Novelty lace having expandable aglets
AssigneeLulirama International, Inc.
InventorsDana Dolan, Jose R. Matos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides laces, such as shoelaces, having affixed to them repeatedly collapsible and expandable aglets which can form 2- or 3-dimensional objects. The aglets can advantageously be passed through an eyelet thereby making it possible for them to be permanently affixed to laces during their manufacture. Thus, a user need not purchase a lace and aglets separately and attach them to each other after lacing an article such as a shoe.
Claims22
A lace having affixed thereto a repeatedly collapsible and expandable aglet comprising:
- a repeatedly collapsible and expandable foam material and a connector for affixing said aglet to said lace, said aglet being capable of forming an expanded multi-dimensional object and of being laced through an eyelet, said aglet having a shell surrounding said foam material, said shell being substantially water impermeable material, said lace serving as a wicking agent and said foam material being water expandable.
A repeatedly collapsible and expandable lace accessory capable of forming an expanded multi-dimensional object, said lace accessory comprising a shell, a repeatedly collapsible and expandable foam material disposed therein and a connector for affixing said lace accessory to a lace, said shell selected from the group consisting of a flexible plastic, rubber, polymer, leather, metallized fiber, cloth material and combinations thereof, said shell being substantially water impermeable material, said lace serving as a wicking agent and said foam material being water expandable.
An aglet comprising a shell, a repeatedly collapsible and expandable foam material disposed within said shell, a connector for affixing said aglet to an end of a lace, and a removable retaining member for at least temporarily maintaining said aglet collapsed prior to passage of said aglet through an eyelet of an article, wherein said foam material can be collapsed by treatment with a collapsing agent and wherein said aglet can remain attached to a lace after removal of said removable retaining member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.