DOUBLE-LAYER KNITTED FABRICS FOR ARMS PROTECTION

Smartex Research Journal, Vol. 1, No1, March 2012 © Smartex. 

DOUBLE-LAYER KNITTED FABRICS FOR ARMS 

PROTECTION 

Ana- Ramona CIOBANU 1 & Mirela BLAGA 2 

Ph. D Student 1 , Assoc. Prof. 2 , Department of Knitting and Ready-made Clothing 

Faculty of Textiles, Leather and Industrial Management 

‘Gheorghe Asachi’ Technical University, Iasi, Romania 

E-mail : mirela_blaga@yahoo.com 

Abstract: Hand protection varies from industry to industry and they came in various products 

like gloves, arms and forearms, protective sleeves, made from diferent materials designed to 

ensure the best protection against the specific hazard. The paper presents a method of 

producing an arm protection product by using flat knitting technology. The protective article is 

designed to protect the forearm and it is designed to fit various hand circumference by using a 

velcro closing system. The knitted product covers the forearm to the middle of the palm area, 

with a shaped knitted hole in the thumb finger position. By using the technical capabilities of 

the electronic V-bed flat knitting machines and the principles of knitting double face fabrics, 

the protective article is a double-layer one. Each layer might integrate different raw materials 

and by exploiting the one-step knitting process, various combinations become possible. The 

paper presents the technical solution to make such types of double layered forearm protective 

articles, manufactured on the computer controlled CMS 530 Multigauge, E 12, Stoll flat 

knitting machine. 

Key words: double-layer knitted fabric, arm protection article, V-bed flat knitting machines. 

1. Introduction 

Protection of the body during daily activities is one of the main important concern and 

objectives of humans. From a domain to another, articles designed to protect the superior 

members of the human body, take various forms, from glove for the hands to protective 

sleeve that covers the entire arm, or just parts of the arm. 

The forearm articles exist in a large variety, that why it must be taken into consideration the 

suitability of one product to the specific end use. No matter of the concrete use, like: 

protection, medical, sports, etc, a good protective sleeve must fit well, by following as much 

as possible, the contour of the arm. Also, it must provide the desired protection, while is being 

lightweight enough, not to restrict the mobility of the superior members. 

Protective sleeves made from multilayer compression blocks and impact pads used in the 

sports field, are designed in such way, that can ensure the proper protection but also to not 

restrict the movements [1]. For the aerobic workout some forearm sleeves can have weights 

included, in order to add resistance. A certain compression, insulation and antibacterial 

protection must be ensured by the arm sleeves used in surgery recovery from injury [2]. 

In the pressure therapy, extra pressure can be applied to the muscles from the forearm, by 

including some tension straps in the sleeves and also it can be used a dual tension straps, 

which distribute the pressure over a larger area [3]. 

For the mechanical purpose, the sleeves can be made from Kevlar to ensure protection 

against cuts, puncture and shear resistance, or it can have a metallic shield used by the 

mechanics, to protect from the engine manifold or other heated objects [4]. 

Insulation from wind can be ensured by ussing a sleeve with a glove wich has an elastic wrist 

ribon [5]. Other sleeves consist of outer layer made from a water repelant, ensuring protection 

against some liquids [6]. Regardless to the field of application, these type of articles are made 

from various materials suited to its intended use. 

http://www.kfs.edu.eg/srj /No1-2012/0111_116.pdf 

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One can conclude that it is increasingly felt that there is a need for engineering of 

protective knitted materials for diverse applications, where functional properties have 

preponderance over the aesthetics. 

2. Materials and method 

All the protective forearms products, exhibit diferent shape that covers the forearm until the 

wrist and some article can be extended to the level of the finger linqing or to the fingertips as 

an included glove. Combination of layers made from the same type of materials or materials 

with different properties can increase the end use properties of these arm sleeves. 

The process of producing this type of sleves usualy implies cutting the materials and 

assembling all parts together by employing the sewing procces. 

Using the technical capabilities of the electronic V-bed flat knitting machines and the 

principles of knitting double face fabrics, the arm sleeves with a double-layer material can be 

produced by exploiting the single knitting stage. 

This type of knitting machines equipped with at least two needle beds, have the ability to 

create independent layers of fabric, which are either separate or held together by loops or 

tucks, or by other knitted layers (Figure 1). The principle of creating a multilayer knitted fabric 

consist in knitting two main layers in vertical position, usually in a one step knitting process. 

The total number of layers that can be knitted is limited by the number of the knitting needles, 

specially the distance between the active needles. 

a b c 

Figure1: Double layer knitted fabrics: a. Layers conectted by loops; b. Layers conectted by tucks; c. Layers 

conecteded by the third knitted layer [7] 

The main advantage of this knitting process consists in creating fabrics with unique structures 

by connecting together two layers made from materials with different properties. The weight, 

aesthetic properties and costs can be controlled, to create the proper fabric for fulfilling the 

requirements of the end product. 

The sandwich structures offer huge potential of diversification, by applying different solutions 

[7]: 

� Varying the number of layers; 

� Engineering the fabric thickness; 

� Developing different structure and opacity independently on both faces; 

� Filling the space between the two outer fabrics, with materials; 

� Designing the cross section geometry. 

The paper presents a technical solution for manufacturing a double layer forearm weft knitted 

product, on the computer controlled CMS 530 Multigauge, E 12, Stoll flat knitting machine. 

The knitted fabric is designed to protect the forearm and to fit various hand circumferences, 

by using a velcro closing system (Figure 2a). The knitted product covers the forearm down 

from the elbow to the middle of the palm area, with a shaped knitted hole in the thumb finger 

position (Figure 2b). 


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a. b. 

Figure 2: Forearm sleeve product: a. Components of the knitted forearm sleeve; b. Final product 

The knitting process of the double-layer forearm sleeve starts by knitting first the border that 

surrounds the arm down of the elbow. To ensure a good position of the product on the hand, 

an elastic rib 2x2 structure is used for the border, under the elbow, preventing thus the fabric 

rolling down during its wearing (Figure 3). 

a b 

Figure 3: The knitted forearm sleeve: a. Double layer knitted forearm fabric; b. Final product. 

After the border ends, the knitting is continuing with body of the sleeve, until the thumb 

position. 

The sleeve article is a double-layer fabric, produced in a one-step knitting process, each layer 

integrating different types of raw materials, which means different type of yarns (Figure 4a, b). 

For this purpose, the knitting machine must be equipped with at least two yarn feeders, each 

yarn feeder for each knitted layer and for the thumb area four yarn feeders. 

a. b. 

Figure 4: Forearm knitted sleeve: a. Theoretical representation of the two layers; b. Symbol view of the knitted 

structures. 


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The two individual layers are held together by the interlock knitted structure, located on the 

product lateral edges. 

The closing system of the forearm sleeve uses Velcro strips, with the purpose of a better 

adjustment for different arm circumferences. The area where the velcro strips are attached on 

the product, must be resistant and not very extensible, to enable them to be sewn. For this 

purpose, interlock structure gives stability to the fabric, in the area of velcro stripes 

attachments (Figure 4b). 

The thumb finger’s area is a shaped hole, which is going to be fashioned by successive 

narrowing of the both knitted layers and successive widening (Figure 5). 

The fashioned thumb orifice contour can be performed on the knitting machines that are 

equipped with two needle beds having the possibility that at least one of the two needle bed is 

mobile, in order to facilitate the stitches transfer. 

Figure 5: Fashioned thumb hole contour using successive narrowing - Symbol view. 


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To fashion the thumb aperture shape, in the knitting process are used four yarn feeders, two 

for the right side of the thumb hole area and two for the left side. Each yarn feeder is used to 

knit the two individual layers for the both side of the hole. 

The final step represents the palm area of the forearm sleeve. From the thumb area to the 

middle of the hand’s palm area, the article is knitted in the same way, like the body part of the 

product. 

To prevent the ravelling of the edge where the knitted processes of the sleeve ends, a sewing 

solution can be use to cover it up. 

3. Discussions 

The main advantage of producing a double – layer protective sleeve on the computer 

controlled flat knitting machines is the low manufacturing time, which in this case is 4 minutes 

for all knitting process (Figure 6). 

Figure 6: The estimated knitting time for producing the knitted sleeve. 

The second positive feature is the manufacturing operations, consisting only of some sewing 

operations for velcro attachments and to finish the end of the product. 

The use of different raw materials on the both sides of the product does not imply the 

increasing of the knitting time, it represents just another possibility of developing various 

combinations of controlled properties on both product sides. 

In case of employing different raw materials on the individual layers, the knitting machine 

must have more than one yarn feeder to produce the layers in a one-step process. The 

number of the yarns feeders must be equal with the number of the layers. The number of 

layers cannot exceed the maximum number of the yarn feeders from the machine. 

Another technical requirement concerning the knitting machine with two needle beds, is the 

capability of one needle bed to perform racking movement, in order to adapt the right relative 

needles position for loops transfer. The transfer capabilities of the electronic knitting machines 

are also used to create the opening for the thumb finger, by successive narrowing followed by 

successive widening. 

4. Conclusions 

The proposed forearm protective knitted product has been created on the principle of double 

face knitting, increasing thus the properties of the end use of the fabric, by varying the two 

faces properties. 

The outer layer can be made from a high performance yarn that offers a special protection 

(cut-resistant, puncture-resistant or thermal-resistant) and the inner layer from yarns like 

cotton or bamboo, designated to absorb the moisture, increasing the comfort of the wearer. 

Another possibility is to fill the space between the two layers with protective pads, resistant to 

impacts; creating so a protective article for hard sport activities. 

The same fabric can be turned into a medical product, by using yarns with antimicrobial 

properties in the inner layer and the outer layer only to protect this one. 

The single step knitting process of a double-layer fabric can be used to produce products with 

different type of materials in a short time. Considering this and the low number of 

manufacturing operations for the final article, the costs of the fabrication can be easily 

reduced. 


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References 


[1] Sports Medicine> Hand/Arm/Wrist/Elbow- McDavid ® , Available from 

http://www.mcdavidusa.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=400&DEPARTMENT_ID=198, 

Accessed: 2011-09-30. 

[2] Healing Enhancements-Arm Compression Sleeves, Available from 

http://www.healingenhancements.com/armcompressionsleeves.aspx, Accessed: 2011-09- 

30. 

[3] Hammacher Schlemmer-The Muscle Recovery Compression Sleeves, Available from 

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/78524, Accessed: 2011-09-30. 

[4] Grady N. Elliot, Arm protector, Patent No.: US: 4.967.419., United State Patent 

Application Publication, Publication date: Nov. 6, 1990. 

[5] Marion Dianne Holmes, Arm protective knitted articles of clothing, Patent No.: US: 2009/ 

0100561 A1, United State Patent Application Publication, Publication date: Apr. 23, 2009. 

[6] Anastasia Fragomell, Protective sleeve, Patent No.: US: 5.924.130., United State Patent 

Application Publication, Publication date: Jul. 20, 1999. 

[7] M. Penciuc, M. Blaga, C.D. Radu, Manufacturing of 3d complex knitted shapes, Book of 

proceedings, 45th International Congress IFKT, pp. 1000-1005, ISBN 978-961-6045-79-7 

(oral presentation), 2010. 


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DOUBLE-LAYER KNITTED FABRICS FOR ARMS PROTECTION

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