Patent Grant
9982374
The present invention relates to improvements the methods for producing articles or garments comprising two leg pieces and a body, for instance pantyhose, tights or the like. Especially, the present invention relates to methods for producing seamless garments of the above mentioned type using a single knitting process onto a circular knitting machine provided with single or double needle bed.
In the field of the production of tights, pantyhose and similar knitted articles, there is a continuous search for new methods and systems for automating the knitting process, to obtain a seamless continuous article or garment, knitted on a circular machine in a single production process.
Some searches are based on a process developed in the '60s. According to said process, a tubular article is knitted during a single process onto a circular knitting machine starting from an end of a first leg piece up to an end of a second leg piece, knitting three subsequent tubular portions or sections to form, in addition to the two leg pieces, the body of the article. The tubular article unloaded form the circular knitting machine is then cut in the central area to form an opening around which an elastic edge is sewn to form the body waist. This known process is disclosed in GB-1235361. To increase its fit, the body is knitted with wider stitches, so that the central portion of the tubular article or garment has a slightly greater section than the section of the leg pieces.
The method disclosed in GB-1235361 is very fast as it could be performed on a circular knitting machine with continuous motion. However, the article produced by means of this method had low success as the body, being formed with a tubular fabric with the same number of stitches per course as the tubular legs, did not fit sufficiently closely. More in particular, the body height was too limited and the elastic edge was too close to the crotch line.
Many improvements to this method have been investigated, aimed at overcoming the limits and drawbacks thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,884 discloses a method wherein, after having knitted the first leg piece and before knitting the second leg piece, two pockets of fabric are produced on the circular knitting machine by knitting with reciprocating motion courses of gradually decreasing and then increasingly length. In addition to the two pockets, also an intermediate area or portion is formed with reciprocating motion. The two pockets and the intermediate portion knitted with reciprocating motion form the body of the garment, which is thus significantly higher than the body manufactured with the method originally described in GB-1235361.
However, the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,884 is particularly slow as most garment is knitted with reciprocating motion. In spite of this inconvenience, at the present time seamless tights are produced using this method. Especially, the seamless tights of the Austrian company Wolford are manufactured with this method, combining continuous motion for knitting the leg pieces and reciprocating motion for knitting the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,035 describes a method for producing tights in a single process on a circular knitting machine with a technique similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,884. In this further embodiment, while knitting the central body portion with reciprocating motion a suitable needles selection is provided so as to form the opening of the garment directly onto the circular machine. This process is still particularly slow, as it is mostly made with reciprocating motion of the needle cylinder.
A need therefore exists to further improve the methods for knitting pantyhose, tights and similar articles or garments having a body and two leg pieces, using a single process onto a circular knitting machine, that overcome or reduce the drawbacks of the known methods that are still used.
To produce faster and more effectively an article or garment that gives a snug fit a method is substantially provided, wherein the body is knitted with continuous motion of the needle cylinder, forming two side pockets of fabric, i.e. pockets arranged on the sides of the article or garment, gradually reducing and then increasing the number of stitches in each course. As the cylinder moves with continuous motion, when each partial course has been formed the yarns are cut, both while forming decreases and while forming increases. The ends of the yarns are anchored to the fabric, thus avoiding a run is produced in the article, by means of the stitches formed by the working needles. The formation of the pockets of fabric on the garment sides and of the intermediate or central part of the body with continuous motion and not with intermittent motion of the needle cylinder allows to produce a snug-fit article in short times.
Practically, according to advantageous embodiments, a method is provided for producing a knitted article or garment with two leg pieces and one body on a circular knitting machine with at least one circular needle bed, the method comprising the following steps:
In some embodiments, an opening is formed in the fabric while knitting at least one part of the body; in the finished product, this opening will be the opening to wear the article. Around this opening a finishing elastic edge may be advantageously applied once the article has been removed from the circular knitting machine where it has been produced.
In advantageous embodiments all the knitting steps are performed with the same number of feeds, i.e. with the same number of working yarns. The number of feeds is preferably greater than two, so that the knitting process is faster, thanks to the fact that every time the needle cylinder rotates a number of courses is formed equal to the number of feeds. In advantageous embodiments the number of feeds is even, for instance two feeds. In some embodiments the use of four feeds allows to achieve higher production speeds.
Advantageously, so-called S- and Z-yarns may be used, for instance two S-yarns and two Z-yarns arranged preferably alternately.
According to a further aspect, a method is provided for manufacturing a knitted article with two leg pieces and one body on a circular knitting machine with at least one circular needle bed, the method comprising the following steps:
knitting a first leg piece with continuous motion;
knitting a first pocket of fabric with continuous motion, starting from an end course of the first leg piece, the first pocket forming a first side part of the body and comprising a first sequence of partial courses of gradually decreasing length and a second sequence of partial courses of gradually increasing length, wherein the yarn forming each partial course is cut at the end of the respective partial course;
knitting a central part of said body with continuous motion;
knitting a second pocket of fabric with continuous motion, starting from the central part of the body up to a start course of a second leg piece, the second pocket forming a second side part of the body and comprising a third sequence of partial courses of gradually decreasing length and a fourth sequence of partial courses of gradually increasing length, wherein the yarn forming each partial course of the third sequence and of the fourth sequence is cut at the end of the respective partial course;
knitting said second leg piece with continuous motion starting from the start course up to the toe.
According to a further aspect, a knitted article or garment is provided with a body and two tubular leg pieces, wherein the body comprises a central part and two side pockets of knitted fabric. Each pocket is formed by a first series of partial courses—that are extension of a knitted fabric forming the two tubular leg pieces and have a decreasing length starting from a complete end course of the respective tubular leg piece up to a partial course of minimal length of the respective pocket—and by a second series of partial course—that are extension of the fabric forming the central part of the body and have an increasing length starting from the respective partial course of minimal length up to a respective complete course of the body central part. Advantageously, the partial courses of the pockets of fabric are formed by yarns cut in correspondence of the ends of each partial course. This is the result of knitting the partial courses with continuous motion: when each partial course has been completed the respective yarn is cut to allow the cylinder of the knitting machine to continue its rotary motion without the need for stopping and reversing its motion, as instead occurs in the systems according to the current art. Advantageously, also the central part of the body is produced with continuous motion, and it is therefore formed by annular courses of stitches.
Further features and embodiments will be described below with reference to embodiments of the inventions, and in the attached claims, that form an integral part of the present description.
The invention will be better understood by following the description and accompanying drawing, which shows non-limiting practical embodiments of the invention. More in particular, in the drawing:
The following detailed description of exemplary embodiments is made with reference to the attached drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify equal or similar elements. Furthermore, the drawings are not necessarily to scale. The detailed description below does not limit the invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims.
In the description, the reference to “an embodiment” or “the embodiment” or “some embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure or element described with reference to an embodiment is comprised in at least one embodiment of the described subject matter. The sentences “in an embodiment” or “in the embodiment” or “in some embodiments” in the description do not therefore necessarily refer to the same embodiment or embodiments. The particular features, structures or elements can be furthermore combined in any adequate way in one or more embodiments.
In some embodiments the garment or article, indicated as a whole with number 1, comprises a first tubular leg piece 3 and a second tubular leg piece 5. Each of the two tubular leg pieces 3 and 5 extends from a respective toe or end (not shown), that can be open or closed, up to an upper body indicated with 7. The tubular leg pieces may extend up to ends forming respective feet of the article, for instance in the case of tights or pantyhose. In other embodiments the tubular leg pieces 3 and 5 may be shorter and can comprise even few courses of stitches so as to form, together with the body 7, a sort of knickers.
The body 7 has an opening 9 surrounded by a finishing edge indicated with 11, preferably an elastic edge. The elastic edge 11 is shown in
In advantageous embodiments the body 7 comprises three portions: a central portion 15 and two side portions 17 and 19. As it will be better detailed below, each of the side portions 17 and 19 comprises at least one respective pocket of fabric. Each pocket of fabric comprises partial courses of stitches with gradually decreasing and increasing lengths produced with continuous motion of the needle cylinder; the central portion 15 of the body is also produced with continuous rather than with reciprocating motion of the needle cylinder, and this results in a greater productivity with respect to the currently used methods. It is therefore possible, in a short time interval, to knit an article having, on its sides, pockets of fabric that increase the fit of the article. Thanks to these pockets of fabric the elasticity of the central body portion is not limited and the article or garment can therefore be used also by people wearing relatively large sizes.
In some embodiments the article or garment 1 is produced with a single knitting operation on a circular machine, for instance a single-cylinder circular machine with dial, as the case may be. A double-cylinder machine can also be used.
The knitting process is substantially comprised of a sequence of steps, at the end of which a complete article with body and tubular leg pieces is produced. More in particular, the knitting process may be for instance subdivided into seven consecutive steps, as it will be explained below.
The knitting process can indifferently start from the tubular leg piece 3 or from the tubular leg piece 5. For the sake of practicality of the description, reference will be made below to a process starting by knitting the tubular leg piece 3 and ending by knitting the tubular leg piece 5, being however understood that the process can be reversed, starting by knitting the tubular leg piece 5 and ending by knitting the tubular leg piece 3.
In a first knitting step on the known circular knitting machine (not shown), the tubular leg piece 3 is knitted with usual continuous motion, wherein the needle control cams remains preferably stationary and the needle cylinder rotates around its own axis with continuous motion. For knitting the tubular leg piece 3 it is possible to use all the needles or select them to produce particular effects. However, as the leg piece has a tubular extension, courses of stitches are generally formed that, at least partially, extend for all the circumference of the needle bed.
For knitting the tubular leg piece 3 the needle bed can be fed with one or more feeds. At least two feeds are preferably used and more in general an even number of feeds. In this way, if coated or spiral yarns are used, it is possible to use an equal number of Z-yarns and S-yarns, i.e. for instance yarns with an elastomer core coated by filaments wound clockwise or counterclockwise. As well known to those skilled in the art, the use of Z-yarns and S-yarns at the same time allows a better consistency of the article, that does not tend to twist. Furthermore, the use of more than one feed allows a faster production, as at every complete revolution of the needle cylinder a number of courses is generally formed equal to the number of working feeds. In preferred embodiments four feeds are used, so that at every revolution of the cylinder four consecutive courses of stitches are formed.
The knitting of the tubular leg piece 3 ends with the formation of a last circular c, i.e. a last circular course of stitches, indicated with 23. The complete course 23 is preferably comprised of a number of stitches equal to the number of needles with which the circular knitting machine is provided, even if this is not compulsory. The only important thing is that this course is closed onto itself.
Courses of stitches extending horizontally, indicated with RG3 in
A second step of the process is then performed on the circular knitting machine; this step consists of knitting with continuous motion a first series of partial courses of gradually decreasing length to form a first portion 17D of the pocket 17 of fabric. Below will be described in greater detail, with reference to FIGS. from 3A to 9, how this portion of pocket and the remaining portion of the pockets 17, 19 are formed with continuous motion.
While the portion 17D of the pocket 17 is being formed, partial courses of stitches are sequentially knitted, whose length gradually decreases starting from the complete course 23 up to a course RM17 of minimal length, ending this second step of the knitting process. The course RM17 extends from one end point to the other, both indicated with C1, of two opposite lines L17. Actually, as a plurality of feeds are used for knitting, the number of partial courses RM17 of minimal length will be preferably greater than one and equal to the number of feeds used, for instance four.
The ends of the partial courses following one another along the portion 17D of the pocket 17 are arranged according to the two opposite delimiting lines L17 which extend inclined (one on the front and the other on the back of the garment) from the course 23 up to the course RM17. It must be understood that, even if not shown in the drawing, in the area of the pocket 17 there are actually two substantially mirror-like lines L17, one on the front and the other on the back. These opposite lines L17 are constituted by the alignment of the ends of the partial courses formed in this step of the knitting process. Each partial course ends with a cut yarn. Therefore along the lines L17 the cut ends of the yarns forming the partial courses of the portion 17D of the pocket 17 of fabric are arranged. As the pocket 17 is knitted with continuous and not with reciprocating motion of the needle cylinder, cutting the yarns at the end of each formed partial course is required.
Also the portion 17D of the pocket 17 may be knitted by means of a plurality of feeds. Preferably, a number of feeds is used equal to the number of feeds used for knitting the first tubular leg piece 3, therefore preferably four feeds. The portion 17D of the pocket of fabric may be formed by the same yarns used for knitting the tubular leg piece 3 or by different yarns, for instance yarns of different count, composition or structure. In some embodiments the type of yarn may be changed in an intermediate step while knitting the portion 17D of the pocket 17.
In general, while knitting the portion 17D of the pocket 17 groups of courses of equal length are produced, said length decreasing from one group of courses to the subsequent group. Each group of courses contains preferably a number of courses equal to the number of feeds with which the needles of the knitting machine are fed.
Once this portion 17D of the pocket 17 has been completely formed, the subsequent step starts of knitting a second portion, indicated with 17C, of the pocket 17. The portion 17C of the pocket 17 is knitted with continuous motion of the needle cylinder and with gradual increase, i.e. with a gradual increase in the length of the courses following one another while knitting this portion 17C of the pocket 17. Also the portion 17C of the pocket 17 may be formed feeding the cylinder, which is rotating with continuous motion, with yarns from a plurality of feeds, preferably four feeds. Therefore, as described above with reference to the formation of courses of decreasing length forming the portion 17D of the pocket 17, while forming the portion 17C of the pocket 17 it is actually possible to form groups of courses, each of which comprises a number of courses equal to the number of feeds, wherein the courses of each group have the same length, i.e. are formed by the same number of stitches, while this number increases gradually from a group to the subsequent group of courses.
The various partial courses formed during the third step of the knitting process for forming the portion 17C of the pocket 17 join at their ends the partial courses of decreasing length forming the portion 17D. The decreasing partial courses and the increasing partial courses join together along the line L17 as it will be better described below with reference to the subsequent figures.
The knitting of the portion 17C of the pocket 17 continues with gradual increase in the length of the single courses up to the formation of the last course of the portion 17C, that is indicated with 25 and is a complete course, i.e. having an annular extension and formed preferably with a number of stitches equal to the overall number of needles of the machine. The formation of this complete course 25 concludes the third knitting step of the garment or article 1. Actually, as a plurality of feeds is preferably used, the knitting of the portion 17C of the pocket 17 actually ends with the formation, in one single revolution of the needle cylinder, of a number of complete courses equal to the number of feeds used.
The subsequent step of the production process is the formation of the central portion 15 of the body 7. This central portion is knitted maintaining the continuous motion of the needle cylinder, the needles forming a sequence of complete courses with annular extension substantially parallel to the course 25. The formation of a last complete course 27 concludes the knitting of the central portion 15 of the body 7.
As shown in particular in
In the subsequent knitting step two portions 19D and 19C of the pocket 19 are formed, with a process that substantially reflects that used for forming the pocket 17.
More in particular, the fifth step of the knitting process comprises the formation of a series of partial courses of gradually decreasing length with continuous motion of the needle cylinder, starting from the course 27 completing the central portion 15 of the body 7. The partial courses forming the portion 19D of the pocket 19 have ends arranged along two lines L19, only one of which is shown in the drawing and the other one is the mirror of this. The lines L19 are equivalent to the lines L17.
Along the lines L19 the ends of the yarns are fixed, which form the partial courses defining the portion 19D of the pocket 19 and that are cut while these partial courses are being formed, to allow the continuous rotation of the needle cylinder.
The formation of a partial course of minimal length indicated with RM19 concludes the fifth step of the knitting process; this partial course RM19 extends from one to the other end point C2 of the two opposite lines L19.
After this fifth knitting step, the sixth knitting step starts, consisting in the formation of the second portion 19C of the pocket 19. In this sixth step partial courses of increasingly great length are formed starting from the course RM19 of minimal length up to an annular complete course 29 formed preferably by a number of stitches equal to the number of needles with which the machine is provided. This course 29 is the last course of fabric of the pocket 19 and the first course of the tubular leg piece 5.
In fact, now the seventh and last step for knitting the garment 1 starts, with the formation of continuous courses RG5 starting from the start course 29 of the tubular leg piece 5 up to the last course of the end thereof (not shown).
Symmetrically to what has been described with reference to the pocket 17 and the tubular leg piece 3, along the portion 19D of the pocket 19 the columns CC of stitches are arranged substantially parallel to the edge 11, while along the portion 19C and along the leg piece 5 the columns are arranged according to the longitudinal extension of the tubular leg piece 5 as schematically shown by lines CGS.
A more detailed description of the process for forming the pockets 17, 19 of fabric with continuous motion will be described below with reference to the sequence of
With reference to
Below a process will be described, wherein the length of the partial courses decreases in a uniform and linear manner, i.e. at every revolution of the needle cylinder there is an equal reduction in the length of the courses, said length being understood as the number of stitches forming the single course. Those skilled in the art will understand that this mode of operation is only one of the possibilities of the method described herein. In fact, the sequence of decreases and increases, i.e. of courses of gradually decreasing and increasing length, may be different than that described herein. The pattern of decreases and increases in the two pockets 17 and 19 will be preferably mirror-like, but the sequence does not necessarily need to be equal for the front and the rear part of the garment. This means that subsequent courses of different lengths may be decreased or increased in length in a different manner on the two parts (front and rear) of the fabric.
Furthermore, it is not necessary for each pocket to be provided with a single series of courses of decreasing length and a single corresponding series of courses of increasing length. On the contrary, when knitting the pockets 17 and 19 it is possible to perform increasing and decreasing courses in multiple sequences. Important is only that each pocket of fabric starts and ends with respective circular courses and has at least one sequence of decreasing courses and one corresponding sequence of increasing courses.
Along the area illustrated in
The knitting of the last course 23 and of the previous courses, indicated as a whole with 3 in
With reference to
In the illustrated example, the partial courses formed by the yarns F1-F4 in
In some embodiments the needles A1, A2, and A3 on each end of the four partial courses formed by the yarns F1-F4 may be in retained position, as shown for the needles A1 and A3 in
However, in the example illustrated in
In the scheme of
Referring again to
The four courses formed by the yarns F5-F8 are shorter than the four courses formed by the yarns F1-F4, as a triad of needles A4-A6 has been brought out of work in correspondence of each of the two ends of these four courses. The needles A4 and A6 are in held position, while the needles A5 are in low position, similarly to what has already been described with reference to the triads of needles A1-A3 and for the same reasons.
At the subsequent revolution, the triads of needles A7, A8 and A9 are brought out of work at the opposite ends of the subsequent series of four partial courses. The needles A7, A9 are in held position, the needles A8 are in low position. Each needle A7-A9 holds the last stitch formed by it at the previous revolution.
This process of forming courses of gradually decreasing length continues up to the formation of the course RM17 of minimal length, schematically shown in
Substantially, starting from the formation of the last complete course 23 by means of the continuous rotation of the needle cylinder and the gradual exclusion of needles from work, partial courses are formed of gradually decreasing length with yarns coming from the feeds of the machine and cut in correspondence of the ends of each partial course and held by means of a suitable selection of the end needles in correspondence of each set of four gradually decreasing courses.
While the continuous rotation of the needle cylinder continues, to form the various courses of decreasing length, the needles A1-A3, A4-A6, A7-A9 that are gradually brought into held position or low position remain in this position until the portion 17D of the pocket 17 has been completely knitted and they come back to work gradually, forming the portion 17C of the pocket 17 as it will be described with reference to the subsequent
In some embodiments, once the portion 17D of the pocket 17 has been completely knitted with the formation of the last course RM17 of minimal length, a further revolution of the needle cylinder may be done, during which the yarn of a feed forms a complete circular course of stitches, while the yarns of the remaining three feeds can knit a triad of partial courses of length equal to that of the last four courses formed during the previous revolution, i.e. of length equal to the length of the course RM17.
This optional step is better illustrated in
As shown in
S, T, and B in
In some embodiments the above described step of forming of a complete course can be omitted. In other embodiments it is possible to form more than just one complete course of stitches as illustrated with reference to
The subsequent
The process continues up to have a complete course 25 constituting the last course of the portion 17C of the pocket 17 of fabric. At every subsequent revolution the formed courses join, by means of a yarn from one of the four feeds, to the stitches held by the two triads of end needles of the set of four previous courses. To each
From the sequence of
The pocket 19 of fabric is produced in a mirror-like manner, starting from the portion 19D of decreasing courses and following with the formation of the portion 19C of increasing courses. Between the formation of the pocket 17 and the formation of the pocket 19 the tubular central portion 15 of the body is generated with continuous motion of the needle cylinder.
In the embodiments described with reference to
In fact, thanks to the continuous rotation, at the beginning and at the end of the formation of each partial course, the respective yarn shall be cut, as shown in
The number of three needles and respective three stitches formed therebyis sufficient to retain the ends of the cut yarns. A greater number of needles brought out of work or into work at every revolution does not give significant advantages in terms of run-proof ability of the cut yarns, but it would result in a faster decrease (and subsequent increase) of the length of the partial courses, with formation of smaller pockets, that are therefore less effective from the viewpoint of improving the snug-fit of the garment or article.
In the illustrated embodiment, in each triad of needles brought temporarily out of work for making the decreases, the central needle is brought in low position (see for instance needle A2, needle A5, needle A8), while the two adjacent needles (see needles A1, A3, or needles A4, A6, or needles A7, A9) are brought in held position. As already noted, in this way float loops (Ff) are formed in correspondence of the intermediate needles of each triad. This allows to effectively anchor the ends of the cut yarns, as they are anchored by means of three stitches at each end. This also allows to lighten the fabric structure, as the intermediate needles do not form stitches with the set of four yarns.
More in particular,
Analogously,
In the process described above it is assumed that an article or garment is produced with a body and two leg pieces, exiting from the circular knitting machine in a completely closed configuration, i.e. without openings for wearing the garment, and only provided, as the case may be, with openings at the ends of the leg pieces. The opening in correspondence of the waist for wearing the garment is produced, after the garment has been removed from the machine, by cutting along the line 13 and applying an elastic edge 11 according to known methods.
However, according to a preferred embodiment it is possible to produce the opening 13 in the knitted fabric formed on the circular knitting machine while knitting the body 7.
The following description of the sequence of
The opening 13 may be generated for instance only in the central portion 15 of the body, formed by circular fabric, or partially also in the side portions 17 and 19 forming the pockets of fabric defined by the increases and decreases as illustrated above. In general, the opening 13 is generated in a symmetrical position of the body 7, i.e. in a symmetrical position with respect to the median or anterior-posterior plane. The opening may be also moved forwards or backwards, and preferably forwards, so as to have more fabric in the buttocks area. As it will be clearly apparent from the following description, the position of the opening may be set and modified easily, simply selecting the needles.
For the sake of simplicity, in the description below the opening is positioned centrally and symmetrically.
In general, the opening 13 is formed during the knitting of the body 7 by cutting the yarns F1-F4 fed by the four feeds G1-G4 in correspondence of the same opening, so as to create an interruption in the fabric.
Continuing the rotation, in
Passing through the position illustrated in
As the courses formed by means of the yarns F2, F3 and F4 fed by the feeds G2, G3 and G4 are not still completed, the needle cylinder 101 continues to rotate according to arrow F101 as shown in the subsequent sequence of
Continuing this rotation, the needles A1-A400 continue to rotate in front of the yarn guides G1-G4 until, as shown in
As the needle A400 passes in front of the feeds G2, G3 and G4, the yarns F2, F3 and F4 are cut. For instance in
Analogously, in
In
In
The process starts again as described above to form a further set of four courses with the yarns F1-F4. This process is repeated for the number of times necessary to form the opening 13.
As every time a course is completed by means of the needles A1-A400 of the needle cylinder 101 the respective yarn F1-F4 is cut, the fabric formed in this step in correspondence of the body 7 is not continuous, but has an interruption coinciding with the cut of the single yarns F1-F4 in all the courses formed up to the completion of the opening 13.
It should be noted that during the formation of this opening the number of revolutions of the needle cylinder 101 is substantially double the number that would be necessary in case the fabric remains continuous, i.e. without the opening 13. This occurs because, in order for each yarn F1-F4 to generate a complete course, it is necessary that the cylinder 101 makes a complete revolution, with all the needles A1-A400 passing in front of each respective feed G1-G4. So, for instance, it should be noted that the needles A1-A400 generate the first course with the yarn F1 of the feed G1 while the needle cylinder 101 rotates by about 360° from the position of
It should be noted that once the needle A1, i.e. the first needle taken into account in the circular bed of the needle cylinder 101, has passed in front of all the four feeds G1-G4, and has therefore formed stitches with the four yarns F1-F4, it goes out of work and remains out of work up to the completion of the second revolution of the needle cylinder 101. The same occurs for the needles after the needle A1, that are gradually brought out of work as they complete the formation of the fourth course with the fourth yarn F4 coming from the fourth feed embodied by the yarn guide G4.
In the enlargements of
The elasticity of the yarn is sufficient to avoid laddering of the stitches adjacent to the interruption forming the opening 13. If necessary, it is possible to select adequately the needles in the area of formation of the stitches adjacent to the cut point of the yarns F1-F4 to make the fabric run-proof. The selection for forming run-proof fabric is known and does not require further detailed explanation herein.
The description above relates to a machine with four feeds, allowing particularly reduced production times. This number of feeds is the preferred one, however it should be understood that it is just a non-limiting example, as the method described below can be done also with a different number (greater or smaller) of feeds.
The embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings have been explained in detail as examples of embodiment of the invention. It will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications, variants, additions and omissions are possible, without however departing from the principles, the scope of the concept and the teachings of the present invention as defined in the attached claims. The scope of the invention shall be therefore determined exclusively based upon the widest interpretation of the attached claims, wherein these modifications, variants, additions and omissions are included within this scope. The terms “comprising” “to comprise” and the like do not exclude the presence of further elements or steps in addition to those specifically listed in a claim. The term “a” or “an” before an element, means or feature of a claim does not exclude the presence of a plurality of these elements, means or features. If a claim of a device claims a plurality of “means”, some or all these “means” can be actuated by a single component, member or structure. The enunciation of given elements, features or means in distinct depending claims does not exclude the possibility of combining said elements, features or means together. When a method claim lists a sequence of steps, the sequence with which these steps are listed is not binding and can be changed, if the particular sequence is not indicated as binding. Any reference numerals in the appended claims are provided to facilitate reading of the claims with reference to the description and to the drawing, and do not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| FI2013A0139 | Jun 2013 | IT | national |
| FI2013A0213 | Sep 2013 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2014/062122 | 6/11/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014/199307 | 12/18/2014 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2962884 | Garrou et al. | Dec 1960 | A |
| 3673821 | Johnson | Jul 1972 | A |
| 3748870 | Fregeolle | Jul 1973 | A |
| 3802229 | Fregeolle | Apr 1974 | A |
| 3815385 | Gariboldi | Jun 1974 | A |
| 3937039 | Anderson | Feb 1976 | A |
| 3956909 | Negri | May 1976 | A |
| 3985004 | Johnson | Oct 1976 | A |
| 4000630 | Imboden | Jan 1977 | A |
| 4015448 | Knohl | Apr 1977 | A |
| 4022035 | Lonati | May 1977 | A |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 235 361 | Jun 1971 | GB |
| 1 484 901 | Sep 1977 | GB |
| 0218689 | Mar 2002 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160135511 A1 | May 2016 | US |
