US3581325A

US3581325A - Knitting method

Info

Publication number: US3581325A
Application number: US774807A
Authority: US
Inventors: Max William Betts; Frank Robinson
Original assignee: Courtaulds PLC
Current assignee: Akzo Nobel UK PLC
Priority date: 1967-12-01
Filing date: 1968-11-12
Publication date: 1971-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 1988-06-01
Also published as: ES360906A1; BE724706A; GB1236579A; FR1593859A; SE351243B; CH518389A; DE1811027A1

Abstract

A METHOD OF KNITTING A PANEL FOR A SINGLE-KNIT JERSEY GARMENT IN WHICH THE PANEL IS KNITTED ON A MACHINE HAVING TWO OPPOSED STRAIGHT NEEDLE BEDS BETWEEN WHICH TUBULAR FABRIC CAN BE PRODUCED, AT LEAST ONE MARGIN OF THE PANEL BEING KNITTED IN TUBULAR FORM CONTEMPORANEOUSLY WITH THE KNITTING OF THE MAIN PART OF THE GARMENT PANEL.

Description

June 1, 1971 w, BETTS EIAL KNITTING METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 12, 1968 N SQVEQDEDRD @09039 J m N m UQSQGD EDGE 3 u I nuenlora MAX WILLIAM BETTS &: FRANK ROBINSON A ttorneyu June I, 1971 w -r ETAL KNITTING METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet z Filed Nov. 12, 1968 lnvenlor MAX WILLIAM BETTE 8c FRANK ROBINSON DAVIS, HOXIE, FAITHFULL 8c HAPGOOD A Home y Patented June 1, 1971 3,581,325 KNITTING METHOD Max William Betts, Coventry, and Frank Robinson, Borrowash, England, assignors to Courtaulds Limited, London, England Filed Nov. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 774,807 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 1, 1967, 54,711/67 Int. Cl. D04b 7/04 US. Cl. 66-129 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of knitting a panel for a single-knit jersey garment in which the panel is knitted on a machine having two opposed straight needle beds between which tubular fabric can be produced, at least one margin of the panel being knitted in tubular form contemporaneous- 1y with the knitting of the main part of the garment panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method of knitting singleknit jersey garments.

When a fiat single-knit jersey fabric is produced on a knitting machine it is found that those edge portions of the fabric which lie parallel to, or at an acute angle to, the wales of the fabric (which edge portions will be refered to hereinafter as the margins of the fabric) have a tendency to curl. To overcome this tendency it is com mon practice to stiffen the margins, for example by attaching separate edging portions to the margins of the fabric. These edging portions are sewn or otherwise secured to the margins of the knitted fabric, in either edgeto-edge or overlapping relation, in a separate operation, which adds considerably to the cost of manufacture of the finished garments.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of knitting single-knit jersey garment panels on a knitting machine so that at least one margin of the fabric has a substantially reduced tendency to curl compared with such knitted fabrics which do not have stilfened margins.

The invention may be performed most simply on a flat bar knitting machine, but is also applicable to other machines having two opposed needle beds between which tubular fabric can be produced. British Pat. 1,048,322 describes a suitable machine.

By the term flat bar knitting machine we mean a knitting machine having at least one pair of opposed straight needle beds disposed parallel to one another, a reciprocating head with cam tracks to co-operate with the butts of needles slidably mounted in grooves or tricks in the needle beds for operating the needles independently of each other, and at least one yarn carrier to supply yarn for producing knitted loops of yarn on needles which are operated for the purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly, the invention comprises knitting a single-knit jersey garment panel on a machine having two opposed needle beds and knitting at least one margin of the fabric in tubular form contemporaneously with the knitting of the main part of the garment panel.

The metthod according to the invention may be performed using a single yarn supply in which case the tubular margin is knitted entirely with the same yarn as the main part of the panel. Alternatively, a separate yarn supply may be used for supplying part of the yarn with which the tubular margin is knitted.

lice

The main part of the garment may be knitted on needles of one bed or both beds but both needle beds are used to form the tubular margin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a flat bar knitting machine will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 2. is a diagrammatic view of a flat bar knitting machine comprising three yarn carriers and showing steps in the production of a single-knit jersey garment panel by the method according to the invention, and

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a fiat bar knitting machine comprising one yarn carrier and showing steps in the production of a single-knit jersey garment panel by the method according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows very schematically a flat bar knitting machine comprising two opposed

straight needle beds

1, 2 disposed parallel to one another. Needles a-p are slidably mounted in grooves or tricks (not shown) in the beds, the needles in both beds being spaced apart equidistantly. It will be understood that the number of needles shown is purely diagrammatic in order to simplify the drawing, and does not in any way relate to the number of needles which normally would be employed to knit a garment panel.

The numerals 3, 4 and 5 designate reciprocating yarn carriers and the numeral 6 designates a reciprocating head comprising cams (not shown) to cooperate with butts (not shown) on the needles.

The cams of the head 6 are first set so that, when the head is traversed along the

beds

1, 2 from the position shown in full lines to the position 6a shown in chain lines, three courses of loops are formed on the needles as shown in diagram A, namely a first course of loops formed from yarn supplied by the carrier 3 on the needles p, o and n of the bed 1, the needles md of the bed 2 and the needles c, b and a of the bed 1, a second course of loops formed from yarn supplied by the carrier 4 on the needles p, 0 and n of the bed 2, and a third course of loops formed yarn supplied by the carrier 5 on the needles 0, b and a of the bed 2. During the formation of these courses of loops the yarn carriers 3, 4 and 5 are moved from the full line positions shown in diagram A to the positions 2a, 4a and 5a shown in chain lines.

The cams in the head 6 are then set so that, when the head is returned from the position 6a to the position shown in full lines in diagram B, three more courses of loops are formed on the needles, namely a first course formed from yarn supplied by the carrier 3 on the needles ap of the bed 2, a second course of loops formed from yarn supplied by the carrier 5 on the needles a-c of the bed 1, and a third course of loops formed from yarn supplied by the carrier 4 on the needles n-p of the bed 1. During the formation of these courses of loops the yarn carriers 3, 4 and 5 are moved from the positions 3a, 4a and 5a shown in diagram B to the positions shown in full lines.

If the two steps illustrated in diagrams A and B are repeated over and over again, a single-knit jersey fabric of any desired length can be produced which has the appearance shown in diagram C, namely a garment panel comprising a main part 7 formed on the needles d-m of the bed 2 and two tubular portions 8, 9 at the margins of the fabric. The tubular portion 8 is formed on the needles a-c of the bed 1 and the needles a-d of the bed 2 and the tubular portion 9 is formed on the needles n-p of the bed 1 and the needles m-p of the bed 2.

The main part 7 is all formed from yarn from the carrier 3, but each of the tubular portions 8 and 9 is formed from yarn from two yarn carriers. Thus the tubular portion 8 comprises courses of loops formed from yarn taken alternately from the carriers 3 and and the tubular portion 9 comprises courses of loops formed from yarn taken alternately from the carriers 3 and 4. The yarn supplied by all the carriers may be of the same type, but if it is desired to obtain special effects at the margins of the fabric, the yarns supplied by the carriers 4 and 5 may be different from the yarn supplied by the carrier 3. Thus the yarn of carriers 4 and 5 may be of a different colour from the yarn of carrier 3. Again the yarn of carriers 4 and 5 may be elasticated.

If for certain purposes it is desired to employ a single source of yarn for knitting fabric by the method according to the invention, the machine shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2 may be used. This machine is constructed in the same way as the machine shown in FIG. 1, except that it only has one yarn carrier 3.

In use of the machine shown in FIG. 2, the first traverse of the head 6 from the full line position to the position 6a shown in chain lines in diagram D causes the formation of a course of stitches on the needles a-c of the bed 1, the needles d-m of the bed 2 and the needles np of the bed 1. The yarn carrier is then in the position 3a shown in chain lines.

The head 6 and the yarn carrier 3 are then moved to the positions 6b and 312, respectively, shown in chain lines in diagram E to form loops on the needles pn of the bed 2 and are then returned to the positions 6a and 3a to form loops on the needles np of the bed 1 (diagram F).

The head 6 and the yarn carrier 3 are then returned to the full line positions shown in diagram G to form a course of loops on all the needles p-a of the bed 2.

The head 6 and the yarn carrier 3 are then moved to the

positions

6c and 30, respectively, shown in chain lines in diagram H to form loops on the needles ac of the bed 1 and are then returned to the full line positions to form loops on the needles c-a of the bed 2 (diagram I).

If the six steps illustrated in diagrams D-I are repeated over and over again, a single-knit jersey garment panel of any desired length can be produced which has the same appearance as the garment panel shown in diagram C of FIG. 1. This time, however, the entire panel is knitted with yarn from a single source.

It will be appreciated that if modified flat bar knitting machines having auxiliary beds are employed for carrying out the method according to the present invention, then widening and/or narrowing of the knitted fabric can be performed simultaneously with the knitting of tubular margins on the fabric. In this way it would be possible, for example, to knit the shaped body panel or panels of a cardigan with two tubular knitted margins of the fabric forming those edges of the cardigan which meet at the front of the body of the wearer.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of knitting a single-knit jersey garment panel on a knitting machine having two opposed needle beds between which tubular fabric can be produced, said method comprising the steps of knitting the main part of the garment panel as single knit fabric on needles of a single bed, contemporaneously knitting at least one margin of the fabric in tubular form on needles of two opposite beds, and knitting said margin so that for each traverse of the single needle bed carrying the main part of the panel by a yarn carrier feeding yarn to the needles of that bed, the needles of each of the opposite beds carrying a part of the tubular edge are also traversed by a yarn carrier supplying yarn to those needles.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said main part of the panel is knitted with yarn supplied from a yarn carrier and part of said tubular margin is knitted with yarn from the same carrier during one traverse of the needle beds, the remaining part of the tubular margin being knitted with yarn from the same yarn carrier during a different traverse of the beds by the carrier.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said main part of the panel is knitted with yarn supplied from a yarn carrier and part of said tubular margin is knitted with yarn from the same carrier during one traverse of the needle beds, the remaining part of the tubular margin being knitted with yarn from a different yarn carrier during the same traverse of the beds.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,526,420 2/1925 Hinchliff 66196X 3,451,230 6/1969 Monk 6664 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,502,423 10/1967 France 66-200 72,145 12/1893 Germany 66-64 WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 66-169, 173, 196

(SEAL), 1 i

Inve11t 1-(9) M. W. BETTS et a1 1 It is certified that error appears in the aboveddentified patent;

and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

jflview- 9f a jflat} barf ndifsubsti- 4-tut et'hergfpr i The p-rfdrmarice' Q -L'Of the invent ibn togf a flat-par;

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