US3522717A

US3522717A - Stocking and method of making the same

Info

Publication number: US3522717A
Application number: US686965A
Authority: US
Inventors: Denis Albert Edward Mattingly
Original assignee: KLINGER Manufacturing CO
Current assignee: KLINGER Manufacturing CO
Priority date: 1967-11-30
Filing date: 1967-11-30
Publication date: 1970-08-04
Anticipated expiration: 1987-08-04

Description

Aug. 4, 1970 D. A. E. MATTINGLY STOCKING AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 3 Sheets-Sheet l n Filed Nov. 30, 1967 FIG. 2.

j A D. A. E. MATTINGLY Aug. 4, 1970 3,522,717

STOCKING AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 30. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G.3. M /0 Aug' 4- 1970 y D. A. E. MATTINGLY 35227" STOCKING AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 30, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3,522,717 STOCKING AND METHOD F MAKING THE SAME Denis Albert Edward Mattingly, London, England, as-

signor to The Klinger Manufacturing Company Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Nov. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 686,965 Int. Cl. A41b 11/00 U.S. Cl. 66-178 20 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A stocking is knitted of crimped yarn of the kind formed by sharply bending yarn at intervals along its length through angles of at least 180 and setting the yarn in this configuration. The bends which have been set in the yarn tend to persist in the stockings knitted from the yarn and their presence is believed to account for desirable characteristics in the stockings including a reduced tendency for the stockings to snag.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 563,874, filed July 8, 1966, now abandoned.

This invention relates to stockings and methods of making the same.

A problem arising in the manufacture and use of ladies stockings is that of yarn snagging and rupturing and the resultant breakdown of the stitch formation along the wales of the stocking fabric including the rupture, to produce a run along the length of the stocking.

Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by knitting the yarn into the stocking in a stitch formation which will not run in the event of a yarn rupture. This practice however involves using an intricate stitch construction which increased the cost of production of the stocking and results in a stocking which is often regarded as less aesthetically pleasing than plain knit stockings.

It is an object of the present invention substantially to reduce the above mentioned problem.

Another problem which arises, particularly in the knitting of sheerstockings of nylon or polyester yarns, especially monofilament yarns, is that the stockings exhibit an undesirable sheen and that slight variation in size of the wales results in noticeable streaks or shadows.

In order to overcome these difficulties, it has previously been proposed to knit stockings of yarn which has been given a crinkled configuration by knitting the yarn into a sheet or tube of fabric, heating the fabric in a heated steam chamber and then cooling the fabric to set the yarn in its knitted configuration and unravelling the yarn from the fabric. The resulting crinkled yarn is set generally in the configuration of the loops of the stitches in the sheet or tube of fabric and care has to be taken to ensure that this configuration is different in size or form from the configuration of the stitches to be adopted for the ultimate stockings, in order to avoid patterning in the stockings due to coincidence in phase between the crinkled configuration and the stitches of the stockings.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a stocking knitted at least in part from crimped yarn the yarn having been crimped by being bent at periodic intervals along its length through sharp angles of at least 180" and crimp set in this configuration.

The bends in the yarn preferably have a radius of approximately the diameter of the yarn itself.

According to another aspect of the present invention a method of making a stocking includes the step of knitting at least a portion of the stocking with yarn which has crimped at periodic intervals along its lengths through sharp angles of at least 180 and set in this configuration.

The crimped yarn may incorporate, in the relaxed state,

lUnited States Patent O 3,522,717 Patented Aug. 4, 1970 ICC a series of sharply angled uniform V-like shapes each having one side longer than the other. The general plane of each V-like shape may be disposed at an acute angle to a medial plane running in the general lengthwise direction of the yarn, and the longer side of each V-like shape may yhave a slight bend approximately midway along its length.

The longer side of each V-like shape may be approximately twice the length of the shorter side.

The crimped yarn may comprise yarn crimped by being knitted into a chain of stitches in each of which the yarn passes through a loop of 360, set in its knitted configuration Whilst subjected to a tension sufiicient to pull the chain tight so that the yarn passes through two sharp 180 bends in each 360 loop, and then unravelled from the chain.

We have found that stockings, or any part thereof incorporating the yarn of the kind specified have a substantially reduced tendency to snag, and, where the stitch formation is capable of runningf the stockings have a substantially reduced tendency to run, compared with stockings having a corresponding stitch configuration and incorporating fiat yarn, or even yarn crimped in other ways.

We believe that the stockings of the invention have a reduced tendency to snag, because a proportion of the loops each include a portion of yarn having at least one sharp angled bend, and any such loops which may protrude slightly from the general surface of the stocking tend to have a spike-like form with one of said sharp angled bends forming the spike apex. The length of yarn forming each spike-like protruding loop therefore encloses a smaller area than it would if the loops were substantially circular and it is believed to be for this reason that sharp objects or abrasive surfaces are less: likely to catch in the loop than would be the case with stockings not incorporating yarn of such a crimp configuration, so that the likelihood of breakage is correspondingly reduced.

We believe runs are less likely to occur because, in the event of the yarn breaking at any particular point, the sharply bent angular nature of the crimped yarn will tend to prevent the broken yarn slipping freely out of its knitted configuration, each angular portion of the yarn acting like a hook and engaging hookwise with adjacent parts of the stocking so that the stitches around the broken yarn tend to retain their form thus preventing the likelihood of the formation of a run It is not necessary for every stitch in the stocking or part formed of the crimped yarn to include a sharply bent portion of the yarn. I have found that a suitable ratio is 0.5 bend per stitch but this ratio may be increased to one or more bends per stitch with advantage, or may be decreased to 0.25 or even 0.2 lbend per stitch while still obtaining good results.

The yarn used preferably has at least five sharp bends per inch and yarn having twenty or more bends per inch may be used. I prefer to use yarn having about twelve bends per inch.

The crimped yarn used in accordance with the invention may be either monofilament yarn or plural filament yarn formed of heat settable thermoplastics material such as nylon or polyester.

In order that the invention may Ibe more fully understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

`FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a stocking knitted from crimped yarn in accordance with the invention at 7 X magnification;

FIG. 2 illustrates the stocking of FIG. 1 but with a magnification of 10X;

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a stocking knitted from fiat, uncrimped yarn with a magnification of 7X for comparison with the stocking of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates the stocking of FIG. 3 with a magnification of X;

FIG. 5 illustrates' crimped yarn of the kind from which the stocking of FIGS. l and 2 are knitted; and

FIG. 6 is a view in the direction of the arrow A of the yarn of FIG. 5.

The stocking shown in part in FIGS. 3 and 4 was knitted from denier monofilament llat nylon yarn on a 400 needle circular knitting machine with single feed. As can be seen the stocking was knitted with a plain knitting stitch formation. As is common practice, the welts, toes and heels of the stocking (not shown) were knitted from denier false-twist crimped nylon yarn.

It is clear that should a loop, such as the loop 10 in FIG. 4, protrude from the general level of the stocking, this loop, due to the fact that it has a relatively large radiused formation, being nearly circular, and therefore encloses an area which is nearly the maximum possible for the length of yarn forming the loop, will be liable to catching and snagging, with possible consequent rupturing of the yarn, by sharp objects or abrasive surfaces.

Again in the event of a rupture of the yarn occurring in, for example, loop 10, the large radius smoothly curved bends in the yarn will provide little resistance to the formation of a run from the rupture along the wales adjacent the rupture both in the direction of arrow 11 and arrow 12 under the influence of only slight tension in the stocking.

The stocking embodying the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 was knitted in exactly the same manner and on exactly the same kind of machine as the stockings in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this case however the yarn from which the stocking was knitted had previously been permanently crimped by being knitted into a continuous chain of crochet stitches of single stitch width, subjected on the run and whilst under tension to a heat setting operation, so that the yarn was set in a tight knitted configuration in which the yarn turned through two 180 sharp bends in each stitch, and then unravelled on the run and wound on to a package to provide the supply yarn for the stockings. The yarn was -knitted into said continuous chain of stitches with a stitch length suiicient to provide a crimped yarn having 12 of said sharp bends per inch.

An example of yarn crimped in this manner is shown in side-view in FIG. 5. As will be seen the yarn is formed rby a series of uniform waves 13, of V-like shape, one side 14 of each wave being approximately twice the length of the other side 15. Also, the longer side 14 has a slight bend 16 about midway along its length. The plane of V- shaped wave lies at a slight angle to the general line of the crimped yarn as can be seen from FIG. 6.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2 the yarn in the stocking includes numerous sharp bends 17 corresponding to the sharp bends 18 and 19 in the crimped yarn of FIG. 5. These sharp bends, in addition to the snag and run resistant features discussed hereinbelow, also have the effect of distorting the stocking stitches and breaking up the stitch pattern of the stocking, with a pleasing aesthetic result. This feature has the practical advantage also of minimizing stocking defects due to vertical striping and spirality of the knitted stocking.

It will be seen from FIG. 2 that should a loop, such as loop 20, protrude slightly from the general level of the stocking it will enclose a much smaller area than the corresponding loop 10 of FIG. 4 because of the sharp bend 17. Hence there is smaller risk of such a loop catching and snagging.

In any event, should the yarn rupture in the stocking, the sharp bends in the yarn will tend to grip other yarns of other parts of the same yarn in the vicinity of the yarn rupture and considerably reduce the slippage of the yarn through the stocking fabric, thus tending to prevent the formation of a run.

I claim:

1. A stocking having at least a part knitted of crimped yarn, said yarn incorporating in the relaxed state a series of sharply angled, uniform V-like shapes having a short side and a long side.

2. A stocking according to claim 1, in which the general plane of each V-like shape is disposed at an acute angle to a medial plane running in the general lengthwise direction of the yarn.

3. A stocking according to claim 2, in which the longer side of each V-like shape has a slight bend approximately midway along itsI length.

4. A stocking according to claim 3, in which the shorter side of each V-like shape is straight.

5. A stocking according to claim 4, in which the longer side of each V-like shape is approximately twice the length of the shorter side.

6. A stocking according to claim 1 wherein the yarn has at least ve crimps per inch.

7. A stocking according to claim 1 wherein the yarn has five to twenty crimps per inch.

S. A stocking according to claim 1 wherein the yarn has twelve crimps per inch.

9. A stocking according to claim 1 having at least 0.2 crimp per stitch.

10. A stocking according to claim 1 having 0.2 to one crimp per stitch.

11. A stocking according to claim 1 comprising at least a part -knitted in plain stitches of said crimped yarn.

12. A stocking according to claim 11 wherein the loops of said plain stitches are of spike-like shape.

13. A method of making a knitted stocking comprising knitting at least a part of the stocking of crimped yarn, said yarn incorporating in the relaxed state a series of sharply angled, uniform V-like shapes having a short side and a long side, said yarn having at least 5 crimps per inch and the stocking being so knitted that each stitch includes at least 0.2 crimp.

14. A method according to claim 13, in which the general plane of each V-like shape is disposed at an acute angle to a medial plane running in the general lengthwise direction of the yarn.

15. A method according to claim 14, in which the longer side of each V-like shape has a slight bend approximately midway along its length.

16. A method according to claim 15, in which the shorter side of each V-like shape is straight.

17. A method according to claim 16, in which the longer side of each V-like shape is approximately twice the length of the shorter side.

18. A method according to claim 13 wherein the said part is knitted in plain stitches.

19. A method according to claim 13 in which the yarn has from five to twenty crimps per inch and the stocking is knitted so that each stitch includes from 0.2 to 1.0 crimp.

20. A method according to claim 13 in which the yarn has about twelve crimps per inch and the stocking is knitted so that each stitch includes about 0.5 crimp.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,601,451 6/1952 Page `66--178 LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 66-202