KNITTED GARMENT PANEL

Abstract: A knitted panel for producing a machine knitted garment of type waistcoat or jacket in one piece with a divided front. The main part of said panel or at least a strip section (19) adjacent one or more of the edges (11) of the panel is formed by knitting in double bed. An additional section (20) outermost along said edge (11) is formed by knitting in a single bed, wherein said outer section forms a rolled piping. The front is partly folded outward or inward, e.g. for forming a neck opening (21) and/or a pocket.

Description: TITLE Knitted garment panel TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention refers to a knitted panel for producing a machine knitted garment of type waistcoat or jacket in one piece with a divided front, wherein the main part of said panel or at least a strip section adjacent one or more of the edges of the panel is formed by knitting in double bed, wherein an additional section outermost along said edge is formed by knitting in a single bed, and wherein said outer section forms a rolled piping. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Traditional manufacturing of ready-made garments, e.g. jackets or waistcoats, usually comprises cutting sections and stitching them together into a complete garment. This assembly of the garment is labour-intensive and requires a high degree of precision in order to make the garment fulfil the demands regarding quality and trueness to size. If the garment is provided with a pattern, cutting and assembly should be performed with regard to the pattern which often causes spillage of fabric. The same goes for knitted garments, with the exception that the different parts which form the garment may be knitted to substantially the right shape separately, without any cutting. However, the assembly of the parts is just as labour-intensive and involves the risk of faults in the production. Also, it is known to manufacture knitted jackets or waistcoats by knitting a large rectangle. This knitting may be performed in computer controlled knitting machines with double bed, which enables patterns and structure knitting. By folding the rectangle at two places, it will form the back piece, the side pieces and a divided garment front. This method reduces the manual work effort during assembly of the garment. Openings are made at the sides, either for forming the arm openings of a waistcoat, or for mounting the arms of a jacket. The design and the manner in which the material in the divided front of the garment hangs, is very important for the appearance of the garment. Therefore, it is common to make a fold in each front section, so that two front pieces are provided and a V-shaped neck opening. The folding can also be made in such a way, that each front section is folded in parallel with the two short ends of the rectangular panel, whereupon further folds are made, so that the front pieces are provided together with the V-shaped opening. One disadvantage with this is that the two times double folding results in four knitted layers which may lead to a garment which is unnecessarily lumbering. One drawback with this prior art which involves forming the front pieces by folding the short ends of the rectangle, is that one is comparatively rigidly confined to certain basic variants. Also, a garment having front sections folded in several layers tend to be rather heavy and warm, so that it is not readily worn when the temperature surpasses normal room temperature. It would also be advantageous to be able to produce knitted garments with unfolded or outward folded end edges, because it will then be possible to further simplify and reduce the manual work effort for the production of these garments. A main reason for avoiding production of knitted garments with unfolded or outward folded end edges, is that the outer edge tend to get a "ragged" appearance, as this edge has no structural stability and tend to roll itself up. THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM One object of the present invention is therefore to provide a knitted garment panel which may form an end edge, e.g. in a divided front section, in its outward folded state. THE SOLUTION For this purpose, the invention is characterized in that the front is partly folded outward or inward, e.g. for forming a neck opening and/or a pocket. Owing to this design of the knitted garment panel, it will for example be more simple to provide aesthetically attractive front pieces and one will have much more freedom than before in designing such front pieces. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described here below with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 schematically shows a knitted garment panel according to a first embodiment of the invention, with the right half in a folded state, and Fig. 2 shows correspondingly a structurally knitted garment panel according to a second embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS In Fig. 1 is shown a rectangular knitted garment panel 10 having short sides 11 and long sides 12, 13, during completion to a ready-made jacket having a divided front and a V-shaped neck opening. The garment panel is folded as is shown at the right part of Fig. 1, substantially in parallel with the short sides 11 along fold markings 14, for forming the back part 15 and the sides 16. The remaining parts of the garment panel 10 adjacent the short sides 11 form the divided front part 17. An arm hole has been made at the side of the garment panel 10 for mounting a sleeve 18. The main part of the knitted garment panel in Fig. 1 is knitted in single bed, with the exception of a strip section 19, which is structural knitted in double bed. Beyond this strip section 19, has been knitted in single bed over some needles, a narrow edge section 20 which because of the structural differences between purl and right side of the garment automatically will be shaped into a loop piping resembling rolled edge. This clearly defined rolled edge provides for an aesthetically attractive end edge of an unfolded knitted garment panel, which does not require any further work effort. Also, the rolled edge constitutes an elastically flexible, structural strengthening of the edge, which contributes to maintaining the shape of the garment. Thus, the rolled edge is formed by the transition from a section which has been knitted in double bed, to a section which has been knitted in single bed and which rolls up towards the purl side. It appears from the right side of Fig. 1, a subpart 21 of the double knitted strip section 19 is folded outwards along a fold marking 22, for making a neck opening. By making the edge section 20 change from purl to right side in the area of the point of intersection of the fold marking 22 and this section 20, the rolled edge will be turned to the same direction notwithstanding that the front part 17 is partly double folded. The knitted garment section 10 may be knitted entirely or partially with one or several patterns in two or several different colours, in such a manner that the pattern appears with its reverse side and right side at the same side of the garment panel. The fold markings 14 of the garment panel may be provided by knitting in yarn having a contrasting colour. An alternative and more advantageous method is to provide the fold markings of the front part by knitting the garment panel over a narrow segment in a single bed over a number of needles. This means that the fold marking forms a genuine physical fold in the garment material, which contributes to the faultless hanging of the garment and ensures an attractive appearance which is maintained even if the garment is washed. Fold markings may also be produced by some other structure knitting of the garment panel. In this way, the fold markings may also become an active part of the total design of the garment and thus may increase its purchase value. Fig. 2 shows correspondingly, another variant of the invention, wherein the same designating numbers have been used at corresponding details. The garment panel has been structurally knitted in one piece with three with one another interconnected segments, which are connected via the fold markings 14. These segments are entirely knitted in double bed, except for said fold markings 14 and the rolled edge forming outer sections 20, which run both along the outer edge of the front parts 17 and along the structural knitted openings 23, 24 which form the respective arm openings and slits of the garment. The three segments only need to be attached with stitches along the shoulder part of the garment, in order to form a complete waist-coat. Naturally, it is also possible to attach sleeves. The invention is not limited to the above described embodiments, but several modifications are possible within the scope of accompanying claims. For example, the outer edge section 20 may be made wide or small, and in the same or a contrasting colour for decorative effects. The neck segments 21 may be exchanged for along the bottom edge 13 folded segments which form pockets in the garment.

Claims: CLAIM 1. A knitted panel for producing a machine knitted garment of type waistcoat or jacket in one piece with a divided front, wherein the main part of said panel or at least a strip section (19) adjacent one or more of the edges (11) of the panel is formed by knitting in double bed, wherein an additional section (20) outermost along said edge (11) is formed by knitting in a single bed, and wherein said outer section forms a rolled piping, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the front is partly folded outward or inward, e.g. for forming a neck opening (21) and/or a pocket. 2. A knitted panel according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the rolled piping section (20), at a partly folded front (17), is designed so that it changes from purl to right side in the area of the point of intersection of the fold and the rolled piping section (20). 3. A knitted panel according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a fold marking (22) meets the end edge (11) of the front.

Inventors: NILSSON EIVOR, NILSSON, EIVOR
Applicants: KRISS AB, NILSSON EIVOR, NILSSON, EIVOR
Application year: 1996
Main classification: D04B1
IPC codes: A41D31, D04B1