CN117248326A - latch needle - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a latch needle which can reduce the latch mass and the impact energy when the latch is opened and closed, and can fully ensure the contact area between the latch and a seat supporting part. The latch (20) is provided with a latch trunk portion (21) inserted into the slit (13) and a spoon portion (30) formed wider than the latch trunk portion (21) at the tip of the latch trunk portion (21). The latch (20) is rotatable between a closed state in which a front surface (31) of the scoop section (30) is in contact with the needle hook (12) and an open state in which a rear surface (32) of the scoop section (30) is in contact with the seat support section (14), and the length (W1) of the scoop section (30) when viewed from the rear surface (32) is set to be longer than the length (W2) of the scoop section (30) when viewed from the front surface (31).

Description

Latch needle

Technical Field

The invention relates to a latch needle with a needle hook and a latch at the top.

Background

The latch needle includes a needle body having a hook at a tip thereof and a latch capable of being brought into contact with and separated from the hook. The latch is rotatably mounted to the needle body, and is configured in such a manner that a hook is alternately contacted with the seat support and opened and closed for forming a loop. The latch needle is attached to the knitting machine and reciprocates in the longitudinal direction, and as the reciprocating movement is performed, the latch needle is pushed by the thread to switch, thereby automatically forming stitches and knitting the thread.

In such knitting machines, it is necessary to increase the switching speed and the switching number of the latch needle (for example, it is assumed that the latch is switched at a speed of 100 ten thousand times per day or more than 1.0 m/s) in order to increase the productivity of the knitted fabric. When the latch needle is opened and closed at a high speed as described above, an impact load is accumulated when the latch needle contacts the needle body, and a spoon portion formed at the tip of the latch needle may be fatigued (latch defect). In particular, stress is concentrated on the edge of the spoon part, so that the problem of needle tongue defect is easy to occur.

When a latch defect occurs, sometimes the needle thread is cut off, causing the knitting machine to stop. Further, if knitting is continued without breaking the thread, the broken surface of the latch defect may come into contact with the thread, which may cause fuzzing or the like. As described above, the latch defect is a cause of a decrease in productivity and quality of the knitted fabric.

Regarding such a problem, there is an idea of reducing the impact energy at the time of switching the latch by reducing the latch mass, thereby preventing the latch from being defective. For example, patent document 1 discloses a structure in which an opening is formed in a latch to reduce the mass. Patent document 2 discloses a structure in which a concave portion is formed on the outer side of the tongue portion to reduce the quality of the tongue.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1 Japanese patent laid-open No. 60-71750.

Patent document 2 Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2005-299071.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, the latch needle described in patent document 1 has an opening formed in the latch, and thus, a cotton wool may enter the hole during fabric weaving, and there is a possibility that the latch may be opened Guan Buliang or the latch may be broken.

Further, since the latch needle described in patent document 2 has a concave portion formed on the outer side of the latch, the contact area between the thread and the latch becomes small when the thread moves along the outer side of the closed latch. Since the tension of the thread is maximized when the thread moves along the outside of the closed latch, repeated friction with the thread tends to cause uneven wear on the outside of the latch, which may cause fuzzing or thread breakage.

Further, by reducing the spoon portion of the latch, the latch mass can be reduced, and the impact energy at the time of opening and closing the latch can be reduced. However, if the spoon portion is reduced, the area of the back surface of the spoon portion becomes smaller. The back of the spoon part is a part contacted with the seat supporting part of the needle main body when the needle tongue is in an open state. If the area of the back surface of the spoon portion is reduced, the contact area between the seat support portion and the spoon portion is also reduced, and therefore, there is a possibility that the impact cannot be dispersed and the latch is broken.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a latch needle capable of reducing the weight of a latch, reducing the impact energy at the time of opening and closing the latch, and sufficiently securing the contact area between the latch and a seat support portion.

Solution for solving the problem

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a latch needle comprising: a needle body having a hook-shaped needle hook at the tip thereof; and a latch rotatably attached to the needle body so as to be capable of coming into contact with and separating from the needle hook, wherein a slit into which the latch is inserted is formed in the needle body, and a seat support portion wider than the slit is formed at an opening edge of the slit, and wherein the latch includes a latch trunk portion inserted into the slit and a spoon portion formed wider than the latch trunk portion at a tip end of the latch trunk portion. The latch is rotatable between a closed state in which a front surface of the scoop section is in contact with the needle hook and an open state in which a rear surface of the scoop section is in contact with the seat support section, and a length of the scoop section when viewed from the rear surface is set to be longer than a length of the scoop section when viewed from the front surface.

Effects of the invention

As described above, in the present invention, the length of the scoop section when viewed from the back is set longer than the length of the scoop section when viewed from the front. Therefore, the back surface of the spoon part which is in contact with the seat supporting part can be ensured to be larger than the front surface of the spoon part which is in contact with the needle hook. With this structure, even when the spoon portion is reduced and the latch mass is reduced, a large contact area with the seat support portion can be ensured. Therefore, the weight of the latch can be reduced, the impact energy at the time of opening and closing the latch can be reduced, and the contact area between the latch and the seat support portion can be sufficiently ensured.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of the tip of the latch needle, in which fig. 1 (a) is a closed state, and fig. 1 (b) is an open state.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial view of the vicinity of the cheek groove portion of the latch needle, where (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a bottom view in fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a top view, (b) front view, (c) side view, (d) rear view, and (e) bottom view of the latch.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the latch.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the vicinity of the cheek groove portion of the latch needle in the open state, in which fig. 5 (a) is a partially enlarged perspective view, and fig. 5 (b) is a partially enlarged perspective view from another angle.

Fig. 6 is a partial enlarged view of the vicinity of the cheek groove portion of the latch needle in the open state, where (a) is a top view, (b) is a side view in fig. 6, and (c) is a side view shown in broken line in fig. 6.

Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged view showing the vicinity of the cheek groove portion of the conventional latch needle, where (a) in fig. 7 is a side view of conventional example 1, and (b) in fig. 7 is a side view of conventional example 2.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The latch needle 10 of the present embodiment is used as a knitting needle for knitting and weaving mounted on a circular knitting machine or a flat knitting machine. As shown in fig. 1 and the like, the latch needle 10 includes: a needle body 11 having a hook 12 at the tip thereof; and a latch 20 rotatably mounted to the needle body 11 and capable of being brought into contact with and separated from the needle hook 12. The latch needle 10 weaves fabric by opening and closing the latch 20 through a thread feeding, stitch forming process. Latch 20 is rotatable between a closed condition shown in fig. 1 (a) and an open condition shown in fig. 1 (b).

The latch needle 10 can be used in a knitting machine known in the art. Although not particularly shown in the drawings, a plurality of grooves for mounting latch needles 10 are formed in parallel in a conventionally known knitting machine. The latch needles 10 are slidably accommodated in the grooves one by one. When the knitting machine is operated, the latch needle 10 reciprocates in the longitudinal direction (the sliding direction D1 of the latch needle 10 shown in fig. 1), and the thread attached to the knitting machine is knitted, thereby knitting the fabric.

As the latch needle 10 reciprocates, the latch 20 is pushed by the thread to switch, thereby automatically forming a stitch and knitting the thread. Specifically, when the latch needle 10 moves in the distal direction P1, the loop of knitting yarn held by the hook 12 is separated from the hook 12 and moves toward the needle body 11 (a loop-back state). At this time, the latch 20 is opened to the needle body 11 side opposite to the hook 12 by the tension of the knitting yarn. Thereafter, the latch needle 10 moves in the opposite direction to the tip direction P1. At this time, in order to make a new loop, the thread is hung on the hook 12. When the latch needle 10 is moved further in the opposite direction to the tip direction P1, the loop hung on the needle body 11 pushes the latch 20 to rotate toward the hook 12 and close, and the hook 12 is separated from the loop (loop-off state). By repeating this series of actions, an eye of the needle is thereby formed.

The needle body 11 of the present embodiment includes a shaft (not shown) accommodated in a groove of the knitting machine, a cheek groove portion 16 provided on a tip end side of the shaft, and a hook 12 provided on a tip end side of the cheek groove portion 16. The illustrated cheek portion 16 and the needle hook 12 are integrally and inseparably formed from one piece with the shaft. The cheek groove 16 is a portion for supporting the latch 20, and is formed so as to be capable of holding the latch 20. As described above, the hook 12 is a portion bent into a substantially J-shape to catch the thread during weaving.

As shown in fig. 2, a slit 13 into which the latch 20 is inserted is formed in the cheek groove portion 16. The slit 13 is a groove having a constant width in the D2 direction shown in fig. 2 (a). The proximal end portion (distal end opposite side end portion) of the latch 20 is inserted into the slit 13.

As shown in fig. 2 (b), the cheek portion 16 is provided with a rotation shaft 23. The rotation shaft 23 is a rotation shaft of the latch 20 about the D2 direction. In the present embodiment, the rotation shaft 23 is formed by caulking the front surface of the cheek groove portion 16 to the inside. The rotation shaft 23 is not limited to caulking, and may be formed using a pin, for example.

A seat support portion 14 is formed at an opening edge 13a of the slit 13. The width of the seat support portion 14 in the D2 direction shown in fig. 2 (a) is formed wider than the slit 13. The seat support portion 14 is a recess for the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30 to be described later to rest. The seat support portion 14 is formed so that the position where the back surface 32 of the spoon portion 30 abuts against is corresponding to the shape of the back surface 32 of the spoon portion 30. The seat support portion 14 has a substantially elliptical opening in a plan view as shown in fig. 2 (a).

As shown in fig. 3, the latch 20 includes a latch trunk portion 21 and a spoon portion 30.

The latch trunk portion 21 is inserted into the slit 13. The latch trunk portion 21 is formed in a thin plate shape, and its thickness (width viewed from the rotation axis 23 direction D2 of the latch 20) is fixed. By forming the thickness of the latch trunk portion 21 narrower than the slit 13, the latch trunk portion 21 can be inserted into the slit 13. A shaft hole 22 through which a rotation shaft 23 is inserted is formed near the base end portion of the latch trunk portion 21. The rotation shaft 23 is inserted into the shaft hole 22, and thereby the latch 20 is attached to the needle body 11 so as to be swingable about the rotation shaft 23.

The spoon portion 30 is a spoon-shaped portion formed at the tip of the latch trunk portion 21, and is formed wider than the latch trunk portion 21. Specifically, as shown in fig. 3 (a) and the like, the scoop portion 30 is formed wider than the latch trunk portion 21 as viewed from the direction D2 of the rotation axis 23 of the latch 20. In other words, the spoon portion 30 is formed in a shape protruding outward from both side surfaces of the latch trunk portion 21. The scoop portion 30 is larger than the width of the slit 13 and protrudes laterally, and therefore does not enter the slit 13.

The spoon portion 30 has a recess 31a formed in the front surface 31 to engage with the hook 12. The back surface 32 (opposite surface to the front surface 31) of the scoop portion 30 is formed into a substantially spherical curved surface. In the closed state, as shown in fig. 1 (a), the front face 31 of the scoop portion 30 abuts against the needle hook 12. At this time, the tip of the needle hook 12 is held in the concave portion 31a of the spoon portion 30. In the open state, as shown in fig. 1 (b) and 5, the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30 abuts against the seat support portion 14. As described above, the latch 20 can be rotated between the closed state and the open state.

Reference numeral 35 shown in fig. 3 (c) denotes a boundary line 35 between the latch tongue dry portion 21 and the scoop portion 30 when the latch tongue 20 is viewed from the side surface 33 (a surface orthogonal to the rotation axis 23). In other words, the boundary line 35 indicates a position where the scoop portion 30 starts to bulge out from the side surface 33 of the latch trunk portion 21. As shown in fig. 3 (c), the boundary line 35 is formed so as to incline toward the tip direction P2 of the latch 20 as the latch 20 is seen from the side surface 33 toward the front surface 31 from the back surface 32 (from top to bottom along the boundary line 35 in fig. 3 (c)). In other words, the length W1 of the scoop 30 when viewed from the back surface 32 (i.e., the length W1 from the tip of the scoop 30 in the back surface 32 to the boundary line 35) is set longer than the length W2 of the scoop 30 when viewed from the front surface 31 (i.e., the length W2 from the tip of the scoop 30 in the front surface 31 to the boundary line 35).

As shown in fig. 3 (c), the length of the scoop 30 when viewed from the front face 31 is the length of the scoop 30 when viewed from the front face 31 of the scoop 30 in a direction perpendicular to the front face 31. Similarly, the length of the scoop 30 viewed from the back surface 32 is the length of the scoop 30 when the back surface 32 of the scoop 30 is viewed from a direction orthogonal to the back surface 32.

As long as the boundary line 35 is formed as described above and the front face 31 side of the scoop portion 30 is formed smaller and the back face 32 side of the scoop portion 30 is formed larger, a larger contact area of the scoop portion 30 and the seat support portion 14 in the open state can be ensured even when the volume of the scoop portion 30 is reduced. The boundary line 35 may be a straight line or a curved line.

In the open state, as shown in fig. 6 (c), the latch 20 is not in contact with the bottom surface 13b of the slit 13. All the load of the latch 20 is thus borne by the seat support 14. According to the present embodiment, the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30 can be enlarged, and therefore the load can be dispersed and received over a large area.

In the present embodiment, in the open state shown in fig. 6 (c), the boundary line 35 between the latch trunk portion 21 and the scoop portion 30 is formed so as to be inclined with respect to the sliding direction D1 of the latch needle 10 so as to be directed from the front surface 31 toward the rear surface 32 (from top to bottom along the boundary line 35 in fig. 6 (c)) toward the tip end P1 of the latch needle 10.

In other words, in the open state shown in fig. 6 (c), when the end of the boundary line 35 on the back surface 32 side is the first end 35a and the end of the boundary line 35 on the front surface 31 side is the second end 35b, the first end 35a is located closer to the tip end direction P1 of the latch needle 10 than the second end 35b.

Therefore, the boundary line 35 runs in the contact area increasing direction between the seat support portion 14 and the scoop portion 30, and can disperse and receive the load over a large area.

The length of the spoon 30 when viewed from the back surface 32 is almost equal to the length of the spoon 30 when viewed from the front surface 31 as shown in fig. 7 in the conventional latch needle 10. Further, the boundary line 35 between the latch trunk portion 21 and the scoop portion 30 is inclined in such a manner as to be directed toward the rear end of the latch needle 10 as going from the front face 31 toward the rear face 32 in the open state. In this conventional structure, in order to increase the contact area between the seat support portion 14 and the scoop portion 30, the scoop portion 30 needs to be increased as shown in fig. 7 (a). However, if the scoop portion 30 is increased, the impact load due to acceleration increases, and the latch may be damaged. Further, if the scoop portion 30 is reduced in size and the latch 20 is miniaturized, as shown in fig. 7 (b), the contact area between the seat support portion 14 and the scoop portion 30 becomes small, and there is a possibility that the impact load cannot be dispersed and the latch becomes defective.

In this regard, in the latch needle 10 of the present embodiment, it is ensured that the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30 that contacts the seat support portion 14 is larger than the front surface 31 that contacts the scoop portion 30 of the hook 12. Therefore, even when the scoop portion 30 is reduced and the quality of the latch 20 is reduced, a larger contact area of the scoop portion 30 and the seat support portion 14 can be ensured. In other words, the weight of the latch 20 can be reduced, the impact energy at the time of opening and closing the latch 20 can be reduced, and the contact area between the latch 20 and the seat support portion 14 can be sufficiently ensured, so that the impact at the time of withdrawal can be dispersed.

The seat support portion 14 of the present embodiment is formed to match the shape of the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30 so as to increase the contact area with the scoop portion 30 as much as possible. As shown in fig. 2 (b), the seat support portion 14 has a seat surface 14c that contacts the scoop portion 30. Preferably, the entire seat surface 14c is in contact with the scoop portion 30. For this purpose, the seating surface 14c is preferably formed along the shape of the back surface 32 of the scoop portion 30.

For example, reference numeral 14a shown in fig. 2 b indicates a position (open distal end 14 a) of the opening of the seat support portion 14 closest to the distal end side of the latch needle 10. Further, reference numeral 14b denotes a position (an opening rear end 14 b) of the opening of the seat support portion 14 which is closest to the opposite side of the tip of the latch needle 10. Reference numeral 14d denotes a position (seat surface distal end 14 d) of the seat surface 14c closest to the distal end side of the latch needle 10. At this time, the seat surface distal end 14d is located closer to the distal end direction P1 of the latch needle 10 than the open distal end 14a, and thus the seat surface 14c is formed deeper than the opening. As described above, the seat surface 14c may be formed by cutting the opening of the seat support portion 14 in the tip direction P1 of the latch needle 10.

Description of the reference numerals

Latch needle

Needle body

12. needle hook

Slit

Opening edge

Bottom surface

Seat support

Open top end

Open rear end

Seat surface

14d. top of seating surface

Cheek groove parts

20. latch needle

21. the latch dry part

Shaft hole

Rotation axis

30. spoon part

31. front face

Concave part 31a

Back side

Side

Boundary line

First end portion

Second end

D1. sliding direction of latch needle

D2. the direction of the axis of rotation of the latch

P1. tip direction of latch needle

P2. tip direction of latch

Length of scoop section when viewed from back side

Length of scoop section when viewed from the front.

Claims (4)

1. A latch needle is provided with: a needle body having a hook-shaped needle hook at the tip thereof; and a latch rotatably mounted to the needle body to be capable of being contacted with and separated from the needle hook, wherein,

a slit into which the latch is inserted is formed in the needle body, a seat support portion wider than the slit is formed at an opening edge of the slit,

the needle tongue is provided with a needle tongue dry part inserted into the slit and a spoon part formed at the top end of the needle tongue dry part to be wider than the needle tongue dry part,

the latch can rotate between a closed state that the front surface of the spoon part is abutted against the needle hook and an open state that the back surface of the spoon part is abutted against the seat supporting part,

the length of the scoop section when viewed from the back side is set longer than the length of the scoop section when viewed from the front side.

2. The latch needle according to claim 1, wherein,

the boundary line between the latch trunk portion and the scoop portion is formed obliquely so as to be directed toward the tip end direction of the latch as going from the back surface toward the front surface when the latch is viewed from the side.

3. The latch needle according to claim 1, wherein,

the boundary line between the latch trunk portion and the scoop portion is inclined with respect to the sliding direction of the latch needle in such a manner as to face the tip direction of the latch needle as going from the front face toward the rear face in the open state.

4. The latch needle according to claim 1, wherein,

when the end of the boundary line on the back side is the first end and the end of the boundary line on the front side is the second end of the boundary line between the latch trunk portion and the scoop portion,

in the open state, the first end portion is formed to be located closer to the tip end direction of the latch needle than the second end portion.