HOSIERY WITH IMPROVED UNIFORM APPEARANCE AND FIT

Abstract

Methods for hosiery production and knit hosiery garments produced by these methods are provided which exhibit reduced sheerness difference between the foot portion and leg portion of the garment and assist with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving fit and appearance of the knit hosiery garments.

Claims

1. A method for producing a knitted hosiery garment with controlled fabric density, said method comprising knitting one or more selected portions of the garment with a needle selection that intentionally generates miss stitches instead of a normal plain knit to reduce the number of stitches per course in courses allocated to body regions of the garment with smaller circumference.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the needle selection is 1?2, 1?3 or 1?4 or any of combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more selected portions are between a toe end portion and knee portion of the garment.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more selected portions are in a sole and/or heel portion of the garment.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4 wherein the knitted hosiery exhibit uniform sheerness in foot and leg portions of the garment when worn.

6. The method of any of claims 1-4 wherein the knitted hosiery garment comprises an allocated foot portion to aid in correct positioning and stretch of fabric of the garment in the foot and ankle of a wearer.

7. A knitted hosiery garment produced by the method of any of claims 1-6.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0015] FIG. 1, views A, B, C, D, are images of wearers of knee-high hosiery garments with one leg with a knee high knitted in accordance with Example 1 and the other leg a control not knitted in accordance with this disclosure. In each view, a garment of this disclosure is on the left foot of the wearer. FIG. 1, view A shows the increased sheerness in the foot bridge and ankle and a better match in aspect with the rest of the leg vs control. FIG. 1, view B, shows a similar outcome to view A and also substantiates the challenge to correctly fit the control knee high which was clearly under stretched in the foot area. FIG. 1, view C shows another similar outcome to view A, magnified by a wider foot. FIG. 1, view D exhibits the fit challenge of view B in the opposite direction, where the control knee high is clearly over stretched in the foot/toe area while improved homogeneous appearance is still evident in the foot and ankle area of the garment of this disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 2 provides an example of knee high sheer hosiery garment knitted as per Example 1 compared to a standard knee high (trouser sock).

[0017] FIG. 3 is a schematic of foot and garment parts of hosiery referred to herein including the toe, sole, heel, bridge and ankle portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Provided by this disclosure are methods for hosiery production and knit structures produced by these methods that reduce the sheerness difference between the foot and the leg part of the garment while assisting with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving both fit and appearance of knit hosiery garments produced by these methods.

[0019] Needle selection is a known knitting technique generally employed to generate patterns and influence elasticity.

[0020] For purposes of this disclosure, the notation YxZ selection means Y consecutive needles knit the actual stitch and the following Z consecutive needles perform a miss stitch (needles stay at sinker level). Therefore, 1?1 selection means 1 knit stitch followed by 1 miss stitch; 1?2 selection means 1 knit stitch followed by 2 miss stitches, etc.

[0021] As non-limiting examples of common knitting constructions, a plain knit construction in a 400 needle circular hosiery knitting machine will result in 400 knitted stitches per full course, while a 1?1 selection (1 knit and 1 miss) in the same machine will generate 200 stiches per course.

[0022] In the methods for production of knitted hosiery garments of this disclosure, garments are knitted using a needle selection that intentionally generates miss stitches instead of the normal plain knit, with the specific purpose of reducing the number of stitches per course thereby reducing the stitch density in the courses allocated to the body regions with smaller circumference (e.g. foot region). Accordingly, garments of the invention may be obtained by a combination of knitting structures over the length of the garment, where the selection to reduce the stitch and yarn density in, for example, the tube region allocated to the foot of the wearer, allows the garment, when worn, to exhibit stitch dimension and stitch shape closer to the dimension and shape of the stitches of other garment larger circumference regions such as the calf and thigh, leading to a more uniform appearance. For example, in one embodiment, a knitting selection that intentionally generates miss stitches is applied solely in the foot region to balance stitch density and therefore appearance compared to the leg region where no miss stitches needle selection is applied. Uniform fabric appearance is achieved by controlling not only stitch dimension but also the number of stitches per unit or area.

[0023] As nonlimiting examples, in methods of this disclosure, fabric density can be controlled by a 1?2, 1?3 or 1?4 needle selection or any combination thereof in one or more selected portions of the garment. While presence of missed stitch is more effective, needle selection can also involve tuck stitches or other combinations of stitch formats or yarn combinations.

[0024] The needle selection can be applied to all courses or to a portion of them. More effective is to apply a needle selection in every course of the targeted garment region, however, needle selection may vary between courses.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a schematic of foot and garment parts of hosiery referred to herein including the foot portion made up of the toe, sole, heel and bridge portions and the ankle portion which makes up part of the leg portion of the garment. Additional portions of hosiery disclosed herein include the calf, knee and thigh portion of the leg and the waist portion.

[0026] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of the garment extending from the end of the toe portion to the knee portion of the garment.

[0027] In one nonlimiting embodiment, needle selection is used in graduated manner towards the ankle and foot portion of the garment to drive homogeneous appearance from foot to leg.

[0028] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of the sole and/or heel of the garment.

[0029] In one nonlimiting embodiment, the one or more portions of the sole and/or heel comprise a 1:1 course ratio wherein one course comprises only the base yarn which performs the selection and the second course comprises a base yarn with no selection and a plated in yarn in a 1?2 selection with floating needles.

[0030] In one nonlimiting embodiment, the modified lower stitch density construction is limited to the sole area beneath the foot which is normally concealed by the footwear. However, this can be extended to the heel region or any other region of the garment according to the desired final garment design and aspect. In some nonlimiting embodiments, the transition point for the modified lower stitch density construction is introduced in the full sole area, in a portion of that or further extend outside the sole area, to generate the best level of appearance uniformity desired. In one nonlimiting embodiment, the modified lower stitch density construction is limited and narrow in the front part of the foot (to avoid excessive sheerness in the toe) and extended and wide in the ball of the foot and the heel to increase sheerness of the ankle.

[0031] While methods of this disclosure are applicable to any course style typically used in hosiery production with various fibers, the effectiveness of this method is higher when applied to spandex hosiery and/or every-course-panty-hose (ECPH) construction where elasticity and stretch level are higher.

[0032] When used in the production methods of this disclosure, spandex fiber may be covered with a rigid yarn or may be bare, and may be knitted in every course or alternate courses. In some embodiments, another elastified course knitted into the garment comprises bare spandex plated with rigid yarn.

[0033] Any suitable fusible spandex can be used.

[0034] Any rigid yarn can also be used in the present invention. Nonlimiting examples may comprise polyamide, polyester or polypropylene. In one nonlimiting embodiment, the rigid yarn is a polyamide. Any polyamide can be used and, as will be understood by the skilled artisan upon reading this disclosure, selection will depend upon desired characteristics including but not limited to brightness, bulk, uniformity, and gloss of the resulting fabric.

[0035] Further, in certain hosiery garment designs, the fabric structure can lead to undesirable deformation of the foot region of the garment at point of sale where the consumer observes the foot part as very tight and small which is visually unappealing. Methods of production disclosed herein provide a solution to this problem via introduction of a plated-in yarn such as nylon or polyester of any type including bicomponent fibers in the selection region or its proximity, to stiffen the structure and block the excessive shrinkage of the tubular knitted fabric when presented to the consumer for sale. The additional plated in yarn in this case provides structure to the fabric.

[0036] The plated in yarn can also be selected to deliver additional benefits including, but not limited to, odor control, moisture management and bulky sole.

[0037] Further, similar to standard socks and medical hosiery, where the heel is easily identified by the structure of the knitted tube, the production methods disclosed herein are also useful in helping the wearer identify the portion of the hosiery allocated to the foot and to aid in correctly positioning and stretching the fabric of garments produced in accordance with these production methods in the foot and ankle portions.

[0038] In addition, the fit resulting from the lower stitched density in garments produced via these methods which increases the stretch level of the fabric, provides the wearer with a more secure fit in the foot part, compared to a standard plain knit tube garment.

[0039] Thus, control of fabric density via a production method of this disclosure results in garments with controlled fabric stretch and unified sheerness/transparency of the toe and/or the bridge and or ankle portions of the garment with the knee, thigh and/or waist portions of the garment when worn and helps the wearer to identify the portion of the garment allocated to the foot and provide an aid to correctly position and stretch fabric of the garment in the foot and ankle.

EXAMPLES

[0040] The following examples demonstrate the present invention and its utility in producing knit structures with reduced sheerness differences between the foot and the leg part of the garment and assisting with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving fit and appearance. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various apparent respects, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Further, other successful constructions have been also tested with different improved aesthetic and fit results. Accordingly, the examples are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

Example 1: Sheer Panty Hose Knitted in a Standard 400 Needle, 4 Diameter 4 Feeds Hosiery Machine with Modified Sole Area Construction

[0041] Base yarn: 20 dtex spandex fiber single covered with 11 dtex polyamide yarn; plated-in yarn: 44 dtex textured polyamide.

[0042] In the sole area, the following knitting construction selection was used: feeds 1 and 3 with base yarn only in 1?2 selection, feeds 2 and 4 with base yarn and plated-in yarn in 1?2 selection with floating needle (base yarn plain knit and plated-in yarn in 1?2 selection).

[0043] The rest of the garment was knitted with base yarn in all 4 feeds in plain knit construction without plated in yarn.

[0044] The knitted tube was then sewed, dyed and finished following standard commercial procedures.

Example 2

[0045] In this example, the same sole area construction as in Example 1 was extended to the heel area.

Example 3

[0046] In this example, the same sole area construction as in Example 1 was used without any plated-in yarn.

Example 4

[0047] Sheer panty hose were also prepared similarly to Examples 1 and 3 but with a 1?3 selection instead of a 1?2 selection in the sole, with or without plated in yarn in the sole.

Example 5

[0048] Opaque style panty hose were prepared similarly to Example 1 but with 22 dtex spandex fiber single covered with 22 dtex polyamide yarn as base yarn and 44 dtex textured polyamide as plated-in yarn. In the sole area, feeds 1 and 3 were base yarn and plated-in yarn in 1?2 selection and feeds 2 and 4 were base yarn and plated-in yarn in 1?2 selection with floating needle (base yarn plain knit and plated-in yarn in 1?2 selection). The rest of the garment was knitted with base yarn and plated in yarn in all 4 feeds in plain knit construction.

[0049] As will be understood by the skilled artisan upon reading this disclosure, other base yarn combinations are possible for sheerer or more opaque hosiery styles. Further, spandex can be used in both covered and bare forms. Further, the plated-in yarn can be knitted also in other areas of the garments as the garment style and end use requires.