US2590008A - Circular-knit multifeed stocking and method of making same - Google Patents

Description

March 18, 1952- |.w. GROTHEY ETAL 7 2,590,008

, CIRCULAR-KNIT MULTIFEED STOCKING AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed April 26, 1948 2 SHEE T$SHEET l frzven far-5 ROBERT H. LAWSON 5:5, Zizez'r aiiorne ys .IVAN WGROTHEY March 18, 1952 w. GROTHEY EIAL 2,590,008

CIRCULAR-KNIT MULTIFEED STOCKING AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME/ 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filzad April 26, 1948 PICK DROP-3 Z7 Z0 71. 73 72 71 I0 .9 NARROWED SEGMENT Invn'tar's IVAN w. GROTHEY ROBERT H. LAWSON Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIRCUIIAR -KNITf MULTIFEED' STOCKING AND 'METHOD OF MAKING SAME Ivan'W. .Groth'eysandf Robert H. Lawson, Laconia,.

N. H.,.,assignorscto'scott & Williams; Incorporated, Laconia, N. H'., a corporation of Massai chusetts Application-AprilZfi,1948, Serial No. 23,224

14 Claims. 1

This'invention relatesto, a circular-knit; multie to use relatively heavy yarns in the welt,- heel. and toe, and to use relatively lightyarns. insthe leg and. instep. The difficulty is much increased when it is desired to make reciprocatory knit: ting by multi-feed, Another difiicu1tyinknitting a. heeel or toe. of a circular stocking by multi-feed reciprocatory knitting. is ,the tendency of thesutures in thelheeland toe to formeyerlets. In stockings made in accordance-with our invention, eyelets ,due to. changes in the number, of feeds have been completely eliminated by making the courses in the stocking continuous from the welt into the toe. Eyelets in the sutures of' the heel and toe, duetothe multiplicity of j feeds, i. e., multi-course knitting; have been minimized by the construction hereinafter-"set forth. It is characteristic 'of our invention, as

far as concerns the eyelets" in "the suturesizofithe heel and toe, that the sutures are-"multi' feed, single-sided sutures. Other features minimiz ing the-size of these-eyelets are'set'forth in-the following description and claims.

Our invention willflbe shownembodied in'a,

two-feed, circular-knit stocking-inwhich a twocourse' spiral is used in the rotary-knit parts of the stocking, and in thereciprocatorily-knit heel" and toe pockets there are twocourses in each group knit simultaneously-in the same di rection.

In the drawings:

Figured is'the outline of a complete circulars knit stocking such as ourinventiomrelatesjto; showing typical yarn: changes;

Figure 2 is a'view von-an enIargedscaIe-of'the'- footof the stocking ofl 'ig. 1, showing-the-uninterruptedcharacterof the multi-feed courses:

in the root andtoe;

Figures3iis ;a diagrammatic showing of the in:-

terlooping; of the yarns impart of agheellorttoe:

pocketmade 5 in: accordance; with; our, invention. 1

the number, of walesand; courses shown-1 bein s illustrative-and not typical;

A- cil'cularrknit' stocking; knit multhfeed: is: shown in'Fig; 1, such-as cangbe produced accord-e However, if the: leg isknit.

2 ing toour invention. It has a welt l, a leg}, a heel 3, foot 4 with instep 5 and toe16. As: indicated in this figure, the yarn or yarns used; inknitting the welt I, heel 3 and toe 6 are relatively. heavier than the yarn or yarnsusedi the leg 2 andinstep5. The sole side ofthefoot 4 is sometimes made of heavier yarn and some-- times lighter yarn. hosiery, changes of yarn are essential when knit-- ting multi-feed.

In Fig.2 we have givenan example of the'fact; thataccording to the first feature of our inventioniallthe courses inxone part of the stocking:

continueuninterrupted into the next part. We;

have shown a two-course, rotary-knit spiral" in thefootA consisting of yarns 1 and .8, the courses continuing uninterrupted into. the reciprocam torily-knit toe 6. Weltl into theleg. 2, and the leg 2 into the heel3i.

Another source of eyeletsis thestitch forma-. tion at the sutures. While some elementary; formsof sutures such as a .plain.1 X 1 double-..

sided suture .between the'narrowed and widened segments of a .plainheel or toe do not have any eyelets along-their length, there are many other r forms ofsutures which do have eyelets. We have.-

discovered that although a plain narrowed and;

widened heel when knit multi-feed produces large; eyelets, it is possible to minimize those:

eyelets :greatly by the construction'which we will.

describe. We have found that it is now possibleto. produce aistocking with yarn changes in it" and which multi-feed throughout, .yet will be substantiallyfreeof eyelets. Accordingto ourv invention, the: eyelets, due to. discontinuity of coursesahave. been eliminated entirely from the stocking, and the eyelets in thesutureshave been minimized.

It should. be noted. that when aheelor toe every course onone side of the suture is directly: connected to av course on the other side; This is true whether. the single-feed suture is singlesided .ordouble-sided; In other words, whether a sutureois formedby the tapered edge 'ofa singlen reciprocatorily=-knit: segment and a continuous:

course: ofv stitches, orlof two tapered reciprocal torilyrknit. segmentzedges, every.. reciprocatorilys knit course will be directly interknit withtliefabric '.on;the other side of the suture as -long asa. thereciprocatoiy segment or: segments are knlt i singlevfeed; In ,a-stockin knitidouble or triple-'- feed,. the suture works out differently.

nzmultr-fe'ed knitting, when it 'is attempted:

t knit narrowed and widened segmentsato form a heel' pocket, ,theuresulting, doubleesidedi' suture:

has;;larg e; eyelets init; We have discoveredithat:

, these eyelets can-.beavoided byplacingganumber' In modern fine-gauge...

The same may be true of:the.

pocketv issmade single-feed, the. end stitch in J of continuous courses of stitches, i. e., a gusset between the narrowed and widened segments thereby splitting the usual double suture into twp singled-sided sutures. In the resulting structure, of which the preferred embodiment is shown in Fig. 3, not only are the eyelets minimized along the suture, but the suture is strengthened by certain tie-across stitches hereinafter described. The shape of the resulting heel or toe pocket may be substantially the same as if the gusset had' not been inserted between the narrowed and widened segments. This construction can be used in the heel pocket or toe pocket, or both. In Fig. 3 we have embodied this novel form of pocket in the toe in the form of gusset shown in the U. S reissue patent to John M. Allen No. 17,958, dated Feb. 10, 1931; and in the heel we have shown the invention embodied in the form of heel shown in the Harry N. Sheppard U. S. Patent No. 2,338,649, dated'November 6, 1945.

While in Fig. 3 we have shown the simpler form of gusset-embodied in the toe shown in Fig. 2, it should be understood that the form shown in Fig. 3 can be used equally well in the heel pocket if desired. The construction shown in Fig. 3 comprises three basic elements in addition to the sutures. These are a narrowed segment knit first, a gusset or parallel-sided element joined to atapered edge of the narrowed segment by a single-sided suture and finally a widened segment joined to the other edge of the gusset by a single-sided suture.

We will next describe the general manner or sequence in-which this fabric is produced, beginning" at theright of the'figure with the narrowed segment where the word Start will be found on the drawing. As already mentioned, the embodiment of our invention shown in this figure is knit'attwo feeds so that two courses are being knit-simultaneously. The stitches of courses 9 and I indicated at the start of the narrowed segment are knit from right to left when the sheet is held in a horizontal position. The stitches of courses I l and I2 as they appear in the drawings are knit from left to right so that the last stitches to be knit'are those in the wale'at the extreme rightA-namely, the wale'marked ll. As the needles then start moving 'in the other direction, the first two needles, namely; those knitting-wales l1 and I8, are raised or picked up out of action so that they do not knit in courses l3 and I4; raisedout of action simultaneously and have the ends of-the yarns coming from the two throat plates attached to them. The yarns will float across in front of the needles which knit wales l1, and 18, forming crossedfioats or tie-across yarns I5 and [6 which are knit into successive stitches by the needle knitting the adjacent wale 19.;- 'f It will he noted that the set'of loops or stitches marked X formed in the wale [1 about the time that'the needle of wale'll and the needle-of wale [8 are raised out of action, project toward .thezsuture lying between the narrowed" segment and the gusset further "than the stitches in wale l8. The last'loop ofthis set of stitches X remains on the needle in the wale 17; It will be noted also that in wale [9 two courses, which can be considered as forming a group, are terminated so that in wale [8 there are'at least two stitches less than in wale l9 at this end of the courses. The stitch in wale I8 formed at the same time as the last stitch in wale l1 remains on the needle intwale It. The machine now knits courses 20 and 2!, and the cycle repeats itself. When the However, the two needles have been last wale 22 at the left is the wale on the end active needle, the narrowed segment may, for purposes of illustration, be considered as completed, though it should be understood that the number of wales and courses is not typical.

The gusset is then knit by throwing back into action the desired idled needles including the needle for Wale IT. The needles knit the first continuous course 23 of the gusset and the stitches put on the needles in the narrowing, including the tie-across stitches I5, it, are shed off the needles. The'machine knits over and back, which completes four courses. This is merely illustrative, as the gusset would normally have, say, nine oscillations for a total of eighteen courses. The ends of the gusset would normally be tapered. Approximately the same number of needles that were thrown into action at the beginning of the gussetare'thrown out again when the gusset is completed. The machine, continuing to reciprocate, will pick up one needle at the end of each reciprocation and a dropper will put three needles back into action, giving a net increase of two. The throwing back into action of the above needle which was raised out of action sheds the short tie-across yarns 24, 25 shown in the widened segment and leaves the set of stitches Y of that segment in the position shown in the drawing. It will be observed that with this construction there is direct continuity of the set of stitches in every wale extending from the narrowed segment through the gussetand into the widened segment. Whilein the construction shown, the courses of the narrowed and widened segments are not staggered or offset with relation to each other, as a 'practical matter it may be desirable to offset the courses in these two segments so that the set of stitches do not fall into line. The reason for. this is that in the toe the segment must taper down near the looping and this will give a doublee sided suture. at this point. This putting of the ends of the courses in stepped relation is important when a double-sided suture is being made, because .this tends to minimize the eyelets. Wherever a gusset is interposed between the narrowed and widened segments it makes no difference whether or not the courses in the narrowed and widened segments are offset. 7

With-this construction eyelets are substantially eliminated and the tie-across yarns provide a substantial increase in strength at the sutures.

We claim:

1. YA circular-knit stockin knit q multi-feed throughout having a turned welt, leg, heel, foot and toe, characterizedin that the welt, heel and toe are knit of relatively heavy yarn or yarns and the leg and instepof the foot of relatively light yarn or yarns, in combination with the fact that the stocking is knit with the same.

foot being knit in a two-course spiralwith the" welt of heavier yarn or yarnsthan the leg, and the heel and toe being knit in two-course reciprocation of heavier yarnor yarns than the instep of the foot, characterized in that the two-course spiral and two-course reciprocatory knitting maintain complete continuity of all the courses from the welt to the toe, whereby eyelets due to increase or decrease in the number of feeds are eliminated.

3. A, circular-knit stocking with a welt and knit multi-feed throughout in which the courses are all continuous from the welt into the toe, characterized by the provision of at least two single-sided sutures in the heel and toe, whereby eyelets at the suture are minimized.

4. In a circular-knit stocking knit multi-feed throughout with the courses all continuous from the welt into the toe, the provision of one or more pockets having one or more single-sided sutures, whereby eyelets at the suture are minimized.

5. A circular-knit stocking knit multi-feed throughout with the courses all continuous from the welt into the toe, having one or more pockets in which there is a tapered segment in combination with a gusset and a suture between the segment and gusset, the segment being formed of groups of courses successively knit in opposite directions with the ends of the groups of courses at the suture in stepped relation, there being a continuous course of stitches forming the edge of the gusset at the suture, whereby eyelets due to the multi-feed construction are minimized.

6. A circular-knit stocking having a narrowed and widened pocket in which there are two tapered segments, a gusset therebetween and a single-sided suture between the gusset and each segment, each segment being formed of groups of courses successively knit in opposite directions with the ends of the groups of courses at the suture in stepped relation, each edge of the gusset at a suture being a continuous course of stitches, whereby eyelets due to the multifeed construction are minimized.

7. A circular-knit stocking knit multi-feed throughout having a narrowed and widened pocket in which there are two tapered segments, a gusset therebetween and a single-sided suture between the gusset and each segment, each segment being formed of groups of courses successively knit in opposite directions with the ends of the groups of courses at the suture in stepped relation, each edge of the gusset at a suture being a continuous course of stitches, whereby eyelets due to the multi-feed construction are minimized.

8. A circular-knit stocking in accordance with claim 7 characterized in that on the tapered side of each suture the yarns from the dii'r'er ent feeds float across each other in passing from wale to wale as well as course to course, whereby the fabric is tied together and strengthened at the suture, minimizing eyelets.

9. A circular-knit stocking in accordance with claim 7 characterized in that on the segment side of each sature the yarns from the different feeds float across each other in passing from one wale to another wale spaced therefrom as well as in passing from course to course, whereby the fabric is tied together and strengthened at the suture, minimizing eyelets.

10. A circular-knit stocking knit multi-feed throughout, having narrowed land widened heel and toe pockets in which there are two tapered segments, a gusset therebetween and a singlesided suture between the gusset and each segment, each segment being formed of groups of courses successively knit in opposite directions with the ends of the groups of courses at the suture in stepped relation, each edge of the gusset at a suture being a continuous course of stitches, whereby continuity of all course-connected wales is maintained from the narrowed to the widened segments and eyelets are minimized.

11. A circular-knit stocking having heel and toe pockets knit multi-feed throughout, there being in one or more pockets at least a tapered segment and a gusset with a suture between the segment and gusset, characterized in that the suture edge of the gusset is a continuous course and that at the suture edge of the segment the ends of alternate courses are knit to the intervening courses in combination with the ends of the intervening courses being locked to the alternate courses by tie-across floats, thereby producing a multi-feed suture of superior strength with minimized eyelets.

12. A circular-knit stocking having heel and toe pockets knit two-feed throughout with at least a tapered segment, a gusset and a suture in each pocket, the suture being located between the segment and gusset, characterized in that the edge of the gusset at the suture is a continuous course and in the suture edge of the segment a multiplicity of ends of courses in stepped relation are present, the ends of alternate courses being knit to the intervening courses, in combination with tie across floats from both feeds locking spaced wales together, whereby a twofeed suture with minimized eyelets and superior strength is formed.

13. In a method of making a circular-knit stocking by multi-feed knitting, the steps of knitting a leg or foot by a multi-feed spiral, continuing those feeds uninterrupted into the reciprocatory knitting of a pocket, knitting the pocket by multi-feed reciprocatory knitting including narrowing a segment by picking needles out of action a plurality at a time, and then throwing all the idled needles back into action simultaneously so as to knit a continuous course, whereby a multi-feed single-sided suture is formed in which eyelets due to the multi-feed construction are minimized.

14. In a method according to the preceding claim, the step during reciprocatory knitting of the pocket, of simultaneously throwing a multiplicity of needles out of action which were the last needles to knit in one direction of movement, and then moving them in the other direction of movement as idled needles while knitting on the adjacent needles, whereby tie-across floats of yarn from each of the feeds are created crossing each other, locking together different wales, whereby a multi-feed suture of superior strength is made.

IVAN W. GROTHEY. ROBERT H. LAWSON.

REFERENCES CITED The'following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re.17,958 Allen Feb. 10, 1931 862,575 Mettler Aug. 6, 1907 1,843,086 Lawson Jan. 26, 1932 2,388,649 Sheppard Nov. 6, 1945 2,396,166 Faucette Mar. 5, 1946 2,440,280 Lawson Apr. 27, 1948 2,500,337 Berg Mar. 14, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 258,600 Great Britain Oct. 2'7, 1927

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