Knit apparel with integral airflow and standoff zones
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsJOSUE DIAZ, ANDREA J. STAUB, MICHAEL TANIOS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Knit apparel formed using knitted structures and yarn content to create zonal venting and material standoff are provided. In aspects, garments having standoff structures knitted into one or more zones within the garment, on an internal and/or external surface of the garment, include tops and half-tights. The standoff structures are created using missed stitches with floats adjacent knitted stitches are integral to the surrounding material. Additionally, garments having airflow apertures are included, with transfer-stitch structures creating integral openings within the surrounding material.
Claims20
A garment comprising:
- a knit material, the knit material constructed with at least one airflow zone and at least one standoff zone,
- wherein the at least one airflow zone comprises a plurality of knitted apertures in the knit material,
- and further wherein the at least one standoff zone comprises a plurality of knitted nodes in the knit material.
A knit garment comprising at least one of a first standoff zone and a first airflow zone, wherein the first standoff zone comprises:
- (A) a plurality of knitted stitches in a first standoff zone material;
- (B) a plurality of missed-stitch segments adjacent the plurality of knitted stitches;
- and
- (C) a plurality of nodes proximate the plurality of missed-stitch segments and displaced a threshold distance from a fabric back of the first standoff zone material;
- and
- further wherein the first airflow zone comprises:
- (A) a plurality of knitted stitches in a first airflow zone material;
- (B) a plurality of transferred stitches adjacent the plurality of knitted stitches, the plurality of transferred stitches forming a first plurality of apertures,
- wherein each of the first standoff zone and the first airflow zone comprises at least one contiguous yarn.
A method of manufacturing a knit article the method comprising:
- knitting a first knit course having a knit sequence, wherein the knit sequence is created by:
- forming a first set of knit stitches,
- forming a float stitch by deactivating a number of needles after the first set of knit stitches, and
- forming a second set of knit stitches after the float stitch;
- and
- knitting one or more additional knit courses each having the knit sequence, wherein the first set of knit stitches, the float stitch, and the second set of knit stitches for each knit course are aligned, wherein the first knit course and the one or more additional knit courses are consecutive courses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.