U.S. patent application number 11/817422 was filed with the patent office on 2008-06-26 for device to protect the end of a shoelace.
Invention is credited to Roland Iten.
Application Number | 20080148538 11/817422 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36609580 |
Filed Date | 2008-06-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080148538 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Iten; Roland |
June 26, 2008 |
Device to Protect the End of a Shoelace
Abstract
A device for attachment of an end part (2) of a shoelace
comprises an elongated member (3) having therein a passageway (4)
through which the shoelace can be inserted. Said elongated member
(3) comprises an opening (5) in an end for receiving the end part
(2) of the shoelace, wherein the passageway (4) for the shoelace
extends over said opening (5) and is arranged so that when the
shoelace has been inserted in the passageway (4) and the end part
(2) of the inserted shoelace has been folded back and inserted in
said opening (5), the shoelace can be pulled to tighten a part (6)
of the shoelace in the passageway (4) over the opening (5) such
that said part (6) of the shoelace is held firmly against the end
part (2) of the shoelace in said opening (5).
Inventors: |
Iten; Roland; (Lausanne,
CH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROGER PITT;KIRKPATRICK & LOCKHART PRESTON GATES ELLIS LLP
599 LEXINGTON AVENUE, 33RD FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10022-6030
US
|
Family ID: |
36609580 |
Appl. No.: |
11/817422 |
Filed: |
February 28, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
February 28, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IB06/00419 |
371 Date: |
August 30, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/715.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43C 9/04 20130101; Y10T
24/3789 20150115; A43C 9/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
24/715.4 |
International
Class: |
A43C 9/06 20060101
A43C009/06; A43C 9/04 20060101 A43C009/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 3, 2005 |
EP |
EP05101626.9 |
Claims
1. A device for attachment of an end part (2) of a shoelace,
comprising an elongated member (3) having therein a passageway (4)
through which the shoelace can be inserted and an opening (5) in an
end of the elongated member (3) for receiving the end part (2) of
the shoelace, wherein the passageway (4) for the shoelace is
arranged so that when the shoelace has been inserted in the
passageway (4) and the end part (2) of the inserted shoelace has
been folded back and inserted in said opening (5), the shoelace can
be pulled to tighten a part (6) of the shoelace on the passageway
over the opening (5), characterized in that a front part of said
device comprises three holes (10, 11, 12) communicating with said
passageway (4), a first and a second hole (10, 12) above said
passageway (4) and an opposite third hole (11) below said
passageway (4) and generally between the first and the second hole
(10, 12), whereby the shoelace can be inserted through first and
third holes (10, 11) and back through said third and second hole
(12, 11) before the end part (2) of the shoelace is folded back and
inserted in the opening (5), the passageway (4) being arranged to
extend over said opening (5) such that said tightened part (6) of
the shoelace is held firmly against the end part (2) of the
shoelace when said shoelace is pulled.
2. (canceled)
3. A device for attachment of an end (2) of a shoelace according to
claim 1, characterized in that the upper part of the elongated
member (3) comprises a part cylindrical recess (7) into which
another part (8) of said shoelace is resting when the shoelace is
held firmly inside the device.
4. A device for attachment of an end (2) of a shoelace according to
claim 2, characterized in that said device (1) comprises a counter
part (9) to hold firmly said part (6) of the shoelace against the
end part (2) of the shoelace in the passageway (4).
5. A device according to claim 3 characterized in that said device
(1) is constructed symmetrically.
6. A device according to claim 1, which supports at least one
precious stone.
7. A device according to claim 3, which supports at least one
precious stone.
8. A device according to claim 4, which supports at least one
precious stone.
9. A device according to claim 5, which supports at least one
precious stone.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to shoelaces and, more
particularly to a device to protect the end of a shoelace.
[0002] Conventional shoelace anglets are commonly injection-molded
from plastics. The structure of plastic anglet is not durable in
use and tends to be removed from the shoelace.
[0003] Devices for protecting the end of a shoelace are already
part of the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,298 discloses a shoelace
anglet having a front opening at one end thereof, a rounded head at
an opposite end thereof, an end slot in the rounded head, a split
extended between the end slot and the front opening, at least one
protruding portion disposed at a first side of the split, and at
least one recessed portion disposed at a second side of the split
and adapted to receive the at least one protruding portion
respectively.
[0004] The aim of the present invention is to propose a device for
attachment of an end part of a shoelace which is easy to fix and
remove.
[0005] This aim is achieved by a device as set out in claim 1. This
device comprises an elongated member having therein a passageway
through which the shoelace can be inserted. It further comprises an
opening in an end of the elongated member for receiving the end
part of the shoelace. Said passageway for the shoelace extends over
said opening and is arranged so that when the shoelace has been
inserted in the passageway and the end part of the inserted
shoelace has been folded back and inserted in said opening, the
shoelace can be pulled to tighten the part of the shoelace in the
passageway over the opening such that said part of the shoelace is
held firmly against the end part of the shoelace in said
opening.
[0006] The invention will be better understood thanks to the
following detailed description of a preferred embodiment with
reference to the attached drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of the device from the
top front side
[0008] FIG. 2 represents a perspective view of said device from the
top rear side
[0009] FIG. 3 represents a longitudinal cross sectional view of the
device.
[0010] FIG. 4 represents a cross section view of the device
illustrating the first step of the required manipulation for
holding firmly the end of a shoelace inside said device.
[0011] FIG. 5 represents a cross section view of the device
illustrating the second step of said manipulation.
[0012] FIG. 6 represents a cross section view of said device
illustrating the third step of said manipulation.
[0013] FIG. 7 represents a cross section view of the device when
the manipulation is over and the end of the shoelace is held firmly
inside said device.
[0014] FIGS. 8 to 11 represent perspective views of the device
corresponding to FIGS. 4 to 7 illustrating the steps required for
holding firmly the end of the shoelace in said device.
[0015] According to the preferred embodiment of the invention,
FIGS. 4 to 11 show the different steps on how the end (2) of the
shoelace must be arranged inside the device in order to be held
firmly inside said device when the manipulation is over.
[0016] First, the end part (2) of the shoelace is inserted inside
the device through a first hole (10) located on the top front end
of said device (FIGS. 4 et 8). Said end part (2) comes out through
a second elongated hole (11) situated on the bottom side of the
device. Thereafter, the shoelace is folded back and inserted
through the same elongated hole (11) traversing the passageway to
come out on the top side of the device through a third hole (12)
(FIGS. 5 and 9). The end part (2) of the shoelace is then pulled
and folded back to be inserted in an opening (5) located at the end
of the elongated member (3) (FIG. 6 and 10). As shown by FIG. 7,
the shoelace is then pulled in an opposite direction in order to
tighten a part (6) of the shoelace in the passageway (4) over the
opening (5) such that said part (6) of the shoelace is held firmly
against the end part (2) of the shoelace in said opening (5).
[0017] The device is constructed symmetrically and it comprises a
counter part (9) to hold firmly said part (6) of the shoelace
against the end part (2) of the shoelace in said opening (5).
[0018] The upper part of the elongated member (3) comprises a half
cylindrical recess (7) into which another part (8) of said shoelace
is resting when the shoelace is held firmly inside the device. The
bottom side of the elongated member (3) can be perforated so that
precious stones can be set.
[0019] Such device protects the end of the shoelace against outer
influences, while it is located in a fixed position.
* * * * *