US2511720A - Process for making seamless panties - Google Patents

Description

June 13, 1950 G. LACKS 2,511,720.

PROCESS FOR MAKING SEAMLESS PANTIES Filed March 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6. I5 t lllllll/lll (moi-neg I a j /:4

3nnentor'. GEORGE LACKS June 13, 1950 I e. LACKS 2,511,720

PROCESS FOR MAKING SEAMLESS PANTIES Filed March 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nuentor:

GEORGE LAGKS (Ittomeg Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEv 2,511,720 PROCESS FOR MAKING SliIAMLESS PANTIES George Lacks, Larchmont, N. Y. Application March 15, 1949, Serial No. 81,493

, Claims.

My invention relates to panties or to similar bifurcated or two-legged garments, for example, to pantie-girdles.

Objects of my invention are to make a pantie that has no sewed, overlapped or otherwise thickened seams, that is formed by interlocking meshes throughout its extent, that will not cause a garment tightly surrounding the pantie to Wrinkle or to show projections, and that will adapt itself to the shape of the wearers body without any inconvenient pressure along seam lines.

Other objects are to make a pantie that combines high stretchability with strong resilient resistance, this resistance being stronger in those directions in which a higher resistance is desirable in order to support the shape of the wearer's abdomen, and to make a pantie having wales running substantially vertical at its leg, front and side portions and having wales running from one leg to the other at its crotch portion.

Further objects are to make a pantie by a quick and economic method, to knit this pantie by partly circular, partly reciprocating operation of one continuously operated knitting machine, and to'use, throughout the knitting operation, one continuous strand-or thread.

Still other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of an exemplifying embodiment of my invention, from the appended claims and from the accompanying drawing in which: I

Fig. 1 shows a top view of a circle of needles, of a needle ring and of an early stage of the pantie being made according to my invention, other partsof the knitting machine and of the thread being omitted.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section similar to Fig. 2, butshowing the pantie in a more advanced stage of manufacture.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the latter stage of the pantie, the same being shown as it would appear if removed from the machine and stretched.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section similar to Figs. 2 and 3, but representing a still more advanced stage of the manufacture.

Fig. 6 shows a side view of the pantie in a further stage after the knitting has been completed, the knitted body being removed from the knitting machine and stretched in almost fiat condition.

Fig. '7 shows another side view ofthis latter stage, seen from the right side in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a front view of the final stage of the pantie. I

Fig. 9 shows a bottom view of the pantie shown in Fig. 8.

needles are idle.

'line ll. 24-130 25 are idled,'one after the other, at interrial appears in the figures, it is exaggerated for the sake of clearer representation. Figs. 6to 9 arerepresented on a smaller scale than Figs. 1 to 5.

In carrying out my invention, I use a number of circularly arranged needles, some of which are indicated by numerals 3 to 6 and 23 to 26. The number of needles may be larger than shown in the drawing. For example, there may be three hundred and fifty needles arranged at equal intervals. "Preferably these needles are incorporated. in a knitting machine of well known structure allowing the choice between circular and reciprocating operation.

The'needles project upwardly from a ring 1 which is a part of the knitting machine, and are movable in verticalv direction. Needles can be idled by throwing the same out in well known manner.

During the first period of the manufacture, all needles are active, and the machine, knits circularly over the entire circle of needles. This operation continues until the resulting tubular knitted body -8 forms a leg of desired length. This leg portion begins at the line 9 and ends at the line H. The latter line has just been knitted in the stage shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Then the knitting continues reciprocatingly over a part of the circle of needles while the other Finally the latter needles are re-activated and circular knitting is resumed.

The knitted body is not disengaged from the temporarily idled needles whereby these needles hold the last meshes knitted on them until these meshesare engaged by the knitting thread when the needles are re-activated. U

' Preferably, not all temporarily idled needles are thrown out at the same time. For example, the needles of the are from 3 to 23 are idled after the stage shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has beenreached. During a following period of reciprocating operation, further needles from 4 to 5 and from 24 to 25 are successively'idledwhereby the arc of idled needles is step-wise widened, and

a gradually narrowing extension i2 (see Fig. 4) is niadewhich extendsfrom an arc of the leg Preferably, these needles 4 to 5 and vals comprising more than one reciprocation of the knitting machine whereby more than one mesh spans from one of thoseneedles' to the next needle. These intervals are so measured that the free edges [3 of the narrowing body portion I 2 have an. angular direction of suitable inclination. Anydesired uniform or varying angle or inclination can be obtained in this manner.

After the portion [2 has reached the desired length and width, reciprocating knitting continues without further change in the number of Wherever the thickness of the knitted mate- 9 a'jctive'needles. this manner, a further portion M of uniform width is knitted. When the portion I 4 has reached a certain length which depends on the desired height of the pantie, half of the knitted body is completed, the knitting havin proceeded up to line 15. Fig. 4 represents this stage of the knitted body in a shape into which the knitted product could be unfolded or stretched if the operation would be interrupted at this stage. In fact, the body being knitted remains in the machine where it engages the needles and hangs down from the same about in the manner illustrated by Fig. 3. This figure is a cross-section showing one half of the body which is symmetric to the cut ofihalf, except that the hangingdownparts may form irregular folds.

During the reciprocating operation or, at,lea s.t, during the knitting of portion l4, selvedged edges are made by well known movements of those needles which are at both ends of the active arc, '3

for example, by reciprocatingmovements of the needles 6 and 26. These selvedged edges are indicated by dotted lines [6.

From the stage shown in Fig. 3, the knitting proceeds in the described manner, but in reverse order, that is, .first a portion I] of uniform width is made which is an identical ,continuation of the portion M, then a gradually widening portion I8 identical to the narrowing portion I2 is knitted, and then a leg portion l9 identical to the leg 8, the operation being reciprocating during the knitting of I! and I8 and being circularduring the knitting of IS. While the portion I8 is knitted, the needles from to 4 and from ,25 .to 24 are stepwise re-activated at intervals corresponding to their prior idling. At the startof the knitting of the second leg portion l9, .theneedles positioned from 3 to 23 are re-activated. The mesh held .by any ,re-activated needle is .engaged by the thread which continue knitting when the needle is activated.

Fig. 5 shows the knitted body at atime when the circular knitting has been resumed and .a small zone of the second leg l9 has been knitted. This figure shows a out 01f half of the-knitted body which is symmetric to the other half, except that the hanging down parts may form irregular folds.

Aftercompletion of the leg IS, the knitted body comprises two symmetrically made portions, one of which is representedin Fig. 4. But the entire body can not be stretched as shown'in this figure becausecertain lines ,of the symmetric portionsare connected where meshes positioned-on temporarily idled needles have been engaged.

Then the knitted body is taken out of theknitting ,machine. At this stage, the body may be stretched and folded in the almost flat shape shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The body comprises the .legs 8 and ,l.9.and an extension which comprises the tapering portions I2 and J8 and the uniformly wide portion I l-H bent along the line .15. This extension connects outer arcs of the .two legs. Inner arcs of the legs are immediately connected to each other alongtheline 2|.

The tapering portions I2 and I8 are connected along the lines I3 which may be folded inwardly as shownin Figs. 6 and '7. This connection is of still higher stretchability than the other parts of the knitted body, because the meshes establishing the connection are spaced by intervals as has been pointed out before. This facilitates the adaptation of ,thepartsbordering *the line -2 Ptothe shapeof the wearers body, these 4 parts forming a crotch 22 spanning from one leg to the other.

Then each of the two selvedged edges 16 of the portion I4 is connected to that selvedged edge of the portion 131 which belongs to the same side or edge of the extension. In this manner, the extension is transformed into a pocket which, at its lower side, gradually turns into the 1egs and, at its upper side, is closed along the line l5.

This connection is preferably made on a looping machine. The line of looping stitches made bythismachineis schematically indicated in Fig.

8by the gig-zag line 21.

Then the knitted body is out along the line l5 whereby the pocket i opened along a circularly coherent'rim, This rim may be then pro.- vided with a hem 28. The final shape obtained in this manner is represented in Figs. 8 and 9. These figures show the pantie spread in a position ready for being slipped on the wearers body. The crotch 22 comprises adjacent parts of the two legs andmay form folds 29. On the wearers body, the crotch and the other parts of the pantie adapt themselves to the shape of this body, cover the samesmoothly and exert a .resilient pressure which supports this shape. The wales run substantially in the same directions as the surface shade lines.

The structure of ordinary knitting meshes is well known and is not shown in the drawing. Somewhatlarger dots or mesh openings appear, when the portions l2 and I8 are stretched, at those spots where, during the knitting, intervals have been made between successively idled and mesh-retaining needles. These spots are indicatedin-Figs. 8 and 9 by the dots of thelines3 l. The stretchability of the knitted body is favorably increased in the direction across these lines.

I desire it understood that my invention is not confined to the particular embodiment shown and described, the same being merely illustrative, and that my 'inventionmay be carried out in other ways without departing from the spirit of-my invention as it is obvious that the particular embodiment shown and described is only one of the many that may be employed to attain the objects of my invention.

;Having described the nature ofmy invention, what 'I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of making pantiesprthelike twolegged garments, saidrnethod comprising making aleg by circularly knitting over anumber of needles arranged in a circle, then idlingneedles along an arc of said circle, continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles and e e y mak anext nsi n n in f m an arc of saidleg then. activating said idledneedles, continning knitting ,circularlyand thereby making the other leg, the start of said lattercircular operation engagingthe meshes positioned. on said temporarily idled needles whereby ,a narrow crotch-connection is made between arcs of said legs, and said extension connects the remaining arcsof said legs over ,a considerably longer distance, then connecting one half of each-edge of saidextension to the other half of the said edge and thereby transforming said extension into a pocket'having aclosed line at that end which is far fromsaid legs,,and thencutting throughsaid line.

2. A method of making pantiesor,theliketwolegged garments, said method comprising making a leg byhcirc la ly knitting ver anumber of needles arranged in a circle, then idling needles along an arc of said circle, continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles, increasing the arc of idled needles by idling successively further needles at both sides from said first idled needles and thereby making a gradually narrowing extension portion extending from an arc of said leg, then continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles and thereby making a further extension portion of uniform width, then activating successively said successively idled needles and thereby making a gradually widening third extension portion, said third portion engaging the meshes positioned on said successively idled needles and thereby connecting said Widening portion with said narrowing extension portion, then activating said first mentioned idled needles, continuing knitting circularly and thereby making the other leg, the start of said latter circular operation engaging the meshes positioned on said first mentioned idled needles whereby a narrow crotch-connection is made between arcs of aid legs, and said extension connects other arcs of said legs over a considerably longer distance, then connecting one half of each edge of said uniformly Wide extension portion to the other half of the same edge and thereby transforming said extension into a pocket having a closed line at that end which is far from said legs, and then cutting through said line.

3. A method of making panties or the like twolegged garments, said method comprising making a leg by circularly knitting over a number of needles arranged in a circle, then idling needles along an arc of said circle, continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles, increasing the arc of idled needles by idling successively further needles at both sides from said first idled needles and thereby making a gradually narrowing extension portion extending from an arc of said leg, successive needles being idled at intervals comprising more than one reciprocation of the knitting, then contiuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles and thereby making a further extension portion of uniform width, then activating successively said successively idled needles at intervals corresponding to said first mentioned intervals and thereby making a gradually widening third extension portion, said third portion engaging the meshes positioned on said successively idled needles and thereby connecting said widening portion with said narrowing extension portion, then activating said first mentioned idled needles, continuing knitting circularly and thereby making the other leg, the start of said latter circular operation engaging the meshes positioned on said first mentioned idled needles whereby a narrow crotchconnection is made between arcs of said legs, and said extension connects other arcs of said legs over a considerably longer distance, then connecting one half of each edge of said uniformly wide extension portion to the other half of the same edge and thereby transforming said extension into a pocket having a closed line at that end which is far from said legs, and then cutting through said line.

4. A method of making panties or the like twolegged garments, said method comprising making a leg by circularly knitting over a number of needles arranged in a circle, then idling needles along an arc of said circle, continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles, increasing the arc of idled needles by idling successively further needles at both sides from said first idled needles and thereby making a gradually narrowing extension portion extending from an arc of said leg, then continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles and thereby making a further extension portion of uniform Width, making selvedged edges during said latter reciprocating operation, then activating successively said successively idled needles and thereby making a gradually Widening third extension portion, said third portion engaging the meshes positioned on said successively idled needles and thereby connecting said widening portion with said narrowing extension portion, then activating said first mentioned idled needles, continuing knitting circularly and thereby making the other leg, the start of said latter circular operation engaging the meshes positioned on said first mentioned idled needles whereby a narrow crotch-connection is made between arcs of said legs, and said extension connects other arcs of said legs over a considerably longer distance, then connecting one half of each edge of said uniformly wide extension portion to the other half of the same edge by a looping operation engaging said selvedged edge and thereby transforming said extension into a pocket having a closed line at that end which is far from said legs, and then cutting through said line.

5. A method of making panties or the like twolegged garments, said method comprising making a leg by circularly knitting over a number of needles arranged in a circle, then idling needles along an arc of said circle, continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles, increasing the arc of idled needles by idling successively further needles at both sides from said first idled needles and thereby making a gradually narrowing extension portion extending from an arc of said leg, then continuing knitting reciprocatingly over the remaining needles and thereby making a further extension portion of uniform width, then activating successively said successively idled needles and thereby making a gradually widening third extension portion, said third portion engaging the meshes positioned on said successively idled needles and thereby connecting said wideningly knitted portion with said narrowing extension portion, then activating said first mentioned idled needles, continuing knitting circularly and thereby making the other leg, the start of said latter circular operation engaging the meshes positioned on said first mentioned idled needles whereby a narrow crotch-connection is made between arcs of said legs, and said extension connects other arcs of said legs over a considerably longer distance, all said knitting steps being made on the same knitting machine with one continuous thread, then connecting one half of each edge of said uniformly wide extension portion to the other half of the same edge and thereby transforming said extension into a pocket having a closed line at that end which is far from said legs, and then cutting through said line.

GEORGE LACKS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 468,212 Simons Feb. 2, 1892 1,906,212 Lacks et al. Apr. 25, 1933

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