GB2048318A

GB2048318A - Flat Knitting Machine with Adjustable Needle Jacks

Info

Publication number: GB2048318A
Application number: GB8011231A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: H Stoll GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: H Stoll GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1979-05-10
Filing date: 1980-04-03
Publication date: 1980-12-10
Also published as: DE2918841C2; IT8020772A0; ES8101148A1; IT1130065B; CH641850A5; JPS5620649A; GB2048318B; DE2918841A1; ES490875A0

Abstract

In a flat knitting machine of the kind having needles, needle jacks 15, in the tricks of at least one needle bed and control jacks 17 associated with the needles and jacks and having a releasable catch detent connection with the bed, each jack 17 comprises a support limb (18) for the needle jack (15) and, spaced from and parallel to this limb, a shorter cover limb (19) which carries the setting butt (23), said support limb (18) and cover limb (19) being connected to one another and together defining an accommodation gap (22) for a part (15a) of the needle jack (15), and said support limb further having a spring limb (20) terminating in a catch (25), the support limb having detent recesses (29, 30) engageable, on displacement of the jack by its butt 23, with members 27, 28 so as to sink into the needle bed and thereby lower the butt 16. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Flat Knitting Machine With Adjustable Needle Jacks This invention relates to a flat knitting machine having, in the tricks of one needle bed at least, longitudinally-movable jacks each acting on a needle and mounted on a sinker having a setting butt to enable the heightwise position of butts of the jacks to be varied relatively to a datum plane of the cam box of the machine, each said sinker being mounted for movement against spring action in the longitudinal direction of its trick in the needle bed, and having detent recesses for engagement with catch projections on the needle bed whereby, during the longitudinal movement of the sinker it either snaps over the catch projections or slides over them with a parallel motion.

Flat knitting machines with an arrangement of the type set forth above for adjusting the needle jacks with the purpose of varying the heightwise position of its operating butts have been proposed by DE-OS 2138743 and to some extent also in DE-PS 567777. in known flat knitting machines of this kind the installation of numerous parts in a single trick of the needle bed and the determining of their positioning in this trick have proved problematical. Thus in the construction in DE-OS 21 38743 the longitudinaliy-displaceable needle jacks are held against the sinker by means of a special spring clip. At the same time this spring clip is also responsible for the application of the sinker against the bottom of the trick in the needle bed.The number of parts involved makes installation of the setting means difficult and in addition the fact that the spring clip stands proud of the upper side of the jack can be an obstacle and require an extension of the sinker above the edge of the needle bed, to allow adjusting elements to be engaged on the sinker. Also during longitudinal displacement of the needle jack the pressure of the spring clip has to be overcome.

If it is desired, as in an arrangement according to DE-PS 567777, to dispense with any spring retention of the sinkers in the tricks of a needle bed, the jacks and sinkers must be kept in the tricks by additional longitudinal members in the bed and, despite this, holding of the needle jacks in an elevated position would have to be eliminated in at least one of the possible jack positions. This cannot be catered for in rapidlyoperating machines without the danger of mistakes in the patterning.

An object of the present invention is to avoid the drawbacks set forth above and to provide a flat knitting machine of the type set forth which provides for a safe, readily accessible positioning of the needle jacks in the heightwise-adjustable sinkers, using few parts and ensuring a ready reversal of the machine.

This object is accomplished by the present invention in a flat knitting machine of the type set forth above by the fact that the sinker comprises a support limb for the needle jack and, spaced from and parallel to this limb, a shorter cover limb which carries the setting butt, said support limb and cover limb being connected to one another at the adjacent ends thereof (bridging piece) and together defining an accommodation gap for a part of the needle jack, and said support limb further having a spring limb terminating in a catch, formed at the underside thereof and having detent recesses at the side thereof opposite the cover limb.

Thus in a flat knitting machine in accordance with the present invention any special spring clips projecting from the upper side of the needle bed and acting on the needle jacks are avoided.

Instead the jacks themselves are readily accessible in the sinkers and mounted so that any rejection from the parent trick in the needle bed is prevented. Extension of the sinkers over the edge of the needle bed is not necessary. The setting butts of the sinkers are formed on the top limb of the sinker so as to project from the needle bed and to be readily accessible from above for adjustment purposes. As a result the reversal of the machine can be effected by means of templates designed for the required pattern variations and having teeth which can be broken off to suit the pattern, whereby a plurality of sinkers can be adjusted together by these templates, which can be supported on a carriage guide rail at the edge of the needle bed.

The free end of the cover limb of the sinker can have a safety tip which, at one level of the needle jack engages behind a cross bar of the needle bed and thereby provides an additional safety factor in the positioning of the sinker and the jack mounted therein.

The spring limb which is formed at the underside of the sinker can bear against the lower side of the needle bed and have a catch nose at the end thereof which can engage in detent notches to hold the sinker (which preferably is an integral stamping) and through the cover limb closure to hold the associated needle jack in any assumed heightwise position and keep it a predetermined distance from the bottom of the trick in the needle bed. By the same token the butt can also be held in a predetermined heightwise position relatively to the cam box parts of the carriage of the machine.

Hereafter an example of embodiment of the subject of this invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In these drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical cross section through a needle bed of a flat knitting machine designed in accordance with the present invention, the view being taken in the plane of a needle bed trick and showing the sinker and the needle jack in raised condition, and Figure 2 is a sectional illustration corresponding to that of Figure 1 but showing the sinker and the needle jack lowered.

The sectional illustrations of both Figures 1 and 2 show the needle bed 10 of a flat knitting machine in the zone of a trick 11 of the needle bed. Mounted for longitudinal displacement in conventional fashion in the front, flatter part of the trick 11 is a latch needle 12 with a needle butt 13, this needle being held against jumping out of the trick 11 by a cover 14 extending in the longitudinal direction of the needle bed. The front end of a needle jack 1 5 abuts against the butt end of the needle 12, the jack being arranged in known fashion in the same trick 11 as the needle and aligned with the latter. It also has a jack butt 16. The jack 1 5 is mounted on a support limb 1 8 of a sinker 17, this also having a cover limb 19 parallel to the limb 18 and a lower spring limb 20.

The sinker with its support limb 18, its cover limb 19 and its spring limb 20 is made integrally as a sheet metal stamping.

The support limb 18 and cover limb 1 9 of the sinker 1 7 are connected together at their adjacent ends by a bridge piece 21, and together define a reception gap 22 into which projects the inner section 1 5a of the jack 1 5. The cover limb 19 of the sinker 1 7 is formed with an adjusting butt 23 and the free end of the limb 19 is reduced to form a safety tip 24. The spring limb 20 of the sinker 1 7 embraces the rear edge 1 Oa of the needle bed 10 and terminates in a catch 25 which bears against the underside of the needle bed 10, and the latter has a detent notch 26 for this catch 25.

In a hollowed part of the needle bed trick 11, receiving the support limb of the sinker 1 7 are two spaced circular-section fillets 27 and 28 projecting from the base of the trick. The support limb 1 8 of the sinker 1 7 is provided at its underside with detent recesses 29 and 30 spaced by the same amount as the fillets 27 and 28.

These recesses each have a flattened inclination at one side.

Figure 1 shows the sinker 1 7 in a position in which the two fillets 27 and 28 are out of the detent recesses 29 and 30 and the limb 18 bears at its underside on these two fillets. The sinker 1 7 is lifted in the trick 11 against the action of spring limb 20, so that the pusher butt 1 6 of the jack 1 5 mounted on limb 18 stands well proud of the upper edge 1 Ob of needle bed 11. In this position the sinker 1 7 is held by the catch 25 of the limb 20 engaging in the detent notch 26 at the underside of needle bed 10.

Figure 2 shows the sinker 1 7 shifted to the right relatively to the position of Figure 1 with the fillets 27 and 28 engaging in the detent recesses 29 and 30 of the support limb 18 of the sinker 17.

In this position the lower edge of the support limb 1 8 bears against the bottom of the needle trick 11. The needle jack 1 5 is correspondingly depressed so that the pusher butt 1 6 only projects slightly above the upper edge 1 Oh of the needle bed trick 11. The needle jack is then in a depressed condition in which it cannot be operated by any of the parts of the needle cam box (not shown), in contrast to the raised position of Figure 1.

In the position illustrated in Figure 2 the catch 25 of the spring limb 20 is moved out of the detent groove 26 and lies against the smooth underside of the needle bed 10. This means the same loading of the spring limb 20 as in the sinker position of Figure 1. The safety tip 24 of the cover limb 1 9 of the sinker 1 7 projects under a crosspiece 31 of the needle bed, against which the needle jack 1 5 is directly applied in the position of Figure 1. The sinker 1 7 is readily adjusted by the butts 23 which project upwards out of the needle bed 10.

Claims

1. A flat knitting machine having, in the tricks of one needle bed at least, longitudinally-movable needle jacks each acting on a needle and mounted on a sinker having a setting butt to enable the heightwise position of butts of the jacks to be varied relatively to a datum plane of, the cam box of the machine, each said sinker being mounted for movement against spring action in the longitudinal direction of its trick in the needle bed, and having detent recesses for engagement with catch projections on the needle bed whereby, during the longitudinal movement of the sinker it either snaps over the catch projections or siides over them with a parallel motion, characterised by the fact that the sinker (17) comprises a support limb (18) for the needle jack (1 5) and, spaced from and parallel to this limb, a shorter cover limb (19) which carries the setting butt (23), said support limb (18) and cover limb (19) being connected to one another at the adjacent ends thereof (bridging piece 21) and together defining an accommodation gap (22) for a part (1 3a) of the needle jack (1 5) and said support limb further having a spring limb (20) terminating in a catch (25), formed at the underside thereof and having detent recesses (29, 30) at the side thereof opposite to the cover limb (19).

2. A flat knitting machine according to Claim 1, characterised by the fact that the free end of the cover limb (1 9) of the sinker (17) is formed as a reduced safety tip (24) which is adapted to engage behind a needle bed cross piece (31) in the raised condition of the needle jack (15).

3. A flat knitting machine according to Claim 1 and/or 2, characterised by the fact that the sinker (17) is an integral sheet metal stamping.

4. A flat knitting machine equipped as described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.