Method of making knit garment

Feb. 26, 1963

B. D. HUNTLEY

METHOD OF MAKING KNIT GARMENT Filed Nov. 30, 1959

3,078,699

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United States Patent Office

3,078,699

Patented Feb. 26, 1963

3,078,699

METHOD OF MAKING KNIT GARMENT

Baxter D. Huntley, Charlotte, N.C., assignor to Huntley Knitting Mills, Inc., Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina ⁵

Filed Nov. 30,1959, Ser. No. 856,089

Claims. (Cl. 66—176)

This invention relates generally to improvements in knit garments such as shirts, sweaters or the like and more 10 particularly to garments of this type which are formed of individually knit fashioned panels that are connected together.

It is well known to knit the individual panels of shirts and sweaters on full-fashion knitting machinery of the 15 type ordinarily employed to knit hosiery and the like. In the formation of this type of garment, the individual panels, such as the front, rear and sleeve panels are individually knit and fashioned in a flat condition with selvage edges and the garment is formed by sewing or 20 looping together the edges of the various panels. Most garments of this type, particularly knit shirts, are fashioned to closely fit the body and, therefore do not provide free movement of the arms and shoulders in all directions. Also, since most purchasers desire this type of garment to 25 fit snugly, the manufacturer must provide the garments in a wide range of sizes and in order to change sizes, the front and rear panels of each different size garment must be knit a different width, thus requiring that the set-up of the knitting machine be changed each time it is desired 30 to knit a different size garment. Although most knit shirts are light weight and relatively thin, they are usually knit of synthetic yarn which tends to hold in body heat and does not readily absorb perspiration so that this type of shirt is normally hotter than the same weight shirt 35 knit of cotton yarn.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a full-fashioned knit garment having separately knit body and sleeve panels and a stretchable insert panel at each side of the shirt which ⁴⁰connects the body panels and extends into the sleeve to thereby permit free unrestricted movement of the wearer’s arms in all directions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a full-fashioned knit garment of the type described ⁴⁵wherein the insert panel is knit in such a manner as to provide ventilation to the body of the wearer, particularly beneath the arms.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a full-fashioned knit garment of the type described ⁵θ and a novel method of forming the same wherein the width of the insert panel may be varied to thereby vary the overall size of the garment without having to change the width of the front and rear panels.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which—

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the completed garment and showing the location of the insert panels; ⁶⁰

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation of the garment shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the garment in the position it would assume when worn and looking upwardly underneath the right sleeve; ⁵

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of the insert panel removed from the shirt to illustrate its configuration; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged schematic illustration of one type of stitch structure which may be employed to produce 79 ventilation openings in the insert panel.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown one type of knit shirt with which the insert panel of the present invention may be utilized, however, it is to be understood that the insert panel could be utilized with other types of shirts, sweaters or the like.

The knitted shirt illustrated in the drawings includes respective front and rear knit panels 10 and 12 which are knit on a full-fashion knitting machine and the upper portions thereof are fashioned during knitting along fashion lines 14, 15 and 16, 17 respectively. The shirt also includes sleeve panels 20 and 21 which are also knit on a full-fashion knitting machine and fashioned during knitting along respective fashion lines 22, 23 and 24, 25 respectively. The upper portions of the front and rear panels 10 and 12 are connected to the inner ends of the sleeves 20 and 21 along respective seam lines 30 and 31.

Any suitable type of collar 35 may be attached to the upper portions of the front and rear panels 10 and 12. In conventional knit shirts, the free selvage edges of the sleeve panels 20 and 21 are sewn or looped together in one continuous seam which extends along the lower portion of the sleeves and down each side to connect the front and rear panels 10 and 12 together at their free selvage edges.

In the improved garment of the present invention, insert panels 40 and 41 are provided at the sides of the shirt. The insert panels 40 and 41 are each elongated with straight parallel edges throughout the major portion of their length and, at their upper ends, the edges converge to form a tapered portion 45.

The insert panels 40 and 41 are preferably knit from the bottom to the top, in FIGURE 4, with a turned welt portion being knit first in the well-known manner on a full-fashion knitting machine. The main portion of the insert panels is then knit on a predetermined number of needles to provide the desired width of fabric from one selvage edge to the other. After a sufficient number of courses are knit to provide the desired length of panel, the conventional narrowing mechanism of the machine is actuated to gradually decrease the width of the fabric and thereby cause the selvage edges to converge and form the tapered portion 45. It is preferred that the tapered portion 45 be formed by narrow’ng the fabric during knitting so that opposite edges thereof will not ravel, however, the insert panels may be formed with straight parallel edges and the tapered portion 45 obtained by cutting the fabric, if desired.

It is preferred that at least the main body of the insert panels 40 and 41 be knit with a special stitch of the type which will provide a greater degree of stretchability and ventilation than the nlain stitches of the body panels. To this end, a lace stitch, which is formed by transferring spaced-apart loops coursewise in first one direction and other groups of loops coursewise in an opposite direction, may be utilized. It will be noted that the lace stitch forms a plurality of spaced openings 50 (FIGURE 5) in the fabric. It is well known that this type of lace stitch fabric provides greater stretchability in both a walewise and coursewise direction than does plain or jersey knit fabrics.

The insert panels 40 and 41 are attached at opposite sides of the knit shirt by sewing or looping one edge of the insert panel 40 to one edge of the front panel 10 and one edge of the tapered portion 45 to one edge of the sleeve panel 20. The opposite edge of the insert panel 40 is then sewed to one edge of the rear panel 12 and one edge of the tapered portion 45 is sewed to the opposite edge of the sleeve panel 20. Opposite edges of the sleeve panel are sewed together, beyond the end of the tapered portion 45 of the insert panel 40, by a continuation of either of the sewing operations utilized to attach the panel 4© to the front and back panels. The insert panel 41 is then sewed to the front panel 10, rear

3,078,699 panel 12 and sleeve panel 21 in the same manner as the insert panel 41.

When the knit shirt is completed, the insert panels 40 and 41 provide stretchability and permit freedom of movement of the arms and at the same time provide ventilation to the body of the wearer. Also, if it is desired to change the size shirt being made, the width of the insert panels 40 and 41 may be decreased or increased to correspondingly vary the overall diameter of the body of the shirt. The size of the shoulders and sleeves can also be changed by varying the degree of taper at the. tapered upper end of the inserts 40 and 41. Thus, the improved full-fashioned knit garment haying an insert panel positioned beneath and extending into the arms of the garment provides several advantages over a conventional shirt of this type wherein the panels or inserts are not provided.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.