Patent ID: 7963546

Claim:
An article for retaining or tightening a foot or a boot, said article comprising: a strap extending transverse to a longitudinal extent the foot or the boot when the foot or the boot is retained or tightened by the strap; the strap comprising: a first portion comprising a fastening end adapted to be affixed to a first side of a support structure for the foot or the boot with respect to which the foot or the boot is to be retained or tightened, the first portion of the strap extending along a length of the strap from the fastening end; a second portion comprising a fastening end adapted to be affixed to a second side of a support structure for the foot or the boot with respect to which the foot or the boot is to be retained or tightened, the second portion of the strap extending along the length of the strap from the fastening end of the second portion; the second portion further comprising a covering section for extending over and engaging the foot or the boot, the covering section comprising: a frame; an elastically deformable comfort element comprising a synthetic material overmolded to the frame; the second portion of the strap further comprising a fastening section bearing said fastening end of the second portion of the strap; the fastening section of the second portion of the strap having a free end overlapping the covering section of the second portion of the strap; the first portion of the strap having a free end overlapping the covering section of the second portion of the strap when the foot or boot is retained or tightened by the strap so that the covering portion of the strap is positioned between the first portion of the strap and the foot or boot.