GB2292753A - Thread guide apparatus for knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

- 1 THREAD GUIDE APPARATUS FOR-KNITTING-MACEINES 2292753 The invention

relates to a flat weft knitting machine (Cotton system) with thread guides which, arranged in a row, are mounted on thread-guide carriers that are propelled in alternating directions by drive means, said thread-guide carriers being mounted in thread-guide bars.

By way of example, German Published Application DAS 1 059 139 discloses a flat weft knitting machine (Cotton system) with a plurality of knitting sections, which is designed for the production of fashioned knitted outerwear. Thread guides are provided in the individual knitting sections and are mounted on thread- guide carriers which are slidably mounted in guide bars. The knitting sections are delimited by side frames, in which the respective guide bars are retained. The thread-guide carriers, together with the thread guides, can be moved backwards and forwards by means of a drive apparatus that acts via a common pull rod.

In the thread-guide systems of this type, which are installed in flat weft knitting machines in a parallel arrangement, a thread guide is mounted an each threadguide bar and the pull rod moves all the thread guides as a group. The use of a comparatively large number of thread guides in each knitting section, together with a corresponding number of thread-guide bars, as is necessary for applications such as the production of inlay-type patterns, unavoidably demands exceptionally heavy construction-related expenditure, as well as an exceptionally large amount of space.

The object of the invention is to propose a flat weft knitting machine which, while of the abovementioned generic type, is less complicated in terms of its construction and less expensive to produce.

The object is achieved by means of the features that are specified in the characterizing clause of patent claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments can be inferred from the sub-claims.

0 The invention proposes a flat weft knitting machine (Cotton system), the construction of which involves substantially lower expenditure, insofar as a plurality of thread guides are mounted on a common thread-guide bar. By employing this form of construction, it is possible, on the one hand, to bring about a marked reduction in the costs involved in producing the machine, while on the other hand the ease with which the machine can be monitored and the ease of access to same are imDroved with a view to the adjustment and maintenance operations.

In what follows, an illustrative embodiment of the invention is explained in greater detail by reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an individual thread-guide system according to the invention, in a flat weft knitting machine; Figure 2 shows a section through three thread-guide systems, in a parallel arrangement; Figures 3a to 3c show separate views of the three 5 thread-guide systems shown in Figure 2, with thread-guides arranged in different ways.

In essence, the thread-guide systems that are associated with the flat weft knitting machine (Cotton system) comprise thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b which carry thread guides 3a, 3b and are mounted on a thread-guide bar 4 in which they can be moved with the aid of their running rollers 5, and said thread-guide systems further comprise pull rods 6, 7 which act on the thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b. There is a flexible thread-guide tube 8 on the exit side at each thread guide 3a, 3b, and on the entry side there is a thread-guide tube 9, in which a thread 1 runs.

Two pull rods 6, 7 act on each of the thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b at oppositely- located attachment points, and two thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b are interconnected from knitting section to knitting section, the pull rods 6, 7 being led through the side frames which delimit the individual knitting sections.

According to the invention, there are two thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b on each thread-guide bar 4, one on each of the sides A and 3, with thread guides 3a, 3b, and adjacent thread guides 3a, 3b are given a doubleangle shape and are set to point towards one another, such that their movement paths can overlap in the direction represented in Figure 1 by the arrow and dash-dot lines.

In order to bring about the overlapping of the movement paths, the thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b, with their thread guides 3a, 3b, are moved backwards and forwards, each independently of the other, by known drive means that are omitted from the drawings, acting through the agency of pull rods 6, 7 which run parallel with the thread-guide bar 4.

Instead of the two thread-guide carriers 2a, 2b, with thread guides 3a, 3b, additional thread-guide carriers, carrying thread guides and each propelled independently of the others, can be installed on a common thread-guide bar 4, and any two adjacent thread guides can overlap in their movement path.

A supplementary thread guide 10 can be clamped to the pull rod 7 at any desired location thereon, so that identical webs can be produced using one thread-guide bar. To achieve this, the supplementary thread guide 10 is shaped to match the main thread guide 3a and 3b, is oriented such that it is parallel therewith, and is propellable in company therewith. To ensure reliable clamping of supplementary thread guides 10, the pull rod 7 consists of a material with flat surfaces and the coupling action is brought about via means that are known per se and are thus omitted from the drawings.

Claims (9)

1. Patent Claims

   Flat weft knitting machine (Cotton system) with thread guides which, arranged in a row, are mounted on thread-guide carriers that are propelled in alternating directions by drive means, said threadguide carriers being mounted in thread-guide bars, characterized in that two or more thread-guide carriers (2a, 2b), carrying thread guides (3a, 3b) and each propelled independently of the others, are mounted on a common thread-guide bar (4), and adjacent thread guides (3a, 3b) overlap in their movement path.
2. 2. Flat weft knitting machine according to Claim 1, characterized in that the thread guides (3a, 3b) are shaped and/or positioned on the threadguide carrier (2a, 2b) in a manner such that the exit-side guide devices (8) overlap one another.
3. 3. Flat weft knitting machine according to Claim 2, 20 characterized in that the thread guides (3a, 3b) are given a double-angle shape and are set to paint towards one another.
4. 4. Flat weft knitting machine according to any one of 25 Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that one or more supplementary thread guides (10), which are identical, can be coupled to each of the thread guide (3a, 3b), said supplementary thread guides (10) being oriented such that they are parallel with the main thread guide (3a, 3b) and being movable in company therewith.
5. 5. Flat weft knitting machine according to Claim 4, characterized in that the supplementary thread guides (10) can be coupled to the pull rods (6, 7).
6. 6. Thread guide apparatus f or a knitting machine comprising at least one thread guide bar having a plurality of thread guide carriers slidably mounted thereon, each said thread guide carrier having a thread guide secured thereto.
7. 7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the thread guide carriers mounted on the or at least one of said thread guide bars are movable independently of each other and respective thread guides secured to adjacent ones of said independently movable thread guide carriers are adapted to overlap at a predetermined relative spacing of said adjacent thread guide carriers.
8. 8. Any of the thread guide apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.
9. 9. A flat weft knitting machine substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the drawings.