KNITTED COMPRESSION ARTICLE

Abstract

A knitted compression article with tubular or pocketlike receiving members for receiving at least one finger or toe of a wearer of the compression article, with a spacer element being disposed at least between two adjacent receiving members. Putting on such garment parts can be made easier and the fabrication of such garment parts can be simplified and, in particular, can be carried out in a single continuous knitting process without the need for subsequent sewing steps by providing that each receiving member has a front ply and a back ply and that the front ply and the back ply are seamlessly knitted to each other so as to create a tubular or pocketlike receiving member, with the spacer element or each spacer element being formed by connecting the front ply and the back ply to each other by a machine knitting technique.

Claims

1. A knitted compression article with a plurality of tubular or pocketlike receiving members for receiving at least one finger or toe of a wearer of the compression article, with a spacer element being disposed at least between two adjacent receiving members, wherein each receiving member comprises a front ply and a back ply, with the front ply and the back ply being seamlessly knitted to each other so as to form the tubular or pocketlike receiving member, and wherein each spacer element is formed by connecting the front ply and the back ply to each other by a machine knitting technique.

2. The compression article of claim 1, wherein the compression article as a whole is seamless and each spacer element is formed without seams.

3. The compression article of claim 2, wherein the compression article is knitted on a flat knitting machine having a front needle bed and a back needle bed disposed opposite thereto, with the front ply of the receiving members being knitted on the front needle bed and the back ply of the receiving members being knitted on the back needle bed.

4. The compression article of claim 1, wherein each spacer element is formed by swapping the front ply and the back ply.

5. The compression article of claim 1, wherein the compression article includes a basic knitted fabric having an inner face that, when the compression article is worn, faces a body extremity and an outer face disposed opposite thereto, with the basic knitted fabric being knitted along a stitch wale direction extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the receiving members and having rows of stitches extending at right angles relative to the stitch wale direction.

6. The compression article of claim 5, wherein the basic knitted fabric is knit in a knit/purl pattern or in a knit/knit pattern and has a front ply and a back ply that is seamlessly connected to the front ply, with the front ply and the back ply being fabricated from at least one elastic or inelastic knitting thread.

7. The compression article of claim 5, wherein a weft thread is incorporated or inserted into the basic knitted fabric.

8. The compression article of claim 7, wherein the weft thread extends in each row of stitches or in every second row of stitches of the basic knitted fabric.

9. The compression article of claim 1, wherein in the direction of the stitch rows, each spacer element extends over at least two or three stitches.

10. The compression article of claim 1, wherein the front ply and the back ply of each receiving member has a knitting thread incorporated therein, which knitting thread, in the area of each spacer element, is carried over from one ply to the opposite ply at crossover points.

11. The compression article of claim 10, wherein in the area of each spacer element, the knitting thread is floating in a stitch adjacent to the crossover point in the row of stitches and/or at the crossover points, the knitting thread of a ply is cross-knitted in as a stitch or as a tuck stitch in the opposite ply.

12. The compression article as of claim 10, wherein in the area of each spacer element, the front ply and the back ply are swapped at the crossover points and vice versa.

13. The compression article of claim 1, wherein the compression article is a glove, with at least one of the plurality of receiving members for receiving a thumb and/or at least another of the plurality of receiving members for receiving a finger.

14. The compression article of claim 1, wherein the compression article is a stocking, sock, or sock liner, with at least one of the plurality of receiving members for receiving a toe and/or with at least another of the plurality of receiving members for receiving additional toes.

15. The compression article of claim 5, wherein each spacer element is knitted from the knitting thread of the basic knitted fabric by cross-knitting the knitting thread in from one ply to the opposite ply.

16. The compression article of claim 1, wherein each spacer element holds fingers or toes accommodated in the receiving members at a distance from each other and/or exert an increased pressure on the areas of the spaces between the fingers or toes.

17. The compression article of claim 1, wherein each receiving member extends over a predefined length in a longitudinal direction and wherein each spacer element extends over at least the length of the respective adjacent receiving member.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The features mentioned above as well as additional features, advantages and effects of the compression article according to the present disclosure follow from the practical examples described in greater detail below with reference to the appended drawings. The drawings show:

[0019] FIG. 1: A diagrammatic representation of a compression article according to the present disclosure in the form of a compression glove attached to the hand of a wearer;

[0020] FIG. 2: A diagrammatic representation of a compression article according to the present disclosure in the form of a toe part attached to the foot of a wearer;

[0021] FIGS. 3A to 3D: A number of different practical examples of knitting constructions of the basic knitted fabric of compression articles according to the present disclosure (FIGS. 3A to 3C) with an associated legend of the symbols used in the knit patterns of FIGS. 3A to 3C (FIG. 3D).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a first practical example of a knitted compression article according to the present disclosure in the form of a compression glove. The compression glove is attached to the hand of a wearer, which is indicated by the broken line. The compression glove comprises a tubular main body 10 that is adjoined by a total of five receiving members 1, 1a-1d. The receiving members 1, 1a-1d have each a tubular shape and serve to receive the five fingers of the hand of the wearer, with the first receiving member 1 serving to receive the thumb and the other four receiving members 1a-1d serving to receive the other four fingers of the hand. On their front (distal) ends, the receiving members 1 and 1a to 1d, which hereinafter will be jointly referred to by the reference character 1, are open so that, as shown in FIG. 1, the tips of the fingers project out of the open ends of the receiving members 1, 1a-1d. Knitted to each distal end of the receiving members 1 is a border in the form of a cuff 11. However, it is also possible to close the distal ends of the receiving members 1 with a dome-shaped cap so that the receiving members for the fingers of the hand are closed.

[0023] As FIG. 1 indicates, spacer elements 2 are disposed between the adjacent receiving members 1a and 1b, 1b and 1c, and 1c and 1d. The spacer elements 2 preferably extend over at least , most preferably over at least half, the length of the receiving members 1a to 1d (i.e., for example, over approximately half the dimension of the receiving members in their longitudinal direction L, as shown in FIG. 1). This allows the two adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c; 1c, 1d to be kept at a sufficiently large distance from each other by the spacer element 2 disposed in between.

[0024] The compression glove shown in FIG. 1 is seamlessly knitted in one piece, i.e., including the spacer elements 2, on a flat knitting machine comprising a front needle bed and a back needle bed disposed opposite thereto. The main body 10 and the adjoining receiving members 1 are each knitted from a basic knitted fabric 3 that comprises a front ply v and a back ply h that is seamlessly connected thereto. The front ply v of the basic knitted fabric 3 is knitted on the front needle bed of the flat knitting machine and the back ply h is knitted on the back needle bed. Seamlessly connecting the front ply v and the back ply h to each other by means of a machine knitting technique results in a tubular or pocketlike formation of the main body 10 and the receiving members 1, 1a-1d.

[0025] During the knitting of the compression article on a flat knitting machine, the spacer elements 2 formed in the spaces between the second and the third finger (1a, 1b), between the third and fourth finger (1b, 1c) and between the fourth and fifth finger (1c, 1d) are knitted into the basic knitted fabric 3, with each spacer element 2 being formed by connecting the front ply v and the back ply h of the adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c; 1c, 1d to each other by means of a machine knitting technique and, in particular, by swapping the front ply v and the back ply h. In the direction of the stitch rows m, the spacer elements 2 extend over at least two stitches (FIGS. 3A-3D).

[0026] To achieve a compressive action, an elastic weft thread is incorporated or inserted into the basic knitted fabric 3, from which the main body 10 and the receiving members 1 are knitted. The weft thread is incorporated or inserted into the basic knitted fabric 2 with an initial pre-tension. The weft thread used can be, for example, a covered yarn with a highly elastic core thread or a spandex or rubber thread, with the core thread and or the spandex or rubber thread preferably having a thickness in a range from 200 to 1500 dtex. The basic knitted fabric 3 is knitted from an elastic or an inelastic knitting thread. If an elastic knitting thread is used, it is possible to use, for example, a covered yarn with an elastic core thread. In this case, the weft thread is preferably thicker than the knitting thread.

[0027] To create the basic knitted fabric of the main body 10 and of the receiving members 1, any of the conventionally known knitting constructions can be used. The basic knitted fabric is preferably in a knit/purl pattern, and the weft thread is offset 1:1 and floating in the basic knitted fabric.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a second practical example of a compression article according to the present disclosure in the form of a toe part with a tubular main body 10 and adjoining receiving members 1, 1a-1d. As in the practical example of FIG. 1, the tubular main body 10 and the five receiving members 1, 1a-1d are fabricated from a basic knitted fabric in a single knitting procedure, wherein knitting preferably takes place on a flat knitting machine with a front and a back needle bed, on which a front ply and a back ply of the main body 10 and of the receiving members 1, 1a-1d are knitted and seamlessly connected to each other so that tubular or pocketlike main bodies 10 and receiving members 1 are obtained. In the practical example of FIG. 2, the receiving members 1 are again open at their distal ends so that the toes of the wearer held in the receiving members 1, 1a-1d project out of the front end of the open receiving members 1.

[0029] FIGS. 3A-3D shows a number of different practical examples of knitting constructions which can be used to knit compression articles according to the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 3A shows a first practical example of a suitable knitting construction. In the area of the receiving members 1a-1c, the knitting construction shown consists of a basic knitted fabric 3, with spacer elements 2 extending between adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c. While the basic knitted fabric 3 is being knitted, the spacer elements 2 are formed by connecting a front ply v and a back ply h of the receiving members 1a, 1b and 1c to each other by means of a machine knitting technique.

[0031] The basic knitted fabric 3 shown in FIGS. 3A-3D can, for example, be seamlessly knitted on a flat knitting machine comprising a front and a back needle bed, with a front ply v of the receiving members 1a-1c being knitted on the front needle bed and a back ply h of the receiving members being knitted on the back needle bed. The front ply v and the back ply h of the receiving members 1a-1c are seamlessly connected to each other in such a fashion that a tubular or pocketlike receiving member is formed by the two plies v, h. As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distal ends of the receiving members 1a-1c can be open and be fitted with a cuff 11.

[0032] The knit pattern of FIG. 3A shows the formation of the spacer elements 2 by means of a machine knitting technique while the receiving members 1 are being knitted.

[0033] The basic knitted fabric 3 shown in FIG. 3A is knitted from an elastic or inelastic stitch-forming knitting thread 4. An elastic weft thread 5 extending in the direction of the stitch rows m of the basic knitted fabric 3 is incorporated into the basic knitted fabric 3. The basic knitted fabric 3 comprises a front ply v knitted on the front needle bed of the flat knitting machine and a ply h knitted on the back needle bed of the flat knitting machine. In the basic knitted fabric 3 shown in FIG. 3A, the weft thread is incorporated into each row of stitches m. It is, however, also possible to insert the weft thread 5 only into every second row of stitches or only into every third row of stitches, etc.

[0034] In the area of the tubular receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c, the knitting thread 4 forms stitches that, in the direction of the stitch rows m, are arranged side by side and, in the direction of the stitch wales s, are connected to each other to form loops. In the area of the receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c, the weft thread 5 alternately forms tuck stitches and float stitches.

[0035] In the area of the spacer elements 2, the front ply v and the back ply h of the receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c are swapped at crossover points K. At the crossover points K, the knitting thread 4, during knitting, is carried over from one ply (for example, the front ply v) to the ply disposed opposite thereto (back ply h), with the knitting thread 4 floating at the crossover point K and, after being carried over to the ply disposed opposite thereto, forming a stitch [at said crossover point]. In the stitch that, in the direction of the stitch row adjoins that stitch, the knitting thread 4 is carried back over to the original ply (front ply v) where it again forms a stitch. By carrying the knitting thread 4 over from one ply to the ply disposed opposite thereto, the tube of the tubular receiving member 1a, 1b, 1c is closed at the crossover points K, which, at the crossover points K, leads to the formation of a spacer element 2 that connects the adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c to each other. The spacer element 2 holds the adjacent receiving members at a distance from each other and causes the pressure in the area of the space between the adjacent fingers to increase when the compression glove is worn on the hand of a wearer.

[0036] FIG. 3B shows a second practical example of a knitting construction for a compression article according to the present disclosure in the area of adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c. As indicated in the practical example of FIG. 3A, the tubular or pocketlike receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c with the spacer elements 2 disposed in the intermediate spaces are formed from a basic knitted fabric 3, said basic knitted fabric 3 comprising a stitch-forming knitting thread 4 and an elastic weft thread 5 that is incorporated into each row of stitches m in the basic knitted fabric. The tubular or pocketlike receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c have a front ply v and a back ply h seamlessly adjacent thereto, with the front ply v being knitted on the front needle bed of a flat knitting machine and the back ply h being knitted on the back needle bed of the flat knitting machine. During knitting, the receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c disposed in the spaces between the spacer elements 2 are knitted in by swapping the front ply v and the back ply h of the receiving members 1a, 1b, 1c at the crossover points K. In contrast to the practical example of FIG. 3A, in this example, the stitch-forming knitting thread 4 is carried over, for example, from a back ply h at a crossover point K to the front ply v and forms a tuck stitch in the front ply v. In the stitch of the knitting thread 4 that, in the direction of the stitch row m, is disposed next to this tuck stitch, the knitting thread is again carried over to the back ply h where it forms a loop. It the area of the crossover point K, this leads to the formation of a spacer element 2 that, in the direction of the stitch row m, extends over two stitches.

[0037] In the direction of the stitch row m, the weft thread 5 alternately forms tuck and float stitches in the basic knitted fabric 3 and, in the area of the spacer elements 2 (i.e., at the crossover points K), it floats in the basic knitted fabric.

[0038] In the practical example of a basic knitted fabric 3 for a compression article according to the present disclosure shown in FIG. 3C, the oppositely disposed plies v and h are swapped in the areas of the crossover points K, at which points the stitch-forming knitting thread 4 is carried over from the front ply v to the back ply h (and vice versa). As shown in FIG. 3C, after the stitch-forming knitting thread 4 has been carried over, for example, from the back ply h to the front ply v at a crossover point K, this thread continues to be knitted as a stitch in the direction of the stitch row m on the front ply v, which causes the back ply h and the front ply v in adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b to be swapped. As in the practical examples of FIGS. 3A and 3C, the crossover of the stitch-forming knitting thread 4 at the crossover points K causes the tubular receiving member 1a, 1b, 1c to be closed and the spacer elements 2 to be formed between adjacent receiving members 1a, 1b; 1b, 1c.

[0039] It should be noted that the disclosure is not limited to the practical examples represented in the drawings and especially not to the preferred fabrication on a flat knitting machine with a front and a back needle bed. The basic knitted fabric of the compression article according to the present disclosure can, mutatis mutandis, also be fabricated as a circular knitted fabric on a circular knitting machine. Furthermore, to fabricate the basic knitted fabric 3, it is also possible to use different knitting constructions. The shape of the compression articles according to the present disclosure is not limited to the practical examples of a glove or a toe part shown in the drawings. For example, instead of a toe part, it is therefore also possible to fabricate a sock liner, a sock or a stocking with receiving members (that are open or closed at the distal end) for the toes of a wearer.

[0040] In addition, it is also possible for a compression article according to the present disclosure to be designed with receiving members for more than one finger or toe. Under certain circumstances, this can be useful if, for the purpose of stabilization, it were necessary to accommodate adjacent fingers or toes in a shared receiving member.

[0041] Compression articles according to the present disclosure can be used in scar therapy or for the treatment of burns or scalds or in reconstructive plastic surgery on a hand or a foot, especially in postoperative compression therapy after reconstructive plastic surgery, with the spacer elements of the compression article worn on a hand or foot exerting increased pressure on the areas of the spaces between the fingers or toes, thereby suppressing scar keloids and/or scar contractures.