Patent ID: 7103994

Claim:
A tightening shoe comprising: a sole, an upper connected to the sole and having an opening for receipt of a person's foot, the front and rear of the sole and upper defining a toe and a heal, said sole defining the shoe's bottom, and said upper defining the shoe's top; at least one lace crisscrossing over the top of said upper, said at least one lace having two lace ends; a tightening mechanism positioned within said sole or upper and having an engagement lace moveable within a tightening direction and a loosening direction, said lace ends connected to said tightening mechanism and operatively associated with said engagement lace such that movement of the engagement lace in the tightening direction causes said tightening mechanism to pull upon said lace ends to tighten said at least one lace across said shoe's top; and a passageway formed in said shoe's upper extending from said tightening mechanism to the exterior of said upper, said engagement lace passing through said passageway so as to terminate exterior to said upper for allowing manual grasping and withdrawal of said engagement lace in the tightening direction.