JP2762311B2 - Needle selection device for knitting machine with adjustment function and position adjustment method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a piezoelectric needle selecting device of a type in which needles of a knitting machine are selected by applying a voltage to a piezoelectric body, and warps a piezoelectric element of the piezoelectric body. The present invention relates to a piezoelectric needle selecting device for a knitting machine with an adjusting function for fixing and adjusting (adjusting) the piezoelectric body and the finger attached to the piezoelectric body to a proper position when such a problem occurs, and an adjustment technique therefor.

[Prior Art] and [Problems to be Solved] A needle selecting device is used in a knitting machine such as a circular knitting machine for knitting a sock or the like. FIG. 6 shows an example of a circular knitting machine. The knitting cylinder 1 is provided with a needle selecting jack 2, and a knitting needle 3 is in contact with an upper portion of the jack 2. The yarn 4 is supplied to the knitting cylinder 1. Knitting cylinder 1
A needle selecting device 5 is provided at the lower part of the device. The needle selecting device 5 is connected to a controller (not shown), and a pattern knitting procedure stored in a storage device such as a floppy disk is sent from the controller. The needle 3 is moved up and down.
That is, the needle selecting device 5 is used to transmit the pattern knitting procedure to the vertical movement of the knitting needle 3.

An example of the needle selecting operation of the needle selecting device 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In pattern knitting, a needle selecting jack in which bats 6 are protrudingly provided in a number of vertical grooves of the knitting cylinder 1. 2, the knitting needle 3 in contact with the jack 2 is inserted so as to move up and down, and the pad 6 of the jack 2 is selectively pressed by the finger 7 of the needle selecting device 5.
Perform needle selection.

As schematically shown in FIG. 7, the butt 6 of the jack 2
Is pressed in the direction of the knitting cylinder 1 so that the side opposite to the butt 6 of the jack 2 comes into contact with the knitting cylinder 1, the butt 7 of the jack 2 engages with the raising cam 8 at the lower part of the contact cylinder 1. Therefore, the knitting needle 3 in contact with the upper part of the jack 2 does not move upward, and as a result, the stitch is not formed by the knitting needle 3, but on the other hand, as shown in FIG. When the butt 6 of the jack 2 is not pressed, the jack 2 engages with the raising cam 8 to raise the knitting needle 3 in contact with the upper portion of the jack 2 to perform knitting.

In the needle selection device, an electromagnetic type in which a finger is operated by an electromagnet has occupied the mainstream conventionally.
With the electromagnet, there is a limit in increasing the knitting speed (response speed of the needle selecting device), the power consumption is large, and the needle selecting device tends to be large.

On the other hand, conventionally, by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element,
A piezoelectric needle selecting device that bends a piezoelectric body having the piezoelectric element to perform a needle selecting operation by a finger has also been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-28451). According to the needle device, there are advantages in that the response speed is faster, the power consumption is small, and the device can be made smaller, as compared with the electromagnetic needle selection device.

The present inventor has proposed that in such a piezoelectric needle selecting device,
A needle selection device as shown in FIGS.
−249967).

The needle selection device includes a metal plate 8 and a plate 8.
A piezoelectric body 10 having a piezoelectric element 9 made of a ceramic material, for example, made by firing barium titanate adhered thereon, is made to be able to bend as easily as possible. A fulcrum is provided at an intermediate position between the leading end and the trailing end of the piezoelectric body 10 that facilitates the bending movement.

That is, as shown in these figures, the spherical body 11 is attached to the front end of the piezoelectric body 10, and the spherical body 11 is inserted into the open end 70 at the rear end of the finger 7. Department
The finger 7 is made to be movable at an open end 70 at the rear end thereof, and the spherical body 12 similar to the above is also attached to the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 so that the spherical body 12 The rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 is inserted into the groove 130 of the piezoelectric body rear end support portion 13 so that the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 can move in the groove 130 of the support body S. An appropriate position between the rear end and the rear end is fixedly held by a rotating body 15 rotatably attached to the rotating body support portion 14 of the supporting body S, so that the intermediate fulcrum is provided.

Further, the finger 7 is connected to the tip of the piezoelectric body 11 in the same direction as the piezoelectric body 10, that is, in a straight line.

4 and 5 show the essential parts, and the piezoelectric bodies 10 and the fingers 7 are arranged in multiple stages at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction. However, as shown in the figure, the piezoelectric body 10 and the finger 7 may be integrated with the support S, and may be incorporated in a housing (described later) of the needle selecting device 5 in a cartridge type.

In this manner, the front end and the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 can be moved by following the bending motion of the piezoelectric body 10, and
Even in the middle position of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body 10, so as not to inhibit the bending motion by the rotation of the rotating body 15,
In addition, since the rotator 15 sandwiches the middle position of the piezoelectric body 10 and has a fulcrum on the way, the needle selection speed can be remarkably improved as compared with the conventional apparatus. A needle selection device was obtained.

In addition, since the bending motion of the piezoelectric body 10 is not hindered, the life of the piezoelectric body 10 is prolonged. Further, since the finger 7 and the piezoelectric body 10 are connected on the same straight line, the device is downsized. Thus, various advantages such as a low ink voltage to the piezoelectric element 9 can be obtained.

However, as the piezoelectric element 9 in the piezoelectric body 10,
For example, when a fired ceramic piezoelectric element made of barium titanate or the like is used, the piezoelectric element 9 may be warped. In particular, if the piezoelectric element 9 is enlarged to further improve the needle selection speed, or if the thickness is reduced to further reduce the applied voltage, warpage is likely to occur.

Due to the warp, for example, when the piezoelectric element 9 (piezoelectric body 10) is directed downward, the finger 7 is directed upward, and the tip 7a of the finger 7 is originally located at the center of the opening 160 of the stopper 16 of the support S. In this case, there is a case where, although it is necessary to perform a proper vertical movement in the opening 160 of the stopper 16, the stopper 16 operates only upward.

For this reason, the knitting operation may be disturbed, so that an adjustment (adjustment) operation may be required in order to properly position the piezoelectric body 10 and the finger 7 and, hence, the tip 7A of the finger 7. .

In performing the adjustment, the present inventors have previously attempted to adjust the piezoelectric body by moving the piezoelectric body up and down from both sides of the piezoelectric body. In the case of screw adjustment, if the adjustment is made from both sides, at least four screws are required for one piezoelectric body, and there are many screw adjustment locations, and it takes a long time for the adjustment. It turned out that there were drawbacks such as the necessity of tweezers for adjustment and the necessity of fine adjustment.

On the other hand, in the needle selecting device, when the piezoelectric bodies are arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction at appropriate intervals in parallel with each other, the pitch between the piezoelectric bodies is a problem. When a plurality of required piezoelectric members are to be provided, the size of the device increases. On the other hand, the number of steps of the piezoelectric body is proportional to the speed of the needle selection device, and if the number of steps can be increased, the needle selection can be speeded up, which is advantageous. In this case, it is very advantageous to increase the speed of the needle selecting device, and the device can be reduced in size and weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of not only enabling easy adjustment but also reducing the size and weight of a needle selection device and further promoting a higher needle selection speed.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a piezoelectric device in which a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric body to activate a finger attached to a tip portion of the piezoelectric body to select a knitting needle in a knitting machine. In the method for adjusting the normal position of the finger of the needle selecting device for a type knitting machine, the widthwise different portions of the rear ends of the piezoelectric bodies of the plurality of piezoelectric bodies are alternately arranged in a multi-stage staggered manner. While being supported by the offset setter of the step, the offset setter was mounted in an adjustment plate having a plurality of adjustment through holes, adjustment screws were inserted into the adjustment through holes, and provided in the offset setter of each step. A method for adjusting the normal position of a finger in a needle selection device for a piezoelectric knitting machine, wherein the adjusting screw is inserted into a screw hole. Part A needle selecting device for a piezoelectric knitting machine with an adjust function having a function of adjusting a regular position of the finger by operating the attached finger to select a knitting needle, wherein a plurality of stages of the piezoelectric body are provided. An offset setter having screw holes and a plurality of through holes for adjustment are arranged in a multi-stage staggered manner so that different portions in the width direction of the rear end of the piezoelectric body can be alternately supported by the offset setters of the respective stages. A needle selecting device for a piezoelectric knitting machine with an adjusting function, comprising: an adjusting plate provided with holes corresponding to the screw holes of the offset setter. However, the front end and the rear end of the piezoelectric body and the intermediate position between the front end and the rear end can be moved in accordance with the movement of the piezoelectric body when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric body. It is a special needle selection device. To.

[Operation] The operation of the above-described means of the present invention will be described together with its outline. In the present invention, the adjustment is performed not from both sides of the piezoelectric body but from the rear end side of the piezoelectric body. By moving the off-setter, which movably supports the rear end of the piezoelectric body, in accordance with the warpage of the piezoelectric body, the front end of the finger can be easily brought to the center of the stopper.

Therefore, compared with the case where adjustment is performed from both sides of the piezoelectric body, the number of adjustment points is reduced, adjustment can be performed in a short time, adjustment can be performed by hand, and adjustment can be performed with rough adjustment, and adjustment can be performed. Was extremely easy to do.

Further, in the present invention, the portions different in the width direction of the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body in each stage, preferably half-width portions, are alternately changed by one stage and supported by the offset setter, and furthermore, the adjusting through holes of the adjusting plate are provided. Holes are made corresponding to the screw holes of the off-setters, and the adjustment for each stage can be adjusted with one adjustment screw, so that the adjustment screws required for adjustment at the time of adjustment for each stage are reduced. This makes adjustment in a short time even more possible.

The present inventors previously supported the entire width of the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body with an equivalent of the off-setter, and made two screw holes on the back side thereof, and provided the two screw holes on the adjustment plate. A device and a method were proposed in which two adjustment through holes were formed in a staggered manner corresponding to the holes, and the adjustment of each stage was adjusted with two adjustment screws (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-78654). In contrast, in the present invention, the number of adjustment positions for each stage could be significantly reduced.

Moreover, in the present invention, the different half width portions of the rear end portions of the piezoelectric bodies of each of the plurality of piezoelectric bodies are alternately supported by the multi-stage staggered offset setters of the respective stages, as described above. Since the adjustment is performed, the pitch between the piezoelectric bodies is made extremely small as compared with the case where the offsetter supports the entire width direction of the rear end of the piezoelectric body as in the above invention. This makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the apparatus, as well as to increase the number of stages, which is very advantageous for high speed operation. By the way, an ultra-high-speed needle selection device with a pitch of 4 mm or less, which is unthinkable from the conventional device, was realized.

Example Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a needle selecting device showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an overall exploded view of the apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a main part of the apparatus showing a part in cross section.

As shown in these figures, the tip 7A of the finger 7 is partially projected from the opening 160 of the stopper 16. The opening 160 is configured to have a width, a size, and the like corresponding to a process when the finger 7 moves up and down.

The finger 7 follows the bending movement of the metal plate 8 by the piezoelectric element 9, and as described above, the pad (finger butt) 6 of the knitting needle 3 or the needle selection jack 2 arranged in contact with the lower end of the knitting needle. Formation or release of engagement with

 The tip of the finger 7 contacts the bat 6.

A hole is formed in the rear end portion 7B of the finger 7 in the width direction of the finger. Holes are also formed in both right and left end walls of the finger fixing portion 17, and a hole (not shown) is formed in the hole of the finger 7. ), Insert both ends of the shaft into the holes on the left and right side walls, insert screws 18 from both ends of the shaft, and attach the finger 7 to the finger fixing portion.
Fix to 17.

A groove is formed at the end of the spherical body 11, and the tip of the piezoelectric body 10 is inserted into the groove and fixed.

The rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 is inserted into the groove at the end of the similar portable spherical body 12 and fixed.

Insert the distal end side of the piezoelectric body 10 to which the spherical body 12 is attached into the open end 70 of the rear end 7B of the finger 7,
It is pinched and connected to 70.

The spherical body 11 is an open end of the rear end 7B of the finger 7.
The tip of the piezoelectric body 10 can move within the pivoting position 70.

An intermediate position between the rear end and the front end of the piezoelectric body 10 is held by a rotating body 15 attached to a fulcrum 14 on the way.

The rotating body 15 used in this embodiment is provided with a through-hole large enough to allow the piezoelectric body 10 to be inserted, and the piezoelectric body 10 is inserted through the through-hole of the rotating body 15 so that the piezoelectric body 10 is inserted. Rotating body 15
To be pinched. Both ends of the rotating body 15 are passed through holes formed in the fulcrum portion 14 through screws 19 and are rotatably mounted by the screws 19. It is preferable that the piezoelectric body 10 be fixed with an adhesive or the like in the through hole of the rotating body 15, but it is also possible to simply hold the piezoelectric body 10 without fixing. In any case, the rotating body 15 is erected by the screw 19 and rotates.

The rotating body between the front end and the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 as described above
It is important for the intermediate position to be clamped by 15,
The piezoelectric body 10 attempts to bend with this point as a fulcrum. The closer the finger 7 is, the faster the speed of the finger 7 is, the smaller the amplitude is, the smaller the torque is, the lower the applied voltage can be. Disappears.

On the other hand, when the distance from the finger 7 increases, the opposite phenomenon occurs, and the amplitude increases, but the torque decreases.

Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately select a position, and it is preferable that the position be appropriately selected.

The rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 to which the spherical body 12 is attached is inserted into the groove 21 of the offsetter 20.

Since the spherical body 12 rotates in the groove 21 of the offsetter 20, the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10 can move.

The offsetter 20 is configured in eight stages in this embodiment. Four stages are arranged on both left and right sides at appropriate intervals.

In the illustrated example, the right four-stage offsetters 20 are located at respective intermediate positions of the left-side four stage offsetters 20 arranged at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction. The offsetter 20 supports a substantially left half width portion of the piezoelectric body 10, and the second-stage offsetter 20 supports a substantially right half width portion of the piezoelectric body 10, and the half width portion that is sequentially different for each stage. The offsetters 20 are arranged in a staggered manner so as to support

The offsetter 20 has a slanted wall 210 cut obliquely from the center of one side to the center of the adjacent four sides, and the slanted wall 210 is provided with a screw hole of an appropriate depth. An adjusting screw is screwed into the screw hole as described later.

One screw hole is provided on each inclined wall 210 of each offsetter 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an adjusting plate 22 is brought into contact with the offset setter 20, and
20 is mounted on the adjusting plate 22. Adjust plate
22 has an inner wall surface adapted to the form of the offsetter 20.

In this way, by making the adjusting plate 22 have a wall surface corresponding to the form of the offsetter 20, the inclination of the adjusting plate 22 of the offsetter 20 and the inclination of the piezoelectric body 10 can be prevented. . Also, when attaching the offsetter 20 to the adjustment plate 22, the adjustment plate
The off setter 20 can be easily guided by the 22.

As shown in the figure, a plurality of adjustment through holes 220 are formed in a vertical direction on a wall surface of the adjustment plate 22 where the inclined wall 210 of the offsetter 20 abuts.

The through hole 220 for adjustment is a long hole that is long in the vertical direction so that the adjustment screw 23 can move up and down.

The adjusting through-holes 220 are provided in a plurality of stages (four left and right stages) corresponding to the screw holes drilled in the off-setter 20.

That is, the through holes 220 correspond to the screw holes such that the four right through holes are located at the centers of the four through holes 220 on the left side in the drawing.

When adjusting, adjust the adjustment plate 22 to the offset setter 20.
Abut on the back of the
The adjustment screw 22 is inserted through the adjustment through-hole 220 of the adjustment plate 22 via 24, and is appropriately positioned in the elongated hole 220.
And the offsetter 20 is fixed in the adjustment plate 22.

Only one adjustment screw 23 is required for each stage.

As a result, the piezoelectric element 9 of the piezoelectric body 10 has warpage,
Even if the piezoelectric body 10 and the finger 7 are not in a straight line and the tip of the finger 7 is deviated from the center of the opening 160 of the stopper 16, it can be corrected.

In the drawing, 24 is a housing, 25 is a cover, 26 is a contact plate, 27
Is a rotating board, 28A and 28B are connectors, and 29 is a socket.

As shown in FIG. 3, the connector 28A has a lead wire l.
Are pulled out, and the lead wires l with different polarities are
10, and the connector 28A is connected to the connector 28B, so that a voltage (current) is applied to the piezoelectric body 10.

In the present invention, the offsetter 20 is not adjusted from both sides of the piezoelectric body 10, but is adjusted from the rear end side of the piezoelectric body 10, and the offsetter 20 movably supporting the rear end of the piezoelectric body 10. By moving it up and down in accordance with the warpage of the piezoelectric body 10, the tip of the finger 7 can be easily brought to the center of the stopper.

Therefore, compared with the case where adjustment is performed from both sides of the piezoelectric body, the number of adjustment points is reduced, adjustment can be performed in a short time, adjustment can be performed by hand, and adjustment can be performed with rough adjustment, and adjustment can be performed. Was extremely easy to do.

Further, in the present invention, the half width portion of the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body 10 of each stage is alternately changed by one stage and supported by the offset setter 20, and furthermore, the adjusting through holes 220 of the adjustment plate 22 are formed.
Holes corresponding to the screw holes of the off-setter 20.
Since the adjustment for each stage can be adjusted with one adjustment screw 23, the adjustment screw 23 required for adjustment at the time of adjustment for each stage can be reduced, and adjustment in a short time is further possible. .

The whole width direction of the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body proposed by the present inventors was supported by the one corresponding to the off-setter, and two screw holes were made on the back side thereof, and the two holes were formed on the adjustment plate. A device and system in which two adjustment through holes are opened in a staggered manner corresponding to two screw holes, and the adjustment of each stage is adjusted with two adjustment screws (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-78654). In comparison with the above, in the above-mentioned invention, it was possible to remarkably reduce the adjustment position for each stage.

Furthermore, in the present invention, different half-width portions of the rear end portion of the piezoelectric body 10 of each stage of the plurality of piezoelectric bodies 10 are alternately supported by the offset setters 20 of each stage arranged in a staggered manner.
Since the adjustment is performed as described above, the piezoelectric body 10 and the piezoelectric body
The pitch with 10 can be made extremely small, which not only makes the device compact and lightweight, but also increases the number of stages, which is extremely advantageous for high speed operation.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the pitch between piezoelectric bodies can be made extremely small, and not only can the device be made compact and light, but also the number of stages can be increased, so that the speed can be increased. It was very advantageous.

 In addition, it was possible to make the adjustment extremely easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view in the center of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a knitting machine, and FIGS. is there. 3 ... knitting needle 5 ... needle selection device 7 ... finger 10 ... piezoelectric body 20 ... offset setter 22 ... adjustment plate 220 ... adjustment through hole 23 ... adjustment screw

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A needle selection device for a piezoelectric knitting machine, wherein a voltage is applied to a piezoelectric body to activate a finger attached to a tip portion of the piezoelectric body to select a knitting needle in a knitting machine. In the method of adjusting the normal position of the finger, the widthwise different portions of the rear end portions of the piezoelectric bodies in each of the plurality of piezoelectric bodies are alternately supported by the offset setters in each of the multiple stages arranged in a staggered manner. The offset setter is mounted in an adjustment plate having a plurality of adjustment through holes, an adjustment screw is inserted into the adjustment through hole, and the adjustment screw is inserted into a screw hole provided in each stage of the offset setter. A method for adjusting a normal position of a finger in a needle selection device for a piezoelectric knitting machine, wherein the finger is inserted. 2. A piezoelectric element with an adjustment function having a function of adjusting a regular position of the finger by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element, operating a finger attached to the tip of the piezoelectric element, and selecting a knitting needle. A needle selecting device for a knitting machine, wherein a multi-stage staggered shape is provided such that a widthwise different portion of a rear end portion of each of the plurality of piezoelectric bodies in the width direction can be alternately supported by an offset setter of each stage. And an adjusting plate provided with a screw hole, and an adjusting plate provided with a plurality of adjusting through holes corresponding to the screw holes of the offsetter. Needle selection device for piezoelectric knitting machine. 3. The needle selecting device adjusts the front and rear ends of the piezoelectric body and the intermediate positions between the front and rear ends according to the movement of the piezoelectric body when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric body. The needle selecting device for a piezoelectric knitting machine with an adjustment function according to claim 2, wherein the needle selecting device is a needle selecting device that can be moved.