EP0808927A1 - Sock with comfort sole - Google Patents

Abstract

The sock, with a structured comfortable sole, has an additional yarn (58) knitted at intervals to at least one stitch (56a) over two stitches to give a floating yarn (58) at the inner surface of the sock sole. The stitches (56a), knitted together with the additional yarn (58), are offset from each other in successive rows of stitches forming the base (50) of the sock sole. Preferably the additional yarn (58) is of a material which absorbs moisture, and preferably of cotton. The base yarn (54) is of cotton in a gauge of 1/30nm and the plating yarn (52) is of "Lycra" (RTM: spandex synthetic fibre) in a thickness of 1/111nm. Each row of the base knit (50) at the sole has an additional floating yarn (58), bonded at least at one stitch (56a) in four, so that these stitches form a zigzag. The sock has a reinforced heel with a section at the foot in a base knit. The heel is formed without casting off stitches, where the point has an additional yarn which is thicker than the base yarns, for reinforcement. A stretch zone is knitted near the lateral edge of the heel.

Description

The invention relates to a sock comprising a sole intended to come into contact with the sole of the foot, on the one hand, and the bottom or upper face of the sole of a shoe, on the other hand, as well as the method of knitting. allowing to realize this sock.

Because of its position, the sole of the sock is subjected to compression forces due to the weight of the body, to friction forces against the foot and the shoe due to movements of the foot, for example when walking, and to other deformations depending on the position of the foot during the various movements it performs, without forgetting sweating. So it is preferable to have a sock sole that withstands all of these attacks as well as possible while effectively protecting the sole of the foot.

Previous embodiments have attempted to solve this problem by making a thicker sponge or loop stitch sole. In this case, the internal face of the sole has an additional thread knitted on each stitch, this thread having been spaced from the sole by a suitable tool according to a predetermined length which conditions the size of the loop.

Typically, we find this type of loop-stitch sole for socks worn during sports activities.

This loop stitch solution does not meet the needs of a relatively thin sole for city socks and also requires specific equipment, that is to say the installation of a mobile tool which creates the loop, to add the socks on the knitting machine.

This so-called “loop” stitch, the constitution of which will now be described in relation to FIG. 1, is found in certain types of sock, for example sports socks.

The loop stitch 8 is produced on a knitting machine, only the knitting needles 10 being shown here. Two threads are used to make this stitch: a plaiting thread 12, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, is surrounded by a bottom thread 14 which will be used to create the loops 16. To do this, this knitting machine has in addition a tool 18 in the form of a hook which will be used to make the loops between each of the stitches of this knitted fabric. When carrying out this loop stitch, the tool 18 maintains the interlacing of the bottom thread 14 at a certain distance from the knitting needles 10 and the bottom thread 14, this distance conditioning the size of the loops which will be formed when the tool 18 will release wire 14.

In the following, the term "stitch" will be used to generally designate the type of knitting used, while the term "stitch" will designate each attachment zone from one row to another.

The invention aims to provide a sock with a comfortable sole that is to say sufficiently thick, flexible and soft to best protect and support the sole of the foot, this sock can be worn in a city shoe and made in a simple way on a sock knitting machine without having to modify it.

For this purpose, to solve this problem, it is provided according to the invention that the knitted sock composed of a leg part and a foot part comprising a sole, intended to come into contact with the sole of the foot and comprising a basic knit consisting of at least one basic yarn forming successive rows composed of stitches which constitute hooking points of the basic yarn between two consecutive rows of the basic knit and a additional yarn providing a shock absorbing layer on the inner face of the sole, is characterized in that the additional yarn is knitted periodically at most one stitch out of two so as to constitute a float yarn whose interleaving protrudes from the inner face of the sole and in that the position of a knitted stitch with the additional yarn is offset between two consecutive rows of the base knit of said sole.

The production of the sock sole according to the invention uses the principle of float thread as can be encountered in an embroidery craft intended for carrying out purely aesthetic embroideries on a textile. The float yarn present in the sock sole of the present invention achieves an additional thickness compared to the knitted fabric constituting the rest of the sock and thus forms a flexible contact layer with damping effect.

Indeed, this floated thread will be in contact with the sole of the foot and it will be judiciously provided, for a more pleasant contact, that the additional thread is made of natural fiber such as cotton or any fiber absorbing moisture. Because the additional yarn is not knitted in all stitches of the basic knit, the interleaving of this yarn, that is to say the portion of the yarn extending between two successive stitches is longer than the interleaves the basic knit and forms a flexible bridge. All the bridges playing the role of shock absorber under the foot by forming a flexible and soft layer.

The realization of the sole according to the invention is simple to perform on a knitting machine because the float yarn is obtained by adjusting the frequency with which the additional yarn is knitted, that is to say picked by the needle, the intermediate stitches being skipped (only for the additional thread). The formation of the interlacing of the float yarn is done quite naturally by skipping the intermediate stitches of the basic knit and does not require a specific additional yarn tension.

The characteristics of the damping layer thus created can be modified by modifying the material and the size of the thread, the number of consecutive stitches knitted with this additional thread, the number of stitches jumped and the offset of the bridges coming from the float thread between two consecutive rows. of the knitting constituting the sole.

Preferably bridges will be made so that the knitted stitches with the additional thread or anchor points are distributed in staggered rows over the entire surface of the sole.

On the edge of the sole no sewing is required since this additional thread is knitted with the rest of the sole.

The invention will be better understood, and secondary characteristics and their advantages will become apparent during the description of an embodiment given below by way of example.

It is understood that the description and the drawings are given for information only and are not limiting.

• la figure 1 déjà décrite représente schématiquement la réalisation du point bouclette classique;
• la figure 2 représente schématiquement le point avec fil flotté que l'on retrouve dans la semelle de la chaussette selon l'invention;
• la figure 3 est une vue schématique de côté d'une chaussette sur laquelle on peut différencier les différentes parties constitutives de la chaussette;
• la figure 3A représente les différents points utilisés pour la réalisation de l'ourlet de la chaussette;
• la figure 3B représente schématiquement le point utilisé pour réaliser le corps de la chaussette;
• la figure 3C représente le point constituant la semelle de la chaussette de la figure 3;
• la figure 4 est une vue schématique agrandie de la face interne du bord de la semelle de la chaussette selon l'invention ; et,
• la figure 5 illustre les positions successives d'une aiguille de tricotage pour réaliser une nouvelle maille sur un tricot à un fil.

Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 already described schematically shows the embodiment of the conventional loop stitch;
• FIG. 2 schematically represents the point with floating thread which is found in the sole of the sock according to the invention;
• Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a sock on which one can differentiate the different constituent parts of the sock;
• FIG. 3A represents the various points used for producing the hem of the sock;
• FIG. 3B schematically represents the point used to make the body of the sock;
• Figure 3C shows the point constituting the sole of the sock of Figure 3;
• Figure 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the inner face of the edge of the sole of the sock according to the invention; and,
• FIG. 5 illustrates the successive positions of a knitting needle for making a new stitch on a knitted fabric with a thread.

The principle of knitting with a thread uses a knitting needle 10 per knitting stitch, one of them being represented in FIG. 5 in successive positions during the creation of a new row. The needle 10 is composed of a hook-shaped head 10a, a movable part 10b which can close the hook 10a to form a needle eye (high position of the movable part 10b) or else leave the hook open ( low position of the movable part 10b) and of a rod which is thinned on a section 10c close to the movable part 10b, in the direction opposite to the hook 10a.

In the initial position (FIG. 5A), the stitch 9 which has just been knitted surrounds the thinned section 10c while being attached to the stitch 7 of the previous row, the hook 10a is open and has hung the thread 11 intended to form the next mesh. Then (Figure 5B), the needle 10 is lowered, the mesh 9 slides upward along the needle rod and rotates the movable part 10b which closes the hook. The thread 11 is trapped in the eye of the needle. When the needle continues to descend (FIG. 5C), the mesh 9 goes up all along the eye of the needle and even beyond so that the thread 11 passes through this mesh 9 by forming a loop which will become the next knit stitch (Figure 5D). To be able to continue knitting, the needle must return to the initial position: it goes back up (FIG. 5E) and the mesh 11 trapped in the eye lowers the mobile part 10b which opens the eye, the mesh 11 can then escape out of the eye and slide downward along the needle rod while the needle ends its ascent to its initial height so that (Figure 5F) the new stitch 11 surrounds the thinned section 10c of the needle rod. The process can then start again for the next row.

Referring now to Figure 2 in which is shown the point with float thread 20 which is used in the sock according to the invention. This stitch 20, produced by knitting with needles 10, includes a plaiting thread 24 (shown in thin solid line in FIG. 2), a bottom thread 22 (shown in thick solid line in FIG. 2), these two threads being knitted together, and an additional yarn 26 which is knitted one in four stitches in the example shown in Figure 2 so that constitute what is called a float wire. In this way, the interlacing of the float yarn 26 is located at a certain distance from the base knit formed by the yarns 22 and 24 so as to form an additional flexible layer.

In Figure 3 there is shown schematically a flattened sock seen from the side. This sock 30 comprises a hem 32, conventionally comprising a cuff, a rod 34 extended on its rear face by a heel 36 and a sole 38, the assembly being terminated at its end by a closed toe 40.

The different points constituting this sock will now be described in relation to FIGS. 3A to 3C, the examples of points chosen are not limiting and can be modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

The upper part of the sock intended to surround an area of the calf is identified by the reference 32 in FIG. 3 and, in the example chosen, consists of a hem with cuff. In FIG. 3A, point 42 represents the point used to make the cuff of this part 32 and consists of a single knitting yarn 44. Point 46 constituting the outer hem of the upper part 32 of the sock also has a single knitting yarn 44 in which an elastic yarn 48 is woven so as to constitute an elastic holding zone for the sock. This elastic thread 48 alternately passes one stitch in two in front of the needle (stitch 48b) and behind the needle (stitch 48a).

The body or upper 34 of the sock consists of a knitted fabric made by vanization, that is to say comprising two threads knitted together: a plating 52 (shown in thin line in FIG. 3B) placed at the heart of each stitch, and, here, on the internal face of the sock at the level of the interlaces and a bottom thread 54 (shown in thick line).

We will now describe in relation to FIG. 3C the point 56 constituting the sole of the sock according to the invention. This point 56 includes, as in the case of the body 34 of the sock, a knitting base produced by vanizing from a vanizing thread 52 and a bottom thread 54. This point 56 also comprises, according to the invention, an additional yarn 58 which will constitute a float yarn owing to the fact that it is knitted periodically in the knitted fabric so as to produce a fairly large interlacing. In the example represented in FIG. 3C, the additional thread 58 is knitted one stitch out of four (stitch 56a) so as to form a bridge extending over three non-knitted stitches (stitches 56b) with this thread 58.

In Figure 3C, there are shown two successive rows of knitting. It can be seen that a stitch 56a knitted with the additional thread 58 continues on the next row with a stitch 56b not knitted with said thread 58 so as to create an offset of stitches 56a on two consecutive rows. This is true for the entire sole 38, except, possibly, on its edges, on which all the stitches of the last row are knitted with the wire 58 to obtain a straight edge.

Along the edge of this sole 38, the float wire 58 is sectioned so that its end 60 is not retained by a seam but the cohesion of this float wire is ensured by the fact that it is knitted in the base knit 50 of the sock constituted by the threads 52 and 54.

In Figure 4 there is shown the area 4 of Figure 3 on an enlarged scale. This FIG. 4 therefore represents an enlarged schematic view of the edge of the sole of the sock seen from the side of the internal face of this sole.

The sole 38 is adjacent to a zone which will cover the top of the foot and which is constituted by the mesh 50 forming the entire body of the sock. We can see in this diagram the float yarn 58 present in the mesh 56 of the sole 38 and projecting from the other yarns 52 and 54 (not shown in this figure) of the mesh 50 of the basic knit of the sock. The end 60 of the threads 58 is also visible in the form of free ends projecting above the basic knitted fabric.

In the embodiment shown, two consecutive rows 56 ′ and 56 ″ of the sole carry floating threads 58 staggered with respect to each other. The density and the distribution of the floating thread on the internal face of the sole of the sock can be modified without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus to obtain a relatively large shock absorbing layer, preferably, each row of the knitted fabric of the sole has an additional thread 58 and the additional thread is knitted at least one stitch in four .

It is desirable that the position of a knitted stitch with the additional thread be offset between two consecutive rows of said sole and preferably there will be a staggered distribution as in the case of FIG. 4.

Here is an example of threads which can be used for the manufacture of a sock according to the invention. We can use a cotton bottom thread 54 with a thickness of 1 / 30nm (metric number), a vanization thread 52 in lycra of thickness 1 / 111nm and a float thread identical to the bottom thread, that is to say say cotton.

In a simple manner, it is possible to provide the additional wire over the entire width of the sock, that is to say over half the perimeter of the section of tube constituting the sock so as to obtain a sole in the shape of a rectangle. However, provision may also be made for the float wire to extend over different lengths in different areas of the sole so as to obtain a sole with float wire whose contour is closer to the actual contour of the sole of the foot.

• une partie complémentaire destinée à venir en contact avec le coup de pied prolonge latéralement le talon de part et d'autre de celui-ci et est constituée d'un tricot de base,
• le talon est tricoté sans diminution de mailles,
• le point du tricot du talon comporte un fil supplémentaire par rapport au tricot de base qui est plus gros que le ou les autres fils du tricot de base de façon à renforcer le talon,
• et au moins une zone localisée de la partie complémentaire est tricotée dans un point plus ajouré que le point du tricot de base formant le reste de la partie complémentaire de façon à constituer une zone d'élasticité localisée et, de préférence,
• la zone localisée est adjacente au bord latéral du talon.

To complete the protective aspect of the foot that is encountered in the sole with the shock absorbing layer of the sock according to the invention, it is also possible to provide a reinforced heel 36 having the following characteristics:

• a complementary part intended to come into contact with the kick extends laterally the heel on either side of it and consists of a basic knit,
• the heel is knitted without reduction of stitches,
• the point of the knitting of the heel has an additional thread compared to the basic knitting which is larger than the other thread (s) of the basic knitting so as to reinforce the heel,
• and at least one localized area of the complementary part is knitted in a more openwork stitch than the point of the basic knit forming the rest of the complementary part so as to constitute a localized elasticity zone and, preferably,
• the localized area is adjacent to the lateral edge of the heel.

Claims (7)

Knitted sock (30) composed of a leg part (32,34) and a foot part (36,38,40) comprising a sole (38) intended to come into contact with the sole of the foot and comprising a basic knit (50) consisting of at least one basic thread (52,54) forming successive rows composed of stitches which constitute hooking points of the basic thread between two consecutive rows of the basic knit and a additional wire (58) producing a damping layer on the internal face of said sole,
characterized in that said additional thread (58) is knitted periodically at most one mesh (56a) out of two so as to constitute a float thread (58), the interlining of which protrudes from the internal face of said sole (38) and in that the position of a mesh (56a) knitted with the additional thread (58) is offset between two consecutive rows of the base knit (50) of said sole (38). Knitted sock (30) according to claim 1,
characterized in that the additional yarn (58) is a moisture absorbing fiber. Knitted sock (30) according to claim 1,
characterized in that each row of the base knit (50) of said sole (38) has an additional thread (58). Knitted sock (30) according to claim 1,
characterized in that the additional yarn (58) is knitted with at least one in four stitches (56a). Knitted sock (30) according to claim 3,
characterized in that one additional thread (56a) is knitted one in four (56a) and in that the stitches (56a) of the base knit (50) knitted with the additional yarn are staggered. Knitted sock (30) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5,
characterized in that it further comprises a reinforced heel (36) having the following characteristics: a complementary part intended to come into contact with the kick extends laterally the heel on either side of it and consists of a basic knit, the heel is knitted without reduction of stitches, the point of the knitting of the heel has an additional thread compared to the basic knitting which is larger than the other thread (s) of the basic knitting so as to reinforce the heel, and at least one localized zone of the complementary part is knitted in a more openwork stitch than the point of the basic knit forming the rest of the complementary part so as to constitute a zone of localized elasticity and, preferably, the localized area is adjacent to the lateral edge of the heel. Method for knitting a sock (30) composed of a leg part (32,34) and a foot part (36,38,40) comprising a sole (38) in which a basic knit is produced (50) consisting of at least one basic yarn (52,54) forming successive rows composed of stitches which constitute hooking points of the basic yarn between two consecutive rows of the basic knit and an additional yarn ( 58) producing a damping layer on the internal face of said sole,
characterized in that said additional thread (58) is knitted periodically at most one mesh (56a) out of two so as to constitute a float thread (58), the interlining of which protrudes from the internal face of said sole (38) and that the position of a mesh (56a) knitted with the additional thread (58) is offset between two consecutive rows of the base knit (50) of said sole (38).

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