[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Application Serial No. 63/227,577 filed July 30, 2021, the content of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates to methods for hosiery production and knit structures produced by these methods that reduce the sheemess difference between the foot and the leg part of the garment while assisting with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving fit and appearance.

BACKGROUND

[0003] A challenge in hosiery manufacturing is to provide uniform sheemess and appearance of the garment through the length of the leg when it is worn. The lack of uniformity in appearance results from the hosiery being produced as a tube in a small cylinder knitting machine (commonly 4” diameter and 400 needles). The diameter of the cylinder remains constant throughout the length of the garment to be knitted while the circumference of the body to be fitted varies from foot to leg to waist. Therefore, from the consumer perspective, when wearing standard hosiery, the fabric density appears higher at the foot area than it does in other areas as it moves up the leg to the thigh area because the hosiery fabric is more extended at the wider areas than at the narrower ankle and foot area. Aesthetically, this difference can affect consumer satisfaction in that the more dense area of the garment around the foot can appear darker in color due to the higher fabric density and can be visually displeasing, particularly when footwear is worn that partially exposes the foot which looks darker than the rest of the garment. This higher density of the garment near the foot area can also affect comfort in foot area because a higher density fabric has a higher potential to trap body heat and moisture than a more shear fabric.

[0004] Skilled knitters will adjust the stitch length and dimension through the length of the tube during its production to try to address these issues. See, for example U.S. Patent 5,016,449. In these methods, all the needles are generally used in a working position, the most common structures are known as plain or all-knit structures, and the length of yam or the stitched dimension is directly or indirectly controlled to accommodate the body circumference gradient. These actions allow the knitter to reduce or enlarge the stretched circumference of the hosiery tube garment in an attempt to follow the body shape of the leg of the end consumer to improve both appearance and fit. However, achieving uniform appearance and fit through the leg length by simply varying stitch dimension is highly challenging. This is because the circumference of a leg varies significantly from foot to ankle to thigh to waist, thus making it very challenging for the hosiery knitter to make sufficiently large changes in the construction to accommodate these significant differences. As an example, the circumference of the ankle and foot is usually smaller than the circumference of other parts of the leg, and according to ASTM standard “D5585 - 11'1 Standard Tables of Body Measurements for Adult Female Misses Figure Type, Size Range 00-20 ¹ ” the calf, knee and thigh girths can be 149%, 155% and 244% of the ankle girth respectively for a US size 8 adult female. Thus, while variation of the stitches dimension described above is a common industry practice to provide the desired fit and appearance, this process still results in a severe sheemess and appearance and fit (or feeling) difference between the foot part and other parts of the leg when the garment is worn.

[0005] Further, it can be challenging for the wearer to correctly position the foot in the garment during donning without over stretching or under-stretching the garment. Both over stretch and insufficient stretch result in poor comfort and/or non-uniform appearance.

[0006] Hosiery garments produced using every-course-panty-hose (ECPH) construction, where all courses of the knitted hose are elastified with spandex or other elastic yam such as described in Published U.S. Patent Application No. US 2021/0071327A1, are especially problematic for uneven sheemess through the length of the garment. More specifically, the high level of available stretch intrinsic of this garment category poses a challenge to the wearer during donning related to the correct distribution of the fabric though the leg length without accumulating or over-stretching the fabric. This often results in poor sheemess uniformity and resulting appearance as well as poor fit with special respect to the foot portion where the tube circumference is not adequately shaped to fit the foot.

[0007] There is a need for hosiery with more uniform sheemess and better fit SUMMARY

[0008] This disclosure relates to methods of production of knitted hosiery garments with controlled fabric density and knitted hosiery garments produced by these methods.

[0009] An aspect of this disclosure relates to methods for production of knitted hosiery garments and knitted hosiery garment product by methods wherein fabric density is controlled by a needle selection for knitting the garment that intentionally generates miss stitches instead of the normal plain knit, with the specific purpose of reducing the number of stitches per course thereby reducing the stitch density in the courses allocated to the body regions with smaller circumference (e.g. foot region). Nonlimiting examples of needle selection include a 1x2, 1x3 or 1x4 needle selection or any combination thereof.

[00010] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of the garment extending from an end of a toe portion to a knee portion of the garment

[00011] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of a sole and/or heel portion of the garment. [00012] In one nonlimiting embodiment, control of fabric density via a production method of this disclosure controls available fabric stretch and unifies sheemess of the garment when worn.

[00013] In one nonlimiting embodiment control of fabric density via a production method of this disclosure unifies transparency of the toe and/or the bridge and or ankle portions of the garment with the knee, thigh and/or waist portions of the garment

[00014] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to methods of production of knitted hosiery garments and knitted hosiery garments produced by these methods which help the wearer to identify the portion of the garment allocated to the foot and provide an aid to correctly position and stretch fabric of the garment in the foot and ankle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[00015] FIG. 1 , views A, B, C, D, are images of wearers of knee-high hosiery garments with one leg with a knee high knitted in accordance with Example 1 and the other leg a control not knitted in accordance with this disclosure. In each view, a garment of this disclosure is on the left foot of the wearer. FIG.1 , view A shows the increased sheemess in the foot bridge and ankle and a better match in aspect with the rest of the leg vs control. FIG.

1, view B, shows a similar outcome to view A and also substantiates the challenge to correctly fit the control knee high which was clearly under stretched in the foot area. FIG. 1, view C shows another similar outcome to view A, magnified by a wider foot FIG. 1, view D exhibits the fit challenge of view B in the opposite direction, where the control knee high is clearly over stretched in the foot/toe area while improved homogeneous appearance is still evident in the foot and ankle area of the garment of this disclosure.

[00016] FIG. 2 provides an example of knee high sheer hosiery garment knitted as per Example 1 compared to a standard knee high (trouser sock).

[00017] FIG. 3 is a schematic of foot and garment parts of hosiery referred to herein including the toe, sole, heel, bridge and ankle portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00018] Provided by this disclosure are methods for hosiery production and knit structures produced by these methods that reduce the sheemess difference between the foot and the leg part of the garment while assisting with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving both fit and appearance of knit hosiery garments produced by these methods.

[00019] Needle selection is a known knitting technique generally employed to generate patterns and influence elasticity.

[00020] For purposes of this disclosure, the notation “YxZ selection” means Y consecutive needles knit the actual stitch and the following Z consecutive needles perform a miss stitch (needles stay at sinker level). Therefore, 1x1 selection means 1 knit stitch followed by 1 miss stitch; 1x2 selection means 1 knit stitch followed by 2 miss stitches, etc. [00021] As non-limiting examples of common knitting constructions, a plain knit construction in a 400 needle circular hosiery knitting machine will result in 400 knitted stitches per full course, while a lxl selection (1 knit and 1 miss) in the same machine will generate 200 stiches per course.

[00022] In the methods for production of knitted hosiery garments of this disclosure, garments are knitted using a needle selection that intentionally generates miss stitches instead of the normal plain knit, with the specific purpose of reducing the number of stitches per course thereby reducing the stitch density in the courses allocated to the body regions with smaller circumference (e.g. foot region). Accordingly, garments of the invention may be obtained by a combination of knitting structures over the length of the garment, where the selection to reduce the stitch and yam density in, for example, the tube region allocated to the foot of the wearer, allows the garment, when worn, to exhibit stitch dimension and stitch shape closer to the dimension and shape of the stitches of other garment larger circumference regions such as the calf and thigh, leading to a more uniform appearance. For example, in one embodiment, a knitting selection that intentionally generates miss stitches is applied solely in the foot region to balance stitch density and therefore appearance compared to the leg region where no miss stitches needle selection is applied. Uniform fabric appearance is achieved by controlling not only stitch dimension but also the number of stitches per unit or area.

[00023] As nonlimiting examples, in methods of this disclosure, fabric density can be controlled by a 1x2, 1x3 or 1x4 needle selection or any combination thereof in one or more selected portions of the garment While presence of missed stitch is more effective, needle selection can also involve tuck stitches or other combinations of stitch formats or yam combinations.

[00024] The needle selection can be applied to all courses or to a portion of them. More effective is to apply a needle selection in every course of the targeted garment region, however, needle selection may vary between courses.

[00025] FIG. 3 is a schematic of foot and garment parts of hosiery referred to herein including the foot portion made up of the toe, sole, heel and bridge portions and the ankle portion which makes up part of the leg portion of the garment. Additional portions of hosiery disclosed herein include the calf, knee and thigh portion of the leg and the waist portion.

[00026] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of the garment extending from the end of the toe portion to the knee portion of the garment.

[00027] In one nonlimiting embodiment, needle selection is used in graduated manner towards the ankle and foot portion of the garment to drive homogeneous appearance from foot to leg.

[00028] In one nonlimiting embodiment, fabric density of the knitted hosiery garment is controlled by needle selection in any portion of the sole and/or heel of the garment.

[00029] In one nonlimiting embodiment, the one or more portions of the sole and/or heel comprise a 1 : 1 course ratio wherein one course comprises only the base yam which performs the selection and the second course comprises a base yam with no selection and a plated in yam in a 1x2 selection with floating needles.

[00030] In one nonlimiting embodiment, the modified lower stitch density construction is limited to the sole area beneath the foot which is normally concealed by the footwear. However, this can be extended to the heel region or any other region of the garment according to the desired final garment design and aspect. In some nonlimiting embodiments, the transition point for the modified lower stitch density construction is introduced in the full sole area, in a portion of that or further extend outside the sole area, to generate the best level of appearance uniformity desired. In one nonlimiting embodiment, the modified lower stitch density construction is limited and narrow in the front part of the foot (to avoid excessive sheemess in the toe) and extended and wide in the ball of the foot and the heel to increase sheemess of the ankle.

[00031] While methods of this disclosure are applicable to any course style typically used in hosiery production with various fibers, the effectiveness of this method is higher when applied to spandex hosiery and/or every-course-panty-hose (ECPH) construction where elasticity and stretch level are higher.

[00032] When used in the production methods of this disclosure, spandex fiber may be covered with a rigid yam or may be bare, and may be knitted in every course or alternate courses. In some embodiments, another elastified course knitted into the garment comprises bare spandex plated with rigid yam.

[00033] Any suitable fusible spandex can be used.

[00034] Any rigid yam can also be used in the present invention. Nonlimiting examples may comprise polyamide, polyester or polypropylene. In one nonlimiting embodiment, the rigid yam is a polyamide. Any polyamide can be used and, as will be understood by the skilled artisan upon reading this disclosure, selection will depend upon desired characteristics including but not limited to brightness, bulk, uniformity, and gloss of the resulting fabric.

[00035] Further, in certain hosiery garment designs, the fabric structure can lead to undesirable deformation of the foot region of the garment at point of sale where the consumer observes the foot part as very tight and small which is visually unappealing. Methods of production disclosed herein provide a solution to this problem via introduction of a plated-in yam such as nylon or polyester of any type including bicomponent fibers in the selection region or its proximity, to stiffen the structure and block the excessive shrinkage of the tubular knitted fabric when presented to the consumer for sale. The additional plated in yam in this case provides structure to the fabric.

[00036] The plated in yam can also be selected to deliver additional benefits including, but not limited to, odor control, moisture management and bulky sole.

[00037] Further, similar to standard socks and medical hosiery, where the heel is easily identified by the structure of the knitted tube, the production methods disclosed herein are also useful in helping the wearer identify the portion of the hosiery allocated to the foot and to aid in correctly positioning and stretching the fabric of garments produced in accordance with these production methods in the foot and ankle portions.

[00038] In addition, the fit resulting from the lower stitched density in garments produced via these methods which increases the stretch level of the fabric, provides the wearer with a more secure fit in the foot part, compared to a standard plain knit tube garment. [00039] Thus, control of fabric density via a production method of this disclosure results in garments with controlled fabric stretch and unified sheemess/transparency of the toe and/or the bridge and or ankle portions of the garment with the knee, thigh and/or waist portions of the garment when worn and helps the wearer to identify the portion of the garment allocated to the foot and provide an aid to correctly position and stretch fabric of the garment in the foot and ankle.

EXAMPLES

[00040] The following examples demonstrate the present invention and its utility in producing knit structures with reduced sheemess differences between the foot and the leg part of the garment and assisting with correct positioning of the garment during donning, thus improving fit and appearance. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various apparent respects, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Further, other successful constructions have been also tested with different improved aesthetic and fit results. Accordingly, the examples are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

Example 1: Sheer panty hose knitted in a standard 400 needle, 4” diameter 4 feeds hosiery machine with modified sole area construction

[00041] Base yam: 20 dtex spandex fiber single covered with 11 dtex polyamide yam; plaied-in yam: 44 dtex textured polyamide.

[00042] In the sole area, the following knitting construction selection was used: feeds 1 and 3 with base yam only in 1x2 selection, feeds 2 and 4 with base yam and plated-in yam in 1x2 selection with floating needle (base yam plain knit and plated-in yam in 1x2 selection).

[00043] The rest of the garment was knitted with base yam in all 4 feeds in plain knit construction without plated in yam.

[00044] The knitted tube was then sewed, dyed and finished following standard commercial procedures. Example 2: [00045] In this example, the same sole area construction as in Example 1 was extended to tiie heel area.

Example 3: [00046] In this example, the same sole area construction as in Example 1 was used without any plated-in yam.

Example 4: [00047] Sheer panty hose were also prepared similarly to Examples 1 and 3 but with a 1x3 selection instead of a 1x2 selection in the sole, with or without plated in yam in the sole.

Example 5: [00048] Opaque style panty hose were prepared similarly to Example 1 but with 22 dtex spandex fiber single covered with 22 dtex polyamide yam as base yam and 44 dtex textured polyamide as plated-in yam. In the sole area, feeds 1 and 3 were base yam and plated-in yam in 1x2 selection and feeds 2 and 4 were base yam and plated-in yam in 1x2 selection with floating needle (base yam plain knit and plated-in yam in 1x2 selection). The rest of the garment was knitted with base yam and plated in yam in all 4 feeds in plain knit construction.

[00049] As will be understood by the skilled artisan upon reading this disclosure, other base yam combinations are possible for sheerer or more opaque hosiery styles. Further, spandex can be used in both covered and bare forms. Further, the plated-in yam can be knitted also in other areas of the garments as the garment style and end use requires.