US3287937A

US3287937A - Method of making knitted garments

Info

Publication number: US3287937A
Application number: US509466A
Authority: US
Inventors: James H Landau
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-12-12
Filing date: 1965-10-21
Publication date: 1966-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 1983-11-29

Description

Nov. 29, 1966 J. H. LANDAU 3,287,937

METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED GARMENTS Original Filed Dec. 12, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JAMES H. LANDAU BY M ATTORNEYS Nov. 29, 1966 J. H. LANDAU 3,287,937

METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED GARMENTS Original Filed Dec. 12, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 x am INV ENT OR JANE; H. LA/VDAU BY 5Z6 ATTORNEY? Nov. 29, 1966 J. H. LANDAU METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED GARMENTS Original Filed Dec. 12, 1961 5 Sheets-g 5 Flag Flag

RNEYs United States Patent M 2 Claims. (Cl. 66-171) This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 158,757, filed December 12, 1961,

for Knitted Garments and Method of Making Same.

This invention relates to knitted garments, and more particularly to a method of making knitted garments such as are customarily worn on the human torso. The method disclosed in this application and the garments capable of being manufactured thereby are especially adaptable as ladies bathing suits, brassieres, knitted vests, slips, lingerie, and other forms of under garments, and outer garments such as sweaters, dresses, etc.

One of the features of this invention is that it permits the fabrication of full-fashioned knitted garments which are shaped to closely conform to the configuration of the female torso, without the use of unsightly seams.

For a more complete undestanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a length of tubular knit material from which the front panel of a knitted bathing suit can be formed;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 2 -2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a length of tubular knit material which can be used to form the pack panel of a bathing suit;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the panel formed from the material of FIG. 1 after it has been split, opened up, and turned over on the reverse side;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the panel formed from the material shown in FIG. 3, after it has been split, opened up and turned over on the reverse side;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a portion of the blank shown in FIG. 5, as viewed from the right-hand side;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a bathing suit formed by the joining of the panels shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the same;

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view of the same;

FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of a brassieretype garment formed in accordance with the present invention, and;

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of a girdle-type of garment formed in accordance with the present invention.

In describing the fabrication of garments in accordance with the broad concept of this invention, the method of making a ladies swimsuit, as shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, will first be described; it being understood that this will be only exemplary of a method which can be used for making many other knitted garments.

As a preliminary step, two tubular lengths of material are knitted, one of which, indicated generally by the .numeral 15, will become the front panel of a swimsuit,

the other of which, indicated generally by the numeral 16, will become the back panel.

The tubular lengths of material are preferably knitted on a conventional V-bed fiat knitting machine with two adjacent rows of latch needles which are capable of being individually shifted into and out of operating position. Beginning at the lower margin 17, a predeter- 3,287,937 Patented Nov. 29, 1966 mined number of needles are put in operation in each row of the machine and a certain number of courses are knitted in succession using the same number of needles in each course to produce a tube having straight margins extending to the point 18. However, during this operation and, in fact, during the knitting of the entire length of the material, one or more needles in the center of one of the two rows may be left out of operation to provide a longitudinally extending indication of the center line 19 of the material. However, this is not essential to the successful carrying out of the invention, but is a convenient method of providing a center for later splitting of the material.

Beginning at the line 18 and extending until the course indicated at 20 is reached, a gradual narrowing of the fabric is performed by shifting one or more of the yarns at each end of both row-s of needles inwardly and removing the endmost needle at each of both rows out of operation. Depending upon the amount of taper that is to be given to the fabric, the removal of needles will take place in successive steps. That is to say, a set of needles will be removed and several courses will be knitted on the remaining needles before another reduction in the number of needles takes place.

Beginning at the course indicated at 20, a relatively short length of the tube will be knitted on the same number of needles until the course indicated at 21 is reached to again provide a section of the tube having straight margins, but of somewhat less width than the portion knitted first at the beginning of the lower margin 17.

After the course 21 has been knitted, a needle at each end of both rows will be added and one or more courses may be knitted with this additional number of needles; after which, an additional pair of needles at each end of the row will be added and successive course or courses will be knitted. This progressive increase in the number of wales produced will be continued until the course indicated at 22 is reached. Since the portion of the garment knitted between the

courses

21 and 22 eventually forms the lower portion of the breast cup, the rate of increase will be greater than the rate of decrease between the

courses

18 and 20, which latter section will eventually cover the thighs.

The upper portion of the breast cups starts with the course indicated at 22, from which point, pairs of needles at each end of the rows are progressively removed at a relatively rapid rate until the course indicated at 23 is reached. From this course, another short section, terminating at the upper margin 24 using the same number of needles to provide another section having straight margins.

Before further operations on the length of material 15 is described, the procedure for knitting; the tubular piece 16 will be dealt with. In this case, also, it is preferable to use a V-bed flat machine having two adjacent rows of latch-type needles. Beginning wit-h the lower margin 25, a series of courses, are knitted with the same number of needles up to the course indicated by numeral 26 to provide a length having straight margins. As with the case of the material 1 5, a singleneedle at the center of one of the rows is left out of operation to provide a center line indication 27 extending longitudinally of the goods.

From the course 26 up to a point indicated by the course 28, needles are again progressively dropped out of operation on the machine to gradually decrease the width of the tube, this decrease being intended to conform to the proportions of the buttocks of the wearer.

Following the course 28 and extending up to the upper margin 29, the material is knit with the same number of needles to provide an upper section having straight margins.

After knitting, each of the tubular lengths of material and 16 are severed longitudinally along the

respective lines

19 and 27 so that when they are opened up and spread out fiat. they will resemble the pieces of material shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 when turned over on their opposite sides. In FIG. 5, it will be noted that the two longitudinally extending margins A and B, created by cutting the material along the line 19, are now disposed at opposite sides of the material and that the undulatory margins C and D, which originally defined the edges of the tubular material, are now displaced inwardly a distance approximately midway between the center line of the front panel thus formed, and the respective side margins A and B. Similarly, it will be noted that'the longitudinal margins A and B formed by slitting the tubular material 16 along the line 27 have become the side margins of the back panel 16, as shown in FIG. 6. The irregularly extending sides C and D of the tubular material in FIG.

3 have now been displaced inwardly when the back panel is opened up in FIG. 6, again a distance approximately mid-way between the vertical center line of the panel and the respective side margins A and B.

To finish the garment, the bottom of the front panel is doubled back on itself along the horizontal dotted line 3030 and sewed together a short distance above that line along the dotted line 3131, as shown in FIG. 8, to provide a short skirt portion 32 if desired. Other models or styles may be made with or without skirt eflfects. The lower corners of the panel may be cut out along the curved dotted lines 3333 and 34-34 to provide a front crotch portion 35. The upper end of the front panel may also be cut out along the

dotted lines

36, 37, 38 and 39 to provide an attractive neck line and openings for the arms.

Prior to finishing the garment, the rear panel may be cut out along the dotted lines 4046 and 4141 to provide a rear crotch portion 42. In addition, the upper portion of the back panel may be cut out along the curved dotted line 42-42 to provide a low back. The front and back panels may now be sewed together along their side margins; the margin A of the front panel being joined with the margin B of the back panel; while margin B of the front panel is joined with the margin A of the back panel. The depending ends of the

crotch portions

35 and 42 are joined together at the bottom of the garment, while the upper margins of the garment may be finished off with a decorative edging 43 which can be looped upwardly at the sides to form shoulder straps.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that if, instead of a low back, a high-backed garment such as a sweater is to be made, this can be accomplished. The material at the top of the back panel enclosed within the dotted line 4242 need not be cut out when the front and back panels are joined together along their side seams. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the length of the material knitted for the front and back panels can be such that they may be joined together at the upper ends to form the sleeve opening and that sleeves, either knitted or otherwise, could be joined to the basic garment formed from the front and back panels to create a sweater or pullover.

In FIG. 11, there is shown a brassiere made in accordance with the teachings of this invention. In the form shown, it is only necessary to knit the upper portion of the tubular length of material shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the knitting would be commenced at approximately the course indicated at 21, or slightly below. The same procedure of adding needles to increase the number of wales in successive courses would be followed, as previously described to develop the lower half of the breast cups with subsequent progressive decreasing of the wales to develop the upper half of the cups, ending the knitting approximately at the course indicated at 23, or slightly above.

After the short length of tubular material thus knitted was split along its back center line, as previously described in connection with the swimsuit, the resultant product when opened up would be the front half panel indicated at 45 in FIG. 11. The completed brassiere could then be formed by the addition of the adjustable back strap 46 being attached to the front panel at the seams 47, and the addition of the shoulder straps 48 joined to the upper margin of the front panel at the seams 49, and being sewed to the back strap at the seams 50.

The knitting of a girdle-type garment such as is shown in FIG. 12, would require the use of both front and back panels, but only a portion of the

tubular materials

15 and 16 would be required. In the case of the front panel, the knitting would be begun approximately at the course indicated at 18 in FIG. 1 with a progressive reduction of the number of needles, as previously explained, until approximately the course indicated at 20 is reached. The resultant product when split down the center line and opened up would produce the front half panel, indicated by numeral 51.

To produce the rear portion of the garment, the knitting of the tubular element would be approximately begun at the course indicated at 26 in FIG. 3 and knitting would be continued with a progressive decrease in the number of needles up to approximately the course indicated at numeral 28. When this tubular length of material is split, the resulting product when opened out would be the back half panel indicated by numeral 52. The front half panel 51 and the back half panel 52 would then be joined along their side margins as indicated by the seams 53, only one of which can be seen in FIG. 12.

The same technique can be used by starting the knitting at the top, FIG. 1, and by adding and eliminating needles after proper courses. The same body can be formed by the reversing of the sequence in knitting. This applies to the back panel, FIG. 3, as well.

Dilferent cup shapes and cup sizes may be obtained by increased numbers of wales or modified frequencies of narrowing and widenin-gs by addition and elimination of needles and frequencies of courses between these additions and eliminations.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a novel method of forming knitted garments capable of close configuration with the contours of the human body,

without the necessity of using seams located in unsightly positions. It will also be understood that while several variations in the type of garments have been described, many variations of these basic types may be developed by those skilled in the art which would come within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a knitted garment to be worn on the human torso which comprises the steps of knitting two first and second tubular lengths of material having courses of predetermined length to conform to the peripheral dimensions of first and second oppositely disposed portions of the human torso, the number of wales in certain successive courses of each tube being either progressively increased or progressively decreased, said increases or decreases being made only by the addition or subtraction of an equal number of wales disposed on either side of two diametrically opposite longitudinally extending lines, severing each of said tubes along a longitudinal line disposed equidistant from said first mentioned two longitudinal lines to provide first and second half panels of material each having awo side margins, and joining the respective side margins of the first half panel with the respective side margins of the second half panel.

2. The method :ofmaking a knitted torso-encircling garment which includes the steps of knitting a tubular length of material having courses of predetermined length to conform to the peripheral dimensions of a portion of the human torso, certain successive courses containing progressively [fewer wales, certain successive courses having progressively more wales, said wales being decreased or increased only in two spaced areas of symmetrical configuration disposed diametrically opposite to each other along the length of the material, severing the tubular material along a longitudinal line disposed medially of said two symmetrical areas to provide a halfpanel having two side margins, and joining said margins with the side margins of another piece of material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Sanders 66-176 Gordon 66-176 X Gordon 66-176 Crawford et a1. 66-176 Rice et a1. 66-177 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

R. FELDBAUM, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A KNITTED GARMENT TO BE WORN ON THE HUMAN TORSO WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF KNITTING TWO FIRST AND SECOND TUBULAR LENGTHS OF MATERIAL HAVING COURSES OF PRODERTERMINED LENGTH TO CONFORM TO THE PERIPHERAL DIMENSIONS OF FIRST AND SECOND OPPOSITELY DISPOSED PORTIONS OF THE HUMAN TORSO, THE NUMBER OF WALES IN CERTAIN SUCCESSIVE COURSES OF EACH TUBE BEING EITHER PROGRESSIVELY INCREASED OR PROGRESSIVELY DECREASED, SAID INCREASES OF DECREASES BEING MADE ONLY BY THE ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION OF AN EQUAL NUMBER OF WALES DISPOSED ON EITHER SIDE OF TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING LINES, SEVERING EACH OF SAID TUBES ALONG A LONGITUDINAL LINE DISPOSED EQUIDISTANT FROM SAID FIRST MENTIONED TWO LONGITUDINAL LINES TO PROVIDE FIRST AND SECOND HALF PANELS OF MATERIAL EACH HAVING AWO SIDE MARGINS, AND JOINING THE RESPECTIVE SIDE MARGINS OF THE FIRST HALD PANEL WITH THE RESPECTIVE SIDE MARGINS OF THE SECOND HALF PANEL.