Slip resistant shoelace and cord

Abstract

The present invention is for a slip resistant shoelace comprising a shoelace tube and one or more friction inducing features such as a plurality of bumps made of rubber or silicone disposed over at least a portion of the length of the shoelace tube. The bumps can also be disposed over a rope in any desired manner to make it a slippage resistant rope. The plurality of bumps, when come in contact with each other or with any other surfaces in a tied knot, offer higher co-efficient of friction and thus resist slipping of the knot. A knot tied with the slip-resistant shoelace or the slip-resistant rope prevents slipping and prevents from getting loosened and untied inadvertently.

Claims

1. A slip resistant shoelace, comprising: a shoelace tube; and a plurality of bumps integrated with said shoelace tube, said plurality of bumps having a coefficient of friction greater than said shoelace tube without bumps; wherein said plurality of bumps are integrated with said shoelace tube by one of: (i) being woven through a surface of said shoelace tube; and (ii) being adhered to the surface of said shoelace tube; wherein said plurality of bumps increase frictional resistance and resist loosening of a knot tied with said shoelace when said plurality of bumps interact with each other in said knot, or with any other surface; wherein said shoelace tube has a flat cross section with two sides; and wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed on at least one side of said shoelace tube.

2. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed over said shoelace tube in a helical manner.

3. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed transversely over said shoelace tube.

4. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed in a non-contiguous manner.

5. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed in a contiguous manner over said shoelace tube.

6. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed on two sides of said shoelace tube.

7. The slip resistant shoelace as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of bumps are formed by the shoelace tube being woven to have the plurality of bumps.

8. A slip resistant cord, comprising: an outer surface of said cord; and a plurality of bumps integrated with said cord, said plurality of bumps having coefficient of friction greater than said outer surface without bumps; wherein said plurality of bumps are integrated with the outer surface of said cord by one of: (i) being woven through the outer surface of said cord; and (ii) being adhered to the outer surface of said cord; wherein said plurality of bumps increase frictional resistance when said plurality of bumps come in contact or interact or interfere with each other or with any other surface; wherein said cord has a flat cross section with two sides; and wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed on at least one side of said cord.

9. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed over at least a portion of said cord.

10. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed transversely over said outer surface.

11. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed in a non-contiguous manner.

12. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed in a contiguous manner over said outer surface.

13. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are disposed on two sides of said cord.

14. The slip resistant cord as in claim 8, wherein said plurality of bumps are formed by the cord being woven to have the plurality of bumps.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to describe the manner in which features and other aspects of the present disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description of certain subject matter will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting in scope, nor drawn to scale for all embodiments, various embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a slip resistant shoelace with elongated beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace with elongated beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of a slip resistant shoelace with round beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace with elongated and round beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates a slip resistant shoelace in knotted condition in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(7) FIG. 6 is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace suitable for factory fit with shoes in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(8) FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a part of a slip resistant shoelace with combination of elongated beads and round beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(9) FIG. 8 is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace with woven beads in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(10) FIG. 9 is a plan view of a full length three piece slip resistant shoelace in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(11) FIG. 10 is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace with friction inducing material sewn, woven, glued or staked along the periphery of the shoelace tube in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

(12) FIG. 11A is a plan view of a full length slip resistant shoelace having transversely disposed friction inducing material in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment;

(13) FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the slip resistant shoelace of FIG. 11A;

(14) FIG. 11C is a side view of the slip resistant shoelace of FIG. 11A;

(15) FIG. 12A is a perspective view of a slip resistant shoelace having transversely disposed ring-shaped friction inducing material in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment; and

(16) FIG. 12B is a perspective view of a slip resistant cord having a plurality of bumps as friction inducing material in accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(17) The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of particular applications of the invention and their requirements. Various modifications, for example but not limited to changes made to ease manufacturing, to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

(18) In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

(19) Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.

(20) In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

(21) The slip resistant shoelace of the present invention comprises of a shoelace tube and one or more friction inducing features integrated to the shoelace tube. The term “slip resistant” refers to a knot that requires more tension applied to the lose aglet ends or to the bows or to the shoe to untie than the same knot made in a similar shoelace without the friction inducing features. Examples of different options for integrating friction inducing features to the shoelace tube include, but are not limited to, inclusion of different shaped structures (e.g. beads) inside the shoelace tube, making bump like structures on the shoelace tube itself, adding friction inducing surface such as serrated edges, barbs, hooks or adhesive or friction inducing surface treatments to the exterior of the shoelace tube etc. These friction inducing features increase the friction between two surfaces of the shoelace tube in contact in a knot and, thus, resist loosening of the knot. In other words, the friction inducing features increase the tension or pull that is required to untie a knot. Some of these friction inducing features are described below with reference to drawings. In the ensuing description, the terms anti-slip shoelace and slip resistant shoelace are used alternative and interchangeably.

(22) FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a slip resistant shoelace 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Reference to FIG. 1, the slip resistant shoelace 100 of the present invention comprises of a shoelace tube 102 and plurality of beads 104. The shoelace tube 102 can be woven using any commonly used fabric—polyester or cotton or can be fabricated using any other suitable material known in the art. The plurality of beads 104 are sewn or glued inside the shoelace tube 102 at some regular or irregular intervals. FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of beads 104 spaced at regular equal intervals inside the shoelace tube 102 throughout the length of the slip resistant shoelace 100. The beads 104 can be of any size and shape. The beads 104 can have rounded or squared ends. Beads aligned inside the shoelace tube 102 with rounded ends facing the aglet end help in feeding the shoelace though the eyelets and the square end of beads facing away from the aglet end help in resisting relative movement between two beads in engaged position. In the embodiment of the slip resistant shoelace 100 shown in FIG. 1 elongated beads 104 are used with rounded ends on both sides of the beads 104. The beads 104 can be made from any suitable material such as rubber, glass, plastic, wood, metal, viscoelastic silicone etc. known in the art. In a preferred embodiment, the beads 104 should be approximately 0.14 inch to 0.177 inch in diameter, made of rubber and the beads 104 should have hardness in the range of 40 international rubber hardness degrees (IRHD) to 80 IRHD.

(23) FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the slip resistant shoelace 100 in which a plurality of rounded beads 204 are sewed or glued inside the shoelace tube 102. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of elongated beads 104 are lined inside first half 402 of the shoelace tube 102 whereas plurality of rounded beads 204 are lined up inside the second half 404 of the shoelace tube 102 of the slip resistant shoelace 400. FIG. 5 shows the intended use of the slip resistant shoelace of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, when the slip resistant shoelace 400 is passed through the eyelets 502 of a shoe and a knot is tied using the free ends of the first half 402 and the second half 404, the beads of one half of the slip resistant shoelace 400 get interlocked with those of other half of the shoelace where the shoelace ends cross each other in a tightened knot. The beads of the same half of the shoelace can also get interlocked with each other when two sections of the same half of the shoelace remains pressed against each other. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, one or more beads 104 of first half 402 of slip resistant shoelace 400 may fall in the space provided between two consecutive beads 204 of the second half 404 of slip resistant shoelace 400 at the points where the shoelace ends pass over or cross each other and in close contact. Similarly, in the same knot, wherever the portions of the shoelace 400, of the same shoelace end or of the opposite ends, remain pressed against each other, the beads 104 and 204 would try to fill-in the spaces available between two consecutive beads in the opposite portion of the shoelace 400. The engagement of beads 104 and 204 with each other occurs in a manner similar to a male-female interlocking and this engagement offers resistance against slipping of the ends of a shoelace 400 relative to each other in a knot once the knot is tightened, thereby preventing inadvertent untying or loosening of a knot. The size and shape of the beads and the interval provided between two consecutive beads are designed to ensure that whenever two sections of the slip resistant shoelace of the present invention cross over each other in a knot, one or more beads of one section of the slip resistant shoelace always find space to fit in between two or more beads of the opposite section of the shoelace. All the different embodiments of the slip resistant shoelace of the present invention work on this same principle of interlocking beads or bumps or to resist loosening or slipping of a knot.

(24) FIG. 6 illustrates a slip resistant shoelace 600 suitable for factory fit with shoes. As shown in the FIG. 6, the middle section of the slip resistant shoelace 600 is made as a normal shoelace excluding any beads or bumps and this middle portion goes through the multiple eyelets of a shoe. The end sections of the slip resistant shoelace 600 are made similar to the shoelaces shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 with plurality of beads 104 sewn or glued inside the shoelace tube 102 and these end sections remain loose outside the uppermost eyelets of a shoe.

(25) FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention wherein slip resistant shoelace 700 has plurality of beads of different shapes and sizes lined inside the shoelace tube 102. In FIG. 7, plurality of beads 104 and 204 are arranged alternatively inside the shoelace tube 102. Similarly, various combinations of differently designed beads can be arranged inside the shoelace tube 102 in other embodiments of the present invention.

(26) In some embodiments of the slip resistant shoelace of the present invention, the shoelace tube itself can be woven or melt staked to have a plurality of uneven cross-sections along the length of the shoelace tube at regular or irregular intervals. Examples of such uneven cross-sections include, but are not limited to, bumps of various sizes and shapes without using beads inside the shoelace tube. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the slip resistant shoelace 800 can be woven to have bumps 802 throughout the length of the shoelace 800 at regular intervals. These bumps 802 of the ends of shoelace 800 will engage with each other in a knot and resist loosening of the knot.

(27) In some shoes it may be difficult to pass the slip resistant shoelaces through the eyelets if the beads or bumps of the slip resistant shoelaces are bigger in size than the eyelets. To overcome this problem, beads made of elastic material may be used so that the beads can be squeezed through the eyelets and the beads regain their shape thereafter. In case of embodiments similar to the one shown in FIG. 8, the shoelace tube can be fabricated from elastic material so that the bumps can pass through eyelets smaller than the bump size.

(28) In some shoes it may be difficult to pass the slip resistant shoelaces through the eyelets if the beads or bumps of the slip resistant shoelaces are bigger in size than the eyelets, or for other design purposes it is desired to avoid beads. In an alternative embodiment, to overcome this problem, friction inducing features are sewn, woven, staked or glued into the periphery of the shoelace tube material. As shown in FIG. 10, friction inducing material 112 having barbs or serrated edges 114 is added to the exterior of the shoelace tube 102. These pluralities of serrated edges 114 from the sections of the shoelace tube 102 in contact in a knot interlock with each other and resist slipping from the knot. FIGS. 11A to 12B show shoelace and cord of the present invention having friction inducing features disposed over the outer surface of the shoelace tube and the cord in the form of pluralities of bumps (hereinafter the terms protuberances, projections, bumps and strips are used interchangeably and alternatively as those are all different types of friction inducing features added to the surface of the shoelace or cord through surface treatment process) which have coefficient of friction greater than the surface of the standard shoelace tube. These friction inducing features increase the frictional resistance when those come in contact or interact or interfere with each other or with any other surface and resist slipping of the shoelace or cord. Depending on the size and shape of the friction inducing features (such as block shaped friction inducing feature), the slip resistance may result from the increased friction and/or interaction/interference due to interlocking of the bumps. In the shoelace 1100 of FIG. 11A, bumps 1104 are disposed transversely along the outer surface of the shoelace tube 1101. In some embodiments, the bumps 1104 can be disposed along at least a portion of the entire length of the shoelace while in others the bumps can be disposed along the entire length of the shoelace tube or the middle section 1106 of the shoelace can be left blank with bumps 1104 disposed only over the end portions 1102 as shown in FIG. 11A. As shown in FIG. 11C, the bumps 1104 can be provided on both sides of the shoelace tube when the tube is flat in cross-section. The bumps can transversely cover the whole periphery of the shoelace tube or those can be disposed in non-contiguous manner. In some embodiments, the bumps can be disposed over the shoelace tube aligned longitudinally along at least a portion of the length of the shoelace in a contiguous or non-contiguous manner. The bumps 1104 can be made of rubber, silicone or any other material that is flexible and can increase frictional resistance. These bumps can be adhered, glued, stitched, printed, woven-in or otherwise made part of the shoelace tube or cord. The size, shape and distance between two consecutive bumps can be adjusted according to the required amount of slip-resistance. In some embodiments, a layer of rubber or silicone can be applied all over the exterior of the shoelace tube or over certain portions of the shoelace tube. When the bumps come into contact with the shoelace tube or with other bumps in a knot, owing to the high co-efficient of friction provided by the rubber bumps, slip is minimized and the knot remains tight.

(29) FIG. 12A shows an embodiment of the slip-resistant shoelace 1200 wherein the shoelace tube 1206 is cylindrical (i.e. tubular or round cross-section) and the bumps 1202 are disposed transversely in ring-shaped or round form. In some embodiment, the bumps can be disposed in a helical manner over the shoelace tube or cord.

(30) In some embodiments, the working principles of the above-mentioned slip-resistant shoelaces are applied to produce slip-resistant cords (the term “cords” includes ropes, cords, lines, strands, cables, strings etc.). In fact, a cord produced in accordance with the principles of the present invention, can be used as a shoelace or as a cord for other purposes such as, but not limited to, camping and other outdoor or indoor activities and equipment. Maintaining a tight knot in a cord has always been a problem in many applications. In accordance with the present invention, the outer surface of a cord can be made to offer higher co-efficient of friction against slippage if a friction inducing material such as rubber or silicone is added to the outer surface of the cord compared to the friction of the unadorned material of the cord. FIG. 12B illustrates such a slip-resistant cord 1210 wherein a plurality of friction inducing rubber or silicone bumps 1214 are added to the outer surface 1212 of the cord. These friction inducing features increase the frictional resistance between two or more surfaces of the cord which remain in contact in a knot and resist loosening of the knot. These designs can also help the functioning of the cord in other types of equipment, such as a windlass even if no knot is applied as the bumps increase the frictional resistance and interaction when those come into contact with surface of the equipment.

(31) In another embodiment, the slip resistant shoelace 900 of the present invention can have a plurality of detachably attachable sections with beads sewn or stacked inside the shoelace tube of some of the sections and with smooth conventional shoelace body without having beads or bumps for some other sections. This embodiment of the present invention is particularly suitable for retrofit in shoes (aftermarket) or to overcome the small eyelet problem. As shown in FIG. 9, the middle section 904 of the slip resistant shoelace 900 is made like a normal conventional shoelace without having any beads inside or bumps so that section 904 can easily pass through the eyelets of a shoe. The end sections 902 of the slip resistant shoelace 900 can then be attached to the ends of the middle section 902 to form the loose ends of shoelaces. As shown in FIG. 9, snap fit type of locking arrangement 906 can be used for attachment of the end sections 902 to the middle section 904.

(32) It is evident from the above description that the slip resistant shoelace of the present invention does not entail any change in the design of a shoe and also requires no extra accessory to keep a shoelace knot intact and tight.

(33) When introducing elements or features of the present disclosure and the exemplary embodiments, the articles “a”, “an”, “the” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of such elements or features. The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements or features other than those specifically noted. It is further to be understood that the method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.

(34) It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein and the claims should be understood to include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims.