Improvements in and in the Method of Making Knitted Garments.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 16th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 21st Apr., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in the Method of Making Knitted Garments.
A communication from abroad by MULFORD MARSH DUNN, of 28, Townsend
Street, Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of
America, Book-keeper.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
:-
This invention has for its object to improve that class of knitted garment
commonly designated as "Sweater," and also to improve the method of its
production whereby it is made more comfortable for the wearer.
The garment herein to be described may be produced on a Lamb or other
knitting machine having two rows of needles, so inclined one with relation to
the other, and so actuated that the needles of one row will, in their recipro-
cations, cross between the needles of the other row, as customary in knitting
ribbed fabric.
Sweaters as now commonly made have long collars which are rolled over and
down loosely about the neck.
This collar works up, varies in height in use, and leaves at times more or less
of the neck of the wearer exposed, this difference in exposure tending towards
producing throat trouble, and further, it is sometimes rolled down so as to present
too great thickness.
It has been my aim to make a double collar which shall remain permanently
in the same position, and which will present a more uniform stiffness about the
neck.
To this end I have provided the body of the sweater with a tubular collar knitted
to the body of the garment, and I have also devised a method of knitting whereby
the garment is without a sewed seam at the top of the shoulder.
In the manufacture of my improved garment I set up the yarn for the collar on
the knitting needles, using enough needles near the centre of the series of needles
to make the collar for one-half of the garment.
I then knit a ribbed web of a length sufficient for one-half the doubled collar,
the edge where the knitting is commenced being a finished edge.
When the knitting has been carried to a certain point the operator will stop the
machine, and it will be understood that both rows of needles will have upon them
loops of the knitted fabric.
The operator will now pick off or transfer the loops from one row of needles
on to the needles of the other row previously instrumental in knitting the collar.
With the loops all on needles in one of the rows, the operator will bring up to the
needles, from which he has just removed the collar loops, the end of the collar fabric
and will pick its loops on to the needles just left bare for their reception.
Next the operator will bring into action at each side of the needles then holding
the loops at both ends of one-half of the collar, said collar being, it will be under-
stood, doubled over on itself, a sufficient number of needles to form loops for the
shoulders of the garment each side the neck, and the operator will then again set
up the thread, this time on the extra needles so brought into action, and will start
the machine, feed all the said needles with thread and knit one-half of the
body of the shirt, the knitting being continued until the body portion has been

page_text: knitted of the proper or desired length, and that half of the garment is run off the
needles.
To make the second half of the garment I proceed first to make the second
half of the collar, and I make the said half of the collar as previously described of
the other half, and double the collar, putting the loops at the end of the collar
fabric upon the set of needles left bare for their reception, as described of the
other half.
Then extra needles at each side of those holding the loops of the latter half
of the collar, as just described, are thrown into operation, and the first half of the
garment, previously knitted, is taken again to the machine, and the loops in the
line of the body, which is the line of the top of the shoulder of the garment, are
put on to the needles, at the sides of the second half of the collar already on the
needles, the machine is started and yarn is fed to the needles and the second half
of the garment is knitted on to the loops of the two ends of the part of the collar,
and to the portions of the first half of the body, and the knitting is continued until
the second half of the body is of the proper length, when the fabric so produced is
run off the needles.
Now to make a shirt the side edges of the folded or tube-like collar parts are
stitched together thus completing the neck, the same being tubular, and the edges
are brought together and united to form a tubular body leaving however proper
spaces for the arms.
My correspondent is not aware prior to this invention that one-half the body of
a sweater has ever been knitted on to a collar and the second half of the collar
then made, and the second half of the body then knitted on to the second half of
the collar and the shoulder parts of the first half of the body, and the improved
method is not therefore limited to making the collar double or tubular in all
instances.
I have not herein particularly referred to the sleeve of the sweater, but it will be
obvious that the cuff end of the sleeve and the body thereof may be made in just the
same manner as described for making the collar and the body of the sweater, and by
the term collar and body, I intend to cover the cuff as equivalent to the collar, and
the body of the sleeve as equivalent to the body of the sweater.
Dated the 26th day of June 1893.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in the Method of Making Knitted Garments.
A communication from abroad by MULFORD MARSH DUNN, of 28, Townsend
Street, Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of
America, Book-keeper.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of 55 & 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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 :—
This invention has for its object to improve that class of knitted garinent
commonly designated as "Sweater," and also to improve the method of its production
whereby it is made more comfortable for the wearer.
In the drawing, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 are diagramatical figures illustrative of the method
of producing the garment, and Fig. 5 on a smaller scale represents the sweater
completed.
The garment herein to be described may be produced on a Lamb or other
knitting machine having two rows of needles, so inclined one with relation to the

page_text: other, and so actuated that the needles of one row will, in their reciprocations, cross
between the needles of the other row, as customary in knitting ribbed fabric.
Sweaters as now commonly made have long collars which are rolled over & down
loosely about the neck.
This collar works up, varies in height in use, and leaves at times more or less of
the neck of the wearer exposed, this difference in exposure tending towards
producing throat trouble, and further, it is sometimes rolled down so as to present
too great thickness.
It has been my correspondent's aim to make a double collar which shall remain
permanently in the same position, and which will present a more uniform stiffness
about the neck.
To this end he has provided the body of the sweater with a tubular collar knitted
to the body of the garment, and he has also devised a method of knitting whereby
the garment is without a sewed seam at the top of the shoulder. In the manu-
facture of the improved garment he sets up the yarn for the collar on the knitting
needles, using enough needles near the centre of the series of needles to make the
collar for one half of the garment.
He then knits a ribbed web as a, Fig. 1, of a length sufficient for one half the
doubled collar, the edge a¹ where the knitting is commenced being a finished edge.
When the knitting has been carried to the point a², the operator will stop the
machine, and it will be understood that both rows of needles will have upon them
loops of the knitted fabric.
The operator will now pick off or transfer the loops from one row of needles
onto the needles of the other row previously instrumental in knitting the collar.
With the loops all on needles in one of the rows, the operator will bring up
to the needles, from which he has just removed the collar loops, the end a¹ of
the collar fabric and will pick its loops onto the needles just left bare for their
reception.
Next the operator will bring into action at each side of the needles then
holding the loops at both ends of one half of the collar, said collar being, it will
be understood, doubled over on itself, as in full lines Fig. 2, a sufficient number
of needles to form loops for the shoulders of the garment each side of the neck,
and the operator will then again set up the thread, this time on the extra
needles so brought into action, and will start the machine, feed all the said
needles with thread and knit one half of the body of the shirt as b, said body being
shown by dotted lines Fig. 2 and full lines Fig. 3, the knitting being continued
until the body portion has been knitted of the proper or desired length, and that
half of the garment is run off the needles.
Fig. 3, in side and edge view, shows one half of the sweater made in accordance
with my invention.
To make the second half of the garment the operator proceeds first to make the
second half of the collar, and he makes the said half c of the collar as previously
described of the other half a, and doubles the collar, putting the loops at the end
of the collar fabric upon the set of needles left bare for their reception, as described
of the other half a, and as shown in Fig. 2.
Then extra needles at each side of those holding the loops of the latter half c of
the collar, as just described, are thrown into operation, and the first half of the
garment, see Fig. 3, previously knitted, is taken again to the machine, and the loops
in the line of the body, which is the line of the top of the shoulder of the
garment, are put on to the needles, at the sides of the second half c of the collar
already on the needles, the machine is started and yarn is fed to the needles of the
second half d of the garment is knitted onto the loops of the two ends of the part c
of the collar, and to the portions of the first half 6 of the body, and the knitting
is continued until the second half d of the body is of the proper length, when the
fabric so produced is run off the needles.
Fig. 4. shows the fabric for the collar and body knitted together.
Now to make of the fabric in Fig. 4 a shirt such as shown in Fig. 5, the side

page_text: edges of the folded or tube-like collar parts a, c, are stitched together thus
completing the neck, the same being tubular, and the edges 2-2,3-3, are brought
together and united to form a tubular body, as shown in Fig. 5, leaving however
proper spaces for the arms.
My correspondent is not aware prior to this invention that one-half the body of
a sweater has ever been knitted onto a collar and the second half of the collar then
made, and the second half of the body then knitted onto the second half of the
collar and the shoulder parts of the first half of the body, and the improved method
is not therefore limited to making the collar double or tubular in all instances.
I have not herein shown the sleeve of the sweater, but it will be obvious that the
-cuff end of the sleeve and the body thereof may be made in just the same manner
as described for making the collar and the body of the sweater, and by the term
collar and body, as designated in the claims, I intend to cover the cuff as equivalent
to the collar, and the body of the sleeve as equivalent to the body of the sweater.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
.claim is
1. As an improved article of manufacture, a knitted garment composed of a
circular body having a tubular collar knitted thereto, substantially as described.
2. The herein described method of knitting a knitted garment having a collar,
which consists in knitting one-half the collar, then knitting one-half the body to
the collar, knitting the other half of the collar, and finally knitting the second half
of the body onto the second half of the collar and as a continuation of the shoulder
portions of the first half of the body, substantially as described.
3. The herein described method of knitting a knitted garment having a collar,
which consists in knitting one-half the collar, doubling the collar onto the needles,
then knitting one half the body to the collar, knitting the other half of the collar,
doubling the second half of the collar onto the needles, and finally knitting the
second half of the body onto the second half of the collar and as a continuation
of the shoulder portions of the first half of the body, substantially as described.
Dated the 15th day of March 1894.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.