Shoe-lace fastener.

(Application filed July 6, 1900.) (No Model.)

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

United States Patent Office.

WILLIAM LESTER LEE, OF IOLA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO LEWIS L. NORTHRUP, OF SAME PLACE.

SHOE-LACE FASTENER.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 657,606, dated September 11, 1900.

Application filed July 6,1900.: Serial No, 22,705. (Nomodol.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, William Lester Lee, a citizen of the United States, residing at Iola, in the county of Allen and State of Kansas, 5 have invented a new and useful Shoe-Lace Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clasps, and has for one object to provide an improved device io of this character which is especially designed for use as a shoestring or lace fastener, so as to obviate the necessity of tying the laces, and arranged to firmly hold the free ends thereof against being accidentally loosened.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the device so as to hold the tongue of the shoe in its proper place, and thereby prevent the same from working downwardly into the shoe by the action of the foot of the 20 wearer. It is furthermore designed to arrange for facilitating the engagement and disengagement of the shoe-lace with the fastener and at the same time to prevent accidental opening or releasing of the device from 25 the lace by the action of the bottoms of trousers or skirts.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be here30 inafter more fully described, shown in'the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made 35 within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail perspective view showing the.improved fastener 40 applied to the bow-knot of a shoe-lace. Fig.

is a plan view of the fastener with the hingedly-connected members thrown open. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view 45 to show the connection with the tongue of a shoe.

Corresponding parts are designated by like characters of reference in all of the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the body of the fastener, which is concaved, upon its under face, as indicated at 2 in Fig. 3 of the drawings, so as to fit the transversely-rounded ankle of the wearer. This body portion or member is substantially 55 rectangular or oblong in shape and is provided upon its outer side with the opposite longitudinal outstanding edge flanges 3, and in the center of the body there is provided a circular opening 4. At opposite sides of the 60 central opening there is provided a plurality of transverse parallel grooves or depressions to form corresponding ribs 5, which are sharp or of substantially inverted-V shape, the upper edges thereof being serrated, as best indi- 65 cated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Leading from the front edge of the central opening is a transverse slot 6, which is inclined toward one end of the body, so as to open out through the front edge thereof at one side of the een- 70 ter of the body.

Completely covering the outer side of the body member is a swinging member or jaw 7, which has its rear edge connected to the rear edge of the body by means of a suitable 75 hinge 8, as shown in Fig. 4. Extending outwardly from the center of the inner side of the swinging member is a stud or projection 9, which is somewhat smaller than the central opening in the body, so that said stud 80 may loosely fit therein. The outer end of this stud is serrated or roughened to form a friction-surface. At opposite sides of the stud there is provided a plurality of transverse parallel ribs 10, corresponding to the 85 ribs of the body, but arranged in staggered .relation thereto, so that when the two members are closed together the ribs of one member will be received between the adjacent ribs of the other member, so as to form grip- 90 ping-teeth. To lock the two members together, there is provided a spring-eateh 11, which is secured to the outer side of the front edge of the body and has a spur or projection 12 to spring into a suitable notch or re- 95 cess formed in the front free edge of the swinging member. It will now be understood that the slot 6 is inclined, so as to permit of the spring-catch being located midway between opposite ends of the fastener. 100

The device is connected to the upper end portion of the tongue 13 of a shoe 14 by means δ βδτ,βοβ of a hook οτ eye 15, projected outwardly.from the rear edge of the body and loosely engaged with a ring or eye 16, secured to the front or 'outer side of the tongue, thereby forming a 5 loose or hinged connection between the fastener and the tongue 0^^^

In using the device the shoe-laces 17 are' entered through the slot 6 into the central opening 4, after which they are folded or ιό looped across the body, and then the swinging member is closed down Upon the laces, so that the stud’9 forces the same down into the central opening, and the opposite por-·. tions of the laces are firmly clamped between 15 the ribs of the two members, the spring-catch snapping into engagement with the head or' swinging member, so as to lock the same. Thus the shoe-lace is held against being accidentally untied or loosened by the action of 20 the foot, and as the device is connected to the tongue the latter is prevented from working down into the shoe. Also the hinged con&lt; nection of the device facilitates the engagement thereof with the shoe-lace.