US2333373A - Stocking footlet and method of - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 2, 1943. H. M. GREY I STOCKING FOOTLET AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Dec. 18/1942 7 HUGH M. Q55;

attorneys Patented Nov. 2, 1943 STOCKHWGFOOTLET AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Hugh M. Grey, Concord, N. -C., assignor to Concord Knitting Company, Concord, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application December 18, 1942, Serial No. 469,433

12 Claims.

This invention relates to knitted fabrics and more particularly to a method and means for producing a footlet or stocking foot portion.

It is an object of thisinvention to provide a knitted article such as a stocking foot, said article having the same number of wales in the foot portion as in the welt portion It is another object of this invention to provide a seamless stocking foot formed by successively knitting a plurality of courses to form a tubular member with each course having the same number of loops therein, then closing one end of the tubular member, after which the tubular member is stretched and set in shape to conform to the foot of the wearer. i

It is another object of this invention to provide a footlet of the class. described having a welt portion and a foot portion in which the tension of the knitted loops gradually diminishes as the knitting progresses from the welt into the foot per-1 tion. By gradually diminishing the tension, the loops will be larger and consequently, the stretching and enlarging or the lower portion of the footlet to conform to the foot of the wearer, can be more easily accomplished.

It is still anotherv object of this'invention to Some of the objects of the invention having stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved stocking footlehafter it has been knitted and seamed, but prior tovthe same being stretched and; set to conform to the shape of-a wearer's Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2--2 in Figure 1, showing the upper portion of the stocking iootlet in .a slightly opened position;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of thestocking footlet as it appears when disposed upon the foot of the wearer, said view showing a portion of the wearer's foot in dotted lines; 1

Figure4isatopplanvieworifiigure3;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along thelines 5-5in Figures 3 and 4;

Flgure6isaviewotth stockingfootletuit 66' appears after the same has been stretched and set, and then folded into a collapsediposition for Packing, nd shipp Referring' more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I0 broadly denotes an improved stocking footlet, said footlet comprising a welt portion II and a foot portion l2. The bottom of the foot portion is closed by seam line It to I thereby provide a knitted article for encasing the foot of the wearer. It will be noted that the heel of the foot portion l2 may be reinforced as at l5, and that the toe may be reinforced as at I6. A wearer's foot or a suitable form I! is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3 in association with a completed footlet.

In the production of a stocking of this type. a circular knitting machine may be employed, however, other types of knitting machines may also be used with good results. The disclosed footlet, however, is particularly adapted to be manufactured on a circular knitting machine, because it is preferablyof a seamless construction. When producing a stocking of this type upon a circular knitting machine, the first course of the welt is begun as at It. This course is then held on half of the needles and a plurality of courses are knitted'on the other needles in a conventional a conventional way of knitting a welt. The knit I ting of the foot portion I2 is then carried out with all of the needl .As, a rule, the welt H is of a tight, close knit which is produced by applying a relatively high tension to the strands of yarn or each course during knitting. When the foot portion is begun, the tension-on the strand or strands of yarn gradually diminishes with each course, sothat additional slack will be presentin the lower foot portion of the stocking footlet. If desired, an additional strand or strands can be placed in what is-to become the heel and toe portions l5 and 16 respectively so as to reinforce these areas.

When the foot portion has been knitted to a dotted line position 2! such as shown in Figure l, the knitted welt and foot portions are removed from the knitting machine. At this time, the welt and foot portions are of a tubular construction having open top and bottom ends. In order to form a stocking footlet from this tubular fabric, it has been found advantageous to sever .the foot portion of the tubular fabric along a after the foot portion has been severed, the collapsed tubular member will appear substantially as shown in bold lines in Figure 1. It is evident 7 that the wales at the heel of the severed footlet are somewhat shorter than the wales at the toe. Actually, the wale lengths of the tubular fabric, after having been cut as shown in Figure 1. gradually increase in length from the heel portion i to the toe portion ii. The severed tubular member is next seamed along the line ll, previously described, to thereby close one end and form a footlet therefrom.

As previously stated, the slack in the loops of the foot portion l2 gradually increases from the welt to the seam line I4, and therefore a greater amount of elasticity and stretch can be obtained inthe bottom of the footlet-than at the top. When this increased elasticity is coupled with the increased length of wales at the toe of the foot portion, a greater amount of space will be available at the toe portion when the footlet is placed upon the foot of the wearer.

The welt and foot portions of the tubular fabric are formed from a plurality of successively knitted courses, with each course having the same number of loops therein. Therefore, the same number of wales will be present throughout the fabric. Attention is called to the fact that each of the wales in the foot portion of the stocking is a continuation of a wale in the welt portion. By gradually decreasing the tension in the yarn as the knitting progresses and by subsequently cutting the foot portion'along a line biased to the wales, it is possible to obtain the desired space to accommodate a wearer's foot and at the same time maintain the same number of wales throughout the footlet. Thus. it is seen that a simplified construction is employed which greatly facilitates the manufacture of an article of this type.

After the footlet has been severed and seamed as shown in Figure 1, it is usually stretched over a suitable heated form which has substantially the same shape as that of the wearer's foot. Then by subjecting the footlet to a steam and heat treatment, the loops of the stretched article are set so that the footlet will more resemble its shape when in. use. Figure 6 shows the shape of the footlet after the same has been stretched over a form and subjected to heat treatment to set the loops. In Figure 6, of course, the footlet is in a collapsed posiflon. that is, the opposed sides thereof are disposed one against the other and in a position normally occupied when the footlet is ready for packing and shim.

In the drawing and specification, there has beensetforthapreferredembodimentofthe invention, and although specific terms are em- P 7 11. they are used in a generic and descriptive'senseonly,andnot forimrpcs oflimitation, the scope of-the invention being defined in I claim:

1.Thatmethodofproducingacircularknit stockingfootlethavingatopweltportionand an adjacent foot portion, which comprises knittingthccoursesofthetopweltportionwitha an adjacent foot portion which comprises forming the courses of the knitted welt top portion with a yarn under relatively high tension, subsequently forming the courses of the adjacent lower foot portion with a yarnund'er gradually decreasing tension andthen uniting the lower edges of said foot portion. V v I 3. That method of producing a circular knit stocking footlet having a top welt portion and an adjacent foot portion, which comprises knitv ting the courses of the top welt'portion with a yarn under relatively high tension, subsequently knitting the courses of the adjacent lower foot portion with a yarn under-a gradually decreasing ingtensionandthenunitingtheloweredgcsofj saidfootportion.

2.'I'hatmethodofproducingacircularknit stockingfootlethavingawelttopportionand tension, then uniting the lower edges of said foot portion, stretching the welt and foot portions to a shape substantially conforming to the foot of a wearer, and then setting the welt and foot portions while in this stretched position.

4. That method of producing a circular knit stocking iootlet having a welt top portion and an adjacent'foot portion which comprises form,- ing the courses of the knitted welt top portion with a yarn under relatively high tension," subsequently forming the courses ofthe adjacent I lowerfoot portion with a yarn'under gradually decreasingtension, then uniting the lower edges of said foot portion, stretchingthe welt and foot portionto a shape substantially conforming to the foot of a wearer, and then setting the welt and foot portions while in this position.

5. That method of-produeing a circular knit stocking footlet having a topwelt portion and an adjacent foot portion, which comprises knitting the courses of the top welt portion with a yarn under relatively high tension, subsequently knitting the courses of the adjacent lower foot portion with a yarn under a graduallydecreasing tension, severing the foot a line disposed at an angle to the courses whereby a greater number of course lengths will he present at one end of the foot portlonthan atthe, other, and thenunlting the lower edges of said 7 foot portion.

6. That method of producinga ammmt be present at one end'oi the footportlon than attheother,andthenunitingthelowercdgcs ofsaidfootportion.

7. That method of producing a circular knit stocking footlet having atop welt portion and an adjacent foot portion which comprises forming the courses of the knitted welt top portion with a yarn under relatively high tension, subsequently forming the courses of the adjacent lower foot portion with a yarn under gradually decreasing tension, severing the foot portion along a line disposed at an angle to the courses whereby a greater number of course lengths will be present at one end of the foot portion than at the other, then uniting the lower edges of said foot portion, stretching the welt and foot portion to a shape substantially conforming to the foot of a wearer, and then setting the welt and foot portions while in this stretched position.

9. A stocking footlet comprising a seamless knitted welt portion and an adjacent seamless knitted foot portion exclusively formed irom'the continuation of the wales of the welt portion, the lower edges of the foot portion being united along a line biased to the wales to thereby close said tubular foot portion and to provide wales of a greater length at the toe portion than at the heel portion of the footlet.

10. A stocking footlet comprising a knitted welt portion, and an adjacent enlarged knitted foot portion exclusively formed from the continuation of the wales of the welt portion, the

wales of said i'ootlet gradually increasing in length from the heel to the toe,

11. A stocking footlet comprising a. knitted welt portion, and an adjacent enlarged knitted foot portion exclusively formed from the continuation of the wales of the welt portion, the tension 01 the loops in said wales gradually decreasing in the direction of the lower edge of the foot portion.

3 12. A stocking footlet' comprising a seamless knitted welt portion and an adjacent seamless knitted toot portion exclusively formed from the continuation of the wales of the welt portion, the lower edges oi the foot portion being united along a line biased to the wales to thereby close said tubular toot portion and to provide wales of a greater length at the toe portion than at the heel portion of the footlet, the tension of the loops in said wales gradually decreasing in the direction of the lower edge of the foot portion.

HUGH M. GREY.

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