US3212103A - Elastic mesh ballet tights - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 19, 1965 N. H. GOODMAN ELASTIC MESH BALLET TIGHTS Filed June 5, 1963 zzvvzm'on.

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A T TOENE Y5 3,212,103 ELASTIC MESH BALLET TIGHTS Norman H. Goodman, New York, N.Y., assignor to Vanmark Research (Iorporation, Greensboro, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed June 5, 1963, Ser. No. 285,750 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-424) This invention relates to elastic mesh tights, pa rticulr ly suited to wear by dancers, most especially by ballerinas. Its primary object is to provide an improved toot construction which can be Worn in strenuous use with greater cornfiort than like products hitherto available. Incidental objectives are that the product cost little more than similar items, wear Well, and be not visibly different, to persons other than the wearer, trom products presently in use.

The invention is primarily directed to the provision in a mesh stocking of a sewn-in sole piece. The sole piece presents an unbroken surface to the foot of the wearer, and thereby avoids the persistent and irritating effect of conventional tights, in which a seam extends lengthwise down the center of the foot. Such a seam is especially objectionable in the hosiery which is Worn by ballet dancers and others who practice gymnastic dancing. This is because the full Weight of the body is augmented by the fiorce of gravity with every leap, so that the sole of the foot hammers, as it were, against the seam during many evolutions of gymnastic dancing.

How the objectives of this invention are attained is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates generally a pair of elastic mesh tights.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the foot part of the tights, with the toe portion broken away to clearly show the sewn-in sole piece.

FIG. 3 shows in greatly enlarged scale, the stitch pattern used in sewing the sole piece to the mesh portion of the foot.

FIG. 4 shows, in diagram-atic form, a partial section of the foot portion.

In FIG, 1 the pair of tights illustrated comprises an elastic waistband, 10, a mesh net trunk portion 11, for enciosing the hips and crotch of the wearer, and the leg portions 12.

The mesh-work portion of the garment is cut from a sheet of knitted mesh, usually Raschel knit. The pattern used desirably is configured to represent half of a pair of tights, and is shaped for preference to indicate a cut-out at the foot sole area, as Well as the contours of the trunk and leg portions. Two counterpart pieces, after cutting, are rolled and scanned along their mating edges to provide the central trunk seam l3, and the back seams 14, one for each of the legs.

Below the section 15 which would normally fit the heel of the wearer, the mesh is cut, as seen in FIG. 2, to provide an opening 17, slightly smaller than the sole of the foot of the wearer. This opening may be "formed either store or after the blank has been rolled and seamed to form the tights. The opening 17 is filled by a sole piece 18, which is stitched throughout its periphery, 19, to the rim of the opening 17.

Instead of using a conventional hosiery stitcher [for this opera-tion, I use a specialized type of sewing machine, known as a Flat-Lock stitcher. Machines of this type are available from the Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, and may be available from other sources. The type of flat lock machine which I prefer to use carries four needles above the goods and four loopers below the goods. It also provides a carrier yarn which moves to and im, that is, transversely of the direction of sewing.

nited States Patent 3,Zi2,l3 Patented Get. 1%, 1965 The result is the production of a fiat band of stitching, outlined in FIG. 3, much less bulky than the conventional seam, and relatively fairly wide.

Since the type of sewing machine which produces the multiple-thread flat stitch used to secure the edges of the sole piece to the rim of the opening in the mesh is, and has been, very well known for some years, it will not be described in detail here.

Considering FIG 2 in greater detail, a portion of the mesh 12 has been broken away at 20, so as to reveal the rim of the sole piece. The flatastitch seam 25 has like wise been broken away to show how the mesh overlies the sole piece. The upper stitch lines 21 produced by the sewing machine are transversed at each stitch by the carrier yarn 22. The corresponding stitch lines produced by the loopers are, of course, below the goods, and are not illustrated in this view. It will be realized that the stitching referred to involves the use of nine separate threads. The four locking threads are directly below the stitch lines 21 in FIG. 3 also.

In FIG. 4 only the upper stitch lines .21 are shown, the carrier yarn '22 which passes to and fro across the seam above the goods being omitted for the sake of clarity. The four locking threads 23 are seen beneath the goods, and the vertical thread 24 is, of course, the thread which penetrates the goods between stitches.

In stitching the sole piece to the rim of the opening 17 the leg is turned inside out, and placed on the work table of the sewing machine, then the sole piece itself is laid above the :cut loops of the mesh, overlapping the marginal area near the periphery of the opening. It is highly desirable so to locate the fiat seam that it catches practically all of the free ends of the mesh yarns around the rim of the opening 17, and also runs parallel to the edge of the sole piece 13. It is also important that the band of stitching should secure a sufiiciently large area of the mesh around the opening to ensure that the meshes are firmly bound to the sole piece throughout its periphery. The operator must raise the edge of the sole piece from time to time as the stitching progresses, in order to see, eneath the pressure foot of the machine, that the line of stitching will be congruent with the rim of the opening '17, as Well as with the edge of the sole piece itself.

Insofar as details of the construction are concerned, it is, of course, obvious that any appropriate type of yarn may be used for producing the mesh legs. This forms no part of the present invention, but it may be observed that the product most commonly available commercially comprises a cotton covered, elastic core yarn which is knitted with nylon yarn on the Raschel machine.

Insofar as the sole piece 18 is concerned, it may be formed of any smooth, soft fabric. I prefer to use a jersey-knit fabric made of relatively fine denier yarn. Tricot fabric is equally acceptable. Woven goods may also be used, particularly where it is not desired to pro vide substantial stretching of the sole piece in use.

Although a primary objective of the invention is to avoid the irritation produced by a central seam along the length of the foot, it should be emphasized that the entire sole area is not seamless. Rather, the sole piece of the present invention is preferably slightly smaller than the bottom area of the foot of the wearer, so that the flat stitching around the rim of the opening in the mesh will inevitably carry some of the weight of the wearer when the garment is used. But I have discovered that when a fiat seam is used, and this flat stitching is located near the periphery of the sole area of the foot, little if any irritation is produced in actual use. My tentative explanation for this observed phenomenon is that the primary impact at each step, when dancing or leaping, is on the center of the ball of the foot, and that the peripheral margin of the foot sole takes relatively little of the shock.

It has been surprising to find that a peripheral seam, even though still entirely below the sole of the foot of the wearer, causes much less discomfort than a central lengthwise seam. This finding involved not only the discovery that the peripheral portions of the foot sole apparently are not as heavily stressed in active use as the central area, but also that a flat seam can reduce the irritation almost to the vanishing point. It has been equally surprising to discover that the increased comfort is sufiiciently important to the purchaser to justify the added cost of cutting and fitting, and especially the relatively painstaking cost of flat-stitching the parts together.

One other observation may be offered at this point. Although one might suppose that irritation of the foot of the wearer could be completely avoidedby forming the opening in the mesh, and the sole piece which mates with it, of a suflicient size to extend entirely across the sole and slightly upon the round of the foot, I have discovered that a construction of that type is not appreciated by potential customers, since it is conspicuous in use. It seems to be important to dancers that the area of the sole piece and the stitch line should be substantially completely covered by the foot of the wearer, in order to avoid creating the appearance that the dancer is wearing socks or slippers. A suitable relationship is suggested in FIG. 4, where it is clearly seen that the flat seam lies generally inward from the point at which the mesh begins to cover the round of the foot, although it may extend slightly beyond the contact area, as long as it is not conspicuous to others.

I claim:

1. Ballet tights having a trunk portion, and two openrnesh leg portions associated therewith, each of said leg portions terminating in an open-mesh foot portion, said garment being characterized in that each of said foot portions has an opening slightly smaller than the foot size of the garment, to the rim of which opening a continuous flat sole piece of smooth, soft fabric, configured to cover a major portion only of the sole of the wearers foot, is united by a band of fiat-seam stitching, of the type which comprises a plurality of side-by-side threads primarily above the fabric and an equal number of locking threads below the fabric, both groups of threads extending generally lengthwise of the seam, and a carrier yarn extending to and fro transversely of the seam, said line of stitchin g covering substantially all of the free ends of the meshes where they have been cut to provide the opening aforesaid.

2. Ballet tights as defined in claim 1, wherein the sole piece underlies the margins of the opening in the meshwork of the foot portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 883,614 3/08 Borton 2-275 X 2,334,659 11/43 Van Arsdale et al 369 2,420,089 5/47 Murphey 2-80 2,798,311 7/57 Scholl 36-9 3,020,556 2/62 Isley 66177 3,037,368 6/62 Isenhour 66177 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. BALLET TIGHTS HAVING A TRUNK PORTION, AND TWO OPENMESH LEG PORTIONS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH,EACH OF SAID LEG PORTIONS TERMINATING IN AN OPEN-MESH FOOT PORTION, SAID GARMENT BEING CHARACTERIZED IN THAT EACH OF SAID FOOT PORTIONS HAS AN OPENING SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN THE FOOT SIZE OF THE GARMENT, TO THE RIM OF WHICH OPENING A CONTINUOUS FLAT SOLE PICE OF SMOOTH, SOFT FABRIB, CONFIGURED TO COVER A MAJOR PORTION ONLY OF THE SOLE OF THE WEARER''S FOOT, IS UNITED BY A BAND OF FLAT-SEAM STICHTING, OF THE TYPE WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF SIDE-BY-SIDE THREADS PRIMARILY ABOVE THE FABRIC AND AN EQUAL NUMBER OF LOCKING THREADS BELOW THE FABRIC, BOTH GROUPS OF THREADS EXTENDING GENERALLY LENTHWISE OF THE SEAM, AND A CARRIER YARN EXTENDINF TO AND FRO TRANSVERSELY OF THE SEAM, SAID LINE OF STITCHING COVERING SUBSTANTILLY ALL OF THE FREE ENDS OF THE MESHES WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN CUT TO PROVIDE THE OPENING AFORESAID.

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