Pair of socks or stockings that can be removably connected to one another and have an improved durability

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pair of knitted socks or stockings which can be removably connected to one another, in which a first attachment part is firmly attached to one of the two socks or stockings in order to receive a second complementary attachment part in a removable manner, the attachment part being firmly connected to the other of the two socks or stockings, wherein the knitted fabric of the socks or stockings has a stitch density of at least 2000 SD at least in the attachment region of the respective attachment part and is knitted using a reinforcing thread which is not visible from the outside of the socks or stockings and has a tear resistance which corresponds to at least the average tear resistance of the tear resistances of the ground thread, the plating thread and the reinforcing thread of the knitted fabric, none of the threads having a tear resistance of <10 cN/tex.

Claims

1. A pair of knitted socks or stockings including a first sock or stocking and a second sock or stocking which can be removably connected to one another comprising: a first attachment part and a second complementary attachment part, wherein the first attachment part is firmly attached to the first sock or stocking in order to receive the second complementary attachment part in a removable manner, and wherein the second complementary attachment part is firmly connected to the second sock or stocking, and the first sock or stocking includes a first reinforced region located at a leg portion of the first sock or stocking for attaching the first attachment part and the second sock or stocking includes a second reinforced region located at a leg portion of the second sock or stocking for attaching the second complementary attachment part, wherein each sock or stocking includes an unreinforced region located at the leg portion, and wherein a knitted fabric of the pair of socks or stockings has a stitch density of at least 2,000 SD, determined according to DIN 53883 and an average tear resistance of at least 15 cN/tex, at least in the first and second reinforced regions, and wherein the first and second reinforced regions are knitted using a combination of a ground thread, a reinforcing thread, and a plating thread up to a circle of at least 1 cm around the attachment part, and the unreinforced regions are free of the reinforcing thread, and wherein the reinforcing thread has a tear resistance which corresponds to at least the average tear resistance of the tear resistances of the ground thread, the plating thread, the reinforcing thread of the knitted fabric of at least 15 cN/tex, none of the threads having a tear resistance of less than 10 cN/tex, and the attachment parts are capable of remaining attached to the first and second reinforced regions for a service life of more than 300 interspersed washes.

2. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the first and second reinforced regions each has an oval or rectangular shape; and the knitted fabric of the pair of socks or stockings has a stitch density of at least 4,000 SD, determined according to DIN 53883, at least in the first and second reinforced regions.

3. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the reinforcing thread corresponds at the most to the diameter of the plating thread.

4. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the ground thread, the reinforcing thread, and the plating thread consist of different materials.

5. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the first attachment part is fitted to an outside leg part of the first sock or stocking, and the second complementary attachment part is fitted to an outside leg part of the second sock or stocking.

6. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the first attachment part and the second complementary attachment part are each complementary parts of a twist fastener.

7. The pair of socks or stockings according to claim 1, wherein the first attachment part and second complementary attachment part are each adhesively bonded, sewn, or pushed onto the sock or stocking.

8. The pair of socks or stocking according to claim 5, wherein the reinforcing thread includes a polyester.

9. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 1, wherein the reinforcing thread consists of a synthetic material.

10. The pair of sock or stockings of claim 9, wherein the synthetic material includes a polyamide or a polyester.

11. The pair of sock or stockings of claim 10, wherein the ground thread includes a natural material.

12. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 11, wherein the natural material includes cotton, sheep's wool, or silk.

13. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 9, wherein the plating thread includes a natural material.

14. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 13, wherein the natural material includes cotton, sheep's wool, or silk.

15. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 10, wherein only the plating thread is visible on an outside of the sock or stocking.

16. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 10, wherein the plating thread and the ground thread are different materials.

17. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 16, wherein the reinforcing thread is arranged between the ground thread and the plating thread.

18. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 13, wherein the ground thread consists of a synthetic material.

19. The pair of socks or stockings of claim 11, wherein the plating thread consists of a synthetic material.

20. A method for attaching a combination of attachment parts which can be removably connected to one another in a reinforced region of a leg portion of a respective sock or stocking of a matching pair of socks or stockings comprising: obtaining or knitting the matching pair of socks or stockings and obtaining the combination of attachment parts, creating the reinforced region by knitting a fabric comprising a combination of a ground thread, a reinforcing thread, and a plating thread into at least the reinforced region of the matching pair of socks or stockings, inserting the reinforcing thread into the reinforced region at a start of each row of the reinforced region in addition to the ground thread, using the reinforcing thread simultaneously with another thread, and severing the reinforcing thread at an end of each row in the reinforced region, arranging the reinforcing thread so that the reinforcing thread is located in the stitch between the ground thread and the plating thread, and attaching a first attachment part firmly to the reinforced region of one of the socks or stockings in order to receive a second complementary attachment part in a removable manner, wherein the reinforced region of each sock or stocking measures up to a circle of at least 1 cm around the attachment part and is knitted according to a plating method with a stitch density of at least 2000 SD, determined according to DIN 53883, wherein the reinforcing thread has a tear resistance corresponding to at least the average tear resistance of the tear resistances of the ground thread, the plating thread, and the reinforcing thread, and wherein the knitted fabric at least in the reinforced region has an average tear resistance of at least 15 cN/tex, none of the threads having a tear resistance of less than 10 cN/tex in the reinforced region, the attachment parts of the removable connection each being fitted thereto, and the attachment part is capable of remaining attached to the reinforced region for a service life of more than 300 interspersed washes wherein the reinforcing thread is not visible from the inside and the outside of the socks or stockings, wherein the leg portion includes an unreinforced region that is free of the reinforcing thread.

Description

(1) FIG. 1 reproduces, in a plan view, the thread arrangement in the region of the reinforcing thread.

(2) According to FIG. 1, the reinforcing thread (3) is arranged between the ground thread (1) and the plating thread (2). According to a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, inserted at the start (A) of each row in addition to the ground thread (1) is a reinforcing thread (3) which is severed again at the end (E) of the reinforcing region, while the ground thread (1) and the plating thread (2) continue to be knitted. Reference numeral (4) denotes the knitting cylinder which rotates in an anti-clockwise direction.

(3) FIG. 2 is a drawing of an illustrative pair of socks or stockings 6. The socks or stockings 6 are connected by a first attachment part 10 and the second complementary attachment part 11. The pair of socks or stockings 6 includes a first sock or stocking 21 and a second sock or stocking 22. The first attachment part 10 is firmly attached to the first sock or stocking 21 at an attachment region 23 of the first sock or stocking 21. The second complementary part 11 is firmly attached to the second sock or stocking 22 at an attachment region 24 of the second sock or stocking 22.

(4) FIG. 3a and FIG. 3B are drawings of illustrative socks or stockings 21 according to the teachings herein, having a first attachment part 10 and an attachment region 23. The first attachment part 10 preferably is rectangular or oval shaped. The attachment region 23 is preferably rectangular or oval shaped.

(5) As already mentioned, in this sandwich plating knitting method, advantageously inserted at the start (A) of each row in addition to the ground thread (1) is a reinforcing thread (3) which is severed again at the end (E) of the reinforcing region, while the ground thread (1) and the plating thread (2) continue to be knitted. In addition, this procedural method makes it possible for the shape of the reinforcing region to be varied and, if appropriate, to be adapted to the shape of the attachment part to be attached by the selection of the needles for knitting the reinforcing thread and by the respective severing of said reinforcing thread.

(6) Therefore, a further object of the present invention is also a method for attaching a combination of preferably complementary attachment parts which can be connected together in a removable manner to an attachment region of the respective sock or stocking of a matching pair of socks or stockings, the suitable attachment parts having already been specified above, in which method the knitted fabric of the respective sock or stocking in the attachment region, preferably up to a circle of at least 1 cm, but preferably not the entire knitted fabric of the respective sock or stocking, is knitted using a reinforcing thread according to a plating method with a stitch density of at least 2000 SD, the tear resistance of the reinforcing thread corresponding to at least the average tear resistance of the tear resistances of the ground thread, the plating thread and the reinforcing thread of the knitted fabric and none of the threads having a tear resistance of <10 cN/tex, and the respective attachment parts of the removable connection each being fitted thereto.

(7) In a further preferred embodiment, the attachment region is knitted according to this procedural method, such that the region has an oval, circular or rectangular shape, more preferably a circular or oval shape.

(8) Furthermore, a further preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention is that the plating knitting method is carried out such that, in the knitted fabric which is obtained, the reinforcing thread cannot be seen from the outside of the sock or stocking, preferably from both sides of the sock or stocking, i.e. from the right and left sides of the product.

(9) This means that preferably the simultaneous use of the reinforcing thread in the production of the socks or stockings equipped according to the invention is only necessary in the region in which the attachment part is fitted, and optionally up to a specific circle thereof, preferably in the leg part of the sock or stocking, and is by no means required for the production of the entire sock or stocking.

(10) A further object of the present invention is a pair of socks or stockings which can obtained according to any of the methods stated above.