CH626669A5 - Knitting loom with straight rods - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a knitting machine with straight bars.

45 The knitting looms with straight bars have had, since the introduction of the looms of the Cotton patent around the 1860s (see GB patent No. 3123 of 1864) the same general configuration with only small changes. In the Cotton Patent type straight bar multi-section, most ordinary 50 knitting looms, a composite movement is imparted to the needle bar by upper levers pivotally attached to each end of the needle bar to support the needle bar and communicate an up and down movement to it, and by an upright support arm which can pivot together with the needle bar to give a movement of advance and retreat. The movements are produced from cams on a single camshaft capable of turning, these cams attacking levers fixed to longitudinally extending shafts, serving as mounts for the raising and lowering levers or as a feed lever and recoil acting on a lower connecting rod connected to the 60 support arm. Seen from the side, the levers, the support arms and the connecting rods have the appearance of a quadrilateral, with the longitudinal shafts at an upper corner, the needle bar outside the quadrilateral at another upper corner and the cams in below the quadrilateral. Considered from the front, the levers, the support arms and the connecting rods are spaced apart by mounting them in different parts of the longitudinal shafts, so that the same cam can serve a certain number of levers. Operating mechanisms for suspension bars and felling bars and any other mechanism added to the

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Over time were mounted on the loom using similar longitudinally extending shafts (see for example US Patent No. 3397555).

In a knitting machine with rectilinear bars, single section, less commonly used (see GB patents Nos 411517 and 867391), the actuation mechanism of the basic needle bar was not changed. The longitudinal shafts were grouped more closely and some added parts of rib knitting mechanisms were actuated by separate cams, on each side of the single section.

GB patent No. 643624, granted to Pourchot, shows a common shaft extending longitudinally, for the levers and the single camshaft located inside the aforementioned quadrangular arrangement, but which does not ensure adequate pressing. needle noses or hooks (to close them before slaughtering) because the needle bar is pulled when pressing (i.e. to press needle needles against needle stems) by a spring and that the needle bar protrudes above the quadrangular arrangement thereby adversely affecting constructive rigidity.

The long path, along which a force was transmitted from the cams to a lever, to a longitudinal shaft and then by a lever and, possibly, connecting rods and arms supporting the needle bar, opposed the direct nature of the actuation of the needle bar, affected its rigidity and its ability to operate at high speed. Similar actuation arrangements for other movements or mechanisms presented the same kind of difficulty. The floor area occupied was generally considerable.

To combine the various actuating elements, it was generally necessary to make them of different shapes, lengths or dimensions, so that the number of elements stored for the manufacture of looms with straight bars and for their maintenance was high.

These factors (the difficulty of incorporating additional elements and the cost of manufacturing) combined, so that the trades had only a limited possibility of further development, whether it was a development to increase production speed or to perform additional functions or to perform them more flexibly.

In addition, the knitting head of known looms is not itself designed to be compact or to have rapid operation. The noise of sliding cams, or sliders, and the wear of the oscillating levers increases a lot at high speeds, and the felling bar, which is clamped between the needle bar and the plate bar, tends to bend at high speeds or requires considerable reinforcement to resist bending.

Even if it was possible to work at high speed, the cam control mechanism would cause the cam follower rollers to jump off their ridges, thereby destroying the precision of the control of the various movements.

The pulling mechanism generally employs rigid rods, friction boxes and slide bars which occupy considerable space and do not lend themselves to rapid operation. The endless belt mechanisms, which have been developed in a variant, lead to ruptures and they occupy space at the rear of the knitting head.

The problem posed by the fatigue arising from the actuation of the advance and retreat at the ends would also arise with a conventional actuation of the felling bar.

In known straight bar knitting looms, the felling bars are mounted and actuated by drive arrangements to impart to the felling bar a lifting movement, or up and down movement, and a movement of advancement, or movement forward and backward. For these two movements of the felling bar, provision has been made: a cam, a cam follower roller on a lever arm fixed to a motor shaft, lever arms on the motor shaft, at each knitting head, operating a link arm between the lever arm and the felling bar. For advancement in particular, lever arms are attached to the advancement shaft at each end of the knitting head, and two link arms extend from the ends of the lever arms, at the front of a needle bar, past the ends of the needle bar, toward the ends of the felling bar. The shaft for the forward movement of the felling bar is well below and in front of a knitting head formed by the compact arrangement of a needle bar, a felling bar, a head rail and a plate bar. An example of such an arrangement is given in US Patent No. 3397555.

The felling bar is confined between a needle bar on one side and a head rail on the other side. This limits the thickness of the felling bar and the amplitude of its back and forth movement. The reciprocating forward and backward movement at high speed causes the bending bar to flex by deformation, but the extent to which deformation can be countered by mechanical reinforcement of the bumper bar is limited by the available space. The corresponding increase in the inertia of the felling bar would in any case hamper operation at high speed.

The object of the invention is to provide a new configuration of loom with rectilinear bars, which avoids or reduces the limitations specific to the loom of the Cotton type and which is capable of development. The loom according to the present invention is characterized by the content of claim 1.

These arrangements, when adopted for the movements of the needle bar and the felling bar, differ markedly from the conventional actuation arrangements of the needle bar and the felling bar.

Preferably, a mechanism for sequentially advancing the platens extends longitudinally through the respective rectangular configurations and along the rear of the knitting head, a head rail for mounting the platen bar being located between the area of fabric formation and the pivot area. Thus, a very compact arrangement is obtained. Viewed from the side of the loom, the quadrangular configuration and the knitting head (including the needle bar but excluding any possible rib knitting device) partially overlap. Only the hanging bar for conventional looms is arranged in a way that resembles in all points the arrangement generally adopted here for knitting equipment. Since many levers and connecting rods will operate above the head rail, it has been found advantageous to arrange and construct the respective actuation mechanism, so as to allow their close grouping at the ends of the knitting head, as will explain it in more detail below.

In the compact arrangement, the needle bar can be actuated directly so that the needle bar is pulled when pressed by a feed and reverse rod extending from the needle bar to a point behind the knitting head. The connecting rod, which extends generally horizontally, does not support the weight of the needle bar, while the lever arm for raising and lowering, generally horizontal, arrangements of the prior art was the bar support to main needles. To maintain the positive control of the needles, when they are pulled during pressing, guide plates can prevent the needle bar from having a play at the longitudinal end. Preferably, the needle bar is supported by a raising and lowering arm at each end of the needle bar, and the raising and lowering arms are pivotally connected each to traction rods for forward and reverse movement. . Thus, the movement of the advancing and retreating rod is imparted simultaneously to each end of the needle bar, allowing the application of greater forces to the needle bar for pressing.

The use and arrangement of the traction rod of the forward and reverse movement helps to obtain high speed operation because it is light, while allowing direct transmission of considerable forces without significant deformation. The back and forth movement of the needle bar can be obtained

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while giving a reciprocating motion to a relatively light actuation arrangement. By using a direct actuation of the needle bar, the advance and reverse levers are preferably implemented with a mechanical effect (or ratio of the distance to the pivot of a cam follower lever to the distance to the pivot a connecting rod lever) of about 1.

Conventionally, the needle bar is fixed to the raising and lowering arms, between their pivoting connection to the advancing and reversing connecting rods and their pivoting connections with the actuating levers for raising and lowering, so that the needle noses are in line with the feed and reverse links. The needle bar is thus not cantilevered and is mainly supported from below. The actuation levers have fixed pivots at a corner of the quadrilateral opposite to that where the tips of the needles are located. This arrangement of the various elements improves access to the knitting head from above and from the front. The movements of the felling and hanging bars can be arranged in a manner analogous to the movement of the needle bar, giving a very compact actuating arrangement with short paths of force transmission, suitable for operation at high speed and using standard levers at the same time. There is space available, first below the L-shaped region for the drive elements such as the cams, but, importantly, there is also some behind the knitting head.

The actuation mechanisms for the different movements can be doubled at each end, and the number of shafts capable of pivoting, which extend longitudinally outside the knitting head, can be reduced, or else the use of these trees can be completely avoided. The connecting rods and the support arms also having their own actuation mechanisms, such as levers and cams, can be provided at an intermediate point of the head rail, such as for example a needle bar arm, for raising and lowering, or a grab bar arm, forwards and backwards. Some connecting rods and arms, however, are on an extension of the thread feeding path or the tissue attracting paths, and the position of these elements should be limited to the sides of the needle bar. Thus, the rods of the needle bar, for forward and backward movement, are provided only at each end of the needle bar and, likewise, the arms of raising and lowering of the hooking bar are found only at each end of it. By a suitable arrangement and design of the connecting rods, arms and levers, one can keep small the size of the space occupied by the connecting rods which define the ends of the useful region of knitting. The needle bar can be provided with a reinforcement flange to increase its resistance to deformation when it is pulled when pressed at its ends only. The reinforcement flange is preferably located at the rear of the needle bar (that is to say on the side of the needles opposite that of the needle noses), at a level adjacent to the attachment of the needles. This considerably improves, surprisingly, the stability of the needle bar, so that it is possible to work at high knitting speeds (other mechanisms permitting) or to use longer needle bars.

Advantageously, the flange is capable of increasing rigidity, particularly against deformation, in a plane parallel to the advance and recoil rods. This adaptation can be further improved, if necessary, by using material of high tensile strength, such as carbon fibers, in the reinforcement flange. The carbon fiber may be in the form of a strip coated in a groove or a recess in the top surface and / or the surface of the bottom of the flange. By using such a needle bar, great rigidity and low mass can be obtained, so as to facilitate reciprocating movement, at high speed, of the needle bar and precise movement without deformation of the needles over the entire length of the needle bar.

Preferably, the first lever is mounted on the first pivot at one end, it has a nose to cooperate with the second lever at the other end, and it has a bulged rear edge to cooperate with the sliding cam, in essence midway between the nose and the first pivot. The second lever should then be mounted on the second pivot at one end of the second lever, substantially at the level of the bulged rear edge of the first lever, that it has a nose for attacking the plate at the other end. and that it forms a bulged rear edge to cooperate with the nose of the first lever, substantially halfway between the nose of the second lever and the second pivot. Thus, the advance of the plate, provided by the nose of the second lever, is equal to 3 to 5 times - and preferably 4 times - the advance of the swollen rear edge of the first lever when it is attacked by the sliding cam. Since the number of plates in the process where they are advanced at any time must not be changed at high speeds, the lifting amplitude of the sliding cam can be halved compared to conventional sliding cams 15 attacking a single lever with a mechanical effect or ratio of 2. It has been found that for a mechanical effect of approximately 3, it is possible to obtain smooth operation, while providing a stable amount of wire, that is to say that the degree of pulling of thread (which controls the length of the stitch) is not affected by the speed of the transverse movement of the sliding cam, which can be low when working by hand and high when the operation depends on a motor. For mechanical effects of value 4, operation is smooth with the engine at high speeds, but the quantity of wire supplied may not always be the same.

The first and the second lever can be arranged in a compact manner, by putting them behind and below a plate bar and above a head rail, giving the same dimensions to the first and second levers, in arranging them so that they are substantially parallel and upright. Advantageously, the second pivot 30 is substantially at the same level as the slide bar and the first pivot is below this level. Thus, the two pivots are located close to each other and to the head rail. The levers can be optimally designed and optimally mounted for their respective functions, the first levers being arranged to absorb the lateral force exerted by the sliding cam without risking a misalignment between the second levers and the plates associated. The first and second levers can thus each have a reduced cross section compared to conventional levers. Preferably, the levers are mounted between the cheeks of levers 40 arranged so as to leave only the tips of the second levers and part of the rear edge of the first levers free. Thus, the first levers cooperate with the second levers at a point between the cheeks of the levers, so that there is reduced the risk of a misalignment and of a malfunction thereof. 45 The knitting speeds may also be limited because the cam followers can jump off their cams. Preferably, therefore, the arrangement of the actuation and the drive of the knitting loom is modified to use cams to generate the movement of the connecting rods and of the support arms, in both directions of their reciprocating movement. The actuation levers are advantageously levers for returning the bell, actuated by cams of the desmodromic type. It is preferable to use a pair of camshafts to give the space necessary for the double set of cams for each movement. A camshaft should be located 55 behind the actuation levers for the advancing and reversing connecting rods, so as to act very directly on these connecting rods. By a suitable design, the cam packages and the levers can occupy only a small part of the loom, while ensuring efficient actuation at high speed of the various levers and arms 60 supports. The location of a camshaft behind the quadrangular configuration of the levers and connecting rods is only possible due to the orderly arrangement of the actuation devices of the loom according to the invention and provides a force transmission path more direct than this is the case in GB patent No. 643324 in the name of Pourchot.

In another embodiment, the knitting loom has a knitting section with a pair of knitting heads arranged back to back and driven by a single drive shaft extending

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lengthwise between the knitting heads. In this way, the drive and actuation mechanisms are common to a pair of knitting heads, the floor area occupied for each producing knitting head is reduced and the vibrations can be reduced by the fact that the movements of the needle bars occur simultaneously in opposite directions. One can have a large production of fabric for the same extent of occupied surface and for the same invested capital, in spite of the fact that only one section is envisaged in each knitting loom.

On the drawings given by way of example:

fig. 1 is a front view (the rear view is the same) schematically showing a knitting machine with straight bars according to the invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic view from above of part of the loom of FIG. 1, showing the main mounting elements; fig. 3 is an end view of the carcass of the machine of FIG-i;

fig. 4 is a partial plan view of a detail of the drive arrangement mounted on the carcass of FIG. 3;

fig. 5 is a perspective view of parts of the knitting loom for actuating needle bars;

fig. 6 is a detailed front view of the part of FIG. 1 which contains one end of a needle bar, the other end of this bar (which is also identical) being arranged symmetrically;

fig. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view from above, of the machine of FIG. 1, while fig. 8 shows part of FIG. 7;

fig. 9 shows part of FIG. 8, but in a different stage of operation;

fig. 10 shows a sliding cam for advancing the levers shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;

fig. 11 is a side view of the loom;

fig. 12 is a front view showing adjacent parts; fig. 13 is a side view of a pack of partially assembled cams from the loom of FIG. 1;

fig. 14 is a front view, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view, in schematic form, of part of the knitting machine.

With particular reference to Figs. 1 to 3, it can be seen that a carcass of a knitting machine with straight bars has transverse end feet 10 and intermediate feet 12, these feet all being connected to each other by a pair of head rails 14 extending longitudinally and by a pair of lower rails 16. A central rail can be added between the lower rails 16. Rods 20 extend between the end legs 10 to which they are fixed by nuts. Sleeves 94 are mounted on the rods between the feet and levers 86 can pivot freely between pairs of collars attached to the sleeves 94. The pair of head rails supports each time a knitting head. The elements of the different knitting heads are the same and perform the same operations at the same time.

With particular reference to Figs. 3 and 7, it can be seen that a motor is fixed inside one of the end legs 10 and drives an input toothed wheel 40. A planetary wheel 42, mounted on a shaft 44 rotating at full speed , shaft carried by bearings 68 of feet 10 and 12, meshes with the input toothed wheel 40. The planetary wheel 42 in turn meshes with:

a) a top planetary satellite wheel 46 and a top camshaft 48 received in bearings 68 of feet 10 and 12;

b) a bottom satellite gear 50 on a bottom camshaft 52 carried by bearings 68 of the feet, and c) a crazy gear 54 on a cantilevered shaft 56 which meshes with another satellite gear wheel of the bottom 50 This other planetary gear wheel is mounted in the same way as the previous planetary wheel 50, but rotates in the opposite direction

The camshafts 48 and 52 can be offset longitudinally at the same time to place control of the different knitting movements from one set of cams to another set of cams. The shaft 44 rotating at full speed is connected,

for drive (fig. 4), by a clutch 62 and reduction gears 58a and 58b to a half-speed shaft 66. A toothed wheel 68a, driven by the shaft 66, meshes with a toothed wheel 68b on the 'pull camshaft 70, which shaft is mounted along the same axis as the shaft 44, thus giving a half-speed to the draw cam 72. A leather belt 64 is brought into contact with a boss on the wheel tooth 68b by a mechanism (not shown) to act as a brake on the pulling cam, before disengaging the clutch. The half-speed shaft 66 is used to operate the pulling mechanism.

The drive device described so far is used to operate the knitting and pulling mechanism for the knitting heads on each of the head rails 14. The shaft at full speed 44 serves to rotate the camshafts 48 and 52 at the same speed as the shaft 44. The cams on the shafts 48 and 52 are used, in general, to operate levers which control the various movable bars, mounted transversely, of the knitting heads. The shaft 44 also serves to rotate another cam by means of the half-speed shaft 66 which operates the pulling mechanism.

The cams for operating the various transversely movable bars are arranged in bundles on the camshafts 48 and 52. The camshaft 48 carries two sets of bundles, one for each knitting head. Each package is located on a hub or sleeve comprising (see FIGS. 3 and 4) two hub halves 70, fixed together at one end by bolts 72, passing through projections on a locating edge 74. Each half-hub 70 has three ribs 76 advancing radially to support half-cams 78, fixed together in a bundle and fixed by bolts 80 to another projection from the locating edge 74. The cam halves 78 have cut out central parts 82 for reduce the mass. The cam halves 78 are thus closely adjacent. The set of cam packages can be easily disassembled without disturbing the adjacent cam packages.

Each pack of cams is associated with a particular lever. The levers actuated by the cam packages on the shafts 48 and 52 are arranged in lines on the shafts of the levers 20. Each lever (see fig. 11 and 12) comprises a means 84 and a pair of lever arms 86a and 86b. The hub 84 is constituted by a fixing half-section 88 and a lever arm carrying the half-section 90. Bolts 92 hold the sections 88 and 90 together. The hub 84 is mounted on a bearing sleeve 94, which surrounds the shaft 20, and it is prevented from having a longitudinal movement by locating rings 96 and spacing sleeves 98. The hub 84 can bear against a disc 97 discarding two adjacent levers. The arms 86a and 86b have a thickened arm portion 100 with an opening 102 (not shown).

The cam followers can be made to follow the periphery of the cams in a precise manner, by adjusting the position of the mounting plates 104 relative to the arms 86, using the bolts 110.

For standardization purposes, the levers can be produced in right and left versions which are dimensionally the same. Parts 102 can be milled on the left or right side of the arms 86a and 86b and provided with mounting plates 104 with a pin 106 which carries the cam followers, as appropriate, giving a total of four lever configurations different.

The pin 106 is cut below the plate 104 to give the plate 104 a lower right edge.

The cam follower, which may include balls, in a ball bearing, has a thin cross section and can follow a cam surface, although the cam surfaces on either side are raised.

Connecting rods or link arms 118 can be pivotally attached to the end of the arms 86a by pivoting connections with bearings.

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An important feature of the trade is that the elements thus standardized, that is to say the cam packages, the levers, the link arms and the connecting rods, can be used for most of the movements of the transversely movable bars of the head knitting and, possibly also, for other operations controlled by cams, such as a lead screw. In the following, the individual bars will be described with only brief reference to the arrangement of cams and lever rods, which is generally as described here.

With particular reference to Figs. 5 to 8, it can be seen that each knitting head comprises a needle bar 130 comprising a bed of needles 132 cooperating with pliers 132a at the front to fix the sets of needle nosed needles. A flange 134 is formed in one piece with the aluminum bed 132, at the rear of the bed 132 and at the level of the parts of tight needles. Reinforcing strips of carbon fibers 140 are linked to the aluminum in narrow grooves formed in the flange 134.

The bar is fixed at each end to mounting brackets 142, located below the flange 134, using bolts 138. The brackets 142 are welded at an intermediate point to rigid connecting arms 145 up and down. The guide plates 148, fixed to the head rail 14, prevent sliding movements of the link arms 145 of the needle bar, allowing only movements of advance and retreat and up and down.

The up and down link arms 145 are pivotally connected above to feed and back links 146, in a position located above the needle bar 130 and in line with the series of nozzles. needles. The connecting rods 146 pass over the top of the head rail 14 and are each actuated simultaneously by an upright lever arm 86a, behind the knitting head of the same lever, to pull the needle bar 130 when pressing, moving it towards the head rail 14 under the influence of the arrangements of cam packages at each end of the needle bar 130. The raising and lowering arms 145 are pivotally connected downwards to the raising and lowering arms 86a which are located at a level below the knitting head and which pass under the head rail 14, substantially parallel to the connecting rods 146. The needle bar 130 is carried between its ends by an intermediate raising and lowering arm 152 (FIG. 1). The different lever arms are all mounted on the lever shaft 20.

With particular reference to Figs. 5 to 8, we can see how the general effect is presented so that each end of each needle bar is mounted on a rectangular arrangement of levers, link arms and connecting rods, with the series of needle noses adjacent to an outer and upper corner and with the lever shafts 20 in the inner and lower corner. The needle nose lines, the head rails 14 and the associated plate bars are also located on a diagonal line between the two aforementioned corners. The general rectangular arrangement of the connecting rods and levers, of the needle bar of the knitting head which occupies part of the cross-sectional area inside the arrangement of the levers and connecting rods, is very compact, and the top camshaft 48 can be housed between two arrangements of symmetrically arranged connecting rods and levers, for direct transmission of the movement from the cam follower to the needle bar. The front and rear needle bars 130 are offset longitudinally, so that each is actuated directly by the cam packages arranged side by side on the camshaft above 48. There is space below each of the heads. knitting for the other bottom camshafts 52, the cam packages and all other mechanisms. The needle bar is thus actuated in such a way that the plunging of the needles follows the path shown in broken lines in FIG. 8.

Referring to fig. 6 and 8, it can be seen that each knitting head comprises a hanging bar 154 (also called catch-bar), having an element 156 for coming into cooperation with a stop of the plates and having a reinforcing strip 158 of carbon fibers . The hanging bar 154 is supported by the forward and backward link arms 160 at the ends and in intermediate positions. The arms 160 cannot pivot relative to the hanging bar 154. The hanging bar 154 is still supported at its ends, only by the lifting and lowering link arms 162 which pass through slots 164 in the rail head 14 arranged outside the raising and lowering arms of the needle bars 145. The element 156 is cut at 166 to allow the hanging bar 154 to fit tightly above the advancing arms and back 146 of the needle bar. The various link arms are fixed to the ends of the lever arms, as described above. In fig. 6, the forward and backward arm 160 is fixed to a forward and backward lever arm 161, and the up and down link arm is fixed to an up and down lever arm 163. The bar hook 154 operates in the usual way for a loom equipped with plates.

Referring to fig. 6 to 8, it can be seen that each knitting head comprises a set of felling bars comprising a felling bar 170 serving as a mounting for the felling pieces 172, with a torque transmitting shaft 174 extending longitudinally to the 'rear of the felling bar and connected to it, in several spaced positions, by short connecting rods 175. The connecting rods 175 are of the kind used as chain links and pivot on consoles on the bar 170 and on consoles 176 on the shaft 174. The felling bar 170 is supported from below, between its ends, by up and down link arms 188 pivotally mounted on up and down lever arms 189 below the head knitting and attached directly to the felling bar 170.

The shaft 174 passes through bearings formed in supports 178 bolted to the head rail 14 at their lower end and to a bottom bar of plates 180 at their upper end. The shaft 174 is thus located above the head rail 14, and the bearings prevent the deformation of the shaft 174. At both ends, the shaft 174 is connected to the levers 182 mounted so as to be able to pivot on connecting rods forwards and backwards 184 actuated by lever arms 186 for front and back, erected. The levers 182, the connecting rods 184 and the lever arms 186 are located outside of the control levers and connecting rods for the needle and hook bars.

The felling bar 170 is flat and does not tend to deform as a result of an up and down movement. The counting connecting rods 175, which are prevented from having a longitudinal movement relative to the felling bar in the bearings 176, firmly connect the shaft 174 to the felling bar 170. When the torque transmitting shaft 174 is maintained in bearings of the supports 178, it thus keeps the felling bar protected from deformations resulting from the movement of advance and retreat. The felling bar assembly also allows the forward and backward movement to be created using the standard cam packages, levers and connecting rods as described. The resulting movement is represented by the dotted line in fig. 8.

The loom shown in the figures is a loom which has stages actuated by levers advanced only progressively, without dividing stages advanced simultaneously. Thus, a set of elements, comprising a plate, levers, lever springs, is aligned with each felling piece 172 to advance the associated plate between two adjacent needles of the needle bar 130.

Referring to fig. 9, a set 202 of lever bars is seen, which comprises primary levers 204 mounted on a pivot wire 206 extending longitudinally. The levers 204 have a rear edge which forms a bulge at 208, with which a sliding cam 210 cooperates. The assembly 202 also includes secondary levers 212 mounted on another pivot wire 214 extending longitudinally. The levers 212 have a rear edge with a curved part at 216. Each pair of associated primary and secondary levers 204 and 212 cooperates to actuate a plate 218 slidably mounted in the plate bar 180.

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The primary levers 204 have pivoting parts 222 with a central opening, to hold the pivot wire 206, at one end and noses 224 at the other end, which bear against the curved parts 216 of the rear edges of the levers 212 at the other end. The secondary levers 212 have pivoting portions 226 at one end and noses 228 for cooperating with the plates 218 at the other end. The noses 224 cooperate with the curved parts 216 which are located midway between the ends of the levers 212.

In this case, a mechanical effect or lever arm ratio of 3 is obtained, such that the lifting provided by the sliding cam 210 represents a third of the advance of the plates 218. The mechanical effect or ratio of the lever arms can be modified, if necessary, by raising or lowering the slide bar 234 relative to the primary levers 204. FIG. 9 shows the plates in their advanced position.

The high mechanical effect, or ratio of lever arms, can be obtained with a set of levers with dimensions similar to conventional dimensions using only one lever to actuate each plate and having a mechanical lever arm effect of approximately 2. The vertical spacing of the pivot wires 206 and 215 is only small, as is the horizontal spacing between the pivot wires 206 and 214.

The primary levers 204 have chamfered edges in angularly spaced positions along the upper edges, to cooperate with lever springs 230 in the front position (see fig. 8) or in the withdrawn position (see fig. 9). No shift of the lever springs 230 horizontally is required.

The set of lever bars 202 can be accommodated conveniently at the rear of the plate bar 180, above the head rail 14 and in front of a lever spring bar 232 and the slide bar 234.

The levers 204 and 212 can be retained in the lever bar assembly 202, in proper alignment with the plates 218, by a housing comprising a lever bar base 240, attached to the head rail 14, the bar pillars to levers (not shown) being provided at each end of the lever bar base 240. The pillars of the levers serve as a mount for the ends of the pivot wires 206 and 214, the alignment bars 241 and the cut bars 250 which serve to locate a lever cheek 248 in each pair of levers 204 and 212. The lever cheeks 248 are held on the base 240 by a clamping plate 252 and a recess 254, to allow the sliding cam 210 to pass along the rear of levers 204.

The profile of the sliding cam (provided for a mechanical effect of the lever arms of 3) is shown in fig. 10. Using a mechanical or high ratio effect, the slope a at the front end of the sliding cam 210, which is the steepest part of the profile, can be made small. The sliding cam cooperates with the levers 204 approximately halfway between the pivot 214 and the nose 224.

The sliding cam 210 is driven in a transverse movement at the same time as the wire carriers 215 (see fig. 1) for placing the wire between the needles, in cooperation with the plates, in a conventional manner. However, to ensure compactness, the carriers, or carriages, and the sliding cam can be driven by belts arranged in a substantially vertical plane and being parallel to the sliding bar. It is convenient that these belts can be driven by a pull lever mounted to have an alternating movement using a cam at the end of the shaft 66 (see fig. 4). The pull lever can be arranged closely along and within the end legs 10.

If desired, the draw lever can be of the variable draw type so that the number of knitted narrowed turns can be increased without increasing the drawing speed, shortening the drawing and speeding up the overall movement.

In this case, the sliding bar can be mounted on at least two lever mounts and actuated in a similar manner to the levers described above, so that the sliding cam can be removed to allow the removal of the plates by the hooking bar.

Other mechanisms, such as those which are used to offset packets of cams for knitting the ribs, for adjusting the draft, can be arranged in a conventional manner.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 2 and in fig. 15, we can see how the various levers were arranged in an orderly manner.

The various organs described above can be arranged compactly. The raised lever arms 86a, to which the various connecting rods or link arms 118 are connected, form arrangements A1 at each end behind the two knitting heads. The other lever arms 86b, associated with the lever arms 86a, form arrangements A2 below the cam packages on the top camshaft 48, the arrangements A2 of the respective knitting heads partially overlapping. The lever arms 86a which extend laterally, to which the various rising and falling connecting rods 118 are connected, form arrangements A3 at each end below the knitting heads. The other lever arms 86b which are associated therewith form arrangements A4 behind the bottom camshaft 52 below the top camshaft 48.

The arrangements A1 and A3 operate in a narrow space, extending longitudinally, between the end feet 10, and the various elements of the knitting heads fit in front of the arrangements A1 and A3 and above them .

The transmission of movement from the cam packages to the connecting rods 118 is generally direct and the masses in reciprocating motion are small. The knitting heads are located at the front and back of the loom.

Referring to fig. 15, we see the knitting head shown in Hi on one side and in H2 on the other side. We can see how Hj partially adapts in the L-shaped space occupied by the various levers. The knitting heads can be reached by connecting rods at intermediate points, but only at the rear and at the bottom of the knitting head, so as to leave an unobstructed region to receive the yarn from the transverse transport carriages, for the transformation of this thread into fabric. The region occupied by the slide bar S extends through rectangular openings formed by the connecting rods and the levers at the ends of the knitting head. The levers pivot in regions P arranged virtually diagonally opposite the fabric formation zone, in the knitting heads Ht and H2. The tissue forming area is located above the felling members and between the needle bar and the plate bar.

The mechanism described can be modified with regard to the movement mechanism of the needle bar, by controlling each particular lever, for its movement in one direction, by a cam on a camshaft and, for its movement in another direction. , by a cam on another camshaft. We prefer,

however, that the cams be on the same camshaft since this facilitates precise synchronization of the cams. If low speeds are acceptable, it may be possible to move the levers by cams in one direction only and to use a tension, or preferably compression, spring for the return movement. The compression spring can be located between two adjacent raised lever arms, each serving for one of the needle bars. In a more complicated drive arrangement, three-armed levers could be employed in a ratio of two, with cam followers, to cooperate with the respective cams, for a movement of the levers in and out, and with a third lever arm to operate the associated connecting rod. By using these levers, it is possible to pull the rod of advance and retreat of the needle bar, by the operation of a cam below the knitting head.

The mechanism can also be adapted in such a way that the two needle bars can be actuated from the same cams. This can be achieved by intermediate pivot rods or by making toothed sectors cooperate which connect the levers for the respective needle bars but in both cases the drive transmission is less direct and play may occur which will prevent operation at high speed.

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The levers, connecting rods and pivots of the levers occupy separate areas, are arranged in an orderly manner and do not intermingle. Similar mechanisms can be used for the movements of the different knitting equipment and bars carrying this equipment, including similar mechanisms for the movements of up and down and forward and back. The use of standardized levers becomes possible. The number of levers and connecting rods arranged in an orderly fashion can be variable. Other shaping mechanisms can for example be arranged similarly. Certain mechanisms can be arranged in a conventional manner because the ordered arrangement lends itself to combinations with such mechanisms. However, the arrangement described is particularly advantageous because it allows a large number of movements to be carried out in a similar manner and with mutual compatibility, and recourse to conventional arrangements is only rarely necessary.

The region of the pivots can comprise a pivot or several pivots arranged close to one another or spaced in the diagonally opposite part of the rectangular configuration but, in general, the connecting rods connected to the levers and to the bars are of a side of the L-shaped area and are substantially parallel. Direct actuation can be provided by placing in the knitting heads, or close to them, the shafts which may be torque transmitting shafts.

The rearrangement of the actuators creates the conditions for further development of the straight bar looms. Based on the simplicity and standardization of the actuation arrangement, it becomes possible to reduce the manufacturing costs of a section of knitting machine with straight bars. The actuation arrangement could be used for single section or multiple section trades.

io One can, however, use the arrangement very advantageously for looms with a single section, which use a small number of shafts, preferably a common lever shaft which supports the levers allowing them to pivot, and which uses at least two and sometimes more than two sets of levers and connecting rods to impart movement simultaneously to several points, spaced apart longitudinally, of a bar. The use of standardized actuators compensates, at least to some extent, for the increased number of actuators and connecting rods. It is therefore possible to provide a single-section loom at a price comparable to that of the average cost of a section of a multi-section loom and to provide more flexibility in the manufacture and operation of bar knitting looms. straight.

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14 sheets of drawings

Claims (13)

626669 2 1. Knitting machine with straight bars, having a knitting head in which knitting equipment is mounted on bars, actuating levers pivotally supported and connecting rods, directly or indirectly connecting the movable bars and the levers for imparting movements of advance and retreat or up and down to the organs for the formation of a knitted fabric, characterized in that the actuation levers, for a predominant number of movements of the knitting equipment, are extend from a region of pivots arranged longitudinally, to lie in a longitudinal zone substantially in the shape of an L, and are connected by connecting rods directly or indirectly to a bar or to respective movable bars to form the knitted fabric, in a zone substantially opposite diagonally to the region of the pivots, in quadrangular configurations formed by the respective levers and connecting rods. 2. A loom according to claim 1, characterized in that a mechanism for sequentially advancing the plates is arranged so as to extend longitudinally through the respective quadrangular configurations and along the rear of the knitting head, a head rail for mounting the flat bar being located between the knitting area and the pivot area. 3. Craft according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that a needle bar is mounted between upright support arms, pivotally connected, below, to a lever with up and down movement and, au- above, at one end of a rod for advancing and reversing, the other end of which is connected to a lever raised with movement of advancing and reversing. 4. Loom according to claim 3, characterized in that the needle bar has a reinforcement flange extending longitudinally, at a level adjacent above the needle bar, the bar being confined so as to prevent its movement in end by guide plates and the upright actuating lever being driven. by cams to pull the needle bar at the pressing, at its ends. 5. Loom according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a shaft is mounted so as to be able to oscillate in and extend longitudinally through the knitting head, along the felling bar, and in that means connect the felling bar between its ends on the one hand and the shaft on the other hand, so that the oscillation of the tree occurs concurrently with an alternating movement of the bar felling and resistant to deformation of the felling bar between its ends. 6. Craft according to claim 5, characterized in that the interconnection means comprise a multiplicity of connecting rods spaced along the felling bar and connected to the shaft at at least one point located between the bearings which support the shaft, the shaft being pivotally connected, eccentrically, to the connecting rods to communicate to them the reciprocating movement of advance and retreat, while the felling bar is supported and actuated to have an up and down movement, by the upright support arms, and in that the forward and backward movement is transmitted indirectly from the forward and backward actuation levers in the L-shaped area, to the felling bar, via of the tree. 7. Craft according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the interconnection means are arranged to transmit the forward and backward movement between an upper part of the felling bar and an extending arm upwards from the shaft, and in that the shaft is journalled in bearings formed by blocks which extend between a head rail and the plate bar, so that the interconnection means are located just below the turntable bar. 8. Craft according to one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that a set of lever bars, for actuating the plates, comprises pairs of levers movable relative to each other and cooperating with each other to transmitting the actuation of a sliding cam to a multiplicity of plates, one lever of a pair being arranged each time to be actuated by the sliding cam and the other lever of each pair being arranged to actuate an associated plate. 9. Craft according to claim 8, characterized in that each pair comprises a first lever mounted on a first pivot and 5 can cooperate at its rear edge with the sliding cam, a second lever mounted on a second pivot and can cooperate at its rear edge with the first lever and having a nose to cooperate with the associated plate, an advance of plates provided by the second levers being 2.5 to 3.5 times equal to the advance of the rear edges io of the first levers where the sliding cam is applied. 10. Craft according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a camshaft for actuating the upright levers is arranged behind the actuating levers erected in the L-shaped zone, and in that another shaft with cams for actuating 15 substantially horizontal levers is arranged below the L-shaped area. 11. A loom according to claim 10, characterized in that the levers in the L-shaped zone are parts of levers in bell return, cooperating with cams on the respective shafts, for 20 actuate the actuating levers in opposite directions by cams. 12. Craft according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two knitting heads are arranged back to back, separated by the levers erected in the L-shaped zones and 25 operated by a common command. 13. A loom according to claim 12, characterized in that a camshaft is arranged between the upright levers of the L-shaped zones, which levers are driven by cams on the camshaft to actuate equipment of the two heads knitting. 14. A loom according to claim 13, characterized in that a common drive shaft extends between two camshafts serving as mounts for cams situated below the respective L-shaped zones associated with the knitting heads. and below the camshaft extending between the upright levers, and in 35 that a pull lever is pivotally mounted on one side of the loom to give an alternating movement perpendicular to the common drive shaft.