Article of footwear with an adjustable width, adjustable tension closure system
First Claim
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1. A closure element, for attachment along the tongue opening of an article of footwear to receive and guide shoelaces of a lacing system, comprising:
- a plurality of shoelace encircling members adapted to be attached along the edges of the tongue opening, said shoelace encircling members being sized larger than the cross-section of the shoelace to permit the shoelace to pass freely therethrough; and
a spiral edge formed on an outer surface of each of said shoelace encircling members for guiding a shoelace threaded through said shoelace encircling member in a generally upwardly inclined direction of the tongue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An athletic shoe with an adjustable width, adjustable tension "speedlace" closure system is disclosed. The system comprises a serpentine closure element body with relatively wide shoelace openings at different widths across the throat of the shoe, shoelace holes which frictionally grip a shoelace threaded therethrough, and a guide ridge on the shoelace openings.
91 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A closure element, for attachment along the tongue opening of an article of footwear to receive and guide shoelaces of a lacing system, comprising:
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a plurality of shoelace encircling members adapted to be attached along the edges of the tongue opening, said shoelace encircling members being sized larger than the cross-section of the shoelace to permit the shoelace to pass freely therethrough; and a spiral edge formed on an outer surface of each of said shoelace encircling members for guiding a shoelace threaded through said shoelace encircling member in a generally upwardly inclined direction of the tongue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper for surrounding the foot of a wearer and a sole attached to said upper for contacting the ground, said upper including a throat with lateral and medial edges, a reinforcing member attached to the material of said upper along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, a plurality of pairs of first shoelace encircling members disposed along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members disposed along the lateral and medial edges of said throat and a shoelace having an uncompressed first cross-section, said first shoelace encircling members having a cross-section larger than said first cross-section to permit said shoelace to pass freely therethrough so that by pulling on the ends of said shoelace the shoelace can be moved through substantially all of said first encircling members, and said at least one pair of second encircling members being located between an uppermost and a lowermost pair of said first encircling members and having a cross-section sufficiently less than said first cross-section to frictionally engaging said shoelace so that the tension of the shoelace laced through said first encircling members located below said at least one pair of second encircling members can be set by passing said shoe shoelace through said at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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7. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper for surrounding the foot of a wearer and a sole attached to said upper for contacting the ground, said upper including a throat with lateral and medial edges, a reinforcing member attached to the material of said upper along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, an adjustable width closure element including an elongate body attached to said upper along each of said edges of said throat and a plurality of pairs of first shoelace encircling members extending from said bodies, said first shoelace encircling members being arranged at different widths across said throat, at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members formed in said reinforcing member along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, a shoelace having an uncompressed first cross-section, said first shoelace encircling members having a cross-section larger than said first cross-section to permit said shoelace to pass freely therethrough so that by pulling on the ends of said shoelace the shoelace can be moved through substantially all of said first encircling members, a spiral guide ridge being formed in said first shoelace encircling members for guiding said shoelace in a generally upward direction along said throat and said at least one pair of second encircling members being located between an uppermost and a lowermost pair of said first encircling members and having a cross-section sufficiently less than said first cross-section to frictionally engaging said shoelace so that the tension of the shoelace laced through said first encircling members located below said at least one pair of second encircling members can be set by passing said shoe shoelace through said at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An adjustable width closure element, for attachment to an article of footwear closed by a lacing system, comprising:
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a discrete elongate body formed of a plastic material, said body having an outer longitudinal portion adapted to be fastened to an article of footwear along the edge of the throat and an inner longitudinal portion; a plurality of discrete shoelace openings formed in the inner portion of said body for selectively receiving a shoelace, said shoelace openings being located at longitudinally spaced locations along said inner portion of body and being staggered inward and outward with respect to the longitudinal dimension of said body; each of said shoelace openings comprising an inner wall, an outer wall, and two transverse walls interconnecting said inner wall to said outer wall, and a raised spiral edge formed on said inner wall for guiding a shoelace threaded through said shoelace opening in a generally upwardly slanted direction along a throat of a shoe.
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17. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper for surrounding the foot of a wearer and a sole attached to said upper for contacting the ground, said upper including a throat with lateral and medial edges, a reinforcing member attached to the material of said upper along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, a plurality of pairs of first shoelace encircling members disposed along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, said pairs of first shoelace encircling members being located at different widths across said throat, a shoelace having an uncompressed first cross-section, said first shoelace encircling members having a cross-section larger than said first cross-section to permit said shoelace to pass freely therethrough so that by pulling on the ends of said shoelace the shoelace can be moved through substantially all of said first encircling members, and at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members disposed along the lateral and medial edges of said throat, said at least one pair of second encircling members being located between an uppermost and a lowermost pair of said first encircling members and having a cross-section sufficiently less than said first cross-section to frictionally engage said shoelace so that the tension of the shoelace laced through said first encircling members located below said at least one pair of second encircling members can be set by passing said shoe shoelace through said at least one pair of second shoelace encircling members.
Specification