Wearing apparel and method of making the same

Nov. 20, 1951

W. W. ARTZT

2,575,700

WEARING APPAREL AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME

Filed July 22, 1950

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INVENTOR.

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Patented Nov. 20, 1951

2,575,700

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,575,700

WEARING APPAREL AND METHOD OF

MAKING THE SAME

William W. Artzt, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Application July 22,1950, Serial No. 175,325

Claims.

The present invention relates to wearing apparel, and is particularly directed to improved garments, such as undershirts, garments of the T-shirt type, and the like.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide form fitting garments of the character indicated which afford maximum comfort to the wearer in the torso and shoulder areas, without restricting movement of the wearer’s arms, and yet retain their shape after repeated use and laundering thereof.

Another object resides in the provision of garments of the character indicated which, when worn, will readily and automatically conform to the various parts of the body of the wearer covered thereby.

Another object is to provide a garment of the character indicated, a single size of which will conform to and properly fit torsos of different size wearers.

Another object is to provide such garments wherein the body portions and the sleeves may each be constructed of an integrally continuously knitted piece of fabric.

A further object is to provide such garments in a simple and economical manner.

Other and further objects of the invention will be manifest from the following description and the accompanying drawing.

In accordance with the invention, the foregoing objects are accomplished by providing a garment of the character indicated which preferably is constructed of a circularly-knitted fabric comprising a one-piece integral body portion or form, wherein the sides and shoulders of such body portion have longitudinal zones which are of a knit more yieldable laterally than adjacent portions and the remainder of the body portion, and wherein the sleeves are each formed of continuous knitted tubing having longitudinal zones of a knit more yieldable than the remainder of the sleeves and are joined to the body portion with the yieldable zones of the sleeves contiguous to the yieldable zones at the sides and shoulders of the body portion, the above mentioned zones preferably being plait-knitted and adapted to retain their shape when relaxed and the remainder of the garment being of a conventional plain or jersey knit.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I have illustrated preferred embodiments of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the body portion of an undershirt embodying the present invention as cut from a flat tube of circularly-knitted fabric, shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the front of the body portion folded substantially into a plane indicated by the line 2—2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a completed un(CI. 66—176) dershirt, of the T-shirt type, including the body portion of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified body portion of an undershirt embodying the present inven5 tion as cut from a flat tube of circularly-knitted fabric, shown in broken lines;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the completed undershirt, including the modified body portion of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of sleeve portions for the undershirts of Figs. 3 or 5 as cut from a flat tube of circularly-knitted fabric; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view similar to Fig. 6, but showing sleeve portions cut from a flat tube of circu15 larly-knitted fabric according to still another modification of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, there is shown in broken lines a flat tube of fabric 10 having di20 ametrically opposed, longitudinal zones 12 of a knit which is more yieldable laterally than adjacent portions and the remainder of the tube. To accomplish this, the zones ί 2 are plait-knitted in a manner to stretch readily, whereby when a 25 garment is made from the tube 10 in the manner hereinafter described, the zone 12 will afford maximum comfort and ease of movement to the wearer in the body, shoulder and armhole areas, which zones readily conform to the parts of the 30 body of the wearer, while being worn, and return to their original shape upon removal of the garment from the body of the wearer, and after repeated washings. The remainder of tube 10 may be of a conventional knit or other fabric.

3S More particularly, the zones 12 may be of an accordion knit such as illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent 2,201,980, wherein a seif-pleating machine knitted, double-rib fabric has fewer wales on the inside surface at 40 the fold lines than at the outside surface of the fold line. For example, the fabric may have one or more wales missing on one surface at every sixth, eighth or tenth wale position and leave two adjacent wales missing in the other surface at 45 every fifth and sixth, seventh and eighth, or ninth and tenth wale position, respectively, with the missing wales on one surface being generally equi-distantly staggered in relation to the missing wales of the other surface. The thread forming 50 the fabric is sufficiently tight in relation to the gauge and thickness of the thread to cause the fabric to fold itself in accordion fashion along the lines of the missing wales.

Such a knit permits localized stretch at any 55 point or area within the zones 12 permitting greater comfort and freedom of movement to the wearer of the garment than is provided by conventional garments of this character. This is highly desirable, particularly in torso, shoulder co &amp;nd armhole areas.

2,575,700

The double-rib knitted portion 12 of the tube 10 may be provided on a double-needle machine, that is, a machine having two juxtaposed sets or rows of needles. In making the; tube,, a .circularknitting, machine: preferably is utilized wherein certain needles are arranged to form the jersey or plain knit portions and other needles are arranged to form the plait or double-rib zones 12. The latter is effected by removing? some-of the needles from one or both sets in this zone of the machine and feeding the thread·, or. yam. alternately to needles in the two different sets or rows of needles.

In the double-rib fabric zones 12, made on such a machine, the thread forming each course forms a loop alternately on opposite sides .of. the fabric over a suitable width' and then for-either two or three stitches only on one face of the fabric andthen again on both faces for the. same width and then, again only on the opposite face for either, two or three stitches.

The double-rib fabric zones 12 are produced by removing; or rendering ineffective and inoperative, one or two needles at regular intervals: in each of the two rows or sets of needles: in the corresponding zones of the machine, but with the spaces of the removed needles of. one row being staggered .in relation to:the spaces'of the removed needles, of the other row, and then knitting each thread over all the remaining needles with sufflcient tension so.as to cause the fabric to fold by itself around the points where the one or. two needles are missing.

Circular, double, needle row machines,. upon which.the tube. 1.0 may be. knitted,., are. exemplifiedby machines made.by the: Wildman Manufacturing Company of Morristown,. Pennsylvania, wherein both rows of needles are arranged in a continuous uninterrupted circle, and in which one. row of needles is arranged generally vertical, such, needles being generally referred to as the cylinder needles,, while the other row of needles, is arranged generally radially and. more or. less at right angles to the cylinder needles, the needles of this, other row being generally referred to as the dial needles. The circular double needle row machines, may be either of the. type in which the needle banks, rotate in relation to. non-rotating cams. and. in relation to non-rotating thread, carriers,, or they may be of the type in which the. needle banks do not rotate and instead, the actuating cams, rotate along, with the thread carriers, or. thread, guides.. Any of. such machines may be. readily arranged to knit , the double-rib or. plait, stitch at certain diametrically opposed zones, and a plain. or jersey knit at the remainder of. the tube, and thereby produce, a circularlyknitte.d_fabric tube such as.that. shown, in.broken, lines inFig. 1,

It is. pref erred that the zones 12 each consist of six plaits, or folds formed as. set forth above, although, a. greater or lesser number, of plaits may be. used depending, upon the yieldability, that is desired in. the. completed undershirt, and in,cut-’ ting the. body portion 14 of the undershirt, the tube · 10, is initially flattened, with the; zones 12. thereof, in .overlying,relation and extending along, the medial line of the flattened tube; The lower, edge 16 of body portion ί 4 is formed, by cutting the tube ί 0 transversely along, a straight line, and the neck opening is formed by cutting the tube transversely along the line 18 having an arcuate contour shaped to provide the front of the neck opening and along the line 20 having an arcuate contour shaped to provide the.back of. the neck opening. The lines 18 and 20, which meet at 22, form an upwardly curved portion or upper edge of the body portion when the latter is viewed in the. position of Fig. 1. An armhole 2S, in the shape of an elongated' elliptical opening having its major axis inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the tube 10, is formed in each layer or wall of the knitted fabric tube, within the plaited zones ί2 thereof, adjacent to but spaced from the upper edge a distance whereby the upper portions of : the armholes and the lines 18 and 20 so define a section 24 and adjacent portions which eventually in the? finished garment will provide seamless shoulder sections 28.

In commercial practice, the foregoing operations, in accordance, with the invention are preferably performed simultaneously by stamping the body portion from the tube by means of blanking; dies which sever the body portion at the lower, edge 16 and the lines 18 and 20, and cut out the superimposed armholes 26. It will be understood, however, that the same operations may be performed by manually severing the tube as indicated,.for example by shears or scissors.

As seen in Fig. 1, the shoulder sections 28 include zones 30 of double-ribbed or plait-knit fabric, extending from the neck opening to the armholes, and zones 32, of similar plait-knit fabric,. extend downwardly from the arm holes 2S to the. lower edge 16 of the body portion. When body portion 14 is folded substantially into the plane indicated, by line 2—2 on Fig. 1, its. appearance. will be, that indicated in Fig. 2,.. and zones.·. 32 will. be. positioned at the opposite side, edges of the body portion while zones 39 will.form. the. crests of the shoulder sections. In order to reduce the downward slope of the crests of the shoulder sections, and also to decrease the distance around the neck opening, the pleats in zones 30 are sewn one over the other at their ends adjacent to the neck opening, so that the side' edges of zones 30 diverge towards the arm opening^ as shown in Fig. 2.

If it is desired to provide a sleeveless undershirt, the. body portion 14, as viewed in Fig. 2, may be finished by securing suitable binding tape around, the edge of the neck opening and also around the-edges of arm openings. A sleeveless undershirt thus formed has the advantage of readily conforming to the shoulder and torso contours of the wearer, by reason of the plaited zones 30 and 32 disposed at the sides of the torso and tops of the shoulders, respectively, thereby affording greater comfort and freedom of movement of the wearer; and as previously mentioned a single undershirt thus formed will conform to and properly fit the torsos of different size wearers.

When it is desired to provide an undershirt of the type usually referred to as a T-shirt having short sleeves, a tube of knitted fabric 34, shown in Fig. 6 is provided in the manner previously recited in connection with producing tube 10, which, eventually form the sleeves in the finished garment. The tube 34 includes diametrically opposed, longitudinal zones 3S and 38 of double-ribbed, or plait-knitted fabric and intermediate portions of conventional plain or jersey knit. The tube 34 is formed of such length that pairs of sleeves may be cut therefrom without waste. As seen in Fig. 6, the tube 34 is flattened, with the zones 36 and 38 disposed at the opposite side edges thereof, preparatory to cutting the sleeves therefrom. The lower edges of the sleeves are formed by cutting the tube transversely along substantially straight lines 40, which extend at

2,575,700 right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube, and the upper edges of the sleeves, that is, the edges to be joined to the arm holes, are formed by cutting the tube transversely along substantially straight lines 42 which are inclined relative to the tube axis. It can be seen that a length of the tube, between adjacent lines 40, is sufficient to provide a pair of sleeves 44 and 46, and therefore, waste may be eliminated by forming the length of the tube in multiples of the desired length.

Each of the pair of sleeves 44 and 46, formed as indicated above, will include a relatively long outer longitudinal zone 48 (Fig. 3) of doubleribbed or plaited knit fabric and a relatively short inner zone 50 of similar knit fabric by reason of the inclination of lines 42, and intermediate front and rear sections of conventional jersey knit. The sleeves 44 and 46 are assembled to the body portion 14, at armholes 23 of the latter, with the outer zone 48 of each aligned with the adjacent zone 30 and the inner zone 50 of each aligned with the adjacent zone 32, as illustrated in Fig. 3. The meeting ends of each inner zone 50 of the sleeve and zone 32 of the body portion have the plaits thereof sewn over the other to increase the strength of the seam between the sleeve and body portion at the under-arm section thereof. The sleeves 44 and 46 are sewn in the arm holes 26 along the line 52 (Figs. 1 and 3) to provide a seam allowance between the edge of the arm hole opening in the body portion and the stitching.

While the sleeves have been illustrated and described as each having outer and inner zones of double-ribbed or plaited knit fabric, it is to be understood that, if desired, the sleeves may each have one such zone, preferably the outer zone 48. In such event the tube 34a shown in Fig. 7 and having the zone 38a only is employed, and the tube is severed transversely as at lines 40a into suitable lengths which may be subsequently severed at an angle such as at lines 42a, so that the resulting sleeve forming sections 44a and 46a of the tube each have an area 48a of relatively yieldable fabric extending along the long fold edge thereof.

An abbreviated collar or collarette 54 is sewn into the neck opening (Fig. 3) and is preferably formed of a circularly-knitted, one-piece, seamless tube of the desired size. Similar knitted edging (not shown) may be applied to the ends of sleeves 44 and 46, or the sleeves may be merely self-hemmed as illustrated.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, an undershirt is there shown formed according to a modified embodiment of this invention. In Fig. 4 a tube 56, similar in all respects to the tube SO previously described, is shown in broken lines and flattened so that the double-rib or plaited longitudinal sections 58 of the tube are superimposed on each other. The body portion 60, of the modified undershirt, is formed from the tube 56 by cutting the latter transversely along line 62, constituting the lower edge of body portion 60, and transversely along line 64 at the top. The back of the neck opening is provided by cutting along the arcuate line 66 extending from the line 64 to one side edge or fold of the folded tube, and the front of the neck opening is provided by cutting the folded tube along the arcuate line 68 extending from the line 64 to the opposite side edge of the tube. An elliptical opening 70 is cut in each of the layers of fabric of the flattened tube to form arm holes. The openings 70 are disposed centrally within the plaited sections or zones 58 and open at their top ends at the straight portion of the top edge as at 72, to thereby divide the straight portion of the top edge into edge sections 74 and 76.

As noted in the description of the embodiment 5 shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the foregoing operations, in commercial practice, may be performed simultaneously by means of blanking dies which cut the tube along lines 62, 66, 68, 74 and 76 and cut out arm holes 70 to provide the body portion, or 10 the operations may be performed manually, for example by shears or scissors.

After the body portion 60 has been cut from tube 56 in the manner heretofore described, the body portion is flattened with the zones 58 dis15 posed at the opposite sides thereof and edge sections 74 and 76 in confronting relation. Edge sections 74 and 76 are then joined together by shoulder seam 78 (Fig. 5). By reason of the elliptical configuration of the arm hole openings 70, 20 the plaited zones 58 of the tube will form a double-rib or plait-knit section 80 at each side of the body portion extending from the arm hole downwardly to the lower edge 62, and approximately triangular sections 82 and 84 of similar plait knit ²⁵ at the top of the shoulder on opposite sides of shoulder seam 78. Sections 82 and 84 permit yielding of the top portion of the shoulder portion in the direction of the shoulder seam 78, while sections 80 permit lateral yielding of the ³⁰ portion covering the wearer’s torso.

The undershirt is completed by setting sleeves 44' and 46', which are similar to sleeves 44 and 46 of Figs. 3 and 6, into the arm hole openings 70 and stitching such sleeves at their inner ends to ³⁵ the body portion along dotted lines 86 (Fig. 4) to provide suitable seam allowance. The sleeves inserted in the arm openings as above include relatively long outer longitudinal zones 48' of doubleribbed or plaited knit fabric and relatively short ⁴⁰ inner zones 50' of similar knit fabric. Thereafter, a continuous, circular-knitted, one-piece, seamless collar or neck band 88 is stitched in the neck-opening defined by lines 68 in the front and 66 in the back.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides improved undershirts having body portions and sleeves each formed preferably by circular knitting, and having sections at the sides of the torso, at the shoul50 ders and at spaced portions of the sleeves that are more yieldable than the remaining portions to thereby afford maximum comfort and freedom of movement to the wearer, without sacrificing the ability to retain its original shape, even after re55 peated launderings, and which can be manufactured in a simple and economical manner.

While I have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to 60 those precise embodiments, as obviously various modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.