Method for manufacturing tubular articles provided with a grip region by way of circular hosiery knitting machines, and tubular article obtained with the method

Abstract

A method for manufacturing tubular articles provided with a grip region on their reverse side, particularly for providing hold-up stockings, by way of circular hosiery knitting machines, comprising the use of a circular hosiery knitting machine that has at least two feeds or drops, of which at least one first feed is capable of dispensing a bare elastomer yarn; at the first feed, at least one needle of at least one group of contiguous needles is moved to a “tuck” position or to a “drop” position knit in order to pick up the bare elastomer yarn while the other needles of the group of needles are held in or moved to the “miss” position and therefore excluded from picking up the bare elastomer yarn.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for manufacturing tubular articles provided with a grip region on their reverse side intended to be directed toward a user's skin by way of circular knitting machines, which comprises the use of a circular hosiery knitting machine that has at least two feeds or drops, of which at least one first feed is capable of dispensing a bare elastomer yarn, devices for selecting needles in order to move some of the needles of the machine to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said feeds, while other needles are excluded from picking up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said feeds, cams for actuating the needles in order to move said needles to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed by said feeds to a “tuck” position or to a “drop” position or in order to move said needles to a “miss” position for their exclusion from picking up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said feeds, said method comprising, at said first feed, at least one needle of at least one group of contiguous needles being moved to knit in order to pick up the bare elastomer yarn while the other needles of said at least one group of needles are held in or moved to the “miss” position and therefore excluded from picking up said bare elastomer yarn, and the needles of said at least one group of needles being actuated at at least one subsequent feed in order to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said subsequent feed and form knitting at least with the needles that were held in the “miss” position at said first feed, and wherein at said at least one subsequent feed, the at least one needle, which picked up the bare elastomer yarn at said first feed, is actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed by said at least one subsequent feed in the “tuck” position. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein, at said first feed, said at least one needle is actuated in order to pick up said bare elastomer yarn in the “tuck” position. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein, at said first feed, said at least one needle is actuated to pick up said bare elastomer yarn in the “drop” position. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein said bare elastomer yarn is fed to said at least one needle in a pre-tensioned condition. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein, after the production of a preset number of rows of knitting by said other needles of the at least one group of needles, at said at least one subsequent feed, said at least one needle is actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position in order to form new loops of knitting, knocking over the loops of knitting formed previously and held in the head of said at least one needle. 
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein it uses a circular hosiery knitting machine with four feeds or drops arranged in sequence around the axis of the needle cylinder of the machine along a direction of rotation of the needle cylinder with respect to said feeds or drops, and wherein, for each one of said at least one group of needles:
 at said first feed, said at least one needle is moved to knit in order to pick up the bare elastomer yarn dispensed by said first feed while the other needles of said at least one group of needles are moved to or held in the “miss” position and therefore excluded from picking up said bare elastomer yarn;   at said second feed, the needles of said at least one group of needles are actuated in order to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said second feed and form knitting at least with the needles that were previously held in the “miss” position at said first feed, the needles that picked up the bare elastomer yarn at said first feed being moved to knit at said second feed in the “tuck” position;   at said third feed, said at least one needle is moved to knit in the “tuck” position, for a preset number of rotations of the needle cylinder about its own axis, in order to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said third feed, while the other needles of said at least one group of needles are moved to knit in the “drop” position in order to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed by said third feed;   at said fourth feed, the needles of said at least one group of needles are actuated in order to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at said fourth feed, the needles that picked up the bare elastomer yarn at said first feed being moved to knit at said fourth feed in the “tuck” position.   
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein said preset number of rotations of the needle cylinder about its own axis is comprised between four and nine. 
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein after said preset number of rotations of the needle cylinder about its own axis, said at least one needle, at said third feed, is actuated in order to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position in order to form new loops of knitting, knocking over the loops of knitting formed previously and held in the head of said at least one needle. 
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the needles of the needle cylinder of the machine are composed of a preset number of groups of needles, each one composed of a preset number of contiguous needles, which are selected and actuated at the feeds or drops of the machine like said at least one group of needles. 
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 29 , wherein each one of said groups of needles comprises from seven to sixteen contiguous needles and in that, at said first feed, each group of needles is selected according to a first selection comprised between 1:6 and 1:15, i.e., with one needle actuated to pick up said bare elastomer yarn in the “tuck” position and with from six to fifteen contiguous needles in the “miss” position. 
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein each one of said groups of needles comprises from eight to seventeen contiguous needles and wherein, at said first feed, each group of needles is selected according to a first selection comprised between 2:6 and 2:15, i.e., with two contiguous needles actuated to pick up said bare elastomer yarn in the “tuck” position and with from six to fifteen contiguous needles in the “miss” position. 
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein, at said second feed and/or said fourth feed, each one of said groups of needles is selected according to a second selection chosen from among 1:1, with one needle actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “tuck” position and one needle actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position for every two contiguous needles of the group of needles, or 2:2, with two contiguous needles actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “tuck” position and two contiguous needles actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position for every four contiguous needles of the group of needles, or 2:1, with two contiguous needles actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “tuck” position and one needle actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position for every three contiguous needles of the group of needles, or 1:2, with one needle actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “tuck” position and two contiguous needles actuated to pick up the yarn or yarns in the “drop” position for every three contiguous needles of the group of needles. 
     
     
         33 . A knitted tubular article provided with a grip region on a reverse side thereof intended to be directed toward a user's skin, said grip region being defined by floating portions or bridles of bare elastomer yarn which protrude on the reverse side of the article, which is intended to be directed toward the skin of the user, and are knitted in with the other yarns that compose the article, wherein said bare elastomer yarn is knitted in with the yarns that compose the remaining part of the article by way of tuck-stitch knitting. 
     
     
         34 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 33 , wherein said grip region is defined by at least one circumferential band composed of multiple turns or rows of said floating portions of bare elastomer yarn arranged mutually side by side along the axis of the article. 
     
     
         35 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 34 , wherein said grip region is defined by multiple circumferential bands, each one composed of multiple turns or rows of said floating portions of bare elastomer yarn arranged mutually side by side along the axis of the article, said circumferential bands being mutually spaced apart along the axis of the article. 
     
     
         36 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 33 , wherein said bare elastomer yarn is made of silicone rubber. 
     
     
         37 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 33 , having, at said grip region, elastically extensible gathered portions. 
     
     
         38 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 37 , wherein said gathered portions are produced by said bare elastomer yarn that have been pre-tensioned. 
     
     
         39 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 33 , wherein stitches for knitting-in said bare elastomer yarn with the yarns that compose the remaining part of the article, row by row, are mutually aligned parallel to the axis of the article. 
     
     
         40 . The knitted tubular article according to  claim 33 , wherein said floating portions of the bare elastomer yarn are extended for a number of wales of stitches that is comprised substantially between six and fifteen.