US 9,888,736 B1Granted

Fastener for garment drawstrings, laces, and the like

OwnerCharles DeLucainventor

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A fastener connects two strings together, such as the drawstring of sweatpants or the two shoe lace strings ends of respective shoe lace strings in a pair of sneakers. The body of the fastener is made out of a material, such as highly dense polyurethane foam, that is strong, yet flexible, or of a rigid plastic, that is strong, yet flexible. The two strings to be fastened pass through one or more gripping and/or locking holes in the fastener body. When the shoelace is passed through the gripping and/or locking holes, the dense polyurethane foam grips the lace tightly. The free ends are pulled through one or more peripheral slits extending towards, but not all the way to, the gripping and/or locking holes and then bent against the upper outer surface of the disk and locked in place in the respective one or more peripheral locking slits.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A fastening system for a garment worn by a user/wearer, comprising:

a drawstring extending from said garment for tightening said garment on said user/wearer;
a disk with at least one gripping and/or locking hole in a central region, said at least one gripping and/or locking hole having a sufficiently narrow diameter and having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring inserted therethrough;
at least one peripheral locking slit penetrating said disc completely and having spaced sidewalls parallel to each other over a full length thereof extending inward from an outer periphery of said disk;
said peripheral locking slit spaced apart from and terminating without communication with said at least one hole in said central region, said peripheral slit being sufficiently narrow with sidewalls of said peripheral locking slit having a sufficiently high coefficient of friction to prevent loosening of the drawstring while in service;
an end portion of said drawstring passing once through said at least one gripping and/or locking hole in said central region;
said end portion of said drawstring extending over and only across a top surface of said disk and bending through said at least one peripheral locking slit and without use of any knot in said drawstring or other device to tie said drawstring around the waist of the user.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/141,104Filed 28 Apr 2016 · division
Priority: 23 Jul 2014
Granted: 13 Feb 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification17 codes

A41F 9/025
Expansible or adjustable belts or girdles ; Adjustable fasteners comprising a track and a slide member: adjustable belts or girdles
A41F 1/00
Fastening devices specially adapted for garments
A41H 37/001
Machines, appliances or methods for setting fastener-elements on garments: methods
A43C 7/00
Holding-devices for laces