. 18  is a plan view showing an alternate buckle contour with stepped width variations replacing the continuous curves. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In this invention, the operational description focuses on the term drawstring. It is noted herein that the terms lace or fabric tie, or even string, can be used interchangeably, as the fastener can be used as well for a variety of garments or other uses such as duffle bags, beach bags, laundry bags, or decorative bands each with their favorite name for a fabric tie. Additionally, a decorative shoe lace can be used as a belt for pants with belt loops holding the drawstring as a belt-type fastener. It is also known that the fastener can be adorned with logos or other decorative indicia, such as a cubic shaped fastener bearing the markings of a gaming dice piece. Sports or entertainment logos and characters can also adorn the fastener. 
     The preferred embodiment of fastener of this invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , a thick semi-rigid disk  1 , such as, for example, a dense polyurethane foam disk  1 , has a plurality of centrally located gripping and/or locking holes, such as, for example, two centrally located gripping and/or locking holes  2  and two peripheral locking slits (here shown as slits)  3 . Locking slits  3  are sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of slits  3  having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service of being worn or otherwise used. While the length and width of the slits may vary, the width of the slits  3  are preferably in the range of 1/32 to 1/16 inch in width. 
     In  FIG. 2 , disk  1  is shown being threaded through by the aglets  7   a  of the free ends  7  of a drawstring which is engaged with a garment  9 , such as a pair of sweatpants. In this configuration, adjustment of disk  1  relative to string ends  7  is possible even though gripping and/or locking holes  2  grasp string ends  7  aggressively due to the small diameter of gripping and/or locking holes  2  relative to string diameter and the high coefficient of friction and elastomeric nature of disk  1  material. Once adjusted as desired, each free end  7  is bent 90 degrees along the front surface  1   a  of disk  1  and then engaged in adjacent slit  3  for locking with high pull-out resistance (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). End aglets  7   a  of the free ends  7  of the draw strings provide a grasping space for the fingers of the wearer of the garment. 
       FIGS. 4A to 4F and 5A to 5D  show that the outer contour of disk  1  can be almost any shape enclosing a significant flat area. Some useful shapes are shown in  FIGS. 4A through 4F . It is also noted that more than two peripheral slits are shown for convenience. Any pair can be used; multiple slits on each string end  7  can also be used for even greater security although hardly needed. Similarly, the thickness of disc  1  need not be constant as shown in  FIG. 5A . A hemispherical side contour such as at  FIG. 5B , a fully spherical shape such at  FIG. 5C  or even a cubic shape such as in  FIG. 5D  can be utilized. The locking slits are sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of the slits having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service of being worn or otherwise used. 
       FIGS. 6-8  illustrate an alternate embodiment of this invention.  FIG. 6  shows disk  10  made of rigid yet flexible plastic with one central hole  12  and a pair of locking slits (long  14  and short  16 ) on either side of hole  12 . Note the median section  17  of disk  10  between slits  14  and  16 . To insure excellent pull-out resistance (once locked) with less friction between string free ends  7  and disk  10  than that of the preferred embodiment, free ends  7  are wrapped 360 degrees around median area  17  to compensate. This motion also involves four 90 degree bends of each free end  7  and four series points of squeezing of drawstring in central hole and two slits. Slits  14  and  16  are sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of the slits  14  and  16  having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service of being worn or otherwise used. 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  show the two steps of adjusting and locking using disk  10 . Step  1  of  FIG. 7A  involves threading both free ends  7  through central hole  12 . This squeezes both free ends  7  against the sides of hole  12  by virtue of the size of the hole and the resiliency of the drawstring material. Disk  10  can be easily adjusted since the grasping action is not too aggressive. The wrapping and locking takes place in step  2  of  FIG. 7B  as detailed in sub-steps A, B, and C. Peripheral slits are sized to squeeze free ends  7  and provide some pull-out resistance with only a moderate amount of friction. It is the totality of free-end  7  engagement with disk  10  that provides the aggregate amount of disk  10  to drawstring pull-out resistance. This embodiment may be preferable for use on sneakers or sport shoes since disk  10  can be thinner and smaller than disk  1 .  FIG. 8  shows a front view of the locked configuration. 
       FIG. 9  shows an embodiment of a fastener  10  with at least one central gripping and/or locking hole  12  and no slit. 
       FIG. 10  shows the fastener  10  of  FIG. 9 , shown with a portion of a drawstring extending through central gripping and/or locking hole  12 . 
       FIG. 11  shows an embodiment of a fastener  1  with two central gripping and/or locking holes  2 , with no slits, showing portions  7  of a drawstring with aglets  7   a  extending therethrough. 
       FIGS. 12 and 12A  illustrate a further alternate embodiment of this invention.  FIG. 12  shows disk  10   a  made of polyurethane foam with one normally closed central locking/gripping hole  12   a  in the form of an openable slit, and a pair of locking slits (long  14   a  and short  16   a ) on either side of normally closed locking/gripping hole  12   a . To insure excellent pull-out resistance (once locked) with less friction between draw string free ends  7  with aglet  7   a  and disk  10   a , free ends of draw string  7  are wrapped 360 degrees around median area  17   a  to compensate, and then inserted in locking slit  14   a . Slits  14   a  and  16   a  are sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of the slits  14  and  16  having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring  7  while in service of being worn or otherwise used. 
       FIGS. 13-18  relate to two further embodiments of this invention using a generally rectangular body and/or buckle and bands to secure the drawstrings or laces. The bands can be made of any naturally-occurring, synthetic or man-made materials that are flexible and/or rigid. 
       FIG. 13  shows the body and/or buckle of the first embodiment 20 with rigid substrate  22  having two centrally located holes  24  and two end located engagement slots  26 . The top and bottom front edges are rounded  28  and two flexible and/or rigid bands  32  have been moved between holes  24  in this unlocked configuration. Laces  30  emerge from holes  24 . Substrate  22  has an hourglass contour as viewed from the front with the distal ends wider than the center region. 
       FIG. 14  shows the configuration with flexible and/or rigid bands  32  pressing down on laces  30  which are also engaged within edge slots  26 ; this is the locked state. Note that substrate  22  can be any rigid or semi-rigid material of sufficient strength such as plastics, hard rubber, leather, or even dense wood. Flexible and/or rigid bands  30  can be metal, rubber, polyurethane, silicone or the like. 
       FIGS. 15 and 16  show front views of a variation of embodiment 20 oriented to the use of a loop drawstring  44  as for a pants loop. Embodiment 40 has a similar substrate  22  with a single central hole  42  and a single engagement slot  26  on one end only. A single elastomer band  32  is used.  FIG. 15  shows the unlocked condition, while  FIG. 16  shows loop  44  engaged within edge slot  26  with pressure from band  32  enhancing the locking resistance. 
       FIG. 17  shows a side view of substrate  22  with optional thickness contour of the front face such that substrate  22  would be thinner at the center and thicker toward both distal ends. The resulting compound curve enhances the rate of stretching of flexible and/or rigid bands  32  as they are moved sideways from the central region towards either distal end. As in  FIGS. 13 and 17 , from the center of the body to the outer ends, the thickness can optionally increase in certain spots, or on the entire length, in a upward and/or sidewards tapered fashion, to increase friction on the lace in the locked position; or the thickness can stay equal on the entire length of the body or buckle. 
       FIG. 18  shows an embodiment of buckle substrate with a stepped width contour as opposed to the continuous curves shown for substrate  22 . Here in substrate  50 , the top and bottom edges have five (five are shown) or more horizontal regions on the top and bottom edges connected by slopes  54 . In this way, locking bands  32  can be stretched a repeatable amount when moved to a given pair of horizontal flat regions  52  with no contour-induced tendency to slide back toward the less stretched middle position. Sloped sections  54  ease the transition from one set of flats  52  to another by providing ramps. 
     It is further noted that while  FIGS. 1-3  show the fastener made of a compressible material, such as dense polyurethane foam, for example, and  FIGS. 6-8  show a rigid plastic material for the fastener, it is noted that the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3  can alternatively be made with a rigid plastic, and the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 6-8  can likewise be alternatively made with a compressible material, such as, for example, dense polyurethane foam. 
     Moreover, it is also noted that while  FIGS. 1-3  show pairs of slits of equal length and  FIGS. 6-8  show pairs of slits of different lengths, it is noted that the slits of a compressible material of  FIGS. 1-3  can alternatively be of different lengths, and that alternatively, the slits of  FIGS. 6-8 , made of a rigid lightweight plastic material, can alternatively be of equal lengths. Also the user may select whatever slits he or she wants to use, if one or more of the slits gets worn from repeated washing. 
     In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims.