Lace system for footwear
First Claim
1. A boot comprising:
- a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer and an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides;
a first lacing zone comprising a first lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the first lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; and
a second lacing zone comprising a second lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the second lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region;
wherein both the first lace and the second lace are securable in the upper region.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A boot incorporating techniques for making the process of tightening and loosening the laces of a boot more convenient for the wearer is disclosed. The boot may be provided with at least two independent lacing zones, the tensions of which are separately adjustable by the wearer. The zones may be secured by pulling on two laces, each of which tightens one of the two independent lacing zones. This arrangement allows the wearer to simultaneously tighten each zone, providing the wearer with the “feel” as though he or she is tightening a conventional single lacing zone boot. The laces may be simultaneously, yet independently secured by a lace lock at the upper and/or forward region of the boot. Slack may be created to facilitate loosening of the boot and easy removal of a foot from the boot by unhooking the lace from the lace guide without a corresponding distance of lace traveling through the lace lock. A release strap, graspable by the wearer, facilitates unhooking the lace.
439 Citations
124 Claims
-
1. A boot comprising:
-
a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer and an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides; a first lacing zone comprising a first lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the first lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; and a second lacing zone comprising a second lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the second lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; wherein both the first lace and the second lace are securable in the upper region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
-
31. A boot comprising:
-
a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer, an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, and a rear side that faces backward when the boot is worn by the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides; a first lacing zone comprising a first lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the first lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; and a second lacing zone comprising a second lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the second lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; wherein both the first lace and the second lace are securable at a location forward of the rear side. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
-
-
60. A soft snowboard boot comprising:
-
a boot body formed of flexible material, the boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a rider and an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the rider; a plurality of lace guides mounted to the boot body, at least one of the lace guides comprising a lace hook; a first lacing zone comprising a first lace and a first lace lock mounted to the boot body in the upper region, the first lace being guided by the lace guides and cooperating with the lower region, the first lace adapted to extend through and engage with the first lace lock to tighten the lower region, the first lace having a portion that extends from the lower region to the upper region and is disposed in the upper region so as to be engageable with the first lace lock; a second lacing zone comprising a second lace and a second lace lock mounted to the boot body in the upper region, the second lace being guided by the lace guides and the lace hook and cooperating with the upper region, the second lace having a portion that is disposed in the upper region, the second lace adapted to extend through and engage with the second lace lock to tighten the upper region; wherein both the first and second laces may be secured by the first and second lace locks, respectively, in the upper region at a location forward of a rear side of the boot body; and a release strap coupled to the second lace, the release strap being graspable to remove the second lace from the hook so as to create slack in the second lace. - View Dependent Claims (61)
-
-
62. A boot comprising:
-
a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer and an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides; a first lacing zone comprising a first lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the first lace having a portion that is disposed at the upper region; a second lacing zone comprising a second lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the second lace having a portion that is disposed at the upper region; wherein both the first lace and the second lace are securable at the upper region; and an indicator to indicate to the wearer that a lace corresponds to a particular lacing zone. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
-
-
85. A boot comprising:
-
a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer, an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, and a rear side that faces backward when the boot is worn by the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides; a first lacing zone comprising a first lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the first lace having a portion that is disposed at the upper region; a second lacing zone comprising a second lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the second lace having a portion that is disposed at the upper region; wherein both the first lace and the second lace are securable at a location forward of the rear side; and an indicator to indicate to the wearer that a lace corresponds to a particular lacing zone. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106)
-
-
107. A boot comprising:
-
a boot body having a lower region adapted to cover a foot of a wearer and an upper region adapted to cover at least a portion of a shin of the wearer, the boot body having a tongue opening disposed in a shin-toe direction and a tongue disposed within the tongue opening, the boot body having medial and lateral sides, with the tongue opening locatable between the medial and lateral sides; a first lacing zone comprising a lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a first region of the boot, the lace of the first lacing zone having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; and a second lacing zone comprising a lace adapted to draw the medial and lateral sides toward each other to tighten a second region of the boot, the lace of the second lacing zone having a portion that is disposed in the upper region; wherein the lace of the first lacing zone is securable in the upper region to tighten the first lacing zone, and wherein the lace of the second lacing zone is separately securable in the upper region to tighten the second lacing zone. - View Dependent Claims (108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124)
-
Specification