EP2116642B1

EP2116642B1 - Knitting method of heel parts of socks and sock

Info

Publication number: EP2116642B1
Application number: EP07850885.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kazuyoshi Okamoto
Original assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2006-12-22
Filing date: 2007-12-19
Publication date: 2015-11-18
Anticipated expiration: 2027-12-19
Also published as: EP2116642A4; JPWO2008078623A1; JP5222734B2; CN101568676A; CN101568676B; EP2116642A1; WO2008078623A1

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a novel knitting method for a heel portion of a seamlessly knitted sock and to the sock.

Background Art

In general, a heel portion of a sock is knitted in the common knitting process that after a tubular-form knitting is performed to knit in tubular form by using a front needle bed and a back needle bed, the knitting on the needle bed on which the knitted fabric on the instep side is formed is rested for a while, during which a flechage knitting is performed to sequentially decrease the knitting width on the needle bed on which the knitted fabric on the sole side is formed and then the flechage knitting is performed to sequentially increase the knitting width thereon, and thereafter the tubular-form knitting restarts reusing the rested needle bed. FIG. 9 shows a sock formed by the conventional knitting method described above. Document 1 discloses a knitting technique for the heel portion using the front and back needle beds in addition to the knitting method described above. Document 2 discloses a knitting technique to further increase a depth of the heel portion for the knitting method described above. FIG. 10 shows the knitting pattern for a surrounding area of the heel portion of FIG. 3 of the Document 1, and FIG. 11 shows a side elevation view in which the contents of FIGS. 3 and 5 of Document 2 are illustrated on equal conditions to those of FIG. 10.

Patent Document 1: JP Patent No. 3333384 , and
Patent Document 2: JP Utility Model Publication No. Sho 41-18354

Prior art document WO 2006/038415 A1 discloses socks of multi-stage pile structure, a part of at least one area of the ground-contact side areas of each of the socks is formed in a knitting structure different in pile length from the other portions in the same area or the other areas.
From document JP 03 815776 B2 a sock is known comprising five toe bags formed on the front edge of the sock and a heel part formed at a body part made by integrally combining the five toe brags. The length from the heel part to an opening for inserting the foot is short, and the heel part of the sock starts from the position inwardly sunk from the both sides of the upperpart of the sock.

Disclosure of the Invention

Problem to be solved by the invention

The method of Document 1 has the disadvantage that the heel portion cannot be made large. The method of Document 2 has the disadvantage that since part of a knitting width of the knitted fabric on the instep side is used to form the heel portion, the heel portion can be made large but is strained at its part on the instep side of the ankle region. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sock having the heel portion having an enough depth to prevent strain of a part of the heel portion on the instep side of the ankle region.

Means for solving the problem

The present invention provides a knitting method according to claim 1.
The present invention provides the knitting method of a sock wherein when the two tubular portions sandwiching the heel portion therebetween are knitted, one of the two tubular knitted fabrics and the heel portion are connected vertically or substantially vertically to form a gore line.
The present invention provides the knitting method of a sock wherein the knitting of the heel portion comprises:

(1) a step of performing a set-up knitting to make a start of the knitting of the heel portion with other needles than the needles holding thereon the knitted stitches of the first tubular portion, and
(2) a step of performing, when the heel portion is formed after the set-up knitting of the step (1), a flechage knitting in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed while turning towards the opposite direction, to sequentially connect a final wale of stitches of the first tubular portion with stitches in the vicinity of the flechage knitting part.

The present invention provides the knitting method of a sock wherein the knitting of the heel portion comprises:

(1) a step of widening the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric while using (i) the flechage knitting, in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed, while turning towards the opposite direction in C-shape, and (ii) a stitch transfer, for a part of the knitted stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion at either lateral end thereof, and
(2) a step of binding off the stitches at the end of the knitting of the heel portion and connecting the stitches in front and rear.

The present invention provides the knitting method of a sock having a gore line, wherein when the heel portion is knitted, the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is widened by performing the flechage knitting of knitting while reversing in C-shape at the lateral end and the stitch transfer on a part of the knitted stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion and in turn is narrowed by the reverse-in-C-shape knitting and by the stitch transfer.
The present invention provides the knitting method, wherein when a sock is knitted, a toe portion is formed in the first tubular portion and a foot insertion opening is formed in the second tubular portion.
The present invention provides the knitting method, wherein when a sock is knitted, a foot insertion opening is formed in the first tubular portion and a toe portion is formed in the second tubular portion.
The present invention provides a sock according to claim 8.
The present invention provides a sock, wherein the gore line is formed to extend vertically or substantially vertically to the wale of the first tubular portion.

Effect of the invention

According to the present invention, the heel portion is widened in knitting width and increased in number of wale with respect to the two tubular portions sandwiching the heel portion therebetween. This can provide the result that when wearing, lots of stitches of the heel portion can be used, without using any part of its knitting width on the instep side. Hence, the heel portion can be prevented from being strained at a part thereof on the instep side, thus producing a sock having the heel portion having an enough depth.
Preferably, the two tubular portions sandwiching the heel portion therebetween are knitted so that one of the two tubular knitted fabrics and the heel portion may be connected vertically or substantially vertically to each other to form a gore line. This can produce the advantage that the gore line thus formed can be utilized as a new design.
The two tubular portions sandwiching the heel portion therebetween are knitted, while also the heel portion is widened in knitting width to obtain increased stitches. By virtue of this, a sock having the heel portion having a depth enough for the heel portion to be prevented from being strained at a part thereof on the instep side, while also a gore line extending obliquely to the bottom of the sock can be formed.
Further, the present invention is applicable to both the knitting method wherein the knitting is started at the foot insertion opening and ended at the toe portion and the knitting method wherein the knitting is started at the toe portion and ended at the foot insertion opening.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a sock knitted by the knitting method of first and second embodiments,
FIG. 2 is a knitting process drawing of the first and second embodiments,
FIG. 3 is a knitting process drawing of the first and second embodiments,
FIG. 4 is a sock knitted by the knitting method of the third embodiment,
FIG. 5 is a knitting process drawing of the third embodiment,
FIG. 6 is a sock knitted by a variant of the knitting method of the third embodiment,
FIG. 7 is a variant knitting process drawing of the third embodiment,
FIG. 8 is a knitting process drawing of the fourth embodiment,
FIG. 9 is a sock knitted by a conventional knitting method,
FIG. 10 is a view illustrating only the heel portion of a sock shown in FIG. 3 of Document 1, and
FIG. 11 is a side elevation view in which the contents of FIGS. 3 and 5 of Document 2 are illustrated on equal conditions to those of FIG. 10.

Explanation of letters or numerals

1, 101:	Sock	2, 102:	Gore line
3, 103:	Heel portion	4, 104:	Foot insertion opening
5, 105:	Toe portion	6:	First tubular portion
7:	Second tubular portion	8:	Rear part of the heel portion
9:	Flechage knitting part	10:	Center line
11:	Tubular knitted fabric

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted in the drawings used for illustrating the embodiments that a first tubular portion 6 and a second tubular portion 7 have the same knitting width. For example, the first tubular portion 6 and the second tubular portion 7 have the same knitting width of eighty stitches. Dashed lines in the knitting process drawings indicate a center line 10, and an assemblage of knitted fabric parts is shown as a knitted fabric 11. FIG. 1 shows a sock 1 in common use for a right foot and a left foot knitted by the knitting method of the first embodiment or the second embodiment. The sock 1 comprises the first tubular portion 6, a heel portion 3, and the second tubular portion 7. In the sock 1, the first tubular portion 6 and the heel portion 3 are joined at right angle or at a substantially right angle, so that a gore line 2 extending horizontally is formed at that joint.
In the following, the first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the knitting process drawing of FIG. 2. It is noted in the drawing that a foot insertion opening 4 and a toe portion 5 which are knitted by the known method and the illustration thereof is omitted, for convenience of explanation. The first tubular portion 6 is knitted from the foot insertion opening 4 to the end on the side of the heel portion 3. Then, by using knitting needles not holding thereon the stitches of the first tubular portion 6, the set-up knitting of the heel portion 3 is performed to form stitches of a rear part 8 of the heel portion and widen a knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric at the heel portion of the sock 1. In the illustrated embodiment, widening stitches (wale) of sixty stitches are formed on the front needle bed and on the rear needle bed, respectively, by the set-up knitting. Following to the set-up knitting, the flechage knitting in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed, while turning towards the opposite direction in C-shape, is repeatedly performed to knit the heel portion 3. In this process, every time the heel portion 3 is knitted two courses, the heel portion 3 is shifted toward the first tubular portion 6 and overlapped and connected with the stitches, to form a gore line 2. As a result of this formation of the double stitches, the first tubular portion 6 is decreased in number of stitch or is narrowed. In this illustrated embodiment, sixty stitches are decreased before the knitting of the heel portion 3 is ended. Thereafter, the second tubular portion 7 is knitted up to the toe portion, with which the knitting of the sock is ended. In the formation of the gore line 2, the stitches of the heel portion 3 may be sequentially connected to the stitches of the first tubular portion 6 every time the heel portion 3 is knitted two courses by the flechage knitting or may alternatively be connected thereto with a different ratio than that. By altering the connecting ratio, the heel portion can be made to have an increased or decreased number of stitches, to adjust the expansion of the heel portion 3, leading to improvement in foot comfort. Before the set-up knitting of the rear part 8 of the heel portion, a waste knitting may be added to facilitate the knitting of the heel portion. Also, the flechage knitting of the heel portion 3 may be varied so that the knitting width in the flechage knitting is sequentially increased over the knitting width in the set-up knitting in the same manner as in the knitting of a rounded toe portion so that an outline of the heel portion 3 extending continuously to the rear part 8 of the heel portion can be adjusted to a curved line.
Illustrated as the second embodiment is the case where the sock knitted in the first embodiment is knitted from the toe portion. The second tubular portion 7 is knitted from the toe portion 5 to the end on the side of the heel portion 3. Then, by using a part of the knitting needles holding thereon the stitches of the second tubular portion 7, the flechage knitting in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed, while turning towards the opposite direction in C-shape at the lateral ends of the tubular portion on the side of the heel portion 3 and the stitch transfer in which the stitches are transferred outwards are performed to provide widening stitches so as to widen the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric. It is to be noted here that if the stitches knitted and the stitches transferred are equal in number, the number of needles not holding the stitch thereon will be increased due to the stitch transfer and, as a result, holes will be formed in the knitted fabric. In order to prevent this, at least one plus stitches are knitted in addition to the stitches to be transferred. In the knitting of the heel portion 3 following to this knitting, the stitches of the rear part 8 of the heel portion are bound off to narrow the knitting width, with which the knitting of the heel portion 3 is ended. Thereafter, the first tubular portion 6 is knitted toward the foot insertion opening, with which the knitting of the sock is ended.
FIG. 3 shows a variant of the first embodiment or the second embodiment. It should be noted here that a flechage knitting part indicated by reference numeral 9 is added to the first tubular portion 6 at a part thereof on the side of the heel portion 3. In the embodiments described above, in the knitting of the heel portion 3, the wale (a line of stitches) of the first tubular portion 6 or the wale of the second tubular portion 7 is connected at right angle with the wale of the heel portion 3. The angle at which the two tubular knitted fabrics are connected may be varied by adjusting the number of stitches knitted in the flechage knitting part 9. When the angle is adjusted to fit to one's foot, improved foot comfort can be provided. In the variant of the first embodiment, in the process of knitting the first tubular portion 6, the flechage knitting part 9 is formed in a part of the first tubular portion 6 which comes to be on the instep side of the ankle. In the variant of the second embodiment wherein the knitting starts from the second tubular portion 7, the flechage knitting part 9 is knitted after the heel portion 3 is knitted and before the first tubular portion 6 is knitted.
In the following, the third embodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 shows a sock knitted by the knitting method of the third embodiment. The gore line 2 can be formed at the same location as conventional. A knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric shown in FIG. 5 is widened by the same knitting technique as the knitting technique used for widening the heel portion 3 of the second embodiment and is narrowed by the same knitting technique as the knitting technique used for narrowing the heel portion 3 of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, those knitting techniques are used in combination. The first tubular portion 6 is knitted from the foot insertion opening 4 to the end on the heel portion 3 side. Next, the heel portion 3 is knitted using a part of the knitting needles holding thereon the stitches of the first tubular portion 6. In the knitting of the heel portion 3, while the flechage knitting in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed, while turning towards the opposite direction in C-shape at the lateral end of the tubular knitted fabric on the heel portion 3 side, and the stitch transfer in which the stitches are transferred outwards of the heel portion are carried out to provide widening stitches, so as to widen the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric. Thereafter, the stitches are transferred in the opposite direction to the direction in which the stitches are transferred for the widening, to narrow the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric. The knitting of the heel portion 3 is ended with this. Thereafter, the second tubular portion 7 is knitted toward the toe portion. The knitting of the sock is ended with this. In this illustrated embodiment, while forty stitches are knitted in C-shape on the front needle bed and on the rear needle bed, respectively, the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is made larger by twenty stitches than the final width of the first tubular portion 6 and in turn narrowed by twenty stitches.
In the widening and the narrowing incorporated in the knitting of the heel portion 3 in the third embodiment described above, the number of stitches knitted last for the widening and the number of stitches knitted first for the narrowing are set as forty stitches on the front and rear needle beds, respectively. It should be noted, however, that the number of stitches knitted need not necessarily be equal to each other. The number of stitches knitted last for the widening and the number of stitches knitted first for the narrowing may be varied so that a depth of the heel portion and a shape of the gore line may be varied. Further, when the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is widened, the number of stitches knitted by the flechage knitting in C-shape may be decreased in sequence. Also, when the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is narrowed, the number of stitches knitted by the flechage knitting in C-shape may be increased in sequence. These may, of course, be used in combination to correspond to the variations.
Next, the knitting method for a sock shown in FIG. 6, derived from combination of the embodiments described above is described with reference to FIG. 7. The first tubular portion 6 is knitted from the foot insertion opening 4 up to an end thereof on the side of the heel portion 3, with the knitting width of eighty stitches being kept unchanged. Then, when the heel portion 3 is knitted, the flechage knitting in C-shape starts with the number of stitches knitted first for widening the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric being set as forty stitches on the front and rear needle beds, respectively, and continues until the number of stitches are sequentially decreased to twenty stitches. The knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is widened by twenty stitches, and the number of wale of the tubular knitted fabric produced is set as one hundred stitches. Subsequently, when the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is narrowed, the flechage knitting in C-shape starts with the number of stitches being set as twenty plus ten, i.e., thirty, on the front and back needle beds, respectively, and the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is narrowed by twenty stitches. Thereafter, the second tubular portion 7 is knitted.
Further, the fourth embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 8. In this embodiment, when the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric is widened and in turn narrowed as shown in the third embodiment, the flechage knitting in C-shape via which the number of stitches of the heel portion are further decreased from fifty to forty and in turn increased to fifty may be added to increase the number of stitches of the heel portion. This can provide an increased depth of the heel portion and enables formation of a new gore line. Also, the combination of increase and decrease in number of stitches knitted by the added flechage knitting may be changed. The change in that combination can produce variations in depth and shape of the heel portion and in design of the gore line, leading to improvement in foot comfort.
The number of stitches knitted for the widening and the narrowing in the knitting of the heel portion 3 need not necessarily be equal to each other, though made equal to each other in the embodiments described above. The stitches knitted for the widening and the narrowing may be changed in number so that the first tubular portion 6 and the second tubular portion 7 may be changed in size.
In the knitting of the toe portion, the toe portion may be formed into not only a rounded tip as illustrated in the embodiments but also a five-digit tip, a tip of a Japanese ankle sock, and the like.
Further, the sock of FIGS. 1 and 6 may be knitted, with the location for the toe portion 5 to be formed and the location for the foot insertion opening 4 to be formed being exchanged with each other, or may be varied by making the gore line extend not only horizontally or obliquely to the bottom but also vertically thereto, to obtain a different sock from the illustrated one.

Claims

A knitting method of a sock (1; 101) having a gore line (2; 102) formed by a tubular knitted fabric (11) having a first tubular portion (6), a heel portion (3; 103), and a second tubular portion (7), using a flat knitting machine having at least a pair of front and back needle beds on which knitting needles are arranged in row and which are structured to be racked relative to each other, characterized in that when the heel portion (3; 103) continuous to the first tubular portion (6) is formed, the number of wale of the tubular knitted fabric (11) is increased by stitches formed by using knitting needles not holding thereon a final row of stitches of the first tubular portion (6); a flechage knitting for knitting alternately on a front needle bed and a rear needle bed while reversing the knitting direction in C-shape is performed; and the increased stitches are transferred and overlapped to narrow the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric (11), followed by starting the knitting of the second tubular portion (7).
The knitting method of a sock (1; 101) according to Claim 1, wherein when the two tubular knitted fabrics (11) between which the heel portion (3; 103) is sandwiched are knitted, the wale of one tubular knitted fabric (11) and the wale of the heel portion (3; 103) are connected vertically or substantially vertically to form a gore line (2; 102).
The knitting method of a sock (1; 101) according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the knitting of the heel portion (3; 103) comprises:
(1) a step of performing a set-up knitting of the heel portion (3; 103) using other needles than the needles holding thereon the stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion (6), and

(2) a step of performing the flechage knitting in which a knitting yarn is fed alternately to the front needle bed and the rear needle bed, while turning towards the opposite direction in C-shape, following to the step (1), to sequentially connect the stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion (6) and the stitches of the heel portion (3; 103) adjacent thereto.
The knitting method of a sock (1; 101) according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the knitting of the heel portion (3; 103) comprises:
(1) a step of widening the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric (11) by using (i) the flechage knitting, following to the stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion (6) at a part thereof to be connected to the heel portion (3; 103), and (ii) a stitch transfer, to transfer the stitches outwards, and

(2) a step of narrowing the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric (11) by binding off the stitches at the end of the knitting of the heel portion (3; 103) and connecting the stitches in front and rear.
The knitting method of a sock (1; 101) according to Claim 1, wherein the knitting of the heel portion (3; 103) comprises:
(1) a step of widening the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric (11) by shifting the stitches outwards with respect to a part of the stitches of the final course of the first tubular portion (6) at a lateral end thereof by use of the flechage knitting and a stitch transfer,

(2) a step of narrowing the knitting width of the tubular knitted fabric (11) by shifting the stitches inwards by use of the flechage knitting, following to the step (1).
The knitting method of a sock (3; 103) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein a toe portion (5; 105) is formed in the first tubular portion (6) and a foot insertion opening is formed in the second tubular portion (7).
The knitting method of a sock (1; 101) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein a foot insertion opening (4; 104) is formed in the first tubular portion (6) and a toe portion (5; 105) is formed in the second tubular portion (7).
A sock (1; 101) comprising a tubular knitted fabric (11) having a first tubular portion (6), a heel portion (3; 103), and a second tubular portion (7), characterized in that the heel portion (3; 103) starts at a set-up knitting part thereof, and a gore line (2, 102) is formed by the stitches of a final course of the first tubular portion (6) overlapped and connected with stitches of the heel portion (3; 103) were formed by repeated flechage knitting in C-shape following to the set-up knitting part.
The sock (1; 101) according to Claim 8, wherein the gore line (2; 102) is formed to extend vertically or substantially vertically to the wale of the first tubular portion (6).
The sock (1; 101) according to Claim 9, wherein the gore line (2; 102) is formed to extend substantially horizontally to a bottom of the sock (1; 101).