Circular knitted garment for lower torso

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10273606-B2
Application number	US-201514640487-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2015
Priority date	Mar 6, 2015
Publication date	Apr 30, 2019
Grant date	Apr 30, 2019

Abstract

Present aspects hereof are directed to a circular knitted garment for a lower torso, formed from a circular knitted tube of fabric. In some aspects, a bottom edge of the tubular fabric body includes an arched front cutout with generally convergent legs, and an arched back cutout with generally divergent legs. Upon sewing a seam between the arched front cutout and the arched back cutout, a vertical seam is aligned with a vertical axis of the tubular fabric body and a front rise of the garment is lower than a back rise of the garment. In further aspects, a bottom angled cutout along the bottom edge of the tubular fabric body provides a perpendicular alignment between the bottom edge of the garment and the vertical inseam of the garment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A circular knitted article for a lower torso comprising:
a tubular fabric body comprising a tubular material, a fabric front configured to cover a front lower torso of a wearer, a fabric back configured to cover a back lower torso of the wearer, a front upper edge, a back upper edge that continuously extends from the front upper edge, the front upper edge and the back upper edge configured to encircle a waist of the wearer, and a bottom edge;
a front arched cutout along at least a portion of the bottom edge of the fabric front of the tubular fabric body, the front arched cutout having a front arched cutout height along a vertical axis of the tubular fabric body, wherein the front arched cutout comprises a front arched cutout edge of the tubular material;
a back arched cutout along at least a portion of the bottom edge of the fabric back of the tubular fabric body, the back arched cutout having a back arched cutout height along the vertical axis of the tubular fabric body, wherein the back arched cutout comprises a back arched cutout edge of the tubular material; and
a seam that couples the entire length of the front arched cutout edge to the entire length of the back arched cutout edge to provide a single inseam along the vertical axis, a right leg, and a left leg formed from at least a portion of the tubular fabric body;
wherein the front upper edge of the circular knitted article is positioned a first distance away from the bottom edge and the back upper edge is positioned a second distance away from the bottom edge, the second distance being greater than the first distance.

2. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein the tubular fabric body comprises a knit fabric formed from a single tubular structure knitted in a circular direction around a central axis.

3. The circular knitted article of claim 2 , wherein the fabric front of the tubular fabric body comprises at least a portion of a knitted surface of the tubular fabric body viewed from a first side of the tubular fabric body in a vertical orientation, and further wherein the fabric back of the tubular fabric body comprises a knitted surface of the tubular fabric body viewed from a second side of the tubular fabric body in the vertical orientation, the second side opposite said first side.

4. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein:
the front upper edge of the fabric front of the tubular fabric body corresponds to a front rise of the circular knitted article; and
the back upper edge of the fabric back of the tubular fabric body corresponds to a back rise of the circular knitted article.

5. A circular knitted article for a lower torso comprising:
a tubular knitted body having a tubular knit material, a fabric front configured to cover a front lower torso of a wearer, a fabric back configured to cover a back lower torso of the wearer, a continuous upper edge configured to encircle a waist of the wearer, a bottom edge, and a vertical axis;
a front arched cutout of the tubular knit material, the front arched cutout located on at least a portion of the bottom edge;
a back arched cutout of the tubular knit material, the back arched cutout located on at least a portion of the bottom edge; and
a single, continuous inseam that couples the entire length of the front arched cutout to the entire length of the back arched cutout such that a front portion of the upper edge of the circular knitted article is in a lower position than a back portion of the upper edge of the circular knitted article upon coupling the front arched cutout to the back arched cutout, wherein the bottom edge of the circular knitted article is perpendicular to the vertical axis and further wherein:
the front portion of the upper edge of the circular knitted article is positioned a first distance from the bottom edge and the back portion of the upper edge of the circular knitted article is positioned a second distance from the bottom edge, the second distance being greater than the first distance.

6. The circular knitted article of claim 5 , wherein at least a portion of the single, continuous inseam is parallel to the vertical axis.

7. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein the circular knitted article is seamless except for the single inseam.

8. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein the bottom edge of the circular knitted article is perpendicular to the vertical axis.

9. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein the circular knitted article is formed from a single tube of material.

10. The circular knitted article of claim 1 , wherein the front arched cutout height is the same as the back arched cutout height.

11. The circular knitted article of claim 5 , wherein the circular knitted article is seamless except for the single, continuous inseam.

12. The circular knitted article of claim 5 , wherein the circular knitted article is formed from a single tube of material.

13. A circular knitted tube for forming a lower torso garment, the circular knitted tube comprising:
a body in the form of a seamless tube, the body having at least an upper edge and a bottom edge;
a front arched-shaped cutout located along the bottom edge of the body at a front aspect of the body, the front arched-shaped cutout having a first height along a vertical axis of the body; and
a back arched-shaped cutout located along the bottom edge of the body at a back aspect of the body, the back arched-shaped cutout having a second height along the vertical axis of the body, the first height of the front arched-shaped cutout greater than the second height of the back arched-shaped cutout, wherein:
the upper edge at the front aspect of the body is aligned with the upper edge at the back aspect of the body relative to a horizontal axis of the body, and
a third height measured from the upper edge to the bottom edge at the front aspect of the body is less than a fourth height measured from the upper edge to the bottom edge at the back aspect of the body.

14. The circular knitted tube of claim 13 , wherein the front arched-shaped cutout comprises a first end portion and a second end portion, and wherein the back arched-shaped cutout comprises a third end portion and a fourth end portion.

15. The circular knitted tube of claim 14 , wherein the first end portion and the second end portion converge along the bottom edge of the body.

16. The circular knitted tube of claim 15 , wherein the third end portion and the fourth end portion diverge along the bottom edge of the body.

17. The circular knitted tube of claim 13 , wherein the circular knitted tube comprises a knit fabric formed from a single tubular structure knitted in a circular direction around the vertical axis.

18. The circular knitted tube of claim 13 , wherein the upper edge forms a waist opening for the lower torso garment.

19. The circular knitted tube of claim 13 , wherein the bottom edge forms a right leg opening and a left leg opening for the lower torso garment.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Turner David

Classifications

• A41B9/001 Primary

  Underpants or briefs (specially adapted for men A41B9/02; specially adapted for ladies A41B9/04) · CPC title

• A41D2500/10

  Knitted · CPC title

• D04B1/243 Primary

  upper parts of panties; pants · CPC title

• A41D1/08

  specially adapted for sporting purposes · CPC title