Abstract:
A method of forming an article of hosiery for being worn by a wearer in a footed or footless configuration includes forming a foot portion, leg portion, and panty portion, where the foot portion is formed by turning in an end portion of a circularly knitted fabric tube and connecting a first portion of an end edge to the fabric tube using transfer loops to form a turned welt around only a first portion of the perimeter of the fabric tube. A second portion of the end edge remains unattached and defines an opening between the second portion of the end edge and the fabric tube. The opening is dimensioned to receive toes of the wearer.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/361,699, filed Jan. 30, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of women&#39;s hosiery, such as stockings or tights, and in particular, to a stocking or tights construction, which may be converted from a footed to a footless configuration, or vice versa. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a women&#39;s hosiery construction, which may be easily converted from a footed stocking or tights to a footless hosiery, similar to leggings, wherein the foot portion is turned under when worn in a footless configuration. 
     In one embodiment, the end portion of a tubular knitted foot portion for an article of hosiery has a turned welt knitted in around about one half of the perimeter of the end portion, leaving about half of the perimeter unattached such that an opening is formed in the end portion, so that the unattached portion of the end portion may be pulled forward and extended over the wearer&#39;s toes and sole of the foot, or alternatively wherein the unattached portion may be folded inwardly into the end portion to form a footless configuration. 
     Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to an article of hosiery, comprising a pair of circularly knitted tubular portions, each tubular portion comprising a panty portion, leg portion, and an integrally knitted foot portion as described above. 
     Other aspects of the present invention are directed to alternate methods for forming the tubular knitted foot portion and the article of hosiery including the integrally knitted foot portion. In one method, the turned welt is knitted only about one half of the circumference of the end portion, and in an alternate method the turned welt is knitted around the entire circumference, and the unattached portion may be formed by cutting half of the circumference. 
     Various features and aspects of the invention will become apparent upon review of the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective, environmental view of an embodiment of the convertible tights formed according to the present invention, illustrating the tights when worn in a footless configuration. 
         FIG. 2  is a close-up perspective view of the convertible tights of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footed configuration. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the foot portion of the convertible tights of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footed configuration. 
         FIG. 4  is a rear view of the convertible tights of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footless configuration. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the foot portion of the convertible tights of  FIG. 3 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footed configuration. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the foot portion of the convertible tights of  FIG. 4 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footless configuration. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below and illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodiments described are only for purposes of illustrating the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention, which, of course, is limited only by the claims below. Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications and improvements of the described embodiments, will occur to those skilled in the art, and all such alternate embodiments, modifications, and improvements are within the scope of the present invention. 
     Referring to the Figures in general, and to  FIG. 1 , in particular, the present invention is directed to an article of women&#39;s hosiery, shown generally as  100 , such as tights. As used herein, “hosiery” refers to any article of apparel that covers some or all of a wearer&#39;s legs and/or feet, such as, stockings, tights, socks, etc. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , which is a front perspective, environmental view of an embodiment of the convertible tights formed according to the present invention, illustrating the tights when worn in a footless configuration, the tights  100  comprise a pair of continuously knitted tubes  110 , each tube comprising a panty portion  120 , a leg portion  130 , and an integrally knitted foot portion (shown as  140  in  FIG. 2 ). A waistband  122  may be integrally knitted to the top of the panty portion  120  during the formation of the tubes  110 . In forming a complete pair of tights  100 , the panty portions  120  may be each cut and seamed together along seams  124   a  and  124   b.  A separately-formed crotch piece  126 , formed of similar knitted material, and which may include a liner, may be separately attached to complete the tights. As will be appreciated, the tights may then be dyed a selected color. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , which is a close-up perspective view of the convertible tights of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footed configuration, each foot portion  140  comprises an upper portion  142  and an end portion  144 , or toe pocket. In one embodiment, as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , during the knitting process, and as explained in greater detail below, the end portion may be turned back inside the tube  110  and the edge adjoined to the outer layer of the tube  110  to complete the turned welt. As explained in greater detail below, this may be done in one of two manners, which include either adjoining the edge of the end portion around approximately one-half of the perimeter of the end portion, or alternatively, by adjoining the edge of the end portion around the entire perimeter of the end portion, and subsequently separating the turned welt around approximately half of the perimeter of the end portion in a manual operation. The turned-in part of the end portion  144 , which is in contact with the bottom (sole) of the foot when worn, extends circumferentially around approximately half of the perimeter of the end portion  144 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , which a top view of the foot portion of the convertible tights of  FIG. 1 , illustrating the tights when worn in a footed configuration, the turned-in portion of end portion  144  ( FIG. 4 ) may be folded back at or near the line created by a turned welt  145 , as that term is commonly known in the knitting arts, where the turned-in portion of a knitted fabric is folded in to create a double layer of fabric and then adjoined along the edge of the end portion with transfer loops, as they are commonly known in the art. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , which is a bottom view (when worn) of foot portion  144  ( FIG. 3 ), the turned welt  145  may generally separate the upper portion  142  from the end portion  144 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the knitted tubes  110  of tights  100  are formed on a commercially-available Lonati, Model 400 circular knitting machine. This particular knitting machine comprises a standard four inch knitting head having 200 dial jacks, or bits, 400 needles, and 4 yarn feeds; however, other models or brands, including different sizes of knitting heads may be used to form the same tights  100 . 
     The knitting process may begin with the toe pocket  144 . One-half, or 100 of the dial jacks on the knitting machine are programmed to knit the end portion  144  to create the turned welt  145 . More specifically, the machine is programmed to knit about one half of the end portion  144 , hold the fabric so formed, and then complete the turned welt  145  with transfer loops. As will be understood, by knitting with only one half of the dial jacks, the turned welt  145  is completed around approximately half of the perimeter of the end portion  144 , with the remaining unattached portion of the perimeter thus forming the toe pocket and a portion of the bottom (sole) part of the foot when worn. 
     In the embodiment shown in the Figures, three yarns are fed from each of the four yarn feeds, each of the yarns comprising 20 denier spandex plaited with a 40 denier, 34 filament nylon; however, the selection of yarn types, materials, and deniers is not critical to the present invention and may be varied according to the type of hosiery desired. As will be appreciated, tights typically include an elastomeric component. 
     Alternatively, the circular knitting machine may be programmed to take yarn on all 200 of the dial jacks and complete a turned welt  145  around the entire perimeter of the end portion  144 . In this embodiment, the machine is programmed to knit in “puckers” (not shown) approximately 180 degrees apart along the turned welt  145 . As used herein, puckers are simply raised portions, or markers. In this embodiment, in a subsequent step, a bar tack is applied manually by an operator over the puckers. A bar tack may be stitched to a fabric to prevent unraveling. In this particular embodiment, subsequent to applying the bar tacks, an operator will manually cut one half of the perimeter along the line  147  forming the turned welt to create the end portion  144 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a cross-section of the convertible tights  100  in the footed position is illustrated (the scale and thickness of the layers has been exaggerated to better illustrate the configuration of the cross section). To wear the tights in the footed configuration, the wearer&#39;s foot ‘F’ is inserted through the leg opening and is then inserted into the opening  146  of the folded back end portion  144 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , below the wearer&#39;s foot F are a first layer  144   a  and a second layer  144   b  of the bottom (sole) side of the end portion  144 . The first layer  144   a  and second layer  144   b  are adjoined along line  147 . Also, below the wearer&#39;s foot F, but above layers  144   a  and  144   b,  is a third layer  144   c,  which forms the folded back portion, or toe pocket  144 . Above the wearer&#39;s foot F is a top layer  144   d,  which is simply a continuation of third layer  144   c.  As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , layers  144   c  and layers  144   a  and  144   b,  are unattached. 
     Turning lastly to  FIG. 6 , a cross-section of the convertible tights  100  is illustrated in the footless configuration (again, the scale and thickness of layers has been exaggerated to better illustrate the configuration of the cross-section). To wear the tights in the footless configuration, the wearer&#39;s foot F is removed from the opening  146  of end portion  144  and inserted between the first and second layers  144   a  and  144   b,  which are adjoined by the turned welt  145 , and the third layer  144   c,  which is folded inwardly beneath top layer  144   d.  Because the first and second layers  144   a  and  144   b  are joined by the turned welt  145 , there is no substantially visible seam or bulge when the tights  100  are worn in this footless configuration. As also can be seen in  FIG. 6 , layers  144   c  and  144   d  are positioned generally in front of the wearer&#39;s leg. 
     With respect to the remaining portions of the convertible tights  100 , once the turned welt  145  is formed, the knitting machine is programmed to transfer the yarns from the dial jacks to all 400 needles to knit the leg portion  120  and panty portion  130 . Lastly, the yarns are transferred back to the 200 dial jacks, wherein the waistband  122  is also formed having a turned welt  143 , as explained above. 
     Although the present invention has been described with an exemplary embodiment, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.