Sara Lee Corporation

Jonathan M Myers

Walter H Imboden

Donald M Caudle

Joel W Marley

Seamless one-piece body garment

Continuously knit hosiery and underwear garments provide variably graduated diameters. In a blank having panty, thigh, knee, ankle, and foot portions are separated from each other by outwardly and inwardly graduated diameter portions while maintaining a constant number of wales throughout. The blank is thereby configured to conform to the natural shape of a female lower torso and leg with gradually increasing and decreasing diameters to avoid abrupt diameter changes and maintain the integrity of the fabric's appearance in the blank and garment.

Continuously knit hosiery and underwear garments having variably graduated diameters

A circularly knit tubular hosiery blank and a garment formed therefrom, the blank having panty, thigh, knee, ankle and foot portions separated from each other by increasing and decreasing diameter graduation portions and a constant number of wales throughout. The blank is thereby configured to conform to the natural shape of the female lower torso and leg with gradually increasing and decreasing diameters to avoid abrupt diameter changes and maintain the integrity of the blank fabric's appearance.

Continuously knit tubular hosiery garment blank and pantyhose garment formed therefrom

Bi directional graduation hosiery blank

A process of rotary knitting a tubular blank with a knitted pocket or pockets such as a heel or toe portion on a multi-feed circular knitting machine and products made by the process. The blank is preferably first knit with continuous courses of stitches on all needles, then with rotary knitting continuing on partial courses to form a pocket on one side of the blank while no other knitting on the blank is taking place. Each partial course has at its start a selected number of yarn end securing stitches such as tuck stitches, then a selected number of stitches to substantially form the partial course, and then a selected number of securing stitches at the end of the partial course, the purpose of the securing stitches being to lock in the yarn at the beginning and end of the partial course. This knitting pattern continues with the number of tuck stitches and other stitches in each partial course being varied to form a pocket of a predetermined design, one embodiment having the appearance and effect of a conventional gore and gore line like that formed by conventional reciprocatory knitting. When the pocket is completed, knitting can resume on all needles to form continuous complete courses of stitches.

Process of rotary knitting a tubular blank with knitted pocket on multi-feed circular knitting machine

A circularly knit hosiery member and garment formed therefrom and a method for producing both. The member has a first tubular portion with a lateral portion having a plurality of courses with short lengths. The garment is formed from a pair of the members disposed in a side-by-side relationship, slit along a part of their length and joined at paris of the edges thus formed to provide a panty section with front, rear and lateral portions. The lengths of the stitches in the courses in the lateral portions are shorter than the stitch lengths in the front and rear panty portions so that the panty section has an arcuately shaped leg profile within the lateral portions. The method includes forming the panty pantyhose combination garment from the two separate tubular members with the stitches in the courses of the lateral portions made smaller than the stitch lengths in the rear and front portions.

Panty pantyhose combination garment and method for forming same

A circularly knit tubular hosiery member and garment formed therefrom and a method for producing both. The member has a first tubular portion with a lateral portion having a plurality of courses with short stitch lengths. The garment is formed from a pair of the members disposed in a side-by-side relationship, slit along a part of their length and joined at pairs of the edges thus formed to provide a panty section with front, rear and lateral portions. The lengths of the stitches in the courses in the lateral portions are shorter than the stitch lengths in the front and rear panty portions so that the panty section has an arcuately shaped leg profile within the lateral portions. The method includes forming the panty pantyhose combination garment from the two separate tubular members with the stitches in the courses of the lateral portions made smaller than the stitch lengths in the rear and front portions.

Seamless one piece body garment

A panty garment, panty hose or the like where the garment is formed from first and second adjacent, circularly knit and identically configured tubes each having a first panty section and a second panty section each of which are slit along part of their length at different locations so that when joined at edges thus formed provide a front panty portion made up of substantially all of the first panty sections and a rear panty portion made up of substantially all of the second panty sections, the yarns being knit in each of the sections to permit more vertical stretch in the rear panty section than in the front panty section when the garment is worn.

Panty garment

A panty garment, panty hose or the like where the garment is formed from first and second circularly and oppositely configured knit tubes forming a front panty section having a shield shaped configuration and a back panty section having a V shaped configuration contained therein wherein the front and rear panty sections are formed from a multiplicity of yarn courses and the yarns are knit in stitch loop constructions to permit more vertical stretch in the rear panty section than in the front panty section when the garment is worn. Differing stitch loop constructions are utilized for the front and rear panty sections to enable this fit characteristic.

Growing community of inventors

Winston-Salem, NC, United States of America

Jonathan M Myers