US648581A - Knitted or netted fabric. - Google Patents

Description

No. 648,58l. Patented May I, I900.

G. BENGER.

KNITTED 0R NETTED FABRIC.

(Application filed Dec. 5, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

"n Mm 4 Patented May I, I900.

G. BENGER.

KNITTED 0R NETTED FABRlC.

(Application filed Dec. 5, 1899.)

2 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

GOTTLIEB BENGER, OF STUTTGART, GERMANY.

KNITTED R NETTED FABRIC.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,581, dated May 1, 1900.

Original application filed November 28, 1898, Serial No. 697,615. Divided and this application filed December 5, 1899. Serial No. 739,264. (No specimens-l T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GOTTLIEB BENGER, a. citizen'ofthe Empire of Germany, residing at Stuttgart, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitted or make and use the same. I

'My invention relates to "knitted or netted fabrics.

The object of my present invention is to provide a fabric of this character which will not shrink materially on washing, which will not become felted in use, and at the same time will be free from a tendency to warp or become distorted or out of shape.

The knitted or netted fabrics andunderclothing as manufactured hitherto, more particularly those made of wool, have. in addition to a number of advantageous properties the great disadvantage that when being worn and washed they shrink greatly and in time become felted. It has been attempted to overcome these disadvantages by using stronglytwis'ted yarns; but by doing so a fabric was produced which was unfit for use or at least objectionable on account of the fact that it soon became warped and twisted out of shape,

particularly after washing. This so-called warping (getting out of shape) of the hitherto-known manufacture results from the fact that the yarn or thread hitherto used was all twisted in one direction and that this onesided twist of the yarn or of the thread exercises a one-sided strain on the meshes or stitches of the ready-made fabric, thus causing a distortion of each stitch, whereby the stitches all assume a slope in one general direction, which direction depends upon the direction of the twist of the yarn or thread employed. It is obvious that the stronger the one-sided twist of the thread or threads the greater will be the unsymmetrical strain on and consequent warping of the fabric. For these reasons only softly-twisted yarns have been hitherto employed in actual practice for knitted and netted goods-z. 6., socalled hosiery-yarnswith which the felt ing and the great shrinking during wear and washing has to be accepted as inevitable. The present invention renders possible the use of strongly-twisted yarns without affecting the elasticity or the production of a straight-running fabric and with the advantage that shrinking or felting of the fabric when being washed and worn is considerably reduced.

My invention,-which thus accomplishes the objects hereinabove stated, consists, first, in a knitted or netted fabric or garment consist ing of one or more rows of meshes'orstitches made from yarn or thread twisted in one direction alternating with one or more rows of meshes or stitches made of yarn or thread twisted in the opposite direction in combination with interposed rows of meshes or stitches made of neutral thread or yarn, or, more specifically, second, in such a fabric or garment in which one or more rows of meshes or stitches made from yarn or thread twisted in one direction are followed by a row or rows of meshes or stitches made of neutral yarn or thread, these being in turn followed bya row or rows ofmeshes or stitches of yarn or thread twisted oppositely to. the yarn or thread of the first row or-rows of meshes, and so on, the same order of meshes being continually repeated throughout the fabric.

I will now describe my invention more in detail by describing what I consider the best embodiment of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings for this purpose.

In the drawings, Figure l'is an enlarged view representing a portion of a raw unwashed fabric as it came from the circular head, manufactured of softly-twisted yarn or thread, so-called hosiery-yarn, as hitherto practiced. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same fabric, showing the warped or distorted condition assumed by the meshes of the same, in many cases even for lightly-twisted yarns, but always and in a marked degree where yarns or threads strongly twisted in but one direction are employed. Fig. 3 shows, diagrammatically, an enlarged view of a portion of a fabric embodying one preferred form of arrangement of the meshes under my invention; Fig. 4, a similar view of a somewhatmodified arrangement; Figs. 5 and 6,enlarged views of a number of interlocking meshes under the arrangement shown in Fig. 3, and Figs. 7 and 8 similar views under the arrangement shown in Fig. 4..

It will be noted that in the old mode of manufacture, as shown in Fig. 1, the meshes, loops, or stitches a of the fabric, when it is first made and before it is washed, are without any slope-that is to say, have their axes at right angles to the direction of the material. After'the fabric has been washed, however, and more particularly after the use of the ready-made garments, the crimping tendency of the loosely-twisted woolen fibers, together with the one-side twisting of the yarn or thread, causes the stitches to 'assumethe sloping direction as shown in Fig. 2.

In all knitted or netted fabrics hitherto known the meshes or stitches were constructed from one continuous single or multiple thread (made from yarns twisted in thesame direction) which is carriedthroughout the fabric.

are employed for the first time, whereby I am enabled for the first time to use stronglytwisted yarns without incurring" the danger of warping or distortion while reducing the shrinkage and felting to a minimum. Fig. 3, for instance, shows an enlarged diagrammatic view and Figs.-5 and 6 enlarged detail views of a portion of fabric as manufacturedi'n ac- ..cordance with my invention a-ndcomposed of three horizontal rows of meshesa c b, the

I first andthe third of which, a, and b, are, made of oppositely twisted yarns or threadslin such I f the lefthand-twisted yarn or thread b one e throughout thefabric;

connected withthe row of left-hand-twisted thread on each side by a row of neutral thread, as shown in Fig. 3. Y

a way that between the row-a of the right hand-twisted yarn or thread and the row of neutral row of meshes c is inserted, and 'so on row of right-hand-twisted yarn or thre'adis The neutral row or rows of meshes inserted between a row or a number of rows of meshes made alternately of right and left hand twisted yarn or thread, as above described, may be formed, first, of a lightly-twisted yarn or thread, so-callc'd, hosiery-yarn, as indicated in Fig. 5, or, second, in case of multiple-thread fabrics instead of yarn or thread of neutral twist oppositely-twisted yarnsor thread 0 c may be used to form the interspersed neutral row or rows of meshes in such a manner that the left-hand twist and the right-hand twist are equalized in each stitch or mesh, thusneutralizing strain and counterstrain in. each'stitchor mesh.v This arrangement is in-f dicated in Fig; 6.

In Figs. 4, 7, and 8 I have shown another manner of carrying out my invention. Under this form a numbere. 9., two--of rowsef In other words, each 7 in a direction opposite to that of the first number of rows, these rows being again followed by a neutral row,- &c., throughout the fabric. Here, again, in the form shown in Fig. 7, the neutral yarn 0 may consist of a single lightlytwisted yarn or. it may be arranged as in Fig. 8that is to say, composed of aright and aleft hand twisted yarn c 0 or a right and a left hand twisted set of yarns.

Owing to the strain acting on opposite sides in the alternating rows of meshes or stitches, which are made of oppositely-twisted yarns or threads, after the washing the latter assume an opposeiposition to'one another and an inclined position to the inserted neutral row of meshes-thatis to say, a zigzag-shaped diagram of mesh or stitch is produced, only meshes of course may change in every suitable proportion and succession, such asthe The fabric may be made with any suitable number of consecutive rows of meshes of occasion or the requirements-may demand.

right-hand-twisted yarn or thread followed by a suitable number of consecutive ro'wsof.

meshes of left-hand-twisted yarn or'thread,

nentralrows being inseitedkjat .intervalsifonly in all" these instances the -am ount of the rows of meshes throughout the fabric. '1

. 1 5 right and lefthand twist is equalized belfivee'nv do not, therefore, desire to be confined to the precise forms shown in illustration of my in vention, which, broadly considered, consists in a series of rows of meshes of thread twisted in one direction in combination with a series IE 'distributed suitably throughout thefabric.

This fabric is even more elastic-in all direc tions and also longitudinally than that for:

merl y made. This'is' evide'iiced bythe fact that when the fabric is pulled longitudinally the opposite inclined meshes 01' stitches thereof straighten out, and as soon as the strain of the pull is released the said meshes or stitches i of the fabric or of the garment made therefrom-by the counteracting strain of the yarn ,or threads twisted in opposite directions in such a-manner that the amdunt of the lefthand twist of one row or of a. number of rows of meshesis counterbalanced by the same amount of right-hand twist in the following row or rows of meshes, and so on throughout fabric.

the garment. Different strength of twist in opposite directions may be employed with ing, because the soft twist of the yarn or thread promotes the tendency of the woolen fibers for crimping and because there are ore loose fibers in a soft-twisted yarn or bread to catch together and become matted across the meshes, whereby the garment loses its elasticity and porosity, and hence is less advantageous for underclothing. By using strongly-twisted yarns or thread, however, there is considerably less tendency of the fabric or of the garment made therefrom felting and shrinking, because the strongly-twisted yarn or thread has more stability and an increased durability and less loose fibers, thus diminishing and nearly avoiding the felting, and consequently also the shrinkage. A further circumstance that counteracts the felting qualities of the wool is the fact that the oppositely-twisted yarns o r threads take .an

opposite position to one another, thus pres venting the fibers from catching together,- while, on the-contrary, the elongated closed shape of the meshes of the old web, as shown in Fig. l, promotes and facilitates the felting, and consequently, also, theshrinking, of the In my aforesaid application, S'eriatNo. 697,615, filed November 28, 1898, I have described the matter herein set forth, together with other things in illustration of the gen' eric invention there claimed, but have not there claimed the same specifically, since this is the purpose of the present application.

In the following claims the word fabric is of course understood to embrace fabrics Whether in the form of or made up into garments, such as underwear, or in an unmadeup condition. r

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. In a knitted or netted fabric, a number of rows of meshes made from yarn or thread twisted in one direction in combination with a number of rows'of meshes made from yarn or thread twisted in an opposite direction, and a number of rows of meshes made from neutral yarn or threadIthe three sets of vrows being suitably distrihutedthroughout thefabric, substantially as set forth.

2. In a knitted or netted fabric, a row of meshes made from yarn or thread twisted in one direction, and a row of meshes made from yarn or thread in an opposite direction in combination with a row of meshes made from neutral yarn or thread and interposed between and connecting the said rows of oppositely-twisted yarn or thread.

3. In a knitted or netted fabric, rows of meshes of yarn or thread twisted in one diyaril or thread twisted in an opposite direction and combined with rows of meshes of neutral yarn or thread arranged between the rows of meshes of oppositely-twisted thread. In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GOTTLIEB BENGER. \Vitnesses:

A. DRAUTZ, H. WAGNER.

.rrection alternating with rows of meshesof

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