Patent Publication Number: US-2005115280-A1

Title: Clothing piece

Description:
The invention relates to a garment made of a stretch fabric knit in a fine-meshed manner. Particularly, the invention relates to sportswear such as sport shorts and cycling pants.  
      Known garments of stretch fabric are mostly made of two fine-meshed knit parts with a front part and a rear part. The front part is sewn together with the rear part. Upon sewing together, bead-like seams are produced which are particularly disagreeable in garments of stretch fabric which generally have a close fit at the body. If the seams are located at positions where pressure is exerted, e.g., by a cycle saddle, painful pressure marks may be produced at the body. Further, the seams may cause chafes at the body when the garment moves in the region of the seam and thus chafes at the skin.  
      Further, it is known to produce sport shorts such as cycling pants made of stretch fabric such that a tube is knit. From one side, the tube is then cut in in longitudinal direction and sewn along this edge of cut such that two trouser legs are formed. In doing so, another bead-like seam is produced at the inside of the thighs as well as in the seat region of the cycling pants. Pressure marks and chafes are particularly disagreeable at these body spots.  
      From DE 79 22 268 U1, a pair of cycling pants is known which comprises elastically stretchable portions in the form of longitudinal strips of knitwear. It cannot be gathered how these portions of the pants are fastened to the remaining portions of the pants.  
      From U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,233, a pair of pants for cyclists is further known which is made of synthetic nonwoven and heat-deformable leather. The pants are made of a single piece.  
      It is the object of the invention to increase the wearing comfort of garments of stretch fabric knit in a fine-meshed manner, particularly of cycling pants.  
      Especially, it is the object of the invention to avoid the occurrence of pressure marks, chafes and the like.  
      This object is solved, according to the invention, with the features of claim  1 .  
      According to the invention, the garment is seamless. Thus, the entire garment does not have any bead-like seams. Particularly at those spots especially critical in cycling pants, for example, no bead-like seams are provided. Hence, the pants according to the invention do not comprise any bead-like seams at the thighs or in the seat region.  
      Since the pants according to the invention do not have any seams, a good elasticity of the pants is ensured. In the region of seams, a so-called blocking occurs since cloth is not extensible or only very restrictedly extensible in the region of seams. This blocking also occurs directly next to the seam. Particularly in the crotch and seat region of the pants, respectively, an especially high stress as to the stretching ability of the pants, e.g. cycling pants or other sportswear, occurs. Since the pants according to the invention have no seam in the crotch and seat region, respectively, damage to the pants such as a tearing-up of seams, for example, cannot happen.  
      According to the invention, for manufacturing a seamless garment of stretch fabric knit in a fine-meshed manner, a front part and a rear part are knit independently of each other. The knitting is done simultaneously so that the two parts are manufactured in parallel with each other. During the manufacture, the two parts are arranged such with respect to each other that the outer edges are adjacent to each other. During the knitting procedure, the front part and the rear part are knit together at a connecting edge without a seam. Thereby, it is possible to manufacture a garment which is completely seamless. Such a knitting is also effected along the inner seam of the legs of the pants so that no bead-like seam is produced in this region, either. Thus, the stretch fabric is smooth and free of beads along the connecting edges at both sides thereof.  
      Since no seam is produced along the connecting edge due to the knitting, both the inside and the outside of the garment are free of beads and smooth. Particularly with tight-fitting garments such as cycling pants, this has the advantage that no pressure marks and chafes can be caused by seams. Because of the knitting along the connecting edge, this region is also free of grooves and steps.  
      Preferably, the garment is manufactured from the same yarn. This means that apart from additional elements such as pockets and the like which are attached later on, the entire garment consists of one and the same material and no material with other properties is used in the production of seams.  
      To produce an uninterrupted connecting edge that does not have any holes and the like either, each row of the front part is knit together with a row of the rear part. This means that upon knitting the front part row by row, the yarn of both parts is guided such when an outer edge is respectively reached that they are connected with each other, i.e., knit together. Hence, at each connecting edge, the number of connection points between the front and the rear part corresponds to the number of rows of the front and rear parts, respectively. To shape the garment, the number of rows of the front and rear parts may vary by a few rows.  
      Preferably, the knitting of the front part to the rear part is effected during the knitting procedure of the front and rear parts. Thus, the front and rear parts are not knit separately from each other and joined subsequently but rather already connected with each other during the knitting procedure. This has the advantage that the additional operational step of connecting is eliminated and the connection is further effected with the yarn used for the front and rear parts, respectively. An additional thread for connecting the two parts is not required.  
      Even in garments that are knit together according to the invention and do not have a seam, there is, in any case, an edge at least being visible against the light along the connecting edge. This is an edge merely visually visible which cannot be felt upon wearing. To reduce the visibility of this edge, the mesh width at the connecting edge is substantially as large as the mesh width of the front and rear parts. In the ideal case, it is possible to connect the front and rear parts with each other such that even along the connecting edge, no line is visible any more.  
      In the front and/or rear part, the garment may comprise portions which are knit in a more wide-meshed manner. Such portions serve to increase the air permeability. This is particularly advantageous with cycling pants. Since the entire pants are knit, it is possible to produce the wide-meshed portions by controlling the knitting machine correspondingly. Therefore, it is not required to sew in portions with a more wide-meshed structure. Thus, portions with a more wide-meshed structure can be provided in the pants according to the invention without producing seams thereby which, in turn, cause pressure marks and the like.  
      The manufacture of a pair of cycling pants or another garment is effected by a knitting machine with a front and a back needle bed. Through the needle bed, so-called double-needle-bar meshes are knit. These are extremely fine-meshed meshes.  
      At the end of each row, the back needle bed, for example, produces a loop. The loop is taken up in front of a needle of the front needle bed so that the yarn of the front needle bed is threaded through the loop. Thereby, the border portions are knit together along a connecting edge. The same connection was made on the other outside of the two needle beds as well.  
      In order to manufacture trouser legs, two further connecting edges have to be manufactured in the middle, extending at the inner surface of the thighs. Thus, the two needle beds are configured such that one of the needle beds throws out a loop in this region as well, which is taken up by the respectively other needle bed. By controlling the individual needles of the needle beds correspondingly, the length of the rows can be varied so that trouser legs can be knit in one piece, which, for example, become tighter downwards to have an as even contact with the thigh as possible.  
      Due to the fact that, according to the invention, it is possible to manufacture the garments without seams it is possible to manufacture the cycling pants illustrated in the drawing.  
      The cycling pants illustrated in the drawing is a schematic view of a pair of pants with straps. 
    
    
      The cycling pants comprise a front part and a rear part  12  lying behind the front part  10  in the drawing. The front part  10  is knit together with the rear part  12  along outer connecting edges  14 . Further, the front part  10  is knit together with the rear part  12  along an inner connecting edge  18  extending at the inside of the thighs in order to form trouser legs  16 . The connecting edge  18  is configured such that the legs  16  of the pants taper towards the ends  20  of the legs of the pants. Thus, the lengths of the individual rows of the front part  10  and the rear part  12  vary.  
      At an edge  22  of the front part  10  opposite to the trouser legs  16 , two straps  24  are connected with the front part  10 . At the same level, i.e., at the level of the waistband, the rear part  12  is connected with a back part  26 . When the pants are worn in a conventional manner, the back part  26  fits the back of the cyclist. The straps  24  extend over the breast of the cyclist.  
      If the weather is warm, the cyclist wears the pants such that the straps extend over the breast. Thus, a good cooling is effected in this region by the airstream. Then, the back part  26  serves to absorb sweat. If the weather is cold, the pants can be worn the other way round so that the back part  26  fits the cyclist&#39;s breast in front. Then, the back part serves to keep off the cold airstream.  
      Turning the pants in such a manner, with the wearing comfort remaining the same, is only possible because of the seamless configuration of the cycling pants.