HK1211996B - Elastic knitted fabric and clothing item - Google Patents

Description

Stretchable knitted fabric and garment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a stretchable knitted fabric containing an elastic yarn, the temperature of which rises instantaneously during stretching, and a garment made of the knitted fabric.

Background

Conventionally, as a garment such as a thermal garment which rises in temperature when worn, there are known: clothing is produced from a fabric mixed with a hygroscopic and exothermic fiber such as cellulose, and clothing that generates heat by perspiration or non-perspiration from a human body when worn is used (for example, see patent document 1 below). However, in the moisture-absorbing heat-generating fibers, if the moisture absorption amount of the fibers is saturated, no further heat is generated, and not only does the heat generation time become short, but also the fibers feel cold due to moisture in the fibers after the moisture absorption amount is saturated. Further, as a heat-generating fabric or a heat-generating garment other than moisture absorption heat generation, it is known to attach a heater such as a planar heat generator or a linear heat generator to a garment or the like, but all of them generate heat by electricity, and thus the garment becomes heavy when made, and further, an electrode is required, and it becomes difficult to move the garment.

In addition, recently, knitted fabrics have been proposed which generate heat when the knitted fabric is stretched during a wearing operation and have a heat generating function completely different from that of the conventional knitted fabrics (for example, see patent documents 2 and 3 below).

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2003-227043

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2011-195970

Patent document 3: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2012-112078

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, although these knitted fabrics are actually heated and warm when stretched, clothes improved to be easy to move are required, for example, the knitted fabrics are hard, or strong stress is required for stretching the knitted fabrics.

Under such circumstances, there is a need for a knitted fabric that can produce more comfortable clothes using a knitted fabric having a new function of stretch heating.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a knitted fabric which is capable of producing a garment which is capable of being stretched and heated continuously when the temperature is instantaneously raised during stretching in a knitted fabric containing an elastic yarn and the stretch of the knitted fabric is repeated, and which can efficiently achieve stretch heating and which can be easily moved, and a garment which is capable of preventing injury and fat burning effects by sewing a garment such as a lining or a sportswear using the knitted fabric, and which can be expected to have heat retaining properties and warm muscles and joints at a stretched portion.

Means for solving the problems

The present inventors have conducted extensive studies and repeated experiments to solve the above problems, and as a result, have found that the instant heat generation temperature during stretching can be set to 1.0 ℃ or higher by providing a knitted fabric including a non-elastic yarn and an elastic yarn with the following configuration, and have completed the present invention.

Namely, the present invention is as follows.

[1]A knitted fabric is characterized in that the knitted fabric is a stretchable knitted fabric comprising an elastic yarn and a non-elastic yarn, and the content of the elastic yarn is 20-60 g/m²When the knitted fabric is stretched to 80% and then returned to the original length, and the outward stress and the return stress at 50% of the time during the stretching process are measured, the stress ratio obtained by the following formula is 0.40 to 0.80,

stress ratio (loop stress (N) at 50%)/(outgoing stress (N) at 50%))

And the instant heating temperature in stretching in at least one of the warp and weft directions is 1.0 ℃ or higher.

[2] The knitted fabric according to the above [1], wherein a fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn in the structure constituting the knitted fabric (fineness of the inelastic yarn/fineness of the elastic yarn) is 1.0 to 2.5.

[3] The knitted fabric according to the above [1] or [2], wherein a loop ratio Lb/La of a length La obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the knitted fabric is stretched by 30% in both the warp and weft directions and a length Lb obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the knitted fabric is further stretched by 50% in either the warp and weft directions satisfies the following expression:

1.15≤Lb/La≤1.75。

[4] the knitted fabric according to any one of the above [1] to [3], wherein a heat generation index obtained by using an elongation under a load of 9.8N when the knitted fabric is stretched and a stress ratio obtained according to the above [1] and by using the following formula is 40 to 120,

heat generation index (elongation (%) under a load of 9.8N) x (stress ratio).

[5] The knitted fabric according to any one of the above [1] to [4], which is a weft-knitted fabric.

[6]According to the above [5]]SaidThe weft knitted fabric comprises 20 to 50g/m of elastic yarn²。

[7] The weft-knitted fabric according to the above [5] or [6], wherein tuck loops (tuck loops) or float loops (welt loops) are formed of an elastic yarn, and/or at least any of the front and rear knitted loops of the course knitted with tuck loops or float loops are formed of an elastic yarn, and the tuck loops or the float loops are contained in 20 to 60% of all the knitted loops in the weft-knitted fabric.

[8] The knitted fabric according to any one of the above [1] to [4], which is a warp knitted fabric.

[9]According to the above [8]The warp-knitted fabric comprises elastic yarns with the content of 30-60 g/m²。

[10] The warp knitted fabric according to the above [8] or [9], wherein a loop-to-loop ratio Lb/La, which is a length La obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the inelastic yarn in one unit of the knitting structure when the warp knitted fabric is stretched by 30% in both the warp and weft directions, to a length Lb obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the inelastic yarn in one unit of the knitting structure when the warp knitted fabric is further stretched by 50% in either the warp and weft directions, satisfies the following expression:

1.15≤Lb/La≤1.65。

[11] the warp knitted fabric according to any one of the above [8] to [10], wherein at least the elastic yarn is knitted by open stitch.

[12] A garment comprising the knitted fabric according to any one of the above [1] to [11], the garment being in close contact with a body and covering at least a joint portion.

[13] The garment according to the above [12], wherein the garment is selected from the group consisting of lower garments, upper garments, leg stockings, body protectors and gloves.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

The clothing provided with the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention is warm by generating heat at 1.0 ℃ or higher by the flexion and extension of the knee or wrist, has excellent warmth retention, and has an effect of preventing injury and an effect of burning fat by warming the muscles of the stretched portion. In particular, when worn during winter sports, the wearer can prevent a decrease in muscle temperature due to heat generation, can prevent a decrease in the exercise function due to the decrease in muscle temperature, and can prevent and alleviate pain such as knee pain.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows an example of a knitting structure of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows an example of a knitting structure of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a knitting structure of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a view for explaining a method for measuring the length of the needle loop of the non-elastic yarn and the length of the sinker loop of the elastic yarn in the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method of measuring the length of the needle loop of the non-elastic yarn and the length of the sinker loop of the elastic yarn of the warp knitted fabric having stretchability of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below.

The stretchable knitted fabric is characterized by being a weft knitted fabric manufactured by a circular knitting machine, a flat knitting machine and a warp knitted fabric manufactured by a warp knitting machine, wherein the content of the elastic yarn is 20-60 g/m²When the knitted fabric is stretched to 80% and then returned to the original length and the outward and return stresses at 50% of the time during stretching are measured, the method of measuring the outward and return stresses is usedThe stress ratio is 0.40 to 0.80 as determined by the following formula:

stress ratio (loop stress (N) at 50%)/(outgoing stress (N) at 50%))

And the instant heating temperature in stretching in at least one of the warp and weft directions is 1.0 ℃ or higher.

The instantaneous heat generation temperature in the present invention is a value as follows: the method comprises stretching a knitted fabric by 60-100% under the conditions that energy supply from the outside is not present except for stretching and contraction and the stretching heat-generation temperature is not changed by wind, then relaxing to restore the original length, measuring the maximum temperature exhibited by the knitted fabric during the period of 100 times of repeated stretching and contraction with the step as 1 time by using a thermography method, and calculating the value from the difference between the maximum temperature and the temperature of the knitted fabric before the start of the test.

When the temperature of the knitted fabric is higher than that of the knitted fabric before the start of the test during 60-100% stretch for 100 times or immediately after the stretch, instantaneous heat generation is generated. The stretch knitted fabric of the present invention must have an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher as measured by this method. If the instantaneous heat generation temperature is less than 1.0 ℃, heat generation is hardly felt. The instantaneous heat generation temperature is preferably 1.5 ℃ or higher, more preferably 2.0 ℃ or higher. Although the upper limit is not particularly limited as long as the instantaneous heat generation temperature is higher, the temperature is preferably within a range that does not adversely affect the human body, but the instantaneous heat generation temperature is preferably 10 ℃ or lower because the knitted fabric has high strength and the clothing is difficult to run when the elastic fiber content is too large in order to increase the instantaneous heat generation temperature. In addition, in the case of a knitted fabric in which the instantaneous heat generation temperature when the stretch of the knitted fabric in at least one direction is 60 to 100% in the warp and weft directions is 1.0 ℃ or more, and the instantaneous heat generation temperature in both the warp and weft directions of the knitted fabric is 1.0 ℃ or more, it is possible to manufacture a garment warm during a sport operation when the direction of the joint of the human body, particularly the direction in which the skin stretch is large, coincides with the direction of the knitted fabric in which the instantaneous heat generation is large in the case of a knitted fabric in which the instantaneous heat generation is performed in only one direction, without particularly considering the mold insertion direction at the time of product sewing.

The setting of the stretch amount when the stretch heat generation temperature is measured is set by the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N for a knitted fabric having an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm, the stretch amount when the elongation of the knitted fabric is 100% or more is 100%, the stretch amount when the elongation of the knitted fabric is 60% or more and less than 100% is set to a stretch amount of 0.9 times the elongation under a load of 9.8N, and for example, the stretch amount when the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N is 80% is set to 80 × 0.9 — 72%. The elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N needs to be designed such that the elongation of the knitted fabric in either the warp direction or the weft direction is 60% or more, and if the elongation in both the warp direction and the weft direction is not sufficient for 60%, the tightness feeling upon wearing the garment is too strong to allow the garment to move, and therefore, the garment is not suitable for a garment that is close to the skin. The measurement method of the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N and the measurement method of the heat generation temperature are specifically described in the following examples.

Conventional knitted fabrics containing elastic yarns provide elasticity to the knitted fabric to provide a comfortable fit when the garment is worn, thereby providing a tailored aesthetic garment or improving athletic performance. On the other hand, the present invention provides a knitted fabric that generates heat by stretching and shrinking, which is a completely different idea from conventional knitted fabrics. It is important to design a knitted fabric in which the instantaneous heat generation temperature at 60 to 100% stretching is 1.0 ℃ or higher and the content of an elastic yarn, the fineness ratio of an inelastic yarn to an elastic yarn, the number of loops, the stress ratio of the knitted fabric, and the like are set to appropriate ranges, that is, yarn selection, loop structure, and the like, and to provide a method for producing a knitted fabric including a processing method for effectively developing the heat generation by stretching. According to the present invention, a stretchable knitted fabric is obtained for the first time, which has an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher when stretched by 60 to 100%, and when the fabric is made into a garment and worn, even if the stretch amount of the human body joints at the time of wearing, that is, only 30 to 50% is stretched, a high heat generation can be achieved, and the fabric can actually feel heat at the time of wearing.

The instant heating temperature when the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention is stretched to 60 to 100% is set to 1.0 ℃ or higherSince the elastic yarn greatly contributes to the heat generated by stretching, the content of the elastic yarn is important, and therefore, the knitted fabric should contain 20 to 60g/m²The elastic yarn of (1). The more the elastic yarn is contained, the higher the heat generation temperature becomes, and therefore the content of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is preferably 25 to 55g/m². When the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heating temperature is low, and when the content of the elastic yarn is too large, the weight of the knitted fabric is increased, the knitted fabric has high strength, and it becomes difficult to make the garment to move, so that the content of the elastic yarn is set to 20 to 60g/m²Is preferable.

As a result of research on the design of a stretchable knitted fabric that generates heat by stretching with as little elastic yarn as possible in order to facilitate the movement of the stretchable knitted fabric when the garment is worn, the present inventors have found a stress ratio of the knitted fabric and a means for achieving a predetermined stress ratio.

For example, the elastic yarn generates heat when stretched and absorbs heat when the stretch is relaxed, and the heat generation temperature during stretching and the heat absorption temperature during the stretch relaxation are almost the same for a complete elastic body, that is, an elastic body in which all elongation-stress curves (S-S curves) during stretching overlap, in other words, the heat generation amount during the entire cycle between stretching and the stretch relaxation is almost 0. The invention discovers that: means for defining a stress ratio of the knitted fabric for minimizing heat absorption during relaxation of stretching and for achieving a range of the defined stress ratio with respect to a heat generation temperature during stretching of the knitted fabric.

It is extremely important that the stress ratio is an optimum condition, that is, the stress ratio is 0.40 to 0.80 during expansion and contraction. In a normal knitted fabric, the stress ratio exceeds 0.80, but if the stress ratio exceeds 0.80, even if heat is generated during stretching, a heat absorption phenomenon occurs when the stretching is relaxed, and as a result, the heat generation tends to be small. When the stress ratio is less than 0.40, the heat generation during stretching becomes high, but when the garment is produced, the knitted fabric is deformed to make the garment look irregular after the joint portion of the elbow or knee is bent and stretched, which is not preferable, and when the stress ratio is too high, the stretching heat generation temperature itself becomes low. Therefore, the stress ratio is preferably 0.45 to 0.75, and more preferably 0.45 to 0.70. The stress ratio can be controlled by the content of the elastic yarn, the stress ratio of the elastic yarn itself (stress performance to and fro when the elastic yarn is stretched, and when the elastic yarn is stretched by 50%), the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn, and the slidability of the knitted fabric. Regarding the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn, the larger the fineness ratio, the smaller the stress ratio, and further, the method of producing a knitted fabric using an elastic yarn having a smaller stress ratio than the ordinary elastic yarn, or the method of controlling the stress ratio at the time of dyeing finishing of the knitted fabric is possible, and particularly, it is effective to enhance the heating condition at the time of heat setting, and it is preferable to slightly increase the temperature compared with the ordinary setting temperature to heat setting at 190 to 195 ℃. Further, when the after-finishing is performed so that the knitted fabric does not easily slip, the stress ratio is easily reduced. Specifically, when the post-finishing agent is used, it is preferable not to use a silicon-based smoothing agent, and for example, by performing post-finishing with a polyester-based post-finishing agent or without using a post-finishing agent, the stress ratio can be easily maintained in a predetermined range. The stress ratio is determined as follows: the knitted fabric was stretched to 80% and then returned to the original length, the stress at the point of 50% of the stretch was determined as the stress at the way and the stress at the return were determined, the decimal point 3 position was rounded off by the following equation,

stress ratio (return stress (N) at 50%)/(return stress (N) at 50%).

The stress ratio was determined from the stress during stretching by stretching the knitted fabric to 80%, but when the elongation of the knitted fabric was low and it was difficult to stretch to 80%, the original length was recovered after stretching to 60%, and the stress ratio was determined from the outward path stress and the return path stress at 50% of the time during stretching.

The reason why the stress ratio is determined from the stress at the time of stretching and 50% recovery is: it was found that the degree of heat absorption at the time of recovery from stretching is easily grasped at the temperature of heat generation at the time of stretching the knitted fabric, and the lower the stress ratio, the lower the heat absorption temperature, and a higher stretch heat generation temperature can be obtained.

It is also important for the stretch knitted fabric of the present invention to allow the elastic yarn to be stretched efficiently by an operation when the fabric is made into a garment and worn. That is, in the conventional knitted fabric including the elastic yarn, the elastic yarn meanders and bends in the knitted fabric, and when the knitted fabric is stretched, the meanders or bends of the elastic yarn are stretched first, and the elastic yarn is straightened. Further, a deviation of the loop is also generated at the intersection of the needle loop and the sinker loop, and the meandering or bending of the elastic yarn is straightened or the loop is deformed from the stretching direction, the needle loop or the sinker loop becomes smaller, that is, prior to the change of the total length of the needle loop and the sinker loop. After these changes, the elastic yarn is stretched, and therefore is a structure that is very inefficient in obtaining heat generation at the time of stretching required by the present invention.

On the other hand, in the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention, the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric has very little meandering and bending, and the elastic yarn is efficiently stretched by stretching the knitted fabric, resulting in a knitted fabric that generates heat at the time of stretching. These structural differences between the conventional knitted fabric and the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention can be clarified by the following methods.

The knitted fabric was stretched in either the warp direction or the weft direction by 30%, with the stretch ratio in the other direction being 0%, and La being the sum of the sinker loop length of the elastic yarn and the needle loop length of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted structure at that time. Further, Lb is a length obtained by adding the length of the sinker loop of the elastic yarn and the length of the needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted structure when the knitted fabric is stretched by 50% in the same direction as the La measurement direction. In order to produce a knitted fabric which generates heat at a high level when stretched, it is preferable that 1.15. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.75 be satisfied. By adjusting the knitting structure and the dyeing process conditions, Lb/La can be set to the above range. When Lb/La is within this range, the knitted fabric can be made to generate heat during stretching without impairing the wearing feeling. When Lb/La is less than 1.15, the stretch ratio of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is low, and as a result, the heat generation temperature during stretching is also low to such a level that the feeling of reality cannot be obtained. Further, the stretch and stretch recovery of the elastic yarn are poor, and the stretched knitted fabric cannot be recovered, and the knitted fabric undulates and is likely to lose its original shape. When Lb/La is larger than 1.75, the strength of the elastic yarn becomes too high, and therefore, not only does it become a garment difficult to wear or to move, but also the deformation of the knitted fabric becomes large and the deformation of the inelastic yarn becomes too large together with the elastic yarn, and as a result, the stretch recovery property is insufficient, and the fabric undulates at the time of relaxation of stretching or undergoes dimensional change due to washing, which causes the deformation. Therefore, La and Lb preferably satisfy 1.15. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.75, more preferably 1.20. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.70. As a result, it is possible to produce a garment that generates heat by stretching and does not lose its shape when worn or washed.

After the knitted fabric was stretched by 30% to measure La, and then stretched by 50% to measure Lb, but when the knitted fabric had low elongation and was difficult to stretch, the knitted fabric was stretched to an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm, and the elongation under a load of 22.05N was measured to measure Lb.

In the present invention, La and Lb are obtained from the length of the sinker loop of the elastic yarn and the length of the needle loop of the inelastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture, which are measured by the following method using an enlarged image taken from the needle loop side (technical face) of the knitted fabric. Here, it is originally preferable to measure the length of the elastic yarn for the needle loop, but the needle loop of the elastic yarn is often covered with the inelastic yarn, and it is difficult to clearly measure the loop length. Therefore, a position where the needle loop of the elastic yarn can be hidden under the needle loop of the non-elastic yarn and the existence of the needle loop of the elastic yarn can be confirmed is selected, and the length of the needle loop of the non-elastic yarn which acts almost the same as the elastic yarn during stretching is measured as a substitute for the change in the needle loop length of the elastic yarn due to the stretching of the knitted fabric. Needless to say, as a position for capturing the enlarged image, a position where the needle loops of the elastic yarn are not present below the inelastic yarn is not selected.

As a result of studies on the design of a knitted fabric which generates heat by stretching with as small an elastic yarn content as possible in order to facilitate the movement of the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention when wearing a garment, the present inventors found that the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn is important. That is, there is a combination of: even if the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and conversely, even if the content of the elastic yarn is large, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and the knitted fabric stress is not excessively high. After the finishing process after dyeing, the fineness ratio of the structure of the non-elastic yarn constituting the knitted fabric to the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the knitted fabric of the product is set to 1.0 to 2.5, whereby the fabric can be suitably stretched to generate heat, and when the fineness ratio is less than 1.0, the knitted fabric has high strength and becomes hard to move when made into a garment, and when the fineness ratio is more than 2.5, the fabric becomes hard to move and the stretching heat generation temperature cannot be sufficiently increased.

The stretch heat-generating characteristics of the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention are newly found to have a relationship with a heat-generating index obtained from the elongation of the knitted fabric under a constant load and the stress ratio of the present invention.

That is, in the knitted fabric of the present invention, the low elongation percentage allows the elastic yarn to be effectively stretched during stretching of the knitted fabric when the density of the knitted fabric is high and the loop forming the knitted fabric is small, or when the knitted fabric is finished to a coarse density after dyeing of the knitted fabric, and therefore the stretch heat generation temperature is high even when the stress ratio is high. On the other hand, when the elongation of the knitted fabric is high, the stretch amount of the elastic yarn in stretching the knitted fabric becomes small because the loop length constituting the knitted fabric is large or when the post-finishing is high density at the time of dyeing processing of the knitted fabric, and therefore, when the stress ratio is as low as possible, the stretching heat generation temperature tends to become high. Therefore, in order to efficiently generate heat during stretching, as shown in the following formula, the heat generation index obtained by multiplying the elongation under a load of 9.8N by the stress ratio is preferably within a certain range, that is, when the heat generation index is 40 to 120, more preferably 50 to 110, heat is efficiently generated during stretching.

Heat generation index (elongation (%) under a load of 9.8N) x (stress ratio).

The method for determining the elongation of the knitted fabric is described in detail in examples.

In the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention, the fineness ratio of the non-elastic yarn to the elastic yarn is set to 1.0 to 2.5, but the fineness ratio of a normal knitted fabric is about 2.8 to 5.0, and therefore the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention is characterized in that the fineness of the elastic yarn is larger than that of the non-elastic yarn, and when the knitted fabric is conventionally knitted and after-finished, the texture is hard and the knitted fabric stress is excessively high. Therefore, in the production of the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention, it is important to stretch the elastic yarn more than usual at the time of knitting and to knit the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric so as to be apparently thin.

Further, in the dyeing process, it is preferable that the after-finishing is a feeling of stretching the knitted fabric more than usual, and as an index, the after-finishing is performed in the same manner as the density of the raw fabric. As a result, in the normal knitted fabric, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn is the same as or several% smaller than the fineness of the base yarn, while in the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the elastic yarn is thinned by about 10 to 20% after the dyeing process, and the knitted fabric stress can be reduced although the reduction in the stretching heat generation temperature is small. In addition, during the dyeing process, it is important to increase the setting temperature and increase the setting time in the heat setting to set the knitted fabric while keeping the knitted fabric stretched, and to make the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric as thin as possible. As an index for stretching and setting these knitted fabrics, it is preferable to set the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N of the knitted fabric sampled at an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm to be within 180% at maximum.

The method of determining the fineness ratio of the yarn of the present invention is determined from the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn. The cross-sectional area is obtained by observing the cross-sections of the inelastic yarn and the elastic yarn in the structure constituting the knitted fabric to be measured, and the sum of the components of the number of filaments is obtained for each of the inelastic yarn and the elastic yarn for the respective cross-sectional areas and for the case of the multifilament, and the obtained value is taken as the fineness. In this case, the cross section of the yarn has various shapes such as a circle, an ellipse, a W-shape, a triangle, and an L-shape, and the cross section cannot be measured only by observation with an electron microscope, and therefore, in order to easily obtain the cross section, the cross section is printed in an enlarged manner on a substantially uniform sheet having a predetermined area and weight in the cross section observation of the yarn, the sheet is cut according to the cross section after printing, and the weight of the sheet after cutting is measured, and the cross section can be obtained from the ratio of the weight of the sheet before cutting and the enlargement factor. In this case, when the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn are observed at the same magnification, printed on a paper, and the cross section is cut, and the cross sections of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn are compared, the fineness ratio can be easily determined. In the case of spun yarn, similarly, after printing the cross section, the cross section of 1 fiber was cut, and the sum of the fiber numbers (number of single yarns) on the cut surface was defined as the cross section. The measurement of the cross-sectional area was performed at the needle loop portion and the sinker loop portion, and the loop was changed during the measurement, and the average of the cross-sectional areas at 10 points of the needle loop and the sinker loop was determined as the cross-sectional area and the fineness ratio. In the case where the needle loop portion and the sinker loop portion are both the same loop and are stretched, or where there are loops having different shapes due to deformation or the like, the measurement is performed at the most shaped portion in the knitted fabric, and the measurement is obtained by the following equation:

denier ratio (cross-sectional area of inelastic yarn)/(cross-sectional area of elastic yarn).

When a cross section is printed on a sheet and cut to obtain a fineness ratio, the fineness ratio is obtained by the following equation:

the fineness ratio (the weight of a sheet obtained by cutting a section of the non-elastic yarn)/(the weight of a sheet obtained by cutting a section of the elastic yarn).

The stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention may have a high-strength portion and a low-strength portion having different local strengths, such as a dot shape, a straight shape, and a curved shape, mixed by changing the knitting structure, selecting the yarn, and performing resin printing. In this case, a part of the knitted fabric may satisfy such performance. For example, a high stretch heat-generating knitted fabric may be disposed only in a portion where a stretch heat-generating effect is desired, such as a knee, or a high-strength constant stretch knitted fabric may be disposed around the knee, or the like.

The elastic yarn used in the stretch knitted fabric of the present invention may be a polyurethane-based or polyether ester-based elastic yarn, and for example, a yarn obtained by dry spinning or melt spinning may be used as the polyurethane-based elastic yarn, and the polymer and the spinning method are not particularly limited. Preferably, the elastic yarn has an elongation at break of about 400% to 1000%, is excellent in stretchability, and does not deteriorate in stretchability at a temperature around 180 ℃ which is a normal treatment temperature in a presetting step in dyeing processing. As the elastic yarn, an elastic yarn to which a special polymer or powder is added to impart functionality such as high setting property, antibacterial property, moisture absorption, and water absorption can be used. The fineness of the elastic yarn may be about 20 to 110dtex, and preferably about 30 to 80dtex, which is easy to manufacture a knitted fabric and has a high stretch heat generation temperature, is used. Further, a covering yarn in which a non-elastic yarn is wound around an elastic yarn, a twisted yarn, or a blended yarn in which a non-elastic yarn and an elastic yarn are blended by air jet or the like may be used as the covered elastic yarn.

Further, the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention may contain an inorganic substance in the elastic yarn, and may be a knitted fabric to which the performance of the contained inorganic substance is imparted. As a method of containing the inorganic substance, a method of spinning an elastic yarn by containing the inorganic substance in a spinning dope is the simplest. The inorganic substance in the present invention means ceramics such as titanium oxide, and inorganic substances and/or inorganic compounds such as carbon and carbon black, and is preferably in a fine powder form so as not to inhibit the spinning of the elastic yarn. The inorganic substance is preferably contained in the elastic yarn in an amount of 1 to 10% by weight, and the inorganic substance is contained, whereby the heat insulating effect can be more effectively exerted when the knitted fabric generates heat. The content of the inorganic substance is preferably 1 to 10% by weight, more preferably 2 to 5% by weight because the heat retaining effect is small when the inorganic substance is small, and the yarn breakage is sometimes generated during spinning and drawing when the inorganic substance is too large.

The elastic yarn used in the stretch knitted fabric of the present invention includes polyurethane elastic yarn and polyether ester elastic yarn, and there is a method of increasing the molecular weight of the elastic yarn in order to increase the stretch heat generation temperature. As another method, it is preferable to use an elastic yarn having a reduced stress ratio, and for example, there is a method of spinning by adding the following compounds: a urethane urea compound having an average number of urea bond units per 1 molecule obtained by reacting an organic diisocyanate with any 1-functional amine among primary or secondary amines, a nitrogen-containing compound containing a hydroxyl group and at least one member selected from tertiary or heterocyclic nitrogen, as disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-140127; a urea compound obtained by reacting a nitrogen-containing compound containing at least one nitrogen-containing group selected from a 2-functional amino group selected from at least one of a primary amine and a secondary amine, a tertiary nitrogen, and a heterocyclic nitrogen, with at least one compound selected from the group consisting of an organic diisocyanate, a monoalkyl monoamine or a dialkyl monoamine, an alkyl monohydric alcohol, and an organic monoisocyanate, which is disclosed in japanese patent No. 4343446; polyurethanes having a terminal hydroxyl group structure obtained by the reaction of a polyacrylonitrile-based polymer, a low-molecular diol, and a mixture of polymer diols with an organic diisocyanate, as disclosed in Japanese patent laid-open No. 7-316922; or styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers, and the like. The polyurethane having a hydroxyl-terminated structure is preferably a reaction product of a mixture (molar ratio of 1 to 99) of a low-molecular-weight diol having hydroxyl groups at both ends of a linear or branched alkylene group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms or a divalent alicyclic hydrocarbon and a high-molecular-weight diol having a number average molecular weight of 400 to 3000, and an organic diisocyanate, and the reaction product is a polyurethane polymer having hydroxyl groups at the ends, a urethane group concentration of 3 milliequivalents/g or more, and a number average molecular weight of 10000 to 40000. These may be added alone to the elastic yarn or to the elastic yarn in a mixture of 2 or more, and when the amount of addition is small, the stretch heat generation effect is low, whereas when the amount of addition is large, the stretch recovery property of the knitted fabric is lowered, and the knitted fabric is likely to lose its shape by wearing or washing, and therefore the amount of addition is 2.0 to 15.0%, preferably 2.5 to 8.0%, based on the weight of the elastic yarn.

As the non-elastic yarn used in the present invention, all fibers such as polyester fibers such as polyethylene terephthalate and 1, 3-trimethylene terephthalate, polyamide fibers, polyolefin fibers such as polypropylene, cellulose fibers such as cuprammonium fibers, rayon, cotton and bamboo fibers, and animal hair fibers such as wool can be used. Further, these yarns may be optionally used, and as the cross-sectional shape of the fiber, a fiber having an arbitrary cross-sectional shape such as a circular, elliptical, W-shaped, cocoon-shaped, hollow fiber or the like may be used, and as the form of the fiber, there is no particular limitation, and a crimped yarn such as a raw yarn or a false twist may be used, and a non-elastic yarn having a thickness of 20 to 110dt, preferably 30 to 90dt is preferably used. Further, the long fiber may be a short fiber, or a composite yarn obtained by mixing 2 or more kinds of fibers by twisting, covering, air-mixing, or the like may be used. Further, it is needless to say that 2 or more kinds of fibers may be mixed on a knitting machine without mixing the fibers themselves.

The non-elastic yarn used in the present invention, particularly polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, and cellulose fiber, preferably contains 0.3 to 5 wt% of an inorganic substance. By containing the inorganic substance, the heat insulating effect can be more effectively exhibited when the elastic knitted fabric generates heat. In addition, when the inorganic substance is small, the heat retaining effect is small, and when the inorganic substance is too large, yarn breakage may occur during spinning and drawing, and therefore, the content is preferably 0.5 to 5% by weight, and more preferably 0.4 to 3% by weight.

In the stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention, if a material that absorbs moisture and generates heat, such as cellulose, is used for the inelastic yarn, the fabric generates heat by absorbing moisture during wearing and also generates heat by exercise, and the effect of the present invention can be further improved. Further, the heat released by the use and fluffing of the spun yarn can be prevented from being dissipated, and the heat retention effect can be improved.

The knitted fabric of the present invention includes a weft knitted fabric and a warp knitted fabric, and in the following detailed description of the invention, the features of each knitted fabric are described separately from the weft knitted fabric and the warp knitted fabric except for the portions overlapping with the above detailed description.

[ weft knitted Fabric ]

A weft knitted fabric of stretchable knitted fabric, that is, a stretchable weft knitted fabric (hereinafter, the same expression is used) of the present invention is characterized by being a weft knitted fabric comprising a non-elastic yarn and an elastic yarn, the weft knitted fabric being produced by a circular knitting machine of about 26 to 40 stitches such as a single circular knitting machine of about 30 to 40 inches in cylinder diameter, a double circular knitting machine, a hosiery knitting machine of about 4 inches in cylinder diameter, a small knitting machine of about 13 to 17 inches in cylinder diameter, or the like, and a flat knitting machine of high stitch number, and the content of the elastic yarn being 20 to 50g/m²The weft knitted fabric is stretched to 80% and then restored to the original length, the stress ratio obtained from the outgoing path stress and the return path stress at 50% of the time in the stretching process is 0.40 to 0.80, and the instantaneous heating temperature during stretching in at least one of the warp and weft directions is 1.0 ℃ or higher.

In order to set the instantaneous heat generation temperature at 60 to 100% stretch to 1.0 ℃ or higher, the elastic yarn content is important because it greatly contributes to stretch heat generation, and therefore, the fabric needs to contain 20 to 50g/m²An elastic yarn. The more the elastic yarn is contained, the higher the heat generation temperature becomes, and therefore, the content of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is preferably 25 to 45g/m². When the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heat generation temperature is low, and when the content of the elastic yarn is too large, the weight of the knitted fabric increases, and the knitted fabric becomes a knitted fabricHigh strength and difficulty in moving when made into clothes, the elastic yarn content is set to 20 to 50g/m²Is preferable.

It is also important that the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention is capable of efficiently stretching an elastic yarn by an operation performed when the fabric is produced into a garment and worn. That is, by the loop-to-arc ratio (Lb/La) of the present invention satisfying 1.15 Lb/La < 1.75, the elastic yarn is effectively stretched, more preferably 1.20 Lb/La < 1.70.

The method of measuring the loop length of each of La and Lb of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 4. The knitted fabric was stretched 30% in both the warp and weft directions, and the needle loop side of the knitted fabric was observed to be enlarged in this state. As shown in fig. 4, the lowermost portions 2 of the needle loops which can be observed on both sides of the lower portions of the needle loops of the non-elastic yarn are set as a starting point b and an end point c, respectively, and the loop length from the starting point b to the end point c is measured as the length of the needle loop (a) of the non-elastic yarn. As for the sinker loop, as shown in fig. 4, for the elastic yarn between the needle loops observed between 2 wales, both ends of the elastic yarn were set as a start point e and an end point f of the sinker loop, and the length therebetween was measured as the length of the sinker loop (d) of the elastic yarn.

When the elastic yarn is covered with the inelastic yarn, such as when a covering yarn is used, the length of the elastic yarn is measured by estimating the position where the elastic yarn is located. At this time, the elastic yarn in the portion covered with the inelastic yarn was measured to be present in a straight line. In addition, in the elastic yarn, when the sinker loop crosses 2 wales or more due to the inlaid structure, the sinker loop of the portion shielded by the needle stitch loop existing in the middle of the sinker loop cannot be measured, only the length of the sinker loop observed from the surface is measured, and the sum of the sinker loop lengths of the respective wales is defined as the sinker loop (d) length.

The length of the widthwise central portion of the fiber bundle was measured for both the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn. After each measurement, the total loop length in one unit of the knitting structure was determined as La by adding the length of the needle loop (a) of the non-elastic yarn to the length of the sinker loop (d) of the elastic yarn. Subsequently, the knitted fabric was further stretched by 50% in the warp direction or the weft direction, and the total length of loop in one unit of the knitted fabric was similarly determined as Lb. When such measurement is performed in both the warp direction and the weft direction, the ratio Lb/La may be 1.15. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.75 in either the warp direction stretching or the weft direction stretching. In the case of a knitted fabric stretchable only in one direction, only the stretchable direction is measured as the loop length.

When Lb was measured by further stretching in either the warp or weft direction and the stretching amount at this time was set to substantially 50%, but when the elongation of the knitted fabric was low and stretching was difficult, the knitted fabric was sampled at an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm, and stretched until a load of 22.05N was reached, and Lb was measured.

In the measurement of La and Lb, the length of each loop is measured in micrometers (μm), the length of 3 bits at least up to decimal point is obtained, and the average length obtained at arbitrary 10 points is obtained. Lb/La is calculated based on the average length, rounding off the 3 bits after the decimal point.

Note that one unit of the knitting structure means one unit which is repeated in the structure of the needle loop and the sinker loop, for example, when the knitting (knit) and the tuck (tack) are repeated every 1 wale in the wale direction, the tuck loop is also regarded as the needle loop, the sum of the 1 loop of the knitting loop and the 1 loop of the tuck loop is one unit of the needle loop, and the length obtained by adding the 2 loops of the sinker loop is La or Lb. When the knitting structure is a welt stitch, the width of the needle loop of the inelastic yarn is set to the needle loop length in the welt stitch.

When the warp is stretched by 50%, the needle loops are mainly stretched, and the sinker loops are less stretched. On the other hand, when the stretch is 50% in the weft direction, the sinker loop is mainly stretched and the needle loop is less stretched. Therefore, the heat generation during stretching greatly contributes to the needle loop during stretching in the warp direction, whereas the sinker loop during stretching in the weft direction. Focusing only on these loop lengths, when taking out only the amount of change in the needle loop in the measurement of La and Lb, the amount of change in the needle loop in the 50% stretching in the warp direction is preferably 1.1 to 1.7 times the amount before stretching, and the amount of change in the sinker loop in the 50% stretching in the weft direction is preferably 1.8 to 4.0 times the amount before stretching. In this case, it is needless to say that the amount of change is larger than the amount of stretch of the knitted fabric, and the sinker loop becomes longer than the stretch, but in the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention, the needle loop portion is firmly fixed even if stretched, and the needle loop portion is difficult to stretch in the weft direction, and the sinker loop of this amount extends by the amount of stretch of the knitted fabric or more, and as a result, the amount of change in sinker loop becomes larger than the amount of stretch of the knitted fabric.

In the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention, the change ratio Lb/La of the loop length is set to 1.15 Lb/La or less and 1.75, and the following means can be adopted: the warp and meandering of the elastic yarn are reduced by adjusting the depth of the lowering triangle (stitch density), the change of the sinker shape, and the yarn feeding amount, and the density is controlled particularly at the time of dyeing. That is, the density of the fabric of the knitted fabric is greatly increased by the dyeing process, and the density is generally increased by about 1.3 to 1.8 times as compared with the state of the fabric. This is because the conventional knitted fabric including an elastic yarn is mainly intended to impart stretchability, and a knitted fabric having good stretchability is obtained by increasing the density to this level. On the other hand, the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention is required to efficiently stretch the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric at the time of stretching of the knitted fabric for the purpose of generating heat at the time of stretching. Therefore, the elastic yarn of the dyed knitted fabric is in a substantially straight state, and it is preferable that the density after-treatment of the dyed knitted fabric is in the same state as the fabric, and particularly, the density control may be performed so as to be in the same state as the fabric at the time of the setting.

As a result of further research on the design of a knitted fabric which is further stretched and heated with a content of an elastic yarn as small as possible in order to facilitate the movement of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention when wearing a garment, the present inventors found that the fineness ratio of a non-elastic yarn to an elastic yarn is important. That is, there is a combination of: even if the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and conversely, even if the content of the elastic yarn is large, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and the knitted fabric stress does not become excessively high. After the finishing process after dyeing, the fineness ratio of the structure of the non-elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric to the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric in the product is set to 1.0 to 2.5, so that the fabric can be suitably stretched to generate heat, and when the fineness ratio is less than 1.0, the knitted fabric has high strength and becomes hard to move when made into a garment, and when the fineness ratio is more than 2.5, the fabric becomes a garment which is hard to move, and the stretching heat generation temperature cannot be sufficiently raised.

In the present specification, the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric and the structure of the inelastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric are defined as follows.

In the stitches constituting the weft-knitted fabric (stitches of each course indicated by the knitting sequence), the fineness was measured for the stitch having the largest loop length formed of the elastic yarn and the stitch having the largest loop length formed of the inelastic yarn. For example, the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric in fig. 1 is the structure of knitting order 2 or 4, the structure of the inelastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric in fig. 2 is the structure of knitting order 1 or 3, the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric in fig. 2 is any of knitting orders 1,3, or 5, the structure of the inelastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric is any of knitting orders 1,3, or 5, the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric in fig. 3 is any of knitting orders 1, 2, 4, or 5, and the structure of the inelastic yarn constituting the weft knitted fabric is any of 1 to 6. The same applies to the non-elastic yarn being a spun yarn. When the structure composed of the elastic yarn or the inelastic yarn is composed of 2 or more kinds of yarns and the number of loops is the same, the structure composed of the yarn having the smallest fineness is used as the structure constituting the weft knitted fabric. When the elastic yarn is a covered elastic yarn such as a covering yarn, a twisted yarn, or a jet-processed yarn, the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn of the covered elastic yarn is determined. When the number of the inelastic yarns used for the elastic-covered yarn is 2 or more, the fineness ratio of the finest inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn may be determined. Further, when the number of the elastic yarns is 2 or more, the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn having the largest loop number is determined, and when the number of the elastic yarns is 2 or more and the number of loop numbers is the same, the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn having the largest loop number is determined.

In the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention, the fineness ratio of the non-elastic yarn to the elastic yarn is set to 1.0 to 2.5, and the fineness ratio of a normal weft knitted fabric is about 2.8 to 5.0, so that the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention is characterized in that the fineness of the elastic yarn is larger than the fineness of the non-elastic yarn, and when the fabric is conventionally knitted and after-finished, the texture becomes hard and the fabric stress becomes excessively high. In the production of the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention, it is important that the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is stretched more than usual at the time of knitting and is apparently thinned, and specifically, when the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn are plated with plating equivalent structures (note: the elastic yarn and the non-elastic yarn are the same structure, and when plating is performed, the elastic yarn and the non-elastic yarn are combined and simultaneously knitted to have the same structure, english: applying plating platingtestches, japanese patent No. プレーティング equivalent coated articles), the stretch ratio of the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn (stretch ratio of the elastic yarn to the knitting length of the non-elastic yarn/the knitting length of the elastic yarn) may be set to 3.0 to 3.8.

Further, in the dyeing process, it is preferable that the after-finish is a feeling of stretching the knitted fabric more than usual, and the after-finish is performed at the same density as the raw fabric as an index. As a result, in the normal weft knitted fabric, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn is the same as or slightly smaller than the fineness of the base yarn, whereas in the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the elastic yarn is thinned by about 10 to 20% after the dyeing process, and the knitted fabric stress can be reduced although the reduction in the stretch heat generation temperature is small. In addition, during the dyeing process, it is important to increase the setting temperature and increase the setting time in the heat setting to set the knitted fabric while keeping the knitted fabric stretched, and to make the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric as thin as possible. As an index for stretching and setting these knitted fabrics, it is preferable to set the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N of the knitted fabric sampled at an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm to be within 180% at maximum.

The fineness ratio of the stretchable weft knitted fabric of the present invention is characterized in that the fineness ratio of the elastic yarn is larger than that of the inelastic yarn in a normal weft knitted fabric, and the elastic yarn becomes highly stressed when the knitted fabric is finished in the original state, and tends to be a product that is difficult to move when worn. Therefore, in the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention, in addition to the content of the elastic yarn and the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn, the product of the warp density (course/inch) of the knitted fabric and the weft density (wale/inch) of the knitted fabric, that is, the loop count of the knitted fabric is important, and by making the loop count fall within a specific range, it is possible to optimize the balance between the stretching heat generation and the knitted fabric stress, that is, the loop count is preferably within a range of 3000 to 8000, and even if the content of the elastic yarn and the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn are within a predetermined range, the stretching heat generation temperature is low or the knitted fabric becomes highly stressed in some cases. In other words, if the number of loops is less than 3000, the elongation of the knitted fabric is small, and if the stretch heat generation temperature is low, and if the number of loops is more than 8000, the knitted fabric becomes highly stressed, and becomes a garment difficult to move, and particularly if the number of loops is less than 3000, the tightness is high when the garment is made, the air permeability of the knitted fabric is also high, and the stretch heat generation temperature itself of the knitted fabric is low, and further, even if the stretch heat generation is high, the inflow of outside air is large, and the garment does not feel warm. Therefore, the number of turns is preferably 3000 to 8000, more preferably 3500 to 7500. The number of loops can be controlled by controlling the fineness ratio, the number of needles of the knitting machine, and the positive amount (Corrected weight) at the time of dyeing, and the increase in the number of loops can be easily achieved by reducing the fineness ratio, making the number of needles of the knitting machine dense, reducing the width of the knitted fabric by dyeing, and performing a catch-in process (note: a method of performing setting in a slightly wrinkled state like a curtain by a length longer than the length for setting the warp direction of the knitted fabric at the time of heat-setting the knitted fabric; japanese: processing of い Write み, english: sxpeeding). Particularly preferably, the wales of the knitted fabric are designed so as to be 40 to 70 wales/inch. More importantly, when the elastic yarn is woven in a shorter length than a normal weave length and the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn have plating textures (plaiting) and the same texture, it is preferable to weave the elastic yarn with high tension by setting the weave length ratio of the elastic yarn to the inelastic yarn to 3.0 or more, that is, by shortening the loop length of the elastic yarn to 3.0 times or more as compared with the loop length (weave length) of the inelastic yarn, and by stretching the elastic yarn to 3.0 times or more. Further, when the elastic yarn is woven as the covered elastic yarn, the covered elastic yarn is produced while the elastic yarn is stretched 3.0 times or more as much as usual in the production of the covered elastic yarn, and when the covered elastic yarn is woven with high tension on a knitting machine, the loop number control can be easily performed, and a knitted fabric with high stretch heat generation temperature can be obtained.

The stretch weft knitted fabric of the present invention can be produced by a single-face circular knitting machine or a double-face circular knitting machine including a tubular knitting machine such as a pantyhose knitting machine or a small-size cylinder diameter knitting machine, and can be knitted by a knitting structure of a knitting loop body such as a plain structure or a plain structure. In particular, in the case of a plain stitch, a knitting machine having 32 or more needles is preferably used, and in the case of a smooth stitch, it is preferable that the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn are knitted in a plating stitch (plating), and the smooth stitch can be achieved by a method such as plating every 1 course instead of plating stitches of the elastic yarn in all courses in order to facilitate the movement during the wearing operation. In order to further enhance the stretch heat generation effect, when tuck loops or float loops (also referred to as miss loops, in the present application, float loops) are further arranged in the knitted fabric, the stretch heat generation temperature is preferably higher as the number of the loop loops increases. In the method of using the tuck stitch loop and the float stitch loop, the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop formed by the elastic yarn is most effective for the stretching heat generation, but the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop may be formed by the inelastic yarn, the elastic yarn forms at least any knitted stitch loop before and after the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop, and the elastic yarn forms the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop, and when the elastic yarn forms at least any knitted stitch loop before and after the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop, the preferable loop structure in which the high stretching heat generation temperature can be obtained, the loop formation by the elastic yarn is performed, and the stretching heat generation temperature is increased is obtained. Further, since the elongation is decreased when the tuck loop and the float loop are increased, and the knitted fabric tends to be less stretchable, it is preferable that the elongation of the knitted fabric is extremely decreased when the tuck loop and the float loop are continuously knitted in the course direction (warp direction of the knitted fabric), and it is avoided except for the purpose of low elongation because the elongation of the knitted fabric is extremely decreased when the tuck loop and the float loop are continuously knitted within 2 courses and 3 courses or more are continuously knitted. Therefore, the continuity of the tuck arc or the float arc is preferably within 2 courses, and in this case, the combination of the tuck arc and the float arc is also preferably within 2 courses. The tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop is continuous within 2 courses, but the continuity in the diagonal direction is not limited, and the tuck stitch loop or the float stitch loop may be continuous in the wale direction (weft direction) within a knittable range. Further, the tuck loop or the float loop may be a bare yarn of the elastic yarn, or may be a non-elastic yarn or a covered elastic yarn by covering, twisting, jet processing, or the like.

In the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention, tuck loops or float loops are preferably knitted in the knitted fabric, but these tuck loops or float loops may be knitted alone or in combination, and as an example of the combination, the following stitches may be used: a structure in which knitted loop arcs and tuck loop arcs or float loop arcs are arranged alternately or in arbitrary repeating units in the wale direction; alternatively, the stitch formed by the knitted loop and the tuck loop or the float loop may be arranged alternately or in arbitrary repeating units in the course direction.

The ratio of the knitted loop to the tuck loop and/or the float loop in the knitted fabric is adjusted so that at least the number of tuck loops and/or float loops on one side of the knitted fabric is 20 to 60% of the total number of loops on the surface of the knitted fabric. If the tuck loop and/or the float loop is less than 20%, the knitted fabric becomes a knitted fabric having a low stretch heat generation effect and hardly generating heat, and if it is more than 60%, the knitted fabric becomes a knitted fabric having a high stretch heat generation temperature and hardly extending, and it becomes a product which is difficult to move when it is worn as a garment, which is not preferable. Therefore, the ratio of the tuck coil arc and/or the float coil arc may be 20 to 60%, preferably 25 to 50%. The ratio of tuck stitches and/or float stitches in the knitted fabric is calculated from the number of knitted stitches, tuck stitches, and float stitches in one complete stitch of the knitted fabric. Of course, in the knitted fabric, only the portion of the knitted loop occupies a large area, and a design in which the portion into which the tuck loop or the float loop is introduced is present in a stripe shape or an island shape is also possible, and in this case, the stretch heating temperature of the portion of the knitted loop may be low, and the knitted loop may be arranged in a product so that the portion into which the tuck loop or the float loop is knitted is formed in a portion where the knee, the elbow, or the like extends and contracts.

In the case of a double-sided circular knitting machine, the arrangement of the tuck stitches and/or the float stitches is important in at least one of the stitches of the needle cylinder and the dial, and the needle cylinder and the dial are regarded as independent from each other and are determined by the loop shape of the stitches on each side. The tuck loops and/or the float loops are preferably formed of both the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and may be formed of only the elastic yarn or only the inelastic yarn.

As the method for dyeing and finishing the stretch weft knitted fabric of the present invention, a usual dyeing and finishing step may be used, and the dyeing conditions are set according to the fiber material to be used, and the dyeing machine to be used may be any of a liquid flow dyeing machine, a capstan rope dyeing machine, a paddle dyeing machine, and the like, and a processing agent for improving water absorption and flexibility and a processing agent for improving heat retaining property may be used.

The stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention is a garment that is warm by daily operations and exercises when a joint portion of the knitted fabric is stretched during a wearing operation, such as a garment for foot protection, sports tights, compression pants, sports such as a band, under-wear such as an inner liner, over-wear such as underwear, sports jersey, compression top, pantyhose, socks, pantyhose, leg wraps, etc., body-protection such as elbow pads, knee pads, waist pads, ankle pads, arm pads, leg pads, knee pads, and elbow pads, and gloves.

In particular, a long-sleeve shirt or a half-sleeve shirt which is worn in close contact with the skin during exercise, mainly for improving the exercise function, preventing injury, keeping warm, such as a pressure suit or a pressure shirt, namely jogging, various games, or walking, or a foot protector which is worn on the knee, below the knee, or up to the ankle, is made of a material having a weight per unit area of 150 to 300g/m²A left and right knitted fabric comprising 40 to 50g/m²The knitted fabric having a fineness ratio of the elastic yarn, the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn of 1.0 to 2.2 and a stress ratio of about 0.60 to 0.80 can obtain a particularly high heat generation effect when used in a joint portion such as an elbow, a knee, a crotch, and an ankle, and therefore is preferably sewn so that the knitted fabric of the present invention is used at least in the joint portion. In order to further improve the joint protection effect, a low-elongation portion may be provided in the vicinity of the joint portion, and as a method for producing the low-elongation portion, there are: a method of utilizing a texture to make it inextensible when knitting a knitted fabric, a method of combining bands that are difficult to stretch by sewing or adhesion before sewing a product, a method of fixing with stitches, and the like, and a function such as joint protection is imparted by these methods.

In addition, thin leg wear such as panty-hose, leg wrap, and sock, and under wear manufactured by a circular knitting machine having a cylinder diameter of about 24 to 38 inches, a small-sized circular knitting machine having a cylinder diameter of about 8 to 20 inches, a panty-hose knitting machine having a diameter of about 4 inches, a hosiery knitting machine, and the like are also used as stretch weft knitted fabric in the present invention, and the stretch weft knitted fabric is obtained by daily operation and workA garment that becomes warm by exercise. Further, the composition contains 20 to 40g/m²The elastic yarn, the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn have a fineness ratio of 1.5 to 2.5 and a stress ratio of 0.40 to 0.60, and therefore, the knitted fabric has excellent heat retaining properties as a lower garment and is effective in preventing injury by warming muscles and joints of a stretched part. In the case of these products, a low elongation portion may be provided near the joint portion or the like in order to further protect the joint, hip-up, or the like, and as a method for producing the low elongation portion, there are: in the case of knitting a knitted fabric, a method of utilizing a texture to prevent the knitted fabric from stretching, a method of combining bands which are difficult to stretch by sewing or adhesion, a method of fixing the knitted fabric with stitches, and the like are used to provide functions such as joint protection and hip lift.

Furthermore, thin linings such as underwear can be produced by a circular knitting machine having a cylinder diameter of about 24 to 38 inches and a small-sized circular knitting machine having a cylinder diameter of about 8 to 20 inches, and when the stretchable weft-knitted fabric of the present invention is used to produce a garment and worn, the garment becomes warm by ordinary operation. Further, the composition contains 20 to 40g/m²The elastic yarn, the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn have a fineness ratio of 1.5 to 2.5 and a stress ratio of 0.40 to 0.50, and therefore, the knitted fabric is easy to move as underwear and has excellent heat retaining properties, and particularly, the knitted fabric is combined with a heat-generating material such as a moisture-absorbing heat-generating material to obtain underwear which is warm even when not handled and becomes warmer when handled.

[ warp knitted fabrics ]

The warp knitted fabric of the present invention, that is, the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention (hereinafter, the same expression is used) is characterized in that it is a warp knitted fabric comprising a non-elastic yarn and an elastic yarn, which is produced by a 26-40-count multi-reed warp knitting machine, and the content of the elastic yarn is 30 to 60g/m²The warp knitted fabric is stretched to 80% and then restored to the original length, the stress ratio obtained from the outgoing path stress and the return path stress at 50% of the time in the stretching process is 0.40 to 0.80, and the instantaneous heating temperature during stretching in at least one direction of the warp and weft is 1.0 ℃ or higher.

In the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention, in order to set the instantaneous heat generation temperature at 60 to 100% stretch to 1.0 ℃ or higher, the elastic yarn greatly contributes to the stretch heat generation, and therefore the content of the elastic yarn is important, and therefore, the knitted fabric needs to contain 30 to 60g/m²An elastic yarn. The more the elastic yarn is contained, the higher the heat generation temperature becomes, and therefore the content of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is preferably 25 to 45g/m². When the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heating temperature is low, and when the content of the elastic yarn is too large, the weight of the knitted fabric is increased, the knitted fabric has high strength, and it becomes difficult to make the garment to move, so that the content of the elastic yarn is 40 to 60g/m²Is preferable.

In the stretchable warp knitted fabric, the meandering and the meandering of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric are extremely small, and the stretching of the knitted fabric is effective to stretch the elastic yarn, and as a result, the knitted fabric generates heat at the time of stretching. The difference in the structure between the conventional knitted fabric and the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention is the loop-to-loop ratio obtained by Lb/La, and it is preferable that 1.15 Lb/La or less and 1.65 be satisfied in order to produce a knitted fabric having high heat generation during stretching, and Lb/La can be set in this range by adjusting the knitting structure and the dyeing process conditions. When Lb/La is within this range, the knitted fabric generates heat when stretched without impairing the wearing feeling. When Lb/La is less than 1.15, the stretch ratio of the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric is low, and as a result, the heat generation temperature during stretching is also low to such a level that the feeling of reality cannot be obtained. Further, the stretch and stretch recovery of the elastic yarn are poor, and the stretched knitted fabric cannot be recovered, and the knitted fabric undulates and is likely to lose its original shape. When Lb/La is larger than 1.65, the strength of the elastic yarn becomes too high, and therefore, not only does it become a garment difficult to wear or to move, but also the deformation of the knitted fabric becomes large and the deformation of the inelastic yarn becomes too large together with the elastic yarn, and as a result, the stretch recovery property is insufficient, and the fabric undulates at the time of relaxation of stretching or dimensional change due to washing becomes a cause of the loss of shape. Therefore, La and Lb preferably satisfy 1.15. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.65, more preferably 1.20. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.60. As a result, it is possible to produce a garment that generates heat by stretching and does not lose its shape when worn or washed.

Hereinafter, a method of measuring the arc length of each turn will be described with reference to fig. 5. The knitted fabric was stretched 30% in both the warp and weft directions, and the needle loop side of the knitted fabric was observed in this state. As shown in fig. 5, the lowermost portions 2 of the needle loops which can be observed on both sides of the lower portions of the needle loops of the non-elastic yarn are set as a start point 2 and an end point 3, respectively, and the loop length from the start point 2 to the end point 3 is measured as the length of the needle loop (1) of the non-elastic yarn. As for the sinker loop, as shown in fig. 5, for the elastic yarn between the needle loops observed between 2 wales, both ends of the elastic yarn were set as the start point 5 and the end point 6 of the sinker loop, and the length therebetween was measured as the length of the sinker loop (4) of the elastic yarn.

When the elastic yarn is covered with the inelastic yarn, such as when a covering yarn is used, the length of the elastic yarn is measured by estimating the position where the elastic yarn is located. At this time, the elastic yarn in the portion covered with the inelastic yarn was measured to be present in a straight line. In addition, in the elastic yarn, when the sinker loop crosses over 2 wales or more due to the oscillation of 2 needles, the sinker loop of the portion shielded by the needle loop existing in the middle of the sinker loop cannot be measured, only the length of the sinker loop observed from the surface is measured, and the sum of the sinker loop lengths of the respective wales is defined as the sinker loop (4) length.

The length of the widthwise central portion of the fiber bundle was measured for both the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn. After each measurement, the total loop length in one unit of the knitting structure is determined as La by adding the length of the needle loop (1) of the non-elastic yarn to the length of the sinker loop (4) of the elastic yarn. Subsequently, the knitted fabric was further stretched by 50% in the warp direction or the weft direction, and the total length of loop in one unit of the knitted fabric was similarly determined as Lb. When such measurement is performed in both the warp direction and the weft direction, the ratio Lb/La may be 1.15. ltoreq. Lb/La. ltoreq.1.65 in either the warp direction stretching or the weft direction stretching. In the case of a knitted fabric stretchable only in one direction, only the stretchable direction is measured as the loop length.

When Lb was measured by further stretching in either the warp or weft direction and the stretching amount was set to be substantially 50%, but when the elongation of the knitted fabric was low and stretching was difficult, the knitted fabric was sampled at an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm, and the knitted fabric was stretched until Lb was measured under a load of 22.05N.

In the measurement of La and Lb, the length of each loop is measured in micrometers (μm), the length of 3 bits at least up to decimal point is obtained, and the average length obtained at arbitrary 10 points is obtained. Lb/La is calculated based on the average length, rounding off the 3 bits after the decimal point.

In addition, one unit of the knitted texture means one unit which is repeated in the texture of the needle loop and the sinker loop, for example, when the knitted loop and the sinker loop are repeated in a certain rule like the single bar warp knit, the length obtained by adding 1 loop of the knitted loop and 1 loop of the sinker loop becomes La or Lb, and when the knitting and the insertion are repeated in every 1 course in the course direction, the loop of the inserted portion is also regarded as the knitted loop, and the length obtained by adding 1 loop of the knitted loop, the loop of the inserted portion, and 2 loops of the sinker loop becomes La or Lb.

When the warp is stretched by 50%, the needle loops are mainly stretched, and the sinker loops are less stretched. On the other hand, when the stretch is 50% in the weft direction, the sinker loop is mainly stretched and the needle loop is less stretched. Therefore, the heat generation during stretching greatly contributes to the needle loop during stretching in the warp direction, whereas the sinker loop during stretching in the weft direction. Focusing only on these loop lengths, when taking out only the amount of change in the needle loop in the measurement of La and Lb, the amount of change in the needle loop in the 50% stretching in the warp direction is preferably 1.1 to 1.6 times the amount before stretching, and the amount of change in the sinker loop in the 50% stretching in the weft direction is preferably 1.8 to 4.0 times the amount before stretching. In this case, it is needless to say that the amount of change is larger than the knitted fabric stretch amount and the sinker loop becomes longer than the stretch, but in the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention, the needle loop portion is firmly fixed even when stretched, the needle loop portion is difficult to stretch in the weft direction, and the sinker loop of this amount extends by the knitted fabric stretch amount or more, and as a result, the amount of change in the sinker loop becomes larger than the knitted fabric stretch amount.

In the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention, in order to set the loop length variation ratio Lb/La to 1.15 Lb/La to 1.65, the following means may be employed: the bending and meandering of the elastic yarn are reduced by adjusting the length of the guide wheel, the change of the shape of the sinker, and the knocking-over depth, and the density is controlled particularly at the time of dyeing processing. That is, the density of the fabric of the knitted fabric is greatly increased by the dyeing process, and the density is generally increased by about 1.3 to 1.8 times as compared with the state of the fabric. This is because the conventional knitted fabric including an elastic yarn is mainly intended to impart stretchability, and a knitted fabric having good stretchability is obtained by setting the density increase to this level. On the other hand, the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention is required to efficiently stretch the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric at the time of stretching the knitted fabric for the purpose of generating heat at the time of stretching. Therefore, the elastic yarn of the dyed knitted fabric is in a substantially straight state, and it is preferable that the density after-treatment of the dyed knitted fabric is in the same state as the fabric, and particularly, the density control may be performed so as to be in the same state as the fabric at the time of the setting.

As a result of further research on the design of a knitted fabric which is further stretched and heated with a content of an elastic yarn as small as possible in order to facilitate the movement of the stretch warp knitted fabric of the present invention when wearing a garment, the present inventors found that the fineness ratio of a non-elastic yarn to an elastic yarn is important. That is, there is a combination of: even if the content of the elastic yarn is small, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and conversely, even if the content of the elastic yarn is large, the stretching heat generation temperature is high according to the combination of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and the knitted fabric stress does not become excessively high. After the finishing process after dyeing, the fineness ratio of the structure of the non-elastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric to the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric in the product is set to 1.0 to 2.5, so that the fabric can be suitably stretched and heated, and when the fineness ratio is less than 1.0, the knitted fabric has high strength and is difficult to move when made into a garment, and when the fineness ratio is more than 2.5, the fabric becomes a garment which is hard in texture and difficult to move, and the stretching and heating temperature cannot be sufficiently raised.

In the present specification, the structure of the elastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric and the structure of the inelastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric are defined as follows.

In the case where a plurality of reeds are used for the texture of the warp knitted fabric, the fineness is determined for each of the textures in which the number of knitting wales is the largest for both the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, and for each of the textures in which the number of knitting wales is the largest for the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn, the texture in which the number of knitting wales is the largest for the reed is the largest for the thickest elastic yarn when the plurality of reed-time elastic yarns are used, and the texture in which the number of knitting wales is the largest for the thinnest inelastic yarn when the plurality of reed-time inelastic yarns are used.

For example, in the case of 3-piece reed stitches, a warp wale (cord) stitch of the front non-elastic yarn 54dt, a single bar warp flat stitch of the middle non-elastic yarn 33dt, and a single bar warp flat stitch of the rear elastic yarn 33dt, the fiber used in the stitch of the elastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric is 33dt, and the fiber used in the stitch of the non-elastic yarn constituting the warp knitted fabric is 33dt, and the fineness ratios thereof are determined.

In the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention, the fineness ratio of the non-elastic yarn to the elastic yarn is set to 1.0 to 2.5, but the fineness ratio of a normal warp-knitted fabric is about 2.8 to 5.0, and therefore the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention is characterized in that the fineness of the elastic yarn is larger than that of the non-elastic yarn, and when the fabric is conventionally woven and after-finished, the texture becomes hard and the fabric stress becomes excessively high. Therefore, in the production of the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention, it is important to knit the elastic yarn so as to be apparently thin by stretching the elastic yarn more than usual at the time of knitting, and specifically, it is preferable to make the guide roller of the elastic yarn as short as possible.

Further, in the dyeing process, it is preferable that the after-finish is a feeling of stretching the knitted fabric more than usual, and the after-finish is performed at the same density as the raw fabric as an index. As a result, in the normal warp-knitted fabric, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn is the same as or slightly smaller than the fineness of the base yarn, whereas in the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention, when the fineness of the elastic yarn base yarn is compared with the fineness of the dyed elastic yarn, the elastic yarn is thinned by about 10 to 20% after the dyeing process, and the fabric stress can be reduced although the reduction in the stretch heat generation temperature is small. In addition, during the dyeing process, it is important to increase the setting temperature and increase the setting time in the heat setting to set the knitted fabric while keeping the knitted fabric stretched, and to make the elastic yarn in the knitted fabric as thin as possible. As an index for stretching and setting these knitted fabrics, it is preferable to set the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N of the knitted fabric sampled at an initial length of 10.0cm and a width of 2.5cm to be within 180% at maximum.

The fineness ratio of the stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention is characterized in that the fineness ratio of the elastic yarn is larger than that of the inelastic yarn in a general warp knitted fabric, and the elastic yarn becomes highly stressed when the knitted fabric is finished in the original state, and tends to be a product which is difficult to move when worn. Therefore, in the stretchable warp-knitted fabric of the present invention, in addition to the content of the elastic yarn and the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn, the product of the warp density (course/inch) of the knitted fabric and the weft density (wale/inch) of the knitted fabric, that is, the loop count of the knitted fabric is important, and by setting the loop count within a specific range, it is possible to optimize the balance between the stretching heat generation and the stress of the knitted fabric, that is, the loop count is preferably within a range of 5000 to 12000, and even if the content of the elastic yarn and the fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn are within a predetermined range, the stretching heat generation temperature is low or the knitted fabric becomes highly stressed in some cases. In other words, if the number of loops is less than 5000, the elongation of the knitted fabric is small, and if the stretch heat generation temperature is low, and if the number of loops is more than 12000, the knitted fabric becomes highly stressed and becomes a garment difficult to move, and particularly if the number of loops is less than 5000, the garment may have a high tightness and the air permeability of the knitted fabric may also be high, and the stretch heat generation temperature of the knitted fabric itself may be low, and even if the stretch heat generation is high, the air permeability is high, and the garment may not feel warm. Therefore, the number of the loop arcs is preferably 5000 to 12000, more preferably 5500 to 11500. The number of loops can be controlled by controlling the fineness ratio, the number of needles of the knitting machine, and the positive amount during the dyeing process, and the increase in the number of loops can be easily achieved by reducing the fineness ratio, making the number of needles of the knitting machine dense, reducing the width of the knitted fabric by the dyeing process, and performing the additional process. Particularly preferably, the wales of the knitted fabric are designed so as to be 50 to 80 wales/inch. More importantly, the elastic yarn is woven by weaving the guide wheel shorter than usual. However, since a failure such as a wire break occurs even when the guide pulley is excessively shortened, the guide pulley may be shortened to a possible extent.

The stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention can be knitted by a normal single tricot knitting machine, double tricot knitting machine, single rasel knitting machine, double rasel knitting machine, and a knitting structure of the double rasel knitting machine, and the knitting structure can be knitted by a normal structure, and the continuity of the insertion structure is preferably 2 courses or less. In particular, in the structure of the elastic yarn formed by a single-face tricot knitting machine or a single-face raschel knitting machine, it is preferable to form a loop by an open stitch, and thereby, it is possible to make the movement easy when the garment is formed and the wearing operation is performed. As an example of the open stitch, it is preferable that all of the knitting loops are open stitches such as 01/21, 01/32, 01/12/32. The split loops may be bare yarns of elastic yarns, or may be inelastic yarns or covered elastic yarns made of core, twisted, or jet-processed yarns. The elastic yarn is preferably an open loop, but the inelastic yarn may be arbitrarily selected from an open loop, a closed loop, a combination of an open loop and a closed loop, and the like.

The stretchable warp knitted fabric of the present invention is a garment that becomes warm by daily operations and exercises when a garment covering a joint portion of a knitted fabric is stretched in a wearing operation, such as a body protector or a glove, which is sewn into a garment for sports such as a foot protector, a sports panty, a compression panty, or a band, a garment for under-garment such as an inner liner, a garment for upper garment such as an underwear, a sports shirt, or a compression shirt, a panty hose, a sock, a panty hose, or a leg wrap, a garment for elbow pad, knee pad, waist protector, ankle protector, an arm protector, a leg protector, a knee protector, an elbow protector, or the like.

In particular, a long-sleeve shirt or a half-sleeve shirt which is worn in close contact with the skin during exercise, mainly for improving the exercise function, preventing injury, keeping warm, such as a pressure suit or a pressure shirt, namely jogging, various games, or walking, or a foot protector which is worn on the knee, below the knee, or up to the ankle, is made of a material having a weight per unit area of 150 to 300g/m²A left and right knitted fabric comprising 40 to 50g/m²The knitted fabric having a fineness ratio of the elastic yarn, the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn of 1.2 to 2.2 and a stress ratio of about 0.50 to 0.70 can obtain a particularly high heat generation effect when used in a joint portion such as an elbow, a knee, a crotch, and an ankle, and therefore it is preferable to sew the knitted fabric so that the knitted fabric of the present invention is used at least in the joint portion. In order to further improve the joint protection effect, a low-elongation portion may be provided in the vicinity of the joint portion, and as a method for producing the low-elongation portion, there are: a method of utilizing a twisted structure and an insert structure to prevent the stretch thereof when knitting a knitted fabric; a method of combining tapes that are difficult to stretch by sewing or bonding before sewing the product; and a method of fixing with stitches, etc., and a function of joint protection, etc. is imparted by these methods.

Examples

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. The evaluation in the examples was performed by the following method.

(1) Sampling

The position at which the following measurement is performed is basically performed at a plurality of positions at random, but when a portion satisfying the performance of the present invention cannot be confirmed in a knitted fabric having locally different fabric performances depending on a knitting structure, yarn selection, presence or absence of resin printing, or the like, a position having a high possibility of exhibiting the performance of the present invention may be preferably measured, and sampling may be performed such that the warp direction and the weft direction are measured separately.

In a knitted fabric having uniform knitting structure, yarn selection, presence or absence of resin printing, etc., sampling positions may be random, and sampling may be performed in such a manner that the warp direction and the weft direction are measured separately.

(2) Instantaneous heating temperature

The measurement of the instantaneous heat generation temperature was carried out by repeating stretching and relaxation (recovery) at a predetermined speed a predetermined number of times using a repeated stretching tester described below, measuring the highest sample surface temperature during this period, measuring the instantaneous heat generation temperature in the warp direction and the weft direction of the knitted fabric, and setting the higher direction as the instantaneous heat generation temperature. The stress ratio and the tensile heat generation efficiency below also indicate the stress ratio and the tensile heat generation efficiency in the direction in which the instantaneous heat generation temperature is high.

Repeating the stretching machine: de Mattie tester (Darong scientific instrument of Kabushiki Kaisha)

Size of the sample: length 100mm (except for the grip portion) and width 60mm

And (3) measuring environment: constant temperature and humidity conditions of 20 ℃ and 65% RH humidity. The measurement was performed without receiving energy supply from the outside other than the expansion and contraction.

Stretching amount: the elongation of the knitted fabric under a load of 9.8N by a 2.5cm width was set, and the elongation at 100% or more was 100%, and the elongation at 60% or more and less than 100% was the same as the elongation under a load of 9.8N.

Repeating the telescopic cycle: 2 times/second

And (3) measuring the heating temperature: the surface temperature of the sample during and after the completion of the repeated stretching was continuously measured by a thermography method. The emissivity of the thermography method was set to 1.0.

Evaluation of exothermic temperature: the temperature at which the measured sample surface reached the maximum temperature was read, and the temperature increased from the temperature before expansion and contraction was regarded as the instantaneous heat generation temperature.

Elongation of knitted fabric: the elongation under a load of 9.8N was measured by stretching the material under the following conditions using a Tensilon tensile tester (RTC-1210A manufactured by Orientec co. ltd) with a length of 100mm (excluding the grip) and a width of 25mm, and the elongation was rounded off at 1 position after the decimal point and was obtained as a percentage (%).

Initial load 0.1N

Stretching speed and recovery speed: 300 mm/min

Stretching length: stretching to 9.8N load

And (3) determination: the stretching was performed under the above conditions, and the elongation in the warp direction and the weft direction under a load of 9.8N was determined.

(3) Elastomeric yarn content

The elastic yarn content (g/m) in the knitted fabric was determined by the following method²) The decimal place is rounded off.

The weight of only the elastic yarn is measured by removing the inelastic yarn from the knitted fabric by dissolution or the like, and is converted into the weight per unit area. If it is difficult to remove the non-elastic yarn, the elastic yarn is removed from the knitted fabric after the weight measurement by dissolution or the like, and the weight of only the non-elastic yarn is measured, and the weight reduction amount is defined as the elastic yarn weight.

(4) Stress ratio

The stress ratio was measured by the following method.

Size of the sample: length 100mm (except for the grip portion), width 25mm

A tensile testing machine: tensilon tensile tester (Orientec Co. Ltd., RTC-1210A)

Initial load: 0.1N

Stretching speed and recovery speed: 300 mm/min

Stretching length and measurement: the elongation was 80% elongation, the elongation was performed at the same speed, and the elongation was returned to the original length (recovered), and the elongation and recovery were repeated 3 times under the conditions to obtain the stress at 50% of the time of the 3 rd elongation and the stress at the circuit, and the stress was obtained by the following formula. In the case of a knitted fabric having an elongation of 60 to 80% measured at the time of measuring the instantaneous heat generation temperature in (2), the knitted fabric is stretched to 60%, and the outward stress and the return stress at 50% of the time during stretching and contraction are determined, and the 3 th position after the decimal point is rounded off by the following equation.

Stress ratio (loop stress (N) at 50%)/(outgoing stress (N) at 50%))

(5) Heat generation index

The heat generation index was determined as follows: the elongation and stress ratio were determined, and the decimal point one digit after the decimal point was rounded off by the following equation,

heat generation index (elongation (%) under a load of 9.8N) x (stress ratio).

The elongation is the same as the elongation obtained in the above (2), and the stress ratio is the same as the stress ratio obtained in the above (4).

[ example 1]

When a normal loop structure having a tuck stitch partially drawn as shown in FIG. 1 is knitted by using a 32-needle single-face circular knitting machine, an elastic yarn 44dtex (product name ROICA SF: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber Co., Ltd.) and a polyester 1 heat yarn 56dtex/36f as a non-elastic yarn are used to plate the elastic yarn in the tuck stitch, and only the flat needle portion is knitted by the non-elastic yarn. The non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn in the tucked weave were woven at a draw ratio of 3.2.

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to approximately the width of the raw fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results of evaluating the properties of the knitted fabric obtained are shown in table 1 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention of example 1 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher during stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made to be easily movable.

Examples 2 to 5 and comparative example 1

A knitted fabric was produced in the same manner as in example 1 except that the knitted fabric was tentered and set to have a coarser density than in example 1 and the elastic yarn content was reduced (example 2), the knitted fabric was changed in fineness of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn (examples 3, 4, and comparative example 1), and the loop length at the time of knitting and the stretch ratio of the elastic yarn were shortened in example 4 (example 5), and evaluation was performed. In addition to the above modification, in comparative example 1, the setting conditions were 185 ℃ for 60 seconds. The results are shown in table 1 below.

[ examples 6 and 7]

Further, a polyurethane polymer (agent A) used in example 4 of Japanese patent application laid-open No. 7-316922 and a urethane urea compound (agent B) used in example 1 of Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-140127 were prepared, and 7 wt% of the agent A and 3 wt% of the agent B (example 6) were added to a spinning bath for producing an elastic yarn 44dtex (product name: ROICA CR manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber Co., Ltd.), and 3 wt% of the agent A and 3 wt% of the agent B (example 7) were added to produce an elastic yarn having different strengths, and a knitted fabric was produced and evaluated in the same manner as in example 1 except that the elastic yarn was used. The results are shown in table 1 below.

[ example 8]

When a structure in which an intarsia structure was partially introduced into a plain weave as shown in fig. 2 was produced using a 28-needle single-face circular knitting machine, an elastic yarn 33dtex (product name ROICA SF: manufactured by asahi chemical fiber company) and a polyester 1 heat yarn 56dtex/36f as a non-elastic yarn were used, and the elastic yarn was knitted by plating only the plain weave portion with the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn at a draw ratio of 3.3.

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 195 ℃ for 70 seconds to approximately the width of the gray fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results of evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 1 below, and the knitted fabric of the present invention of example 8 has an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or more at the time of stretching, and when made into a garment, the garment is made to be easily movable.

Comparative example 2

In example 8, the evaluation was performed by performing the after-treatment of the knitted fabric under the same conditions as in example 8 except that the fineness of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn was changed and the setting conditions were 185 ℃. The results are shown in table 1 below.

[ example 9]

When a 28-needle double-side circular knitting machine was used to form the structure of FIG. 3, an elastic yarn 44dtex (trade name ROICASF, manufactured by Asahi chemical fibre-Forming Co., Ltd.) and a nylon 1 heat-treated yarn 44dtex/34f were prepared and knitted.

The knitted fabric was loosened and refined by a continuous refiner, and then, the width and length were adjusted at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to a density substantially equal to that of the raw fabric to perform a presetting, and then, nylon was dyed by a flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a soft after-finishing agent is filled, and after-finishing setting is performed at 170 ℃ for 1 minute to prepare a knitted fabric.

The results of evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 1 below, and the knitted fabric of the present invention of example 9 has an instantaneous heat generation temperature at the time of stretching of 1.0 ℃ or more, and when made into a garment, the garment is made to be easily movable.

[ example 10]

When a smooth texture was produced using a 40-needle double-face circular knitting machine, 33dtex/36f for the non-elastic yarn and 22dtex for the elastic yarn (product name ROICA BX: manufactured by Asahi chemical fibre Co., Ltd.) were used for the elastic yarn, and plating textures were used for all textures to produce the flat texture.

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 195 ℃ for 70 seconds to approximately the width of the gray fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, the water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 1 minute at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results of evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 1 below, and the knitted fabric of the present invention of example 10 has an instantaneous heat generation temperature at the time of stretching of 1.0 ℃ or more, and when made into a garment, the garment is made to be easily movable.

[ example 11]

When a plain stitch was woven using a plating stitch of a non-elastic yarn and an elastic yarn using a 32-needle single-face circular knitting machine, the non-elastic yarn and the elastic yarn were woven using an elastic yarn 33dtex (product name ROICA SF: manufactured by asahi chemical fiber products co., ltd.) and a nylon 1 heat yarn 33dtex/24f as the non-elastic yarn, with a draw ratio of the non-elastic yarn to the elastic yarn being 3.0.

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to approximately the width of the raw fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results of evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 1 below, and the knitted fabric of the present invention of example 11 has an instantaneous heat generation temperature at the time of stretching of 1.0 ℃ or more, and when made into a garment, the garment is made to be easily movable.

Comparative example 3

In example 11, a knitted fabric was produced in the same manner as in example 11 except that the type of the elastic yarn was 22dtex (product name: ROICA SF: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber Co., Ltd.), the draw ratio of the elastic yarn to the inelastic yarn was 2.5, and the setting conditions were 190 ℃ for 60 seconds, and the properties of the obtained knitted fabric were evaluated. The results are shown in table 1 below.

[ Table 1]

[ example 12]

A32-needle single-side tricot machine was used, polyester 56dtex/36f of non-elastic yarn was used in the front reed, and elastic yarn 33dtex (product name ROICA SF: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber-Forming Co., Ltd.) was used in the rear reed, and the tricot was knitted by using the half stitch of the split stitch shown below:

front part 01/32

Rear portion 21/01

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to approximately the width of the raw fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results obtained by evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 2 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention of example 1 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher during stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made to be easily movable.

Examples 13 to 17 and comparative examples 4 to 5

A knitted fabric was produced and evaluated in the same manner as in example 13, except that the knitted fabric was tentered and set to have a density larger than that in example 12 to reduce the elastic yarn content (example 13) and the knitted fabric was changed in fineness of the elastic yarn and the inelastic yarn (examples 14 to 17 and comparative examples 4 to 5). In comparative example 4, the presetting conditions were 185 ℃ for 60 seconds in addition to the above-described changes. The results are shown in table 2 below.

[ example 18]

Further, a polyurethane polymer used in example 4 of Japanese patent application laid-open No. 7-316922 was prepared, 4.0 wt% was added to a spinning bath in the production of an elastic yarn 44dtex (product name: ROICA CR: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber Co., Ltd.) to produce an elastic yarn having different strengths, and a knitted fabric was produced and evaluated in the same manner as in example 3 except that the elastic yarn was used. The results are shown in table 2 below.

The results obtained by evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 2 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention in example 18 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher at the time of stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made easy to move.

[ example 19]

A28-needle-count single-face tricot machine was used, nylon 78dtex/48f of non-elastic yarn was used in the front reed, and 44dtex (trade name ROICA CR: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber Co., Ltd.) was used in the rear part, and the following elastic yarns were woven by half-stitch of open stitches:

front part 10/23

Rear portion 21/01

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to approximately the width of the raw fabric, and then polyester was dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results obtained by evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 2 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention in example 19 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher at the time of stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made easy to move.

[ example 20]

A single-face tricot machine using 3 reeds with 32 needles was knitted by using the following structure using nylon 33dtex/24f of non-elastic yarn for front and middle reeds and elastic yarn 33dtex (trade name ROICA CR: manufactured by Asahi chemical fibre-forming Co., Ltd.) for the rear:

front part 10/23

Middle part 12/10

Rear portion 21/01

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 195 ℃ for 60 seconds to approximately the width of the gray fabric, and then dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results obtained by evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 2 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention in example 20 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher at the time of stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made easy to move.

[ example 21]

A36-needle-count single-side tricot knitting machine was used, nylon 33dtex/24f of non-elastic yarn was used in the front reed, and elastic yarn 33dtex (trade name ROICA SF: manufactured by Asahi chemical fiber-Forming Co., Ltd.) was used in the rear reed, and the tricot knitting was performed using the half structure shown below:

front part 10/23

Rear portion 12/10

The knitted fabric was relaxed and refined by a continuous refiner, and then pre-set at 190 ℃ for 90 seconds to approximately the width of the raw fabric, and then dyed by a liquid flow dyeing machine. After dyeing, a water-absorbing softening after-finishing agent of polyester was applied, and after-finishing setting was performed at 170 ℃ for 60 seconds at a density approximately equal to that after dyeing, to produce a knitted fabric.

The results obtained by evaluating the properties of the obtained knitted fabric are shown in table 2 below. The knitted fabric of the present invention in example 21 had an instantaneous heat generation temperature of 1.0 ℃ or higher at the time of stretching, and when it was made into a garment, the garment was made easy to move.

[ Table 2]

Industrial applicability

The stretchable knitted fabric of the present invention is a knitted fabric whose temperature rises instantaneously when stretched during wearing operation, and is sewn into clothing covering joint portions such as under-garments such as sports tights, foot protectors, compression tights, and bands, upper-garments such as underwear, shirts, and compression shirts, stockings such as panty hoses, socks, tights, and leg wraps, body protectors such as outer knee pads, elbow pads, arm protectors, leg protectors, knee protectors, and elbow protectors, and gloves.

Description of the reference numerals

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the first and second embodiments of the present invention,

1-6 knitting sequence

In the context of figure 4, it is shown,

a needle-knitted arc of inelastic yarn (length)

b starting point of needle loop of non-elastic yarn

End point of needle-stitch of c non-elastic yarn

d settling arc of elastic yarn (length)

e starting point of sinker loop of elastic yarn

End of settling arc of elastic yarn

In the context of figure 5, it is shown,

1 needle arc of inelastic yarn (length)

2 starting point of needle-stitch loop of non-elastic yarn

3 end point of needle stitch of non-elastic yarn

4 sinker loop of elastic yarn (length)

5 starting point of sinker loop of elastic yarn

6 terminal point of settling arc of elastic yarn

Claims (18)

1. A knitted fabric is characterized in that the knitted fabric is a stretchable knitted fabric comprising an elastic yarn and a non-elastic yarn, and the content of the elastic yarn is 20-60 g/m²When the knitted fabric is stretched to 80%, but when the knitted fabric is hardly stretched to 80%, the knitted fabric is stretched to 60%, then the knitted fabric is returned to the original length, and the outward path stress and the return path stress at 50% of the stretch are measured, the stress ratio obtained by the following formula is 0.40 to 0.80,

stress ratio (loop stress at 50%/(detour stress at 50%)

And the instant heating temperature in stretching in at least one direction of the warp and weft is more than 1.0 ℃, wherein the unit of the return stress and the return stress is N, and N represents Newton.

2. The knitted fabric according to claim 1, wherein a fineness ratio of the inelastic yarn to the elastic yarn in the structure constituting the knitted fabric (fineness of inelastic yarn/fineness of elastic yarn) is 1.0 to 2.5.

3. The knitted fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a loop-to-loop ratio Lb/La of a length La obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the knitted fabric is stretched by 30% in both the warp and weft directions and a length Lb obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the knitted fabric is further stretched by 50% in either the warp and weft directions satisfies the following expression:

1.15≤Lb/La≤1.75。

4. the knitted fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat generation index obtained by using the elongation under a load of 9.8N when the knitted fabric is stretched and the stress ratio obtained according to claim 1 is 40 to 120,

the heat generation index is (elongation under a load of 9.8N) × (stress ratio) × 100.

5. The knitted fabric of claim 1, wherein the elastic yarn is present in an amount of 20g/m²Above and below 40g/m²。

6. The knitted fabric according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the stress at 50% of the time of the extension and retraction is performed by: a2.5 cm wide knitted fabric having a length of 100mm and a width of 25mm excluding a grip portion is stretched to 80% at a speed of 300 mm/min using a tensile tester, and then returned to the original length at the same speed, and this step is repeated 3 times to measure a stress at 50% of the 3 rd stretching process, but a knitted fabric having an elongation of 60 to 80% under a load of 9.8N is stretched to 60% and then returned to the original length at the same speed, and this step is repeated 3 times to measure a stress at 50% of the 3 rd stretching process.

7. The knitted fabric according to claim 1, wherein as the instantaneous heat generation temperature, in a state where the knitted fabric is not supplied with energy from outside other than stretching and contraction, the knitted fabric is placed in a dematitie tester as a stretching tester in an environment of 20 ℃ and 65% RH, and the stretching tester measures the knitted fabric, the tensile amount of the knitted fabric having an elongation of 100% or more of the knitted fabric is set to 100%, the tensile amount of the knitted fabric having an elongation of 60% or more and less than 100% is set to the same elongation as that under a load of 9.8N, the stretching is repeated 100 times at a speed of 2 times/sec, and the difference between the maximum surface temperature of the knitted fabric during the process and the surface temperature of the knitted fabric before the start of the test is taken as the instantaneous heat generation temperature.

8. The knitted fabric according to claim 1 or 2, which is a weft knitted fabric.

9. The knitted fabric according to claim 8, wherein the content of the elastic yarn is 20 to 50g/m²。

10. The knitted fabric according to claim 8, wherein the tuck loops or the float loops are formed of an elastic yarn, and/or at least any knitted loop before and after the course knitted with the tuck loops or the float loops is formed of an elastic yarn, and the tuck loops or the float loops are contained in 20 to 60% of the entire loop in the weft knitted fabric.

11. The knitted fabric according to claim 1 or 2, which is a warp knitted fabric.

12. The knitted fabric according to claim 11, wherein the content of the elastic yarn is 30 to 60g/m²。

13. The knitted fabric of claim 12, wherein the elastic yarn is present in an amount of 30g/m²Above and below 40g/m²。

14. The knitted fabric according to claim 11, wherein a loop-to-loop ratio Lb/La of a length La obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the warp knitted fabric is stretched by 30% in both the warp and weft directions to a length Lb obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the warp knitted fabric is further stretched by 50% in either the warp and weft directions satisfies the following equation:

1.15≤Lb/La≤1.65。

15. the knitted fabric according to claim 12, wherein a loop-to-loop ratio Lb/La of a length La obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the warp knitted fabric is stretched by 30% in both the warp and weft directions to a length Lb obtained by adding a length of a sinker loop of the elastic yarn and a length of a needle loop of the non-elastic yarn in one unit of the knitted texture when the warp knitted fabric is further stretched by 50% in either the warp and weft directions satisfies the following equation:

1.15≤Lb/La≤1.65。

16. the knitted fabric of claim 11, wherein at least the elastic yarn is knitted from open loops.

17. A garment comprising the knitted fabric of any one of claims 1 to 16, the garment fitting to the body and covering at least the joints.

18. The garment of claim 17, wherein the garment is selected from the group consisting of lower garments, upper garments, leg wear, body protectors and gloves.