Method of knitting in pleats and knitted texture having knitted pleats

Abstract: A method of knitting in pleats includes knitting a succession of surface knitted sections (A), fold-back knitted sections (B), and overlap knitted sections (C), with the use of arrays of knitting needles mounted on at least a pair of front and rear needle beds, one or both of which are arranged movable leftward and rightward. The fold-back knitted sections (B) are removed from the corresponding needles after fastening of thread ends. The surface knitted section (A) and/or the overlap knitted section (C) close to the needles, is or are displaced from which the fold-back knitted sections (B) are removed, so that they are located next to each other. A succession of the surface, overlap, and surface knitted sections (A, B, C) are loaded onto the array of needles on one of the two needle beds. After moving the other needle bed in a direction opposite to the fold-back direction of the fold-back section (B), the overlap or surace knitted section (A or C) is loaded onto the knitting needles of the other needle bed. After moving the other needle bed in the knitting direction of the fold-back knitted section (B), the overlap section (C) overlapped with the surface section through stitch shifting. The overlapped regions are bound in pleats.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of knitting in pleats, e.g. forming pleats in the waist or hem region of a knitwear such as a one-piece garment or a skirt, and a knitted texture having knitted pleats. One prior method of constructing box pleats is disclosed in Japanese patent specification No. JP-A-5-735038. In that specification a Z shaped pleat is formed by linking one fold in the fabric Z to the toe of the Z of fabric by a link thread. However, although the pieces of fabric may be held together by the thread they can never become a unitary structure and furthermore the link thread is exposed on the interior of the fabric and can thus be snagged or severed resulting in the complete loss of shape of the pleat. It is known that each of a series of pleats, e.g. box pleats arranged in the hem of a one-piece garment or a skirt, is formed by sewing a knitted fragment, which constitutes a fold-back section and an overlap section of the box pleat, into the slit of a surface knitted base, the box pleat being fabricated with the same material as the fragment. However, the disadvantage is that as the knitted fragment attached to the slit and the surface knitted base are fabricated separately, the process of knitting is doubled and takes a considerable length of time and also, the sewing of the fragment onto the base involves labour costs and time. More particularly, the assignment of corresponding stitches on the knitted base for matching the fragment with the slit has to be made at high accuracy to avoid unfastened stitches which may cause loose threads in the knitting. This job demands skill thus causing a drop in productivity. To eliminate the foregoing disadvantage, the applicant of the present invention has previously introduced a method comprising the steps of: knitting a succession of surface knitted sections, fold-back knitted sections, and overlap knitted sections with the use of arrays of knitting needles mounted on at least a pair of front and rear needle beds, one or both of which are arranged to be movable laterally leftward and rightward; folding the fold-back knitted section over the back of the surface knitted section along a boundary line extending between the fold-back section and the surface section; folding the overlap knitted section over the fold-back section along a boundary between the overlap section and the fold-back section so that the surface, fold-back, and overlap knitted sections are overlapped in "Z' form; and binding the uppermost ends of the triple-folded regions in pleats. Commonly, the arrangement of pleats in knitwear, e.g. a one-piece garment or a skirt, is essential to allow a person who wears the knitwear to have the feeling of a good fit and to move more freely. The aforementioned method proposed by the same applicant provides in each pleat an upper end in the "Z' or triple-folded form. Accordingly, when knitted with the use of a needle bed capable of traveling on a rack, say, a 14-pitch distance at maximum, the pleat will be limited in the size to seven pitches, a half the 14-pitch distance, at each side due to the pleats symmetrical shape. The drawback thus resides in a fact that pleats of larger than that size are hardly feasible allowing only a limited quality of fashionable knitwear to be served. Also, the triple-folded regions become bulky and extend outward, thus providing a less fashionable appearance. Furthermore, the upper end of the triple-folded regions provides less flexibility in functional properties and ensuring less comfort in wear. It is an object of the present invention, in view of the foregoing drawbacks, to provide a method of knitting in pleats, by which knitwear shaped in desired fashion and comfortable in wear can be fabricated without a decrease in productivity, and a knitted texture having knitted pleats. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of knitting in pleats comprising the steps of knitting a succession of knitted sections forming the surface, the fold-back and the overlap portion of a knitted pleat with the use of arrays of knitting needles mounted on at least a pair of front and rear needle beds, one or both of which are arranged to be movable leftward and rightward from a reference position, characterised by removing the sections forming the fold-back portion of the pleat from the corresponding needles after fastening of their thread ends, displacing the sections forming the surface and/or the overlap portion of the knitted pleat to the needles from which the sections corresponding to said fold-back portions have been removed so that a surface portion and an overlap portion are located next to each other on one of the needle beds, overlapping the knitted section constituting the overlap portion of the knitted pleat with an adjacent surface portion through stitch shifting, and binding the overlapped regions in pleats by knitting a further course. The fold-back knitted sections are removed from the corresponding needles after fastening of thread ends by closed stitch knitting or thermal shrinkage thread fusing. Then, at least either the surface knitted section or the overlap knitted section is displaced so that the surface and overlap knitted sections are located next to each other. The ovelap knitted section is folded over the back of the surface section by displacing the end of the overlap section located next to the end of the surface section in an opposite direction and the two knitted sections are bound together at uppermost regions. Then, the fold-back knitted sections remain unsuspended at upper end and the double-folded regions are formed less bulkily thus maintaining flexibility. The invention also provides a knitted texture comprising a succession of knitted sections forming the surface, the fold-back and the overlap portion of a knitted pleat wherein said overlap portion is adjoined to said fold-back portion which in turn is folded over the back of said surface portion so that the latter is thereby spaced from said overlap portion, characterised by double-folded regions at the upper end of the knitted texture where said overlap portion and said surface portion are bound together in a pleat while the fold-back portions of the knitted pleat remain unsuspended. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the present invention explaining an improved method of knitting in pleats and a knitted texture having knitted pleats, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a group of courses for forming a box pleat from the start of knitting a surface knitted section A to its closed stitch process; Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a group of courses for closing a surface knitted section E; and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the transfer of knitted sections for forming the box pleat. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described referring to the accompnaying drawings. A knitting machine of this embodiment is of a transverse knitting type having a pair of front and rear needle beds (not shown) arranged in parallel to each other and with their upper sides spaced more closely together than their lowe sides. Each of the needle beds supports a multiplicity of knitting needles in a line each mounted for forward and backward sliding motion on the bed. The rear needle bed is arranged for lengthwise racking movement through a distance of seven pitches in each of leftward and rightward directions from a central position where the two needle beds are aligned. Fig. 1 illustrates the arrangement of primary knitting courses for forming box pleats, in which the vertical axis represents successive courses and the horizontal axis represents a series of loops in knitting. The lower-half of each course carries a series of loops of thread looped on to the knitting needles of the front needle bed (referred to as front knitting needles hereinafter) and the upper-half carries a series of loops looped on to the knitting needles of the rear needle bed (referred to as rear knitting needles hereinafter). As shown, each of the courses 1, 2, and 3 consists of a surface knitted section A of sheeting form fabricated with the front knitting needles, a fold-back knitted section B of elastic form fabricated with the front and rear knitting needles, an overlap knitted section C of elastic form, another fold-back knitted section D of elastic form, and another surface knitted section E of sheeting form. The knitted sections are knitted with threads 1, 2, and 3, which are fed from their respective carriers, not shown, by action of the front and rear knitting needles controlled with a carriage (not shown). Also, the knitted sections are coupled at ends to one another by means of tack knitting using the threads 1, 2 and 3. Two junctions I and II between the fold-back sections B and D and the overlap section C are arranged in single-side knitting for ease of making creases. At the courses 4 and 5, the series of thread loops of the elastic fold-back knitted section B to the left are divided into two sections on the front and rear knitting needles respectively for preparation for closing the section B. Then, the successive loops held on their respective needles are closed and removed from the needles one by one shifting stitches from one to another through the successive courses 6 to 20. Also, the series of the thread loops of the elastic fold-back kinitted section D to the right, like the fold-back section B in the left, are divided into two successions on the front and rear knitting needles respectively at the courses 21 and 22, as shown in Fig. 2. Similarly, the successive loops of the section D are closed and removed one by one from their respective needles during the courses 23 to 36. As the shift of looped stitches is carried out throughout the foregoing courses, a successively the surface knitted section A of sheeting form, the overlap knitted section C of elastic form, or the surface knitted section E of sheeting form may become "slim". If the slimness is found in the overlap section C, this is compensated for at courses 37 and 38, additional loops being added to the loops transferred from the rear needles to the front needles at course 39. At courses 40 and 41, the slimness in the surface knitted section A of sheeting form is compensated. Also, at courses 41 and 42, the slimness in the surface knitted section E is compensated. As both the elastic fold-back knitted sections B and D to the left and right respectively have been closed and removed, their corresponding knitting needles situated at the left and right sides of the overlap knitted section C now carry no loops of thread. The two surface knitted sections A and E of sheeting form are transferred and loaded onto the foregoing knitting needles besides the overlap section C during the courses 39 to 40, as denoted by the arrows in Fig. 3. The transfer of the two surface sections A to E from a group of needles to another group will now be described. In order to dislocate the surface knitted section E, it starts with the rear needle bed moves on a rack from the original position to the right limit (by seven pitches because the knitting machine permits this travel while the loops of thread of the surface knitted section E remain loaded on the front needles). Then the successive loops of the surface knitted section E are transferred from the front needles onto the target rear needles. The rear needle bed is returned to the original central position, and the loops of the surface knitted section E are displaced seven pitches to the left as denoted by the arrows M1 in Fig. 3. The rear needle bed is then moved again from the central position seven pitches to the left. The loops of thread are transferred from the rear needles to the front needles, the surface knitted section E is further displaced by seven pitches to the left as denoted by the arrows M2. As a result, the surface knitted section E is displaced a distance of 14 pitches leftward from the original position at the course 2 with its left end located next to the right end of the overlap knitted section C. In order to dislocate the surface knitted section A, the rear needle bed moves on a rack from the central position to the left limit (by seven pitches) while the successive loops of the surface knitted section E remain held on the front needles. Then the successive loops of the surface knitted section E are transferred from the front needles onto the target rear needles. The rear needle bed is returned to the central position, the loops of the surface knitted section A are displaced seven pitches to the right as denoted by the arrows M3 in Fig. 3. Similarly, the rear needle bed is moved again from the central position seven pitches to the right. As the loops of thread are transferred from the rear needles to the front needles, the surface knitted section A is further displaced seven pitches to the left as denoted by the arrows M4. As a result, the surface knitted section A is displaced a distance of 14 pitches rightward from the original central position at the course 2 with its right end located next to the left end of the overlap section C. Prior to the course 43 where the thread 3 for knitting the overlap section C is removed from the corresponding needles, the surface knitted section E is shifted leftward for forming the right half of a box pleat and the surface knitted section A is shifted rightward for forming the left half of the same. The successive loops of both the overlap section C and the surface section E are transferred from the front needles to the rear needles before the leftward displacement of the surface section E and after the course 42. Then the rear needle bed is moved on a rack by seven pitches from the original position to the left and the loops of the surface section E are transferred from their respective rear needles to the front needles. The rear needle bed is returned to the central position, and the loops of the surface section E are displaced seven pitches to the left as denoted by the arrows M5. Furthermore, the rear needle bed is moved by seven pitches from the original position to the right and then, returned to the left by seven pitches. When the loops of the surface section E held on their respective front needles have been transferred back to the rear needles, the surface knitted section E is displaced seven pitches more to the left as denoted by the arrows M6. Accordingly, the surface knitted section E is overlapped with the right half of the overlap knitted section C forming the right half of a box pleat. For forming the left half of the box pleat, the rear needle bed moves on a rack by seven pitches from the original position to the left. The loops of the surface knitted section A are then transferred to the rear needles then transferred back to the front needles after returning the rear needle bed to the central position. Accordingly, the surface knitted section A is displaced seven pitches to the right as denoted by the arrows M7. Then, after the rear needle head is moved leftward by seven pitches, the successive loops of both the overlap section C and the surface section E are transferred from the rear needles to the front needles. The two sections C and E are now displaced by a distance of seven pitches in the overlap relationship as denoted by the arrows M8. As a new series of loops are formed at the course 44, a box pleat of closely knitted texture is completed with its two, left and right, 14-pitch deep pockets extending symmetrically. Although the fold-back knitted sections B and D of elastic form have their uppermost ends unsuspended, they will cause no loss of fit quality. It is understood that any one or both of the two front and rear needle beds of the transverse-type knitting machine can be arranged for transverse movement even though in the embodiment described the rear bed is arranged to move and the front bed to be stationary. Although the knitting machine in the embodiment has one pair of the opposed needle beds, it may have two or more pairs for successfully achieving the object of the present invention. It is also understood that the method of the present invention is applicable to form common pleats as well as box pleats. Although the uppermost ends of the fold-back knitted sections B and D are finished with closed stitches, they may be fastened so as not to come loose with the use of thermal shrinkage thread woven into the knitted texture and fused by heat. Also, the knitting arrangement of the embodiment in which the fold-back and overlap sections B, D, and C are knitted in elastic form and the surface section A and E are knitted in sheeting form may be altered or modified as desired.

Claims: A method of knitting in pleats comprising the steps of knitting a succession of knitted sections forming the surface, the fold-back and the overlap portion of a knitted pleat with the use of arrays of knitting needles mounted on at least a pair of front and rear needle beds, one or both of which are arranged to be movable leftward and rightward from a reference position, characterised by removing the sections (B,D-Fig.1) forming the fold-back portion of the pleat from the corresponding needles after fastening of their thread ends, displacing the sections (A,C,E-Fig.1) forming the surface and/or the overlap portion of the knitted pleat to the needles from which the sections corresponding to said fold-back portions have been removed so that a surface portion and an overlap portion are located next to each other on one of the needle beds, overlapping the knitted section constituting the overlap portion of the knitted pleat with an adjacent surface portion through stitch shifting, (M5,M6,M7,M8-Fig.3) and binding the overlapped regions in pleats by knitting a further course. A knitted texture comprising a succession of knitted sections forming the surface, the fold-back and the overlap portion of a knitted pleat wherein said overlap portion is adjoined to said fold-back portion which in turn is folded over the back of said surface portion so that the latter is thereby spaced from said overlap portion, characterised by double-folded regions (A,B,C;C,D,E) at the upper end of the knitted texture where said overlap portion (C) and said surface portion (A,E) are bound together in a pleat while the fold-back portions (B,D) of the knitted pleat remain unsuspended.

Inventors: MITSUMOTO SHIGENOBU, MITSUMOTO, SHIGENOBU
Applicants: SHIMA SEIKI MFG, SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: D04B1
IPC codes: D04B27, D04B1