Patent ID: 7721468

Claim:
A tightening and loosening shoe comprising: (a) a shoe having a sole and an upper connected to said sole, the front and rear of said sole and said upper defining a heel and a toe; (b) a housing located in said shoe, said housing including an interior chamber and having first and second ports for receiving lace ends into said chamber; (c) one or more laces crisscrossing said upper, said laces including first and second ends with tension placed upon said lace ends causing said laces to tighten across said upper, said lace ends extending from exterior of said housing through said first and second ports into said interior chamber; (d) a winding gear having a cylindrical body defining a perimeter with a set of teeth positioned on such winding gear body, and an axis of rotation about which said winding gear rotates, said winding gear body being rotatably positioned substantially horizontal within said housing so that said axis of rotation is substantially vertical, said first and second lace ends affixed to said perimeter of said winding gear so that rotation of said winding gear causes said lace ends to wind about the perimeter of said winding gear; and (e) a tightening gear with a set of teeth positioned thereon and in operative engagement with the winding gear teeth for causing said winding gear to rotatably advance in a tightening direction to wind said one or more laces about the perimeter of said winding gear and thus tighten said laces of said shoe.