EP3819414B1

EP3819414B1 - Needle selection apparatus and method for latch needle warp knitting machine

Info

Publication number: EP3819414B1
Application number: EP19834088.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kun Yang; Meiqi LI
Original assignee: Tiangong University
Current assignee: Tiangong University
Priority date: 2018-07-13
Filing date: 2019-04-01
Publication date: 2022-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-01
Also published as: CN108842287B; CN108842287A; EP3819414A1; EP3819414A4; WO2020010877A1

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of warp knitting machines, in particular to a device and a method for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine.

BACKGROUND

Warp knitted fabrics are fabrics formed through simultaneous loop-forming and mutual looping of one or several groups of warps, parallelly arranged, lapped against a row of knitting needles in a longitudinal direction on a warp knitting machine. Loop-forming elements of the warp knitting machine mainly include a knitting needle, a guide needle, a sinker, etc. At present, all the knitting needles on the warp knitting machine are mounted on a needle bed, and reciprocate up and down along with the needle bed. The existing warp knitting machines have not been provided with a device which is used for needle selection on a single knitting needle and controlling the knitting needle to move up and down independently, and therefore cannot control single or multiple knitting needles to move optionally.
As a result, a knitting needle selection device which may achieve individual needle selection and automatic needle selection becomes a hot spot and a difficulty of research contents at present.
At present, a utility model with number CN202688628 U disclosed a knitting warp knitting machine capable of performing automatic needle selection. The utility model is provided with a knitting mechanism and an automatic needle selection device, among which the automatic needle selection device further includes a transmission mechanism and automatic needle selection mechanisms. The automatic needle selection mechanisms are controlled by the transmission mechanism to operate on a linear guide rail to sequentially move to needle pushing members corresponding to bearded needles which do not need work for needle section. After needle selection is completed, a needle pushing plate drives, through the needle pushing member, unselected bearded needles to perform knitting work. When it is necessary to perform needle reselection, only a needle pushing baffle plate is needed to be pushed, so as to reset a selected bearded needle, that is make the selected bearded needle re-enter a working position. The automatic knitting warp knitting machine may achieve automatic needle selection and needle arrangement, shorten preparation time for production, improve working efficiency of workers, and improve production capacity of enterprises.
Disclosed by the present inventors, the device in the above utility model is applicable to a bearded needle warp knitting machine, which is relatively complex. The knitting needle only has a working state and a non-working state, and in a knitting process, a working knitting needle cannot be further selected, such that a fabric type and a pattern type of knitting are limited. Meanwhile, although the purpose of automatic needle selection is achieved by the above automatic needle selection mechanism, it only achieves needle arrangement before starting to knit rather than controlling the knitting needle to move up and down.
DE 224 058 C relates to a jacquard warp knitting chair with individually movable chair needles, which differs from the previously known chairs of this type essentially in that the needle group which is determined by the jacquard device does not always have to be returned to its starting position before other needles take action.
US 3 566 618 A relates to circular warp knitting machines, more particularly to individual needle control means for use with circular warp knitting machines. The object of the invention is to increase the patterns which may be knit on a circular warp knitting machine. To this end, means is provided for individually controlling the raising of the needles so that selected needles are raised to less than the full knitted height
The present disclosure aims at solving the problems of automatic needle selection and control over up-down moving of a specific knitting needle in the knitting process.

SUMMARY

As for the problems described above, the present disclosure transforms a traditional latch needle warp knitting machine, and provides a device and method for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine, which capable of selectively adjusting a height of a working position of each knitting needle, accordingly solving the problem of limited types of an existing warp knitted fabric, facilitating development and trial production of a novel warp knitted fabric, therefore expanding a pattern design range, and widenning application fields of the warp knitted fabric.
A technical solution used by the present disclosure for solving the above technical problem is as below:
a device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine, including a needle bed, wherein the needle bed includes several needle grooves arranged in rows according to the gauge type of the latch needle warp knitting machine, latch needles capable of moving up and down being mounted in the grooves and being provided with needle butts; and a cover plate mounted on the needle bed, insertion grooves corresponding to the needle grooves being provided in the cover plate, insertion-support members capable of moving towards and away from said needle butts and comprising an upper insertion-support member and a lower insertion-support member are mounted in the insertion grooves; and the lower insertion-support member is configured to be inserted to a position bellow the needle butt and the upper insertion-support member is configured to be inserted to a position above a needle butt; and support members arranged below the latch needles.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, channel grooves corresponding to the needle grooves are provided on the cover plate; the insertion grooves are provided in the channel grooves according to requirements of a knitting process, and arranged in one row, at least two rows, in a horizontal direction.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, the insertion-support members are connected to control mechanisms, and controlled by the control mechanisms to be inserted, in a working state, into the insertion grooves so as to perform needle selection, needle raising or needle pressing operation, and exit, in a non-working state, from the insertion grooves.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, the control mechanism is a hand-actuated, electrically-controlled, hydraulic or pneumatic mechanism, and is used for controlling the insertion-support member to move.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, the control mechanisms are arranged to one set to simultaneously control the upper insertion-support member and the lower insertion-support member to move.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, the control mechanisms are arranged to two set, one of which controls the upper insertion-support member to move, and the other of which controls the lower insertion-support member to move.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, the support member is a leaf spring or a square column.
In further embodiments of the above technical solution, a surface, in contact with the needle butt, of the insertion-support member is a plane. And the other surfaces are not limited to planes, and can be cuboids, triangular prisms or half-cylinders, for example.
A method for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine is applied to the device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine of any technical solution described above, in an ascending or descending process of the cover plate, stopping, by adjusting an inserting position of an upper insertion-support member and an inserting position of a lower insertion-support member, synchronous movement of a latch needle and the cover plate and making the latch needle stay at a corresponding position particularly include:

when the cover plate ascends, inserting, the lower insertion-support member to a position below a needle butt, and making the latch needle synchronously ascend with the cover plate; when the lower insertion-support member is not inserted to a position below the needle butt, making the latch needle stop synchronously ascending with the cover plate and stay at the corresponding position;
when the cover plate descends, inserting the upper insertion-support member to a position above a needle butt, and making the latch needle synchronously descend with the cover plate; when the upper insertion-support member is not inserted to a position above the needle butt, making the latch needle stop synchronously descending with the cover plate and stay at the corresponding position; and
when the cover plate ascends to a middle position, adjusting the inserting position of the lower insertion-support member to change the height of the latch needle.

The present disclosure brings about the beneficial effects:
after the above present disclosure is used, the latch needle warp knitting machine may adjust, during knitting, a height of a working position of each knitting needle according to technological requirements, may achieve selective knitting into loops, tucking, floating or knitting by partial knitting needles, thereby enriching a pattern type of latch needle warp knitted fabrics.
In addition, the device is simple in structure, convenient to operate, wide in adjustment range and high in selectivity, and facilitates the development and trial production of the novel warp knitted fabric.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to accompanying drawings, contents disclosed by the present disclosure will become easier to understand. It is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that these accompanying drawings are only used for exemplarily illustrating the technical solution of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In the figures:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a device of the present disclosure (with only a part shown);
Fig. 2 is a top view of the device of the present disclosure (with only a part shown);
Fig. 3 is a partial enlarged drawing of a back (the surface adjacent to a needle bed) of a cover plate of the device of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4 is a section view of the present disclosure in a state of the insertion-support member entering needle selection and needle raising states;
Fig. 5 is a section view of the present disclosure in a state of the insertion-support member entering a needle pressing state; and
Fig. 6 is a section view of the present disclosure in a state of the insertion-support member re-entering needle selection and needle raising states.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be further explained with reference to accompanying drawings. Particular embodiments of the present disclosure described in the accompanying drawings are merely used for explaining the present disclosure, but are not strictly drawn per actual sizes and ratios. Therefore, the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure shall not be interpreted as any limit to the present disclosure. The scope of protection of the present disclosure is defined by the claims.
For the sake of simplifying and highlighting the present disclosure, only details particularly related to the prevent disclosure are illustrated in some accompanying drawings. It should be understood that such a graphic representation manner does not exclude existence of other details related to the present disclosure. Therefore, the accompanying drawings of the present disclosure are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Embodiment 1

A device for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine

With reference to Figs. 1 to 6, the device includes a needle bed 1, latch needles 2, a cover plate 3, insertion-support members 4, support members 5 and control mechanisms 6. The needle bed 1 is provided with a row of needle grooves 7 according to the type of the latch needle warp knitting machine, the latch needles 2 capable of moving up and down being mounted in the needle grooves 7, and the latch needles 2 being provided with needle butts. The cover plate 3 is mounted on the needle bed 1, and is provided with insertion grooves 8, the insertion-support members 4 are mounted in the insertion grooves 8 and are capable of moving forward and backward, wherein an upper insertion-support member 4-1 and a lower insertion-support member 4-2 may clamp the needle butt, the support member 5 is arranged below the latch needle 2, and the control mechanism 6 may control the insertion-support members 4 to move.
In this embodiment, the cover plate 3 is mounted on the needle bed 1, the cover plate 3 is provided with a row of channel grooves 9 corresponding to the grooves 7, the insertion grooves 8 are provided in each grooves 9 according requirements of the knitting process, the insertion grooves 8 are arranged in one row in a horizontal direction, and at least two rows of insertion grooves are arranged.
The insertion-support members 4 are controlled by the control mechanism 6 to enter, in a working state, the insertion grooves 8 so as to perform needle selection, needle raising or needle pressing, and exit, in a non-working state, from the insertion grooves 8.
The support members 5 may be a leaf spring or a square column, and play a role in maintaining a height of the latch needles 2. A surface, in contact with the needle butt, of the insertion-support member shall be a plane to facilitate clamping, and the other surfaces thereof are not limited to planes, and can be cuboids, triangular prisms or half-cylinders, for example.
The control mechanism 6 may be hand-actuated, electrically-controlled, hydraulic or pneumatic and capable of driving the insertion-support members 4 to move, such as a driving air cylinder. One control mechanism 6 may be arranged, and simultaneously controls the upper insertion-support member 4-1 and the lower insertion-support member 4-2, or two control mechanisms may be arranged, one of which controls the upper insertion-support member 4-1, and the other of which controls the lower insertion-support member 4-2.

Embodiment 2

A method for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine

The method is applied to the device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine in embodiment 1, and particularly includes :

in an ascending or descending process of a cover plate 3, making, by adjusting an inserting position of an upper insertion-support member 4-1 and an inserting position of a lower insertion-support member 4-2, the latch needle 2 stop synchronously moving with the cover plate 3 and stay at a corresponding position, which particularly includes:
when the cover plate 3 ascends, inserting the lower insertion-support member 4-2 to a position below a needle butt, and making the latch needle 2 synchronously ascend with the cover plate 3; making, when the lower insertion-support member 4-2 is not inserted to a position below the needle butt, the latch needle 2 stop synchronously ascending with the cover plate 3 and stay at the corresponding position;
when the cover plate 3 descends, inserting the upper insertion-support member 4-1 to a position above a needle butt, and making the latch needle 2 synchronously descend with the cover plate 3; making, when the upper insertion-support member 4-1 is not inserted to a position above the needle butt, the latch needle 2 stop synchronously descending with the cover plate 3 and stay at the corresponding position; and
when the cover plate 3 ascends to a middle position, adjusting the inserting position of the lower insertion-support member 4-2, resulting in a change of a height of the latch needle 2 accordingly.

By the method described above, the latch needle warp knitting machine may adjust, during knitting, a height of a working position of each knitting needle according to technological requirements, may perform loops-forming, tucking, floating or knitting by partial knitting needles selectively and individually, thereby enriching a pattern type of latch needle warp knitted fabrics.

Claims

A device for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine, comprising a needle bed (1), wherein the needle bed (1) comprises several needle grooves (7) arranged in rows according to the type of the latch needle warp knitting machine; latch needles (2) capable of moving up and down are mounted in the grooves (7) and are provided with needle butts; insertion-support members (4) capable of moving towards and away from said needle butts are mounted in insertion grooves (8) and support members (5) are arranged below the latch needles (2); characterized in that a cover plate (3) is mounted on the needle bed (1), and the insertion grooves (8) corresponding to the needle grooves (7) are provided in the cover plate (3); and each of the insertion-support members (4) comprises an upper insertion-support member (4-1) and a lower insertion-support member (4-2); and the lower insertion-support member (4-2) is configured to be inserted to a position below the needle butt and the upper insertion-support member (4-1) is configured to be inserted to a position above a needle butt.
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, a row of channel grooves (9) corresponding to the needle grooves (7) are provided on the cover plate (3); the insertion grooves (8) are provided in the channel grooves (9) according to requirements of a knitting process and are arranged in at least two rows in a horizontal direction.
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, the insertion-support members (4-1, 4-2) are connected to control mechanisms (6), and controlled by the control mechanisms (6) to be inserted, in a working state, into the insertion grooves (8) so as to perform needle selection, needle raising or needle pressing operation, and exit, in a non-working state, from the insertion grooves (8).
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 3, characterized in that, the control mechanisms (6) are a hand-actuated. electrically-controlled, hydraulic or pneumatic mechanism, which is used for controlling the insertion-support members (4-1, 4-2) to move.
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, the control mechanisms (6) are arranged to one set to simultaneously control the upper insertion-support member (4-1) and the lower insertion-support member (4-2) to move.
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, the control mechanisms (6) are arranged to two sets, and one of which controls the upper insertion-support member (4-1) to move, and the other of which controls the lower insertion-support member (4-2) to move
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, the support member (5) is a leaf spring or a square column.
The device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, a surface, in contact with the needle butt, of the insertion-support member (4-1, 4-2) is a plane.
A method for needle selection of a latch needle warp knitting machine, applied to the device for the needle selection of the latch needle warp knitting machine according to any one of claims 1-8, in an ascending or descending process of the cover plate (3), making, by adjusting an inserting position of an upper insertion-support member (4-1) and an inserting position of a lower insertion-support member (4-2), one latch needle (2) or latch needles (2) stop synchronously moving with the cover plate (3) and stay at a corresponding position, comprising:
when the cover plate (3) ascends, inserting the lower insertion-support member (4-2) to a position below a needle butt, and making the latch needle (2) synchronously ascend with the cover plate (3); when the lower insertion-support member (4-2) is not inserted to a position below the needle butt, making the latch needle (2) stop synchronously ascending with the cover plate (3) and stay at the corresponding position:

when the cover plate (3) descends, inserting the upper insertion-support member (4-1) to a position above a needle butt, and making the latch needle (2) synchronously descend with the cover plate (3); when the upper insertion-support member (4-1) is not inserted to a position above the needle butt, making the latch needle (2) stop synchronously descending with the cover plate (3) and stay at the corresponding position; and

when the cover plate (3) ascends to a middle position, adjusting the inserting position of the lower insertion-support member (4-2) to change the height of the latch needle (2).