US2400692A - Foot covering - Google Patents

Description

May 21, 1946. L. s. HERBERT 2,400,592

"FOOT COVERING Original Filed March 24, 1945 2'SheetS-Sheet 1 L. s. HERBERTY FOOT COVERING May 23;, 1946.

Original Filed March 24, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 2l, 1946 Foot;` CovEnING Leon S. Herbert, Merion, Pa., assigner to Theotiste N. Herbert, Merion', Pa.

origlinalapplieation March 24.,V 1943ser`ia1No.

Divided and this application December 9, 1943, Serial No. 513,597

(Cl. Sti- 7 Claims.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 480,265, filed March 24, 1943, noW Patent No. 2,344,773, granted March 21, 1944.

This invention relates to knitted foot coverings and more particularly to the slipper type of knitted foot covering adapted to be Worn inside a lowcut ladies shoe or slipper, it being among the principal objects of this invention to provide a foot covering of rib .knitted fabric in which the natural elasticity 'of the fabric extends lengthwise of the foot and is greater in the sole section than in the heel and toe sections to thereby insure a proper and 'comfortable fit of the covering upon the foot.

It is also an object of this invention to make the slipper foot covering from/a selvage edge tubular section of true rib seamless fabric of a diameter large enough so that the section, which has natural l stretch or elasticity coursewise thereof, will fit over a number of sizes of feet with the seamless courses extending lengthwise of the foot around the heel and the toe thereof, thus making it possible not only for a manufacturer of the foot covering of this invention to supply his trade with a lesser numberof sizes, but also for the retailer to stock a lesser number of sizes and yet meet all of the user requirements. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings `in which: l

Figure 1 is a View showing the slipper foot covering in place on the foot of a wearer;

Figure 2 is a side view of a tubular section of seamless knitted fabric;

Figure 3 is a view showing the section turned inside Vout and with a portion thereof cut away;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with certain edges joined together;

Figure 5 is a view of the article shown in Figure 4 turned right'side out;

Figure 6 is a view of the fabric stitches in the tuck stitch portion of the fabric; and' Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the nished product as it appears when dyed and boarded to shape.

In providing the slipper foot covering of the present'invention, a lengthwise 'extending tube of knitted fabric is provided of a Adiameter large enough so that the seamless 'courses are of such length, allowing for the natural inherent stretch or elasticity thereof, as to extend coursewise in a direction extending lengthwise of the foot and around the 'heelf'and'y the `toe thereof. Since Va knitted, fabric has greater stretch or elasticity coursewise than walewise, it is evident that the slipper foot covering so made will fit snugly around the vheel and the toe of the foot of the wearer.,A Soy far asy the feature of the invention relating to the courses yextending lengthwise of the-foot is concerned, it is obvious that a seamless tube is not essential to the same and that cut andsewn flat rib knitted fabric may be employed without `departing fromthe lspirit of the inveni tion, althoughin itsA preferred embodiment the article of this invention is fabricated of circular knit seamless fabric, as with this type of fabric the method vofwmaking the nished product is simpler and less expensive.

In the preferred embodiment rib rather than plain fabric -is used as the former has a greater stretch `or elasticity than the latter, although the latter may be used if desired. The true rib fabric may be used throughout the slipper foot, but if less stretch is desired in the heel and toe areas,

as when the sole section has suiiicient elasticity, then the stitch structure of the heel and the toe may be varied over the true rib stitch structure to reduce the elasticity of the same, such a variation in stitch structure being obtained, for example,by knitting the heel and the toe sections of tuck stitch rib, ltransferred stitches or even plain jersey fabric.

In the production of the present invention, the lengthwise extendingseamless tube is provided with selvageconstructions, in accordance with kconventional practice in the manufacture of tubular knitted articles, so that the tube may be separated into relatively short tubular sections, one edge of which has a selvage, this edge form ing the'upper finished edge of the slipper foot covering, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

A tubular section of the seamless tube just described is shown in side view in Figure 2 at I0,

y this section being so knit as to have a pair of circumferentially spaced walewise-extending plain truerib sections l I-II and a pair of circumferentially spaced Walewise-extending tuck stitch rib sections I2 and I3, the true rib sections being alternately spaced in relation to the tuck stitch rib sections. 'At the upper edge there is the selvag'e I4', which may be a tuck stitch selvage in the case of rib fabric, this selvage extending completely around the tubular section I0. The tuck stitches in the areas I2 and I3 may be made upon either the cylinder or the dial needles and may be made inv any desired pattern so long as they extend substantially throughout the areas I2 and I3 fora purpose Which'will'be apparent herein-v after. The areas I2 and I3 may contain other stitch variations than the tuck stitches, such, for example, as transferred stitches or they may be made of plain jersey fabric, the purpose in all such cases being to reduce the elasticity of the heel and toe portions of the foot covering, these portions being designated in Figure 1V by the reference numerals I5 and I6.

In Figure 3, the tubular section II) has been turned inside out and one edge of the toe sectionv I5 has been shaped, as shown at I6, by cutting. *n

As shown in Figure 4, the seam I'I is used to join together the out edges I 6 to form the covered wearer, this snug t being facilitated by the I0 to close the bottom of the same to form the"vr i the tucked rib sections, the even-numbered wales 2i), 22, 24, 26 and 28 being drawn in one direction and the odd-numbered wales 2l; 23, 25, 2'I-and 29 Vbeing drawn in the opposite direction. In each of the wales 2l and 25 there is a series of tuck stitches and in the tuck stitch sections I2 and I3 of the fabric, this Wale of tuck stitches is repeated at regular intervals. The tuck stitches may be arranged in any desired design and they may be included in either or both of the toe and hee portions.

When the slipper foot is made fromY a' tubular section of rib fabric it is relatively immaterial which side of the fabric is outermost as both faces of the plain rib are substantially alike. In the tuck stitch rib sections I2 and I3, the tucks will vbe on one side or the other of thefabric depending upon whether they have been vmade by the cylinder or by the dial needles and in these 'sections the tucks maybe placed on the inside or on Y the outside of the finished product as desired without departing from the spirit of the invention. If desired, and in order to provide the covering with some further degree of shape, theattened tube ID may be further trimmed in the regions of the lower toe and heel portions to provide somewhat rounded shapes inthese regions, the cut edges of the tube and the lower edges thereof extending along the sole portion being then joined together by the -continuous line of stitching I8.

It Will be understood, however, that this shaping threads incorporated therein. The use of a'rib providing a maximum of elasticity. Theprovi- Y sion of the tuck stitch wales in the heel and in the toe sections, as in the form of construction shown'in Figures 1 to '7, reduces somewhat the elasticity in these sections so that the toe and heel portions I5 Vand I6 of the finished covering more snugly t about the toe and heel of the greater elasticity of the rib fabric of the lower sole portion which ,permits the foot to be Vfitted toe section I5 andthe seam I8 is used "to join, 'i v"Without binding' dSCOInfOl. The inherent Seltogether the lower edges of the tubular section;k

vage edge IgImade in the knitting of the tubular 1 section I0 provides a finished edge for the article f of` apparel without kany further operations.

It will be understood, of course, that this invention is susceptible of various modifications" whichfmay' be ,made from time to time without departing Vfrom the'real'spiriti or generalV princi,.-

. What is claimed as new and Yuseful is:

1. A slipper type foot coveringrof such; height asitobe completely concealed from View. when worn'within anouter pump or other, such low.-

, cut shoeand formed of a knitted fabric wherein edge to prevent raveling thereofand;the upper front part of the fabric, whenfolded flatwise upon itself, extending Yalong a. diagonal line-,in continuation of the` selvage edge providing registery ing ravel or unfinished edges, said Ylatter edges cumferentially seamless or endless knitted` con- A structon in the plane of the line a-a, and inasmuch as the knittedcourses also extend circumferentially about the foot (i. e. lengthwise thereof), the covering has sufficient elasticity to t snugly over the foot.

It will be seen that I have provided a foot covering of knitted fabric in the form of a slipper foot in which the Vcourses extend lengthwise of the foot so that the natural elasticity'of. the textile rfabric. causes the covering-totsnugly over the foot without the use of rubber or elastic being seamed together to providethe covering witha v,fashioned toe pocket and with an opening in the top ,thereof of substantially lersscircumferential extent. than( the overall" peripheral length of.V the foot covering,V therbottom of the folded fabric being seamed along aline paralleling the courses Vof the fabric and spaced from the` selvage edges aforesaid and the line'f the toe-fashioning seam'. l Y l .2. A slipper type foot covering of the character dened in claim 1 wherein at least one por-f tion'thereof disposed adjacent oneend of the intermediate sole portion of the covering is knitted of tuck stitches to provide said tuck stitch knitted portion with a lesserde'gree of stretch thanthe remaining portion of the covering.

3. A slipper type foot covering of the character defined in claim l wherein thertoe and heel portions thereof are knitted of stitches differing in character from those of which the sole portion is knitted to providefor reduction in'the stretch Vcharacteristic of the. -toe and portions Vof the covering as compared with that of'tlie'intermediate sole portionthereof. Y

LA slipper'type foot covering of the character Y defined in claim 1 wherein the toe and heelY portions thereof are knitted of tuck lstitches and the sole portion of plain stitches wherebyjtopr'ovide f for reduced' course-Wise stretch of thej'cover'ing in the toe and heel portions as compared with thatin the intermediate sole portion thereof.;

"5. A slipper type rfoot coveringgof the charac- I '7. In a slipper type foot covering of the character dened in claim 1 wherein the aforesaid knitted courses extend continuously and without interruption around at least one end of the covering to form afseamless knit band extending horizontally around said end and from side to side thereof.

LEON S. HERBERT.

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