Patent Publication Number: US-7584528-B2

Title: Shoelace reel operated easily and conveniently

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a shoelace reel and, more particularly, to a shoelace reel for tightening or loosening a shoelace. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   A shoelace is mounted on a shoe so as to tighten or loosen the shoe. However, the user has to stretch the shoelace so as to tighten the shoe and to release the shoelace so as to loosen the shoe, thereby causing inconvenience to the user and wasting the user&#39;s time when tightening or loosening the shoelace. In addition, the shoelace protrudes from the shoe, thereby decreasing the aesthetic quality of the shoe. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a shoelace reel, comprising a support seat having a first side formed with an axially extending receiving hole and a periphery formed with two spaced guide holes each connected to the receiving hole, a spool rotatably mounted in the receiving hole of the support seat and having a periphery formed with a winding zone and a first end formed with an inner gear, a shoelace having two distal ends each extended through a respective guide hole into the receiving hole of the support seat and each secured to the winding zone of the spool to move with the winding zone of the spool, a limit sleeve mounted on a second side of the support seat and having an inner wall formed with an axially extending limit hole and a plurality of oneway ratchet teeth, and a drive member rotatably and movably mounted in the limit hole of the limit sleeve and having a first end formed with an outer gear detachably meshing with the inner gear of the spool to rotate the spool, a mediate portion formed with a ratchet wheel meshing with the oneway ratchet teeth of the limit sleeve and a second end formed with a drive shaft protruded from the limit sleeve. 
   The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a shoelace reel that is operated easily and conveniently. 
   Another objective of the present invention is to provide a shoelace reel, wherein the user only needs to rotate the control knob to tighten the shoelace and to pull out the control knob to loosen the shoelace, so that the shoelace is tightened and loosened easily and quickly. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a shoelace reel, wherein the user only needs to operate the control knob to tighten or loosen the shoelace, so that the user can tighten or loosen the shoelace by his one hand only, thereby facilitating the user tightening or loosening the shoelace. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a shoelace reel, wherein the ratchet wheel of the drive member is limited by the oneway ratchet teeth of the limit sleeve so that the drive member is rotatable in a oneway manner to prevent the drive member from being rotated in the reverse direction and to prevent the shoelace from being loosened. 
   A further objective of the present invention is to provide a shoelace reel, wherein the shoelace is wound around and hidden in the winding zone of the spool to prevent the shoelace from being worn out due to friction, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the shoelace. 
   Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       FIG. 1  is a side view of a shoelace reel in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a drive member of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the shoelace reel taken along line  5 - 5  as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 6  is another side view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 7  is a front view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 8  is a rear view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic operational view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view showing usage of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 11  is a front view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 12  is a side operational view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 13  is a locally enlarged view of the shoelace reel as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 1-9 , a shoelace reel in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a support seat  10  having a first side formed with an axially extending receiving hole  11  and a periphery formed with two spaced guide holes  17  each connected to the receiving hole  11 , a spool  20  rotatably mounted in the receiving hole  11  of the support seat  10  and having a periphery formed with a winding zone  21  and a first end formed with an inner gear  25 , a shoelace  70  having two distal ends each extended through a respective guide hole  17  into the receiving hole  11  of the support seat  10  and each secured to the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  to move with the winding zone  21  of the spool  20 , a limit sleeve  40  mounted on a second side of the support seat  10  and having an inner wall formed with an axially extending limit hole  41  and a plurality of oneway ratchet teeth  44 , and a drive member  50  rotatably and movably mounted in the limit hole  41  of the limit sleeve  40  and having a first end formed with an outer gear  52  detachably meshing with the inner gear  25  of the spool  20  to rotate the spool  20 , a mediate portion formed with a ratchet wheel  51  meshing with the oneway ratchet teeth  44  of the limit sleeve  40  and a second end formed with a drive shaft  53  protruded from the limit sleeve  40 . 
   The support seat  10  has a mediate portion formed with a protruding positioning ring  16  which defines the guide holes  17 . The first side of the support seat  10  has a periphery formed with a threaded portion  15 . The second side of the support seat  10  has a periphery formed with a threaded section  14  and has an end face formed with a passage  12  and two conduits  13 . The passage  12  of the support seat  10  has a diameter smaller than that of the receiving hole  11  to stop the spool  20  and is connected to the inner gear  25  of the spool  20  to allow passage of the outer gear  52  of the drive member  50 . 
   The spool  20  is formed with two axially extending stepped screw bores  23 . The winding zone  21  of the spool  20  has a periphery formed with two binding holes  22  each connected to a respective screw bore  23 , and each of the distal ends of the shoelace  70  is extended through a respective binding hole  22  of the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  into the respective screw bore  23  of the spool  20 . The shoelace reel further comprises two screw members  230  each extended through a respective conduit  13  of the support seat  10  and each screwed into a respective screw bore  23  of the spool  20  to fix a respective distal end of the shoelace  70  in the spool  20 . 
   An end cap  30  is mounted on the first side of the support seat  10  and rested on a second end of the spool  20  to stop the spool  20 . The end cap  30  has an inner wall formed with an inner thread  31  screwed onto the threaded portion  15  of the support seat  10  and has an end face formed with a pivot hole  32 , and the second end of the spool  20  is formed with a protruding post  24  pivotally mounted in the pivot hole  32  of the end cap  30 . 
   The limit sleeve  40  has an end face formed with a through hole  42  connected to the limit hole  41  and having a diameter smaller than that of the limit hole  41  to stop the ratchet wheel  51  of the drive member  50  and to allow passage of the drive shaft  53  of the drive member  50 . The end face of the limit sleeve  40  has a periphery formed with a plurality of forming flow channels  45  connected to the oneway ratchet teeth  44  to facilitate forming of the oneway ratchet teeth  44  in fabrication. The inner wall of the limit sleeve  40  is formed with an inner thread  43  screwed onto the threaded section  14  of the support seat  10 . 
   The ratchet wheel  51  of the drive member  50  has a thickness smaller than a depth of the limit hole  41  of the limit sleeve  40  to allow movement of the drive member  50  in the limit hole  41  of the limit sleeve  40 . The ratchet wheel  51  of the drive member  50  is axially movable relative to the oneway ratchet teeth  44  of the limit sleeve  40 . 
   A control knob  60  is rotatably and movably mounted on the limit sleeve  40  and connected to the drive shaft  53  of the drive member  50  by a locking member  65  so that the drive shaft  53  of the drive member  50  is driven by the control knob  60 . The control knob  60  has a first side formed with a receiving chamber  61  to receive the limit sleeve  40  and a second side formed with a receiving recess  63  to receive a decorative cap  64  which covers the locking member  65 . The receiving chamber  61  of the control knob  60  has a bottom wall formed with a fixing recess  62  to fix the drive shaft  53  of the drive member  50 . 
   In assembly, referring to  FIGS. 10-13  with reference to  FIGS. 1-9 , the support seat  10  is attached to a shoe tongue  72 . Then, each of the distal ends of the shoelace  70  is extended through a respective guide hole  17  of the support seat  10 , the receiving hole  11  of the support seat  10  and a respective binding hole  22  of the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  into the respective screw bore  23  of the spool  20 . Then, each of the screw members  230  is extended through a respective conduit  13  of the support seat  10  and screwed into a respective screw bore  23  of the spool  20  to fix a respective distal end of the shoelace  70  in the spool  20 . Then, the control knob  60  is mounted on the limit sleeve  40  and connected to the drive shaft  53  of the drive member  50  by the locking member  65 . 
   In operation, the control knob  60  is rotatable on the limit sleeve  40  to rotate the drive member  50  which rotates the spool  20  to wind the distal ends of the shoelace  70  around the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  so as to tighten the shoelace  70  by successive rotation of the drive member  50  and the control knob  60 . At this time, the ratchet wheel  51  of the drive member  50  is limited by the oneway ratchet teeth  44  of the limit sleeve  40  so that the drive member  50  is rotatable in a oneway manner to prevent the drive member  50  from being rotated in the reverse direction and to prevent the shoelace  70  from being loosened. 
   On the contrary, when the user wishes to loosen the shoelace  70 , the control knob  60  is movable outwardly relative to the support seat  10  as shown in  FIG. 12  to move the drive member  50  outwardly relative to the spool  20  to detach the outer gear  52  of the drive member  50  from the inner gear  25  of the spool  20  as shown in  FIG. 9  to unlock the inner gear  25  of the spool  20  from the drive member  50  so that the spool  20  is rotatable freely to unwind the distal ends of the shoelace  70  from the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  so as to loosen the shoelace  70  by pulling the shoelace  70  successively. 
   Accordingly, the user only needs to rotate the control knob  60  to tighten the shoelace  70  and to pull out the control knob  60  to loosen the shoelace  70 , so that the shoelace  70  is tightened and loosened easily and quickly. In addition, the user only needs to operate the control knob  60  to tighten or loosen the shoelace  70 , so that the user can tighten or loosen the shoelace  70  by his one hand only, thereby facilitating the user tightening or loosening the shoelace  70 . Further, the ratchet wheel  51  of the drive member  50  is limited by the oneway ratchet teeth  44  of the limit sleeve  40  so that the drive member  50  is rotatable in a oneway manner to prevent the drive member  50  from being rotated in the reverse direction and to prevent the shoelace  70  from being loosened. Further, the shoelace  70  is wound around and hidden in the winding zone  21  of the spool  20  to prevent the shoelace  70  from being worn out due to friction, thereby enhancing the lifetime of the shoelace  70 . 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.