Patent Application
20080078009
Referring to the Figures in general, one aspect of the present invention is directed to a T-shirt, shown generally as 100, having a seamless shoulder construction. As used herein, “shirt” refers to a garment which is either knit or woven, and for either outerwear or as an undergarment, such as a T-shirt.
As is conventional, for shirts that are produced for wear as undergarments, or T-shirts, the fabric is typically knitted on a circular knitting machine as a jersey fabric, or similar fabric pattern, on any of the commercially available circular knitting machines; however, the fabric of the present invention is not limited to a circular knitted or other knitted construction.
Depending upon the gauge of the knitting needles and the desired density setting, the circular knitted fabric may be formed in a wide range of fabric weights, again depending on the desired application; however, as explained above, the weight basis of the jersey fabric is not critical or limiting of the shirt construction described herein. Once the fabric has been knitted, the completed fabric may be subjected to finishing, conditioning, packaging, etc. Where the fabric is circular knitted, the continuous tube of fabric is subsequently taken up and packaged on rolls for later use in garment manufacture. For T-shirts, for example, the tubular fabric is initially cut into patterns. Typically thereafter, hems or seams are formed along the lower edge of the tube to create an open bottom, and in conventional T-shirt constructions, shoulder portions are formed by creating seams to close the upper portion of the tube, minus the neck opening. Sleeves are then sewn to arm openings created during the pattern cutting process. Typically, also, the seams affixing the sleeves to the body of the shirt are positioned for wear on the outer edge of the shoulder, or deltoid area.
Referring now to
Having been cut to create an open width singular sheet 110, a T-shirt or other shirt pattern is cut in the sheet 110 with a conventional pattern cutting apparatus. In particular, opposed arm openings 115 are cut out of either side 112 of the sheet 110. As shown in
Following the pattern cutting process, the fabric sheet 110 is folded transverse its length to create overlying front 117 and back 118 portions of the shirt 100, eliminating the conventional shoulder seams, as best shown in
Again, as shown in
It is apparent that a dress shirt or button-up sport shirt would have to have some slight pattern adjustments. For example, the front would have to be slit, and a different pattern applied to the woven fabric that results in a wider front panel than rear panel to provide a better fitting garment. Also, the neck opening would have a different shape.
The construction illustrated by way of example may be 100 percent cotton or may comprise a combination of cotton and any other suitable natural or synthetic fibers, such as polyester, depending upon the desired application and environment. When the shirt 100 is intended for flame resistant safety apparel, appropriate flame resistant yarn materials are selected. In one exemplary embodiment of the latter type, the shirt is designed to be inherently flame resistant to provide an increased degree of protection for wearers against potential exposure to heat and flame of short duration. In this embodiment for safety apparel, the shirt is formed from yarns that comprise an intimate blend of modacrylic staple fibers and flame resistant (FR) viscose staple fibers. Modacrylics are polymers that have between 35 percent and 85 percent acrylonitrile units, modified by other chemical modifiers such as vinyl chloride. All modacrylics have a flame-resistant character to some extent; however, it has been found that fabrics formed from modacrylic yarns having at least about 50 percent by weight of acrylonitrile units will provide excellent flame resistance. That is, they will not melt and drip, or continue to burn when a source of ignition is removed. Viscose fibers, sometimes known as “rayon,” are derived from a natural polymer from wood pump. Flame resistant viscose fibers are fibers that are chemically treated to impart heat and flame resistance to the fibers. As such, these treated fibers are adapted for applications in which protection is sought from fire, radiant heat, electrical arcs, etc. In one embodiment, the yarn selected for the safety apparel is an intimate blend comprising about 80 percent modacrylic staple fibers and about 20 percent FR viscose staple fibers.
While the elimination of shoulder seams addresses one of the problems with conventional T-shirt or undergarment constructions, the placement of the seams between the body of the shirt 100 and the sleeves has also been problematic; i.e., these seams also conventionally fall on the shoulder. As will now be appreciated, the distance of each arm opening 115 from the neck opening is also increased over conventional patterns. In particular, the edges 115a that form the arm openings 115 are a sufficient distance from the neck opening 116 so that the seams 120 joining the sleeves 122 to the arm openings 115 will fall below the outer edge of the wearer's shoulder, thereby eliminating a seam on either shoulder that could promote discomfort to the wearer when carrying load-bearing equipment. A conventional trim strip or collar 124 may be sewn around the neck opening 115.
It should be recognized that the preferred embodiment described above is exemplary only. Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It should be understood that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope of the following claims.
