EP0014168A1 - Automatic circular knitting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

1. An automatic circular knitting machine for the manufacture of sports socks which, when turned inside out after being knitted up, display when worn a leg section with a standard appearance in which more than half the stitches consist of plain stitches and the foot section is completely formed in plain machine knit with the reverse of the machine knit on the outside, the knitting machine consisting of an upper cylinder (2) and a lower cylinder (3) set vertically between which is provided a small space for a guard plate (4) and in which there are grooves to guide the needles (5) which are driven by plates (6) coming from a control drum, the grooves of the two cylinders being opposite each other so that each needle, which has a small hook at each end, may be used either at the level of the upper cylinder or at the level of the lower cylinder, and may pass from one cylinder to the other, the upper cylinder being fitted with little plates (18) which facilitate the taking down of the yarn, means (8) being provided to ensure the guidance of the yarn when this yarn is brought to the upper cylinder and cylinders being provided to exert a pull on the yarn coming out from the lower part of the knitting machine, this knitting machine being characterized in that it further consists of means enabling the support for the little plates (18) which are linked to the upper cylinder (2) to be lowered in such a way that these little plates are at the usual level for taking the knitting yarn (7) and in that the means (8) for the guidance of the yarn when this yarn is brought to the upper cylinder (2) are arranged so that the yarn (7) coming out from the aforesaid means may come tangentially to the guard plate (4) at a point situated between the outlet of the means for guidance and the point where the needles make possible the taking of the yarn (7), these various contrivances being set to work when the leg part of the sock is being knitted up.

Description

The invention relates to a sports sock, its manufacturing process and a device for implementing this process.

We already know many types of sports socks which, conventionally, include a ribbed leg of which more than half of the stitches are made up of knitted stitches and a plain jersey foot whose right side appears on the outside, the reverse side being, consequently, in direct contact with the wearer's foot.

However, it has frequently been observed that this direct contact of the reverse side of the jersey, with relatively accentuated relief, with the athlete's foot could contribute to the formation of braces or bulbs especially during long periods of walking.

One could, of course, consider overcoming this drawback by turning these socks over so that the right side of the jersey is in direct contact with the user's foot. We would then come up against another drawback of an aesthetic nature, because the leg would have the unsightly appearance of ribs or reliefs of which more than half of the stitches is made up of reverse stitches.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a sports sock, the leg of which has a classic rib appearance, according to which more than half of the stitches are made up of knitted stitches and the entire foot of which, made of plain jersey, the reverse side of the jersey on the outside.

The user thus has a sock which, while retaining a satisfactory aesthetic appearance due to the appearance of the leg, has increased comfort properties for the wearer since the part of the foot which is in contact with the skin is made up by the right side of the solid jersey. In addition, the reverse side of the jersey being in direct contact with the inside of the shoe prevents, by the very fact of its relief, a sliding of the foot of the user during walking.

The sock according to the invention is obtained by turning, after knitting on an automatic circular loom of the vertical double cylinder type, of a sock whose leg has a rib appearance of which more than half of the stitches are reverse stitches and whose foot, in plain jersey, falls from the loom with the outside face.

The circular looms in question have two opposite cylindrical needle beds, the grooves of which face one another, so that each needle, which has a hook at each of its ends, can be used at the level from the upper cylinder or at the level of the lower cylinder and move from one cylinder to another.

The use of needles at the level of the lower cylinder allows the formation of knit stitches, while the use of needles at the level of the upper cylinder allows the formation of reverse stitches. When all the needles work at the level of the lower cylinder, a stocking stitch is obtained.

It is possible to obtain ribs by alternating the right and wrong stitches according to the position of the needles, respectively at the level of the upper cylinder and the lower cylinder.

The sock leaves the loom in the form of a hose, a traction device ensuring the descent of this hose being constituted by two cylinders driven in rotation between which the hose is kept in pressure.

In addition, platinettes are associated with the lower cylinder which have the function of preventing the ascent of the last row of meshes during the passage of a number of needles from the lower cylinder to the upper cylinder. These plates, arranged radially, are articulated and have a hook-shaped end capable of gripping the knitted mesh.

At the level of the upper cylinder, plates are also provided which, fixedly mounted on their cylindrical support, have the function of facilitating the descent of the hose.

As regards the supply of the wire to the loom, it is carried out using a throwing arm arranged in such a way that the wire tangents the zone situated between the two cylinders at the point where the needles take the wire .

This type of loom does not, by design, ensure the normal descent of a hose of which more than half of the mesh is made up of reverse mesh without the stuffing of the hose due to loading of needles.

The present invention therefore also relates to a device allowing the industrial implementation on automatic circular looms of the process for manufacturing this sock.

• - des moyens destinés à augmenter la traction exercée à la partie inférieure du boyau sortant du métier,
• - des moyens permettant d'abaisser le support des platinettes associées au cylindre supérieur, de telle sorte que celles-ci se trouvent au niveau habituel de prise du fil de tricotage et,
• - des moyens de guidage du fil lors de l'amenée de celui-ci au cylindre supérieur, agissant de manière telle que le fil tangente la plaque de garde située entre les deux cylindres en aval du point où les aiguilles réalisent la prise du fil.

To this end, the device it relates to, of the type constituted by an automatic circular loom with a vertical double cylinder, comprises:

• - means intended to increase the traction exerted on the lower part of the hose leaving the loom,
• means making it possible to lower the support of the plates associated with the upper cylinder, such that they are at the usual level for gripping the knitting yarn and,
• - Means for guiding the wire when bringing it to the upper cylinder, acting in such a way that the wire tangents the guard plate located between the two cylinders downstream of the point where the needles take hold of the wire.

The traction exerted on the hose facilitates the release thereof as well as the lowering of the plates associated with the upper cylinder. Due to the lowering of the plates, these partially block the opening of the hook of each needle at the level of the upper cylinder, so that it is necessary to guide the thread in the rear and low position in the middle of the guard plate, to ensure a good grip of the wire by the needles at each hook.

This provision should only be adopted for knitting the leg portion, knitting the heel being carried out in the traditional manner.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the means intended to increase the traction exerted on the lower part of the hose consist of a gear train with a ratio different from that traditional, associated with two rollers rotating in opposite directions. one of the other, between which the hose passes.

Advantageously, the throwing arm bringing the wire to the loom is pivotally mounted around a substantially vertical axis passing through its end opposite to that guiding the wire, and is capable of occupying at least two positions, namely the traditional position and a position in which it has pivoted by a certain angle tending to move its guide end of the wire away from the point of the wire grip.

According to a simple embodiment of the invention, the throwing arm is associated with a laterally offset finger on which a displacement member acts.

In this case, the movement member of the throwing arm is constituted by a cable and / or a lever which, actuated by the control drum, is capable of making the throwing arm pivot from its starting position, a spring being provided which, acting on a heel associated with the throwing arm, returns the latter to the starting position, where it bears on a stop, when all action ceases to be exerted on the cable and / or the lever.

• Figure 1 en est une vue en perspective ;
• Figure 2 en est une vue de dessus ;
• Figure 3 est une vue de côté d'une aiguille lors de la préhension d'un fil au niveau du cylindre supérieur.

In any case, the invention will be better understood with the aid of the description which follows with reference to the appended schematic drawing representing, by way of nonlimiting example, an embodiment of the means for guiding the wire in this device :

• Figure 1 is a perspective view;
• Figure 2 is a top view;
• Figure 3 is a side view of a needle when gripping a wire at the upper cylinder.

As shown very schematically in the drawing, the loom comprises an upper cylinder 2 and a lower cylinder 3 coaxial between which is provided a slight space for a guard plate 4. In the upper 2 and lower 3 cylinders are provided corresponding grooves for guiding needles 5 actuated by plates 6 from a control drum.

The wire 7 is brought in using a throwing arm 8, the path upstream of the throwing arm not being shown. Traditionally, the throwing arm 8 is arranged, as shown in solid lines, so that the thread 7 tangents the cylinder at the level where the thread is taken by the lower hook 9 of a needle.

According to the invention, the throwing arm 8 is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis 10 with which are also associated a finger 12 offset laterally relative to the throwing arm, as well as a heel 13. At the free end of the finger 12 is fixed a cable 14 which, passing through a sheath 15, is actuated from the control drum in a direction of traction. The traction exerted by the cable 14 on the finger 12 ensures the passage of the rotating assembly in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 2.

Returning the throwing arm 8 to the initial position, when the cable 14 is released, under the effect of a spring 16 mounted between a fixed point and the heel 13, acting until the heel 13 comes to bear on an adjustable position stop 17.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the throwing arm 8 is in the position shown in phantom, the thread tangents the cylinder downstream from the point where the needles grip the thread, which ensures, as shown in FIG. 3, the attachment by a lower hook 9 of a needle despite the partial closure of the opening thereof by a plate 18 associated with the upper cylinder.

This device brings a great improvement to the existing technique by allowing the transformation of simple way of a circular loom with two vertical cylinders allowing the knitting thereon of a sock whose leg has a rib appearance of which more than half of the stitches are reverse stitches.

It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the sole embodiment of this device, described above by way of example; on the contrary, it embraces all of its variant embodiments.

Thus, in particular, the means for guiding the wire could be different and the means for moving the throwing arm could be constituted by a lever alone and / or associated with the cable, without thereby leaving the framework of the 'invention.

Claims (7)

1. - Sports sock, characterized in that its leg part has a classic rib appearance in which more than half of the stitches are made up of knit stitches and the entire foot of which, made of plain jersey, has the reverse side of the jersey outside. 2. - A method of manufacturing a sports sock according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists in knitting a sock whose leg has a rib appearance of which more than half of the stitches are reverse stitches and whose foot , in plain jersey, present its right side outside, then turn the sock thus obtained. 3. - Device for implementing the method according to claim 2, of the type constituted by an automatic circular loom with double vertical cylinder (3, 4), characterized in that it comprises: - means intended to increase the traction exerted on the lower part of the hose leaving the loom, means making it possible to lower the support of the plates associated with the upper cylinder, such that they are at the usual level for gripping the knitting yarn and, - guide means (8) for the wire when it is brought to the upper cylinder, acting in such a way that the wire tangents the guard plate located between the two cylinders downstream from the point where the needles take hold some thread. 4. - Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the means intended to increase the traction exerted on the lower part of the hose, consist of a gear train of ratio different from that traditional, associated with two rollers rotating in direction reverse each other, between which the hose passes. 5. - Device according to any one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the throwing arm (8) bringing the wire to the loom is pivotally mounted around a substantially vertical axis (10) passing through its end opposite to that guiding the wire, and is capable of occupying at least two positions, namely the traditional position and a position in which it has pivoted by a certain angle tending to distance its wire guide end of the point of the wire grip. 6. - Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the throwing arm (8) is associated with a finger (12) offset laterally on which acts a displacement member. 7. - Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the movement member of the throwing arm (8) consists of a cable (14) and / or a lever which, actuated by the control drum, is capable of making pivot the throwing arm from its starting position, a spring (16) being provided which, acting on a heel (13) associated with the throwing arm, returns the latter to the starting position, where it rests on a stop ( 17), when all action ceases to be exercised on the cable.

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