US3015942A - figure - Google Patents

Description

J. L. GETAZ CIRCULAR KNIT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF FORMING THE. FOOT OF SA Filed Jan. 31, 1958 INVENTOR JAMES L. 65732 BY 4412;, f/ml 511 M ATTORNEYS United States Patent Filed 52m. 31, 158, Ser. No. 712,379 2 fliaims. (Cl. 66186) This invention is related to knitted hosiery and particularly to a novel hosiery construction, and to a method of closing the toe of hose which are knitted on circular knitting machines.

As mentioned in my Patent No. Re. 24,314, the closing of the toe in circular knit hosiery according to the method which has been generally used is a diflicult operation. The closure is made by a seam which runs across the foot near the toes and it extends halfway around the sides of the foot, and because of its location it must be a flat seam in order to be comfortable to the wearer. To make this seam in a satisfactory manner it is necessary for the operator to place by hand each loop at the end of the toe portion of the hose on one of the points of the dial or" a looping machine. This operation is tedious and requires a long period of training on the part of the operator before sufiicient skill can be obtained.

In my patent mentioned above, I have shown a construction of hose in which the closure of the opening at the end of the foot is made by a longitudinal seam on the bottom of the foot and which may be made on a sewing machine without the manual operation of putting the loops individually on the points of the looper dial. As so many women have worn full fashioned hose they are used to a seam on the bottom or the foot and this method has proved to be satisfactory, especially for the manufacture of ladies hose. The seam is out of sight even when worn with shoes which are low cut or are open at the end of the toe, and hose which are made in this way fit the shape of the foot and are comfortable to the wearer.

From the manufacturers point of view there is a great advantage in using this construction because there is very iittle expense required in changing knitting machines which have een used in making ladies hose in the usual manner to the construction of hose as shown in my patent. These machines have been designed to make the opening at the end of the foot on the bottom side of the toe portion, so that it is only necessary to change some knitting needles and a few cams on the drum of the knitting machine to change machines from one construction of ladies hose to the other.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide an alternate method for closing the toe which is especially suitable for the manufacture of mens and childrens hose. This alternate method has the same advantage as shown in my Patent Re. 24,314 for avoiding the tedious process of looping and it also provides a means for changing the knitting machines which are now in use for making mens and childr'ens hose at minimum cost.

As is well known to the trade, in practically all circular knit hosiery the leg and foot are knitted by continuous rotation of the cylinder and the heel and toe are knitted by a reciprocating movement. But there is a basic difference in the clutch mechanism which changes the movement of the cylinder back and forth between continuous rotation and rciprocation. In all machines which make ladies hose, the clutch is designed to engage the cylinder to place the opening at the end of the hose on the bottom side of the foot. And in all machines which make mens and childrens hose a more simple clutch mechanism is used which places this opening on the instep side of the foot. To change the clutch mechanism of the latter machines to place the opening on the bottom of the foot is expensive. As there are about 65,000 of these machines now in use making mens and childrens hose, there is a commercial problem involved in changing all of these machines, and to save cost and delay, methods are shown in this application for closing the toe with a seam on the instep side of the foot.

As mens and childrens hose are placed on the feet by the wearer, the big toe is generally in the tip of the toe pocket and the center of the instep portion follows the ridge of the foot which is formed by the metatarsal bone of the big toe. This may be noticed in hosiery which has fancy patterns in the foot such as large diamonds, the points which are the center of these patterns follow the line of this metatarsal line when the hose are being Worn. In the methods which are shown in this application, the seam which closes the toe may be placed directly on this metatarsal line or the knitting machine may be so adjusted as to place this seam to one side of this line.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows the hose as it comes from the knitting machine with the opening on the instep side of the foot and to one side of the metatarsal line.

' FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the finished hose, as made according to FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the arrangement of the needles in the cylinder of the knitting machine for placing the opening to one side of the center line of the instep of the hose, as shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 shows the arrangement of the needles in the cylinder of the knitting machine for placing the seam on the center of the instep of the hose.

In most knitting machines the rotation of the cylinder in each reciprocating movement is one complete revolution, though in some types of machines this rotation may be more than 360 degrees. As shown in FIGURE 3, the cylinder I rotates one complete revolution in each reciprocation and it is shown with the position of the needles at the end of each stroke as they are located if it is desired to place the opening above the side of the metatarsal line. The vertical line KL passes through the center of the knitting cams at K and these cams extend from M to N.

In making a stocking the knitting begins at the top A (FIGURE 1) and continues with the cylinder rotating in one direction until the point B is reached. At this point the movement of the cylinder is changed to reciprocation, the medium butt needles MS (FIGURE 3) and the long butt needles MN are raised out of action and the heel is knitted on the short butt needles SN. Continuous rotation is resumed after completion of the heel and continues to point 16 (FIGURE 1). At this point, the long butt needles MN (FIGURE 3) are raised out of action and the toe portion is knitted on the medium butt needles MS and the short butt needles S-N, beginning with a long course from this point 10 past the point 18 to the point 10' on the other side of the hose. The position of these points 10 and 10 in the fabric corresponds with the position of needles N and M in the cylinder. Beginning at 10, narrowing gore portions 10-12 and 10-12' are formed which are much longer than the ordinary gore which is made in knitting the toe, by raising one or more needles at a time at either side of the group MSN upon each stroke of reciprocation, and as these gore portions are knitted the sole portion of the toe is formed.

After the narrowing of the gores 10-12 and 10'-12' is completed all of the raised needles may be put back into action at once, but the preferred method is to pull down a few of the raised needles one at a time on successive reciprocations of the cylinder, and then pull all of the remaining needles back into action at once. When the opening 16 has been reached, the hose is cast from the knitting machine and, as shown in FIGURE 2, the opening is closed by sewing a seam of stitches 11-17 which extend lengthwise of the foot on the instep side approximately equidistant between the gore portions 10-12 and 10'12'. The marginal fabric beyond this seam 11-17 is cut off and discarded. As may be seen in FIGURE 2, this scam lies in the instep to one side of the metatarsal line, where it may be more acceptable to the trade than if placed in the center.

The preferred construction of this invention is to place the opening and the seam of closure to one side of the center line, so that the seam will not lie along the metatarsal bone of the big toe. The extent to which the seam is off center may be varied by changing the relative positions of the medium butt and short butt needles in the needle cylinder, and if it is desired to place the scam in the center, the needles are arranged as shown in FIGURE 4. The heel is knitted on the short butt needles PR and the toe portion is knitted on the medium butt needles M-P, the short butts PR and the medium butts RN. The long butt needles N-M are in the same position as shown in FIGURE 3. By shifting the center of the heel on the knitting machine, the center of the toe portion is shifted on the foot of the wearer.

I claim:

1. In circular knit hose, a foot portion, gores extending forwardly and downwardly along each side of said foot portion, and a seam of stitches closing said foot portion, said seam extending longitudinally of said foot portion and along the instep side thereof, said seam being located to one side of the centerline of the instep side of said foot portion.

2. In circular knit hose, a foot portion, gores extending forwardly and downwardly along each side of said foot portion, one of said gores being higher than the other, and a seam of stitches closing said foot portion, said seam extending longitudinally of said foot portion and along the instep side thereof, said seam being located to one side of the centerline of the instep side of said foot portion generally equidistant between said gores.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 414,479 Appleton Nov. 5 ,1889 449,925 Appleton Apr. 7, 1891 1,459,497 Bosworth June 19, 1923 1,853,519 Page Apr. 12, 1932 2,416,331 Lang Feb. 25, 1947 2,440,280 Lawson Apr. 27, 1948 2,658,365 Lawson Nov. 10, 1953 2,740,277 Lombardi Apr. 3, 1956 2,821,847 Getaz Feb. 4, 1958

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