GB1194731A - Circular Knitting Machine with Electronic Patterning System - Google Patents

Abstract

1,194,731. Knitting-m a c h i n e s . STIBBE MACHINERY Ltd. 24 May, 1968 [25 May, 1967], No. 24275/67. Heading D1C. [Also in Division G3] A double jersey jacquard machine 100, Fig. 1, of the rotary needle cylinder and dial type, has a hollow base 101 supporting a rotary knitting head 102 and a conventionally mounted superstructure 103 carrying coloured yarn packages 104. The patterned fabric 120 is drawn down and rolled! on a driven reel 102 within the hollow base. A punched tape control unit 122 is mechanically driven from the knitting machine and controls the patterning of large areas. An alternative patterning system for small areas comprises a matrix 124 in a console 125 which is connected to the machine by a cable 126. Rotary needle cylinder, Fig. 2 The rotary needle cylinder 107 is cut with tricks 107a to accommodate independent latch needles 108. Each needle has an operating butt 108a acted upon by cams 109, 110 housed in a stationary annular cam box 111 mounted upon a fixed bed ring 112. A rotary needle dial 113 is cut with tricks 113a to accommodate latch type independent dial needles 114 having operating butts 114a-d acted upon by cams 115-118 of a dial cam system carried by a stationary dial plate 119. Beneath each needle cylinder, in the same trick 107a, is provided a patterning jack 127, having a pressure butt 127a in one of a plurality of spaced planes, the butts being relatively offset, to increase the time between, in one plane, an operating butt 127d, and a tail 127e which co-operates with jack race camming 128 to cause the presser butts 127a to 'protrude from the surface of the cylinder 107. The presser butts 127a are actuated by selectors 130 mechanically linked to electro-mechanical transducers 133 operated by patterncontrolled electrical signals. Electronic patterning The electric signals representative of patterning information can be derived by the scanning, in synchronism with machine operation, of light-reflecting, or transmitting, points on a flat sheet, associated with a core store, or on a tape. Alternatively, the signals can be derived from a pattern matrix comprising multi-position switches arranged in regular order and turnable to angular positions at which the visual pattern of the switch-faces represents the desired patterning programme. The tape is employed for 2 to 4 colour jacquard work by offsetting each tape-reader. The matrix is set for 2 to 4 colour jacquard work by permutative switching circuits. With the pattern matrix a three encoder system having two scanning disc, synchronised with the rotation of the needle cylinder, is employed to provide pulses which, through gating networks, are used for needle selection and matrix scanning.