CN113825868B - Method and apparatus for producing a tubular knitted article with closed toe - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a device for producing a tubular knitted article, in which at the end of knitting of the article there is a pick-up member of the article arranged coaxially to the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine, which is provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks arranged according to a circular ring divided into two circular half-rings of pick-up hooks, one of which is turned over onto the other. The tubular knitted article is removed from the needle cylinder by means of the pick-up member. One of the circular half-rings is tipped over the other circular half-ring to close the toe of the article. The pick-up hook includes a handle and a latch portion that slides along a longitudinal axis of the pick-up hook to close the hook portion. Each pick-up hook pivots outwardly toward the axis of the pick-up member integrally with the latch portion, stretching the tubular knit article prior to transferring the tubular knit article to a closure device (e.g., a sewing station).

Description

Method and apparatus for producing a tubular knitted article with closed toe

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for producing tubular knitted articles with closed toe, in particular stockings and socks.

The invention also relates to a device for implementing the method.

Background

Various methods and apparatuses for producing tubular knitted articles with closed toe are known, for example disclosed in WO 2004035894, WO 2010086708, WO 2014167047, WO 2017/067801, WO 2014167047, EP 0592376, WO 2007135697 and WO 2018011076.

In some of these prior art solutions, a pick-up device of the textile article is provided which, after having completed the knitting of the tubular article on the needle cylinder of the circular knitting machine, picks up the article with the toe still open and transfers it to a sewing/linking machine where the sewing or linking of the toe is carried out automatically, so as to finally obtain the tubular article with the closed toe.

In WO 2004035894 a pick-up member of the tubular knitted article is arranged coaxially to the needle cylinder, said pick-up member being provided with an axial pick-up element or tube aligned with the needle cylinder. In this way, each needle loop of the last course (course) is transferred to the corresponding pick-up element.

Said knitting coils are then retained on the pick-up element by means of respective latches, so as to be unloaded onto the pick-up member, causing the release of the needle cylinder from the tubular article. The pick-up member is divided into two halves, one of which can be rotated 180 ° with respect to the other half, so as to align the respective tubes with each other and thus move the respective knitting coils of the last course of the tubular article towards each other. In this way, the toe of the tubular knitted article can be closed outside the circular knitting machine by means of an external sewing or sewing machine which sews or sews together the needle loops of the two halves joined to the tube. By opening the two halves, the tubular article can be unloaded with the toe closed. The drawback of this method is the complex and lengthy sewing process and the need to produce a higher precision pick-up member which must be able to engage each needle loop of the last course.

In WO 2010086708, the pick-up member is provided with a plurality of fixed pick-up hooks which penetrate the knitting loops of the last course of the tubular article, allowing the knitting loops to be unloaded from the needles of the needle cylinder, thus holding the article at the open toe. The pick-up member then transfers the tubular article to an external sewing or stitching machine which closes the toe. Also, in this case, there are disadvantages in that the sewing is complicated and the picking member needs to be highly accurate.

In WO 2014167047 the pick up member has a plurality of angularly movable pick up hooks arranged according to a circular ring which is divided into two circular half rings of hooks, one of which can be tipped over onto the other circular half ring. The hooks are configured to engage with the tubular knitted article still loaded on the needles of the circular knitting machine, said hooks passing between the needles by means of a rotary motion, so as to pick up sinker loops (sinker loops) present between two adjacent needles and avoid picking up needle loops. The pick-up member may further comprise an angularly fixed latch which closes the hooks after they have engaged with the respective sinking coils. After the latch has been closed, the knitting coils are unloaded from the needles so that the pick-up member can be moved, thereby releasing the needle cylinder from the tubular article. Subsequently, the two circular half-rings of the hook of the pick-up member are turned upside down, superimposing the two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular article, and allowing the sewing machine to close the toe to join the two edges to each other. The system is faster and simpler than those mentioned above. However, this system still does not allow to achieve high quality sewing of the toe.

Therefore, there is a need to further improve the pick-up device of tubular knitted articles to increase the quality of the final product while maintaining the simplicity of construction.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a tubular knitted article with a closed toe which completely or partially overcomes the drawbacks of the methods of the prior art. In particular, it is an object of embodiments disclosed herein to provide a method capable of achieving maximum precision in the step of sewing/stitching the toe while maintaining a simple mechanical structure.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus for carrying out this method.

It is an object of some embodiments disclosed herein to provide a device of this type which is simpler than similar devices existing on the market.

It is an object of further embodiments to provide such a device which requires minimal maintenance and provides maximum reliability relative to existing devices.

It is also an aim of some embodiments to provide a method and related apparatus for producing a tubular knitted article with a closed toe in which fine gauge stitching or sewing of the toe can be achieved.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for picking up tubular knitted articles produced by a circular knitting machine and bringing them to a sewing station, said device implementing this method.

According to an aspect, a method is provided for producing a tubular knitted article on a circular knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder with a circular needle bed. The method initially comprises the steps of: knitting a tubular knit starting from the edge and ending with the open toe on the needle cylinder. After the knitting of the article has been completed, and after the article has been moved away from any carousel (which cooperates with the needle cylinder to knit the article), the method provides the following steps: arranging a pick-up member coaxially to the needle cylinder, said pick-up member being provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks arranged according to a circular ring around the axis of the pick-up member. The circular ring is divided into two circular half-rings of the pick-up hook, one of which can be tipped over onto the other circular half-ring about the diametric axis, i.e. the axis of the ring dividing into two half-rings according to the diametric extension. Each of the pick-up hooks may include: a handle movably constrained to the picking member, the handle having a longitudinal axis and terminating in a hook portion; and a latch portion having a stem and a head, the stem being constrained to the handle of the hook portion such that the stem slides along a longitudinal axis of the handle, the head being configured to coact with the hook portion of the handle. Furthermore, the method comprises the steps of: each pick-up hook is arranged in a first position spaced from the tubular knitted article. In the first position, the head of the latch portion holds the hook portion open. Subsequently, the method comprises the steps of: moving each pick-up hook integrally with the latch portion relative to the moving member toward the tubular knit article to a second position in which the hook portion of each pick-up hook engages the tubular knit article. After this step has been performed, the stem portion of each latch portion of each pick-up hook is slid along the longitudinal axis of the handle until the hook portions are closed, thereby preventing the tubular knit article from being released from the pick-up hooks. Once the stitch has been fixed to the hook in this way, the tubular knitted article is removed from the needle cylinder by means of the pick-up hook and the pick-up member engaged with the tubular knitted article. Once the knitting has moved away from the needle cylinder, one of the two circular half-rings of the pick-up hook is overturned onto the other circular half-ring, so that the two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular knitting are superimposed on one another. After the tumbling has been performed, the two opposite edges are joined to each other by sewing or stitching, forming a closed toe. The closing operation by means of sewing or stitching is preferably carried out in a toe-closing machine located close to the needle cylinder and towards which the pick-up member is moved. The toe-closing operation is performed while the tubular knitted article is still constrained to the pick-up hook of the pick-up member. Once the closure of the toe has been performed, the tubular article with the closed toe is unloaded from the pick-up member.

With the above method, each latch portion can be moved integrally with the hook portion of the pick-up hook, for example, by a rotating or pivoting action. This makes it possible to maintain control over the stitches of the tubular knitted article and simultaneously tension the yarn that makes up the tubular knitted article during some steps of the production process. In particular, the end loops of the toe edge can be tensioned radially outwards during the sewing or stitching step. The loop engaged by the hook portion of each pick-up hook remains securely engaged due to the fact that the head of the latch portion pivots and rotates with the hook portion. In this way a higher quality toe sewing can be obtained, as will be described below with reference to specific exemplary embodiments.

In the context of the present description and the appended claims, reference will be made generally to toe closure operations. In general, the toe of the knitted article can be closed by means of sewing or stitching. The technique of performing the closing operation is not constrained.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the step of moving each pick-up hook towards the tubular article comprises the steps of: each pick-up hook is inserted between two consecutive needles of the needle bed to engage a (di fabric) portion of fabric between the consecutive needles. In a practical embodiment, each pick-up hook engages a sinker loop, i.e. a loop that has been formed by a sinker arranged between consecutive (i.e. adjacent) needles, in this way. Thus, not only the advantages according to the invention are achieved, but also the advantages related to the prior art method, in which the tubular article is picked up at the sinking coils (i.e. between successive needles of the circular knitting machine) instead of at the knitting coils.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the step of moving each pick-up hook towards the tubular article comprises the steps of: each of the picker hooks is rotated relative to the picker member integrally with the latch portion, moving the hook portion of each picker hook toward the axis of the picker member.

Preferably, the step of rotating each picking hook relative to the picking member may comprise the steps of: each pick-up hook is rotated about a rotational axis oriented at 90 ° relative to the axis of the pick-up member. This allows the pick-up hook to move radially towards or away from the axis of the pick-up member to facilitate sewing/stitching, respectively, during the step of picking up the loop and during the step of tensioning the loop.

As mentioned above, due to the fact that each latching portion is rotationally constrained to the hook portion, i.e. due to the fact that each latching portion rotates or pivots integrally with the hook portion, the hook portion can be rotated integrally with the head of the latching portion during the step of closing the toe, i.e. during the step of joining the two opposite edges of the toe. This movement is advantageously a radial movement towards the outside with respect to the axis of the picking member. In this way, the coil portions forming the opposite edges of the toe to be closed are radially tensioned towards the outside, facilitating sewing or stitching and improving the quality of the final result. In particular, by radially tensioning the last course of the toe of the tubular knitted article towards the outside during sewing or stitching, it is possible to sew or stitch the yarn to engage a smaller number of courses, for example only the last course. In this way, a thinner seam and ultimately a better quality product is obtained.

According to another aspect, a pick-up device is provided for picking up a tubular knitted article from a circular knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder with a circular needle bed. In an embodiment disclosed herein, the picking means comprise a picking member provided with a plurality of picking hooks arranged around the axis of the picking member according to a circular ring divided into two circular half-rings of picking hooks, one of which can be tipped onto the other.

The circular ring may comprise a circular support on which the pick-up hooks are constrained. Furthermore, the circular support may be divided into two semi-circular portions hinged to each other about an axis substantially orthogonal to the axis of the pick-up member and on its diameter with respect to the circular ring. Each pick hook may include a shank having a longitudinal axis, the shank terminating in a hook portion, the shank being movably constrained to the pick member.

In particular, each pick-up hook may be movably constrained to the circular support of the circular ring. Furthermore, the picking member may comprise a handling device for moving the picking member between at least two operating positions and a tipping device for tipping one of the circular half-rings of the picking hook onto the other circular half-ring. Further, a pick hook drive is provided for moving each pick hook relative to the axis of the pick member to move the hook portion of the pick hook radially toward and away from the axis of the pick member.

In advantageous embodiments disclosed herein, each pick-up hook may include a latch portion having a stem that slides along a longitudinal axis of the pick-up hook and a head that coacts with the hook portion. Furthermore, control means can advantageously be provided to slide each latch portion along the handle of the respective pick-up hook between a first position, in which the head keeps the hook portion open, and a second position, in which the head closes the hook portion to retain the tubular knitted article.

In this way, each latch portion is constrained to the handle and to the hook portion of the pick-up hook so as to integrally participate in the movement towards and away from the axis of the pick-up member in the radial direction of the hook portion. At the same time, the latch portion is movable relative to the hook portion with a movement substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle of the pick hook so as to be alternately movable to an open position and a closed position. In the first open position, the head of the latch portion frees the hook portion so that the hook portion can engage the tubular knitted article with a radial movement towards the axis of the pick-up member. In the second closed position, the head of the latch portion closes the hook portion, to which the portion of yarn engaged by the hook portion remains constrained, even if the pick-up hook is moved radially away from the axis of the pick-up member, for example, to radially tension the loops of the tubular knitted article towards the outside.

Each pick-up hook may be arranged for radial translational movement relative to the pick-up member. However, in a preferred embodiment, the movement of the pick-up hook (and more particularly, the hook portion) radially toward and away from the axis of the pick-up member is a rotational movement in which the latch portion moves integrally with the pick-up hook, thereby moving the hook portion radially toward and away from the axis of the pick-up member. The rotation can take place about an axis oriented substantially at 90 ° with respect to the axis of the picking member about which the picking hook is arranged.

In a possible embodiment, the handle of each pick-up hook may have a laminar shape and may have at least one tab or one slot, while the stem of the latch portion may have at least one slot or one tab in which the tab of the handle engages by sliding, the one tab engaging in the slot of the handle. With this embodiment, a pick-up hook with limited thickness is obtained and therefore suitable for co-acting with a needle cylinder with very thin needles.

In other embodiments, the handle of each pick-up hook may be box-shaped and include an inner slide seat in which the stem of the corresponding latch portion is received. In this way, a more robust construction is obtained and, therefore, a better guidance of the latch portion with respect to the handle of the pick-up hook is achieved.

In order to make it easier for the pick-up hooks to be coupled to the annular ring and thus ultimately to the pick-up member, in a particularly advantageous embodiment the shank of each pick-up hook may have a fixing or anchoring portion to movably constrain the pick-up hook to the pick-up member. The fixing portion may comprise two mutually complementary elements forming a coupling seat, for example of approximately circular shape. The two elements may be elastically deformable to open and close the seat. For this purpose, at least one of the two elements or both elements can be produced by means of a portion of the elastically flexible plate. This portion of the elastically flexible plate can be obtained by means of cutting or shearing from the sheet material forming the stem of the respective pick-up hook.

According to yet another aspect, described herein is a system for producing a tubular knitted article, the system comprising, in combination:

a circular knitting machine having a needle cylinder comprising a circular needle bed;

a pick-up device as defined above;

machines provided with sewing or stitching needles for closing the two opposite coil edges of the toe of the tubular article.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the pick-up hooks are configured and arranged such that each pick-up hook is inserted between two adjacent needles of the circular needle bed and in this way engages sinker loops of a tubular knitted article produced by the circular needle bed of the knitting machine.

The present disclosure also relates to a method for producing a tubular knitted article on a circular knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder with a circular needle bed for knitting the tubular knitted article. The method comprises the following steps: knitting the tubular article starting from the edge and ending with the open toe, and then arranging coaxially with the needle cylinder a pick-up member provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks arranged according to a circular ring divided into two circular half-rings of hooks, one of which is overturned onto the other. By means of the plurality of pick-up hooks, the loop portions of the tubular article are in turn engaged and removed from the needle cylinder by means of the pick-up member. The circular half-ring of the pick-up hook is then overturned, superimposing the two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular knitted article on each other and joining them to each other by means of a step of sewing or stitching, after which the tubular article with closed toe is unloaded.

The method is characterized in that the pick-up hook comprises a handle having a longitudinal axis, which terminates with a hook portion and is fixed to the pick-up member by means of a fixing portion, and a latch portion having a stem that slides along the longitudinal axis on the hook portion, the latch portion having a head on the same side as the hook portion and a tail on a portion opposite the head.

Furthermore, the method is characterized in that the step of engaging the tubular knitted article by means of a plurality of pick-up hooks may comprise:

disposing the latch portion of each picker hook in a first position in which the head retaining hook portion is open,

moving the pick-up member towards the tubular knitted article until the hook portion of each pick-up hook engages the tubular knitted article,

pushing the latch portion of each pick-up hook causes the stem portion to slide along the longitudinal axis of the handle to a second position in which the head portion closes the hook portion preventing release of the tubular knit article from the pick-up hook.

Finally, the method is characterized in that said joining step comprises the steps of: the loop portion is elongated by means of rotation of the pick-up hook integral with the latch portion.

This method solves the problem of uncertainty of the needle engagement that occurs during the step of closing the toe. In fact, the integral rotation of the pick-up hook and the latch widens the stitch and allows to provide sufficient space for the sewing needle to engage. This solution is not possible in the prior art, where the latch slides on the pick-up member instead of on the pick-up hook and therefore cannot rotate together with the pick-up hook, so that the pick-up hook cannot perform any movement to widen the coil.

Preferably, the step of moving the pick-up member towards the tubular knitted article until the hook portion of each pick-up hook couples with the tubular knitted article comprises the steps of: the pick-up hook is rotated into the first position integrally with the latch portion.

In a possible embodiment of the method, the pick-up hooks are arranged on the pick-up member at an angle between every two needles of the circular knitting machine and the pick-up hooks have a front section with a cross dimension that is greater than the distance between adjacent needles. The pick-up hooks pass between alternate pairs, increasing the distance between pairs passed between by the pick-up hooks and decreasing the distance between pairs not passed between by the pick-up hooks. Thus, said step of closing the toe is carried out by fine-gauge sewing and by double pitch.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a device for producing a tubular knitted article is provided, configured to operate in association with a circular knitting machine provided with a needle cylinder having a circular needle bed for knitting the tubular knitted article starting from an edge and ending with an open toe. The apparatus comprises:

a pickup device including

-a pick-up member configured to be arranged coaxially with the needle cylinder in a first station, the pick-up member being provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks arranged according to a circular ring divided into two circular half-rings of pick-up hooks, one of which is turned over onto the other circular half-ring, the plurality of pick-up hooks being configured to engage portions of a loop of a tubular article in the pick-up station;

-lifting and rotating means which bring the pick-up member from the first station to the second station, so as to remove the tubular knitted article from the needle cylinder by means of the pick-up member;

-a tipping device which tips one of the circular half-rings of the pick-up hooks of the pick-up member and superimposes two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular knitted article on one another;

a sewing or stitching device configured to join the two opposing coil edges to each other by means of a sewing or stitching operation;

an unloading device configured to unload the tubular article with the closed toe after the sewing or stitching operation has been completed.

The device is characterized in that the pick-up hook comprises:

a handle having a longitudinal axis and terminating in a hook portion, wherein the handle is fixed to the picking member by means of a fixing portion, an

A latch portion having a stem that slides along a longitudinal axis on a hook portion, the latch portion having a head on the same side as the hook portion and a tail on a side opposite the head,

the apparatus further comprises a drive of the pick-up hooks which rotates the pick-up hooks about the drive member and slides the latch portion in each pick-up hook between a first position in which the head holds the hook portion open and a second position in which the head closes the hook portion to prevent release of the tubular knitted article from the pick-up hooks, the drive of the pick-up hooks being configured to rotate the pick-up hooks integrally with the latch portions in a second station to lengthen the loop portion during a sewing or sewing operation.

This type of device makes it possible to provide the above-mentioned method, thus achieving the above-mentioned objects.

In a variant of the device, the pick-up member is provided with pick-up hooks angularly between every two needles of the circular knitting machine, and the pick-up hooks are provided with a front section having a transverse dimension greater than the distance between adjacent needles.

In this way, the pick-up hooks can pass between alternate pairs, increasing the distance between pairs passed between by the pick-up hooks, and decreasing the distance between pairs not passed between by the pick-up hooks. This makes it possible to obtain rows that are closer together with respect to the pitch of the needles to perform fine-gauge sewing or stitching.

Drawings

Further features and/or advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention, provided by way of non-limiting example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a cross-section, taken according to a vertical plane, of a circular knitting machine in a step of completing the knitting of a tubular knitted article;

figure 1A shows an enlarged view of a portion of figure 1 showing the needles, the yarn guides with the related yarns, the tubular knitted article, the sinkers, the final end edge of the tubular knitted article;

FIG. 1B shows the last course after the knitting step has been completed;

figures 2 and 3 show, in vertical section, the circular knitting machine during the step of lifting the turntable and the yarn guides from the circular needle bed to make room for the picking member;

figures 4 and 5 schematically show the sequence of reaching and arranging the pick-up member of the tubular knitted article coaxially with the needle cylinder above the needle bed;

FIG. 5A shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 5, with the pick hook visible in an open configuration;

figures 5B and 5C show enlarged views of a practical embodiment of the constraint between the pick up hook and the pick up member;

figures 6 to 6D schematically show a possible embodiment of a pick-up hook according to the invention as shown in figure 5A, shown in side view and in open position respectively (figure 6), in plan view according to arrow VIA (figure 6A), in side view and in closed position (figure 6B) and in parts thereof (figures 6C and 6D);

fig. 7 schematically shows the following steps: positioning the pick-up member coaxially with the needle cylinder in a position of engagement with the pick-up hook at the level of the coil;

FIG. 7A shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 7 showing a pick hook disposed proximate a knit member in an open configuration;

fig. 8 schematically shows the following steps: picking after rotating the pick-up hooks about the respective rotation axes;

FIG. 8A shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 8;

figures 8B and 8C show, in cross-section and in plan view respectively, the position of the pick-up hooks before the step of penetrating into the courses of the tubular knitted article;

fig. 8D shows the following steps: rotating the pick-up hooks about respective axes of rotation to engage the courses;

fig. 9 shows the following steps: unloading the loop from the needle after closing the pick-up hook;

FIG. 9A shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 9 with the latch of the hook closed;

figures 9B and 9C respectively show, in succession, the steps of lifting the needles and unloading the tubular knitted article from the needle cylinder by lowering the needles;

fig. 10 schematically shows the following steps: lifting the tubular knitted article by means of a pick-up member;

figures 11 and 11A show, in front and plan view, the rotary motion of the pick-up member about its rotation axis to perform the removal of the tubular knitted article by means of the pick-up hook and position it in the toe sewing station;

fig. 12 schematically shows the following steps: turning over the tubular knitted article by means of the suction duct in the toe sewing station;

fig. 13 schematically shows the following steps: turning over one of the half loops of the pick-up hook, so as to superimpose the two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular knitted article on each other;

fig. 14, 14A, 14B, 14C show respectively a cross-section of the apparatus in a toe-closing station, a partial plan view and two enlarged views of a pick-up member, in a step of joining the opposite edges of the tubular knitted article by means of sewing or stitching;

FIG. 14D shows a cross-sectional view of the step of closing the toe, wherein the loop is elongated by the hook;

fig. 15 shows the following steps: completing the sewing and disengaging the head of the pick-up hook from the course;

FIG. 15A shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 15 better illustrating opening of the latch of the half-ring to release the coil;

fig. 16 shows the following steps: turning the half loops of the pick-up hook upside down and unloading the tubular knitted article from the pick-up hook;

FIG. 16A is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 16;

fig. 17, 18, 19 show the sequence associated with the following steps: unloading and removing the tubular knitted article with closed toe from the pick-up hook after the step of joining the two opposite edges has been completed;

figures 20, 20A, 20B schematically show possible variants of an embodiment of a pick-up hook according to the invention in a side view, a longitudinal section according to arrow XXA and an exploded view;

fig. 21, 21A, 21B schematically show a further possible variant of a pick-up hook according to the invention in a side view, a longitudinal section according to arrow XXIA and an exploded view;

figures 22, 22A schematically show a further possible variant of an embodiment of a pick-up hook according to the invention in a side view and a cross-sectional view according to arrow XXIIA;

fig. 23, 24 show a variant of the embodiment of the pick-up hook described in the step between the insertion needles;

fig. 25, 25A, 25B, 25C schematically show possible variants of embodiments of the pick-up hook according to the variants of fig. 23 and 24 in a side view, a cut-away view of the individual hook part, a cross-sectional view according to arrow XXVB and an exploded view.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows, in a partial section on a vertical plane, an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising a circular knitting machine 200, in a step of completing the knitting of a tubular knitted article 10.

In a known manner, machine 200 generally performs the knitting process of tubular article 10 starting from the formation of edge 20 and ending with the formation of the last course 30, using elastic yarns.

For the purposes of the present invention, the last course 30, as well as some courses formed immediately before the last course (for example, penultimate, third-to-last and fourth-to-last courses), form the final end edge 31 of the tubular knitted article 10, which must be sewn or stitched to form a closed toe, for example, of a stocking or sock.

As in the prior art, the circular knitting machine 200 comprises a jack 230, a needle cylinder 220, in which needle 210 of the circular needle bed is slidingly engaged 220, a control cam 215 and an actuator 240 to perform a reciprocating vertical movement of the needles 210 of the circular needle bed.

Furthermore, the circular knitting machine 200 cooperates with a dial 250 and with yarn guides 400, said dial 250 being coaxial with the rotation axis 201 of the needle cylinder 220, one of said yarn guides 400 being more visible in fig. 1A, said yarn guides 400 feeding a yarn 410 to the needles 210 to knit the tubular knitted article 10.

Between the needles 210 are arranged sinkers 225, said sinkers 225 being constituted by a plurality of thin plates destined to cooperate with the needles 210 to form the stitches of the tubular knitted article 10. Also, as shown in fig. 1, after circular knitting has been completed, the last course 30 of the tubular knitted article 10 is engaged on the circular bed of the needle cylinder 220, while at the same time the dial 250 has started to be raised with respect to the circular bed. These means and their operation are known to the person skilled in the art and are therefore not described in further detail.

For example, fig. 1B shows in top view a portion of the final end edge 31 of the tubular knitted article 10 after knitting has been completed in a step in which the needles 210 are still engaged in the last course 30 of a stitch. The stitches 30 are referred to herein as knitted stitches, while adjacent pairs of knitted stitches 30 are joined by respective sinker loops formed by portions of yarn or stitches of yarn joining knitted stitches engaged with consecutive needles 210 (i.e. needles adjacent to each other in a circular bed).

After knitting of the tubular knitted article 10 has been completed, the yarn guide 400 is raised in the direction indicated by the arrow 401, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, which show the dial 250 raised further in the direction indicated by the arrow 251 to create space and allow (see fig. 4) the tubular knitted article 10 to be raised on the needles 210, for example by means of the tube 205, said tube 205 being arranged inside the needle cylinder 220 and being coaxially movable with respect to the needle cylinder. In this step, the needle coils 30 remain engaged with the respective needles 210 and are not unloaded. In order to protect the tubular knitted article 10, preventing the tubular knitted article 10 from being hooked in the knitted member and in particular the tubular knitted article 10 from being hooked in the needles 210 and in the sinkers 225, the tube 205 is positioned coaxially with the needle cylinder 220 and comprises a flared upper edge 206. The tube 205 is then raised so that the upper edge 206 of the tube 205 is above the ring of sinkers 225. In order for the tube 205 to be raised above the sinker 225, a groove (not shown) may be provided on the upper edge 206 of the tube 205 for passage over the sinker 225.

In particular, as shown in fig. 4, an embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention comprises a picking member 300, as described in more detail below. In figure 4, the pick-up member 300 is sectioned in a vertical plane different from the vertical plane of the yarn guides 400. The picking member 300 is part of a picking apparatus 318, said picking apparatus 318 being rotatable in cantilever fashion about the axis 301 between at least two positions opposite each other, as will be described below.

As shown in fig. 5, while needles 210 of the circular bed are still in the raised position to keep tubular knitted article 10 in this position, pick-up member 300 rotates about axis 301 and is brought into a position coaxial with needle cylinder 220 and coaxial with tubular knitted article 10. This movement can be carried out by means of the entire pick-up device 318 rotating (arrow 304) about axis 301 until pick-up member 300 is brought to a coaxial position above needle cylinder 220 within the free space left by carousel 250 previously raised.

In particular, the rotation according to arrow 304 of pick-up member 300 about axis 301 can be made by driving member 350, which driving member 350, in addition to allowing the above-mentioned rotation about axis 301, can cause axial lifting or lowering of shaft 354, as will be described below.

The picking member 300 comprises a circular support 310, said circular support 310 being divided into two half-supports forming two circular half- rings 310a,310b of the picking hook 100. One of the two circular half- rings 310a,310b can be tipped onto the other circular half-ring about pivot 305. When the two circular half rings 310a,310b are arranged substantially coplanar to form a circular support, the two circular half rings 310a,310b are concentric with respect to the axis 315 of the picking member 300. Pivot 305 defines a tip axis substantially orthogonal to axis 315 of picking member 300 about which picking hooks 100, visible in the enlarged view of fig. 5A, are distributed. Each pick-up hook 100 is constrained to a corresponding connecting member 308 by means of the fixing portion 104, each pick-up hook 100 being fixed to the picking member 300 by said connecting member 308. The constraint between the pick-up hooks 100 and the pick-up member 300 is such as to allow each pick-up hook 100 to rotate relative to an axis of rotation 302 (see in particular fig. 8A), said axis of rotation 302 being oriented substantially at 90 ° relative to an axis 315 of the pick-up member 300. Specifically, the axis of rotation of the pick hook 100 of fig. 5A is substantially orthogonal to the plane of fig. 5A. Each pick-up hook 100 has its own horizontal axis of rotation 302 which is different from the axes of the other pick-up hooks 100. The axis of rotation 302 is formed by a line tangent to a circumference coaxial with the pick-up member 300.

The constraint between each pick-up hook 100 and the respective circular half- ring 310a,310b may be obtained in a manner known, for example, from WO 2017067801. Fig. 5B and 5C show implementation details of the embodiment. Along the semicircular extension of each half- ring 310a,310b, a groove 311 is provided along a radial plane, i.e. a plane containing the axis 315 of the picking member 300. Each circular half ring 310a,310B is provided with a semi-annular recess 312 (fig. 5B) extending around an axis 315 of the picking member 300. The position of the grooves with respect to the axis 315 is the position in which the grooves are located when the circular half- rings 310a,310b are positioned coplanar (fig. 4 and 5). Assembly of pick hooks 100 is performed by inserting a wire or coil spring (indicated at 308 in fig. 5C) having a circular cross-section into recess 312 and then coupling each pick hook 100 with its securing portion 104 to wire or coil spring 308.

An embodiment of a pick hook 100 according to the present invention is shown in fig. 6, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D. The pick-up hook 100 comprises a handle 101, said handle 101 having a longitudinal axis 102 and terminating in a hook portion 103.

The handle 101 comprises a fixing portion 104, said fixing portion 104 being fitted in the connecting portion 308 of the pick-up member 300 of fig. 5A, for example by means of a snap fit, i.e. coupled by snap to a wire or spring with a circular cross-section housed in the recess 312 (fig. 5B and 5C). In particular, the fixation portion 104 may be formed by two opposite halves 104a,104b, which opposite halves 104a,104b are resiliently connected to the handle 101 in a cantilever manner. This facilitates insertion and removal of the picking hook 100 onto and from the connecting portion 308 of the picking member 300, for example in the case of a maintenance or replacement operation, the connecting portion 308 being formed, for example, from the spring or wire of figure 5C, while ensuring minimal rotational friction about the connecting portion 308.

The pick-up hook 100 further comprises a latch portion 105, said latch portion 105 having a stem portion 106, said stem portion 106 being constrained to the handle portion 101 by a prismatic pair (i.e. a sliding pair) so as to be slidable relative to the handle portion 101 along the longitudinal axis 102 (i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis 102). The latch portion 105 may have a tail or truncated (butt) 107 at one end and a head 108 at an opposite end, the head 108 being located on the same side as the hook portion 103 and configured to close the hook portion 103, thereby blocking the coil portion on the pick hook 100, as will be described below. In other embodiments, the tail or frustum 107 may be arranged in an intermediate position along the longitudinal extension of the stem 106 and have a shape different from that shown in fig. 6-6D.

In fig. 5 and 5A, the latch portion 105 of the pick hook 100 is shown in a first position in which the head 108 is spaced from the hook end of the hook portion 103 and holds the hook portion 103 open. Further, each picker hook 100 is in a diverging position, i.e., the head 108 and hook portion 103 of the latch portion 105 are radially spaced relative to the axis 315 of the picker member 300. In this way, pick-up hook 100 is ready to be approached towards tubular knitted article 10 in the manner shown in fig. 7 and 7A, wherein once pick-up member 300 is positioned coaxially with rotation axis 201 of needle cylinder 220, pick-up member 300 moves vertically downwards according to arrow 365 towards tubular knitted article 10 raised on needles 210.

In some embodiments, for example the one shown in the enlarged view of fig. 7A, the pick-up member 300 may comprise a tubular element 320, said tubular element 320 being mounted on the circular support 310 to align the stitches of the last course of the tubular knitted article 10 on a plane substantially orthogonal to the rotation axis 201 (fig. 7) of the needle cylinder 220 of the circular knitting machine 200. This makes it easier to capture the tubular knitted article 10 by the pick-up hook 100.

As shown in fig. 8 and 8A, after the tubular knitted article 10 has been approached, the pick-up hook 100 is rotated about its respective rotation axis 302 by means of an actuator 331, said actuator 331 being part of the drive assembly 330 and moving in the direction of the arrow 335.

In particular, the pick-up hooks 100 each rotate about their own axis of rotation 302 and move the hook portions 103 (lower end portions) starting from a first position (fig. 8C), which is radially the farthest from the axis 315 of the pick-up member, towards the axis of rotation 201 of the needle cylinder 220 (fig. 8D) and towards the axis 315 of the pick-up member according to the rotation indicated by the arrow 216 (fig. 8D), so as to reach a second position (which is radially closer to the axis 315 of the pick-up member), as shown in fig. 8A, in which each hook portion 103 engages the tubular knitted article 10.

As can be seen in fig. 8B, the pick up hooks 100 of the pick up member 300 are angularly staggered with respect to the needles 210 of the needle cylinder 220. In this way, each picker hook 100 is inserted between two adjacent (i.e., consecutive) needles 210 according to the rotation of arrow 216 (fig. 8D) about respective rotation axis 302 (fig. 8A), and each hook portion 103 engages edge 31 (fig. 8B). Specifically, the hook portion 103 engages the loop portion 32 (visible in fig. 8B), i.e., a sinker coil, which is located between two adjacent needles 210. The latching portion 105 is constrained to the rest of the pick-up hook 100 so as to rotate integrally therewith about the rotation axis 302. Essentially, two components that are slidable relative to each other in the direction of the longitudinal axis 102 are constrained to rotate together with each other about the longitudinal axis 102.

As shown in fig. 9 and 9A, to obstruct the loop of wire engaged by the hook portion 103 of each pick-up hook 100, the latch portion 105 is pushed in the direction indicated by arrow 336 by an actuator 340 (fig. 9A) mounted on the pick-up member 300 so that the handle 106 of the latch portion 105 can slide parallel to the axis 102 (see also fig. 6B). In this way, the head 108 of each latch portion 105 closes the hook portion 103 to thereby trap the coil portion 32 engaged with the hook portion 103 therein (fig. 9A). The sliding movement of the latch portion 105 along the pick-up hook axis 102 is controlled by an actuator 340 acting on the truncated head 107.

At this time, starting from the position of fig. 9 and 9A, as shown in fig. 9B and 9C, each knitted loop (stitch) is unloaded by each corresponding needle 210 which has formed the knitted loop. To do this, in a known manner, each needle 210 is first of all advanced upwards, as indicated by the arrow 217 of fig. 9B, until the latch 211 of the needle 210 moves beyond the corresponding loop of the last course 30, and then each needle 210 is advanced downwards, as indicated by the arrow 218 of fig. 9C, so that the latch 211 pivots upwards resting on the hook of the needle 210 and closing it, allowing the needle to withdraw downwards from the last stitch formed. By performing this operation for each needle 210, the last course of stitches is completely unloaded from the needle 210 and transferred onto the pick-up hook 100. In this way, the tubular knitted article 10 remains engaged only to the pick-up member 300 by means of each pick-up hook 100.

The above-mentioned movements (rotation of the pick-up hook 100 of fig. 8D, closure of the latch 105 of fig. 9A and unloading of the coil or stitch of fig. 9B and 9C) take place by means of progressive and synchronous indexing rotation of the circular knitting machine 200 about the axis 201 and of the pick-up member 300 about the axis 315 (fig. 9).

In other embodiments, these motions can also occur simultaneously.

As shown in fig. 10, once tubular knitted article 10 has been engaged by the two half- rings 310a,310b of pick-up hook 100, pick-up member 300 is raised along with tubular knitted article 10 by drive assembly 350 according to arrow 303.

Next, as shown in fig. 11 and 11A, pick-up member 300 is rotated in cantilever fashion about axis 301 by an angle 304 (for example, comprised between 120 ° and 180 °), completely removing tubular knitted article 10 from needle cylinder 220.

In a possible embodiment, suction duct 360 is arranged above pick-up member 300, so that tubular knitted article 10 is drawn upwards (fig. 12) and turned upwards out, by means of air suction 361, to carry elastic edge 20, while end edge 31 is held at the bottom by pick-up hook 100.

Referring again to fig. 12, by advancing the actuator 332 of the drive assembly 330, the pick-up hooks 100 are again rotated into the deployed position, performing the reverse motion relative to fig. 8D, but maintaining the latches 105 (which rotate integrally with the hook portion 103 of each pick-up hook 100) in the closed position of fig. 9A. Rotation always occurs about the fixed portion 104 and the axis of rotation 302 (fig. 8A) such that the hook end portion 103 of each pick-up hook 100 moves away from the axis 315 of the pick-up member 300, widening the edge 31 to facilitate sewing as will be described below. The aforementioned rotary movement of pick-up hook 100 occurs successively according to a corresponding indexing movement of pick-up member 300 about axis 315.

Next, as shown in fig. 13, in order to perform the sewing or stitching (or more generally the closing) of the toe, half-ring 310a of pick-up hook 100 is overturned by 180 ° by means of a rotation on pivot 305 (which may be a motorized pivot, for example) until half-ring 310a is superimposed on half-ring 310b. Thus, the half rings 310a and 310b of the pickup hook 100 are opposite to each other; the respective loop portion 32 and edge stitch 31 are maintained elongated by the above-mentioned rotation of the pick-up hook 100, by means of which the hook portion 103 has been moved in the radial direction away from the axis of the pick-up member 300.

According to one of the aspects of the present invention, after the integral rotational movement into the position spaced by the pick hook 100 and the latch portion 105, the edge coil or stitch 31 can be maintained widened and the hook portion closed so that the coil or stitch remains engaged in the pick hook 100. It is therefore particularly advantageous with respect to the prior art to provide a latching portion 105 that is integral with the hook 100 and to rotate the latching portion 105 about the axis of rotation 302. In fact, by rotating pick-up hook 100 to lengthen loop portion 32, the sewing quality of closing the toe of tubular knitted article 10 is greatly improved, as will be clarified below. In prior art solutions for picking up an article by closing the pick-up hook with other means, such rotation would not be possible as the hook portion would lose loops or stitches.

Thus, a closing of the toe is possible, as described in fig. 14, 14A, 14B, 14C, wherein a closing device 500 (for example, a sewing or stitching device) provided with a curved needle 505 is placed adjacent to the two half-rings 310a,310B of the pick-up hook 100 positioned opposite each other. Thus, the curved needle 505 performs sewing/stitching while the picking member 300 performs a synchronous indexing rotation about its axis 315.

In this step, the actuators 332 and 333 maintain the angular position of the fanning of the pick-up hook 100 about the rotation axis 302, widening the coil portion 32 held by the respective half- ring 310a,310b as much as possible, to achieve sewing/stitching of the two coil edges to each other completely along the half-circumference of the two opposite half- rings 310a,310b of the pick-up hook 100.

In this step, according to two possible alternative variants of embodiment, the picking hook 100 may already be opened in a previous step before the two opposite half- rings 310a,310b of the picking hook 100 are closed, or the picking hook 100 may be closed after the two half-rings are closed.

In the second case, by means of the action of actuators 332 and 333, pick-up hook 100 performs a pivoting opening and closing movement along a vertical plane (see fig. 14D), which is synchronized with the sewing movement of needle 505 about rotation axis 506 (fig. 14B), to allow the toe of the tubular knitted article to close along the arc defined by the half loops of the hook.

It must be emphasized that, in both cases, since each hook portion 103 is closed by the latch portion 105, there is no risk of the elongated loop escaping from the pick-up hook 100 during the step of sewing/stitching the toe, which is guaranteed by the fact that: during rotation of each pick-up hook 100 about the respective fixed portion 104 and the rotation axis 302, the respective latch portion 105 also rotates about the rotation axis 302 integrally with the respective pick-up hook 100.

After the closure of the toe of the tubular article 10 has been completed, for example by sewing or stitching, the two half- rings 310a,310b are still opposite each other and the tubular knitted article 10 is held upwards by means of the air suction 361. In order to release the tubular article 10 with closed toe from the pick-up member 300 and be able to be drawn upwards by suction, the pick-up hook 100 performs two successive operations to release the loops, as will be described below.

The first operation shown in fig. 15 and 15A involves the action of an actuator 343, which actuator 343 pushes, by means of a cam 344, the truncated head 107 of the pick-up hook 100 of the single half-ring 310b, raising the head 108 of the latch 105. Thus, the unloading of the tubular knitted article 10 with closed toe is unloaded from the pick-up hook 100 of the half ring 310b of the pick-up hook 100. This operation is performed with simultaneous indexing movements of the support 310 about the axis 315.

Then, as shown in fig. 16, the two half- rings 310a,310b of the pick-up hook 100 are returned to the coplanar position by rotating the pivot 305 through a counter-rotation according to the angle 306 of 180 °. Then, with half 310b of pick-up hook 100 already released from the stitch or stitch (fig. 15A), while half 310a of pick-up hook 100 still has latch 105 in the closed position, closed edge 31 of tubular knitted article 10 follows half 310a of pick-up hook 100.

To release the tubular knitted article 10 from the half 310a of pick-up hook 100 by means of cam 344, as shown in fig. 16A, actuator 343 selectively pushes upwards, according to arrow 343, truncated head 107 of latch 105 of a single half 310a, in such a way as to cause raising of head 108 of latch 105, thus achieving unloading of tubular knitted article 10 with closed toe from pick-up hook 100 for half 310a. This operation is also performed with a simultaneous indexing movement of the support 310 about the axis 315.

For example, picking member 300 can be made to rotate in indexing about axis 315 by a driving member 350, said driving member 350 rotating a shaft 354 (neither of which is shown in this figure) about a pivot 355 on which a toothed pulley 356 is mounted, said toothed pulley 356 being adapted to drive a belt 357, said belt 357 being connected to picking member 300 (fig. 16).

Fig. 17 to 19 show a possible sequence of steps for unloading the tubular knitted article 10 with closed toe by means of lowering a suction duct 360, said suction duct 360 being positioned coaxially with the tubular knitted article 10 and having a smaller outer diameter, said suction duct 360 penetrating into the tubular knitted article 10 and moving close to the outer surface of the pick-up member 300. Following the air suction 361, the toe of the stitch is first raised, creating a sharp tip due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the suction duct, until the tubular knitted article 10 exiting from the suction duct 360 is completely overturned.

Fig. 20, 20A, 20B illustrate yet another embodiment of a pick-up hook 100. In this case, similar to that described for pick-up hook 100 of fig. 6-6D, pick-up hook 100 includes a shank 101, the shank 101 having a longitudinal axis 102 and terminating in a hook portion 103. The handle 101 comprises a fixing portion 104, with which fixing portion 104 the pick-up hook 100 is fixed to the half- rings 310a,310b, the pick-up hook 100 having the possibility of rotating about the respective axis of rotation 302. In particular, the fixation portion 104 may be formed by two opposite halves 104a,104b, which opposite halves 104a,104b are resiliently connected to the handle 101 in a cantilever manner. The pick hook 100 further comprises a latch portion 105, the latch portion 105 having a stem 106, the stem 106 sliding on the hook portion 103 along the longitudinal axis 102. The latch portion 105 may have a truncated head 107 at one end and a head 108 at an opposite end, the head 108 being on the same side as the hook portion 103 and configured to close the hook portion 103, thereby blocking a loop or stitch portion in the pick-up hook 100. In this embodiment, the handle 101 may be in the form of a sheet having a protruding portion 101b, said protruding portion 101b being generated, for example, by means of suction, said protruding portion 101b being configured to slidingly engage a slotted portion 106b of the stem 106. As in the previously described embodiments, also in this case, the connection between the two parts of the pick-up hook 100 is such that the latching portion 105 rotates integrally with the shank 101 and the hook portion 103, but the latching portion 105 is able to slide with respect to them parallel to the longitudinal axis 102 of the pick-up hook 101.

Fig. 21, 21A, 21B show yet another embodiment of a pick hook 100 similar to that of fig. 20-20B. Reference numeral 101c denotes a protruding portion configured to slidingly engage a slotted portion 106c of the stem 106, said slotted portion 106c being produced by means of stamping and bending the sheet forming the element 101.

Fig. 22-22A illustrate yet another embodiment of a picker hook 100, wherein the handle 101 may be box-shaped and include an inner slide seat 101a for the stem 106 of the latch portion 105. Although this solution is thinner than previous solutions, it has the advantage of protecting the latch 105 within the handle 101.

Fig. 23 and 24 show a modified embodiment of the invention in which the hook portion 103 of the picker hook 100 has a forward region facing the axis 315 of the picker member 310. The forward region has a tapered shape with a maximum transverse dimension 224 that is greater than a distance 226 between adjacent needles. The figures show in detail two successive steps: moving the pick-up hook 100 towards the needles 210 and inserting the pick-up hook 100 between the needles 210. In particular, passing pick up hook 100 between adjacent pairs of needles 210 reduces distance 226, which enables finer gauge sewing at double pitch in the sewing or sewing step. This variant has the advantage of having fewer pick-up hooks than needles and therefore a simpler construction.

Figures 25 to 25C show an embodiment of a pick-up hook 100, the pick-up hook 100 being suitable for sewing or stitching as described in figures 23 to 24. In this case, similar to that described for pick-up hook 100 of fig. 6 to 6D, pick-up hook 100 comprises a shank 101, said shank 101 having a longitudinal axis 102 and terminating with a hook portion 103, wherein shank 101 comprises a fixed portion 104. In particular, the fixation portion 104 may be formed by two opposite halves 104a,104b, which opposite halves 104a,104b are resiliently connected to the handle 101 in a cantilever manner. The pick hook 100 further comprises a latch portion 105, the latch portion 105 having a stem 106, the stem 106 sliding on the hook portion 103 along the longitudinal axis 102. The latch portion 105 may have a tail or a truncated head 107 at one end and a head 108 at the other end, the head 108 being located on the same side as the hook portion 103 and configured to close the hook portion 103, thereby blocking a loop or stitch portion on the pick-up hook 100. The cross-sectional view of fig. 25B shows a larger dimension 224 of the pick-up hook 100 and a cross-section of the hook portion 103 having a tapered geometry to facilitate entry of the pick-up hook 100 between the needles 210.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications, changes, and omissions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. Moreover, unless otherwise specified, the order or sequence of any process steps or methods may be varied or re-arranged according to alternative embodiments.

Claims (25)

1. A method for producing a tubular knitted article (10) on a circular knitting machine (200) comprising a needle cylinder (220) having a circular needle bed; wherein the method comprises the steps of:

knitting a tubular knitted article (10) starting from the edge and ending with the toe open;

coaxially arranging a pick-up member (300) with the needle cylinder (220), said pick-up member being provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks (100) arranged according to a circular ring (310) around the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300), said circular ring (310) being divided into two circular half-rings (310a, 310b) of pick-up hooks (100), one of which can be overturned onto the other, wherein each pick-up hook (100) comprises: a handle (101) movably constrained to said pick-up member (300), said handle having a longitudinal axis (102) and ending with a hook portion (103); and a latch portion (105) having a stem (106) slidingly constrained to the handle (101) of the hook portion (103) along the longitudinal axis (102) and a head (108), the head (108) being configured to co-act with the hook portion (103); wherein each latch portion (105) is constrained to the handle (101) and to the hook portion (103) of the respective pick-up hook (100) such that each latch portion (105) participates integrally in a movement in a radial direction of the hook portion (103) towards and away from the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300), and each latch portion (105) is movable with respect to the respective hook portion (103) with a movement substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis (102) of the handle (101) of the pick-up hook (100) so as to be movable alternately to an open position and a closed position;

arranging each pick-up hook (100) in a first position spaced from the tubular knitted article (10) in which the head (108) of the latch portion holds the hook portion (103) open;

moving each pick-up hook (100) integrally with the latch portion (105) from the first position towards the tubular knitted article (10) to a second position in which the hook portion (103) of each pick-up hook (100) engages the tubular knitted article (10) and the stem portion (106) of each latch portion (105) of each pick-up hook (100) is slid along the longitudinal axis (102) of the handle (101) until closing of the hook portion (103), preventing the tubular knitted article (10) from being released from the pick-up hooks (100);

-removing the tubular knitted article (10) from the needle cylinder (220) by means of the pick-up member (300) and the pick-up hook (100) engaged to the tubular knitted article (10);

turning over one of the two circular half-rings (310a, 310b) of the pick-up hook (100) onto the other so as to superimpose two opposite edges of the open toe of the tubular knitted article (10) on one another;

joining the two opposite edges to each other so as to form a closed toe; and

-unloading the tubular knitted article (10) with said closed toe.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the step of moving each pick-up hook (100) towards the tubular knitted article (10) comprises the steps of: inserting each pick-up hook (100) between two needles (210) of the circular needle bed to engage a portion of the tubular knitted article (10) between consecutive needles (210).

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the step of moving each pick-up hook (100) towards the tubular knitted article (10) comprises the steps of: rotating each pick-up hook (100) integrally with the latch portion (105) relative to the pick-up member (300) about a respective axis of rotation (302) oriented at an angle of about 90 ° relative to the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300), moving the hook portion (103) of each pick-up hook (100) towards the axis of the pick-up member (300).

4. Method according to claim 2, wherein the step of moving each pick-up hook (100) towards the tubular knitted article (10) comprises the steps of: rotating each pick-up hook (100) integrally with the latch portion (105) relative to the pick-up member (300) about a respective axis of rotation (302) oriented at an angle of about 90 ° relative to the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300), moving the hook portion (103) of each pick-up hook (100) towards the axis of the pick-up member (300).

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the step of joining the two opposite edges of the open toe of the tubular knitted article (10) to each other comprises the steps of: -tensioning a coil portion (32) radially outwards with respect to an axis (315) of the pick-up member (300) by means of a radially outwards movement of a hook portion (103) of the pick-up hook (100) integral with a corresponding latch portion (105).

6. Method according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the step of joining the two opposite edges of the open toe of the tubular knitted article (10) to each other comprises the steps of: -tensioning a coil portion (32) radially outwards with respect to an axis (315) of the pick-up member (300) by means of a radially outwards movement of a hook portion (103) of the pick-up hook (100) integral with a corresponding latch portion (105).

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein on the picking member (300) pick-up hooks (100) are provided between every two needles (210) and the hook portion (103) of the picking hook (100) is tapered in a front region facing the axis (315) of the picking member (300) and the maximum transverse dimension (224) of the hook portion (103) is greater than the distance (226) between adjacent needles (210), the picking hooks (100) passing between alternate pairs, increasing the distance (226) between adjacent pairs passed between by the picking hooks (100) and decreasing the distance (226) between adjacent pairs not passed between by the picking hooks (100), so that courses closer together with respect to the pitch of the needles (201) can be obtained to perform fine pitch sewing or stitching.

8. Method according to claim 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein on the pick-up member (300) pick-up hooks (100) are provided between every two needles (210) and the hook portions (103) of the pick-up hooks (100) are tapered in a front region facing the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300) and the maximum transverse dimension (224) of the hook portions (103) is greater than the distance (226) between adjacent needles (210), the pick-up hooks (100) passing between alternate couples, increasing the distance (226) between adjacent couples passed between by the pick-up hooks (100) and decreasing the distance (226) between adjacent couples not passed between by the pick-up hooks (100), so that courses closer together with respect to the pitch of the needles (201) can be obtained to perform fine-pitch sewing or stitching.

9. A pick-up device (318) for picking up a tubular knitted article (10) from a circular knitting machine (200) comprising a needle cylinder (220) having a circular needle bed; the device comprises:

-a picking member (300) provided with a plurality of picking hooks (100) arranged around an axis (315) of the picking member (300) according to a circular ring (310), the circular ring (310) being divided into two circular half-rings (310a, 310b) of picking hooks (100), one of which can be overturned onto the other, wherein each picking hook (100) comprises a shank (101) having a longitudinal axis (102) which ends in a hook portion (103), the hook portion (103) being movably constrained to the picking member (300);

a handling device (350) configured to move the picking member (300) between at least two operating positions;

-overturning means (305) for overturning one of the circular half-rings (310a, 310b) of the pick-up hook (100) onto the other; and

a drive device (330) of the picking hooks (100) for moving each picking hook (100) relative to the axis of the picking member (300),

characterized in that each pick-up hook (100) comprises a latch portion (105) having a stem (106) slidably movable along a longitudinal axis (102) of the handle (101) and a head (108) co-acting with the hook portion (103); wherein each latch portion (105) is constrained to the handle (101) and to the hook portion (103) of the respective pick-up hook (100) such that each latch portion (105) participates integrally in a movement in a radial direction of the hook portion (103) towards and away from the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300), and each latch portion (105) is movable with respect to the respective hook portion (103) with a movement substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis (102) of the handle (101) of the pick-up hook (100) so as to be movable alternately to an open position and a closed position; and control means are provided which slide each latch portion (105) along the shank (101) of the respective pick hook (100) between a first position, in which the head (108) keeps the hook portion (103) open, and a second position, in which the head (108) closes the hook portion (103) to hold the tubular knitted article (10).

10. A pick-up device according to claim 9, wherein each pick-up hook (100) is provided with a pivoting movement relative to the pick-up member (300) so as to move the hook portion (103) radially towards and away from the axis of the pick-up member (300), the latch portion (105) moving integrally with the pick-up hook (100) in the pivoting movement.

11. A pick up device according to claim 10, wherein the pivoting movement is a pivoting movement about a respective axis of rotation (302) oriented at an angle of about 90 ° with respect to an axis (315) of the pick up member (300).

12. Pick-up device according to claim 10, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a shape selected from:

a laminar shape having at least one tab, the stem (106) of the latch portion (105) having at least one slot in which to slidingly engage the tab of the handle;

a laminar shape with at least one slot, and the stem (106) of each latching portion (105) has at least one projection which is slidingly engaged in a respective slot; and

-a box shape comprising an inner sliding seat (101 a) in which the stem (106) of the corresponding latching portion (105) is housed.

13. Pick-up device according to claim 11, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a shape selected from:

a laminar shape having at least one tab, the stem (106) of the latch portion (105) having at least one slot in which to slidingly engage the tab of the handle;

a laminar shape with at least one slot, and the stem (106) of each latching portion (105) has at least one projection which is slidingly engaged in a respective slot; and

-a box shape comprising an inner sliding seat (101 a) in which the stem (106) of the corresponding latching portion (105) is housed.

14. Pick-up device according to claim 9, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a fixing portion (104) which movably constrains the pick-up hook (100) to the pick-up member (300).

15. Pick-up device according to claim 10, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a fixing portion (104) which movably constrains the pick-up hook (100) to the pick-up member (300).

16. Pick-up device according to claim 11, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a fixing portion (104) which movably constrains the pick-up hook (100) to the pick-up member (300).

17. Pick-up device according to claim 12, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a fixing portion (104) which movably constrains the pick-up hook (100) to the pick-up member (300).

18. Pick-up device according to claim 13, wherein the shank (101) of each pick-up hook (100) has a fixing portion (104) which movably constrains the pick-up hook (100) to the pick-up member (300).

19. The pickup device according to claim 14, wherein the fixed portion (104) is formed by two opposite halves (104a, 104b), at least one of the two opposite halves (104a, 104b) being connected to the handle (101) in a cantilevered manner.

20. A pick-up device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the fixed portion (104) is formed by two opposite halves (104a, 104b), at least one of which is connected to the handle (101) in a cantilever manner.

21. A system for producing a tubular knitted article (10), the system comprising:

a circular knitting machine (200) having a needle cylinder (220) comprising a circular needle bed;

-a pick-up device (318) according to any one of claims 9 to 19; and

a closing device (500) provided with a sewing needle (505) to close two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular knitted article (10).

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the pick-up hooks (100) are each insertable between two adjacent needles (210) of the circular needle bed.

23. System according to claim 21, wherein on the pick-up member (300) a pick-up hook (100) is arranged between every two needles of the circular needle bed, and wherein the pick-up hook (100) has a hook portion (103) whose front region facing the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300) has a maximum transverse dimension (224) greater than the distance (226) between adjacent needles (210) of the circular needle bed.

24. System according to claim 22, wherein on the pick-up member (300) pick-up hooks (100) are arranged between every two needles of the circular needle bed, and wherein the pick-up hooks (100) have a hook portion (103) whose front region facing the axis (315) of the pick-up member (300) has a maximum transverse dimension (224) greater than the distance (226) between adjacent needles (210) of the circular needle bed.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the pick-up hook (100) has a tapered shape configured to pass between adjacent pairs of needles (210).

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