Novelty tie

#This invention relates to functional and decorative ties, such as shoe laces, retaining ties for spectacles and sunglasses, and other ties for functional or decorative purposes.

#Shoe laces are usually formed from woven textile materials, with each end of the lace being restrained by a metal or plastics sleeve for preventing fraying of the ends of the lace. It has in the past been proposed to elasticize shoe laces to enable the lace to be tied on a shoe, the elasticized nature of the lace enabling the shoe to be removed without the need to undo the lace. While laces of this nature offer the advantage of facilitating removal of the shoe without the need to undo the laces, they still require the laces to be tied, and this may be difficult for young children or physically impaired persons. Furthermore, the laces do not provide any significant additional decorative aspect to the shoe.

#It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved elasticized tie which may be used as a shoe lace without the need for the lace to be tied, and which offers an additional decorative aspect when used as a shoe lace or as a tie for spectacles or sunglasses and in other fields.

#In order that the invention may be more readily understood, one preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tie embodying the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic transverse section through the tie showing its construction, and

#Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the tie embodying the invention is shown in the form of a shoe lace 1, comprising a central flexible core 2 in the form of a woven textile filler, made from any suitable material, such as nylon, which provides a generally cylindrical former on which the remainder of the tie 1 is formed. In the present embodiment, the core 2 is formed in a known manner as a braided tube on a known braiding machine.

#The central flexible core member 2 has a braided textile outer covering 3 applied thereto by means of a known braiding machine. The braided covering 3 may be multicoloured and may be formed in any one of a multiplicity of designs. The core member 2 is fed into the braiding machine and the desired textile filaments are braided in a known manner around the core member 2.

#Incorporated into the outer braided covering 3 are two pairs of thin rubber elasticizing cords 4, 5, 6 and 7 which extend helically of the core member 2 in a closely spaced parallel relationship to each other. The rubber cords 4 to 7 are therefore attached to the tie 1 by the braiding of the outer covering 3 onto the central core member 2 while they are held in an extended state sufficient to cause the tie 1 to maintain a generally helical form, as shown clearly in FIG. 1 of the drawings, in its relaxed state. At either end of the tie 1 a sleeve 8 of metal or plastic is applied to compress the tie to clamp the cords 4 to 7, to prevent fraying of the outer covering 3, and to provide a short straight section at either end of the tie for threading purposes.