IMPROVEMENTS IN STOCKINGS AND SOCKS
Year: 1884

page_text: WO JOHN HARRIS COOPER of Evington in the County of Leicester and Friars
Causeway Leicester Hosiery Manufacturer and WILLIAM JAMES FORD of
Humberstone in the County of Leicester Manufacturer do hereby declare the
nature of our Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOCKINGS AND SOCKS" to be
as follows:-
According to our Invention we manufacture stockings and socks with the leg
heel and foot all in one piece without seam and with that portion of the work in
the lower part of the leg piece which comes just above the heel and also with the
heel piece itself made of thicker substance than the other part of the work-To
effect this we first form upon a circular knitting machine a tubular piece of work
of the length required for forming the leg piece For any desired number of the
Jast courses of work in this leg piece we make the work produced upon say about
one half of the circle of needles of increased substance by laying a thickening
thread on to these needles together with the thread with which the other part of
the work is produced. When the heel piece is to be formed we continue to
produce work with the two threads upon those needles only upon which the
thickened work was previously produced. At the end of each course of work
over this row of needles the end needle of the row is put out of action still
leaving a loop of work remaining upon it and this is continued for any desired
number of courses to produce a tapered piece of work. Afterwards a further
similar number of courses are made and at the end of each course one of the
needles at the end of the row which previously had been put out of action is again
brought into action and this is continued until all of the needles in the row have
in this way again come into action. A further length of unthickened tubular
work to form the foot is then produced upon the whole circle of needles.
making the next stocking the foot would be first produced then the heel and
áfterwards the leg piece.
In

page_text: We. JOHN HARRIS COOPER of Evington in the County of Leicester and Friars
Causeway Leicester Hosiery Manufacturer and WILLIAM JAMES FORD of
Humberstone in the County of Leicester Manufacturer do hereby declare the
nature of our Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STOCKINGS AND Socks" and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :—
According to our Invention we manufacture stockings and socks with the leg
heel and foot all in one piece without seam and with that portion of the work in
the lower part of the leg piece which comes just above the heel and also with the
heel piece itself made of thicker substance than the other part of the work. To
effect this we first form upon a circular knitting machine a tubular piece of work
of the length required for forming the leg piece. For any desired number of the
last courses of work in this leg piece we make the work produced upon say about
one half of the circle of needles of increased substance by laying a thickening
thread on to these needles together with thread with which the other part of
the work is produced. When the heel piece is to be formed we continue to produce
work with the two threads upon those needles only upon which the thickened
work was previously produced. At the end of each course of work over the
row of needles the end needle of the row is put out of action still leaving a loop
of work remaining upon it and this is continued for any desired number of
courses to produce a tapered piece of work. Afterwards a further similar number
of courses are made and at the end of each course one of the needles at the end
of the row which previously had been put out of action is again brought into
action and this is continued until all of the needles in the row have in this way
again come into action. A further length of thickened or unthickened tubular
work to form the foot is then produced upon the whole circle of needles. In
making the next sock or stocking the foot would be first produced then the heel
and afterwards the leg piece.
In order that our Invention may be fully understood we have in the Drawings
hereunto annexed shown diagrams of pieces of work in various stages of the
process of making a stocking upon a circular knitting machine in the manner
above described.
Figure 1 shows a tubular piece of work forming the leg of the stocking-it is
thickened around approximately one half of its circumference at a a.
As this thickened work is produced around one half only of the circle of needles
the thickening thread will at each course be broken at the end of the thickening.
When this piece of work has been formed the several needles upon which
unthickened work was previously being produced are raised and put out of action
still however keeping the loops of work upon them. A course of thickened work
is then produced upon the remainder of the needles. At the end of this course
the thickening thread is not broken but another course is worked backwards with
both threads along the same needles and so on-whilst at the end of each course
the end needle is raised to put it out of action still however leaving the work
upon it.
•
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:
After a number of courses have been produced in this way there will have been
formed at the end of the piece of work shown at Figure 1 a tapering piece of
thickened work such as shown at 6 Figure 2.
When this has been done an equal number of courses of thickened work are
produced in the same way except that at the end of each course one of the needles
which had previously been put out of work is now brought again into work.

page_text: When this number of courses has been completed all of the needles upon
which thickened work was originally being produced will again have come into
action and a piece of work such as shown at c Figure 3 will have been produced.
In this way the whole of the pieces b and c of thickened work will have been
made in one piece without any breakage whatever of the thickening thread so
that the junction of the edges of the pieces b and c is just as strong as any other
portion of the thickened work. The other needles upon which unthickened work
had been produced and which had been put out of action are now again brought
into action and work is produced around the whole circle of needles, until a
tubular piece of work d suitable for forming the foot has been produced see
Figure 4-this tubular piece of work may either be thickened at e or not as
desired.
When this has been done the stocking is taken off from the machine and two
half toe pieces subsequently formed upon it in a flat or rotary machine and these
are subsequently joined up at their edges to complete the toe, as shown at Figure 5.
For common work the tubular piece of work forming the foot might be worked
for a somewhat greater length than necessary for forming the foot; and the toe
piece might be shaped by cutting away parts from two opposite sides of this extra
piece of work and the cut edges be subsequently sewn together or formed as
described in the heel then joined on the top part of the toe by hand needle.
A circular knitting machine so constructed that stockings can be formed upon
it in the above manner is described in the Specification of à Patent N° 1788
granted to us and bearing even date herewith.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
The manufacture of a stocking or sock composed of a tubular piece of knitted
work to form the leg thickened at a just above the heel and with the heel formed
of pieces b and c of thickened work knitted continuously without breakage of
thread on to the end of the leg piece and with the foot formed of tubular work
knitted in continuation of the leg piece and of the piece c and either thickened or
not at e substantially as described.
Of June 1884.
JOHN HARRIS COOPER
WILLIAM JAMES FORD.
.
.Carpmael & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.