United States Patent (19) [11] 3,985,003 Reed (45) Oct. 12, 1976 (54) PRESEAMED AND PREFORMED KNITTED 709,734 9/1902 Bellis.................................... 66/196 GARMENTS AND METHOD OF MAKING 872,163 l l l 1907 Williams............................... 66/196 SAME 2,879,654 3/1959 Evans......... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 66/196 X 2,921,456 l/1960 Evans................................ 66/196 X 75 Inventor: Alfred J. Reed, Greensboro, N.C. 3,307,379 3/1967 Woolley............................ 66/196 X (73) Assignee: J. P. Stevens & Co., Inc., New York, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS N.Y. 1,003,382 9/1965 United Kingdom................... 66/17 22 Filed: May 1, 1975 Primary Examiner-Ronald Feldbaum (21) Appl. No.: 573,550 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Leitner, Palan & Martin (52) U.S. Cl..................................... 66/196; 66/171; 57 ABSTRACT 66/177; 66/176 A knitted structure and method of making same which 51 Int. C.’............................................ D04B 7/04 includes simultaneously knitting two concentric tubes (58) Field of Search............. 66/17, 19, 21, 22, 169, and interconnecting the tubes by knitting to produce 66/170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, seams which define a garment of juxtaposed portions 196 of the two tubes. Each concentric tube, includes a plu rality of feeds per course knitted separately on the dial 56 References Cited and cylinder needles, respectively, of a circular knit UNITED STATES PATENTS ting machine. 473,474 4/1892 Pepper.................................. 66/173 16 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent oct. 12, 1976 Sheet 1 of 5 3,985,003 XOX9NXSEOS QXIX XOXO.9xx COURSE TXOXO 24 QXXXX XX AA OXOXL TOXOXXOXO. XOX U.S. Patent Oct. 12, 1976 Sheet 2 of 5 3,985,003 & l f 1. O O s O U.S. Patent Oct. 12, 1976 Sheet 4 of 5 3,985,003 U.S. Patent Oct. 12 9 1976 Sheet 5 of 5 3,985,003 XOXO. XOXOX EXOXOXOX A/G.6 3,985.003 1 2 tubes. The final garment has a first surface formed from PRESEAMED AND PREFORMED KNITTED portions of one tube and a second surface formed from GARMENTS AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME a juxtaposed portion of the other tube. By aligning the longitudinal axis of the garment parallel to the axis of the tube, a plurality of garments may be formed about BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION a circumference of the concentric tubes. By varying the 1. Field of the Invention height of knitting butts of alternate knitting dial nee The present invention relates generally to knitted dles, the inner-concentric tube is knitted in a non-lad garments and more particularly to a garment which is der knit. The dial set of needles may knit a different preseamed and preformed on a circular knitting ma 10 pattern than the cylinder set of needles using different chine. fabrics so as to form, for example, a section of a gar 2. Description of the Prior Art ment on the cylinder needle and forming the lining or Clothing in the garment industry is generally made by interfacing for that section of garment on the dial nee superimposing one fabric over another, cutting it into dles. The garment formed around the circumference of panels to conform to the shape of the individual ac 15 the tube is severed by cutting from the tube and turned cording to current fashion, seaming along the outer inside out if a hidden seam is desired. edges of the panel and attaching various parts, by stitching to form seams, until a complete garment is OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION formed. - An object of the present invention is to provide a In the knitting industry, a limited class of open method for preseaming and preforming knitted gar ended, tubular garments (for example, foundation gar mentS. ments such as girdles, panties, etc.) and those utilizing Another object of the present invention is to provide elastic or spandex types of yarn, have been formed on a method of reducing the cost of manufacturing of a warp knit Raschel-type machine. Garments made on garments by using the versatility of a computerized this machine are made so that the wale direction of the 25 electronic knitting machine. fabric is horizontal to the ground or is worn 90° from A further object of the invention is to produce a weft the direction in which it was knit. The warp knit Rasch knitted garment preseamed and preformed on a circu el-type machine has limited pattern scope (width ap lar knitting machine: proximately 20 inches) and, therefore, is not accept Still another object is to provide a method for pro able for all types or sizes of garments. An example of 30 ducing a plurality of garments formed about the cir this type of garment is found in U.S. Pat. No. cumference of a knitted tube. 3,656,323. An even further object is to provide a knitted struc Circular knitting machines have been used to make ture where a garment is formed from two juxtaposed tubular, knitted garments, such as ladies' stockings, sections of a tube so that the anatomy of the user fits sweaters and other garments. In these tubular gar 35 between the single juxtaposed layers. ments, the user's anatomy is in the center of the single Other objects, advantages and novel features of the tube. "Two tube,” “double layer," "Bi-knit' and "duo present invention will become apparent from the fol fold' fabrics have been produced on circular knitting lowing detailed description of the invention when con machines. These fabrics involve two layers intercon sidered in conjunction with the accompanying draw nected at points for their artistic properties (ottoman 40 1ngs. or Ponte De Roma patterns), thermal properties (U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,457) and armor piercing qualities (U.S. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Pat. No. 2,879,654). The fabric itself is used as a unit to FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tube of a preferred form one surface of a finished garment. embodiment of the knitted structure of the present When the computer began to be used as pattern 45 invention as it would come off a circular knitting ma preparation equipment for electronic double knit ma chine; chines in the early 1970's, an era of unlimited pattern FIG. 2 is a pattern graph of a skirt to be formed potential began. Heretofore, with mechanical type pat according to the preferred embodiment of the present tern machines, maximum pattern widths were approxi invention; - mately 144 wales wide, 324 courses high. Computer 50 FIG. 2A is an exploded view of a portion of FIG. 2; electronic knitting brought about the possibilities of FIGS. 3A-3E are schematics of the knitted structure making patterns and designs of up to three million for a course; stitches (previously approximately 50,000 was maxi FIG. 4 is a pattern graph of a shirt or blouse to be mum). With this system, patterns and designs are possi formed according to a preferred embodiment of the ble that before could not be made. 55 present invention; FIG. 4A is an enlarged detailed portion of FIG. 4; SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION FIG. 5 is a pattern graph of a pair of shorts to be The present invention uses an electronic circular formed according to a preferred embodiment of the double knitting machine programmed to simulta present invention; and neously knit two concentric tubes, one on the dial set of 60 FIG. 6 is a pattern graph of a dress to be formed needles and a second on the cylinder set of needles and according to a preferred embodiment of the present additionally programmed to interconnect the two con invention. centric tubes by a knit interlock stitch to form the outline of the design of a garment. The resulting knitted BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED structure will have two layers of single fabric knitted or 65 EMBODIMENTS seamed together in the shape of the desired garment FIG. 1 illustrates a knitted structure, 10 which is a wherein the anatomy of the user would fit between the preferred embodiment of the present invention as it single knitted fabrics instead of in the center of the would come off a circular double knit knitting ma 3,985.003 3 4. chine. The knitted structure 10 comprises an inner tube the layer 12 (instead of being lining) may be interfac 12 and an outer tube 14 which is concentric to, and ing, which is attached to the outside layer 14 and again encompasses, the inner tube 12. The tubes 12 and 14 saves a step in the manufacture of garments. Another are simultaneously knitted concentrically on a circular example where two different fibers are used to make double knit machine. Around the circumference of the the inner and outer tubing would be in the foundation knitted structure 10 are illustrated three garments garment industry, where the inner fabric could be cot which, for example, may be skirts 16, 18 and 20. ton or other soft fibers and the outer fabric would be The garments 16, 18 and 20 are outlined by a plural lycra or clasticized yarns. ity of interconnecting knitted stitches 22 and 24. The To better understand the knitted structure and interconnecting knitting 22 not only forms the outline method of the present invention, a pattern graph of the of the garments 16, 18 and 20, but joins the inner tube garment 16 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The pattern to be 12 to the outer tube 14 so as to create a seam. The mapped out is on graph paper wherein each square interconnecting knitting 24 is merely to define the represents a knitted stitch.