US2983128A - Full-fashioned knitted foundation garment - Google Patents

Description

y 1951 c. D. GOFF ETAL 2,983,128

- FULL-FASHIONED KNITTED FOUNDATION GARMENT Original Filed Oct. 13, 1958 I o o WWLB 303132333 /35363 Fig.7

INVENTOR$ CLHR DHYID GOFF BYWHLTEK S. DETW1LER XWM United States Patent FULL-FASHIONED KNITTED FOUNDATION GARMENT Clarence David Golf, 670 Meeting House Road, Elkins Park, Pa, and Walter S. Detwiler, 109 Downing Ave, West Chester, Pa.

Continuation of application Ser. No. 766,930, Oct. 13, 1958. This application Oct. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 847,424

12 Claims. (Cl. 66-177) The present invention relates generally to the art of girdles and more particularly to full-fashioned knitted girdles formed primarily of a plurality of full-fashioned knitted fabric blanks of required shape and elasticity, this application being a continuation of our pending application, Serial No. 766,930, filed October 13, 1958, now abandoned.

The general object of the invention is to provide a full-fashioned girdle which is relatively light in weight and which has a maximum of body confining power, the girdle being formed of a like pair of full-fashioned knitted body flanks of generally rectangular shape and of a full-fashioned knitted diamond-shaped crotch blank.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a full-fashioned knitted girdle-forming blank of generally rectangular shape wherein the same if formed of three suture joined lengthwise extending variable width panellike sections of which the center section is knit of elastic yarn and the side sections are each knit of a pair of stretch yarns.

It is an object of the invention to provide a special stitch construction for the elastic center section of the above blank in order to increase the coursewise stretch and elasticity thereof, the construction providing recurrent groups of wales of stitches spaced by unknit float wales of the elastic yarn.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a special stitch construction for the sutures between the center and side panel sections of the above blank wherein each of said sutures is formed of the elastic yarn of the center section and of one of each of the pairs of stretch yarns of the side sections, respectively.

it is still a further object of the invention to form the girdle forming body and crotch fabric blanks by full-fashioned knitting wherein these blanks are knit to the shape needed for the girdle formation by narrowing and widening operations, and wherein the girdle may then be formed from these blanks without any cutting thereof.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred form of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings and from the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the full-fashioned girdle of the present invention formed primarily of a pair of full-fashioned knitted body blanks and of a full-fashioned knitted crotch blank;

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the girdle shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the disposition of the full-fashioned knitted body and crotch blanks of the girdle of Figure 1, in spaced relation;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a full-fashioned knitted fabric girdle-forming body blank having a central panel knit of elastic yarn and adjoining side panels knit of Stretch yarns;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the welt end of the blank shown in Figure 4, as taken on line 5-5 thereof;

Figure 6 is a stitch diagram of a few wales of the central elastic panel of the blank shown in Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the paths of travel of the yarn carriers in relation to the needles in the formation of the suture connection between the central and the side panels; and

Figure 8 is a plan view showing a series of connecte full-fashioned knitted fabric crotch blanks.

The full-fashioned knitted girdle of the present invention is indicated generally at 10 in Figure 1, and is formed primarily of a like pair of oppositely disposed full-fashioned knitted fabric body blanks 11 and 12 and of a folded diamond-shaped full-fashioned knitted fabric crotch blank 13 disposed therebetween adjacent to the leg ends thereof. Above the crotch 13, the blanks I1 and 12 are edged seamed together at 14 and 15, front and back, to form the main tubular body-receiving portion of the girdle, while below the crotch piece the blanks each have their own edges seamed together as at 1616 to form the pair of tubular leg members 17-17. The four edges of crotch blank 13 are seamed to the respective four edges of the blanks 1i and 12 as at 1818 to complete the crotch area of the girdle. A waist encircling elastic band 19, of any suitable formation, is preferably seamed to the upper ends 43 of the joined blanks 1] and 12 to finish off the top of the girdle. Inasmuch as the fabric body blanks 11 and 12 are of like formation, a description of one, shown fiat at 11 in Figure 4 as it comes from the machine, will sufiice for both.

The body blank '11 is preferably knit upon a fullfashioned knitting machine of the type used for the formation of full-fashioned hosiery, the machine, using up to five carrier rods, providing a full-fashioned shape for the body blanks during the knitting thereof Inasmuch as the blanks are knit to shape, cutting of the fabric with the attendant yarn wastage is eliminated, and additionally, the blanks are provided with selvages which form a superior construction in the finished girdles. Knitting commences at the Wide end of blank 11, Figure 4, upon the requisite numbers of needles, a pair of yarn carriers feeding a pair of stretch yarns to the needles at this time. A relatively short welt 28 is preferably made to start the blank, this welt being made in a mans-imilar to the formation of a full-fashioned stocking welt, save for the length thereof. After welt 2-0, a few courses of plain fabric 21 are knit of the stretch yarns,

and thereafter a course 22 of loops is knitted wherein preferably every fourth loop thereof is laterally transferred to the adjacent to form lock stitches which prevent the stitches in every fourth wale from running back to the welt. Then in the subsequent courses forming the central panel hereinafter referred to, special stitch formations are provided in every needle Wale from which the lock-stitch-forming loop originated.

At this time additional yarn carriers of the machine are placed in operation and their paths are adjusted so that a single carrier feeds an elastic yarn to form the central panel 23 of blank 11 while a first pair of carriers feeds a first pair of stretch yarns to form one side panel 24 and a second pair of carriers feeds a second pair of stretch yarns to form the opposite side panel 25. The side panels 24-25, following picot line 22, are relatively narrow compared to the width of central panel 23. The three panels are joined by overlappingly feeding and knitting the yarns upon a number of common needles, the resulting joinder being-indicated by the lines 26. The feeding arrangement of the elastic yarn of panel 23 and of the pair of stretch yarns of panel 24 is illustrated in Figure 7,

wherein 27 indicates the elastic yarn, 28 and 29 indicate the pair of stretch yarns, in relation to eight needles numbered 30 through 37 upon certain of which the suture connection between the panels'23 and 24 is'knitted, and a cycle of six courses of knitting is indicated at A through F. In courses A and B, elastic yarn 27 is fedto all needles knitting panel 23 includingneedles 32 through 37, stretch yarn 28 is fed to all needles knitting panel 24 including needles 3ti31, and stretch yarn 29 is fed to all needles knitting panel 24 including needles 30 through 33. Thus, in these two courses, except for the common wales of needles 32-33, the elastic yarn is knit on all the needles forming the'central panel 23, including the 4 ing the recurrent inward transfer of stitches from a number of needles in spaced courses, the lines of spaced narrowing marks 46- 46 resulting therefrom. The width of central panel 23 may remain constant, or it may be further decreased as desired, as -at 47-47, between the courses 44-45. Following the'picot course 45, the transferred stitches of which terminate the float wales .42, a constant width end band 48 of a suitable number of courses is knit of one pair of the stretch yarns, knitting of the elastic yarn and of the other pair of the stretch yarns being terminated. In this manner a flat selvaged full-fashioned knitted girdle-forming body blank of i requisiteshape is formed.

needles 32 through '37, and the pair of stretch yarns panels are narrowed, to provide for the overlapping pairs 7 of wales indicated generally by the lines 26. In this manner the elastic yarn is knit with one of each pair of the stretch yarns to form feathered edge sutures without excessive bulk therein and with a minimum tendencyto curl the fabric.

While the sutures along the lines 26 have been shown and described as being of stepped formation upon the pairs of common wales, it is within the scope of the invention to form the sutures upon any desired number of wales and to also caue the sutures to be formed without the stepping formation thereof. In the latter instance, the sutures are formed upon the same common wales throughout each portion of the panels, except, of course,

where the panels are narrowed, in which case the suture forming wales are accordingly caused to change.

The elastic panel 23 is provided with spaced walewise extending formations which are indicated by the relatively closely spaced lines 38 in Figure 4. A portion of this fabric is shown enlarged in Figure 6 wherein a course G has recurrent groups of four wales indicated at 39' through 42. In each group of wales, which need not be limited to four, regular stitches of elastic yarn are formed in three wales, as at 39, 40 and 41 while the elastic yarn extends or floats unknit across the space of the fourth wale 42, between wales 39 and 41 of the recurrent adjacent group of wales. The floats of elastic yarn in recurrent spaced wales serves to increase the coursewise stretch of the fabric of the central panel 23. In the machine, every fourth needle is prevented from knitting in the usual manner, and the heats 42 are formed thereat by the use of covering points acting on these needles during the normal knitting period. The floats: may also be formed by first knitting the stitches in the the five yarn carriers. The joinder lines 26 are of steplike formation between courses 43 and 44. As a general proposition, the outline, of full-fashioned fabric is indica tive of the number of needles knitting, the lengths of the yarn carrier strokes, and the number of courses knit between changes thereof. From course 44 to picot course at 45, near the narrow end of blank 11, side panels 24 and are progressively and symmetrically decreased in width. on the outer sides thereof by a shortening oftheir yarn carrier strokes and'by a narrowingoperation involv-L Full-fashioned fabric itself, or any article which is full-fashioned, is knit to its required shape upon a fullfashioned machine of the type normally used to make full-fashioned hosiery and wherein at least certain of the shaping is performed by using transfer points to transfer a number of stitches from the needles making the same to needles adjacent thereto in a number of courses, this process causing one or more lines of transfer marks to be made within the fabric.

The yarn 27 has been termed an elastic yarn, and while other typm of natural or synthetic yarns may be used in place thereof, it is preferred that the yarn 27 be of the Lastex type wherein a rubber strand is yarn covered, the covering yarn being preferably nylon or the like. The yarns 28 and 29 have been termed stretch yarns, and

while other types of natural or synthetic yarns may be used in place thereof, it is preferred that these yarns be of the Helanca type wherein the strands thereof have been deformed to provide the stretch qualities.

The full-fashioned knitted crotch forming blanks 13 are formed, Figure 8, in a continuous connected series, also upon a full-fashioned machine, and preferably of stretch yarns. Each blank commences knitting upon a relatively few needles to form the narrow connecting portions 49, then the blanks are symmetrically widened to form the diverging selvages 5G50 to the full width of the blanks, and then the blanks are symmetrically narrowed to form the converging selvages 51-51.' These blanks are substantially diamond-shaped with the wales thereof extending vertically as in Figure 8.

so that the face sides of the fabric blanks form the outer sides of the girdle itself. The crotch blank is preferably folded so that the wales thereof are normal to the fold 7 pair of blanks. course 44 is shaped to fit over the hips and abdomen of line. The respective edges of the blanks are joined by overedge seams of the type normally used to form fullfashioned hosiery. 'Fhe diametrically opposite seams 14 and 15 join the respective selvages of the pair of blanks 11 and 12 above crotch 13, each seam 16 joins the selvages of a blank below the crotch to form a leg portion 17, and the seams 18 join the four selvages of the crotch blank v13 to the respective four selvages of the In the finished girdle, the portion above the wearer while the portion below this course fits over the upper thighs and the buttocks.

It will be observed that the pair of stretch yarns 2829 are conjointly fed to and'are knit by a bank of needles in the formation of panel 24. This pair of yarns is knit in the usual manner by the needles, and may be in plated or in non-plated relation to each other in each stitch formed of the pair thereof, so far as the present invention is concerned. Similarly, in the suture 26, where the stretch yarn 29 and the elastic yarn 27 is knit together upon the suture-forming-needles, this pair of yarns also may be in either plated or in non-plated relation. As a result of knitting a pair of stretch yarns in panel 24 and of knitting a single stretch yarn along with the elastic yarn 27 in the suture forming wales, in the cycle illustrated in Figure 7, the suture is relatively thin and is without undesirable bulk.

It will be understood that the present invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to time without departing from the general principles or real spirit of the invention, and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A full-fashioned weft knitted girdle of the type having a generally tubular main portion, a crotch area and a pair of leg portions, said girdle being primarily formed of a like pair of selvaged full-fashioned knitted body blanks and of a generally diamond-shaped selvaged fullfashioned knitted crotch blank, wherein said body blanks each have a portion of the selvages at the lower end thereof joined to form said leg portions, wherein said crotch blank has its four selvages joined to the four respective selvages of said blanks adjacent said leg portions to form said crotch area, and wherein the remaining selvages of said blanks are respectively joined to form said tubular portion of said girdle, each of said body blanks being of generally rectangular shape in its lower region which in the finished girdle fits over the upper thighs and buttocks of the wearer and tapering symmetrically inward thereabove to a point proximate the upper edge to define a portion which in the finished girdle fits over the hips and abdomen of the wearer.

2. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks is formed of at least three suture joined lengthwise extending panel-like sections each of which is of varying width, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of stretch yarns.

3. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks is formed of at least three suture joined lengthwise extending panel-like sections, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of a pair of stretch yarns, and said sutures are each formed of said elastic yarn and of one only of each of said pairs of stretch yarns.

4. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks comprises three lengthwise extending panel-like sections which are overlappingly joined during the formation thereof, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are formed of stretch yarns, each of said blanks having terminal courses formed of stretch yarns, said terminal courses extending across said three sections.

5. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks is formed of at least three suture joined lengthwise extending panel-like sections, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of stretch yarns, each of said body blanks having a terminal welt extending across said sections, said welts forming the terminal portions of said leg portions.

6. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks is formed of three suture joined lengthwise extending panel-like sections, the

- center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of stretch yarns, and wherein said body blanks are joined to each other and to said crotch blank along the said remaining sections.

7. A full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said body blanks is formed of three suture joined lengthwise extending panel-like sections, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of a pair of stretch yarns, the selvages of said body blanks being formed of said stretch yarns, the said center section having recurrent spaced groups of wales of stitches of said elastic yarn and having at least one unknit float wale of said elastic yarn to provide the spacing between adjacent ones of said groups of wales, and wherein said body blanks are joined to each other and to said crotch blank along the stretch yarn selvages of said remaining sections.

8. A full-fashioned weft knitted girdle of the type having a generally tubular mainportion, a crotch area and a pair of leg portions, said girdle being primarily formed of a like pair of generally rectangular shaped selvaged full-fashioned knitted body blanks and of a generally diamond-shaped selvaged full-fashioned knitted crotch blank, wherein said body blanks each have a portion of the selvages at one end thereof joined to form said leg portions, wherein said crotch blank has its four selvages joined to the four respective selvages of said blanks adjacent said leg portions to form said crotch area, and wherein the remaining selvages of said blanks are respectively joined to form said tubular portion of said girdle, each of said body blanks being formed of at least three suture-joined lengthwise-extending panel-like sections, each section of which is of varying width, the center one of said sections being formed of an elastic yarn while the remaining sections are each formed of stretch yarns.

9. The full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 8 wherein each of said remaining sections is formed of a pair of stretch yarns and said sutures are each formed of said elastic yarn and of one only of each of said pairs of stretch yarns.

10. The full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 8 wherein each of said body blanks has upper and lower terminal courses formed of stretch yarns extending completely across said blank.

11. The full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 8 wherein said body blanks are joined to each other and to said crotch blank along the sides of said remaining sections.

12. The full-fashioned knitted girdle as set forth in claim 8 wherein the selvages of said body blanks are formed of said stretch yarns, wherein the said body blank center section has recurrent spaced groups of wales of stitches of said elastic yarn and has at least one unknit float wale of said elastic yarn to provide the spacing between adjacent ones of said groups of wales, and wherein said body blanks are joined to each other and to said crotch blank along the stretch yarn selvages of said remaining sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 453,874 West June 9, 1891 475,734 Sutton May 24, 1892 737,975 Trimble et a1. Sept. 1, 1903 1,637,157 Osborne July 26, 1927 1,650,386 Phillips Nov. 22, 1927 2,140,937 Luhn Dec. 20, 1938 2,173,775 Boudios Sept. 19, 1939 2,194,271 Adams Mar. 19, 1940 2,220,277 Ralston Nov. 5, 1940 2,234,564 Lambach Mar. 11, 1941 2,298,302 Mack Oct. 13, 1942 2,301,469 Smetana Nov. 10, 1942 2,319,768 Beers May 18, 1943 2,344,375 Stephens Mar. 14, 1944 2,623,210 Chatfield Dec. 30, 1952 2,682,661 Kessler July 6, 1954 2,717,388 Rutledge Sept. 13, 1955 2,747,391 Burkey May 29, 1956 2,772,419 Silverstein 'Dec. 4, 1956 2,833,134 Gift May 6, 1958 2,858,685 Sommers Nov. 4, 1958 2,899,812 Attenborough Aug. 18, 1959

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