JP7438007B2 - Thread insertion device for flat knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device that is attached to a flat knitting machine and used to insert into a knitted fabric a filamentous body made of a yarn attached with an RFID (radio frequency identifier), a metal yarn, a yarn with a color marker, or the like.

When knitting a fabric using a flat knitting machine, something other than normal knitting yarn may be inserted into the fabric. For example, inserting a filament with an RFID attached is effective for production management and distribution management of knitted fabrics. In addition to RFID, you may also want to insert thread that has been partially colored to serve as a marker, decorative metal thread, etc. The material to be inserted is thread-like or tape-like, and is inserted with a length shorter than the knitting thread, so it is referred to as a thread-like material in this specification.

Relevant prior art is indicated. Patent Document 1 (US7246508B) discloses a collar stay (collar stay) insertion device. The insertion device takes out the collar stays one by one from the case and inserts them into the knitted fabric by pushing out the collar stays. Patent Document 2 (US2018/282914 A) discloses a yarn feeding device that includes a cutter, a gripper, and a pressurized air pipe for feeding knitting yarn. This yarn feeding device cuts the knitting yarn at a desired position and draws out the knitting yarn with an air flow after cutting.

US7246508B US2018/282914 A

The device of Patent Document 1 is not suitable for inserting filamentous bodies. Since the device of Patent Document 2 sends out the thread using an air flow, it is not suitable for accurately inserting a thread-like body of a desired length.

An object of the present invention is to provide an insertion device that can accurately insert a filament of a desired length into a knitted fabric.

In the filament insertion device for a flat knitting machine of the present invention, at least one of the carriers, which is movable along the rails of the flat knitting machine, includes a power receiving section, a motor, and a pair of rollers for feeding out the filament. A driving roller driven by a motor and a cutting device located downstream of the pair of rollers and cutting the filament sent out from the pair of rollers are provided.

The insertion device of the present invention moves along the rail of a flat knitting machine, drives a drive roller by a motor, and inserts a filamentous body into a knitted fabric. When a filament of a desired length is inserted, the filament is cut by a cutting device. As a result, it is possible to accurately insert a thread-like body of a desired length into a desired position of the knitted fabric. When using a battery as a power source, a terminal that receives power from the battery corresponds to a power receiving unit.

Preferably, the carrier is further provided with elevating means for elevating the motor, the pair of rollers, and the cutting device relative to the carrier. By raising the motor, cutting device, etc., interference with other yarn feeding devices can be prevented. Therefore, there is no need to prevent interference by moving the insertion device along the rails of the flat knitting machine.

Preferably, the device further includes biasing means for biasing at least one of the pair of rollers in a direction to press the filament. In this way, it is possible to prevent the length of the inserted filament from slipping from the roller and deviating from the desired length.

Preferably furthermore control means are provided for controlling the motor and the cutting device. If the motor and cutting device are remotely controlled by a flat knitting machine controller, etc., the burden of communication increases. If the control means in the insertion device receives commands from the controller of the flat knitting machine and controls the motor and cutting device, control becomes simple.

Preferably, furthermore, a sensor is provided for detecting elements of the filament. Since the control means can know the position of the element in the filament, the element of the filament can be placed at a desired position within the knitted fabric.

Preferably, a drive belt driven by the motor to drive the drive rollers is further provided, particularly preferably a pair of drive belts are provided to drive the pair of drive rollers. Belt drive allows the drive roller and motor to be placed at separate locations, allowing for compact power transmission between them. Furthermore, if a pair of drive belts is provided, the pair of drive rollers can be driven together.

Front view of the insertion device of the embodiment Rear view of the insertion device of the embodiment A partially enlarged plan view showing an enlarged cutting device portion of the insertion device of the embodiment. Block diagram showing the control system of the insertion device of the embodiment A diagram showing processing executed by the insertion device of the embodiment

Below, preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention are shown.

1 to 5 show a filament insertion device 2 for a flat knitting machine according to an embodiment. The insertion device 2 is used by being attached to a flat knitting machine, and the structure of the insertion device 2 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Reference numeral 4 denotes a rail for running the carrier of the flat knitting machine, and may include a power supply line 5 such as a non-contact power supply line, a feeder line for communication with the controller of the flat knitting machine, and the like. The method of communication between the insertion device 2 and the controller of the flat knitting machine is arbitrary.

The main structural members of the insertion device 2 are a carrier section 6, a fixing plate 9 fixed to the carrier section 6, and an elevating plate 10 that moves up and down with respect to the fixing plate 9. The carrier section 6 includes a plurality of rollers 7 and moves on the rails 4 by itself or is carried along by a carriage of a flat knitting machine (not shown). In the embodiment, it is assumed that the carrier part 6 is carried by a carriage, and the carrier part 6 is provided with an engagement groove 8 for engaging with a carriage pin (not shown) of the carriage.

The fixed plate 9 is fixed to the carrier part 6 and hangs downward in the vertical direction. Of course, the fixing plate 9 and the carrier part 6 may not be a combination of different members, but may be the same member that is integrated from the beginning. A guide groove 19 provided in the fixed plate 9 guides the sliding portion 18 of the elevating plate 10. Further, for example, a lifting motor 13 provided on the fixed plate 9 and a female screw portion 14 provided on the lifting plate 10, for example, are coupled by a feed screw 15. In this way, the lifting plate 10 is raised and lowered while the sliding portion 18 is guided by the rotation of the lifting motor 13. In addition to the above, for example, a control unit 12 and a power receiving unit 16 for non-contact power supply are attached to the fixed plate 9. Note that a battery may be provided in place of the power receiving section 16, or power may be received from the power supply line 5 by a brush or the like.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a filamentous body to be inserted, which is fed from a yarn package (not shown) via a buffer such as a side tension. An active yarn feeding device or the like which can feed a filament of a desired length in both forward and reverse directions may be provided upstream of the side tension. In the embodiment, the filament 20 is a yarn to which RFIDs 21 (filament elements) are attached at a predetermined pitch, and the attachment pitch of the RFIDs 21 is the same as the desired length when inserted into the knitted fabric.

The lifting plate 10 is equipped with an eyelet 22 for the filamentous body 20, and, as shown in FIG. . Then, the rotation of the yarn feeding motor 25 is decelerated by the transmission 26, the gears 28, 28 meshing with each other are rotated by the same angle in opposite directions, and the pulleys 30, 30 are rotated by the same number of rotations via the belts 29, 29. Rotate in the opposite direction. A pair of drive rollers 34, 34 are provided coaxially with the pulleys 30, 30 (FIG. 1), and the filament 20 is sent out by the drive rollers 30, 30.

The yarn feeding motor 25 is controlled by the control section 12. By monitoring the rotational speed of the yarn feeding motor 25 using an encoder (not shown) or by using a pulse motor as the yarn feeding motor 25, the filamentous body 20 can be sent out by a desired length.

A lower end portion 32 is provided at one of the lower portions of the elevating plate 10, and a pulley 30 and a drive roller 34 are attached to the lower end of the lower end portion 32. Further, a biasing member 35 is provided on the other lower part of the lifting plate 10. The biasing member 35 includes an arm 37 whose central portion is pivotally supported by a pin 36 , the upper part of the arm 37 is biased by a tension spring 38 , and the other end of the tension spring 38 is fixed to a pin 39 . A pulley 30 and a drive roller 34 are also provided at the lower end of the arm 37, and the filament 20 is sent out from between the pair of drive rollers 34, 34. The pulley 30 and the drive roller 34 share a common axis, and the rotation of the pulley 34 causes the drive roller 34 to rotate. Further, due to the bias of the arm 37, the pair of drive rollers 34, 34 are brought into contact with each other with appropriate nip pressure. Note that the structure of the biasing member 35 is arbitrary.

A cutting device 40 is provided at the lower end of the lifting plate 10, in the embodiment at the lower end of the lower end portion 32, and at a position downstream of the drive roller 34 in the yarn feeding direction. 41 is an eyelet for guiding the filamentous body 20 to the cutting device 40. The structure of the cutting device 40 is shown in FIG. The filamentous body 20 is passed between the fixed blade 42 and the movable blade 43, and the shaft 44 of the movable blade 43 is rotated by a drive unit 45 consisting of a small motor or a solenoid to cut the filamentous body 20. 46 is a support portion for attaching the cutting device 40 to the lower end portion 32.

FIG. 4 shows a control system of the insertion device 2. The insertion device 2 is operated by a power source such as a power receiving section 16, and is operated by a command from a controller 50 of the flat knitting machine. The control unit 12 communicates with the controller 50 of the flat knitting machine, and raises and lowers the lifting plate 10 using the lifting motor 13. Further, the control unit 12 causes the yarn feed motor 25 to rotate the drive roller 34 to send out the filament 20 of a desired length from the eyelet 41. The cutting device 40 is operated by the control unit 12 and cuts the filamentous body 20 so that the RFID 21 is located at a predetermined position from the starting end of the filamentous body 20 and the length of the filamentous body 20 to be inserted into the knitted fabric is a desired length. do. When the RFID reader 24 detects the RFID 21 in the filament 20, it notifies the control unit 12 of the ID of the RFID 21, or a tag indicating that the RFID 21 has been detected in addition to the ID. Even if only the ID is notified, the control unit 12 knows that the RFID 21 has been detected. Further, when the insertion device 2 is made to travel by itself along the rail 4, a travel motor is added.

The operation of the insertion device 2 of the embodiment is shown in FIG. Note that the insertion device 2 is
- While moving the insertion device 2 along the course direction of the knitted fabric, inserting the filamentous body 20 into the knitted fabric so as not to form a sending stitch (this process is called inlay);
- Sending out the filamentous body 20 in the longitudinal direction along the wale direction of the knitted fabric and inserting it as a warp without moving the insertion device;
- The filamentous body is fed to the needles of a flat knitting machine along with other knitting yarns, and processes such as forming stitches are performed.

The purpose of inserting the filamentous body 20 having the RFID 21 is production management, distribution management, etc. of knitted fabrics. The RFID 21 is inserted into a predetermined position of the knitted fabric, and the ID of the RFID 21 is read by the RFID reader 24 and stored in an RFID server (not shown). The RFID server associates and stores knitted fabric production management data, distribution and sales data with each ID. Then, at the time of shipment, sale, etc., the ID of the RFID 21 is read and an inquiry is made to the RFID server to obtain data regarding production management, distribution, and sales. Instead of the RFID reader 21, an RFID reader/writer may be provided and data for production management etc. may be stored in the RFID 21.

In the example, the pitch of the RFID in the filament 20 is equal to the insertion length (desired length) of the filament 20. Note that if the pitch of the RFIDs is longer than the desired length, after inserting the previous RFID, the filament 20 is fed out until the next RFID is detected by the RFID reader, and then cut, and the unnecessary portion is removed by suction, for example. The insertion device 2 waits at a position that does not interfere with knitting, such as at the end of a needle bed of a flat knitting machine, and feeds out the filamentous body 20 from the yarn package. When the RFID reader 24 detects the RFID 21, it reports it to the control unit 12. The above processing is called standby processing P1.

In the embodiment, a controller 50 of the flat knitting machine controls a carriage (not shown) of the flat knitting machine, engages a driving pin or the like of the carriage with the engagement groove 8, and moves the insertion device 2 to a desired position. When the filament 20 is fed out to a desired length by the drive roller 34 in synchronization with the movement of the insertion device 2 and cut by the cutting device 40, the RFID 21 can be inserted into the desired position within the knitted fabric. Here, the filament 20 is sent out by the pair of driving rollers 34, 34, and pressure is applied between the rollers 34, 34 by the biasing member 35, so that the filament 20 of a desired length can be inserted accurately. Note that at this time, the filamentous body 20 may be knitted to form a stitch. These processes are called insertion processing P2.

In order to knit the knitted fabric, other yarn feeding devices also run on the rail 4 and feed the knitting yarn. There is a possibility that the lower ends of other yarn feeding devices and the lower ends of the insertion device 2, particularly the cutting device 40, the yarn feeding motor 25, the drive roller 34, etc., interfere with each other. Therefore, if the lifting plate 10 is raised by the lifting motor 13, interference with other yarn feeding devices can be prevented. This process is called save process P3. Note that the mechanism used for raising and lowering is arbitrary, such as a combination of a solenoid and a double speed mechanism.

When inserting the filamentous body 20 using an inlay, the filamentous body 20 floats up within the knitted fabric, so it may be difficult to fix it in a predetermined position. In such a case, a pushing process P4 is performed in which the lifting plate 10 is lowered and, for example, the bottom surface of the cutting device 40 pushes the filamentous body 20 inserted into the knitted fabric downward to prevent the filamentous body 20 from lifting up from the knitted fabric. implement. Instead of pushing in with the bottom surface of the cutting device 40, an air supply pipe (not shown) or the like may be provided and pushing in with an air flow may be used.

A modification of the embodiment will be explained. Instead of retracting by raising the elevating plate 10, it may be retracted by moving the insertion device 2 to a position in the knitting width direction where it does not interfere with other yarn feeding devices. The biasing member 35 can be changed to any member that applies pressure between the drive rollers 34, 34. Although the biasing member 35 is not essential, if the biasing member 35 or the like is provided, it is possible to prevent the filamentous body 20 from slipping with respect to the drive roller 34. When the insertion device 2 is moved in a direction closer to a yarn supply source such as a side tension device or an active yarn feeding device, the filamentous bodies 20 become slack, so it is preferable that they absorb the loosened yarn.

Instead of providing the control unit 12, each element of the insertion device 2 may be controlled by a controller 50 of the flat knitting machine through communication via the rail 4 or the like. On the other hand, if each element of the insertion device 2 is controlled by the control unit 12, the control becomes easier than if it is controlled by the controller 50 of the flat knitting machine.

In the embodiment, a filamentous body 20 having an RFID 21 was inserted, but the type of filamentous body may be arbitrary. The RFID reader 24 is changed to another sensor depending on the type of filament 20, such as a color sensor that detects a colored part of the filament, a thickness sensor that detects a thick part provided at a specific location of the filament, etc. But it's okay.

A pair of belts 29, 29 are used in order to rotate the drive rollers 34, 34 at the same speed by the yarn feeding motor 25, which is located slightly apart. However, the type of transmission means between the yarn feeding motor 25 and the drive roller 34 is arbitrary. Furthermore, by driving the pair of drive rollers 34, 34 together, slippage of the filament 20 can be reduced, but only one roller may be driven. In the embodiment, only one drive roller 34 is energized, but both drive rollers 34, 34 may be energized.

2 Insertion device 4 Rail 5 Power supply line 6 Carrier part 7 Roller 8 Engagement groove 9 Fixing plate 10 Lifting plate 12 Control part 13 Lifting motor 14 Female screw part 15 Feed screw 16 Power receiving part 18 Sliding part 19 Guide groove 20 Thread-like body 21 RFID
22 Eyelet 24 RFID reader 25 Yarn feeding motor 26 Transmission 27 Pulley 28 Gear 29 Belt 30 Pulley 32 Lower end 34 Drive roller 35 Biasing member 36 Pin 37 Arm 38 Spring 39 Pin 40 Cutting device 41 Eyelet 42 Fixed blade 43 Movable blade 44 Shaft 45 Drive section 46 Support section 50 Controller of flat knitting machine

Claims (4)

A carrier that can move freely along the rails of the flat knitting machine.
A power receiving section;
motor and
a pair of rollers for feeding out the filament, at least one of which is a drive roller driven by the motor;
a cutting device that is downstream of the pair of rollers and that cuts the filament sent out from the pair of rollers ;
Furthermore, the thread-shaped body insertion device for a flat knitting machine, wherein the carrier is provided with a lifting means for lifting and lowering the motor, the pair of rollers, and the cutting device relative to the carrier . The insertion of a filamentous body for a flat knitting machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a biasing means for biasing at least one roller of the pair of rollers in a direction to press the filamentous body. Device. 3. The filament insertion device for a flat knitting machine according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling said motor and said cutting device. The thread-like body insertion device for a flat knitting machine according to claim 1 , further comprising a sensor for detecting elements of the thread-like body.

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