Patent ID: 8904672

Claim:
An automated tightening shoe, comprising: (a) a shoe having a sole and an upper connected to the sole, the upper including a toe, a heel, a medial side portion, and a lateral side portion; (b) a single shoe lace or cable connected to an exterior surface of the medial and lateral side portions of the upper for drawing the medial and lateral side portions around a foot placed inside the shoe; (c) a tightening mechanism secured to the shoe, the tightening mechanism including: an axle having two ends, a cylindrical side surface, and a continuous passageway therethrough with two exit apertures along the side surface; at least one ratchet wheel having a plurality of teeth, such ratchet wheel attached to the axle of the tightening mechanism in a fixed relationship; and an actuator wheel rigidly connected to the axle and extending outside the shoe; (d) the shoe lace or cable being passed through the continuous passageway and two exit apertures formed within the axle, through or along the medial and lateral side uppers with the free ends of the shoe lace or cable secured together and attached to the exterior point on the shoe, so that the shoe lace or cable forms a continuous loop; (e) whereby rotation of the actuator wheel extending outside the shoe against the ground or another hard surface causes rotation of the axle of the tightening mechanism to draw the shoe lace or cable around the axle in a tightening direction to draw the medial and lateral side upper portions around the foot, pawl mechanism operatively engaging a tooth along the at least one ratchet wheel of the tightening mechanism acting to impede counter-rotation of the axle to prevent the shoe lace or cable from loosening; and (f) a release mechanism operatively connected to the pawl mechanism for selective disengagement of the pawl mechanism from the ratchet wheel tooth to enable counter-rotation of the axle to allow the medial and lateral uppers to loosen.