PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15932657
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-04
Publication Date: 2018-08
Patent Classification: ["024", "712900"]

Abstract:
A stopper for securing an end of a lace in an article having at least one eyelet, such as a shoe, without having to form an exposed knot. A thin, rigid body includes a series of openings arranged in a row, including a first, middle opening through which the lace is routed from the eyelet, a second opening proximate one end through which the lace is routed from the middle opening, and a third opening proximate an opposite through which the lace is routed from the second opening via the first end of the body, the third opening having a slot-shaped configuration. When tension is applied to the lace, as by a foot being inserted into a shoe, a locking engagement is formed between the lace and stopper and the stopper reacts against the eyelet. The stopper may be hidden from view behind the eyelet stay of a shoe.

Claim (Index 11):
A stopper for securing an end of a lace in an article having at least one eyelet, said stopper comprising:\n a thin, generally flat body member having first and second sides each configured to directly engage said article proximate said eyelet, said body member being formed of a substantially rigid material; a series of through openings formed entirely through said body member from said first side to said second side thereof, said through openings being arranged generally in a row and comprising:\n a first through opening for passage of said lace therethrough from said eyelet; \n a second through opening located a spaced distance from said first opening for passage of said lace therethrough from said first through opening; \n a third through opening located a spaced distance from said first through opening on a side opposite said second through opening for passage of said lace therethrough, said third through opening comprising:\n a first portion sized to permit said lace to pass substantially freely therethrough; \n a generally slot-shaped portion that is sufficiently narrow to spread said lace into a flattened form therein; and \n a gap portion connecting said first portion and said generally slot-shaped portion, said gap portion being sized to permit said lace to pass laterally therethrough; and \n \n a generally straight edge on said thin, flat body member located on a side of said second through opening generally opposite said first through opening for passage of said lace thereover from said second through opening to said third through opening, said edge extending substantially perpendicular to said row in which said through openings are arranged.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 31.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.23288
- Patent Class: 24.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['13815521', '15299555', '14918702', '14565262', '10691179']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.773985990518891
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5329316145649196
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.749880552923494
- Mean Citation Score: 305.398962
- Max Citation Score: 463.1872
- Similarity Product: 411.78598182678223

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test