Bi-ply fabric construction

Claim 2

A knitted fabric comprising two confronting webs, one overlying the other and united at intervals by a stitch of the yarn of one web engaging the other web, said stitches in the one web being spaced apart walewise in said web by a plurality of courses in said one web and being tied into the other web at points likewise spaced apart by a plurality of courses, each web being formed by a series of continuous lengths of yarn extending generally parallel to one another and having loops arranged in walewise and coursewise rows, one of said webs having thick and thin yarns, the thick yarns forming groups of adjacent generally parallel lengths and the thin yarns forming groups of adjacent parallel lengths, the groups of thick yarns alternating with the groups of thin yarns to produce a ridged effect in the web, with ridge lines being defined by the adjacent rows of loops of thick yarns, the groups of thin yarns intermediate said ridge lines producing air-entrapping channels in said one web.

Claim 3

A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said ridged effect appears on the surface of the one web which confronts the other web, whereby the other web is effective to close the air-entrapping channels of the one web within the interior of the knitted fabric.

Claim 4

A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said ridged effect appears on the surface of the one web which is opposite the surface which confronts the other web to provide air-entrapping channels on an outer surface of the knitted fabric.

Claim 5

A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said ridged effect appears on both surfaces of the one web, the ridges on opposite surfaces being in registry and the air-entrapping channels on opposite surfaces also being in registry.

Claim 6

A fabric according to claim 1, wherein the Ne yarn size of the thin yarns is approximately twice the Ne yarn size of the thick yarns.

Claim 7

A fabric according to claim 5, wherein the yarn size of the thick yarns is in the range of 10 Ne to 20 Ne, and the yarn size of the thin yarns is in the range of 26 Ne to 36 Ne.

Claim 8

A fabric according to claim 1, the other of said confronting webs having yarns of intermediate thickness throughout providing a substantially smooth surface on each surface of said web.

Claim 9

A winterweight garment adapted to be worn on the torso, said garment being fabricated from a knitted fabric comprising two confronting webs, one overlying the other and united at intervals by a stitch of the yarn of one web engaging the other web, said stitches in the one web being spaced apart walewise in said web by a plurality of courses in said one web and being tied into the other web at points likewise spaced apart by a plurality of courses, one of said webs having thick and thin yarns, the thick yarns being grouped in spaced-apart sequences of adjacent courses, and the thin yarns being grouped in sequences of adjacent courses between the spaced-apart sequences of adjacent courses of the thick yarns, the grouped courses of thick yarns alternating with the grouped courses of thin yarns to produce a ridged effect in the web, with ridge lines being defined by the grouped courses of thick yarns, the grouped courses of thin yarns intermediate said ridge lines producing air-entrapping channels in said one web.

Claim 10

A winterweight garment adapted to be worn on the torso, said garment being fabricated from a knitted fabric comprising two confronting webs, one overlying the other and united at intervals by a stitch of the yarn of one web engaging the other web, said stitches in the one web being spaced apart walewise in said web by a plurality of courses in said one web and being tied into the other web at points likewise spaced apart by a plurality of courses, one of said webs having thick and thin yarns, the thick yarns being grouped in spaced-apart sequences of adjacent courses, and the thin yarns being grouped in sequences of adjacent courses between the spaced-apart sequences of adjacent courses of the thick yarns, the grouped courses of thick yarns alternating with the grouped courses of thin yarns to produce a ridged effect in the web, with ridge lines being defined by the grouped courses of thick yarns, the grouped courses of thin yarns intermediate said ridge lines producing air-entrapping channels in said one web.

Claim 11

A garment according to claim 8, wherein said ridged effect appears on the surface of the one web which confronts the other web, whereby the other web is effective to close the air-entrapping channels of the one web within the interior of the knitted fabric.

Claim 12

A garment according to claim 8, wherein said ridged effect appears on the surface of the one web which is opposite the surface which confronts the other web to provide air-entrapping channels on an outer surface of the knitted fabric, said outer surface being positioned on the inside of the fabricated garment which confronts the torso.

Claim 13

A garment according to claim 8, wherein said ridged effect appears on both surfaces of the one web, the ridges on opposite surfaces being in registry and the air-entrapping channels on opposite surfaces also being in registry, said one web being positioned on the inside of the fabricated garment which confronts the torso.

Claim 14

A garment according to claim 11, the other of said confronting webs having yarns of intermediate thickness throughout providing a substantially smooth surface on each surface of said web, said other web being positioned on the outside of the fabricated garment.