US3519175A - Hosiery finishing board - Google Patents

Description

Juy 7, i970 o. FREGEOLLE HOSIERY FINISHING BOARD Filed Sept. 22. 1967 INYENTOR. OSCAR FREGEOLLE ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,519,175 HOSIERY FINISHING BOARD Oscar Fregeolle, Hickory, N.C., assignor to J. P. Stevens Sz Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Dela- Wll'e Filed sept. 22, 1967, ser. No. 669,758 Int. el. D066 5/00 U.S. Cl. 223-475 4 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A hosiery lfinishing board comprising a flat plate having a welt area ajoining a downwardly tapered symmetrically edged lower portion termintaing in an arcuate-shaped bottom; a first group of markings located in said Welt area for designating various leg lengths; and a second group of markings located in said tapered lower portion for designating various foot sizes.

This invention relates to a ladys hosiery finishing form. In one aspect this invention relates to a novel method for boarding ladies stockings. In another aspect it relates to a metal forni for boarding hip-lets, panty hose, and ladies sheer seamless stockings.

In forming so-called seamless hosiery, that is, hosiery which is tubular-knit on a circular knitting machine (as distinguished from so-called fullfashioned hosiery, which is knit in the form of a at strip, the edges of which are subsequently sewn together by a seam which extends from the toe, along the bottom of the foot portion and up the back of the leg portion), it has heretofore been customary to produce a full range of sizes by knitting substantially straight cylindrical tubes at a high production rate and thereafter closing the bottom of the tube by sewing. The closed tubes are then boarded (before or after dyeing as is well known in the art) on conventional forms corresponding to the various sizes to shape the tube into a conventional stocking shape; i.e., a relatively wide knee area tapering down through the calf area to -a relatively narrow ankle area and terminating in a foot shape with a distinct heel pocket.

Likewise, ladies sheer seamless stretchable stockings have also become quite popular in the last few years because of their ability to readily conform to the leg of the 'wearer and fit several leg and foot sizes. These stockings are produced with reciprocatorily knit heel pockets and with or without reciprocatorily knit toe pockets which are closed by looping or sewing. These stockings are also subsequently boarded on forms otherwise similar to the conventional boarding form except for the provision of a reduced size foot or so-called club foot. This reduced size or club foot is necessary in order to prevent excessive stretching when the stocking is drawn on the boarding form and thus, elimination of the stretchable nature of the stocking foot when subjected to heat-setting temperatures during boarding. Even with these precautions, however, it is still necessary to knit and board these stretch stockings in three different ksizes (usually small, medium and large), in order to cover the complete normal stocking size range of 81/2 to 111/2 since the boarding operation nevertheless results in setting the fabric in stretch condition to limit the amount of strechability in the foot area.

As one solution to these problems, Clyde A. Berry provided a method of forming and finishing ladies sheer seamless stretchable tube stockings in a manner so that the stockings could be produced in a single size but nevertheless having suicient stretchability to fit the entire normal range of leg and foot sizes. The stocking of Berry is described in a Pat. No. 3,310,966 issued on Mar. 28,

1967. Berry relied on providing a tube stocking, which was characterized by the absence of the usual knitted or shaped heel projection, with substantially uniform stretch characteristics or stitched distortion throughout the heel and foot area of the stocking which caused the fabric to stretch and cling or conform to the foot of the wearer when Worn in a substantially uniform manner without wrinkles, bulges, or uncomfortable tightness.

This solution of Berry did not solve the problem for non-stretchable tube type stockings nor did it provide a uniformity of stitch in the calf and knee area.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for shaping and finishing ladies sheer stockings and garments on a single boarding form in all leg and foot lengths to fit the entire range of normal sizes;

Another object of this invention is to eliminate the need for a right and left stocking to form a panty hose or hip-let garment;

Another object of this invention is to provide for improving the pairing and inspecting of the stockings due to entire heel and toe areas being visible on either side of the boarded stocking.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a boarding form capable of providing a pair of hip-let stockings formed without a heel and a so-called fish mouth toe, which are completely interchangeable and may be worn on either leg without everting the stockings;

A still further object is to provide a method for simplifying the removal of the stocking from the boarding form so as to materially reduce the exertion and fatigue of the operator thereby resulting in greater production;

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference tothe following detailed description which is to be considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

lFIG. 1 is a rear elevation of a seamless stocking blank in flattened condition, knit with a run-down heel and having the lower end closed with an arcuate seam;

FIG. 1A is a perspective View of a seamless stocking in flattened condition and having the lower end closed with an under-the-toe seam;

FIG. 2 is a perspective View of a nonstretch stocking of the present invention in attened condition;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of a metal board showing the foot sizes and leg length markings;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a hip-lets leg after cutting out the fabric for the U-shaped inner edge that extends down along the groin along the width of the crotch and up around the buttocks;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5 5 of FIG. 3 showing the toe seam relief for the under-the-toe and fish mouth combination of my novel boarding form.

Brieliy the subject invention comprises a hosiery finishing board having a flat plate, said plate being divided into an upper zone A; an upper section containing a welt area divided substantially equally into a welt, knee and thigh portion, and a downwardly tapered symmetrically edged lower portion terminating in an arcuate-shaped bottom; a first group of markings located in said upper section for designating various leg lengths, and a second group of markings located in said tapered lower portion for designating various foot sizes whereby stockings of all sizes may be boarded on this one boarding form.

The stocking blanks shown in FIGS. 1, lA, 2 and 4 are knit on a circular knitting machine. A conventional turned welt 10 and shadow Welt 11 are preferably knit of heavy denier multifilament nonstretchable nylon yarn of about 40 denier. Then a substantially tapered tubular portion 13 of stretch or nonstretch nylon is knit.

At the heel area 15 a heel reinforcing yarn is knit such as 40-denier to provide reinforcement.

The lower end or toe section 17 is closed by an arcuate line of overedge seam extending across the toe in section 17 as indicated by dotted line 19 in FIG. 1.

FIG. shows a lip portion 23 of the finishing board which extends a predetermined distance ranging from $46 to 1/s of an inch from the arcuate line 32. This provides a relief area for the toe seam 19 (fish mouth).

The stocking blank of FIG. 1 is finished in the usual manner, including dyeing and hardening. Boarding may take place prior to or after dyeing, or the stockings may be both preboarded and final boarded if desired. However, with respect to FIG. 3, a novel boarding form, without the usual heel projection, is utilized to shape and form the stocking of the present invention.

For convenience of describing my novel boarding form, reference lines have been applied in FIG. 3. The portion A shapes the welt, knee and thigh portion of a stocking, while the lower tapered portion B is adapted to shape the parts of a stocking fitting the foot, heel, ankle and calf of the wearer. Both the inside and outside edges of the novel boarding form are symmetrical. By making both edges identical it will be readily seen that any stocking boarded on this form can be used interchangeably for right or left stockings. A first group of indices 33 located in the A portion indicates the various leg lengths and a second group of indices 21 located in the foot portion B indicates the foot sizes. The heel area 15 shown in FIG. 1 is positioned at one of these predetermined foot markings so as to properly position the heel for that size foot. Thus it can readily be seen that a stocking can be finished to fit various leg and foot sizes and be processed on one boarding form. The lower portion B provides a heelless portion adapted to fit the foot, heel and ankle of the wearer.

Due to the fiat nature of the boarding form, heat-set creases are formed along the outside and inside edges of the stocking during the boarding operation. These sides are readily discernible in the finished stocking and may serve as an aid in properly positioning the stocking on the leg.

The boarded stockings of this invention are characterized by the improved appearance of the seamed (fish mouth) toe and the run-down heel area.

FIG. 1A wherein corresponding parts described in FIG. 1 have been given primed reference numbers represents another embodiment of a stocking which can be shaped on my boarding form, these stockings having a under-thetoe seam. In this embodiment parts numbered 11', 13' and 15' correspond to like parts shown in FIG. 1 described hereinabove. In boarding, the under-the-toe seam 25 is positioned along the center line of the toe seam relief 26 (see FIG. 3). This under-the-toe seam 25 extends back from the arcuate edge 27 a distance suicient to shape a getas type toe. Numeral 30 in FIG. 1A represents the top portion of the toe area and numeral 29 represents the sole portion of the toe area with the seam extending from 27 to 40.

In a co-pending application bearing Ser. No. 593,895 entitled Ladies Stockings filed in the Patent Office on Nov. 14, 1966 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,029, there is described a garment which is adapted to completely cover the legs of the wearer and which includes support means on the upper ends for encirculing the lower trunk portion of the body to maintain the stockings in position. This garment has been designed as a hip-let. Heretofore it has been necessary to make a right and left stocking for the hip-let garment as they were not interchangeable. With the novel boarding form described hereinabove it will now be possible to make reversible hip-let stockings.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hip-let stocking blank has a hip engaging portion 35 which will be cut away to provide an inner recess that is defined by a substantially U- shaped inner edge. The hip engaging portion 35 connects with a thigh vengaging portion 37. The tapered tubular portion 39 has symmetrical inside and outside edges as described hereinabove with respect to FIGS. 1-3. The tubular portion 39 is closed by an arcuate line extending across the toe section 31. It is seen that this construction enables the individual stockings in the hip-let construction to be reversible.

In addition, this novel boarding form will have utility in the fabrication of nonreciprocating stockings; reinforced heel-fiat and micro stockings; torque stretch stockings; support stockings; junor miss stockings; hip-let stockings, and the like.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced Otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A hosiery finishing board comprising a substantially fiat plate having an upper portion divided into a welt area, a thigh area, and a knee area; a lower portion adjoining said upper portion and being divided into a calf area, an ankle area, and a foot and toe area, said lower portion terminating in an arcuate-shaped bottom; a first group of markings located in said upper portion for designating various leg lengths; and a second group of markings located in said lower portion for designating various foot sizes; the sides of said fiat plate being substantially symmetrically contoured in both the upper and lower portions, said sides of the flat plate serving to shape the portions of hosiery which fit along the sides of a wearers legs and feet.

2. A hosiery finishing board according to claim l-further including a lip spaced a distance from said arcuateshaped bottom suicient for providing a relief in said toe area.

3. A hosiery finishing board according to claim 1 further having a heel area positioned a predetermined distance from said arcuate-shaped bottom.

4. A hosiery finishing board according to claim 1 having a cut-away portion located substantially centrally in said toe area of a length sufficient to accommodate a getas toe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,636,651 4/ 1953 Tiers 223-75 2,661,877 12/ 1953 Albertson et al. 223-75 2,825,215 4/ 1958 Buckreus 66-185 3,310,966 3/1967 Berry 66-178 3,356,272 12/ 1967 Berry 223-75 3,364,542 1/ 1968 Caldwell 223--75 X MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner Pf3-1050 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 569 CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 519, 175 Dated July 7 1970 Inventor(s) O- Fregeolle It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby Corrected as shown below:

Second line of the Abstract "ajoining" should read adjoining Column 3, line ll "hardening" should read boarding line 66, "encirculing" should read encircling Signed and sealed this 12th day of September 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GO'ITSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

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