Two-ply Terry Sock And Method Of Forming Same

Abstract

The leg and foot of this sock has a two-ply construction with terry loops extending inwardly on the inner ply and terry loops extending outwardly on the outer ply so that both the outer and inner faces of the sock have terry loops thereon. The sock is formed by knitting a substantially straight seamless tube while forming terry loops throughout the inside of the tube. One half of the tube is drawn over the other half to form a two-ply tube which is joined along a fold line at the upper end and the free ends at the other end are aligned and joined together to form the toe of the sock.

Description

This invention relates generally to terry socks and more particularly to such a sock having a two-ply construction so that both the inside and outside of the sock are provided with terry loops.

It has long been the practice to form terry loops on the inside portions of socks to provide warmth and comfort to the wearer. These terry loops are usually formed in the heel, toe and sole portion of the sock although they have been formed throughout the entire inside of the sock. Also, it is generally known to provide a double sock, that is one sock positioned inside of another and with portions of the two socks being connected together, generally around the upper open end by a sewn seam. This type of double sock is usually formed to provide different types of knit material on the inner and outer faces of the sock or to provide different colors. To form this type of double sock it is necessary to complete the knitting and formation of two complete socks, then place one sock inside of the other and join the two socks together, which is a time consuming and expensive operation.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a two-ply terry sock which provides terry loops on both the inner and outer surfaces to insure comfort and warmth to the wearer and to provide long life and high wear resistance characteristics to the sock.

In accordance with the present invention, the two-ply terry sock includes an inner ply with terry loops extending inwardly throughout the length of the leg and foot and an outer ply with terry loops extending outwardly throughout the length of the leg and foot. The upper portions of the inner and outer plies are integrally knit and are joined together along a fold line at the upper end in the sock. Elastic yarn is inlaid in the stitches of the upper portions of the inner and outer plies to define an elastic cuff portion at the upper end of the sock. The lower ends of the inner and outer plies are joined to each other and closed by an overedge seam to form a toe in the lower end of the sock.

The sock of the present invention is formed in an economic manner since it is initially knit as a substantially straight seamless tube with terry loops throughout the inside of the tube. One half of the tube is drawn over the other half to form a two-ply tube which is joined along a fold line at the upper end and the free ends of each ply are aligned at the lower end of the two-ply tube. The terry loops of the inner ply extend inwardly and the terry loops of the outer ply extend outwardly and the ends of the tube are closed while the two plies are joined together to form a toe at the lower end of the tube.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompany drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the substantially straight seamless tube from which the sock is formed and having terry loops extending inwardly throughout the length of the tube;

FIG. 2 is a view of the tube illustrated in FIG. 1, with the upper end portion being drawn downwardly over the lower end portion to form a two-ply tube with terry loops extending inwardly from the inner ply and extending outwardly from the outer ply;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the lower toe end portion of the sock closed; and

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the stitch structure at the juncture of the elastic cuff and the upper portion of the leg and being taken substantially in the area enclosed by the dotted rectangle 5 in FIG. 4.

The sock of the present invention is preferably knit on a circular hosiery knitting machine having sinkers or other suitable elements for forming terry loops as the yarn is knit to form stitch loops. However, it is to be understood that this sock could be knit on other types of knitting machines, if desired.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sock includes a two-ply tube including leg and foot portions and the inner ply 10 is provided with terry loops extending inwardly througout the length of the leg and foot. The outer ply 11 is provided with terry loops extending outwardly throughout the length of the leg and foot. Thus, terry loops are provided on both the inside and outside of the sock. An elastic cuff, indicated at 12 in FIG. 4 is provided at the upper end of the inner and outer plies 10 and 11 and is formed in a manner to be presently described.

The lower toe end of the sock is formed by closing the lower end with a sewn seam while joining the inner and outer plies to each other. As illustrated in FIG. 2, it is preferred that a curved seam be formed along the dotted line 13. This seam, indicated at 14 in FIG. 4, can be formed by a conventional sewing machine of the type which is normally used to form an overedge seam and trim the surplus fabric. As best shown in FIG. 3, the upper ends of the outer and inner plies are integrally knit and joined along a fold line.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the seamless tube is knit to form successive courses of stitch loops of a body yarn B. A terry yarn T is knit in plated relationship with the body yarn B in the needle wales W-1 and W-2 while outwardly extending terry loops are formed in the sinker wales. In the cuff portion 12 an elastic yarn E is suitably incorporated in the knit fabric. As illustrated in the upper courses of the fabric shown in FIG. 5, the elastic yarn E is inlaid in each course of the cuff portion.

METHOD OF FORMING SOCK

A substantially straight seamless tube is knit with terry loops being formed throughout the inside of the tube, as illustrated in FIG. 1, and an elastic yarn is incorporated in a band of the tube in the medial portion thereof which will form the cuff 12. Upon completion of the knitting of the seamless tube, one half (the upper end portion) of the tube is drawn over the other half (the lower end portion) of the tube to form a fold line along the dash-dot line 15 in FIG. 1 and to thereby bring the free ends of the inner and outer plies 10 and 11 into alignment at the open end. A curved overedge seam is then formed along the dotted line 13 in FIG. 2 to provide what is commonly referred to as a "fish mount" type of toe closure including the overedge seam 14.

Since the outer portion of the overedge seam 14 is rather bulky, the two-ply sock may be turned inside out to position the bulky part of the seam 14 on the inside before it is packaged for sale. The sock illustrated in FIG. 4 is substantially straight, however, it is to be understood that the sock may be placed on a shaped boarding form and heated or boarded to provide some resemblence of a heel pocket or other desired shape to the sock before it is sold.

The two-ply terry sock of the present invention thus provides outer and inner terry looped surfaces which provide warmth and comfort to the wearer. Since the inside and outside of the sock are identical it may be worn with either side out and will present the same surface appearance. Therefore, when one side of the sock becomes worn, the sock may be turned and the sock may be worn a greater length of time than a conventional single ply sock.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

That which is claimed is:

1. A knit sock comprising a two-ply leg and foot and including an inner ply with terry loops extending inwardly throughout the length of said leg and foot, an outer ply with terry loops extending outwardly throughout the length of said leg and foot, and the upper portions of said inner and outer plies being integrally knit and being joined along a fold line and the lower ends are joined to each other and closed by a seam to form a toe at the lower end of said sock.

2. A sock according to claim 1 including elastic yarn inlaid in the stitch loops of the upper portions of said inner and outer plies to define an elastic cuff portion at the upper end of said sock.

3. A sock according to claim 2 wherein said inner and outer plies of said leg and foot portion are substantially straight tubes.

4. A method of forming a sock comprising the steps of knitting a substantially straight seamless tube while forming terry loops througout the inside of said tube, drawing one half of said tube over the other half of said tube to form a two-ply tube being joined along a fold line at one end and having the free ends of each ply aligned at the other end of the two-ply tube, the terry loops of the inner ply extending inwardly and the terry loops of the outer ply extending outwardly and closing said other end of said two-ply tube while joining the plys together to form a toe at said other end.

5. A method according to claim 4 including the step of inlaying elastic yarn in the stitch loops in the medial portion of said straight seamless tube to provide an elastic cuff when said one half of said tube is drawn over said other half.

6. A method according to claim 4 wherein said toe is formed by forming a curved seam across the two-ply tube and adjacent the free ends of each ply.