Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Device for tensioning lace fastenings, in particular for
a sports shoe
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a device for
tensioning lace fastenings, in particular for sports
shoes, according to the preamble of the main claim.
In the field of sports shoes, it is known to produce
lace fastenings in which levers are used as means for
tensioning the fastening.
to A fastening of this type is described in US Patent
No. 4,999,889 in the name of Le Couturer, in which a
lever provided with a plurality of recesses regularly
spaced from its fulcrum is associated with a sports shoe
with lace fastening. According to the teaching proposed
by the patent cited, the lace is engaged in one of the
said recesses and tensioned by the action of the lever,
the degree of tension obtained being greater, the further
the recess engaged by the lace is distanced from the
fulcrum.
The lace fastening described with reference to the
prior art cited has numerous drawbacks, however,
including the limited possibility of tensioning the lace
without having recourse to excessively long levers.
Further drawbacks encountered are the impossibility
of effecting continuous variation of the tension of the
lace and the inconvenience of use connected with the
insertion of the lace in the recesses of the lever.
The problem underlying the present invention is that
of producing a device for tensioning lace fastenings
which is structurally and functionally designed to
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overcome the limitations described above with reference
to the prior art cited.
This problem is solved by the present invention by
means of a tensioning device produced according to the
claims which follow.
The characteristics and advantages of the invention
will become clear from the detailed description of one of
its preferred embodiments, illustrated, by way of non
limiting example with reference to the appended drawings,
in which:
Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a tensioning
device for lace fastenings which is produced according to
the present invention,
Figs. 2 and 3 show, respectively, a view in side
elevation and a plan view of the device in Fig. l,
Fig. 4 shows a view in section along the plane IV-IV
of a detail of Fig. 2,
Fig. 5 shows a view in section along the plane V-V
of a detail of Fig. 3,
Fig. 6 shows a sports shoe equipped with the
tensioning device in Fig. 1,
Fig. 7 shows a perspective view from above of a
first alternative embodiment of the tensioning device in
Fig. 1,
Fig. 8 shows a view in side elevation, partly in
section, of the tensioning device in Fig. 7,
Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of a shoe equipped
with the device in Fig. 7,
Fig. 10 shows a perspective view from above of a
second alternative embodiment of the tensioning device in
Fig. 1,
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Fig. 11 shows a view in side elevation, partly in
section, of the tensioning device in Fig. 10.
In the drawings, 1 indicates as a whole a device for
tensioning a lace fastening, produced according to the
present invention.
The tensioning device 1 comprises a lever 2 provided
with two arms 3 and 4 , the f ree ends of which are hinged
on a base 5.
A tie-bar 6 is received between the arms 3 and 4 and
is articulated in an intermediate position of the arms,
so as to be able to pivot about an articulation axis X
substantially parallel to and spaced from the hinge axis
Y of the lever 2.
The tensioning device 1 further comprises a lace
constricting device 7, of conventional type per se,
produced in one piece with the tie-bar 6. The lace
constricting device 7 in its turn includes a tubular body
8 of substantially conical shape defining an inclined
surface 8a and on which, in turn, are defined a first and
a second lace passage opening, respectively indicated by
9 and 10, arranged for the passage of one of the ends of
a lace 11.
The lace-constricting device 7 is equipped with
locking means 12 for checking the lace 11 jointly with
the tubular body 8, and with release means 13 for
unlocking the lace 11, allowing it to slide relatively in
both directions inside the tubular body 8. The locking
means 12 comprise a locking member 14 and resilient means
15 associated therewith. The resilient means 15 are
mounted inside the tubular body 8 so as to extend in the
direction of the lace passage opening 9 starting from a
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retaining recess 16 provided in the tubular body 8 on the
opposite side from the opening 9. The locking member 14
is associated, for example by way of a form-fit coupling,
with the free end of the resilient means 15 and is
further linked to guide means 17 which define and limit
its travel. The guide means 17 have a structure which is
conventional per se and may, for example, comprise a pin
18 passing through the lace-constricting device 7 and
slidingly engaged in a groove 19 provided therein. The
to groove 19 is provided parallel to the direction Z defined
by the direction of extension of the resilient means 15.
Inlith reference to Figure 6, the tensioning device 1
is mounted on a sports shoe, indicated as a whole by 20,
provided with a vamp 21 and a lace fastening 22. The
lace fastening 22 comprises the lace 11, the ends of
which are identified by 23 and 24, and a plurality of
return means 25, for example holes or eyelets, provided
on opposed edges 26 and 27 of the vamp 21.
The lace 11 is engaged in alternating succession in
the return means 25, according to a lacing system which
is conventional per se, in order to bring together the
edges 26 and 27 when the lace 11 is tensioned.
To the free tip of the end 23 of the lace 11 is
fitted a stop 28, which prevents it from unthreading from
the terminal return means 25a. The end 24, however, is
threaded into the lace-constricting device 7 through the
lace passage opening 9. In order to facilitate the
insertion operation, the release means 13 are acted on so
as to displace the locking member 14, by means of the pin
18, along the groove 19 in the direction of the recess
16, contracting the resilient means 15. As soon as the
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end 24 of the lace 11 has emerged from the opening 10,
the lace 11 can be tensioned by grasping the end 24 and
exerting a first tension on it. In the meantime, the
release means 13 are released, so that the locking member
5 14 is forced against the lace 11 by the resilient means
15. In this position the locking means 12 do not prevent
the advance of the lace 11 along the lace-constricting
device 7 since a component of the tensile force acts on
the resilient means 15, causing them to contract
partially in the direction Z. Once a first desired
degree of tension has been imparted to the lace 11, the
end 24 is released while the locking means 12 prevent it
from unthreading by retaining the lace 11 in the position
reached. In this case, in fact, the force exerted by the
lace 11 on the locking member 14 has a component
concordant with the direction Z of extension of the
resilient means 15, thus increasing the action of
retaining the lace 11 against the inner wall of the
tubular body 8.
The final clamping of the fastening 22 is obtained
by pivoting the lever 2 on the base 5 in the customary
manner for the closure of a lever fastening.
To loosen the fastening 22, it is sufficient to
pivot the lever 2 from the base 5, obtaining a first
degree of release of the tension of the lace 11. If it is
desired to loosen the shoe further to slip the foot out
of it, or even to unthread all or part of the lace 11,
the release means 13 will be acted on so as to unlock the
end 24 and allow it to slide with respect to the lace
constricting device 7.
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A first alternative embodiment of the present
invention is shown in Fig. 7, in which the same reference
numbers correspond to similar details of the example
described previously. According to this alternative,
the lace-constricting device 7 is mounted on the base 5
in a position such as to be received between the arms 3
and 4 of the lever 2 when the latter is pivoted into the
closure position. On the lever 2 there is further
provided a plurality of recesses, all indicated by 2a,
substantially parallel to the hinge axis Y, to receive
the lace 11 at an intermediate portion thereof. According
to this alternative, the end 24 of the lace 11, before
being threaded into the lace passage opening 9, is
conveniently inserted into one of the recesses 2a of the
lever 2 and led in engagement in one of the return means
placed on the opposite edge 27 of the vamp 21 from
that on which the tensioning device 1 is arranged (Figure
9). As in the example described previously, the first
degree of tension is obtained by pulling the end 24
20 through the lace-constricting device 7, and the final
clamping by pivoting the lever 2 into the closure
position, the difference consisting in the fact that the
lever 2 acts in tension directly on the lace 11 without
the intervention of the lace-constricting device 7.
25 Furthermore, the plurality of recesses 2a advantageously
provides a further degree of adjustment of the final
tensioning of the lace 11.
A second variant of the present invention, shown in
Figures 10 and 11, reassumes the characteristics of the
previous example, with the difference that the lace
constricting device 7 is mounted on the base 5 in a
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position alongside the lever 2, so as to make the design
thereof independent by freeing both from the need for the
form-fit coupling. Also in this case, details analogous
to the examples already described are indicated in the
drawings with the same reference numbers.
The tensioning device of the present invention
therefore overcomes the limitations encountered with
reference to the prior art cited, at the same time
offering numerous advantages, including a greater
possibility of tensioning of the lace, since, besides the
manual action, benefit is also obtained from the action
of the lever.
A second advantage consists in the versatility of
the invention which lends itself to differently
configured applications on sports shoes provided with
lace fastenings, for example the lace-constricting device
may be intended to receive both ends of the lace, or the
sports shoe may be provided with a tensioning device for
each end of the lace.
A third advantage consists in that a fastening
designed in this manner can be partially loosened by
acting only on the lever without unlocking the lace-
constricting device, thus maintaining the "memory" of the
desired final fastening tension.
