Abstract: Narrow contoured portions of a circularly knitted textile fabric may be elasticated by the selective insertion of elastic yarn segments in selected wales and courses defining the contoured area to be elasticated, preferably utilizing a circular knitting machine equipped with a computerized electronic needle selection system. In one application, a panty blank may be formed with curved elasticated contours to define leg opening borders whereby disposable or limited use garments may be fabricated with elasticized leg openings without the laborious sewing of narrow elastic bands along the leg openings. In such garments, an elasticated contour may also be fashioned to define a retaining crotch pocket for a menstrual or incontinent pad.

Abstract: A card apparatus for producing an aerodynamically formed fibrous web (4), includes a fiber feed means (6), a main cylinder (8) rotating at high speed and a shaft (10) arranged at main cylinder (8), the shaft transporting thrown-off fibers in an airflow (12) to an air-permeable web transport means (14) and disposing said fibers on said web transport means (14) in the form of a fibrous web (4). In this apparatus the main cylinder (8) throws off said fibers at a first location (22) of shaft (10) onto a second cylinder (20) rotating at high speed in opposite sense to main cylinder (8) and generating a random orientation of said fibers on cylinder (20), and the second cylinder (20) throws off said fibers into airflow (12) at a second location (24) of shaft (10).

Abstract: There is provided a warp knitting machine with a weft thread arrangement M having two jacquard guide bars 11 and 12. These are subject to shogging in the sense of a tricot stitch. In substantially each working cycle, a portion of the guides 13 of first jacquard guide bar 11 are displaced in the sense of a pillar stitch. The selection of the so displaced guides alters itself, but periodically. Thus certain needles 7 remain unlaid by warp threads of the first guide bar 11. The guides bar 14 of the second jacquard guide bar 11 lay warp threads around the said needle 11 left free by the warp threads of guide bars 11 while laying thread around other needles 7. This permits the provision of a patterned fabric which is exceedingly stable two-dimension.