A process to close an end of a tubular manufactured article directly on hosiery and knitwear circular machines, a respective circular machine and a respective device are described. The process provides that a respective stitch is collected from each needle of at least one first half of adjacent needles of the machine cylinder; the stitches are arranged on corresponding needles of a second half of adjacent cylinder needles, so that each of the needles of the second half of the needles carries a pair of stitches of the last course, which are arranged, at first, on opposite cylinder needles with reference to a diameter of the cylinder; at least one yarn is fed to the cylinder needles; and the pairs of stitches are joined together and the end of the tubular manufactured article is closed, by processing the yarn with the needles of the second half of the cylinder needles.

Concepts provided are directed to a sock having a toe seam that is primarily located on a lateral side of the sock. The sock may comprise a foot locating feature to ensure that the wearer dons a right footed sock on a right foot and a left footed sock on a left foot so that the toe seam is localized to the lateral side of the wearer's foot when the sock is worn by the wearer.

A method for providing intermediate manufactures for production of manufactures such as an inshoe, footlet, no-show sock, shoes or the like with double thickness, with a circular hosiery knitting machine and an intermediate manufacture obtained with the method. The method has the particularity that it comprises at least the following steps: a step of providing a first tubular portion of knitted fabric; a casting-off step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a casting-on step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a step of providing a second tubular portion of knitted fabric by actuating the needle cylinder with a continuous rotary motion about its own axis in one direction of rotation.

A method for providing intermediate manufactures for production of manufactures such as an inshoe, footlet, no-show sock, shoes or the like with double thickness, with a circular hosiery knitting machine and an intermediate manufacture obtained with the method. The method has the particularity that it comprises at least the following steps: a step of providing a first tubular portion of knitted fabric; a casting-off step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a casting-on step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a step of providing a second tubular portion of knitted fabric by actuating the needle cylinder with a continuous rotary motion about its own axis in one direction of rotation.

Aspects herein are directed to a sock and methods for forming the sock on a circular knitting machine. The sock in accordance with aspects herein having a plurality of toe-anchor knit courses that form a toe anchor that divides a toe-end opening of the sock into a first toe-end opening and a second toe-end opening by extending across the toe-end opening from a dorsal portion of the toe-end opening to a plantar portion of the toe-end opening. The toe-anchor knit courses are integrally knit with the sock body.

Aspects herein are directed to a sock and methods for forming the sock on a circular knitting machine. The sock in accordance with aspects herein having a plurality of toe-anchor knit courses that form a toe anchor that divides a toe-end opening of the sock into a first toe-end opening and a second toe-end opening by extending across the toe-end opening from a dorsal portion of the toe-end opening to a plantar portion of the toe-end opening. The toe-anchor knit courses are integrally knit with the sock body.

Advances in actuating fabrics could enable a paradigm shift in the field of smart wearables by dynamically fitting themselves to the unique topography of the human body. Active fabrics and fitting mechanisms are described herein that enable garments to conform around surface concavities without requiring high elasticity or a multiplicity of closure devices. Advanced materials and systems innovations (1) enable novel garment manufacturing and application strategies, (2) facilitate topographical fitting (spatial actuation) through garment architectural design, and (3) provide tunable NiTi-based SMA actuation temperatures to enable actuation on the surface of human skin. Such fabrics and garments are usable in a variety of fields including medical compression, technical sportswear, exosuits, space suits and components thereof, or non-garment applications.

A knit sock includes a foot portion having an upper instep area and a lower sole area integrally knit of a body yarn in circumferential courses and axial wales. The lower sole area defines inner and outer arch regions. The inner arch region incorporates a targeted compression zone adapted to reside generally adjacent an inner arch of a wearer's foot. The compression zone includes axially extending compression ridges of variable length spaced apart from a top of the compression zone to a bottom of the compression zone. When the sock is worn, a compression force applied by the foot portion within the targeted compression zone is greater than the compression force in directly adjacent areas of said foot portion.

A knit sock includes a foot portion having an upper instep area and a lower sole area integrally knit of a body yarn in circumferential courses and axial wales. The lower sole area defines inner and outer arch regions. The inner arch region incorporates a targeted compression zone adapted to reside generally adjacent an inner arch of a wearer's foot. The compression zone includes axially extending compression ridges of variable length spaced apart from a top of the compression zone to a bottom of the compression zone. When the sock is worn, a compression force applied by the foot portion within the targeted compression zone is greater than the compression force in directly adjacent areas of said foot portion.

A method of constructing a compression garment, for example, a sock, formed of a knitted fabric that includes an elastomer compression inlay yarn introduced into a predetermined first selection of needles on a first knitting machine finger position and first and second pattern yarns introduced into a predetermined second selection of needles on second and third knitting machine finger positions, the first selection of needles and the second selection of needles collectively defining a predetermined pattern. When the predetermined second selection of needles is raised to take on the first and second pattern yarns, the elastomer compression inlay yarn deflects predetermined ones of the second selection of needles radially inwardly to define an annular space into which the pattern yarns are dropped in an offset relation to the elastomer compression inlay yarn. The first and second pattern yarns are plated to respective outer and inner surfaces of the fabric, and the elastomer compression yarn are inlaid to the inner surface of the fabric.