GB2316418A - Knitted socks - Google Patents

Abstract

A knitted sock is knitted either in-the-round or as a flat blank folded at the toe and stitched together at its edges. The sock includes a heel-portion 32 based on the known William Lee design and a gusset-portion 36 in the region of each apex of the heel portion, on each side of the heel when the sock is worn.

Description

KNITTED SOCKS This invention relates to the structure of knitted socks and a method for knitting socks, and particularly to a structure and method suitable for machine knitting.

William Lee invented the knitting machine, and a sock for production on the knitting machine, in 1589. Since then the machines have improved, the socks have not. This type of sock is illustrated in Figure 1 and described below.

Today the same sock is the universal commercially-produced design and is produced in various thickness of various yarns for various purposes and activities. The industrially produced sock remains in structure identical to the original 1589 design.

My children's socks always used to slide down inside their wellies. I used to knit their socks on my knitting machine according to the William Lee design.

My childhood socks never used to slide down into my boots.

My mother hand knitted my socks. They fitted well. This type of sock is illustrated in Figure 2 and described below.

The hand-knitted sock has a "school heel" and cannot be knitted wholly in-the-round. It is therefore not suited to being manufactured by machine.

The invention provides a knitted sock and two ways of making a knitted sock as defined in the appendant independent claims, to which reference should now be made.

Preferred features of the invention are defined in dependent subclaims.

The invention thus advantageously provides a sock which fits the foot comfortably and does not creep along the foot during walking. This is because the insert-portion, or gusset, on each side of the sock improves the fit and comfort of the sock by making the heel of the sock deep enough not to pull down off the heel inside the sock when walking.

By contrast, in a William Lee sock the fabric of the sock is significantly stretched at the apex of the heelportion, the instep, and on each side of the foot. The fabric of a William Lee sock tends to be very stretched and stressed across the top of the instep (the portion of the sock opposite the heel). Also when walking, when the weight of the body is transferred from the heel to the ball of the foot, and as the toe bends, the fabric is pulled off the heel and under the instep where it gathers up a new fold for every step.

In order to achieve the necessary stretching, a William Lee sock must be knitted in highly elastic stitch patterns such as ribbing over the instep. The sock of the invention, by reducing the amount of stretching required, advantageously allows a wider range of materials, or yarns, to be used. For example less wear resistant yarns may be used such as silk, or pure wool which in extreme conditions saves lives or at least toes.

In addition, in a first aspect the invention advantageously provides a sock which can easily be knitted in-the-round and which can therefore be knitted by computerised industrial knitting machines. Thus in a preferred embodiment the invention solves the problem of machine-knitting a sock which fits the foot and does not creep during walking.

In a second aspect, the invention advantageously provides a method of knitting a flat, shaped, blank, which can be conveniently knitted on a basic, hand operated, one bed knitting machine, without computer programs or additional machinery. The blank is then folded at the toe-portion and its edges joined at the sides and at the back of the leg to form the sock. The sock produced in this way has a similar geometry and structure as the other sock of the invention discussed above, and therefore the same advantageous features.

Today there are basically two kinds of knitting machine: One is a "flatbed" knitting machine that is a long comb with moveable latch hook needles. Put another face to face and tubes of any size can be knitted, or alternatively a number of tubes along its length.

The other kind is literally a circle, usually built for a specific size and gauge of tube.

There are hundreds of makes and manufactures of both these kinds of machines, and hundreds of sizes.

The domestic knitting machine, made for use in the home, is based on the flatbed principle. Adding a companion, flatbed, attachment, called a "ribber", makes it possible to do circular knitting. There are at least a dozen different makes of these on the market.

Designs developed on domestic knitting-machines are suitable for conversion to computer programmes and automatic production methods.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagram of a prior art William Lee sock; Figure 2 shows a prior art hand-knitted sock; Figure 3 shows a sock according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 shows a sock according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 shows a knitted blank for forming the sock of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a photocopy of a sock knitted according to the first embodiment; and Figure 7 is a photocopy of a sock knitted according to the second embodiment.

shows shows the side of the sock, or the changeover between the two needle beds

shows the decrease of one stitch shows an edge with decreasing stitch count shows the increase of one stitch shows an edge with increasing stitch count.

shows heel or toe shaping shows a seam or grafting.

shows a row of knitting and the direction of the knitting.

shows the direction of the knitting and a turn.

shows the outline around the gusset.

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a prior art William Lee sock; The William Lee sock is basically a seamless tube with a bend knitted into it to form the heel and another bend to fold over the end of the tube to form the toe.

On an industrial, or domestic two bed knitting machine, a circular tube is knitted by passing a ''lock'' or a "carriage" over an interacting bed of single stitch needles, knitting one row on the main bed, one way, and on the way back knitting the stitches on the facing needlebed, thus knitting a flat tube in-the-round. It is of course perfectly possible to knit a William Lee sock by hand.

To form the heel; half the stitches (either the front needle bed or the back needle bed depending on the make of machine) of the sock are put on hold, and on the remaining stitches (2) in work a "dart" (4) is knitted at either side, to form the heel. The darts are formed by knitting back and forth on one needle bed, pulling one needle out of action, but with the stitch still on it, at the end of each row till there is 113 of the row of stitches left in the middle (6). Then the needles are reintroduced, pushed back into work, one at a time at the end of each row. When all the needles on the single bed are back to work the darts have been formed. The stiches on hold, on the second needlebed (8), are then reintroduced. The instep and arch (10) is knitted on-the-round without any other adjustment to the stitch count being made. The toe (12) is knitted in exactly the same way as the heel, only instead of reintroducing the stitches on hold, they are joined with the toe stitches, sealing up the open end (14).

Fig. 2 The prior art hand-knitted sock has a "school heel" So called because the knitting of this heel was taught at school and cannot be knitted wholly on-the-round. It can therefore not be knitted on a machine. The school-heel is always hand knitted with 5 double-pointed knitting needles. I will, from now on, refer to a sock knitted with a school-heel as a "Granny sock", and show why this sock fits better than a William Lee sock.

The Construction of the school heel is started the same way as the William Lee heel in that half the stitches are "put on hold" while the other half of the stitches are continued to be knitted back and forth on two needles in stocking stitch, but without any changes to the stitch-count (18).

This will form the back of the heel and appears on the finished sock to be started much higher up on the ankle, where the Achilles tendon and ankle bones make the ankle thicken out. The heel is not "turned" till the back of the heel reaches the floor.

The heel (20) is turned by knitting two thirds of the stitches on the needle, then knitting two stitches together, turn and knit till one third of the stitches are left on the other side of the heel, and knit two stitches together, turn again, knit till one stitch away from the previous row turned, knit that stitch together with one on the other side of the gap and turn, and so on till there are no further stitches either side of the middle third. The number of stitches in the middle of the needle remains constant and forms the underside of the heel (22). When the last stitches are knitted together on the heel-turning, the stitches on the sides of the 'back of the heel' (24) are picked up, - this cannot be done on a knitting machine-. The stitch-count is now dramatically increased. The sock is again being knitted on the round and as the knitting progresses down the instep the stitch-count is being reduced by knitting two stitches together, (26) between the heel and the instep, every second round or so, forming a gusset (28), it looks almost like a separate piece of fabric, on both sides of the sock. This gusset provides the extra room the heel and movement of the foot requires, and is the reason the granny sock fits so well and did not end up under my foot inside my wellies when I was young.

Fig. 3 shows a sock according to the first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 is a photocopy of a real sock knitted according to this embodiment.

This sock is knitted on a domestic knitting machine with a ribber attachment, thus making it suitable to be knitted automatically on computer programmed industrial knitting machines. The sock is knitted on-the-round on two straight needle beds facing each other, effectively one needlebed knits the heel, sole and toe of the sock, and the other needlebed knits the instep. Because the knitting is done on two straight needle-beds it allows for adjustments to be made to the needle counts, like decreasing and increasing stitches, at both sides of the sock and on both needlebeds.

The invention is knitted thus: At the ankle, to make room for anklebones and instep, the stitch-count is increased by adding one stitch/needle to the knitting on both sides of both needlebeds (30) every four rounds or so, five times, depending on the thickness of the wool and gage of needlebed. Twenty stitches have been added to the stitch count round the sock at the end of this operation. The knitting has now reached the apex 31 of the heel.

For the heel "turning" (32), one needlebed is put on "hold" On the other needlebed; knit back and forth, leaving the last needle of every row also on hold till there are only one third of the needles on the row left in work.

Continue to knit back and forth, now rejoining one needle at the end of every row till all stitches/needles on the needlebed are back in work. The "turning" of the heel is now finished (in effect the William Lee heel.) The needlebed on hold, is now reengaged, and the knitting on-the-round continues while at both sides of the knitting on both needlebeds the stitchicount is decreased (34) by transferring the end stitch of the knitting from its needle to its neighbour, thus knitting two stitches together.at the beginning and at the end of the knitting on both needlebeds on one round. Decreasing the stitch count by .one stitch every four rounds, five times. For a very narrow foot the stitch count could be further reduced in the same way.

When this stage of the sock is finished a lozenge- or diamond-shaped gusset, consisting of a triangle above and a triangle below the heel, has been knitted in on each side of the sock.

The rest of the sock can be finished the same way as the William Lee sock, or with a "flat toe (38) shaping avoiding the sometimes painful seam 14 across the toes. On a large scale the same software directing the gusset could be used for shaping the toe. The toe shaping would then be finished right at the tip of the toe and contact between toes and a possibly bulky finishing off, would be avoided.

Fig. 4 shows a sock according to a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 7 is a photocopy of a real sock knitted according to this embodiment.

This sock is knitted on a single bed, domestic knitting machine, as a blank. It can be knitted on a hand operated machine without computer programs or other sophisticated technology, and is very time-efficient. It has a seam on both sides of the foot. One running from the toe-turn (42) to the back of the ankle(44), and the other, on the other side of the foot, running from the toe-turn (42) to the back of theanki44) and up the back of the leg (46), above the back of the.ankle The seams can be made very flat by butting the edges together, as they are all open ended. Also the seams are in areas where they will not cause problems. For example there is no seam across the toe as is usual with a blank sock; nor a seam or graft across the heel.

Fig. 5 shows a knitted blank for forming the sock of Fig. 4 The full circumference of the sock is formed on the one needle bed (50). To shape the blank, after knitting the leg portion, decrease by one stitch at both sides of the knitting every two rows till the stitch count is reduced by half (52), one quarter either side. This shaping will form part of the top of the heel.

The instep (54) is knitted without any further changes to the stitch count, but the row count must be carefully counted and match the row count of arch and heel exactly.

After the instep the toe (56) is knitted. Again this is the same procedure as the William Lee heel and toe: the last stitch is pulled out of action at the end of every row till one third of the stitches are left in the middle, then the out-of-action-needles are pushed back again one at the time at the end of every row till all the needles are back in work.

The ball of the foot and the arch (58) is knitted without change to the stitch count.

About half way between the toe and the heel the stitch count is increased by adding one stitch on both sides of the knitting every 4 rows, four or five times. This forms the lower part of the gusset of the embodiment of the invention (60), below the heel shaping.

The stitch count is now big enough to make a much deeper heel (62).

The actual heel turning is again done in the William Lee fashion.

After the heel the stitch count is decreased by transferring the first, and end, stitch to its neighbour, that is knitting two stitches together at the beginning, and at the end, of every second row till the stitch count is equal to that of the instep. This forms the top part of the gusset of the embodiment of the invention above the heel (64) The sock is finished off by continuing to decrease the stitches by knitting two together at both ends of the row every second row till none are left.

This operation forms the back of the heel (66).

The pointed heel shaping (66) at the back of the leg makes the making up of the blank very easy; the edges can be butted together, started at the toe there is no necessity for careful matching as it is already knitted together at the toe (56), and if the row count is correct, they will match any way. The first seam runs as far as the top of the heel at the back of the ankle. The second seam on the other side of the sock, also runs from the toe, to the top of the heel, and continues up the back of the leg. The seams can be made by linkers or sewing machines of any kind suitable for the job, or by hand. By hand the method recommended is by butting the edges and joining them with a herringbone stitch done with a crochet hook.

The numbers of stiches in rows, and added or dropped per row, specified in the embodiments described herein are illustrative only. These parameters may be varied, for example according to the size and shape of sock required and the type of yarn being used. Such variations may clearly be made by the skilled person when implementing the invention without undue experimentation.

Claims (17)

1. A knitted sock comprising a heel-portion having an apex on each side of the sock and a gusset-portion or insert-portion in the region of each apex of the heelportion.

2. A sock according to claim 1, in which the heel-portion comprises a plurality of adjacent partial rows of stitches.

3. A sock according to claim 1 or 2, in which at least one gusset-portion comprises a plurality of stitches added to each of a number of adjacent rows of knitting above and/or below the respective apex of the heel portion.

4. A sock according to claim 1,2 or 3, in which the insert-portion has a maximum dimension in a circumferential direction (around the sock) along a given row of knitting and tapers down from that maximum dimension in the directions towards and away from a toe-portion of the sock.

5. A sock according to claim 4, in which the apex of the heel-portion lies on or near the given row.

6. A sock according to any preceding claim, in which the insert-portion is triangular.

7. A sock according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which the insert-portion is lozenge-shaped or diamond-shaped.

8. A sock according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which the insert-portion comprises two triangles abutting along a common edge.

9. A sock according to any preceding claim, in which the insert-portion has one or more curved edges.

10. A sock according to any preceding claim, formed from a blank which is folded at the toe-portion and joined at its edges.

11. A sock according to claim 10, in which the blank has protruding side-portions for forming the gusset- or insertportions.

12. A sock according to claim 11, in which the blank has substantially parallel edges at a foot-portion thereof, the edges having opposed, recessed notches for forming the heel-portion and the protruding side-portions are adjacent the heel-portion-forming notches.

13. A method for knitting a sock as defined in any preceding claim.

14. A method for machine-knitting a sock as defined in any of claims 1 to 9.

15. A machine for knitting a sock as defined in any of claims 1 to 9.

16. A knitted sock substantially as described herein with reference to figures 3 and 6.

17. A knitted sock substantially as described herein with reference to figures 4, 5 and 7.