Fastening means for sports shoes

Claim 1

Fastening means for a sports shoe, comprising a flexible lace, a plurality of buckles, a one-way clip, and mounting means for mounting each of said plurality of buckles to respective portions of an upper of a shoe at the points of reversal of the lace, said mounting means having axes generally perpendicular to the upper of the shoe and each of said plurality of buckles being pivotable about a respective one of said axes, each of said plurality of buckles being provided with a rotatably mounted roller having an axis generally parallel to the upper of the shoe for guiding the lace when said buckle is mounted on a sports shoe, said one-way clip having a frame member secured to one end of the lace and being provided with guide means for guiding the other end of the lace through said one-way clip so as to permit the same to move in a direction in which tension is applied to tighten the flexible lace, said guide means including releasable locking means for preventing an unintended return movement through said one-way clip of the guided end of the lace, said releasable locking means including a double-arm lever and a spring having one end bearing on said frame member and the other end bearing on one arm of the double-arm lever for biasing said one arm into locking engagement with said guided end of said lace.