US2222946A - Fabric construction - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 26, 1940, R HALL 2,222,946

FABRIC CONSTRUCTION Filed March 2Q, 1959 INVENTOR. RENEE YHALL ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 26, 1940 UNlTED STATES TENT orries Application March 20,

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a skirt construction and particularly relates to a method and mechanism for making a skirt construction.

Although not restricted thereto, the present invention will be particularly described in its application to a knitted skirt construction.

In making the usual knitted skirt construction, a rectangular piece of fabric is knitted either by hand or on a. power machine, the area of such piece being roughly half of the total width of the skirt at the bottom and having the approximate length of the finished skirt.

The knitting is done in such a way that the courses or rows of loops will extend horizontally around the skirt.

When this rectangular piece of fabric is to be made into a skirt, it is necessary to cut away portions thereof in the form of gores so that one end of the rectangular piece will have less width than the other and two of these fashioned pieces are then sewed together at their sides to form the complete skirt.

A particular dimculty with skirts made in this manner is the fact that they do not shape themselves to the wearer and they often drape themselves in an undesirable fashion.

Moreover it is practically impossible to obtain swing, flared, or pleated-like skirts with wide bottom construction, when utilizing such knitted fabric construction.

For example, many types of swing, flared or,

pleated skirts may have a circumference of as much as eighty inches at the bottom, and if this eighty inch circumference was made from two forty inch pieces, the wide gores which would have to be cut at the side would give the resultant joined pieces an undesirable fit, particularly with the bottom of the skirt forming a selvage edge.

Moreover, the cutting of these rectangular pieces to form swing, flared or pleated skirts is quite a difificult one and it is necessary to use special patterns called slopers to produce each different size.

Even with tubular knit skirts, it is not readily possible to shape these to the wearer by fashioning or gathering them at both sides and these tubular skirts cannot readily be shaped to give the desirable swing, flared or pleated styles, and particularly cannot be made with ribbed co-nstructions.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide an improved knitted skirt and method and apparatus of making the same in which it will be possible to knit the skirt or to 1939, Serial No. 262,933

knit one side of the skirt to have the desired shape and conformation without the need of cutting out gores, or using special sloper patterns to produce properly styled swing, flared or pleated skirts or other skirts having a large bottom circumference even though the knitted fabric be ribbed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive process for making skirts of knitted construction which will produce 'a styled skirt much superior to that normally produced by knitting rectangular pieces or tubular material and then shaping the resultant pieces of tubular material to form the final skirt construction.

Still further objects and advantages will ap-' pear from the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration since various changes therein may-be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most suitable to knit the rowsof stitches so that they will extend longitudinally or vertically of the skirt and to knit the skirt in such a way that there will be a series of courses some of which will extend the full length of the skirt while others will extend only part way, the courses being so staggered and joined together that there is substantially no break or rupture at the end of the short courses which terminate without extending the full length of the skirt.

In accomplishing this, it is desirable to use a flat bed knitting machine and so modify the construction thereof that the knitting needles and the carrier for operating the same will suecess'ively operate to produce a course extending the full length of the skirt and then operate to produce a course extending less than the full length of the skirt, these latter courses being preferably alternated with the full length courses and preferably being of such different lengths that a final skirt element will be produced which will be of much greater width at the bottom than at the top.

This skirt element will be of such shape and construction that it may be sewn together with a single or double seam to form a complete skirt and to give the desired swing, flared, ribbed or pleated style.

Alternate short and long courses may be arranged to form part of the ribbed or pleated eifect and the invention is capable of being applied to a very wide variety of designs.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates several of the various possible embodiments of the present invention, but to which the present invention is by no means restricted since the drawing is merely by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a knitting machine which may be utilized for producing a knitted skirt construction of the present application.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view showing a section of the fabric as it is knitted and comes off the machine.

Figure 3 illustrates how the complete fabric section is removed from the needle bed ready to be made into a skirt.

Figure 4 shows how the section of Figure 3 may be formed into a skirt.

Figure 5 diagrammatically shows another shaped form of knitted fabric which may be knitted and then employed to form the skirt.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view upon enlarged scale as compared to the other figures showing the details of the knitted courses and how these courses may be connected.

In Figure 1 is shown diagrammatically in perspective a typical knitting machine which may be modified in operation and attachment to formv the fabric of the present invention. For example, a machine such as shown in Figure 1 may be an automatic double system purl stitch machine, power driven, and provided with a jacquard control.

Among the many types of machines which may ,be used are the Dubied type CAL G. C. E. 3101,

or type CAP G. C. E. 3080.

It has generally been found most satisfactory to use machines having a gauge in needles per inch from five to twelve capable of knitting a width of from 59 to '75 inches. The machine may most desirably have two needle beds disposed horizontally. There may be provided double system cam boxes for the jacks operating the needles which in the same row may knit either plain stitches or reverse plain stitches or purl stitches in both directions or tucked stitches.

Among the other machines which may be utilized are those shown for example in United States patents, Nos. 1,561,237; 1,601,545; 2,025,499; 1,877,262; 2,059,682; 2,054,036 and 2,021,624. These machines are all set so that the carrier will knit alternating series of full and varying length short. courses.

Referring to Figure l, the frame Ii! of the machine is provided with a needle bed H and is provided with runways I3 for the carriage or carrier l2 which reciprocates backwardly and forwardly, as indicated by the double ended arrow 14.

The frame l also carries the bobbin stands I and IS, the jacquard mechanism H, the motor IS, the stop devices IS, the control 20, and the take-up roller 2!. The fabric as it comes off the bed is indicated at 22.

As is best shown in Figure 2, the courses 23 may extend the full Width of the fabric being knitted while short courses 2% may extend varying distances and be alternated with two or more full courses 23.

Depending upon the width the skirt is to have at the bottom, whether 60, 70 or 80 inches and the size of the waistline for example, which may be 28 inches, the number of full courses 23 and short courses 24 may be varied.

The selvage edge 25 will be positioned at the bottom of the skirt structure as shown in Figure 2.

It will be noted that all the courses both 23 and 24 extend longitudinally or lengthwise of the skirt and vertically when the skirt is used.

As a result of the interposition of the short courses 24, the piece will come off the knitting machine of greater length at the left than it will at the right in the embodiment as shown.

The alternation of short and long courses will give a shaping of the skirt and these courses may be so controlled that with an eighty inch 'bottom, for example, the skirt may be designed to be only sixty inches, ten inches up; fifty inches, fourteen inches up; forty-five inches, eighteen inches up; forty inches, twenty-two inches up; and thirty inches, twenty-eight inches up.

The complete skirt section, as shown in Figure 3, is provided with a selvage 25 and with the edges 26 and 21 at the needle bed and with the waist edge portion 28 and it may be set into the skirt, as shown in Figure 4, by asingle seam 29 formed by sewing the edges 26 and 21 together. In the skirt, the selvage edge 25 will be at the bottom.

The arrangement, as shown in Figure 2, with the short courses getting increasingly long, may be repeated indefinitely or if desired, other arrangements of short courses may be employed, with a long short course and a short short course being alternated throughout the body of the fabric.

The ribbed or pleated efiect may be readily obtained by alternating so many plain courses with so many purl courses and there may be a wide variation of the shape or design of these ribs or pleats.

In Figure 5 is shown how the piece may be shaped to fit over the hips.

Referring to Figure 6, it will be noted that the long course diagrammatically shown at 23a is enclosed in two short courses indicated at 23a and many variations may be had in the form, arrangement and shape of these courses and in the loops or design of fabric which is specifically utilized to give the courses.

The resultant skirt which may be obtained does not need to be fashioned by cutting gores and any ribs which are obtained will extend from the top to the bottom of the garment throughout the periphery thereof regardless of the seam.

Since all of the gores will extend vertically the skirt will drape much better and by regulating the amount of gores, it will be most readily possible to make a skirt of any desired shape, and to give a swing, flared or pleated style.

It is also possible to eliminate special patterns for cutting the skirt and the skirt will be much superior than that which may be obtained from rectangular knitted pieces or from a circularly knitted fabric.

By the expression short courses used in the accompanying claim, is meant that the courses do not extend the full width of the fabric being knitted or the full length of the skirt, but extend only a part of the length of the skirt and then return.

In the drawing, the courses are indicated diagrammatically but it is to be understood that the courses occur in multiples of two.

It is apparent that the specific illustrations shown above have been given by way of illustration and not by way of limitation and that the structures above described are subject to wide variation and modification without departing short courses not extending the full length, but extending from the bottom of the skirt and terminating substantially short of the top'of the skirt, said short courses progressively decreasing and increasing in length and alternating with the lon courses.

RENEE Y. HALL.

Images