What is the name for the mechanical device used in Speedlaces?

December 15, 2005 12:53 PM

What is the mechanical device used in Speedlaces called?

I'm asking specifically about the mechanical term for the thing that fits in the lace hole for the lace to wrap around. It doesn't seem to be a capstan or a winch, because those imply mechanical advantage or multiple wrappings, and both seem to require that the center wheel turn. It's not a pulley, again because the wheel doesn't turn.

They just call them fittings, but that seems too generic. Is there a specific name for this class of machine object that redirects a cable but doesn't move itself?

posted by Caviar to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (26 answers total)

Does a pulley have to turn?
posted by Pollomacho at 12:56 PM on December 15, 2005

How about a "post"?
posted by SteveInMaine at 12:58 PM on December 15, 2005

Is it a type of grommet?

By the way, I have speed laces on my rollerblades, and they are teh bomb.
posted by o2b at 1:03 PM on December 15, 2005

In their patent they call them 'shoelace holes'.

I would go with 'round flanged guide post' if you weren't taking about shoes.
posted by Mr T at 1:10 PM on December 15, 2005

well, this page on sailing terminology calls such a thing a "fairlead".
posted by sergeant sandwich at 1:10 PM on December 15, 2005

Could it be a fixed pulley? The Speedlace device looks like it changes the direction of the force on the lace, but doesn't have a moveable wheel.
posted by Fat Guy at 1:12 PM on December 15, 2005

I'd second 'post'. _THE_ book of knot tying is "The Ashley Book of Knots" and he calls the fixed thing around which a rope goes a 'post'.
posted by tayknight at 1:19 PM on December 15, 2005

Lacing studs?
posted by horsewithnoname at 1:19 PM on December 15, 2005

toggle?
posted by TheLibrarian at 1:23 PM on December 15, 2005

more sailing stuff - it might be called a bollard. though i think they are the things on the dock you tie the boat to.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 1:34 PM on December 15, 2005

Bollards aren't just for sailing anymore. The posts you see on sidewalks in front of buildings to keep cars out of the pedestrian areas? Bollards.
posted by kindall at 1:51 PM on December 15, 2005

It's not a grommet. Grommets are components that protect the edge of a hole of some other material that a cord runs through. The metal rings inside the holes of conventional leather shoes could be called grommets. It's more than a post, because it completely encompasses the cord. For the same reason, fixed pulley doesn't really apply, either. Fairlead is getting closer, but, again, doesn't necessarily imply fully surrounding the cord such that it must be threaded through. It's definitely not a toggle, a toggle is suspended from a cord.

I'd probably just go with 'eyelet'.
posted by normy at 1:56 PM on December 15, 2005

..by the way, that page you link to has some crazy weird java applet jobbie trying to run that seems to want to instantiate multiple instances of the JVM - if folks get error messages, they might find it helpful to restart their browsers after visiting...
posted by normy at 2:14 PM on December 15, 2005

I've always called things that act like bearings but don't have any moving parts bushings, however wikipedia isn't backing me up on that.
posted by 517 at 2:49 PM on December 15, 2005

I'd go with fairlead as a good term, although a fairlead is really just a pulley-block. A pulley-block just describes the notched post for redirecting the rope, not the guide that fits around the rope. That's why I'd say fairlead is more accurate. It is used outside of sailing to describe something that redirects and guides a line.
posted by team lowkey at 3:55 PM on December 15, 2005

But, rereading your question, you want the simple mechanical term for the post itself. Pulley-block it is, then. A pulley without the moving parts.
posted by team lowkey at 3:59 PM on December 15, 2005

a fairlead is really just a pulley-block

Not necessarily. For example, a hoop-shaped piece of metal fastened to the deck (picture an upside-down 'U') is a fairlead if you use it to guide a line running through it.
posted by Opposite George at 4:07 PM on December 15, 2005

a fairlead is really just a pulley-block

Not necessarily.

I think that's what I was trying to say. A pulley-block is just a post. A fairlead is something that does the same job of a pulley-block, but also surrounds the line to keep it from getting away. Mechanically, they use the same principal. A fairlead can be just a hole in a piece of wood, but you're still basically dealing with a pulley-block system.
posted by team lowkey at 4:42 PM on December 15, 2005

Okay, gotcha.
posted by Opposite George at 5:05 PM on December 15, 2005

it's an itsy-bitsy bitt
posted by rob511 at 5:09 PM on December 15, 2005

Ugh. Sorry. I take it back. That was a gross misreading of the definition of pulley-block. A pulley-block is quite simply a block with a pulley (or pulleys) in it. The notched wheel shape that is used in a pulley is actually called a sheave, which is more what I meant. I would still say what they've created for their shoelaces is a fairlead. Bitts and bollards, by the way, are for tying rope around, not redirecting it.

At least I've secured for myself the knowledge that when my car's seatbelt comes out of it's holder/redirecter thingy I can confidently say, "That's one shitty fairlead".
posted by team lowkey at 6:37 PM on December 15, 2005

Ugly.
posted by unSane at 8:33 PM on December 15, 2005

Man, I totally thought this question was going to be about the thing at the top, which lets you tighten the laces or whatever. Anyone know what THAT is called?
posted by antifuse at 2:42 AM on December 16, 2005

Cleat? Specifically, definition #3.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:18 AM on December 16, 2005

these are cleats - they're the thingies you wind the rope around to tie it down.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 4:43 PM on December 16, 2005

Response by poster: Antifuse, that's a cord lock.
posted by Caviar at 5:06 PM on December 20, 2005