CN115142183B

CN115142183B - Needle selecting device and method of flat knitting machine

Info

Publication number: CN115142183B
Application number: CN202210322676.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 后藤昌纪
Original assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-31
Filing date: 2022-03-30
Publication date: 2023-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 2042-03-30
Also published as: CN115142183A; JP2022157542A

Abstract

The invention provides a needle selecting device and method of a flat knitting machine. The carriage can travel at a high speed by the needle drawing knitting without increasing the size of the part required for needle selection. A plurality of segment positions are provided as shown in (a), and knitting needles divided into two groups A, B according to the difference in the shape of the tail portions (3A, 3B) of the selectors (2A, 2B) as shown in (B) are arranged at the same segment positions. By returning the knitting needles belonging to group a and making the knitting needles of group B non-selected empty needles, needle selection for 1x1 draw knitting can be performed. Since the adjacent knitting needles belong to different groups A, B, the interval between knitting needles having the same segment position of the returned needle selecting butt (1) is widened, and the needle selection by the needle selecting actuator can be performed even if the carriage moves at a high speed.

Description

Needle selecting device and method of flat knitting machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a needle selecting device and method for a flat knitting machine that selects a plurality of knitting needles arranged in parallel on a needle bed according to an operation.

Background

The flat knitting machine performs knitting of a knitted fabric or the like by driving knitting needles arranged in parallel on a needle bed by a carriage that reciprocates in a longitudinal direction along a surface of the needle bed. The needle bed has a needle groove extending in a forward and backward direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction, and houses a knitting needle in a slidable state. The knitting needle has a hook which is a tip end on the needle bed gap side in the advancing and retreating direction, and a driving butt which can change the protruding state from the needle groove to the surface of the needle bed. The carriage is mounted with a cam system for operating the knitting needle by acting on the driving butt protruding from the needle groove. The knitting needle used for knitting a knitted fabric may be used in combination with a transfer or the like, based on looping, tucking, and floating. The cam system includes a needle selecting device for selecting a knitting needle according to an operation (for example, refer to patent document 1). The knitting needle of patent document 1 includes a selector for selecting a needle at the rear end in the advancing and retreating direction. The selector sets a selector butt protruding from the needle groove toward the surface of the needle bed as a selected needle portion at one of a plurality of stage positions set in the advancing and retreating direction. The needle selection device includes a return mechanism and a needle selection actuator. The selector actuator is configured such that the return mechanism acts on the return portion of the selector, and determines whether or not the selector is non-selection based on whether or not the selector butt returned so as to protrude from the needle groove is pressed alone and is then sunk into the needle groove. In the needle selecting actuator, when the interval between the needles to be selected is narrowed, the switching time of the needle selection is not longer. Therefore, if the segment positions of the selector butts are the same in adjacent needles, the traveling speed of the carriage must be set to a low speed, and thus the number of segments increases, and the segment positions of the selector butts are sequentially different for each needle.

The flat knitting machine is capable of knitting a rib knitting fabric having a front stitch and a back stitch or the like by providing two needle beds facing each other as two needle beds, or knitting a tubular knitting fabric by feeding yarns so that the knitting fabric knitted on each needle bed is connected to both ends of a knitting width. The knitting of the tubular knitted fabric in which each needle bed is 1 layer is performed by 1x1 drawing knitting (i.e., pulling back) using 1 needle per 1 needle in each of the front and rear needle beds. For example, the odd-numbered needles of the front needle bed are mainly used to knit the front-side knitted fabric, and the even-numbered needles of the rear needle bed are mainly used to knit the rear-side knitted fabric. The front and rear needle beds each have a needle of the other needle bed facing the knitting needle for knitting of one needle bed as a dummy needle, and are used for transferring the dummy needle, rib knitting, and the like. When knitting a knitted fabric of 2 or more layers on at least one needle bed, the 1x1 draw knitting is not performed, but the draw knitting with the increased number of empty needles is performed.

[ Prior Art literature ]

[ patent literature ]

[ patent document 1 ] International publication No. 2007/074944

Disclosure of Invention

[ problem ] to be solved by the invention

The needle selecting disclosed in patent document 1 is configured such that the traveling speed of the carriage is increased by providing the selector butt at one of a plurality of different segment positions with respect to the advancing and retreating direction of the selector, thereby improving the knitting speed. However, in (the upper part of) the fine machine number having a small parallel pitch of knitting needles, the interval between knitting needles having selector butts at the same segment position is shortened, and there is a possibility that there is no margin for selection. In such a case, increasing the number of steps leads to an increase in the range of setting the selector butt, which leads to an increase in the size of the needle selecting device and the carriage on which the needle selecting device is mounted. The carriage also increases in weight when it is enlarged, and it becomes difficult to travel at high speed.

Since the needle for knitting and the dummy needle not for knitting are provided for the draw knitting, the stitch is larger than the full needle knitting ( i) in which the knitting is knitted by using all the adjacent needles. In order to knit a fine-stitch knitted fabric also in the draw knitting, it is necessary to reduce the parallel pitch of the knitting needles. In order to prevent the carriage from decreasing its travel speed even when the parallel pitch is reduced, it is necessary to increase the number of steps at the position of the butt for selecting a needle, to increase the number of needles interposed between the needles at the same step position, and to increase the size of the portion required for selecting a needle.

The invention aims to provide a needle selecting device and a needle selecting method of a flat knitting machine, which can realize high-speed carriage running through needle drawing knitting without enlarging a part required for needle selecting.

[ means for solving the problems ]

The invention provides a needle selecting device of a flat knitting machine, which can select needles for drawing knitting, and comprises:

a needle bed in which needle grooves are provided at a predetermined pitch along a longitudinal direction;

knitting needles accommodated in the needle grooves and provided with selectors; and

The carriage reciprocates along the length direction of the needle bed,

the selector has a selected needle part as a target of needle selection and a return part for returning the selected needle part to a state capable of needle selection,

the needle selecting device of the flat knitting machine is characterized in that,

with respect to the knitting needle,

based on a combination of a knitting needle and an empty needle which are the object of needle selection in the needle drawing knitting, the knitting needles are divided so as to belong to any one of a plurality of groups,

the shape of the return portion of the selector of the needles belonging to each group is made different,

arranged in such a way that knitting needles belonging to different groups are accommodated in adjacent needle grooves,

the needle selecting device of the flat knitting machine comprises:

a return mechanism for acting on the return section of the selector only for the knitting needles belonging to one group to return the selected needle section to a state where the needle can be selected; and

The needle selecting actuator acts on the selected needle portion of the selector of the returned needle to determine whether or not to select the needle.

In addition, in the present invention, it is characterized in that,

in the selector, a selector butt that can protrude from the needle groove to the outside of the needle bed is provided as the selected needle portion at one of a plurality of segment positions set in the advancing and retreating direction along the needle groove.

In addition, in the present invention, it is characterized in that,

the knitting needles are divided into two groups,

the knitting needles belonging to one and the other of the two groups and having the same segment position of the selector are arranged adjacently.

In addition, in the present invention, it is characterized in that,

the knitting needles are divided into two groups,

the segment positions of the selector are set to be odd,

the selector section positions and the associated knitting needles are arranged alternately adjacent to each other.

The present invention also provides a needle selecting method for a flat knitting machine including a needle bed having needle grooves provided at a predetermined pitch along a longitudinal direction and a carriage reciprocally moving along the longitudinal direction of the needle bed,

the needles are divided into a plurality of groups based on a combination of the needles that are the object of selecting the needles in the draw knitting and the dummy needles,

the shape of the return portion that returns the needle to be selectable is different in each group,

only the knitting needles belonging to the group to be selected in the needle drawing knitting are returned based on the difference in the shape of the return portion, and then the returned knitting needles are individually selected.

[ Effect of the invention ]

According to the present invention, the knitting needles are divided into a plurality of groups based on a combination of knitting needles and dummy needles that are the object of needle selection in the needle drawing knitting. The return mechanism is made to act on the return portion so that the selected needle portion of the selector can select a needle belonging to one group, and the returned needles are individually selected by the needle selection actuator. Since the other group of knitting needles do not return, the needle is not selected by the needle selecting actuator, but is a non-selected empty needle, and needle selection for needle drawing knitting can be performed as a whole. The needles adjacent to the needles that make the selection belong to different groups and therefore do not return simultaneously with the needles that make the selection. Since the interval between the knitting needles returned to perform needle selection is widened, the speed of the carriage traveling can be increased, and the increase in size of the portion required for needle selection can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, the return mechanism can return the selector of the knitting needles belonging to the returned group to the state in which the selector butt provided in the selector protrudes from the needle groove, as the object of selecting the needle based on the pressing of the needle selecting actuator.

In addition, according to the present invention, the knitting needles belonging to the two groups having the butt for needle selection at the same segment position are arranged adjacently. Since the return mechanism returns the knitting needles of one group and does not return the knitting needles of the other group, the needle selection actuator selects only the returned knitting needles, thereby enabling the needle selection for 1x1 draw knitting.

Further, according to the present invention, since the segment positions of the selector and the knitting needles to which the selector belongs are alternately arranged adjacently, if only one stitch needle of the two groups is returned, 1×1 needle selection for draw knitting can be performed. In 1x1 draw knitting, the interval between adjacent knitting needles at the same segment position can be set to be 2 times the number of the segment positions. Since the adjacent knitting needles are also different in segment positions, the entire knitting needles are returned, and the needle selection for the full needle knitting can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, the knitting needles are divided into a plurality of groups based on a combination of the knitting needles and the dummy needles, which are the target of the needle selection in the needle drawing knitting, and the knitting needles belonging to one group are returned to be selectable for the needle selection. The needle selection for the draw knitting can be performed by making the needle of the other group be an empty needle outside the object of the needle selection without returning the needle. Since adjacent knitting needles belong to different groups, it is not necessary to continuously select a needle, and the interval between knitting needles for selecting a needle can be increased, the speed of the carriage traveling can be increased, and the size of a portion necessary for selecting a needle can be prevented.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a simplified state of the selector butt 1 in which the selectors 2A, 2B are arranged in two groups A, B, and a side view of the selectors 2A, 2B, in which the segment positions 1), 2), 3), 4), 5), 6), 7), 8) are shown in embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view showing a state in which the selector 2A, 2B of fig. 1 is returned by the return cams 4A, 4B, and a partial plan view showing the arrangement of the return cams 4A, 4B and the needle selection actuator 5.

Fig. 3 is a top view showing a triangle configuration including the needle selecting device 10 having the return cams 4A, 4B and the needle selecting actuator 5 of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the return cams 24A, 24B, 24C and side views of the selectors 22A, 22B in embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a simplified state of the selector butt 1 in which the selector 2A, 2B divided into two groups A, B are arranged at the segment positions 1), 2), 3), 4), 5), 6), 7) in embodiment 3 of the present invention.

[ PREPARATION ] A method for producing a polypeptide

1. Needle selection butt

2A, 2B, 22A, 22B selector

Tail of 3A,3B,23A,23B

4A, 4B, 24A, 24B, 24C return triangles

5. Needle selection actuator

6. Needle selecting claw

10. Needle selecting device

20. Gear selecting jack control mechanism

25A, 25B return butt

30. Control triangle

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, fig. 1 to 3 relate to embodiment 1 of the present invention. The longitudinal direction of the plan view is the advancing and retreating direction of the knitting needle in which the needle groove extends, and the upper side represents the tooth mouth side of the needle bed and the lower side represents the tail side of the needle bed. The lateral direction is the longitudinal direction of the needle bed, and is the direction in which the needle grooves accommodating the knitting needles are juxtaposed. The side view shows the up-down direction, the left side is the front side of the needle bed, and the right side is the back side of the needle bed, as in the top view. In examples 1 and 3, the arrangement of the segment positions of the selector butt 1 is shown as a group a and a group B as shown in fig. 1 (a) and 5, respectively. Fig. 1 (B) shows the selectors 2A, 2B of the needles belonging to the groups a and B, respectively. The selectors 2A, 2B are identical in that any one of the selector butts 1 as the selected portion is provided at the segment positions 1), 2), 3), 4), 5), 6), 7), 8), but the tail portions 3A,3B as the return portions have different shapes. The selectors 2A and 2B can be used in place of the selector 11 with respect to the knitting needle 1 shown in fig. 4 of patent document 1. In the drawings of the present application, corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and a repetitive description thereof may be omitted. For convenience of explanation, portions not shown in the drawings to be explained are sometimes denoted by reference numerals shown in other drawings.

[ example 1 ]

The segment positions in embodiment 1 shown in fig. 1 (a) are provided with 8 segments, and groups a and B are alternately arranged in the same segment. In this example 1, the needle selection for 1×1 draw knitting was performed by returning only one of the group a and the group B to be able to select the needle and not returning the other. The combination of the a group and the B group returned respectively at the front and rear needle beds may be any one of the a group and the a group, the B group and the B group, the a group and the B group, and the B group and the a group. If the needle bed of one needle bed is configured such that only the group a can be selected and the group B cannot be selected, the needle selection butt 1 of the group a has the same segment position, for example, the segment position 1) 2 times the number of segments 8, that is, 16 th. That is, the pitch of the selector butts 1 at the same segment position is 16 times the parallel pitch of the knitting needles. Even if the group B can be selected only, the interval between the selector butts 1 of the group B is 16 times the parallel pitch of the knitting needles.

In this embodiment 1, the selector 2A of the knitting needles belonging to the group a is substantially the same as the selector 11 of patent document 1, and the selector butt 1 is provided at any one of the 8-stage positions. The tail 3A becomes a return portion. The selector 2B of the knitting needles belonging to the group B is identical to the selector 2A with respect to the butt 1 for needle selection as the selected needle portion, but the shape of the tail portion 3B as the return portion is different. That is, the tail portion 3B is formed shorter than the tail portion 3A and is deeper on the bottom surface side. In this embodiment 1, a needle selecting device shown in patent document 1 can be used in addition to the return cam.

The selectors 2A and 2B include, like the selector 11 shown in fig. 4 of patent document 1, a combination of a needle body having a hook that advances and retreats with respect to the needle bed gap at the tip end and a jack having a driving butt, and a selection jack that controls the projecting state of the driving butt from the needle groove, and form a knitting needle as a whole. In the selectors 2A, 2B, an ascending butt 2A and a descending butt 2B protruding from the needle groove are provided at positions in the tail direction and the tooth gap direction, respectively, of the range in which the selector butt 1 is provided, and a tip end 2c is provided at the tip end in the tooth gap direction. When the selector 2A, 2B is in the needle selection state, the tip end portion 2c pushes the selection jack upward in the direction of the needle bed gap by the cam pair rising butt 2A.

Fig. 2 illustrates the return and selection operations of the selectors 2A and 2B. Fig. 2 (a) and 2 (B) show a state in which the return cams 4A and 4B are made to act on the tail portions 3A and 3B of the selectors 2A and 2B, respectively, and a state in which the needle is not made to return to the needle-selecting state, respectively, by solid lines. In a state where the needle can be selected as in the solid line, the selector butt 1 protrudes from the needle groove toward the front side of the needle bed. The needle selection actuator 5 shown in fig. 2 (c) is a carriage that travels along the surface of the needle bed, and is provided in a triangle that faces the surface of the needle bed. The selector actuator 5 is provided with a number of selector claws 6 corresponding to the segment positions. The selector jack 6 is electrically driven by, for example, a solenoid, and can switch whether or not the selector butt 1 in the returned state is pressed. The needle selecting butt 1 in the needle selecting state is not pressed, and the needle selecting state is not pressed. The non-returned needles are all in a non-needle selecting state. The return cams 4A and 4B are mainly mounted on a carriage facing the front side of the needle bed, but facing the back side of the needle bed. Therefore, the carriage has a portion extending from the front side to the back side outside the rear end of the needle bed, and the return cams 4A, 4B are provided at this portion. The return cams 4A, 4B function to push up the tail portions 3A,3B of the selectors 2A, 2B from the back side to the front side of the needle bed. The return cam 4A is disposed at a position closer to the trailing end side than the return cam 4B in the advancing and retreating direction, and the height of the position where the trailing end 3A is pushed up is higher than the height where the return cam 4B pushes up the trailing end 3B. As shown in fig. 2 (c), the return cams 4A and 4B are arranged in parallel in the advancing and retreating direction, and can push up the tail portions 3A and 3B independently of each other. In example 1, the return of the needle selection for 1×1 needle drawing knitting was performed by pushing up only one of the return cams 4A and 4B.

Fig. 3 shows a cam arrangement on a cam plate having return cams 4A and 4B of fig. 2 as return mechanisms and having a needle selecting actuator 5, and facing the front side of the needle bed with a carriage. The triangle arrangement is the same as that of fig. 1 of patent document 1, except for the return triangles 4A, 4B. The needle selecting device 10 performs 2-stage needle selection by pushing up the raising butt 2A of the selector 2A, 2B with the raising

cams

11, 12 having different heights in the tooth gap direction by the two needle selecting actuators 5. For example, when the carriage moves to the left in the drawing with respect to the knitting needle near the middle position of the return cams 4A and 4B on the left side in the drawing, the selector butt 1 receives a selection by the selector jack 6 by the first selector actuator 5. When the selector butt 1 is not pressed by the selector claw 6, the raising butt 2a is pushed up by the lower raising cam 11, and the tip end 2c pushes up the selector jack to the H position at the intermediate height. In the second needle selecting actuator 5, only the butt 1 for selecting a first selected needle is the object of selecting a needle. When the second needle selecting actuator 5 selects a needle, the raising butt 2A of the selector 2A or 2B is pushed up by the high raising cam 12, and the tip end 2c pushes up the select jack to the position a of the highest height. The select jack not pushed up by the selector 2A, 2B stays at the B position of the base position. The descent cam 13 acts on the descent butt 2B to return the selectors 2A, 2B to the base position where the selector butt 1 can select a needle by the needle selection actuator 5.

The presser and the cam of the selector jack control mechanism 20 control whether or not to protrude the drive butt provided on the jack from the needle groove to the front side of the needle bed by pressing the selector jack. The driving butt protruding from the needle groove is acted on by the driving cam 30 to actuate the knitting needle. When the driving cam 30 is a cam for knitting, three positions of the select jack can be associated with stitch formation, tucking, and float. The needle selecting actuators 5 on both left and right end sides are provided with only one, but the same as patent document 1 is used for performing the first needle selection when the carriage moves to one side and becomes the rear side and is separated, and performing the second needle selection when the carriage reverses and moves to the other side and becomes the front side.

[ example 2 ]

Fig. 4 shows a side structure of selectors 22A, 22B for performing 1×1 needle selection similar to that of example 1 in fig. 4 (a) and 4 (B), and fig. 4 (C) shows a top view structure of return cams 24A, 24B, 24C as return means. The return cams 24C for performing the return operation are provided on the back side of the needle bed in the same manner as the return cams 4A and 4B of example 1, and push up so as to temporarily return both the tail portions 23A and 23B of the selectors 22A and 22B. The tail portions 23A,23B have return butts 25A, 25B as portions protruding toward the front side of the needle bed at different positions in the advancing and retreating direction. The return cams 24A and 24B for releasing operation are provided on the front side of the needle bed, and can press the return butts 25A and 25B, respectively, and sink into the needle grooves as indicated by the broken lines. In the state shown by the broken line, the pressing of the selector claw 6 cannot be performed. By pressing one of the return cams 24A and 24B, one of the corresponding tail portions 23A and 23B can be sunk into the needle groove, and return can be released to be a non-needle selection.

The protruding amount of the returning butts 25A, 25B is increased, and even in a state of sinking into the needle groove, the tip ends protrude to the front side of the needle groove than the flat portions of the returned tail portions 23A, 23B. The tail portions 23A and 23B of the present embodiment 2 may be replaced with a shape in which the shapes of the tail portions 3A and 3B of the embodiment 1 are inverted vertically, that is, a shape in which the length in the advancing and retreating direction is different and the protruding amount of the needle groove to the front side is different. Alternatively, the shape of the tail portions 3A and 3B of embodiment 1 may be replaced with the shape of the tail portions 23A and 23B of embodiment 2, which is inverted vertically.

[ example 3 ]

Fig. 5 shows, as example 3, a different arrangement of the selector butt 1 from that of examples 1 and 2. In this embodiment 3, the same selectors 2A, 2B as in embodiment 1 or embodiment 2 can also be used; 22A, 22B or return triangles 4A, 4B;24A, 24B, 24C. The selector butt 1 is arranged with an odd number of 7 segments at the segment positions, and groups a and B are alternately arranged in adjacent needle grooves, and the segment positions are also arranged with a segment-by-segment offset. Since the groups a and B are alternately arranged at the same segment position, the interval between the knitting needles for selecting the needles in the 1×1 needle drawing knitting can be increased to 2 times the number of the segment positions, that is, to 14 which is the product of 2 as the number of the groups and 7 as the number of the segments, by returning only one of the groups. If the number of segments is even, even if the groups a and B are alternately arranged, the knitting needles belonging to the same group are arranged at the same segment position so as to be separated by the number of segments, and the interval between the knitting needles is only the number of segments, and is not 2 times that in the case of an odd number. This embodiment 3 utilizes return triangles 4A, 4B;24A, 24B have two sets of selectors 2A, 2B;22A, 22B are returned simultaneously, and needle selection for full needle knitting can be performed. However, in the needle selection for full needle knitting, the interval between adjacent needles at the same segment position is 7 corresponding to the number of segments.

The above-described embodiment 1, embodiment 2, and embodiment 3 are applied to a flat knitting machine including: a needle bed provided with needle grooves at a predetermined pitch along a longitudinal direction; knitting needles accommodated in the needle grooves and provided with selectors 2A, 2B;22A, 22B; and a carriage that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the needle bed. Selectors 2A, 2B;22A, 22B include a selector butt 1 as a needle selecting portion to be selected, and tail portions 3A,3B as return portions for returning the needle selecting portion to a needle selecting possible state; 23A, 23B. The needle selecting device of the flat knitting machine includes a return mechanism and a needle selecting actuator 5. The selector actuator 5 performs needle selection by pressing the selector butt 1 with the selector claw 6. However, the present invention can also be applied to a device for selecting a needle by electromagnetic adsorption and release as a needle selecting actuator. Such a needle selecting actuator uses an armature provided at the tail of the selector as a needle selecting portion. The selected needle portion is adsorbed on the adsorption surface, and the selector is returned to the state of being lifted in the needle groove, and the selector is released from adsorption and is submerged in the needle groove. However, if the state where the armature is attracted and lifted up in the needle groove is set to the needle selection state and the state where the armature is released and lowered into the needle groove is set to the non-needle selection state, the attraction and release of the armature can be performed in the same manner as the non-pressing and pressing of the selector jack 6 against the selector butt 1. In the selector to be subjected to electromagnetic needle selection, if the returning sections having different shapes are provided in the plurality of groups as well, and the butts similar to the ascending butt 2A and the descending butt 2B of the selector 2A or 2B of example 1 are provided, the returning mechanism is divided into the group a and the group B, and the armature is attracted to the attracting surface, the needle selection can be performed basically by the needle selection device similar to that of fig. 3. For example, in the needle selecting device disclosed in international publication No. 2011/027543, since the armature provided at the tail of the selector is provided in 2 stages in the advancing and retreating direction, the present invention which is divided into two groups and returned can be applied to further expand the interval between the knitting needles for selecting needles.

In short, the knitting needles belong to the tail portions 3A,3B which become return portions; 23A,23B are different in shape. In each embodiment, the knitting needles belonging to different groups are placed in adjacent needle grooves. Comprises return triangles 4A, 4B; the return mechanism 24A, 24B, 24C allows only the knitting needles belonging to one group to act on the return portion to return the selected needle portion to a state where the needle can be selected. The needle selecting actuator acts on the selected needle portion of the returned needle to determine whether or not to select the needle. Since the other group of knitting needles do not return, the needle is not selected by the needle selecting actuator, but is a non-selected empty needle, and the needle selecting for 1x1 draw knitting can be performed as a whole. Even in the case of needle drawing knitting for knitting a knitted fabric of 2 or more layers on at least one needle bed, the knitting needles may be divided into a plurality of groups based on a combination of a knitting needle to be a target of needle selection and an empty needle. For example, one needle bed may be divided into 2 layers, the other needle bed may be divided into 1 layer, and three groups may be divided when knitting a knitted fabric by draw knitting, and four groups may be divided when dividing both needle beds into 2 layers. Further, the present invention can be applied to a four-needle bed flat knitting machine including front and rear upper and lower needle beds, not limited to a two-needle bed flat knitting machine, but a knitting machine including a plurality of groups of knitting needles. In other words, the adjacent knitting needles belong to different groups, and the interval between the knitting needles that return to select the needle is widened, so that the carriage can travel at high speed. Since the interval from the needle to be selected to the needle belonging to the same group at the same segment position and the needle to be selected next is enlarged, the enlargement of the portion required for selecting the needle can be avoided.

Claims

1. A needle selecting device (10) of a flat knitting machine capable of selecting a needle for draw knitting, the flat knitting machine comprising:

knitting needles accommodated in the needle grooves and provided with selectors (2A, 2B;22A, 22B); and

The carriage reciprocates along the length direction of the needle bed,

the selector (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) has a selected needle part (1) to be a needle selecting object, a return part (3A, 3B;23A, 23B) for returning the selected needle part (1) to a needle selecting possible state,

the needle selecting device (10) of the flat knitting machine is characterized in that,

with respect to the knitting needle,

the knitting needles are divided so as to belong to any one of a plurality of groups (A, B) based on a combination of the knitting needles and the dummy needles which are the object of needle selection in the needle drawing knitting,

the shapes of the return portions (3A, 3B;23A, 23B) of the selectors (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) of the needles belonging to each group (A, B) are made different,

is configured in such a way that knitting needles belonging to different groups (A, B) are accommodated in adjacent needle grooves,

the needle selecting device (10) of the flat knitting machine comprises:

a return mechanism (4A, 4B;24A, 24B, 24C) which acts on return sections (3A, 3B;23A, 23B) of the selector (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) only for knitting needles belonging to one group (A, B) to return the selected needle section (1) to a needle-selectable state; and

A needle selection actuator (5) acts on the selected needle portion (1) of the returned needle selector (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) to individually determine whether or not to select the needle.

2. Needle selecting device (10) of a flat knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that,

the selector (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) has a selector butt (1) as the selected needle portion, which can protrude from the needle groove to the outside of the needle bed, at one of a plurality of segment positions set in the advancing and retreating direction along the needle groove.

3. Needle selecting device (10) of a flat knitting machine according to claim 2, characterized in that,

the needles are divided into two groups (A, B),

knitting needles belonging to one and the other of the two groups (A, B) and having the same positions of the sections of the selectors (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) are arranged adjacently.

4. Needle selecting device (10) of a flat knitting machine according to claim 2, characterized in that,

the needles are divided into two groups (A, B),

the segment positions of the selectors (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) are set to be odd,

the sections of the selector (2A, 2B;22A, 22B) are arranged alternately adjacent to the associated group (A, B) of knitting needles.

5. A needle selecting method of a flat knitting machine, the flat knitting machine comprises a needle bed provided with needle grooves at a certain interval along the length direction and a carriage which reciprocates along the length direction of the needle bed, characterized in that,

the needles are divided into a plurality of groups (A, B) based on a combination of the needles that are the object of needle selection in the draw knitting and the empty needles,

the shape of the return portions (3A, 3B;23A, 23B;25A, 25B) for returning the needles to a needle-selectable position is different in each group (A, B),

only the knitting needles belonging to the group (A, B) which is the object of needle selection in the needle drawing knitting are returned based on the difference in shape of the return portions (3A, 3B;23A, 23B;25A, 25B), and then the returned knitting needles are individually selected.