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(11) | EP 1 031 291 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Garment of hosiery with intermediate band of greater elasticity |
| (57) Garment of hosiery having a substantially tubular form, in which, between two consecutive
portions (1, 2, 5, 7, 8) of said tubular form having the same or different elastic
constants, a continuous band (3, 4, 6a, 6b) is interposed, connected to each of said
tubular portions and having a lower elastic constant than that of each of said tubular
portions. In particular, the band with a lower elastic constant is interposed between
toe portion (2) and foot portion (1) of the garment in order to absorb the stresses
which, through the toe portion of the garment, are transmitter to the toes of the
foot. |
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of hosiery and, more precisely, to a garment of hosiery such as, but not exclusively, a stocking or pantyhose, having a new structure.
[0002] As is known, articles of the above-mentioned type can be constituted by various parts having non uniform characteristics for the purpose of making each part appropriate for its own function. For example, in a women's stocking or pair of pantyhose, various parts can be identified (elastic band, girdle, thigh, ankle and toe) which differ from one another both in the type of yarn used and the resulting stitch. The elastic band, which functions to support the garment, requires a very resistant yarn (for example, Lycra®); the toe, which is the part of the stocking or pantyhose most exposed to wear, requires a yarn and a type of knitting able to withstand the continuous stresses of the foot; the girdle, when present, requires a yarn and a type of stitch able to exert the compression required by the particular article; whereas for the leg, a yarn of appropriate count (generally lower than the others) is used. Different yarns and stitch types are used for the various parts of the garment of hosiery in order to make it as adaptable as possible to the various body shapes of the people who wear it. In fact, while various sizes are made of a single article, it is practically impossible to foresee the countless shapes of potential customers. Consequently, when one of the parts of the garment of hosiery is subjected to a particular stress, this action is transmitted to the adjacent parts of the same and, indirectly, to the corresponding parts of the body.
[0003] The comfort of the foot is of particular importance. In fact, the toes are the parts of the body most exposed to the stresses induced on the garment of hosiery. There are two causes of said stresses. On the one hand, within the ambit of a single standard size of garment, both the size and shape of the foot can vary considerably; on the other hand, while the foot has an asymmetric shape, the toe of the garment of hosiery is always made symmetrically, and it is the toes of the foot that stretch appropriately the toe of the garment to adapt it to their shape. For both of these reasons, there is a very heterogeneous state of tension in the toe of the garment and, correspondingly, a heterogeneous and sometimes uncomfortable stress for the toes. The compression which the toe of the garment of hosiery exercises on the toes is accentuated also by the fact that it is realized with particularly resistant yarns in appropriate stitch types. Consequently, the toe of the garment of hosiery is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the garment, making it rather unsuitable when using particularly open footwear, such as summer footwear. To avoid this aesthetic inconvenience, so-called "sheer toes" are realized, which are toes having the same stitch density as the rest of the garment of hosiery. This, however, makes them less resistant.
[0004] Similar problems, though of lesser importance, exist in other portions of the garment of hosiery, for example the ankle or the knee, where the garment is subjected to tensions which are concentrated as a result of the anatomic articulations and/or the scarce compliance of the part of the body in contact with the garment.
[0005] The principle object of the present invention is therefore to provide a garment of hosiery in which the tensions to which the garment is locally subjected, as a result of different anatomical shapes, are absorbed, nullifying or drastically limiting their transmission to the adjacent portions of the garment.
[0006] A particular object of the present invention is to provide a garment of hosiery of the above-mentioned type able to adapt perfectly to any shape of the foot or leg within the ambit of the same size, thus eliminating annoying stresses which are otherwise transmitted to the toes, through the toe of the garment.
[0007] A further object of the present invention is to provide a garment of hosiery of the above-mentioned type, in particular having a "sheer toe," in which the transmission of tensions to the toe of the garment of hosiery is greatly reduced, thus reducing the risks of damage and maintaining unaltered the appearance.
[0008] These objects are accomplished by the garment of hosiery whose essential features are indicated in claim 1. In summary, the presence of an elastic band which is continuous between two consecutive tubular portions of hosiery and has a lower elastic constant than that of the two adjacent parts results in the absorption of the tensions which the two portions otherwise would reciprocally transmit.
[0009] Further characteristics and advantages of the garment of hosiery according to the present invention will become apparent in the following description of one of its possible embodiments, given as an example and not limitative, with reference to the attached drawings in which:
- figure 1 is a schematic view of the toe of a garment of hosiery according to the present invention in a resting condition;
- figure 2 shows schematically the distribution of the tensions acting on the foot of the garment of hosiery according to the present invention when worn;
- figure 3 shows schematically other possible ways to use the invention.
[0010] With reference to figure 1, the foot of a generic garment of hosiery, for example a women's stocking or a pair of pantyhose, is indicated with 1, and the toe of the garment is indicated with 2. Foot 1 and toe 2 can be made in a conventional way, using usual yarns for this type of application (e.g. Lycra®), and, in particular, toe 2 can be realized in a more resistant yarn and different stitch structure than those of foot 1, or foot 1 and toe 2 can have identical characteristics of material and structure (i.e. "sheer toe").
[0011] According to the invention, between toe 2 and foot 1 a continuous band 3 is provided. Band 3 is characterized by an elastic coefficient which is lower than that of the two adjacent portions and, therefore, when subjected to the same applied tension, it has a greater stretching capacity.
[0012] As shown in figure 2, the tensions, generally indicated with T, which are induced on toe 2 and foot 1 of the garment by the asymmetry of the foot are greater the more the fore part of the foot differs from the symmetrical form of the toe of the garment. These tensions discharge and are largely absorbed by elastic band 3, which is interposed between the two portions and dilates proportionally to the applied tension. In this way, the tension transmitted to toe 2 is only a residual tension and is practically negligible in comparison with the tension that would be transmitted in the absence of band 3. Similarly, tension T1, which discharges on the heal, is correspondingly lower than it would be in the absence of band 3. In other words, the foot of the garment is subjected to the same stretching to which it would be subjected in the absence of elastic band 3, but with the difference that the tensions induced by said stretching are largely absorbed, in an amount proportional to their intensity, by elastic band 3. In this way, the stresses which discharge on the toes and heal are considerably lower, if not negligible, in comparison with those generated by conventional garments of hosiery.
[0013] Similar reasoning can be applied to the different shape and size of the foot with respect the standard size of the garment. As will be apparent to a technician in the field, the tensions induced on toe 2 and foot 1 by those differences in shape and size are absorbed by elastic band 3, which is obviously able to react not only in the direction of tension T, but also in any other direction.
[0014] Besides resolving the problem of stresses in the area of the foot, the present invention also provides an adequate solution to reduce the tensions which can be generated in other parts of a garment of hosiery and can induce annoying stresses on the leg or increase the risk of tearing the garment. As the example in figure 3 shows, an elastic band 4 can be provided near the ankle, between foot 1 and leg 5 of the garment of hosiery, or a pair of elastic bands 6a and 6b can be provided above and below the knee portion 8 of the garment respectively between said portion and leg 5, on one side, and between said portion and thigh 7 on the other. In all of these cases, the presence of elastic bands between the tubular portions makes it possible to disconnect the various portions from one another, preventing or substantially reducing the transmission of tensions between one portion and the other.
[0015] The elastic band provided according to the present invention can be realized with conventional techniques. Considering, for example, the case of the band applied between the toe and the foot of a garment of hosiery, if the stitch corresponding to the foot of the garment uses an elastic yarn such as Lycra® in all of its ranks, or in the case of a "sheer toe", the band can be realized with an elastic yarn, such as Lycra®, but having a finer count and with the same type of stitch. If, on the other hand, the stitch of the foot is of alternating ranks or, in other words, a rank containing an elastic yarn followed by a rank of yarn without elastomer, the band can be realized using an elastic yarn in all the ranks or in alternating ranks, but with an elastic yarn having a lower denier. Independently from the type of yarn used and the type of construction of the stitch for the toe and foot of the garment, the lower elastic constant of the band can be obtained by widening the stitch or, that is, decreasing its density. All of the these ways, like other equivalent ones, are not described in further detail since they are well known to experts in the field.
1. Garment of hosiery having a substantially tubular form, characterized by the fact
that a continuous band (3, 4, 6a, 6b) is interposed between two consecutive portions
(1, 2, 5, 7, 8) of said tubular form having the same or different elastic constants,
said continuous band being connected to each of said tubular portions and having a
lower elastic constant than that of each of said tubular portions.
2. Garment of hosiery according to claim 1, comprising a tubular leg portion (5) suited
to fit a lower limb and terminating with a foot portion (1) and a toe portion (2),
wherein said continuous band (3) having a lower elastic constant is interposed between
said toe portion (2) and said foot portion (1).
3. Garment of hosiery according to claim 1, comprising a tubular leg portion (5) suited
to fit a lower limb, terminating with a foot portion (1) wherein said continuous band
(4) having a lower elastic constant is placed between said foot portion (1) and said
leg portion (5), near the ankle.
4. Garment of hosiery according to claim 1, comprising a tubular leg portion (5) and
a knee portion (8) wherein said continuous band (6a) having a lower elastic constant
is provided between said leg portion (5) and said knee portion (8) thereof.
5. Garment of hosiery according to claim 1, comprising a knee portion (8) and a thigh
portion (7) wherein said continuous band (6b) having a lower elastic constant is provided
between said knee portion (8) and said thigh portion (7) thereof.
6. Garment of hosiery according to claim 1, comprising, in sequence, tubular portions
(5, 7, 8) formed to fit a leg, a knee and a thigh, wherein the knee portion (8) of
said garment is connected to the thigh portion (7) at one end, and to the leg portion
(5) at the other, respectively by means of two continuous bands (6a, 6b) of a lower
elastic constant.
7. Garment of hosiery according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein a number of
continuous bands of a lower elastic constant are provided between the different consecutive
portions of said garment of hosiery.
8. Garment of hosiery according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein said garment
is a women's stocking, a pair of pantyhose, a knee-high stocking, a men's sock and
the like.