Footwear binding system

Abstract

A binding system for use with a shoe has an elastic strap. A ratchet block is coupled to an end of the strap with a through slot, a cantilever tab capable of pivoting with a tooth thereon. A rack is adjustably coupled to the ratchet block, and has an array of teeth extending into the through slot, and a keyhole. An anchor posts extends through the eyelet of the shoe and the keyhole.

1 . A binding system configured for use with a shoe, the system comprising:
 a) at least one elastic strap configured to be secured between opposing flaps of the shoe, the at least one strap being stretchable configured to exert a spring force drawing the flaps together, the at least one strap having a longitudinal length and a cross section with a width greater than a thickness;   b) at least one ratchet block on an end of the at least one elastic strap, and having a through slot extending therethrough substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the at least one elastic strap, a cantilever tab forming at least a portion of the through slot and having a proximal end attached to the ratchet block and a distal end capable of pivoting with respect to the proximal end, and a tooth at the distal end extending towards the through slot;   c) at least one rack adjustably coupled to the at least one ratchet block, and having an array of teeth at one end extending into the through slot and being engaged by the tooth of the at least one ratchet block to resist withdrawal of the at least one rack, and a key hole at the other end opposite the array of teeth having a larger opening connected to a smaller opening;   d) the at least one rack and the at least one ratchet block limiting movement between the at least one rack and the at least one ratchet block with the at least one rack movable in the through slot inward towards the strap with the array of teeth of the at least one rack displacing the tooth of the tab away from the at least one ratchet block and through slot, but with one of the array of teeth of the at least one rack engaging the tooth of the tab to resist movement of the at least one rack outward away from the strap, and with the tab being manually displaceable away from the at least one ratchet block to disengage the teeth and allow movement of the at least one rack outward away from the strap; and   e) at least one anchor post having an enlarged base configured to be disposed under a corresponding eyelet of one of the flaps of the shoe with a size larger than the eyelet, a narrower neck extending from the base and configured to extend through the eyelet, and an enlarged head disposed on the neck opposite the base with a size larger than the smaller opening of the rack.   
     
     
         2 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ratchet block includes a pair of ratchet blocks coupled to opposite ends of the at least one elastic strap; and
 wherein the at least one rack includes a pair of racks adjustably coupled to a different one of the pair of ratchet blocks.   
     
     
         3 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ratchet block further has a flange extending therefrom sewn to the at least one strap. 
     
     
         4 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the at least one rack further comprises at least one flexible finger forming a narrower passage between the larger and smaller openings. 
     
     
         5 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the at least one ratchet block further comprises a flexible connection between the tab and the at least one ratchet block. 
     
     
         6 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the tooth of the tab being selectively engageable along a length of the array of teeth of the rack.   
     
     
         7 . A method for selectively tensioning the strap of the binding system in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising:
 a) tightening the at least one elastic strap by sliding the at least one rack inward towards the at least one strap, with the tooth on the tab of the ratchet block being displaced by the array of teeth of the rack; or   b) loosening the at least one elastic strap by manually displacing the tab and the tooth away from the ratchet block and the array of teeth of the rack to disengage the tooth from the array of teeth and allowing movement of the rack outward away from the strap; or   c) both.   
     
     
         8 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , in combination with a shoe having opposing flaps flanking a slit in the shoe with at least one of the flaps having at least one eyelet disposed on the flap adjacent the slit. 
     
     
         9 . A binding system in combination with a shoe having a plurality of eyelets paired together and arrayed along opposing flaps flanking a slit in the shoe with each eyelet of a pair disposed in a different flap opposite the other eyelet in the pair, the system comprising:
 a) a plurality of elastic straps each secured between a different one of the pair of eyelets of the shoe defining a corresponding strap and pair of eyelets associated with one another, each elastic strap being stretchable to exert a spring force drawing a corresponding pair of eyelets together;   b) a pair of ratchet blocks on opposite ends of the plurality of elastic straps, each ratchet block having through slot extending therethrough substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of a corresponding strap, a cantilever tab forming at least a portion of the through slot and having a proximal end attached to the ratchet block and a distal end capable of pivoting with respect to the proximal end, and a tooth at the distal end extending towards the through slot, each ratchet block further having a flange extending therefrom sewn to the corresponding strap;   c) a pair of racks adjustably coupled to a different one of the pair of ratchet blocks, each of the pair of racks having an array of teeth at one end extending into the through slot of the ratchet block and being engaged by the tooth of the ratchet block to resist withdrawal of the rack, and a key hole at the other end opposite the array of teeth having a larger opening connected to a smaller opening, and a pair of flexible fingers forming a narrower passage between the larger and smaller openings;   d) a corresponding rack and ratchet block limiting movement between the corresponding rack and ratchet block with the rack movable in the through slot inward towards the strap with the array of teeth of the rack displacing the tooth of the tab away from the ratchet block and through slot, but with one of the array of teeth of the rack engaging the tooth of the tab to resist movement of the rack outward away from the strap, and with the tab being manually displaceable away from the ratchet block to disengage the array of teeth from the tooth and allow movement of the rack outward away from the strap; and   e) a plurality of anchor posts each disposed in a different one of the plurality of eyelets, and each anchor post having an enlarged base disposed under a corresponding eyelet with a size larger than the eyelet, a narrower neck extending from the base and through the eyelet, and an enlarged head disposed on the neck opposite the base with a size smaller than the eyelet and larger than the smaller opening of the rack.   
     
     
         10 . A system in accordance with  claim 9 , further comprising:
 the tooth of the tab being selectively engageable along a length of the array of teeth of the rack to increase or decrease a spring force between the corresponding pair of eyelets.   
     
     
         11 . A system in accordance with  claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of ratchet blocks further comprises a flexible connection between the tab and the ratchet block. 
     
     
         12 . A method for selectively tensioning the strap of the binding system in accordance with  claim 9 , comprising:
 a) tightening at least one of the plurality of elastic straps by sliding the rack inward towards the strap, with the tooth on the tab of the ratchet block being displaced by the array of teeth of the rack; or   b) loosening at least one of the plurality of elastic straps by manually displacing the tab and the tooth away from the ratchet block and the array of teeth of the rack to disengage the tooth from the array of teeth and allowing movement of the rack outward away from the strap; or   c) both.   
     
     
         13 . A method for binding the shoe with the binding system in accordance with  claim 9 , comprising:
 removing an existing shoe lace from the plurality of paired eyelets of the shoe.   
     
     
         14 . A method for binding a plurality of eyelets paired together and arrayed along opposing flaps flanking a slit in a shoe, the method comprising:
 a) inserting a plurality of anchor posts each into a different one of the plurality of eyelets by inserting an enlarged head of each anchor post through a corresponding eyelet and a narrower neck of the anchor post into the eyelet with an enlarged base of the anchor post disposed behind the eyelet, the enlarged base having a size larger than the eyelet, the narrower neck having a size less than the eyelet, and the enlarged head having a size greater than the narrower neck but less than the size of the eyelet;   b) securing one end of at least one elastic strap to one of a pair of the plurality of eyelets opposite one another with respect to the slit in the shoe;   c) inserting the enlarged head of the anchor post through an enlarged opening of a key hole in a rack, and sliding the narrower neck into a smaller opening of the key hole in the rack, the larger opening of the key hole have a greater size than the enlarged head, and the smaller opening of the keyhole have a smaller size than the enlarged head; and   d) moving an array of teeth on one end of the rack opposite the keyhole in a through slot of a ratchet block coupled to the at least one strap in a direction inward towards the at least one strap, a tooth on a tab of the ratchet block being displaced by the array of teeth moving inward, but the tooth of the tab of the ratchet block resisting movement of the rack outward away from the strap.   
     
     
         15 . A method in accordance with  claim 14 , further comprising:
 manually displacing the tab, and thus the tooth thereof, away from the ratchet block and the array of teeth of the rack to disengage the tooth from the array of teeth and allow movement of the rack outward away from the strap.   
     
     
         16 . A method in accordance with  claim 14 , further comprising:
 first removing existing laces from the plurality of eyelets.