US2913891A - Hosiery - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 24, 1959 w. GUTER 2,913,891 w HOSIERY Filed NOV. 9, 1954 JL 15 f 78 IN VEA/TUR WERNER GllTER- United States Patent() HoslERY Werner Gter, Menden, Germany, assigner to Opal Strumpfwerke G.m.b.H. Margaritoff & Schaffer, Hamburg, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application November 9, 1954, Serial No. 467 ,852

Claims priority, application German November 11, 1953 s Claims. (cl. s6-17s) 'Ihe present invention relates to an improvement in stockings and particularly to ladies hosiery, and more particularly to the upper double portion thereof commonly referred to as the welt.

Heretofore it has been common to employ knitting machines in the manufacture of ladies hosiery which automatically transfer', the first row or course of loops in the welt of a stocking welt blank to the joint between the welt and the main portion of the stocking as soon as the welt portion has been knitted, it being understood that the doubled hose portion, or welt, will be thus formed by said transfer of the upper portion to the lower portion.

My invention finds particular utility in fiat knit stock ings and these stockings usually have the leg portion formed of a single layer of knit` fabric and then at the top of the leg there is a portion, usually termed a welt, which is formed of two layers of knit fabric. Certain details of construction have given rise to difliculties which render the finished stocking subject to accidental damage by the user thereof. Herein is discussed one difiiculty in particular.

The first 'course of loops of. the blank is produced in the usual way. However, as soon as the machine turns this row to the above cited joint, the machine drops each second loop of the first course in order to provide more eiiicient means for the rake or comb of the machine to perform its function of turning the portion of the welt.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan View of a complete ladies stocking.

Figure 2 illustrates the upper portion of a stocking blank, more commonly referred to as the welt.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatical view representing the rst and the last rows or courses of loops of the welt, the

2,913,891 `Patented Nov. 24, 1959 ICC is designated herein by the reference figure 18, and the last course by the figure 19, figure 12 being the leg or main portion of the hose. I

During the operation wherein the portion 16 is transferred by machine so that course 18 coincides with course 19, the rake or comb of the knitting machine is disposed so that every other loop of the first course 18 is picked up by the rake and each second loop dropped. However, a peculiar diiculty has arisen in respect to this method of folding the welt. Due to the quality of inelasticity of synthetic materials and the like which are used in the manufacture of ladies hosiery, each second loop, indicated by 20 in Figure 3, does not stretch, but, since the yarn or thread is present in excess, the loop 20 forms enlarged loops of unfavorable appearance which extend outwardly from the fabric, and which are caught in the users finger nails or rings, or the like. This condition results in runs being formed in the stocking, thus ruining the fabric. Said enlarged loops form a. thick roll line at the joint between the welt 11 and the leg portion 12 of the stocking.

For the purpose of overcoming these difficulties, the first course or courses 18 of the welt 11 are made with a curled or crepe yarn. As is known to those familiar with the art, crepe yarn has a high elasticity.

With the first courses so made, when the turning rake picks up each alternate loop, dropping each second loop and placing the first course 18 upon the last course 19 of the welt 11, each second loop will form the horizontal cross-passes as illustrated in Figure 4. 'Ihis is due to the high elasticity of the crepe yarn.

The obvious result is that the cross-passes are immediately closed upon the placing by the machine of the first course 18 upon the last course 19. Thus the joint between the Welt 11 and the leg portion 12 of the stocking is perfectly smooth and even, the previously open and loose loops not being present to provide means for accidental damage to occur to the stocking. The new result not only increases the durability of the stocking, but facilitates the manufacture of the same as the process may be employed by any machine using an automatic v two-needle turning rake or the like.

` be explained.

Figure 4 illustrates the rst course of loops showing the cross-pass, or float eect, achieved by the use of.

curled crepe yarn, the purpose for which will be explained in detail.

Referring to Figure 1, the reference figure 11 is used to generally denote the welt portion of a ladies stocking blank 10. Figure 2 shows the welt 11 as a single layer or thickness of fabric which, when finished, will be folded along line 17 so that the upper portion 16 will coincide with the lower portion 19, forming the double welt. Further finishing will result from folding the blank along line 13 so that the edge 14 and edge 15 may be stitched together, thus forming the back seam of the stocking.

The first. or upper, course of row or loops of the weltv From the above it is believed that those skilled in the art will readily understand the invention and further discussion thereof is not deemed necessary. While l have shown selected embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that detailed changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A flat-knit stocking having a double-walled welt constituted by a first welt portion bounded by an edge and a fold line, and a second welt portion of the same width as the first welt portion, the first welt portion being folded over said fold line to be in registry with the second welt portion with said edge joined to the last course of said second welt portion inwardly spaced from said fold line, at least the first course of loops and no more than a few subsequent courses of loops of said edge of said first welt portion consisting of a curled crepe synthetic thermoplastic polymeric stretch yarn, while all the remaining courses of the first and second welt portions consist of a relatively inelastic synthetic thermoplastic polymeric yarn.

-2. The flat-knit stocking of claim l, wherein at least the first two courses of loops of the rst welt portion edge consist of curled crepe synthetic yarn.

3. The flat-knit stocking of claim 1, wherein the curled crepe yarn is a nylon-type yarn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smetana Mar. 3, 1942 Billion Aug. 14, 1951

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