Improvements in Fasteners for the Laces of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 17th Oct., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fasteners for the Laces of Boots and Shoes.
"We, GUSTAVUS Troxler, Jr., of Newark, residing at 293 Waverly Avenue,
in the County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, United States of America,
Shoe-maker, and ISAAC LEVIT SILVERBERG, of Newark, residing at 184 South
6th Street, in the County of Essex, and State of New Jersey, United States of
America, Shoe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of our invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described. and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The general class of inventions to which the herein described device. refers -is; a
holding attachment or fastener to which the free ends of a shoe lace arenattached,
which is used to retain the ends of the lacing. cord in the lacing-studs: of..a .shoe,
thereby avoiding the necessity of tying the same together, as is the usual custom,
and also the annoyance caused by the want of any suitable means for fastening:the
same.
The improvement herein described is designed to effectually perform. the functions
of a lacing cord fastener, which may be used on any shoe with nothing.to..mar.the
outward appearance thereof, and which, by. reason of its construction, will permit
of a great variety of design and ornamentation.
The invention. consists in the application of a fastener to the ends of. a. lacing
cord for shoes, provided with a spring actuated wheel, so that after the foot has
been placed in the shoe, the latter can be laced up in the usual..manner, and the
meeting edges of the upper thereby brought together down the front of the foot,
when the remaining portions of the cord projecting from the two upper lacing.studs
will be drawn into the casing of the fastener by the action of its spring:actuated
wheel, and the fastener assumes its holding position at the top of the shoe.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which similar letters. of; reference
are employed to indicate corresponding parts in each of the ..several views,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe, laced up in the usual manner, the ends of
the lacing. cord being provided with the fastener, whereby the same..are. securely
held in their positions on the shoe.
.
Figure 2-is a top view of the fastener; Figure 3 is a side view of the same,
and Figure 4.is a back view of the same.
Figures-5.and 6 are views of the fastener with the back plate. detanhed, clearly
illustrating a brake mechanism in its operative and inoperative sliding engagement
with a central post, for locking or unlocking the spring.actuated wheel or reel in
the desired position.
"
Figure 7.is.an enlarged sectional view of the fastener taken on line &.in Figure 3,
clearly illustrating. the arrangement of a spring actuated wheel..or reel, and the
manner. of securing the free ends of the lacing cord thereto.
Figures 8. to 14 inclusive, are views of the several parts of the fastener detached,
to illustrate more clearly the construction. of the same.
-The essential and elemental features of the fastener illustrated in the above
described views are a head portion or face a, a back plate & and an intermediately
arranged wheel or reel c adapted to rotate on a post or shank a',on. the..inner, side
of said face plate. The face plate a may be provided with an ornamental plate: a²
secured thereto in any convenient manner, such plate being illustrated in Figures 1
and 2.
As will be seen from Figures 3, 7, 8 and 9, the face plate a which is preferably
struck up from sheet metal, has fo:med: thereon the arms a³, and is. provided with
a centrally arranged tongue or post a', all of which project out at right angles
from said face plate, as shown in Figure 9. To said arms a, is secured the back

page_text: plate b, which is provided with perforations b', see Figure 10, and through the
perforations the ends of said arms a are forced and turned over upon the back
plate, as at a', in Figures 3 and 4. The tongue or post a projects out from the
inner surface of said face plate to within close proximity of said back plate, and
upon said tongue or plate is arranged the wheel or reel r.
Said reel c can also be made of sheet metal and struck up by means of a suitable
die into the shape, illustrated in Figure 12, being provided with a central hole c¹
and the short radial arms and the longer arms c. Said arms and c³ are bent
at right angles to the body plate, as in Figure 13, and the free ends of the arms c
are made, to project through perforations d'in a plate d, shown in Figure 11, and
said ends are turned over upon said plate d, as at c, shown in Figure 3. The
shorter arms c, which project up against the inner surface of the plate d. help to
stiffen the device and by this construction a wheel or reel c has been obtained,
which can be arranged upon the tongue or post a', as will be evident from Figure 7.
To said central post a¹ and to one of said arms c³, a spiral spring g is attached
preferably in the manner, as illustrated in said Figure 7, the operation of which and
the reason therefor will be described hereinafter.
As will be seen from Figure 3, the free end a' of the tongue or post a¹ projects
entirely through the plate d, and upon said plate d, between the same and the back
plate 6, is arranged a sliding brake lever e, provided with a longitudinal slot e¹ by
means of which said lever is made to embrace the end a of the post a². Said
levere is also provided with a finger piece e and a downwardly projecting tongue
or projection which can be thrown into and out of engagement with cut-away
portions d³ on the plate d, as will be seen more especially from Figures 3, 5, and 6.
The several parts of the fastener are secured in the manner just above described
and the whole device assumes the appearance illustrated in the side elevation in
Figure 3.
When it is desired to attach the fastener to the ends of the shoe lace, all that
becomes necessary, is to pass the free ends ƒ, between any two of the arms a³, on
the face plate and insert them between the arms c' and e³ of the wheel or reel c, as
shown in Figure 7, and by simply knotting the ends of the lace, the latter will be
securely held in position on the reel and the knots will be housed within the inner
part of the reel and out of the way.
g
The action of the spring 9 causes said lacing cord to be wound upon the reel c,
as will be readily understood.
Now when the shoe is to be laced up, all that is necessary is to pull out the
lever e which causes the disengagement of the tongue or projection e³ from one of
the cut-away portions d' on the plate d and by holding the fastener in one hand and
pulling upon the cord, the latter is unreeled in the direction of arrow y, shown in
Figure 7, which causes the spring g to become wound tight. After a sufficient
length of lacing cord has been pulled out, the brake lever e is again pushed in,
which locks the reel in this position. The lacing cord can then be arranged around
the lacing studs h on the shoe upper in the usual manner, and after having laced up
the shoe and arranged the cords around the last two lacing studs, the brake lever e
is again pulled out, and the action of the previously tightened spring 9 by tending
to resume its normal position, causes the reel e to rotate in the direction of arrow y³,
thereby winding up the cord, until the fastener is in close contact with the last two
and upper lacing studs on the shoe, where it assumes the position indicated in
Figure 1, and tightly secures the ends of the lacing cord in this position upon the
shoe.
the
In order to prevent the possibility of the shoe lace from becoming detached from
upper lacing studs or from partly unwinding from the reel while walking, said
brake lever is again forced back into the device causing the tongue e³ to lock with
said plate d, thereby firmly securing the device and effectually preventing the
detaching thereof from the lacing studs.
The arrangement and the construction of the reel and the spring which is caused
to wind and unwind the lacing cord may be varied according to the requirements

page_text: of the size and form of head portion or face plate to be used, without departing
from the scope of the present invention, but the construction herein shown and
described is the preferred form.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing cord thereof, of a fastening device,
consisting of a head portion provided with a spring-actuated wheel or reel, to
which the ends of the lacing cord are fastened, for winding and unwinding the lace
and securing it in position in the lacing studs of the shoe, for the purposes set
forth.
2. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing cord thereof, of a fastening device,
consisting of a head portion provided with a spring-actuated wheel or reel to which
the ends of the lacing cord are fastened, for winding or unwinding the lace and
securing it in position in the lacing studs of the shoe, and a brake_mechanism
adapted to lock said wheel or reel in any position, for the purposes set forth.
3. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing cord, of a fastening device, con-
sisting of a face plate provided with arms projecting at right angles therefrom, a
back plate secured to said arms, a centrally arranged tongue or post on said face
plate and a spring actuated wheel or reel, on said tongue or post, as and for the
purposes set forth.
4. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing cord, of a fastening device, con-
sisting of a face plate provided with arms projecting at right angles therefrom, a
back plate secured to said arms, a centrally arranged tongue or post on said face
plate and a spring actuated wheel or reel on said tongue or post, and a brake
mechanism adapted to lock said wheel or reel in any position, for the purposes
set forth.
GUSTAVUS TROXLER, JR.
ISAAC LEVIT SILVERBERG.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.