US2144563A - Stocking - Google Patents

Description

R. E. DAVIS Jan. 17, 1939.

STOCKING 5, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.

5 fnuenz or Jan. 17, 1939. R DAVIS 2,144,563-

STOCKING Filed Dec. 5, 1936 3 SheetS-Sheet 2 wag M R. E, DAVIS Jan. 17, 1939.

STOCKING Filed Dec. 5, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 17, 1939 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3,144,503 s'rocxme Robert E. Davis, Fort Payne, Ala., assignor to W.

B. Davis & Son, Inc., Fort Payne, Ala, a corporation of Alabama Application December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,479

1 Claim.

sweat socks. However, as will appear later,-

the invention is not restricted to any particular use, as hosiery made in accordance with the principles of the present invention may be used for any purpose, or at any time, when a stocking capable of absorbing perspiration is desired, or where extra warmth is desired, or when a cushioning effect is desired in the toe, heel, foot sole, or any combination of these parts in a stocking, as the object and purpose of the present invention is to provide neat-appearing hosiery having each and all or any of the above noted characteristics.

Sweat socks are primarily employed for the purpose of absorbing perspiration, as the name implies. The particular partsof the foot which perspire most profusely are the toes, heel and foot sole. This type of stocking heretofore has been composed of relatively heavy absorbent yarn throughout, including the instep, ankle, leg, and cufi portions where little or no actual or excessive perspiringoccurs. This renders the article rather unsightly, undesirable and unpopular for many purposes, especially with women.

Another purpose of the sweat sock is to prevent the formation of blisters on the foot while participating in some-competitive sport or while indulging in some more or less violent exercise, or in hiking. Formation of blisters, or other chafing of the skin, is frequently caused by the shoe which, for the purpose of freedom of action, is usually of a more or less loose fit. The wearing of sweat socks, in addition to absorbing per-' spiration, is resorted to for comfortably filling the space between the shoe and the foot, without presenting any restriction to the freedom of the foot.

Sweat socks and other hosiery are subject to excessive wear at the toes and heels, due to movement of the foot in the shoe.

,The present invention is directed toward the provision of a stocking which will fulfill all the requirements and overcome the objections above noted and which will present a. neat, dressy appearance, making it possible to wear the stocking on occasions where the ordinary sweat sock would be undesirable or considered improper.

The object of the present invention is attained by the use of an additional thread or yarn in the toe, heel, foot sole, or any of said portions, and which is knit into the stocking fabric at these places in what is known as terry stitches 'or terry loops. That is, the stocking is formed in any ordinary manner of a silk, wool, or cotton body thread or a thread composed of silk and wool or wool and cotton, etc., which gives the dressy 5 appearance to the outside of the article. In the heel, toe, or foot sole an additional thread composed of wool or cotton, or both, for example, is knit intothe body-of the fabric with the body thread in forming the body stitches. the body stitch wales, the additional yarn is formed into loops which protrude inwardly from the inside face of the body of the fabric and which provide the other above noted require- 5 ments.

The additional thread may be of a relatively tightly twisted character, when used primarily for cushioning purposes and wherein the terry loops subsequently maintain their individuality, or the additional thread loose twisted character which, in addition to providing the cushioning effect, will be of a highly absorbent nature. The cushioning and absorbing qualities may be accentuated by subjecting the terry loops to a brushing operation, whereby the fibers of the yarn of adjacent terry loops will become more or less commingled or matted to provide a soft absorbent cushion in those parts of the stocking to which the extra thread is ap- 30 plied.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive illustrate stockings turned inside out with the terry stitches produced in various portions of the foot of the stocking. For example, Fig. 1 illustrates the terry stitches in the heel, foot-sole, lower and upper portions of the toe% and part way along the top portion of the foo Fig. 2 illustrates a stocking similar to that 40 shown in Fig. 1 and wherein the terry stitches terminate at the rear edge of the upper portion of the toe;

Fig. 3 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are eliminated from the top of the foot 5 and the upper portion of the toe;

Fig. 4 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are eliminated entirely from the toe;

Fig; 5 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confined solely to the heel of the stocking;

Fig. 6 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confined solely to the lower and upper toe portions 01' the stocking;

Fig. 7 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry 5 5 Between 10 may be of a relatively stitches are confined solely to the upper portion of the toe of the stocking;

Fig. 8 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confined to the foot-sole portion of the stocking, between the front of the heel and the back of the toe portions thereof;

Fig. 9 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches extend throughout the toe and the footsole portions of the stocking and terminate .at the front of the heel portion of the stocking;

Fig. 10 illustrates a stocking wherein the terry stitches are confined to the lower heel portion, the foot-sole portion, and the lower toe portion of the stocking;

Fig. 11 is a stitch diagram illustrating the manner in which the terry stitches or loops are produced; and

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 11 showing the terry loops as having been brushed to loosen the fibers thereof whereby the said fibers of adjacent terry loops will co-mingle with each other in the manner above noted.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 10 inclusive, the stocking 1 includes an ankle portion 2, an instep portion 3, a top foot portion 4, an upper toe portion 5, a lower toe portion 6, a foot-sole portion 1, a heel portion or pocket 8, an upper heel reinforce portion i0, and a cuff portion ll.

Obviously, the stocking may be of a knee length or full length without departing from the spirit of the invention and wherein the cuff H would constitute the stocking top or welt. Also, the stocking may be of the flat knit, full fashioned type or mock fashion type, or of the seamless circular knit type fashioned in knitting or by removing portions of the tube subsequent to knitting or by regulating the tension of the knitting thread or the length of the stitches or both during knitting of the tube. In the present instance, a seamless circular knit stocking is illustrated and wherein the top H is of the usual ribbed fabric type and which is topped on to the needles of the circular knitting machine which knits the leg or angle portion 2 down to the inner end or point l2 of the heel gore l3 at which time the machine effects reciprocating knitting in the usual manner to provide the heel pocket 8. After completing the heel pocket 8, the machine changes to and continues circular knitting, to knit the upper foot portion 4 and the foot-sole portion 1, down to the inner end or point M of the toe gore l5, after which reciprocatory knitting is produced to provide the toe pocket 66 which is composed of the upper and lower toe portions 5 and 6 respectively. The stocking is completed subsequently by looping the forward end of the upper foot portion 4 to the rear edge of the upper toe portion 5, along the line IT, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

It is usual, during the knitting of the leg portion of a seamless stocking, to introduce a reinforcing thread in the rear half of the lower part of the leg in a predetermined number of courses previous to the beginning of the reciprocating knitting for the production of the heel pocket 8, in order to provide a high splice heel reinforcement which corresponds to the terry stitch area ID of Fig. 1, between the top line it thereof and the point l2 of the heel gore 13. The reinforcing thread is knit with the body thread in stitches of the same size and character as the stitches produced by the body thread from the top line of the heel reinforce through the heel pocket, footsole and toe of the stocking. Usually the reinforcing thread is knit into the fabric so as to appear on the outer face of the finished article.

In the present case, the thread which is to form the terry loops is introduced to the needles of the knitting machine instead of the usual splicing thread and in such relation to the body thread that the terry loop thread will be carried to the back of the fabric, that is, to that face of the fabric which is to form the inside of the completed article, whereby the terry thread will be buried in the fabric and will not be visible from the outside of the completed article. The terry loop thread, however, will be knit with the body fabric thread, stitch for stitch, in those portions of the stocking where the terry loops are to be made, but instead of conforming entirely to the size and shape of the body stitches, as in ordinary reinforcing work, those portions of the terry thread which connect each two adjacent stitches in a course and which are commonly referred to as the sinker loops of a knitted fabric are elongated relative to the sinker loops of the body fabric and these elongated sinker loops produce or constitute the terry loops referred to herein.

The elongated sinker loops or terry loops may be produced in different ways, for example, by sinkers having the usual or ordinary body thread-engaging notch and a second portion in the form of a notch or incline or other edge-so positioned and constructed with respect to the body thread notch that when the sinker is moved inwardly to sink the body yarn a definite distance around and between the needles of the knitting machine to produce the normal sinker loops of the body fabric the additional portion of the sinker which engages the terry loop thread will sink a greater amount of yarn between the needles than was sunk for the corresponding body thread loop and whereby the terry loops are made relatively longer than the sinker loops of the body thread, the extent of the elongation depending upon the relationship between the portions of the sinkers which engage the body and terry threads respectively.

In Fig. 11, a body thread A is shown as having been knitted into stitches w, a. in successive courses C, C, producing needle wales W, W. The needle loops a, a in each course C are connected by sinker loops a a producing sinker wales S, S, between the needle wales W, W.

A second thread B is shown as having been knitted into needle loops b, b in each course 0, with each loop b substantially the same size as and coinciding with a needle loop a composed of the body thread A. The needle loops 1), b in each course C are connected by sinker loops b D The sinker loops b, b are elongated with respect to the sinker loops a a and protrude from the plane of the fabric; The elongated sinker loops b b collectively form a cushioning pad on the one face of the knitted fabric. The thickness of this pad is governed by the extent of protrusion or the length of the sinker loops b D The sinker loops b b in extending individually from the one face of the fabric produce the terry effect and for this reason are termed terry loops.

The number of stitches per inch, walewise and coursewise of the fabric, and the count quality and character of the terry thread B determines the compactness of the terry areas of the fabric.

In Fig. 12, the terry loops b b are shown as having been brushed to produce a fleece effect on the one face of the fabric. It will be understood that the terry loops are normally in closely adJacent or abutting relation to each other and that the brushing of these loops causes the fibers of the yarn of the various loops to become comingled or matted with each other, causing the terry loops to lose their individuality to a greater or lesser extent depending upon the compactness of the fleece desired. A

It will be understood that all of the terry areas, i. e. the heel, foot-sole or toe may be either plain terry, as in Fig. 11, or'brushed terry, as in Fig. 12, or some of the areas may be plain while others are brushed, depending upon the requirements of the ultimate consumers.

Stockings of the kind described as forming the subject matter of the present invention may be produced on flat full fashioned hosiery knitting machines using the regular splicing or plating attachments common thereto. The stocking may also be produced on machines adapted for the knitting of fashioned seamless tubular knit hosiery and provided with the usual reinforcin mechanism.

If desired, the stocking may be produced on circular machines equipped with double sole at tachments or on reciprocating machines provided with split sole mechanism.

In Figs. 11 and 12, the terry loops are shown as being provided at each wale in each course of the fabric, but it will be understood that the terry loops may be provided at relatively spaced wales or relatively spaced courses or spaced coursewise and walewise if desired.

I claim:

A seamless knitted sweat sock, including a short ankle section, a foot section, and an instep section, comprising a body yarn, with said foot section comprising a toe portion, a heel portion,

and a foot sole portion including an additional yarn interknit with said body yarn solely in said toe, heel and foot sole portions and formed into terry loops commingling and collectively forming a fleece area on one face of the stocking fabric within said portions, and with said ankle and 2 instep sections composed solely of said body yarn. 0

ROBERT E. DAvIs.

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