WO2012123976A1

WO2012123976A1 - Method of manufacturing a knitted garment, machine for implementing it and garment thus produced

Info

Publication number: WO2012123976A1
Application number: PCT/IT2012/000065
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nerino Grassi; Paolo Conti
Original assignee: Golden Lady Company S.P.A.
Priority date: 2011-03-16
Filing date: 2012-03-07
Publication date: 2012-09-20
Also published as: ITFI20110039A1

Abstract

The method for manufacturing a knitted garment comprising a body (1) and two legs (9 A, 9B) by means of a double cylinder circular knitting machine with two superimposed cylinders (11, 13), comprising the steps of: knitting with continuous motion simultaneously with the two cylinders (11, 13) respective fabric portions (3A, 5A); 3B, 5B) forming the body (1), said portions being joined along a front median joining line (m) and a back median joining line (n); after knitting of the body, knitting with continuous motion simultaneously said two legs (9 A, 9B), each by means of a respective cylinder (11, 13), During knitting of the body (1), along a partial needle arc (C), needles (15s) of at leastone (13) of said two cylinders (11, 13) produce a fabric strip (S); after knitting the body, there is formed along said partial needle arc (C) a joining crotch line (CC) between the legs (9 A, 9B). The fabric strip (S) produced by the partial needle arc is separated and removed from the body (1).e

Description

"METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A KNITTED GARMENT, MACHINE FOR IMPLEMENTING IT AND GARMENT THUS PRODUCED"

DESCRIPTION

Technical Field

The invention concerns a garment comprising a body and two legs, such as panties, pantyhose or the like, a method and a machine for knitting the garment.

Background Art

Currently, the method most widely used for producing a pantyhose or the like pro- vides knitting two tubular knitted fabrics on a single-cylinder circular knitting machine, cutting them, in the direction of length in the panty area and joining them by sewing the respective cut edges together. Although pantyhose produced in this way have a good fit, the presence of the seams is unsightly and uncomfortable during use, particularly in the inguinal area. To obtain greater comfort, in some cases a fabric gus- set is sewn into the inguinal area of the garment, however thus increasing the production cost of the pantyhose.

To overcome these drawbacks various processes and corresponding knitting machines have been developed, to produce pantyhose which are delivered from the same machine in a configuration that is ready to wear and does not require further sewing operations in the panty area.

One of these processes is disclosed, for example, in US patent 4011738. The process disclosed in this patent provides for the knitting of a garment of this kind using a double-cylinder circular knitting machine. The machine produces a first tubular fabric, called body, configured to cover the pelvis area, using both cylinders, which are rotat- ed with reciprocating motion and knit the same yarns of one or more feeds, the needles of one cylinder knitting a first half of the tubular fabric when the cylinders rotate in one direction, and those of the other cylinder knitting the other half when the cylinders rotate in the opposite direction. Then, once the body has been completed, the machine starts to rotate with continuous motion, simultaneously knitting with both cylinders two further tubular fabrics, one for each cylinder, destined to cover the legs of the wearer (hereinafter "legs"), each of which is knitted as a continuation of a respective half of the first tubular fabric.

Even if at first glance the appearance of such a garment is entirely acceptable as there are no seams in the panty, it nonetheless has some significant drawbacks which have prevented widespread commercial use and which are summarized below:

a) while knitting the body part with reciprocating motion, the two facing cylinders of the machine must be moved toward each other as much as possible, in order to minimize the interstitch connecting the two halves of the first tubular fabric.

Therefore, to allow the movement of the needles of one cylinder to pick up the yarn and form stitches in one or more feeds without interfering with the corresponding needles of the other cylinder, only alternate needles are used in both the cylinders, for example odd needles in the lower cylinder and even needles in the upper cylinder. As a result, the body part is knitted with half of the needles available in each cylinder, thus obtaining a stitch density that is more than halved with respect to an equivalent classic sewn garment knitted on a machine of equal fineness, and this significantly limits the fit and the covering power of the garment thus obtained, especially for large sizes.

b) Said three tubular fabrics have a single common point, which is located in the lowest part the crotch subject to the most stress. Inevitably, the tensile stresses caused by wearing the garment are concentrated in this point, making it fragile and uncomfortable to wear,

c) The production rate of a machine for producing pantyhose according to the afore- said method is very low due to the limited speed of the cylinders in reciprocating motion used to produce the body of the garment, a speed that is in the order of two hundred oscillations per minute, compared to a speed of around one thousand rpm that can be reached in modern hosiery machines to produce with continuous motion the separate tubular fabrics according to a conventional method. Moreover, the number of yarn feeds that can be used in reciprocating motion for each cylinder, for example in a machine with cylinders having a diameter of four inches, is unlikely to be more than two, i.e. half the number with respect to conventional machines. As a result, knitting of pantyhose according to this process requires a time which is, even more than ten times that required to knit two legs to be sewn together in the classic process.

In order to overcome this last drawback and to obtain other advantages, in particular considerable simplification of circular machines, US 3975924 describes a process for obtaining, using a circular hosiery machine with two cylinders, pantyhose formed by two tubular fabrics already joined together in the body area, wherein the cylinders of the machine always rotate with a continuous circular motion.

This second process also has the drawback b) mentioned in connection with the previously described method, of concentration of the tensile stresses caused by wear- ing in a single inguinal point and joining of the two halves of the body, each knitted on a respective cylinder, is obtained with two front and back median lines which are rough, unsightly and uncomfortable to wear.

Processes similar to the last one mentioned above are also described in the patents IT 176732, EP 0046737 and EP 0083320, which also have the same drawback.

WO-A-2011/004408 describes a method for knitting a seamless garment, in particular a garment comprising a body and two legs, using a circular knitting machine, which overcomes the drawbacks of conventional methods, in particular in relation to fit. This prior art method provides for knitting the body with a reciprocating motion of the two cylinders of a double cylinder circular machine, maintaining a nee- die arc of both cylinders inactive. After the body has been knitted with reciprocating motion, the needles of the needle arc that remained inactive on both the cylinders make a joining line along the crotch of the garment and subsequently knitting of the two legs starts; these are formed by simultaneously knitting the two legs on the two cylinders, one leg being knitted by one cylinder and the other leg being knitted by the other cylinder.

The garment thus obtained has characteristics of fit which are greatly improved with respect to the garments obtained with prior art techniques. However, knitting of the body with reciprocating motion prevents very high production speeds from being reached.

Summary of the Invention

The object of the present invention is to propose a method of knitting a garment with a body and two legs, for example a panty, pantyhose or the like, which at least partly overcomes the aforesaid drawbacks, through a process for knitting a knitted garment comprising a body and two legs using a double cylinder circular knitting ma- chine, which is rotated with continuous motion in only one direction of rotation to simultaneously produce two tubular knitted fabrics adapted to each form the fabric of one half of the body and a respective leg by means of yarns of respective feeds.

In one embodiment of the method according to the present invention, during knit- ting of the body, a substantial group or arc of adjacent needles of first cylinder (for example an arc comprising from 1/20 to 1/5 and preferably between 1/15 and 1/8 of the total number of needles of the cylinder) form stitches also with the yarns of feeds of the other cylinder while the corresponding group of needles of the other cylinder is maintained inactive, i.e. without picking up yarn or knitting fabric. In this way, a fabric strip is formed which connects the two parts of the body produced by the other needles of both cylinders simultaneously to the strip. After reaching the desired length of the body, all the needles that produced the strip release the fabric produced and the strip is separated from the adjacent fabric by means of two parallel cuts along the col- umns of stitches. Then, needles of said group of needles that formed the strip thus separated and needles intercalated with these of the other cylinder knit at least one common partial initial course of stitches picking up a same yarn and start to knit the legs of the garment, each leg thus being knitted with all the needles of the respective cylinder.

The garment thus produced is formed by joining three tubular knitted fabrics in which a first tubular knitted fabric forms the body and the other two tubular knitted fabrics form the legs of the garment. The body is obtained using both cylinders of the machine, which each knit one half of the body by means of yarns fed from at least one yarn guide of at least one respective feed, the two halves being mutually connected according to connecting stitches aligned according to a front line and a back line and al- so according to a partial initial course of the legs forming a crotch line. The other two tubular knitted fabrics that form the legs are knitted simultaneously, each on a respective cylinder of the machine feeding the first and the second cylinder with respective yarns from yarn guides of at least one feed for each cylinder.

Therefore, in the garment produced according to the invention, to form the body each cylinder uses a first arc of adjacent needles having a lesser number of needles than the total number of needles of the cylinder, and knitting of each of the other two tubular knitted fabrics forming the legs is performed by means of all the needles of the respective cylinder, the two legs being mutually connected along the crotch by a common partial course of stitches. In this way, concentration of the tensile stresses caused by wearing the garment in a single inguinal point is prevented, overcoming the aforesaid drawback of garments produced according to the various previously mentioned documents.

More in general, the invention provides a method for manufacturing a knitted garment comprising a body and two legs by means of a double-cylinder circular knitting machine with two superimposed cylinders, comprising the steps of:

- knitting with continuous motion simultaneously with the two cylinders respective portions of fabric forming the body, which are joined according to a front median joining line and a back median joining line; during knitting of the body, along a partial needle arc and by means of the needles of at least one cylinder at least one fabric strip being formed between said front and back median lines;

- after knitting of the body, knitting with continuous motion simultaneously the two legs, each by means of a respective cylinder.

Characteristically, after knitting of the body and of the fabric strip, along the aforesaid partial arc at which the aforesaid fabric strip was knitted, there is formed a joining crotch line between the legs. Moreover, the fabric strip is separated and removed from the body.

Partial needle arc is intended in general as an arc substantially of less than 360° and in general substantially less than 90° of the circumferential extension of the two substantially coaxial needle beds of the two superimposed cylinders of the machine. In practice, along this partial needle arc there will be a portion of the circular needle bed of a first cylinder and a portion of the opposed circular needle bed of the second cylin- der. As will be clear from the description below, the length of this partial arc determines the extension of the joining or connecting line between the legs which is produced at the crotch of the garment. The greater the length of the partial needle arc, in terms of number of needles, the greater the extension of the connecting line along the crotch of the two legs. The extension of this needle arc can be limited, for example, to around 20-80 needles and preferably to around 30-60 needles.

The method differs substantially from the prior art processes, in particular as it allows a continuous knitting motion both in body forming step, and in the leg forming step, to be combined with the production of a joining line along the crotch, which prevents concentration of stresses in one point and improves the fit of the garment. More- over, removing the fabric strip formed along the joining crotch line allows comfort to be improved, by avoiding the presence of bulky edges of cut fabric inside the garment, as instead occurs in some prior art knitting systems.

In some embodiments, two strips of fabric can be formed along the partial arc, one on one cylinder and the other on the opposite cylinder. In this case, a double fabric strip must be cut and then removed. Preferably, according to some embodiments a single fabric strip is knitted along the partial needle arc. In some embodiments said fabric strip is formed using needles of both cylinders along the partial needle arc. In sub- stance, a strip of ribbed fabric is formed, as normally occurs on double cylinder machines, for example during knitting of socks.

Preferably, however, along the partial arc on which the fabric strip is formed, the needles of one cylinder knit the fabric strip destined to be subsequently removed from the garment, while the opposite needles of the other of said two cylinders remain tem- porarily inactive during knitting of the body. This produces a better fabric and facilitates separation of the strip from the garment.

In some embodiments the fabric strip can be separated from the body once the garment has been completed and unloaded from the machine. The garment can, for example, be picked up from a collection basket and placed on an instrument suitable to make the cut and to remove the fabric strip. However, a method of this type implies a greater incidence of labor and/or the need for special machinery for handling the garments coming from the knitting machine, resulting in greater costs and lower productivity. Vice versa, in preferred embodiments of the invention, the fabric strip is separated from the body during knitting of the garment on the machine. For example and advantageously, the yarns that form the fabric strip can be cut or severed gradually, i.e. during forming of each course of stitches of the fabric strip. After forming the body in this way, the fabric strip formed along the aforesaid partial needle arc will already be separated from the body with the exception of the last course, which is engaged with the partial needle arc of one or of both cylinders (depending whether the strip is knitted by a single cylinder or by both). At this point, by unloading the needles along said partial needle arc the fabric strip is removed completely from the garment which is still being knitted. After releasing the needles from the last course of stitches of the fabric strip, the yarn can once again be fed to the needles to form a joining interweaving between the two legs forming the joining line along the crotch and thus starting simultaneous knitting of the two legs.

In some advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention, at both ends of the needle arc, by means of at least one respective needle of at least one cylinder there is formed at least one continuous column of connecting stitches forming connecting bridges between side edges of the portions of the body . The columns of connecting stitches define the front median joining line and the back median joining line of the portions of the body. The connecting stitches can advantageously be produced by at least one needle for each side of each portion of the body by stitching to- gether a yarn of a feed of one cylinder with a yarn of a feed of the other cylinder.

In advantageous embodiments the columns of connecting stitches which define the front and back median joining lines are formed by a single needle at each end of the partial needle arc.

In advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention, during knitting of the body, along the partial needle arc, which knit the fabric strip intended to be removed from the garment, the needles that form said fabric strip knit courses of stitches with two yarns, with a yarn of a feed of a first of said cylinders and a yarn of a feed of a second of said cylinders. It would also be possible to produce along the fabric strip a number of stitch courses which is twice the number of stitch courses along the body portions, using a single yarn for each course of stitches.

In advantageous embodiments, in each course of the body, between the columns of connecting stitches and said fabric strip which is separated and removed from the body, adjacent to the columns of connecting stitches at least one column of stitches is formed to improve the resistance of the connecting stitches to stresses caused by wear- ing.

To facilitate the operations to cut and remove the strip from the garment, according to some advantageous embodiments of the invention, respective columns of floated stitches are produced at the two sides of the fabric strip to be separated.

According to another aspect, the invention relates to a double cylinder circular knitting machine for producing a garment such as a parity, pantyhose or the like, characterized in that it is configured and programmed to perform a knitting method as defined above. Double cylinder circular machines are known per se to those skilled in the art and do not require to be described in particular detail herein. They comprise, in general, a lower cylinder and an upper cylinder, substantially coaxial to each other and arranged with opposing needles, i.e. the needles of the lower cylinder with the nose facing upward and the needles of upper cylinder with the noses facing downward.

According to some embodiments, the invention provides a double cylinder circular knitting machine, wherein the knitting members are controlled in such a manner that:

- during knitting the body with continuous motion, the needles in an arc of at least one of the cylinders produce along said arc a fabric strip which is separated from the body and the needles of the arcs of the first cylinder and of the second cylin- der, complementary to said needle arc, form two portions of said body;

- after knitting the body, along said arc a joining crotch line is formed between the legs;

- after forming the joining line, the two cylinders simultaneously knit the two legs of the garment with a continuous motion.

Preferably, the knitting members are controlled so that during knitting of said body the needles in said arc of a first of said cylinders remain inactive, while the needles in said arc of a second of said cylinders produce said fabric strip.

According to advantageous embodiments, the machine comprises, in combination:

- supplementary stitch forming cams for controlling needles of the second cyl- inder, substantially aligned vertically with stitch forming cams of the first cylinder, to knit yarns of the feeds of said first cylinder;

- for each of said supplementary cams, a respective cam for putting into operation needles of the second cylinder at the retaining level, for picking up yarns of feeds of the first cylinder when forming connecting stitches of two por- tions of the body;

- in the second cylinder, means for displacing the needles from a floating level to a clearing level followed by a further needle control cam, to cast off the last course of the fabric strip from the needles that formed said strip and to bring into operation on yarns of the first cylinder selected needles of the se- cond cylinder, for forming a partial connecting course along a crotch line of the garment.

Preferably the two cylinders of the machine are mutually staggered angularly so that the needles of each cylinder are aligned with the sinkers of the other cylinder.

In some advantageous embodiments, the sinkers of each cylinder have a nose and a heel, arranged between which a recess is provided, adapted to allow passage of the corresponding needle of the opposite cylinder when the latter forms a stitch.

In order to remove the fabric strip during forming thereof, in a preferred embodiment the machine according to the invention comprises a device for cutting the fabric strip formed during knitting of the body, arranged and configured to cut columns of fabric stitches along the sides of said strip.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the machine comprises a particular path of needle control cams, which will be described in greater detail below, and pref- erably also a cutting device adapted to perform said double cut to separate the aforesaid fabric strip. Characteristics and embodiments of the machine and of the cutting device are set forth in the dependent claims.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the two cylinders are mutually staggered angularly so that he needles of each cylinder are aligned with the sinkers of the other cylinder, so that the needles of one cylinder do not interfere with those of the other cylinder during knitting of the garment, and both cylinders can be used in their effective fineness during knitting of all the parts of the garment.

According to a further aspect, the invention also relates to a garment such as a pantyhose, panty or the like, comprising a body and two legs and formed by joining tubular knitted fabrics, wherein said tubular knitted fabrics are joined together without any seams, the garment being obtained by means of the method as defined above.

In some embodiments the body of the garment is comprised of two side portions joined by bridges formed by connecting stitches extending along a back median line and a front median line; a connecting line develops between said back median line and said front median line, extending along the crotch of the garment, formed by at least one partial course of connecting stitches; and the body is at least partly formed by courses of stitches formed by yarns severed in proximity of said front median line and of said back median line. The connecting line along the crotch is formed by a plurality of stitches, for example from 5 to 100 and preferably from 20 to 70 stitches. In prac- tice, the garment has a body with a number of columns of stitches that is less than the sum of the number of columns of stitches of the two legs. The difference in the number of columns of stitches is due to the presence of the connecting line along the crotch. In some embodiments the number of columns of stitches of the body is comprised between 50 and 95% and preferably between 70 and 90% of the sum of the number of columns of stitches of the legs.

Contrary to the case of some prior art garments, obtained through continuous and seamless knitting of a body and two legs, besides having a joining or connecting line of the two legs along the crotch, which in itself improves fit and comfort, in the gar- ment according to the invention the presence of strips of fabric inside the body along the back and front connecting lines is eliminated.

In advantageous embodiments, along the front median line and along the back median line only one or only few columns of binding stitches adjacent to the column of connecting stitches extend, the yarns forming the courses of stitches of the body being severed along said column of binding stitches.

In some embodiments, each connecting stitch is formed by two yarns stitched together in the same stitch, one of which forms the respective bridge, a first of said two yarns of each connecting stitch extending to form stitches of a course of a first of said side portions of said body, and a second of said two yarns of each connecting stitch extending to form stitches of a course of a second of said two side portions of said body.

In some embodiments of the invention, at least two mutually staggered partial connecting courses forming a connecting interweaving extend along the connecting line at the crotch of the garment. This interweaving can be produced to connect opposite partial initial courses of the fabric of the legs. In some embodiments the partial connecting courses are formed by yarns that form courses of stitches of at least one portion of the body.

Further advantageous characteristics and embodiments of the method, of the ma- chine and of the garment according to the invention are described hereunder with reference to one embodiment and in the appended claims, which form an integral part of the present description.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will be better understood by following the description and accompa- nying drawing, which shows a non-limiting practical embodiment of the invention. More in particular, in the drawing:

Fig.l shows a schematic perspective view of a garment, in particular a pantyhose, according to the invention;

Figs.2 and 3 show a partial schematic perspective view of the two cylinders of a circular knitting machine in two steps of knitting of the garment of Fig.1 , respectively during knitting of the panty and during knitting of the legs;

Fig.4 shows a perspective side view of the garment produced as shown in Figs.2 and 3, in its configuration when it falls from the machine, a hatching showing the po- sition where a strip S of fabric is formed, which is separated from the garment in order to be discarded;

Fig.5 shows a sectional view according to V-V of the garment of Fig.4;

Fig.5 A shows a schematic top view of the garment according to the arrows V_A-VA ofFig.4:

Fig.6A shows schematically and partially the formation of a course in an area the body;

Figs.6B to 6F show the same area of fabric as Fig.6A during knitting steps between the end of the body and start of the legs;

Fig.7 shows an enlarged view of the detail VII of Fig.3;

Fig.8 shows an enlarged view of the detail VIII of Fig.7;

Fig.9 shows a view according to^■ DC-EX of Fig.8, flattened and deformed by extending it horizontally for greater clarity;

Fig.10 shows an enlarged view of a sinker;

Figs.11 to 16 schematically show a flattened view of the control cams of the needles, the underneedles and the sinkers of the machine of Fig.2, viewed from the outside, in different operating steps, Fig.12 showing the enlarged detail XII of Fig.l 1;

Figs.17 and 18 show, in a section according to an axial plane of the cylinders, a mechanical cutting device of the machine in inactive position during knitting of the legs and in active position during knitting of the body, respectively;

Fig.19 is a view according to ΧΓΧ-ΧΓΧ of Fig.17 of said mechanical cutting device applied to the upper cylinder of the machine of Fig.2;

Fig.20 shows a view in a section similar to the section of Fig.18, showing a laser cutting device instead of a mechanical cutting device;

Fig. 21 shows a front view according to XXI-XXI of Fig. 20;

Figs.22 and 23 show respective sectional views similar to those of Figs.17 and 18, showing a cutting device with electrical resistors instead of a mechanical cutting device; and

Fig. 24 shows a view according to XXIV-XXTV of Fig. 22.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention

Description of a garment and summary of the knitting method

Hereunder, a garment according to the invention, e.g. in particular a pantyhose, and a knitting method for the production thereof are described. The garment has a body and two legs which can end with foot portions with toe which can be closed or open (and sewn subsequently outside the machine). Moreover, the method of the present invention can also be used for other types of garments, for example panties or the like, in which the legs are reduced to small portions of fabric that surround the opening for the legs in the groin area.

Fig.l shows a partial schematic perspective view of a garment (in particular a pantyhose) according to the invention showing some geometric elements important in order to understand the method of knitting the garment.

In particular, Fig.l shows a body 1, which comprises an elastic edge 3 A, 3B sur- rounding the waist opening of the garment, the body itself 5 A, 5B and two legs 9 A, 9B. The part 5A, 5B of the body is knitted by a double-cylinder circular knitting machine with the cylinders rotating with continuous motion, the left half 5A (observing Fig.l) on one cylinder and the right half 5B on the other cylinder, these halves being mutually connected according to two central lines (m, n) of the garment, respectively a front line and a back line. In the knitting process, the join between the two halves of the body along these lines (m, n) is formed by means of a series of connecting stitches which mutually join the ends of corresponding courses of the two halves of body 5 A, 5B, as will be better described below.

The legs 9A, 9B are also knitted with continuous motion, each by means of a re- spective cylinder of the machine and are mutually joined along a partial arc of stitches CC defining the crotch line of the garment. The arc CC extends between the end points CI, C2 joining partial courses of stitches Al and A2 which join the body to the legs. In some embodiments the arc CC is formed by one or more courses of connecting stitches between partial initial courses of stitches of the two legs, as will be described in detail below with reference to the knitting method.

In Fig.l, the extension of columns of stitches formed by single needles is indicated by continuous lines CL. As can be observed in this figure, the columns extend from the elastic edge 3A, 3B along the body 5A, 5B forming a single tubular knitted fabric and are subsequently divided to form the two legs 9 A, 9B. However, a part of the col- umns of stitches that form the internal area of the legs 9 A, 9B starts at the line CC formed by the connecting courses.

Figs.2 and 3 schematically show a double-cylinder circular knitting machine that can be used to knit the article with the method according to the invention. The circular knitting machine, which will be described in greater detail below, comprises two overlapping and substantially coaxial cylinders 11 and 13. Each cylinder 11, 13 is provided with a circular needle bed indicated with 15s for the upper cylinder 13 and with 15i for the lower cylinder 11. As will be clear from the more detailed description below, the two circular needle beds 15s, 15i knit the two portions 3 A, 3B, 5 A, 5B of the body and subsequently each bed knits one of the two legs 9 A, 9B. During knitting the fabrics formed by the two cylinders 11, 13 are collected inside one of the two cylinders. In the example shown, the two fabrics are collected in the upper cylinder 13, for example by suction. It would also be possible for the fabric to be drawn into the lower cylinder 11 by suction during forming of said fabric.

After knitting, the garment is as indicated schematically in Figs. 4 and 5, with one leg 9A and one part 3 A, 5 A of the body inside the other leg 9B and the other part of the body 3B, 5B. The garment is then taken to the conditions of use by extracting (arrow F) the inside portion toward the outside.

In brief, the garment is formed as follows:

the portion 3A, 5A of the body 1 and the leg 9A are knitted with a continuous motion by one (Figs.2 and 3) of the two cylinders of the double cylinder machine, the lower cylinder 11 in the example shown;

the portion 3B, 5B of the body 1 and the leg 9B are knitted with a continuous motion by the other of the two cylinders of the double cylinder machine, the upper cylinder 13 in the example shown;

the columns of stitches start from the elastic edge and extend to form the legs, except for the central columns which form the crotch area and the internal part of the legs starting from the joining interweaving along the line CC between the points CI and C2.

Figs.6A-6F schematically show the knitting process in particular in the step of joining the two parts of body 1, to form the crotch line CC and to start knitting of the legs 9 A, 9B. These figures show opposite portions of the two needle beds 15s, 15i of the upper cylinder 13 and of the lower cylinder 11, respectively. In this illustration, it has been assumed that cylinders with 400 needles are used. The needles of the two cylinders 11 and 13 are numbered from 1 to 400. As can be understood from the numbering of the needles, indicated above the needles of the upper cylinder 13 and below the needles of the lower cylinder 11 , to simplify representation these figures show a part of the needles (needle 400 and needles from 1 to 49) of one arc C which knits the joining semi-course CC and the first needles of the arc complementary to the arc C (needles from 50 to 399).

Again with reference to the sequence of Figs.6A to 6F, Yls, Y2s and Yli and Y2i indicate the yarns of two feeds respectively of the upper cylinder 13 and of the lower cylinder 11.

The knitting process will be described briefly below, further details being provided after having described the needle control members.

As mentioned previously, the body 1 is knitted through simultaneous use of the two cylinders 11, 13 of the knitting machine, rotating the cylinders with continuous motion and feeding, for example, four yarns to the two circular needle beds.

Fig.5 A shows a schematic top view of the garment during the step of knitting the body 1. Fig.5A indicates the portions 3 A, 5 A and 3B, 5B of the body and a fabric strip S which is knitted and removed from the garment. The fabric strip S is produced to al- low knitting with continuous motion of the body using the two circular needle beds of the two cylinders 11, 13. The strip S can be formed by one or the other of the two cylinders 11, 13. In the context of the present description, it can be assumed that the strip S is knitted by needles of the upper cylinder 13. Briefly, during knitting of the body the two cylinders 11 , 13 of the machine rotate synchronously and with continuous mo- tion so that the needles, for example of the lower cylinder, knit the portions 3A, 5A of the body, while the needles of the upper cylinder knit the portions 3B, 5B. Formation of the stitches of the body takes place, for example, by feeding two yarns Yli, Y2i to the lower cylinder 11 and two yams Yls and Y2s to the upper cylinder 13. In the continuous rotational motion, all the needles of one cylinder, for example the lower cylin- der 11, with the exception of the needles of one arc C of limited extension, for example around one tenth of the total circular needle bed, knit the portion 3 A, 5 A. All the needles of the other cylinder, for example the upper cylinder 13, with the exception of those of an arc C opposite the arc of inactive needles C of the lower cylinder 11, knit the other portion 3B, 5B of the body. Along the arc C the yams normally fed to the lower cylinder 11 are passed to the upper cylinder 13 in order to obtain knitting with continuous motion and in order to join the two portions of fabric 3 A, 5A and 3B, 5B formed by the two cylinders by means of bridges of stitches which will be described later on. The fabric strip S, formed by needles of the upper cylinder along the arc C, is removed as will be described below.

With reference to the schematic representation of Fig.5 A, for example, knitting proceeds from the point X along the arc indicated with 360-C of the portion 3 A, 5 A formed by the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11 and the arc 360-C of the portion 3B, 5B formed by the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13. When the point Y has been reached, the yarns previously fed to the lower cylinder 11 are transferred to the needles of the upper cylinder 13. Along the arc C, from the point Y to the point X the lower cylinder 11 does not produce stitches, while the upper cylinder 13 produces a course of stitches with two yarns, forming part of the strip S. In other embodiments, it is possi- ble for the upper cylinder 13 to form along the arc C, at each revolution of the cylinders, a double course of single stitches, i.e. with one yarn. However, the first method, with a single course of stitches formed by two yarns knitted at each revolution, is preferred as it provides a fabric of better quality and above all a more resistant fabric, in particular along the connecting lines m, n between the two halves 3A, 5A; 3B, 5B of the body.

The sequence of Figs. 6A-6F shows in greater detail what occurs in the area of the arc C of needles and in the portions adjacent to the arc C, in particular during the final knitting step of the body 1 and in the step of forming the interweaving along the crotch line CC and of starting knitting of the two legs 9 A, 9B.

According to one embodiment of the invention, during knitting of the body 1, in the arc C of needles (Fig.6A) of at least one cylinder (for example the needles indicated 400 and from 1 to 49 of the upper cylinder 13), a group of central needles (from 5 to 44 in Fig.6A) forms the aforesaid central fabric strip S by simultaneously stitching yarns Yls, Y2s, Yli, Y2i, delivered by feeds of the upper cylinder 13 and of the lower cylinder 11, respectively. Fig.6 A shows two consecutive courses of the strip S, i.e. the second last course and the last course formed, still engaged with the needles. More in particular, the second last course is formed by the yarns Yls of a feed of the upper cylinder and Yli of a feed of the lower cylinder; the last course, which in Fig.6A is still engaged with the needles 15s, is formed by the yarn Y2s of the other feed of the upper cylinder 13 and yarn Y2i of the other feed of the lower cylinder 11. The previous courses are not visible in the figure.

The needles of the arc complementary to the arc C of the two needle beds of the upper cylinder 13 and lower cylinder 11 respectively form the half 3B, 5B and 3 A, 5 A of the body 1. Rs indicates two courses of the portion 5B of the body, formed by the needles of the upper cylinder 13 in the arc complementary to the arc C. Ri indicates two courses of the portion 5 A of the body, formed by the needles of the lower cylinder 11 in the arc complementary to the arc C.

Two end needles (numbered 400, 49) of the upper cylinder 13 form stitches with both the yarns (Yls, Yli for the second last course formed and Y2s, Y2i for the last course formed, still engaged by the needles) to form a respective column of lateral connecting stitches M between the two halves of the body 3A, 5A; 3B, 5B. In practice, for each course formed by the machine the yarn (Yli or Y2i) fed to the lower cylinder 11 is passed from needle number 50 of the lower cylinder 11 to needle number 49 of the upper cylinder, forms the course with two yarns along the arc C by means of the needles from number 48 to number 400 of the upper cylinder 13 and subsequently is once again transferred to the lower cylinder 11 , where it starts with needle number 400 of the lower cylinder 11 to form stitches of the other half of body. The process is in- verted (passage from the lower needle number 400 to the upper needle number 400 and so forth) if an opposite rotational motion is used.

For the sake of clarity, Figs.4 and 5 show with a cross-hatching the strip S of fabric connected to the body 1, even if, as explained below, it can be separated from the garment and removed, for example, already during knitting of the garment. In other less advantageous embodiments the strip S can be removed from the garment in a separate step of the production process, for example after the garment has been moved away from the knitting machine on which it was formed.

Returning to Fig.6A, the ends of corresponding courses of the two halves of the body 3A, 5A and 3B, 5B formed by the needle arcs complementary to the arc C are thus mutually connected by means of connecting bridges P each formed by a branch of one of the stitches M. In the garment thus produced the connecting bridges P are aligned according to the front median line m and back medina line n of the body 1.

Moreover, at the side of the columns of connecting stitches M, between the fabric of the body 1 and that of the strip S, there are provided columns of binding stitches formed by groups L of needles (Fig.6A) which have the function of providing sufficient resistance to the connection between the two halves 3 A, 5A; 3B, 5B of the body 1 along the median lines m, n thereof. Preferably, these groups L of needles are each formed by a single needle, in the example shown the needles number 1 and number 48, respectively of the upper cylinder 13.

Preferably, groups T of needles adjacent to the sub-group of central needles that form the strip S, and adjacent to the needles of the group L, float the yarns Yls, Y2s, Yli, Y2i, i.e. do not form stitches, producing at the side of the strip S two areas of rec- tilinear yarn portions adapted to facilitate cutting to separate the strip S from the body 1, as represented by the two scissors symbols in Fig.6A. In the example shown, the needles that do not form stitches are those indicated with the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 45, 46, 47, respectively.

Moreover, at the end of knitting of the body, the needles of the arc C in the upper cylinder 13 which formed the strip S are deprived of yarn (Fig.6B), to thus abandon the strip S of fabric along the end edge thereof.

In this way, already during knitting of the body 1 , the strip S can be separated from the body by means of two side cuts and be removed from the machine (for example by means of a specific suction duct) to be discarded.

While the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 thus produce the central strip S of fabric and the side connecting bridges P, the corresponding needles 15i along the arc C of the lower cylinder 11 (i.e. the needles numbered from 1 to 49 of the lower cylinder

11) remain inactive and without yarn during the whole of the knitting step of the body

1.

After the body 1 has been knitted and before starting to knit the legs 9A, 9B of the garment, the needles of the arc C, i.e. needles number 400 and from 1 to 49 in the example shown, of both cylinders 11 and 13 are put into operation (Figs.6C to 6G) to perform a connecting interweaving along the crotch line CC.

In the embodiment shown, the process of knitting the line CC firstly provides for forming on each cylinder 11, 13 one and preferably at least two partial initial courses of stitches according to classic weaves for knitting on. Fig.6C shows the step in which a first partial initial course Cls has been formed on the upper cylinder 13 and a first partial initial course Cli has been formed on the lower cylinder 11. In Fig.6D two partial initial courses Cls, C2s have been formed on the upper cylinder 13 and two partial initial courses Cli, C2i have been formed on the lower cylinder 11. In the example illustrated, the courses Cls, C2s, Cli, C2i are formed with a 1:1 selection of the needles. The first course Cls, Cli on each of the two needle beds is formed with the odd needles and the second course C2s, C2i is formed with the even needles. Along the needle arc complementary to the arc C the two cylinders continue to knit courses Rs and Ri of the respective halves of the body 1.

In the example shown, in this step two further connecting bridges between the two halves of the body 1 are formed by means of yarns which form the initial courses of stitches Cli, C2i. In fact, at the ends of the needle arc C the two yarns Yli and Y2i of the feeds of the lower cylinder 11 have been engaged by needles number 49 and 400 of the upper cylinder 13. In other embodiments this further pair of connecting bridges can be omitted.

Subsequently the partial initial courses C Is, Cli, C2s, C2i are mutually connected by means of partial connecting courses RC1, RC2 (Figs.6E, 6F) of connecting stitches formed by the needles of at least one cylinder with a yarn of a feed of the opposite cylinder.

For this purpose, in the example illustrated the first partial connecting course RC1 is formed by one needle every four of the upper cylinder 13, i.e. by needles number 3, 7, ...,43, 47 of the cylinder 13, which pick up the yarn Yli of a feed of the lower cylinder 11. Likewise, the second connecting course RC2 is formed by one needle every four again of the upper cylinder 13, but staggered with respect to the previous ones (in the case illustrated needles number 5, 45, 49), which pick up the yarn Y2i of the other feed of the lower cylinder 11.

In this way, the partial initial courses Cls, C2s, Cli, C2i have been mutually connected by means of the two partial connecting courses RC1, RC2, and at this point simultaneous knitting of the legs 9A, 9B starts, each on all the needles of a respective cylinder (Fig.6F). RA and RB indicate the first complete course of the leg 9 A formed by the lower cylinder 11 and the first complete course of the leg 9B formed by the up- per cylinder 13.

In this way, in the finished garment, the two legs 9A, 9B will be mutually connected along the crotch line CC (Fig.4) by means of the connecting courses RC1, RC2 staggered and then interwoven.

Surprisingly, it has been found that, for each of the front median line m and back median line n (Fig.1), with the process described a single column of connecting stitches M with the related bridges P and a single column of binding stitches produced by the groups L of needles are sufficient to provide a resistant connection between the two halves 3A, 5A and 3B, 5B of the body 1 sufficient to sustain the tensile stresses caused by use of the garment, and therefore said median lines are thin and entirely acceptable in terms of aesthetics.

The garment thus produced is therefore formed by joining three tubular knitted fabrics: a first tubular knitted fabric 3A, 3B; 5A, 5B forms the body 1 and the other two tubular knitted fabrics 9A, 9B form the legs of the garment. The body is obtained by means of both cylinders 11, 13 of the machine, which each knit half of the body by means of yarns fed from at least one yarn guide of at least one respective feed, the two halves 3A, 5A; 3B, 5B being mutually connected according to front and back (m, n) median lines of connecting stitches and a lower crotch line CC. The portion 3 A, 5 A of the body, which in the example illustrated is formed by the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11 , has a number of stitches per course (and therefore a number of columns of stitches) corresponding to the total number of needles of the circular bed less a number corresponding to the number of needles of the arc C which remained inactive, i.e. in the example illustrated the needles from 1 to 49. Likewise, the portion 3B, 5B of the body, formed in the example illustrated by the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13, comprises a number of stitches per course (and therefore a number of columns of stitches) equal to the difference between the total number of the needles of the upper cylinder 13 and the number of needles of upper cylinder 13 which knitted the strip S of fabric along the arc C and the needles which by remaining inactive formed the floating stitches T, and the needles (numbered 1 and 48) which formed the two binding stitches L. The bridges P of the connecting stitches M and the binding stitches L extend along the back (n) and front (m) median lines. Adjacent thereto are the cut ends of the yarns Yls, Yli, Y2s, Y2i that were cut adjacent to the fabric strip S removed from the garment. The binding stitches L and the connecting stitches M are double, as they are formed by stitching with the same needles (number 48, 49 on one of the two median lines and numbers 1, 400 on the other) two yarns in each stitch, one yarn forming a course of one of the two halves of the body and the other yarn forming a course of the other half of the body. In Figs.6A, 6B, for example, the yarns Yli, Yls are stitched in the connecting stitch M and binding stitch L of the second last course formed, while the yarns Y2i, Y2s are stitched together in the last course formed (i.e. the one still engaged on the needles 15s).

In the finished garment the front (m) and back (n) median lines end in the points C 1 ,C2 and are mutually joined by the crotch line CC formed by the two pairs of partial initial courses Cli, C2i, Cls, C2s of the two legs, joined by two partial connecting courses RC1, RC2.

The other two tubular knitted fabrics of the legs 9A, 9B are obtained by knitting, simultaneously and separately, a first of said other two fabrics with the first cylinder and a second of said other two fabrics with the second cylinder and feeding the first and the second cylinder with respective yarns from respective yarn guides of at least one feed for each cylinder.

Therefore, in the garment produced according to the invention, to form the body each cylinder uses a first arc of adjacent needles (i.e. consecutive to one another) hav- ing a number of needles less than the total number of needles of the cylinder, while knitting of each of the other two tubular knitted fabrics forming the legs 9 A, 9B is performed using all the needles of the respective cylinder, the two legs being mutually connected at the crotch by a partial course or two partial courses of common connecting stitches RC1, RC2. In this way, concentration of the tensile stresses caused by wearing the garment in a single inguinal point is prevented, overcoming the aforesaid drawback of garments produced according to the previously mentioned documents. At the same time, the garment is knitted with continuous motion and therefore with a rapid production cycle.

Description of the double-cylinder circular knitting machine

According to another aspect, the invention relates to a double-cylinder circular knitting machine to produce a garment such as a panty, pantyhose or the like, programmed to perform a knitting method as defined above. As already briefly described with reference to Figs.2 and 3 mentioned above, double-cylinder circular machines generically comprise a lower cylinder 11 and an upper cylinder 13 substantially mutu- ally coaxial and arranged with opposite needles 15s, 15i, i.e. the needles 15i forming the circular bed of the lower cylinder 11 are with the nose facing upward and the needles 15s forming the circular bed of the upper cylinder 13 are with the noses facing downward. Respective sinkers are intercalated between the needles of the two cylinders.

These machines are know per se to those skilled in the art and only their particular new arrangements will be described below, which allow products according to the invention to be obtained and the knitting method according to the invention to be performed. According to some embodiments of the invention, the two cylinders are mutually staggered angularly so that each cylinder has its needles 15s, 15i aligned with the sinkers of the other cylinder, so that the needles of one cylinder do not interfere with those of the other cylinder during manufacturing of the garment, and both cylinders can be used in their effective fineness for knitting all the parts of the garment, i.e. knitting of all the portions of fabric forming the garment take place using all the consecutive and adjacent needles of the needle arcs involved, rather than alternate needles (as is the case in some prior art techniques).

As can be understood from the description above with reference to the sequence of Figs. 6A-6F, it can be observed that during knitting of the body 1 of a garment according to the invention, not all the needles 15i, 15s of the cylinders 11 and 13 contribute to the actual knitting of the body. To knit the body 1 in fact an arc of adjacent needles equal to a preponderant part of the total needles is used in each cylinder, for example for a cylinder of 400 needles 350 needles are used, which form an arc of adjacent ac- tive needles. The remaining needles form an arc C of needles which, except for the groups of needles L, do not form the courses of stitches of the body.

As already mentioned with reference to Figs. 2 and 4, in some embodiments of the method and of the machine according to the invention during knitting an air flow is generated from above inside the upper cylinder 13 by means of a suction system, not shown in the drawing and known per se. In this way, as the garment is formed, it is drawn upward and advances inside the upper cylinder 13 with the parts 3 A, 5 A of the body and the leg 9A knitted by the lower cylinder 11 inserted inside the corresponding parts 3B, 5B, 9B of the garment, so that, when the garment is removed from the machine, this has the configuration shown in Figs.4 and 5 and, to take the garment to its wearable form of Fig.l, the left leg 9A must be extracted from inside the right leg 9B acting according to the arrow F of Fig.5, thus also unfolding, after having reversed the leg 9A, the left portion 5A of the body and the left part 3 A of the elastic edge.

Fig.7 schematically shows in an axial section the facing ends of the lower cylinder 11 and upper cylinder 13 of a knitting machine according to the invention during the step of knitting the body 1 of a garment according to the invention. Fig.8 shows an enlargement of a detail of Fig.7 and Fig.9 show an external view according to ΓΧ-ΓΧ of Fig.8.

In the two cylinders 11 and 13 needles 15i and 15s, respectively, are shown, which slide in longitudinal external grooves 11 A, 13A of the cylinders under the action of control cams and of underneedles which will be described below; also shown are the sinkers 17 that slide horizontally in radial grooves of respective plates or external rings 19, 21 and internal rings 20, 22 all integral with the respective cylinders 11, 13. The sinkers are controlled by cams 23 for the lower cylinder and cams 25 for the upper cylinder. The cams 23 are carried by a ring 27, while the cams 25 are carried by a ring 29. The rings 27, 29 are blocked angularly by corresponding angular stops (not shown) of a non-rotating part of the machine, to prevent these rings from rotating.

In Fig.9, in which the horizontal distances between needles and sinkers are shown enlarged to make the drawing clearer, it can be seen how the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11 are intercalated between the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13, so that the needles of one cylinder are aligned with the sinkers 17 of the other. Moreover, in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sinkers 17 have a deep recess 17B (see Figs. 7, 8 and 10) adjacent to the respective nose 17A, and in practice between the nose 17A and the heel 17T, to allow passage of the needles of the opposite cylinder when these are made to project from this cylinder to pick up the yarns of a feed.

Therefore, Fig.8 shows a needle 15s of the upper cylinder 13 which has been lowered to make it project from the relevant cylinder 13 passing through the recess 17B of the opposite sinker to pick up a yarn Yli from a yarn guide feeding the bed of the low- er cylinder 11, while the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11 are inactive and remain retracted approximately at the level of the upper edge of the respective sinkers 17. Moreover, the sinkers 17 of the lower cylinder 11 which are not forming stitches are held advanced in the position shown in Fig.8, so as not to interfere - thanks to the recess 17B - with the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 when these are forming stitches.

This arrangement allows the elastic edge 3 A, 3B and the body 5 A, 5B to be knitted with all the needles of an arc of active needles of each cylinder 11, 13, i.e. using the true fineness of the machine to obtain the stitch density required in the body, as described above.

As during knitting of the body 1 it is advisable for the distance between the two facing cylinders to be as small as possible, to minimize the length of the connecting stitches M (Fig.6A), in a preferred embodiment the sinkers 17 have the stitch forming plane 17C (Fig.10) at the same level as the upper part of the respective nose 17 A. In this way the cylinders can be maintained mutually adjacent so that the distance (d) (Fig.8) between the sinkers 17 of the two cylinders 11, 13 is just sufficient to allow the produced knitted fabrics to pass through.

Figs.11 to 16 show the flattened view, viewed from the outside of the cylinders, of the assembly of the counter-cams of the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11, of the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 and of the respective undemeedles 16i, 16s in a double cylinder machine with two feeds per cylinder. The direction of rotation of the machine is indicated with Fl . As described, the machine produces the respective tubular knitted fabrics with the two cylinders rotating with continuous motion. To facilitate understanding, on the left of Figs.11 to 16, represented on the plane of the drawing, needles, undemeedles and sinkers of the two cylinders are represented in scale and arranged along the respective paths.

In particular, for the two feeds of the lower cylinder 11, 41i, 42i designate the control cams of the needles 15i for forming stitches, 51i, 52i and 71i, 72i designate re- spectively the cams for lifting/lowering the undemeedles 16i put into operation by means of respective packs of selection levers 61i, 62i, 81i, 82i designate yam guides in operation for respective yams Yli, Y2i, and 91i, 92i designate respective needle latch opening devices.

Likewise, for the two feeds of the upper cylinder 13 41s, 42s designate4 the control cams of the needles 15s for forming stitches, with 51s, 52s and 71s, 72s designate the cams for lowering/lifting the undemeedles 16s put into operation by means of respective packs of selection levers 61s, 62s, 81s, 82s designate yam guides in operation for respective yarns Yls, Y2s, and 91s, 92s designate respective needle latch opening devices.

The arrangement of the aforesaid members is known and does not require further discussion. In addition to this arrangement, to produce a garment with a process according to the invention, in one embodiment the machine comprises:

a) a group of members which, during knitting of the body 1 of the garment, allow forming of the fabric strip S, of the connecting stitches M between the two halves of the body and of the courses of connecting stitches Rs, Ri along the crotch line of the garment. These elements of the garment are formed only with the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 and with yams Yli, Yls; Y2i, Y2s of feeds of both cylinders. The group of machine members that allow these opera- tions comprise:

two supplementary stitch forming cams 43 s, 44s for controlling needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13, these cams being aligned vertically with the stitch forming cams 41 i, 42i of the lower cylinder 11, respectively, to process yarns Yli, Y2i of the feeds of the lower cylinder 11;

for each supplementary stitch forming cam 43 s, 44s, a respective cam 53s, 54s for lowering underneedles 16s of the upper cylinder 13 at the retaining level, for putting into retaining operation needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 for picking up the yarns Yli, Y2i during forming of the connecting stitches M of the two halves 3 A, 5 A; 3B, 5B of the body.

As will be clear from the following description of the body knitting operation, these cams 43s and 44s are aligned vertically with the cams 41 i, 42i of the lower cylinder, respectively;

again for the upper cylinder 13, a pack of selection levers 63s with re- spective lowering cams 55s and lifting cams 73s of underneedles 16s and a further needle control cam 45 s, to cast off the last course of the strip S from the needles that formed it and to bring into operation yarns Yli of the lower cylinder 11 on selected needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13, during forming of the connecting courses RC1, RC2 in the crotch of the garment.

b) a cutting device which allows, during forming of the body, cutting of the fabric along two rectilinear lengths each at a respective group of needles indicated with T in Fig.6A, so as to separate the central strip S from the body 1 along lines parallel to the columns of stitches. Some examples of cutting devices ac- cording to respective embodiments will be described in detail below.

Detailed description of body knitting

Having described the control members of the needles and of the underneedles of the two cylinders 11, 13 and on the basis of the brief description referring to the sequence of Figs. 6A-6F, processing of the garment according to the invention will be described in greater detail below, once again with reference to the sequence of Figs. 6A-6F.

Knitting of the garment, for example a pantyhose, starts from the body and ends with the legs. The arrangement in Figs.11 and 12 shows the trajectory Ui (indicated with a continuous line) of the nose of the needles 15i of the lower cylinder 11 and Us (indicated with a broken line) of the nose of the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 during knitting of the body 1 in the first two revolutions of the machine, in which latch openers 91i, 91s, 92i, 92s have been put into operation to open the latches of the nee- dies that are put into operation on the two feeds. Subsequently, the latch openers are moved away from the needles and knitting of the body 1 proceeds until the required length is reached.

Fig.6A shows this operating step with particular reference to the arc C of needles in which the needles numbered from 1 to 49 of the lower cylinder 11 remain lowered at all times and therefore do not produce fabric, while the needles numbered 400 and from 1 to 49 of the upper cylinder 13 are operated to produce fabric.

In this step, the cams 53s, 54s of the upper cylinder 13 are moved adjacent to the cylinder just enough to lower the undemeedles 16s of the needles 15s numbered 400, 1, 5-44, 48 and 49 of the upper cylinder 13. These undemeedles have a heel K of greater length than the other undemeedles. The cams 53s, 54s are configured so as to lower undemeedles and related needles of the upper cylinder 13 only at the level of retaining, so that the needles numbered 400, 1, 5-44, 48 and 49 pick up the yams Yli, Y2i from the yam guides 81i, 82i 211 that normally feed the yam to the needles of the lower cylinder 11 and make stitches on the cams 43 s, 44s but do not cast them off.

Continuing in their path, (see Figs.11 and 12) these needles of the upper cylinder 13 are then lowered to the unloading level by means of the respective undemeedles 16s through the cams 51s, 52s, pick up respective yams Yls, Y2s from yam guides 81s and 82s of the upper cylinder 13 and, by means of the cams 41s, 42s, then form stitches of two yams Yls+Yli, Y2s+Y2i, as is clearly visible in Fig.6A.

In the step described above, the stitches M formed respectively by the needles 15s numbered 400 and 49 of the upper cylinder 13 each have a branch P that forms a connecting bridge between the end of a course Ri of one half 3 A, 5A of the body, produced by the lower cylinder 11, with the end of a corresponding course Rs of the other half 3B, 5B of the body produced by the upper cylinder 13. Therefore, the needles numbered 400 and 49 each form a respective column of connecting stitches M between the aforesaid two halves of the body, columns which, with the respective connecting bridges P, are aligned according to the front and back median lines m, n of the body. In this step and again with reference to Fig.6A, while the needles 15s of the upper cylinder 13 numbered from 5 to 44 produce the central strip S, at the side of the latter two groups T of three needles of the upper cylinder 13 (and more precisely the needles numbered 2, 3, 4 and 45, 46, 47) are left raised, i.e. inactive, so that they do not form stitches, thus leaving at the sides of the strip S three columns of floated stitches forming rectilinear yarn portions T adapted to be easily cut by the cutting device described below, to separate the strip S laterally from the fabric of the body 1.

As already described above, in particular in Fig.6A it can be noted that in the upper cylinder 13, between the needle 15s numbered 400 and the needle 15s numbered 49 and the adjacent groups T of needles that float, groups L of needles (in this case constituted by a single needle numbered 1 and 48 respectively) are left to form respective columns of binding stitches with the function of preventing running of the connecting stitches M, to provide said connecting stitches M with a good level of resistance to the tensile stresses caused by use of the garment.

In practice, it has been seen that by forming these groups L with a single needle (as shown in Fig.6A), sufficient resistance is obtained and, when the garment is worn, the front median line m and back median line n of the body, which are formed by the connecting stitches M, are thin, with an entirely acceptable aesthetic effect.

When the body 1 has reached the required length, the needles 15s of the upper cyl- inder 13 from number 5 to number 44 cast off the fabric of the strip S produced thereby. For this purpose, by means of selection levers of the pack 63s and the cam 45s, these needles are lowered and raised again, as shown in the circle XIII of Fig.13, without supplying them with any yarn, so that they become inactive. Fig.6B shows the situation after casting-off.

The strip S, which during knitting of the body 1 was also separated by side cuts, for example produced by means of a cutting device described below, can thus be removed from the machine, for example by means of a respective suction collection tube, not shown in the drawings, to be discarded.

Detailed description of crotch interweaving formation during transition from body knitting to legs knitting

After knitting of the body the needles of the arc C of both cylinders 11, 13 are without yarn, and are returned once again into operation by means of the latch openers 91i, 91 S, 92i, 92s (Fig.14) forming therewith a first respective partial initial course Cli, Cls on alternate odd needles of the two cylinders (Fig.6C) and then a second respective partial initial course C2i, C2s on alternate even needles of the two cylinders (Fig.6D), while the needles of the complementary arc are knitting respective end courses Rs, Ri of the body 1 (see also Figs.6C, 6D).

At this point, the partial initial courses produced by the two cylinders Cli, Cls; C2i, C2s are mutually connected as follows. With reference to Fig.15 and to Figs. 6E, 6F, the cams 53s, 54s, 41s and 45s (which are represented here with a thin broken line) are extracted radially to take them to an inactive position and, by means of selection levers of the pack 63s and the lowering cam 55s, in the arc C of the upper cylinder 13 one every four selected underneedles and respective needles 1 s (i.e. the needles numbered 3, 7, ....43, 47) are lowered to pick up the yarn Yli, normally processed by the lower cylinder 11 (see also Fig.6E), to stitch it in the fabric produced by the upper cylinder 13 by means of the cam 43 s. Moreover, by means of selection levers of the pack 61s and the lowering cam 51s, again in the upper cylinder 13 one every four selected underneedles, staggered with respect to the previous ones, and respective needles 15s (i.e. the needles numbered 5, ....,45) are lowered to pick up the yarn Y2i, normally processed by the lower cylinder 11, to stitch it in the fabric produced by the upper cylinder 13 by means of the cam 44s. In this way, two partial connecting courses RC1, RC2, shown in Fig.6E, are formed between the partial initial courses Cli and Cls; C2i and C2s. The connecting courses RC1, RC2 are mutually interwoven since they are produced by staggered needles.

At this point, knitting of the legs 9A, 9B is performed in a known manner, knitting each leg with all the needles of a respective cylinder 11, 13 (Figs.16 and 6F).

By means of the above described operation of forming the partial connecting courses RC1, RC2, the legs 9 A, 9B are mutually connected according to the crotch line CC of Fig.1 by means of the same partial connecting courses RC1, RC2. In the legs (9 A, 9B) knitting step, as soon as a sufficient quantity of legs fabric has been produced, the two cylinders 1, 13 are spaced apart from one another in axial direction, as can be seen by comparing Fig.16 with Figs.14 and 15, to facilitate processing.

Knitting proceeds until reaching the required length of the legs 9 A, 9B and finally the garment is unloaded from the machine.

The cutting device of the strip S of fabric

Different embodiments of cutting devices to separate the fabric strip S formed by the upper cylinder 13 during the body formation step are described below. In all the embodiments the cutting devices provide for the use of a pair of cutting elements configured to make the double cut for lateral separation of the fabric strip S from the fabric of the body according to cutting lines extending adjacent to the columns of binding stitches formed by the groups of needles L (Figs.6A, 6B).

a) Mechanical cutting device

With reference to Figs.17 to 19, according to a first embodiment, the machine is provided with a mechanical cutting device 100 adapted to simultaneously make two cuts along the columns of floated stitches T (Fig.6A) in the fabric of the body during knitting of said body, to separate the fabric strip S to be discarded therefrom.

In practice, the device comprises two scissors formed by respective pairs of flat blades 101, 103 and 105, 107. The blades of each pair are in mutual contact according to a respective plane Wl, W2 (Fig.19) that passes through the axis X-X of the cylinders 11, 13. These planes Wl, W2 are arranged in the areas T of floated stitches of Fig.6A. Each scissor comprises a fixed blade 103, 107, which is fastened by means of a supporting ring 109 (see also Fig.18) to the internal sinker ring 111 of the upper cylinder 13, and a moving blade 101, 105. The ring 109 also carries two bushings 111 that guide respective pins 113 at one end of which the respective moving blades 101, 105 are fastened by means of supports indicated generically with 115. On each pin 113 there is inserted a spring 117 which, when compressed between an end block 119 of the same pin and the bushing 111 of the ring 109, vertically stresses in the direction of the arrow F2 (Fig.18) the respective moving blade 101, 105 toward the corresponding fixed blade 107. The end block 119 is common to both pins 113 of the moving blades 105 and carries a transverse pin 121 (Fig.17) with a wheel 123 which, while the cylin- ders 11, 13 rotate, rolls on a fixed annular cam 125 causing, at each rotation of the cylinders 11, 13, periodic vertical displacement of the moving blades 101, 105 with respect to the fixed blades 103 overcoming the force of the springs 117, 107, thus supplying the cutting motion to the two scissors. The cam 125 is fastened to the suction tube 127 of the fabric, which does not rotate since it is constrained by fastening and lifting means external to the cylinders and not shown in the drawing. Through these means, the suction tube 127 can be made to slide in the axial position shown in Figs. 17 and 18 to carry the cam 125 into contact with said wheel 125, or raised to the extent required to avoid this contact, thus activating or deactivating the cutting action of the scissors.

Figs.17 and 18 show how the scissors formed by the respective pairs of blades 101, 103; 105, 107 open at the path of the fabric exiting from the needles, in particular at a short distance t from the needles, for example in the order of 4 mm. This condition has proved to be useful to safely cut the respective columns T of floated stitches of Fig.6 A, minimizing the lateral deviations of the cut.

b) Laser cutting device

With reference to Figs.20 and 21, in a second embodiment a cutting device comprises two laser light emitting diodes 201, 202 as cutting elements, which each emits a thin laser beam FL adapted to cut the fabric produced by the machine. These devices are, for example, of the type used in optical disc readers for computers and are fastened in respective cavities of the sinker ring 111 of the upper cylinder 13, so that when energized each diode 201, 202 can emit its laser beam FL in the direction of the fabric to make respective cuts to separate the strip S from the fabric of the body3A, 3B, 5 A, 5B at the two sides of the strip S.

For this purpose, the cavities of the sinker ring 111 are each created at a respective diametral plane Wl, W2 and so that the respective laser beam FL is at a minimum distance t from the needles.

Exiting from each laser diode 201, 202 are two electrical supply wires 204 which terminate in respective contacts 205, 206 which slide on respective conducting rings 207, 208 carried by an insulation ring 209 integral with a non-rotating tube 210 coaxial to the cylinder.

By means of a two-pole electric cable 211 integral with the tube 210, the laser diodes 201, 202 can thus be powered to emit the respective laser beams FL when the cutting action is required, i.e. during knitting of the body.

In the examples illustrated in Figs.20 and 21, to minimize the distance t of the cutting elements from the needles and thus increase cutting precision, the part of the sinkers that projects radially in front of the nose thereof is decreased in length as much as possible (see front edge 203 of these sinkers in Fig.20), at least for the sinkers located at the laser diodes 201, 202. This measure can also be adopted in the case of the mechanical cut of Fig.17.

c) Cutting device with electrical resistors

With reference to Figs.22 to 24, in a third embodiment a cutting device comprises two electrical resistors 301, 302 adapted to come into contact with the fabric previously formed by the needles, and which can be powered to take them to a temperature sufficiently high to melt the fabric locally in order to cut it.

Each resistor 301, 302 is welded to the end of a respective arm 303 integral with a stem 304 adapted to slide in a bushing 305 fastened in the sinker ring 111 of the upper cylinder 13. The arm 303 and the stem 304 are joined by a plate 306 guided in a slot 307 of the sinker ring 111, each slot 307 being formed in a respective plane Wl, W2. A spring 308 axially biases the stem 304 and therefore the respective resistor 301, 302, to withdraw it from the fabric inside the slot 307 during knitting of the legs. In the stem 304 there are also provided channels for two electrical conductors that connect the resistor to two conductor shoes 309, 310 of an end block of the stem. The conductor shoes 309, 310 are configured to slide in radial contact with a respective conducting ring 311, 312 carried by an insulation ring 313. The conducting rings 311 , 312 are fastened to a non-rotating tube 314 to which a two-pole cable 315 is fastened to power both resistors 301, 302.

The tube 314 can be made to slide axially to raise the resistors to the cutting position overcoming the force of the spring 308 by means of a stop ring 316 and, as shown in Fig.23, carrying them into contact with the fabric to perform respective cuts to separate the strip S from the fabric of the body3A, 3B, 5A, 5B at the two sides of said strip S during knitting of the body .

It is understood that the drawing shows just one example, provided merely as a practical demonstration of the invention, which can vary in its forms and arrangements, without however departing from the scope of the concept underlying the invention. Any reference numbers in the appended claims are provided to facilitate reading of the claims with reference to the description and to the drawing, and do not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a knitted garment comprising a body (1) and two legs (9 A, 9B) by means of a double-cylinder circular knitting machine with two superimposed cylinders (11, 13), comprising the steps of:

- knitting with continuous motion simultaneously with the two cylinders (11,

13) respective fabric portions (3A, 5A); 3B, 5B) forming the body (1), said portions being joined along a front median joining line (m) and a back median joining line (n);

- after knitting of the body, knitting with continuous motion simultaneously said two legs (9 A, 9B), each by means of a respective one of said cylinders

(11, 13),

wherein: during knitting of said body (1), along a partial needle arc (C), needles (15s) of at least one (13) of said two cylinders (11, 13) produce at least one fabric strip (S); and wherein after knitting the body, there is formed along said partial needle arc (C) a joining crotch line (CC) between the two legs (9 A, 9B); said fabric strip (S) being separated and removed from the body (1).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein along said partial needle arc (C) the needles (15i) of the other (11) of said two cylinders (11, 13) remain temporarily inactive during knitting of the body (1).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said fabric strip (S) is separated from the body (1) during knitting of the garment on the machine.

4. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said fabric strip (S) is separated from the body (1) by making cuts according to columns of stitches (T) on opposite sides of the fabric strip (S) and, after knitting of the body (1), casting off the end course of the fabric strip (S) from the needles that produced it.

5. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein at both ends of said partial needle arc (C), by means of at least one respective needle (15s, 15s) of at least one cylinder (13) there is formed at least one continuous column of connecting stitches (M) forming connecting bridges (P) between side edges of said portions (3A, 5A; 3B, 5B) of the body (1), said connecting columns (M) defining said front median joining line (m) and said back median joining line (n) of the portions (3A, 5A; 3B, 5B) of the body (1).

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said connecting stitches (M) are produced by at least one needle (49, 400) per side of each portion (3A, 5A; 3B, 5B) of the body (1) stitching together a yarn (Yls, Y2s) of a feed of one cylinder (13) with a yarn (Yli, Yli) of a feed of the other cylinder (11).

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said columns of con- necting stitches (M) defining said front and back median joining lines (m, n) are formed by a single needle (49, 400) at each end of said partial needle arc (C).

8. The method according to at least claim 2, wherein during knitting of the body (1), along said partial needle arc (C), the needles (15s) that form said fabric strip (S) knit courses of stitches with two yarns, namely with a yarn (Yli, Y2i) of a feed of a first (11) of said cylinders (11, 13) and a yarn (Yls; Y2s) of a feed of a second (13) of said cylinders.

9. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein after knitting of the body (1), at the start of knitting of the legs (9 A, 9B), along said partial needle arc (C) at least a partial course (RC1, RC2) forming said joining line (CC) is formed for connecting the two portions of the body (1).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein at the start of knitting of the legs (9 A, 9B), needles of said partial needle arc (C) of both cylinders (11, 13) are brought into operation to form respective partial initial courses (Cls, C2s; Cli, C2i) of the legs and then at least one partial connecting course (RC1, RC2) of the legs, formed by needles (15i, 15s) of both cylinders (11, 13), to form said joining line (CC) of the legs (9 A, 9B), then continuing with knitting of the legs with all the needles (15i, 15s) of both cylinders (11, 13).

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein two partial connecting courses (RC1, RC2) are formed by means of groups of staggered needles of said par- tial needle arc (C).

12. The method according to at least claim 5, wherein in each course of the body (1), between said columns of connecting stitches (M) and said fabric strip (S) to be separated, adjacent to said columns of connecting stitches (M) at least one column of stitches (L) is formed, to improve the resistance of the connecting stitches (M) to stresses caused by wearing.

13. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein at the two sides of the fabric strip (S) to be separated, respective columns of floated stitches (T) are produced.

14. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the body (1) is knitted using at least two feeds of the first cylinder (11) and at least two feeds of the second cylinder (13).

15. A double cylinder circular knitting machine (11, 13) for manufacturing a garment with a body (1) and two legs, comprising mutually superimposed first cylinder (11) and second cylinder (13), each cylinder being provided with respective needles (15s, 15i), sinkers (17) and control members of said needles and said sinkers, programmed to perform a knitting method according to one or more of the preceding claims.

16. A double cylinder circular knitting machine (11, 13) for manufacturing a garment with a body (1) and two legs (9 A, 9B), comprising mutually superimposed first cylinder (11) and second cylinder (13), each cylinder being provided with respective needles (15s, 15i), sinkers (17) and control members of said needles and said sinkers, wherein said cylinders (11, 13), said needles (15i, 15s) and said sinkers (17) are controlled so that:

- during knitting of said body (1) with continuous motion, the needles in a partial needle arc (C) of at least one (13) of said cylinders produce along said partial needle arc (C) a fabric strip (S) which is separated from the body and the needles of the arcs complementary to said partial needle arc (C) of the first cylin- der and of the second cylinder (11, 13) form two portions (3 A, 5 A; 3B, 5B) of said body (1);

- after knitting of the body (1), along said partial needle arc (C) a joining crotch line (CC) between the legs (9 A, 9B) is formed; and

- after forming of said joining line (CC) the two cylinders knit with continuous motion simultaneously the two legs (9 A, 9B) of the garment.

17. The machine according to claim 16, wherein said cylinders (11, 13), said needles (15i, 15s) and said sinkers (17) are controlled so that during knitting of said body (1) the needles of said partial needle arc (C) of a first (11) of said cylinders (11, 13) remain inactive, while the needles in said partial needle arc (C) of a second (13) of said cylinders (11, 13) produce said fabric strip (S).

18. The machine according to one or more of claims 15 to 17, comprising:

- supplementary stitch forming cams (43s, 44s) for the control of needles (15s) of said second cylinder (13), said cams being substantially aligned vertically with stitch forming cams (41i, 42i) of the first cylinder (11), to process yarns (Yli, Y2i) of the feeds of said first cylinder (11);

- for each of said supplementary cams (43s, 44s), a respective cam (53s, 54s) for putting into operation needles (15s) of the second cylinder (13) at the level of re- taming, for picking up yarns (Yli, Y2i) of feeds of the first cylinder (11) when forming connecting stitches (M) of two portions (3 A, 3B; 5A, 5B) of the body

(i);

- in the second cylinder (13), means (63s) for displacing the needles from a floating level to a clearing level followed by a further needle control cam (45 s), to cast off the last course of the fabric strip (S) from the needles that formed said fabric strip and to bring into operation on yarns (Yli) of the first cylinder (11) selected needles of the second cylinder (13), for forming of a partial connecting course (RC2) along a line of the crotch of the garment.

19. The machine according to one or more of claims 15 to 18, wherein said two cylinders (11, 13) are mutually staggered angularly so that the needles (15i, 15s) of one cylinder (11, 13) are aligned with the sinkers (17) of the other cylinder (13, 11).

20. The machine according to one or more of claims 15 to 19, wherein the sinkers (17) of each cylinder have a nose (17A and a heel (17T), between said nose and said heel a recess (17B) being arranged , configured to allow passage of the corre- sponding needle (15s, 15i) of the opposite cylinder (11, 13) when the latter forms a stitch, the sinkers (17) of one cylinder (11, 13) being maintained advanced during activation of the needles of the other cylinder (13, 11) to form a stitch.

21. The machine according to claim 20, wherein the sinkers (17) of the two cylinders have a stitch forming plane (17C) approximately aligned with the upper part of the nose (17A) of the sinkers.

22. The machine according to one or more of claims 15 to 21, comprising a device for cutting the fabric strip (S) formed during knitting of the body (1), arranged and designed to cut columns of stitches of fabric at the sides of said fabric strip (S).

23. The machine according to claim 22, wherein said cutting device com- prises: two cutting elements (101, 103; 105, 107; 201, 202; 301, 302) supported by one of the two cylinders (13) of the machine, inside the needles, these cutting elements lying in respective radial planes (Wl, W2) arranged on opposite sides of the partial needle arc (C) that forms said fabric strip (S) to be separated from the body; and means for activation/deactivation of the cutting elements.

24. The machine according to claim 23, wherein said two cutting elements are arranged at a minimum distance (t) with respect to said needles, said minimum distance being preferably no greater than twenty courses of fabric and more preferably between three and fifteen courses of fabric and even more preferably between three and ten courses of fabric.

25. The machine according to claim 22, 23 or 24, wherein said cutting device comprises two pairs of blades (101, 103; 105, 107), each pair comprising means for movement (117, 125, 123) of said blades, the pairs of blades opening to cut the fabric that has just been formed at a minimum distance (t) from the needles of the machine.

26. The machine according to claim 25, wherein each pair of blades comprises a moving blade (101; 107) and a fixed blade (103; 105), and wherein said means for movement comprise an axial cam (125) carried by a tube (127) inside and coaxial to one of said cylinders (13, 11), the axial position of which can be varied to activate/deactivate the cutting device.

27. The machine according to one or more of claims 22 to 24, wherein said cutting device comprises two laser diodes (201, 202).

28. The machine according to claim 27, wherein said laser diodes (201, 202) are fastened in respective cavities of a sinker ring (111) of a cylinder (13) of the machine and oriented to emit their laser beam (FL) towards the fabric, and wherein means (204 to 211) are provided for powering each laser diode during knitting of the body.

29. The machine according to one or more of claims 20 to 22, wherein said cutting device comprises a pair of electrical resistors (301, 302).

30. The machine according to claim 29, wherein said two electrical resistors (301, 302) are equipped with a movement towards the fabric and away from the fabric.

31. The machine according to claim 30, wherein said two electrical resis- tors (301, 302) are carried by an assembly (303, 304, 306) inside a recess (307) of a sinker ring (111) of a cylinder (13), said assembly being sliding in a bushing (305) fastened to the sinker ring and pulled back by a spring (308) to withdraw the resistor (301, 302) inside the sinker ring during knitting of the legs, each said assembly being able to be biased axially by means of a ring (313) fastened to a tube (314) moving axi- ally inside and coaxial to the cylinder (13) to carry said resistors (301, 302) into contact with the fabric to cut it, simultaneously to said displacement the resistors being powered with electrical current by powering means (309 to 312, 315).

32. A knitted garment comprising a body (1) and two legs (9 A, 9B) joined together without seams, wherein: said body is formed by two side portions (3 A, 5 A, 3B, 5B) joined by bridges (P) formed by connecting stitches (M) extending along a back median line (n) and a front median line (m); a connecting line (CC) develops between said back median line (n) and said front median line (m), extending along the crotch of the garment, formed by at least one partial course of connecting stitches (RC1; RC2); and the body is at least partly formed by courses (Ri; Rs) of stitches formed by yarns (Yli, Y2i; Yls; Y2s) severed in proximity of said front median line and of said back median line.

33. The garment according to claim 32, wherein at least one column of binding stitches (L) extends along said front median line (m) and along said back median line (n) adjacent to said at least one column of connecting stitches (M), the yarns (Yls, Yli; Y2s, Y2i) forming the courses of stitches of the body being severed along said column of binding stitches (L).

34. The garment according to claim 32 or 33, wherein each of said connect- ing stitches (M) is formed by two yarns (Yli, Yls; Y2i, Y2s) stitched together in the same stitch, one of which forms the respective bridge (P), a first of said two yarns of each connecting stitch (M) extending to form stitches of a course of a first of said side portions (3A, 5A, 3B, 5B) of said body (1), and a second of said two yarns of each connecting stitch (M) extending to form stitches of a course of a second of said two side portions (3B, 5B, 3A, 5A) of said body (1).

35. The garment according to one or more of claims 32 to 34, wherein said body (1) has a number of columns of stitches that is less than the sum of the number of columns of stitches of the two legs (9 A, 9B).

36. The garment according to claim 35, wherein the number of columns of stitches of the body (1) is between 50 and 95% of the sum of the number of columns of stitches of the legs (9 A, 9B).

37. The garment according to claim 36, wherein the number of columns of stitches of the body (1) is between 70 and 90% of the sum of the number of columns of stitches of the legs (9 A, 9B).

38. The garment according to one or more of claims 32 to 37, wherein at least two mutually staggered partial connecting courses (RCl, RC2) forming a connecting interweaving extend along said connecting line (CC).

39. The garment according to one or more of claims 32 to 37, wherein at least two partial connecting courses (RCl, RC2), which connect opposite partial initial courses (Cls, C2s; Cli, C2i) of the fabric of the legs (9 A, 9B), extend along the connecting line (CC).

40. The garment according to one or more of claims 32 to 39, wherein said partial connecting course or courses (RCl, RC2) are formed by yarns (Yli, Y2i) that form courses of stitches (Ri) of at least one portion (5 A) of said body (1).

41. The garment according to one or more of claims 32 to 41, wherein said body (1) is formed by columns of stitches (CL) that extend from one edge (3 A, 3B) of the body (1) up to the legs (9 A, 9B) and, in the lower part, by further columns of stitches that extend from said connecting line (CC) in said legs (9 A, 9B).