Improvements in Knit Fabrics for Underwear, Hosiery, and other Knit Goods.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr... 1898-Accepted, 28th May, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Knit Fabrics for Underwear, Hosiery, and other
Knit Goods.
I, DAVID FROST HALSTED, (Manufacturer), of 21, St. James Place, Brooklyn, in the
County of Kings and State of New York, United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved knit fabric for
underwear, hosiery, blankets, and other knit goods, and arranged to permit its
manufacture at a considerably less cost than the all-silk goods now used and for
which my improved fabric is to be a high-grade substitute.
The invention consists principally of a fabric having a face thread, a binding
thread and a silk thread, of which the latter is bound in by some of the loops
of the binding thread, and the binding thread is interlooped with the face
thread.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of the improvement, showing the interlooping
of the face thread, binding thread and silk thread.
Figure 2 is a rear face view of the fabric; and
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the improvement with the silk face napped and
tufted.
The improved knit fabric is provided with a body made of a knit cotton fabric A,
preferably formed of two threads A1 and A2 interlooped with each other, and of which
the thread A' is the face thread and is in front of and regularly interlooped with the
binding thread A2, which, in turn, has some of its loops passed around the silk
thread B forming the back of the fabric, so that a silk rear face is provided on
the back of the cotton fabric. As shown in the drawings, every third loop of the
binding thread A² is interlooped with the silk thread B, so that the latter floats at
intervals on the back of the fabric. It is evident, however, that the binding
thread A2 may be interlooped every fourth loop or any other desired number of
loops, but always so as to cause a float of part of the silk thread on the back of the
fabric.
The silk thread B is especially prepared and is comparatively much thicker than
the cotton threads A¹ and A2 forming the fabric A, so that the loops A³ of the
thread A2 for interlocking the said silk thread B are scarcely visible on the silk
face, and they permit of napping the silk, as indicated in Figure 3, to give
a tufted appearance, as at B₁, to the silk face on the back of the cotton
fabric.
By the arrangement described, the binding threads A2 are not visible either on
the front face of the cotton fabric A or on the silk or rear face, after napping the silk
thread.
In forming the fabric, the silk thread B is looped around the needles by placing

page_text: it first in front of one needle and then back of the two next following needles. T'hen
the cotton thread A² is thrown into each needle, to bind the thread B at every third
loop A³, and the other thread A¹ is then thrown into the needles regularly, to
bind the threads A2 at the front side of the silk thread B. It is evident
that any number of loops A³ may be used for binding in the silk thread B,
and it is understood that the latter during the process of knitting is always around
the needles but not in the same, and the other threads A1, A2, are thrown into the
needles to form the body of the fabric A and to cause the thread A2 to bind in
the silk thread B. The machine used is an ordinary circular knitting machine
having a circle of needles, and a series of burr wheels for looping the silk thread B
around the needles as above described.
Now it will be seen that by the arrangement described, the silk thread B for the
silk face is loosely bound in by some of the loops A3 of the binding thread A² of the
cotton fabric A, so that the silk threads form a very soft face, and this face, when
the fabric is manufactured into knit goods such as hosiery and the like, is next to the
skin of the wearer, and consequently the merits of the manufactured goods are
the same, if not superior, to those of the expensive, well-known "all silk "
goods.
For forming blankets the cylindrical weave is cut longitudinally, and opened and
bound in at its edges by suitable bindings or doubled up edges sewed to the
body.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what
I claim is :-
1. A knit fabric for hosiery, blankets, underwear and other knit goods, having a
body comprising a fabric formed by a face thread, a binding thread, and a silk thread
interlocked at intervals by some of the loops of the said binding thread, the
latter being interlocked with the face thread, substantially as shown and
described.
2. A knit fabric for hosiery, blankets, underwear and other knit goods, comprising
a cotton fabric formed of a face thread and a binding thread in the rear of the face
thread and following the lines of the said face thread, the successive courses of said
face thread and binding thread being interlooped with each other, and a silk thread
for each course of such face thread and binding thread, interlocked at intervals with
the said binding thread by the said silk thread passing through the bottom portions
of some of the loops of the said binding thread in each course, each loop being locked
by the upper ends of the succeeding loops of both face and binding threads,
substantially as shown and described.
Dated this with day of immi 1000
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.