US3238748A - Ladies' seamless stocking - Google Patents

Description

March 8, 1966 O. R. YORK ET AL LADIES SEAMLESS STOCKING Filed Jan. 5, 1955 'Il Il INVENTORS'. @am 12. YORK ana JOSEPH GAA/552,12

United States Patent() 3,238,748 LADIES SEAMLESS STOCKING Orin R. York and Joseph G. Walser, Jr., High Point, N.C., assignors to Morpul Research Corporation, Greensboro, N.C.

Filed Jan. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 249,219 Claims. (Cl. 66--178) This invention relates to ladies stockings and more particularly to ladies stockings in which the upper portion of the leg is provide-d with areas having different longitudinal elongation characteristics to relieve longitudinal stresses to which the stocking may be subjected upon flexure of the knee of the wearer.

Ladies stockings normally have the same overall length in the front and rear of the leg so that when the stocking is gartered no compensation in the fabric is provided for additional stretching lof the fabric in the knee section. When a wearers knee is flexed, such as in stooping, sitting or bending, substantially more stress is placed on the front of the leg of the stocking than at the rear thereof. This stress frequently tends to produce runs or other defects originating in the garter area or in other sections of the stocking as well as restricting circulation in the wearers leg.

Therefore, it is an objective of this invention to provide ladies stocking having selected areas inthe upper portion of the leg for permitting absorption of the additional stresses to which the stocking may be subjected during flexure of the knee.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a ladies sheer stocking in which the upper portion of the leg is provided with a contrast of stitches that is formed during the knitting of the stocking whereby elongation of the stocking is different in particular areas for the same longitudinal stresses.

A further objective of this invention is to provide a ladies stocking with an area in the upper rear portion of the leg having stitches that restrict longitudinal elongation and permit increased elongation in the front portion of the leg.

Other objectives and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the knitting art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several Views, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a seamless stocking presenting a preferred embodiment of this invention in the afterwelt of the stocking;

FIGURE 2 is a partial elevational view of the upper rear portion of the stocking shown in FIGURE 1 illustrating the area in which there is a contrast of stitches for restricting the longitudinal elongation of the fabric; and

FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged illustration of the knitted fabric contained in the rear portion of the afterwelt portion and enclosed by the dotted line rectangle indicated by the reference character 3 in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown a ladies seamless stocking knit on a conventional circular knitting machine in which either prin or processed nylon yarn is knit to form the foot and leg 11. The upper portion of the leg 11 in- 3,238,748 Patented Mar. 8, 1966 cludes afterwelt 12 and welt 13 portions. Reinforced toe 14 and -heel 15 portions may be provided by introducing a multilament nylon yarn together with the conventional monolilament nylon yarn employed in the knitting of the foot 10 and leg portion 11. The knitting of the foot 10, the portion of the leg 11 up the afterwelt 12, and the welt 13 is conventional.

The present invention relates primarily to the knitting of the afterwelt portion 12 wherein the preferred embodiment of this invention is incorporated by knitting t-he courses so as to include one end of monoilament yarn and one end of multifilament yarn throughout the afterwelt portion 12 but with the rear portion 16 of the afterwelt being provided with oat and tuck stitches that are provided to limit longitudinal elongation and elasticity at the rear of the stocking and with the front portion 17 being provided with plain stitches knit -of both the monofilament and multilament nylon yarns so as to produce greater elasticity and longitudinal elongation.

The welt 13 of the stocking may be of the conventional turned welt construction in which all of the courses are knit with multilament nylon yarn to provide t-he requisite coursewise and walewise elasticity and gartering strength.

lt is desirable in knitting the relatively inelastic fabric in the rear afterwelt portion 16 to provide one of several different well-known types of stretch resisting special stitch constructions, one of which is illustrated in FIG- URE 3. The special stitch construction shown in FIG- URE 3 is a modification of the stitch construction shown in Lochhead Patent No. 2,100,861, however, other knitted constructions for restricting longitudinal and transverse electricity may be employed such as the knitted construction shown in Katzenmoyer Patent No. 2,000,176 and Nebel Patent No. 2,014,026.

The knitted fabric shown in FIGURE 3 incorporates the use of two separate yarns, yarn 19 which may be of a 40 denier multifilarnent nylon yarn, and yarn 20 which may be a 15 denier monolilament nylon yarn, each of which is fed to the knitting instrumentalities from separate yarn feed fingers. Both yarns 19 and 20 are fed to the knitting instrumentalities in the front portion 17 of the afterwelt 12 so as to be knit together in plated relationship to provide plain stitch loops in every wale, such as shown in the wales 21 of FIGURE 3. The final fabric produced in the forward portion 17 of the stocking is substantially elastic longitudinally and transversely so that, when the stocking is suitably gartered in the welt portion 13, the front portion 17 of the afterwelt 12 will be permitted to extend longitudinally as the wearers leg is bent to increase the stress on the fabric at the knee.

In order to provide an area of restricted longitudinal and transverse elasticity, at least a portion at the rear of the afterwelt 12 is formed with a series of tuck stitches, broadly indicated at 23 and in wales 24 of FIGURE 3. Each tuck stitch 23 includes a held loop h extending across three courses and formed of both yarns 19 and 20; floats f formed in the last two yof these courses; and tuck loops t in the last two of these courses. The tuck loops t are preferably formed with the monolament yarn 20 and the floats are formed with the multilament yarn 19, as shown in FIGURE 3.

It will be readily apparent that the single plain course 29, which is formed between the courses containing the tuck stitches 23, serves as a clearing course. The stretch restricting tuck stitches 23 may be arranged in any desired pattern in the rear portion 16 of the afterwelt 12. It is perferred that the rear portion 16 include substantially half the wales in the courses of the afterwelt 12 and that the number of tuck stitches formed in successive courses be gradually reduced and then increased to provide curved juncture lines 32 (FIGURES 1 and 2) which denote the joining together of the rear and front portions 16, 17 at opposite sides of the afterwelt 12.

It has been determined that the fabric produced in the rear area 16 not only restricts longitudinal elongation and elasticity by reason of the held loops h and tuck loops t but also lateral or transverse elasticity by reason of the floats f.

It will be readily apparent that the knitting of the courses in the afterwelt portion 12 (with the pattern of stretch restricting stitches in the wales in the rear area 16 and the relatively elastic plain stitches in the wales in the front area 17) will commence immediately succeeding the knitting of the turned welt portion 13 which is usually knit from multitilament nylon yarn. The multilament nylon yarn employed in the courses of the afterwelt portion 12 is preferably the same yarn employed in knitting the welt portion, but the single end of monofilament yarn 20 is introduced at the beginning of the afterwelt 12 and may continue to be knit throughout the leg and foot portion of the stocking after :the completion of the knitting of lthe afterwelt portion 12, at which time the multililament yarn is removed from the knitting instrumentalities.

When the stocking is removed from the knitting machine, and subsequent to preliminary boarding processes, the toe closure may either be looped closed or sewn closed. The final processing is performed in the boarding operation wherein the stocking is drawn over a conventional boarding form and subjected to a boarding temperature of `approximately 240 to 265 degrees F. After boarding, the afterwelt is slightly longer at the middle of the front area 17 than the length at the middle of the rear area 16. This elongation of the front area 17 is caused by the walewise stretching of the plain stitch loops in this area as the stocking is drawn down on the boarding form and set, while walewise stretching of the rear area 16 is limited by the stretch restricting stitches formed therein.

It will be readily apparent that the desired result may be obtained on a multi-feed machine by knitting stitches with restricted elasticity in selected wales and at selected knitting stations, and by using either monoiilament or multifilament yarns, or a combination of both. Also, on a multi-feed machine elongation of the rear portion of the afterwelt may be restricted by knitting a full course on all needles at selected knitting stations while knitting stretch restricting stitches in certain Wales of the rear portion of the afterwelt and forming plain stitches in all of the wales of the front portion of the afterwelt. Other variations and modifications may be made to the knitted fabric for the purpose of restricting the elasticity of the fabric in the rear portion of the stocking, Without departing from the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A hosiery article including foot and leg portions, said leg portion having an upper portion adapted to extend above the knee of the wearer, a plurality of complete courses in the upper portion of said leg portion, said complete courses having plain stitches formed in all of a first group of Wales extending around the front of said leg portion to impart a certain degree of stretchability to the upper front portion of the leg portion, and said complete courses having closely spaced stretch restricting special stitches formed in selected wales and forming a regularly recurring pattern construction in a second group of wales extending throughout the rear of said leg portion, said pattern construction constrasting with the plain fabric around the front portion and imparting a substantially lesser degree of stretchability to the upper rear portion of the leg portion in a walewise direction.

2. A ladies seamless stocking comprising foot and leg portions, said leg portion including a turned welt and an afterwelt having a plurality of complete courses, said afterwelt having a first group of wales extending around the front portion and a second group of wales extending around the rear portion, plain stitches formed in all of said first group of Wales extending around the front portion of said afterwelt to impart normal stretchability thereto, and closely spaced stretch restricting special stitches formed in at least every third wale of said second group of wales and forming a regularly recurring pattern construction extending throughout the rear portion of said afterwelt, said pattern construction contrasting with the plain fabric around the front portion of said afterwelt and imparting a substantially lesser degree of stretchability thereto in a walewise direction.

3. A ladies seamless stocking comprising foot and leg portions, said leg portion including a turned welt and an afterwelt having a plurality of complete courses, said afterwelt having a first group of wales extending around the front portion and a second group of wales extending around the rear portion, plain stitches formed in all of said first group of Wales extending around the front portion of said afterwelt of impart normal stretchability thereto, and closely spaced tuck stitches formed in at least every fourth course and in said second group of wales extending throughout the rear portion of said afterwelt to impart a substantially lesser degree of stretchability thereto.

4. A ladies seamless stocking comprising foot and leg portions, said leg portion including a turned welt and an afterwelt having a plurality of complete courses, each of said courses being formed of two yarns, said afterwelt having a first group of wales extending around the front portion and a second group of wales extending around the rear portion, plain stitches formed Of both of said yarns and in all of said first group of Wales extending around the front portion of said afterwelt to impart normal stretchability thereto, and closely spaced stretch restricting special stitches formed of both of said yarns and in certain of said second group of wales and forming a regularly recurring pattern construction extending throughout the rear portion of said afterwelt, said pattern construction contrasting with the plain fabric around the front portion of said afterwelt and imparting a substantially lesser degree of stretchability thereto in a walewise direction.

5. A ladies seamless stocking comprising foot and leg portions, said leg portion including a turned welt and an afterwelt having a plurality of complete courses, each of said courses being formed of two yarns, said afterwelt having a first group of wales extending around the front portion and a second group of wales extending around the rear portion, plain stitches formed of both of said yarns and in all of said first group of wales extending around the front portion of said afterwelt to impart normal stretchability thereto, and special stitches formed of both of said yarns and in certain of said second group of wales and forming a regularly recurring pattern construction extending throughout the rear portion of said afterwelt to impart a substantially lesser degree of stretchability thereto in both walewise and coursewise directions, said special stitches including a held loop extending over several courses and being formed of both yarns, a fioat of one of said yarns being formed in at least one of said several courses, and a tuck loop of the other of said yarns being formed in the course in which said float is formed.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Carmer 66-182 X Katzemoyer 66--172 Nebel 66-169 Lockhead 66-198 Martel 66-172 Crawford 66-178 Luhn 66-178 Snader 66-172 Herb 66-172 Rabinovitz 66-172 Weller 66-172 Grey 66-172 Mahler 66-40 Bellman 66-172 Wood et al 66-1-69 X Clarke 66-172 Matthews 66-172 Chaney 66-169 Miles 66-178 FOREIGN PATENTS 10/ 1936 Great Britain.

Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A HOSIERY ARTICLE INCLUDING FOOT AND LEG PORTIONS, SAID LEG PORTION HAVING AN UPPER PORTION ADAPTED TO EXTEND ABOVE THE KNEE OF THE WEARER, A PLURALITY OF COMPLETE COURSES IN THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID LEG PORTION, SAID COMPLETE COURSES HAVING PLAIN STITCHES FORMED IN ALL OF A FIRST GROUP OF WALES EXTENDING AROUND THE FRONT OF SAID LEG PORTION TO IMPART A CERTAIN DEGREE OF STRETCHABILITY TO THE UPPER FRONT PORTION OF THE LEG PORTION, AND SAID COMPLETE COURSES HAVING CLOSELY SPACED STRETCH RESTRICTING SPECIAL STITCHES FORMED IN SELECTED WALES AND FORMING A REGULARLY RECURRING PATTERN CONSTRUCTION IN A SECOND GROUP OF WALES EXTENDING THROUGHOUT THE REAR OF SAID LEG PORTION, SAID PATTERN CONSTRUCTION CONSTRASTING WITH THE PLAIN FABRIC AROUND THE FRONT PORTION AND IMPARTING A SUBSTANTIALLY LESSER DEGREE OF STRETCHABILITY TO THE UPPER REAR PORTION OF THE LEG PORTION IN A WALEWISE DIRECTION.

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