Shoelace retaining clip and footwear closure means using same

A footwear construction with improved closure means for selective tightening thereof for facilitating attachment about the foot of wearer, said footwear means comprising:

• A. a footwear sole means adapted to extend below the foot of a wearer;
• B. a footwear upper means attached to said footwear sole means and extending upwardly therefrom around the foot of the wearer, said footwear upper means defining a foot opening means therein to allow entry and exit of the foot of a wearer therewithin, said footwear upper means also defining an elongated lacing gap means extending therealong and adjacent the foot opening defined therein to facilitate entry and exit of the foot of a wearer within the footwear upper means;
• C. a shoelace means attachable with respect to said footwear upper means along said elongated lacing gap means for tightening thereof for selectively securing the footwear upper means about the foot of a wearer;
• and
• D. a shoelace securement means attached to said footwear upper means adjacent said elongated lacing gap means thereof for receiving and detachably securing said shoelace means in a tightened position for retaining said elongated lacing gap means selectively retained, said shoelace securement means including:
• (1) at least one shoelace retaining clip means comprising:
• (a) a base member;
• (b) an arcuate intermediate member extending outwardly away from said base member;
• (c) an upper member extending outwardly away from said arcuate intermediate member to a position both spatially disposed from and extending over said base member to define therebetween a shoelace retaining hole means;
• (d) an abutment member extending outwardly away from said upper member toward said base member and in abutment therewith at a position spatially disposed from said arcuate intermediate member to further define said shoelace retaining hole means therebetween;
• (e) a prying tab means extending outwardly from said abutment member in a direction away from said base member to define a prying slot means therebetween facing outwardly away from said shoelace retaining hole means, said prying tab means being responsive to a force being exerted thereon by a shoelace forcibly urged into said prying slot means to move away from said base member and to cause movement of said abutment member away from contact with said base member to allow entry of a shoelace into said shoelace retaining hole means to be removably retained therewithin;
• and
• (2) at least one cam cleat means including a pair of pivotal members being relatively pivotally movable and positioned adjacently and adapted to selectively grip and retain said shoelace means extending therebetween for selectively tightening thereof across said elongated lacing gap means to retain the footwear means about the foot of a wearer.