Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PROCESS FOR KNITTING AN ARTICLE OF LADIES'
UNDERWEAR IN ONE PIECE
The present invention relates to a process for
knitting an article of ladies' underwear in one piece
of tubular knitwear and to an article obtained
according to said process.
Known knitting processes allow cylindrically
symmetrical articles to be made in one piece. Such
processes are implemented on circular knitting machines
in which the needles are arranged in a ring, the feed
yarn being orientated perpendicular to the longitudinal
direction of the knit and of the needles.
By using these processes, it is easy to make the
trunk part of textile articles, which is substantially
cylindrical.
On the other hand, articles of ladies' underwear
of the bra type which are relatively asymmetrical,
compared with a tubular article, can only be partially
made on a circular knitting machine, since the article
is subsequently completed by having other components
added to it.
Some articles of ladies' knitwear of the cropped
top or "body" type are relatively easy to make in one
piece from tubular knitwear without other components
having to be added to them.
Reference may be made particularly to the document
FR 2 783 532, in which an article of ladies' underwear
is described that has two coaxial layers separated by a
fold-over part or Basque and knitted in one piece; the
inner layer having parts knitted more tightly to form
reinforcements adapted to adjust particularly to the
level of the chest.
However, the process implemented to make this
article of ladies' underwear does not for example allow
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a bra to be made with stays, which can only be obtained
by means of a stiff added component which is for
example fed into a gusset edging the cups of the bra.
One purpose of the present invention is therefore
to make an article of ladies' underwear in a single
piece that has a single layer, to which it is not
necessary to add stiff components to form stays.
To this end, a first objective of the present
invention is to propose a process for knitting an
article of ladies' underwear in one piece of tubular
knitwear, said article being knitted with a basque
which extends while edging the lower part of the cups
of said article, and said basque being knitted by
holding a plurality of contiguous stitches
substantially aligned relative to the direction of the
weft, in the areas located facing said cups of said
article so as to form, by releasing said contiguous
stitches, at least one bead approximately parallel to
said basque in said areas, so as to create stays.
One characteristic of the invention, therefore,
lies in the method of knitting the areas of the basque
located at the base of said cups which allows beads to
be made that form stays. In that way, there is no need
to add stiff components to form the stays, which means
that the article of ladies' underwear can be made in
one ready-to-wear piece. By using this process, said
articles are able to be produced at an advantageous
COSt.
According to one particularly advantageous method
of implementing the invention, the quantity of stitches
held in the direction of the weft is gradually made to
vary on either side of a central portion of said areas
and said held stitches are released so as to form a
bead with its cross-section varying as it moves away
from said central portion.
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In that way, stays are formed with the areas
corresponding to the cups having a bulkier and stiffer
central portion which diminishes the further it extends
on either side. In this way as will be explained in
more detail in the remainder of the description, on the
one hand as it moves away from the central portion,
said Basque area is pressed flat forming a first
flexible part which extends and which is intended to be
supported against the lateral part of the body trunk
and on the other hand, a second part adapted to join
the Basque area located facing the other cup.
According to a particular embodiment of the
invention in accordance with the previous method of
implementation, firstly a first part is knitted in
which, from a first quantity of held stitches of a
first row, said held stitches are gradually released
starting from the two ends of said first quantity,
towards said central portion, up to a second row in
which a second quantity of stitches less than said
first quantity is held, and from which said second
quantity of held stitches is released; and, a second
part is then knitted in which, from a third quantity of
held stitches of a third row, stitches are gradually
fastened, on either side of said third quantity,
diverging relative to said central portion, up to a
fourth row in which a fourth quantity of stitches
greater than said third quantity is held and from which
said fourth quantity of stitches is released.
Thus, by using this particular embodiment, two
consecutive beads are made, which to advantage, are
symmetrical to each other, which allows an even bulkier
and stiffer stay to be made with a substantially
circular cross-section as will be described in more
detail in the remainder of the description.
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In order to coil the bead or beads to form the
stay, in a particularly advantageous way, fastening
stitches are held before holding said plurality of
contiguous stitches and said fastening stitches are
released after releasing said plurality of contiguous
stitches. In that way, the free edge of the Basque
which corresponds substantially to the start of the
knitting is held on the needles by said fastening
stitches, while the Basque and said areas are knitted.
After the beads have been made, said fastening stitches
are released so as to coil said beads into a single
component thus forming the stay.
Preferentially, said Basque is knitted with at
least one additional yarn in said areas to stiffen
them. Thus, in addition to the contour which is given
to the Basque in said areas, the additional yarns,
which are preferably chosen to be stiffer, allow even
stiffer stays to be formed.
A second object of the invention is to propose an
article of ladies' underwear knitted in one piece of
tubular knitwear, said article being knitted with a
Basque which extends while edging the lower part of the
cups of said articles, and said Basque being knitted by
holding a plurality of contiguous stitches
substantially aligned relative to the direction of the
weft, in the areas located facing said cups of said
article so as to form, by releasing said contiguous
stitches, at least one bead approximately parallel to
said Basque in said areas, so as to create stays.
Other particularities and advantages of the
invention will emerge from reading the description
given hereinafter of particular embodiments of the
invention, given by way of example and non
restrictively, with reference to the appended drawings
in which:
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- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front view of an
article of ladies' underwear obtained by the process in
accordance with the invention;
- Figure 2 is a partial diagrammatic detail view
5 of the article shown in Figure 1, during its
development; and,
- Figure 3 is a partial diagrammatic perspective
view of a cross-section along III-III of the article
shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 shows a bra 10 obtained in one piece by a
process in accordance with the invention and by using a
circular knitting machine of the "Santoni" brand "SM8"
type. This type of knitting machine is well-known and
it already allows the manufacture of "upper body"
articles of the "body", "top" or cropped top type
without stays.
The bra 10 has a front part 11 and two lateral
parts 12, 13, each terminated by a free end 14, 15. The
two free ends 14, 15 are fitted with fastening means so
as to be connected together at the back in such a way
as to keep said front part 11 laterally on the chest.
The front part 11 comprises two cups 16, 18 extended by
straps 20, 22 connecting said lateral parts 12, 13 so
as to keep said cups 16, 18 vertical.
Initially, before the bra 10 is made, the two free
ends were connected together and the article formed a
piece of tubular knitwear. It has been cut in
accordance with a known method of implementation to
make the bra 10.
On the other hand, it has in its lower part a
fold-over part, or basque 24, which is knitted
according to a process in accordance with the invention
and which allows stays 26 to be made located in the
areas of the basque 24 edging the cups 16, 18.
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The Basque 24, as shown in figure 1, is formed of
a double layer which is shown opened out in figure 2 in
correspondence.
In figure 2 the knitwear part of the Basque 24
corresponding to said areas has been shown, the lower
part 28 corresponds to the start of the knitting and
the upper part 30 corresponds to the end of the
knitting of the Basque 24.
The process of knitting in accordance with the
invention will be described with reference to Figure 2
and to Figure 3 in which the lower part 28 of the
Basque 24 corresponds to the first row of stitches 32
and the upper part 30 of the Basque 24 corresponds to
an intermediate row of stitches 34.
The process begins by knitting on the circular
machine described above, from the initial row of
stitches 32, a first length of the Basque 24
corresponding to a few rows of stitching, then stitches
are held evenly spaced apart from each other over the
whole circumference of the Basque which will only be
released after the Basque 24 has been fully knitted in
such a way, as will be explained in the remainder of
the description, as to fold the knitwear over itself. A
held stitch 36 allowing this folding is shown in figure
3.
Then a second length is knitted up to a first row
of stitches 38 shown in Figure 3 and in Figure 2, and
from which a first quantity of contiguous stitches is
held, evenly spaced apart from each other, over a width
11 corresponding to the areas intended to edge the
lower part of the cups 16, 18.
Knitting is continued over a third length L3
during which, from said first row of stitches 38, the
contiguous stitches held from the first ends 42, 44 of
said first quantity of contiguous stitches are
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gradually released, for each of said areas; and this is
done symmetrically relative to a central portion 46, up
to a second row of stitches 47 identified in Figures 2
and 3. The effect of releasing the stitches is to
intersect two knitwear portions.
After knitting said third length L3, a second
quantity of held stitches less than the first
corresponds to a width 12, centred relative to 11, for
each of the areas. From this third length L3, said
second quantity of stitches held from the first row 38
is released, so as to intersect said first row of
stitching 38 over the width 11 with the second row of
stitching 47 and to form a first bead 48 consisting of
two folds 50, 51. This bead has a relatively constant
cross-section over a width 12 and it is prolonged
substantially sonically on either side up to the width
11.
After that, after knitting at least one row of
stitches, a second quantity of contiguous stitches of a
third row of stitching 52 is again held in said areas,
spaced apart from one another, over a width 12 and
facing the second quantity of stitches released from
the first row of stitches 38.
Then, knitting is continued symmetrically over a
fourth length L4 during which, from said third row of
stitches 52, stitches are gradually fastened from the
two ends 54, 56 of the second quantity of contiguous
stitches, for each of said areas. As in respect of
knitting the length L3, the stitches are gradually
fastened symmetrically relative to the central portion
46, as far as a fourth row of stitches 58 identified in
Figures 2 and 3.
Additionally, the length of knit L4 is
substantially equal to L3, with the result that the
quantity of held stitches in said fourth row of
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stitches 58 corresponds substantially to said first
quantity of stitches and to said width 11.
In a symmetrical way, said second quantity of held
stitches of the third row 52 and all the other stitches
held up to the fourth row 58 during the knitting of the
length L4 are then released, in such a way as to
intersect them with the stitches of the fourth row 58
over a width corresponding substantially to the width
11.
A second bead fully symmetrical with the first in
the direction of the weft and having two folds 60, 62
is thus formed.
Next a fifth length L5 shown in figure 3 is
knitted, then said held stitches, matching the stitch
36 shown in Figure 3 and which are evenly spaced apart
over the whole circumference of the Basque 24, are
released.
In that way, on the one hand stays 26 are formed
in the areas of the Basque 24 intended to edge the cups
16, 18 where the beads have been made and which is
shown in cross-section in Figure 3, and on the other
hand, two folds are formed applied one against the
other in the lateral parts of the Basque 24.
After the Basque 24, knitting is continued to
make, in a conventional way, the cups 16, 18 and the
other components of the bra.
In a particularly advantageous way, polyamide
yarns and polyamide covered elastane yarns are used to
make the bra according to the invention.
Additionally, according to one particularly
advantageous method of implementation, an additional
yarn is added, made of PVC for example, in the areas
corresponding to the stays when the Basque is knitted.
In that way the stays so formed are even stiffer.
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Furthermore, the basque portion located between
the areas of the basque 24 forming stays 26 is able to
be knitted with a particular stitch type, different
from that which is used for the other basque portions.
The same thing is true for the other parts of the
piece of tubular knitwear in which, in a known way, it
is wished to obtain particular aesthetic or mechanical
effects.
