CN109667049B

CN109667049B - Flat knitting machine

Info

Publication number: CN109667049B
Application number: CN201811106555.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宫井卓哉
Original assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2017-10-14
Filing date: 2018-09-21
Publication date: 2021-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-21
Also published as: CN209537753U; KR102030651B1; KR20190042446A; JP2019073818A; CN109667049A

Abstract

The invention provides a flat knitting machine, which does not reduce knitting efficiency even if needle selection patterns with the same length are not set for continuous multiple sections of a needle selection drum. A weft knitting machine (10) is provided with: drive mechanisms (23, 24) capable of individually driving the needle selection drums (21, 22), and a control unit (25) such as a controller for controlling the drive mechanisms (23, 24) so as to angularly displace the needle selection drums (21, 22) based on preset knitting data of the knitted fabric and data of needle selection patterns of the needle selection drums (21, 22). In the needle selection drums (21, 22), the needle selection pins (27) do not need to be set by the same pattern for a plurality of cut grooves (26), the number of stages can be effectively used, and a plurality of specifications of knitted fabrics can be knitted without changing the needle selection drums (21, 22) or changing the needle selection pattern.

Description

Flat knitting machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a flat knitting machine having front and rear opposing needle beds, which selects knitting needles by a needle selection drum provided in each needle bed and simultaneously knits gloves and socks into a tubular shape.

Background

Conventionally, in order to knit a work knitting glove with fingerstalls for respectively accommodating 5 fingers, a sock with fingerstalls, or the like, a flat knitting machine as a glove knitting machine or a sock knitting machine for knitting a tubular flat knitted fabric has been used. These flat knitting machines include front and rear opposing needle beds, and drive knitting needles by knitting cams mounted on a carriage that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the needle beds. For example, the knitting cam is set in the forward direction so that the front needle bed is set when the carriage travels to the left and the rear needle bed is set when the carriage travels to the right, and the needle beds are alternately used. The knitting needles used for knitting in the forward direction are selected by selector drums provided in the respective needle beds. In the reverse direction, even the selected needles are not subjected to the action of the knitting cam. The carriage and the selector drum are driven by a common drive source, and the front and rear selector drums rotate together. The present applicant has proposed a weft knitting machine that can use manpower as a common driving source (see patent document 1).

On the outer periphery of the selector drum, circumferential annular grooves are formed corresponding to the knitting needles of the needle bed, and axial cutout grooves divide the annular grooves into a plurality of stages. In the cutaway groove of each stage, a needle selection pattern represented by irregularities can be set by attaching and detaching a needle selection pin for 1 needle at a position corresponding to each knitting needle, or by attaching and detaching a needle selection pin having a length of a section of a plurality of needles continuous in the knitting width direction (see, for example, fig. 5 and 6 of patent document 2). The control bottom leg piece for controlling the projection and retraction of the needle butt arranged at the tail part of the knitting needle is in sliding contact with each annular groove. The selection pattern reflects the presence/absence of the butt of the knitting needle with respect to the needle groove via the control butt, and whether to drive the butt is selected by the knitting cam. The needle selection drum intermittently rotates in one direction when the carriage repeats reciprocating movement to advance the knitting. A glove knitting machine has also been proposed in which a driving source for driving the rotation of the front and rear selector drums is provided and the driving source can be driven independently of the other parts (see, for example, patent document 3). However, the front and rear selector drums rotate together.

Fig. 6 is a simplified diagram showing the form of a glove knitted by the glove knitting machine. In the glove, 4

finger sleeves

1, 2, 3 and 4, a four-fingered palm (4 trunk) 5, a thumb sleeve 6 and a five-fingered palm (5 trunk) 7 are knitted in sequence from the little finger to the index finger.

Fig. 7 shows an example of a needle selection pattern in which the irregularities set by the needle selection pins are expanded in the circumferential direction with respect to the needle selection drum used for knitting the glove of fig. 6. The standard four-fingered palm size glove with the front stitch of the plain stitch exposed to the surface is knitted by the needle selection pattern. Fig. 8 shows a needle selection pattern of a glove of a standard on the premise that the knitted back turned inside is used, which is called an "inner glove" (ターングローブ). The back-turned surface is formed by coating rubber or the like on the front surface as a back stitch, and the knitting of the

finger cot

1, 2, 3, 4 is slightly different from that of fig. 7 on the back needle bed shown in (a) in order to eliminate the gaps between the finger bases. Fig. 9 shows a needle selection pattern of a glove of a standard in which each

finger cuff

1, 2, 3, 4, 6 called a "severed finger" (finger cut り) is opened and a fingertip is exposed when worn. The needle selection patterns in the respective drawings correspond to the annular grooves in the vertical direction and the cutaway grooves in the horizontal direction, (a) shows the needle selection pattern of the rear needle bed, (b) shows the needle selection pattern of the front needle bed, (a) advances the segment from the bottom to the top, and (b) advances the segment from the top to the bottom. Rod-like long selector pins are inserted into portions which are continuous in the lateral direction in each stage. At such a portion, a plain knitted fabric is knitted.

[ Prior Art document ]

[ patent document ]

[ patent document 1 ] Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-265563

[ patent document 2 ] Japanese patent application laid-open No. H10-77557

[ patent document 3 ] Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2007-126781

Disclosure of Invention

In the needle selection patterns of fig. 7, 8, and 9, knitting can be performed with the change in the movement range of the carriage common. However, the needle selection patterns from the

finger cot

1, 2, 3, 4 to the four-finger-palm position 5, the finger cot 6 of the thumb, and the five-finger-palm position 7 need to be prepared separately. For example, the needle selection pattern of the finger cot 1 shown in fig. 7(a) has a rising bottom portion 1a, a tapered portion 1b, a cylindrical portion 1c, and an end portion 1 d. The number of knitting courses increases the tubular portion 1 c.

The needle selection pattern that has been set is difficult to replace because the needle selection pins are firmly attached to prevent the needle selection pins from falling off. In addition, if it is assumed that, for example, rod-shaped needle selection pins are used in a section where the starting bottom portion 1a, the tapered portion 1b, and the cylindrical portion 1c continuously knit in the knitting width direction when the needle selection pattern is initially set, it is necessary to prepare needle selection pins of various lengths. It takes many man-hours to arrange the needle selection pins for 1 needle such as used at the terminal end 1 d.

In order to change the needle selection pattern for one needle bed, the timing for advancing the stages of the needle selection drums is set so as not to be affected even if the front and rear needle selection drums rotate together, and a waiting time at such timing is required, which lowers the knitting efficiency. Further, since the front and rear selector drums rotate together, the stages may advance without changing the selector pattern. In this case, the needle selection pattern having the same length is also set in the next consecutive stage as in the last 2 stages of the cylindrical portion 1 c. Therefore, the number of stages required for the entire needle selection pattern increases, and the number of needle selection pins required also increases.

The invention provides a flat knitting machine which does not need to set needle selection patterns with the same length for continuous multiple sections of a needle selection drum and does not reduce knitting efficiency for waiting for the time for rotating the needle selection drum.

The invention provides a flat knitting machine, which has front and back opposite needle beds, selects knitting needles by using needle selection patterns set on the peripheries of needle selection drums arranged on the needle beds, and simultaneously knits gloves and socks into tubular knitted fabrics,

the flat knitting machine comprises:

a drive mechanism capable of driving each selector drum to rotate individually; and

and a control unit for controlling the driving mechanism so as to angularly displace each of the needle selecting drums based on preset knitting data of the knitted fabric and data of the needle selection pattern of the needle selecting drum.

In addition, in the present invention, the drive mechanism may drive the selector drum in both a forward direction and a reverse direction.

In the present invention, the needle selection pattern includes a plurality of specifications that can be knitted as the knitted fabric.

In addition, the plurality of specifications includes at least one of a standard specification, an inner glove specification, and a severed finger specification.

In addition, the plurality of specifications includes at least one of a four-fingered palm specification and a three-fingered palm (3 carcass) specification.

[ Effect of the invention ]

According to the present invention, the selector drums of both needle beds can be controlled to be driven to rotate individually, and during knitting on one needle bed, only the selector drum of the other needle bed can be angularly displaced to change to the next selection pattern. Since the needle selection state in knitting on one needle bed does not change, the needle selection patterns of the same length can be obtained only at the timing of angular displacement on the other needle bed without setting the needle selection patterns for consecutive multiple stages of the needle selection drum, and knitting efficiency can not be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the knitted fabric is separated in the wale direction, the same needle selection pattern can be repeated and used for needle selection for the portion having the same knitting width at the same position in the course direction of the knitted fabric to be knitted, and it is not necessary to set the same needle selection pattern to a discontinuous separated stage.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively use the number of stages of the selector drum, and to knit a plurality of specifications of knitted fabrics without changing the selector drum or changing the selection pattern.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to knit at least one of the standard, inner glove and severed finger gloves using the same needle selection pattern.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to knit at least one of the four-fingered position and three-fingered position gloves using the same needle selection pattern.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a right side cross-sectional view schematically showing a configuration of a main part of a weft knitting machine 10 used in

embodiments

1 and 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial right side view showing a difference in the needle selection state of the knitting needle 14 by the selector drum 22 of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an expanded view showing the needle selection pattern 30 used in example 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an expanded view showing the needle selection pattern 40 used in example 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a glove which can be knitted by the needle selection pattern 40 of fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional glove of a four-fingered palm size.

Fig. 7 is a development view showing a needle selection pattern for knitting the glove of the four-fingered position standard of fig. 6.

FIG. 8 is a development view showing a needle selection pattern for knitting a glove of an inner glove size.

Fig. 9 is a development view showing a needle selection pattern for knitting a glove of a finger breakage gauge.

[ Mark Specification ]

10-bar knitting machine

11 front needle bed

12 back needle bed

13 tooth mouth

14 knitting needle

16 control butt

17 needle selection push sheet

21. 22 select needle drum

23. 24 driving mechanism

25 control unit

26 notch groove

27 select needle round pin

28 drawing groove

30, 40 needle selection pattern

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a schematic configuration of a main portion of the weft knitting machine 10 used in

embodiments

1 and 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. For convenience of explanation, parts not shown in the drawings to be explained may be referred to by reference numerals shown in other drawings. Fig. 3 shows a needle selection pattern 30 used in example 1 of the present invention. Fig. 4 shows a needle selection pattern 40 used in embodiment 2 of the present invention. Fig. 5 shows an example of a glove that can be knitted using the needle selection pattern 40 of fig. 4.

The flat knitting machine 10 shown in fig. 1 has a front needle bed 11 and a rear needle bed 12. The front needle bed 11 and the back needle bed 12 face each other with a needle bed gap 13 therebetween. Knitting needles 14 for knitting a knitted fabric by advancing and retreating front hooks with respect to the needle bed gap 13 are provided on the front needle bed 11 and the back needle bed 12, respectively. The knitting needles 14 are accommodated in needle grooves arranged in a direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet. The knitting needle 14 is shown only on the back needle bed 12 side, and the front needle bed 11 side is omitted. The knitting needle 14 is connected to a butt piece 15 at its base end side. The butt piece 15 is provided with a control butt 16 for driving the knitting needle 14 to advance and retreat with respect to the needle bed gap 13. The control butt 16 is brought into a needle selection state when it protrudes from the needle groove in the upward direction. The needle selection state is controlled by the needle selector 17. The needle selection push sheet 17 is provided with a needle selection convex part 18. The control butt 16 in the needle selection state receives the action of a knitting cam mounted on the carriage 20. The carriage 20 moves so as to reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, facing the surface on which the needle grooves are arranged on the front needle bed 11 and the rear needle bed 12. The knitting needle 14 and the leg piece 15 may be integrally combined.

The front needle bed 11 and the back needle bed 12 are provided with

selector drums

21 and 22, respectively. Each knitting needle 14 is selected by a needle selection pattern set on the outer periphery of the selector drums 21, 22.

The flat knitting machine 10 includes: drive mechanisms 23, 24 capable of individually driving the selector drums 21, 22; a control unit 25 such as a controller for controlling the drive mechanisms 23, 24 so as to angularly displace the respective needle selector drums 21, 22 based on preset knitting data of the knitted fabric and data of needle selection patterns of the needle selector drums 21, 22. The illustrated drive mechanisms 23 and 24 are provided for the selector drums 21 and 22, respectively, and each include a motor as a drive source that is rotationally driven via meshing gears. The transmission of the rotational driving force may be performed by directly connecting the motor to each of the selector drums 21 and 22, or may be performed via a belt and a pulley. The selector drums 21 and 22 can be driven or stopped so as to be angularly displaced in one of the circumferential directions in the forward direction and the reverse direction. The drive mechanisms 23 and 24 include clutches, and motors as drive sources can be shared. The selector drums 21 and 22 are provided with notch grooves 26 extending in the axial direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and arranged at a predetermined angular pitch in the circumferential direction. The circumferential annular grooves are arranged at a predetermined pitch corresponding to the needle grooves in the axial direction. The front end of the needle selection protrusion 18 of the needle selection jack 17 is fitted into the annular groove. The selector pin 27 can be attached to and detached from the notch 26. 1 of the cutout grooves 26 is enlarged to serve as a drawing groove 28.

Fig. 2 shows a difference in the needle selection state of the knitting needle 14 based on the selector drum 22 of fig. 1. The selector drum 21 of fig. 1 also performs similar needle selection. Fig. 2(a) shows a state where the tip of the selector projection 18 abuts on the pin 27 attached to the step groove 26. Since the tip of the needle selecting projection 18 rises from the bottom of the annular groove, the control butt 16 also rises from the needle groove, and the knitting needle 14 is in a needle selecting state.

Fig. 2(b) shows a state where the tip of the selector projection 18 is accommodated in the draw-out groove 28 provided in the selector drum 22. In the portion of the draw-out groove 28, the selector projection 18 can be disengaged from the annular groove in the axial direction, and the selector drum 22 can be drawn out in the axial direction, so that maintenance such as changing of the selector pattern can be performed. In the present invention, since it is not necessary to set needle selection patterns having the same length in consecutive multiple stages of the selector drum 22, there is a margin in providing the draw groove 28.

Fig. 2(c) shows a state where the tip of the selection projection 18 is fitted into the cutout groove 26 of the selector drum 22. In the portion where the needle selection pin 27 is not attached to the cutout groove 26, the tip of the selection projection 18 is sunk into the annular groove, and the control butt 16 is also sunk into the needle groove via the needle selection jack 17.

In examples 1 and 2 below, the case of knitting gloves of various specifications is described, but if a needle selection pattern for socks is prepared, socks of various specifications can be similarly knitted.

[ example 1 ]

Fig. 3 shows a needle selection pattern 30 used in example 1 of the present invention. (a) Set in the selector drum 22, and (b) set in the selector drum 21. By using the

finger cot

31, 32, 33, 34, the four-finger position 35, the thumb cot 36, and the five-finger position 37 of the needle selection pattern 30, the glove can be knitted from the small side to the thumb in the same manner as in the case of using the needle selection patterns shown in fig. 7, 8, and 9, respectively. For example, the finger cuff 31 in fig. 3(a) has a raised bottom portion 31a, a tapered portion 31b, and an end portion 31c, and a portion corresponding to the cylindrical portion 1c is omitted. The raised portion 31a is used for raising a glove of the severed finger size of fig. 9, and the raised portion 1a of the finger cuff 1 of fig. 7(a) uses the final stage of the tapered portion 31 b. In this case, after the start of knitting, the selector drum 22 is angularly displaced in the reverse direction, the middle stage is skipped, the stage is shifted to the first stage of the tapered portion 31b, the next stage is sequentially angularly displaced in the forward direction, and knitting of the finger sleeve 31 is continued. The four-finger palm 35 and the five-finger palm 37 are used for 1 step in knitting a plurality of courses. In this way, the glove of the four-fingered palm size shown in fig. 6 can be knitted. Such four-fingered-palm sized gloves are produced in a standard manner using existing glove knitting machines, and are therefore shown as standard sized gloves for differentiation from inner-face glove sizes and severed finger sizes. The terminal portion 31c is not used when knitting a glove of an inner glove size. In this way, the needle selection pattern 30 can include 3 pieces of gloves of standard size, inner glove size, and severed finger size in the four finger palm positions. If a portion used only in a specific specification is not included, the number of specifications is easily reduced.

[ example 2 ]

Fig. 4 shows needle selection patterns 40 used in the selector drums 22 and 21 according to example 2 of the present invention in (a) and (b), respectively. Fig. 5 shows an example of a glove that can be knitted using the needle selection pattern 40 of fig. 4. The knitting pattern 40 corresponds to finger cuffs 41, 42, 43 from the index finger to the ring finger, a three-finger palm 44, a little-finger cuff 45, a four-finger palm 46, a thumb cuff 47, and a five-finger palm 48. In 2 stages following the five-finger palm 48, knitting needles are used every 1, and a raising bottom portion 49 for a knitting needle used in an unused position in the previous stage is added to the next stage. The needle selection pattern 40 can be selectively used repeatedly or not used, and a glove of three-fingered position standard shown in fig. 5(a) or a glove of four-fingered position standard shown in fig. 5(b) can be knitted. For example, if the terminal portion 41c of the finger cuff 41 is not used, gloves of the three-fingered position specification and the four-fingered position specification can be knitted as inner gloves. That is, the needle selection pattern 40 can include gloves of both the four-fingered position specification and the three-fingered position specification. For example, if the three-fingered area 44 is not provided, the number of specifications can be reduced to any 1 specification so as to eliminate the three-fingered area specification.

Further, if the cuff portion 49 is raised, the needle selection pattern of the five-finger position 48 can be continuously used subsequently to knit the cuff which is a cylindrical knitted fabric having a constant diameter. The needle selection pattern such as the raised portion 49 and the raised portion 31a of fig. 3(a) can be used for the following interlock structure, for example: the float (non-knitting) and stitch formation are repeated in each course, and the float of the preceding course is formed in a corresponding manner and the stitch of the preceding course is formed in a corresponding manner in the next course. In addition, the knitting can be performed by setting different needle selection patterns in successive stages in the float pattern for floating the stitches in the middle of the course. Such interlock and float patterns can be knitted not only in the whole or a part of the knitting width but also in socks and other products without being limited to various specifications of gloves, for oversleeves, four-finger palms, five-finger palms, and the like. In a glove knitting machine or the like in which a conventional needle selection pattern is set on a needle selection drum that rotates only in one direction, the number of required stages increases and the needle selection drum cannot be accommodated if the stages need to be changed for each course. According to the present invention, various knitted fabrics can be knitted by effectively using the needle selection drum.

As described above, in

embodiments

1 and 2, since the

needle selectors

21 and 22 of the front needle bed 11 and the back needle bed 12 can be angularly displaced independently of each other in the front and back directions, it is not necessary to provide a waiting time until the angular displacement is possible as in the conventional case. Further, the angular displacement including the forward and reverse directions and the skip of the step allows the needle selection pattern to be mixed with a plurality of specifications. This makes it possible to knit a plurality of knitted fabrics to be used without changing the selector drums 21 and 22 or changing the needle selection pattern.

Even when the drive mechanisms 23 and 24 use a common motor as a drive source and are capable of being angularly displaced only in the forward direction independently in the front-rear direction by the clutch, during knitting on one needle bed, for example, the front needle bed 11, the selector drum 22 of the rear needle bed 12 as the other needle bed is angularly displaced to prepare the next selection pattern, and the selector drum 21 of the front needle bed 11 is disengaged to stop the clutch. It is not necessary to set needle selection patterns of the same length for a plurality of necessary stages without lowering knitting efficiency by interlocking the selector drums 21, 22 of both needle beds. However, the flat knitting machine 10 is premised on the provision of components corresponding to the specifications to be knitted, such as the stitch inhibiting lever and the yarn take-up device.

Claims

1. A weft knitting machine having front and rear opposing needle beds for knitting gloves and socks into tubular knitted fabric while selecting knitting needles by a needle selection pattern set on the outer periphery of a needle selection drum provided in each needle bed,

the flat knitting machine comprises:

a control unit for controlling the driving mechanism based on preset knitting data of the knitted fabric and the data of the needle selection pattern of the needle selection drum in a mode of displacing the angle of each needle selection drum,

a plurality of specifications capable of being knitted as the knitted fabric are mixed in the needle selection pattern,

the drive mechanism can make the needle selection drums of the front needle bed and the back needle bed independently move forward and backward, and include skipping and angular displacement of the segment.

2. The flat knitting machine according to claim 1,

the plurality of specifications includes at least one of a standard specification, an inner glove specification, and a severed finger specification.

3. The flat knitting machine according to claim 1,

the plurality of specifications comprise at least one of four-finger palm specification and three-finger palm specification.