Slide fastener support and method of warp-knitting same

A method of making a slide-fastener support tape with a knitting machine having a pair of needle bars, said method comprising the steps of:

• chaining a relatively thin first warp yarn with both of said needle bars to form a longitudinally extending double wale;
• chaining a plurality of relatively thin second warp yarns with only one of said needle bars to form an array of longitudinally extending and transversely spaced single wales adjacent said double wale;
• spacing the edge single wale of said array by a gap from said double wale;
• blind lapping a relatively thick warp yarn into said gap;
• inserting a plurality of first weft yarns each across a plurality of said single wales;
• lapping a second weft yarn into said double wale and said edge single wale to one side of said thick warp yarn;
• and
• lapping a third weft yarn into said double wale and said edge single wale to the other side of said thick warp yarn.

A slide-fastener stringer half comprising a knitted support tape having a coupling edge formed with a bead and a plurality of coupling members secured to and straddling said bead, said tape being formed with:

• warp yarns in the configuration of respective warp chains defining longitudinally extending pillars and valleys between said pillars;
• inlaid weft yarns extending between said warp chains;
• looped yarns extending between said warp chains across the width of said tape;
• a gap formed in said warp chains between an edge-warp chain at said coupling edge and a further warp chain, a first of said looped yarns extending back and forth between said edge and further warp chains;
• a bend-forming thread lying in said gap and flanked on one side by one of said looped yarns;
• and
• a second looped yarn flanking said thread on the opposite side thereof and extending back and forth between said edge and further warp chains, said first and second looped yarns forming where they reverse direction loops knitted into the respective warp chains, said edge and further warp chains being each of double yarns constituting pillars on both surfaces of said tape.