US2249081A - Knitted fabric - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTED FABRIC Ester Hughes, New York, N. Y., assigner, by direct and mesne assignments, to No-Run. Corporation Application April 1, 1940, Serial No. 327,312 z claims (ci. ess-19t).

.uns invention relates to knitted fabrics of the runproof kind and a method of making the same and has for one of its objects to improve generally upon such fabrics.

An important object is to produce a.` structure whereby not only is the fabric runproof and otherwise durable in wear 'but it may be made in different weights and'textures for many uses and is ideal for light-weight hosieryA in particular.v

A further object is to produce a fabric which does not detract from the fanciful appearance and elasticity so desirable and essential in such fabrics but rather enhances the same and the knitting of which can be performed practically and economically by machinery as well as by hand with the use of ordinary needles.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages to be attained, as will hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists in the particular fabric structure and the method of producing the same as hereinafter described and afterwards dened in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front or right side 'View of a piece of plain knitted fabric illustrative of one embodiment of 4the invention, the main body stitches and sustaining or run-preventive threading being shown on an enlarged scale and in open mesh to illustrate the fabric structure and method o producing it; and

Figure 2 is a similar view of a modification of the fabric structure and method of producing the same.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1 of the drawing, the numeral I designates the body of knitted fabric as a. whole, the same comprising the transverse interlooped rows or courses of needle loops 2 formed of the knitting thread proper A, said loops 2 alternating with interposed sinker loops 3 formed of the same thread.

'I'he needle loops 2 are upwardly directed bights of the thread A with their pairof legs I downwardly convergent, while the downwardly directed intervening bights, called the sinker loops 3, have their legs i upwardly convergent, or, in otherwords, the same parts of the thread comprise the legs of both the needle loop 2 and the sinker loop on each side thereof.-

A sustaining or run-preventive weft thread B is rst carried floatingly through the respective needle loops 2 of each row or course thereof right after the same is completed, that is to say,

straightway with only such slight sinuosity its occurs by passing said thread B forwardly 56 through the first needle loop 2 of the row, thence rearwardly and across the next adjacent sinker loop 3 and so on through the row. In doing this the thread is alined through the wider parts of the needle loops near their -closed ends and across the narrower parts of the sinker loops near their open `ends,las shown at the upper right portion of the view in Figure l. Then, after the sustain ing or run-preventive thread B is thus carried through the row of needle loops 2, the next row or course of loops 2 are jointly knit with the sustaining or run-preventive thread `B into intern looped engagement with the needle loops of the just previously completed row or course as illustrated at the upper left of Figure 1, that is to say, the thread B is drawn up and carried rearwardly over the closed ends of the respective needle loops 2, as at 6, and thence across the wider portions of the sinker loops 3 on the rear or wrong side of the fabric and at a slight inclination, as at l, between the respective turns 6 over the closed ends of the needle loops 2, this being the relative needle loop and sustaining or run-preventive formation throughout the entire body of the fabric.

It is here pointed out that the interlacing of the transverse or weft thread B is an effective Usustaining or run-preventive medium, but peculiar sinuosity longitudinally of the fabric provides ideal elasticity to the fabric and affords ample transverse stretch with absolute recovery to normalcy when relieved of the pull thereon.

The fabric constructed as shown in Figure l and in accordance with the method as set forth in the foregoing description, is in al1 material respects, except for the special sustaining or runpreventive thread B incorporated therein, conventional and suitable `for hosiery and like purposes where a sheer and ve `elastic fabric is required. In this connection., it is here noted that the major` portion of the sustainingV or runpreventive thread B which crosses the sinker loops 3 on the rear or wrong side is hidden from the front; or right side of the fabric.

In Figure 2 of the drawing, a modification of the fabric structure and method of making thel same is illustrated.' This particular fabric is more particularly adapted for the top portions still other purposes and more especially in garments such as sweaters and the like.

In this particular modification as shown in Figure 2, the knitting thread proper A1 is rst knit into a row or course of needle loops 2l1 with intervening sinker loops 311 similar to the loops 2 and 3, respectively, of the first herein describedfabric structure. A second or companionvrow or course of needle loops 2b are interlooped in the needle loops 2, as at 2c, and preferably given a partial twist, as at 2d, and through these loops 21 a sustaining or run-preventive thread B1 is first carried loosely and floatingly, straightwise except for slight sinuosity from rear to front of the fabric, and a substantial length '.B2 of the thread B1 being left free and loose at one end of the row or course of said needle loops 21 (see upper right of Figure 2).

After the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1 is thus inserted loosely in the needle loops 2b, portions are successively drawn up from between said loops 211 and looped, as at B3, and twisted or twirled either a half turn, as at B4, or one or more full turns, after which a new row or course of needle loops 2 and sinker loops 3 are knittedinto looped engagement with said twisted or twirled loops B3 of the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1. A companion row or course of loops 2b are then knitted into the new row or course of needle loops 2B, said new row or course of companion loops 2b next receiving the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1 which is then drawn laterally and formed with the loops B3 which are twisted, as at B4, as hereinabove described, and the process is thus carried on until the fabric is completed to the desired extent thereof.

The peculiar twisting or twirling of the looped portions of the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1 gives to the fabric a desirable slightly increased elasticity longitudinally of the fabric and a greatly increased elasticity transversely thereof. In this connection, it is here noted that the reactive effect of the twisted or twirled p0rtions of the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1, invits tendency to unwind, gives a partial twisted or twirled effect to the purled needle loops 2b, all of which enters into the ideal elasticity of the fabric as a, whole as well as the runproof characteristics due to the peculiar interknitting of the two threads A1 and B1. Y

It is here pointed out that in adaptations of the invention in a fabric for light-weight hosiery the sustaining or run-preventivethreads B and B1 are preferably much ner than the threads A and-A1. However, in some fabrics, the threads A, A1, B and B1 may be of the same size or diameter, and, in some cases, the'sustaining or-runpreventive-threads B and B1 may Abe of a larger Y size or diameter` than the needle threads proper AxandAl.-

It is further notedthat the formation of a fabric of thecharacter of that illustrated in 2,249,081 l y i i' Figure 2v of the drawing may be again modified by eliminating the companion row of needle loops proper 2b and knitting the sustaining or runpreventive thread B1 with its twisted loops B3 directly in interlooped fabrication with the needle loops proper 2, in which latter modification there will be alternate rows or courses of needle thread loops proper with directly intervening rows or courses of the peculiarly twisted or twirled loopings B3 of the sustaining or run-preventive thread B1.

While the foregoing described fabric structures embody preferred practical adaptations of the invention, it is obvious that still further modification is contemplated within the purview of the appended claims. The invention, therefore, is not limited to the specic structures illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

What is claimed is:

1. A knitted fabric comprising transverse rows of alternate needle loops with intervening sinker loops formed of a body thread, and intervening transverse rows of sustaining thread loops formed of a thread carried rst floatingly and sinuously through the thickness .between the front and rear-faces of the fabric and alternately through the respective needleloops and sinker loops of the body thread after each row thereof is formed, and the sustaining thread so placed being pulled laterally and upwardly from between the respective needle loops of the body thread and said laterally pulled portions of the sustaining thread being looped and twisted between the respective loops thereof and the intervening portions which remain interlooped with the needle loops lof the body thread and the needle loops of the body thread formed in the next succeeding row being knitted with interlooping engagement in sinker loop portions formed in the sustaining thread between said upwardly pulled looped and twisted portions of the thread.

2. The knitted fabric structure as set forth in claim l and further more specifically describing the main body formation including the rows of body thread loops, in that the conventional knit rows of the body thread each include the alternate needle loops and intervening sinker loops formed inthe regular way, but with the rows so formed a. special intervening additional row of such loops is knitted with interlooping engagement on its sinker loops in the needle loops of an adjacent regularly knitted row of the body thread loops,

and the therein described formation of the sustaining thread having its sinker loop portions interlooped with the needle loops of said special intervening additional row, the next formed adjacent regularly knit row of body thread loops having its sinker loops in direct interlooped engagement in the twisted loops of the sustaining .thread andthe needleloops of said next'adjacent regu-v larly knit row being drawn upwardly through said twisted loops of the sustaining thread'.-

'JUL

ESTER` HUGHES.

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