JPH0610247A - Flat knitting machine and method for rocking rockable sinker of the same flat knitting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a flat knitting machine, having a simple structure and equipped with a rockable sinker operable even in operation at a high speed of the flat knitting machine without damaging yarn used for knitting and a method for rocking the rockable sinker. CONSTITUTION:A sinker driving means (3) for rocking a rockable sinker (8) is installed and connecting mechanisms (4 and 21) are provided between a knitting needle driving means (19) and the sinker driving means (3) so as to connect at least a part of movement of the knitting needle driving means (19) to the that of the sinker driving means (3).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has two front and rear needle beds arranged facing each other along a knitting line, and a plurality of knitting needles are slidably arranged on each of the needle beds. Knitting needle drive means for sliding the knitting needles is provided, and one or both of the two needle beds is provided with a swing sinker capable of swinging about an axis parallel to the knitting line. The present invention relates to a flat knitting machine provided corresponding to a knitting needle and a method of swinging a swing sinker of the flat knitting machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-30612 discloses a hand knitting machine (flat knitting machine) having a swing sinker.
This swing sinker is driven by a sinker actuating cam provided on the carriage, and has a structure in which the swing sinker is brought into direct sliding contact with an elastic friction resistor (felt) in order to secure self-holding force. However, when the rocking sinker having such a structure is used in a flat knitting machine that operates at high speed, there is a problem that the operation of the rocking sinker becomes unstable.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-10260 discloses a flat knitting machine in which a swing sinker is arranged between knitting needles of both needle beds of a two-needle flat knitting machine. This swing sinker is also controlled by a cam installed on the carriage,
There is a problem that the yarn tends to break when the flat knitting machine is operated at high speed or when knitting with a weak yarn.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of a flat knitting machine equipped with a conventionally known rocking sinker,
A flat knitting machine equipped with a swinging sinker that has a simple structure, operates stably even at high speed operation of the flat knitting machine, and does not damage the yarn used for knitting, and a swinging sinker in the flat knitting machine. An object is to provide a rocking method.

[0005]

A flat knitting machine according to the present invention is provided with sinker drive means for swinging a swing sinker, and at least a part of the movement of the knitting needle drive means is coordinated with the movement of the sinker drive means. As described above, a driving force transmission mechanism is provided between the knitting needle driving means and the sinker driving means.

Further, in a preferred method of the present invention for swinging the swing sinker of the flat knitting machine, when the knitting needle is raised, the sinker driving means moves synchronously to rotate the swing sinker from the retracted position to the forward position. Move, and then the knitting needle continues to rise,
When the load on the rotational movement of the rocking sinker increases, the knitting needle continues to rise until the turning of the rocking sinker stops, and when the knitting needle descends, the sinker drive means moves in synchronization with the rocking. It is characterized in that the dynamic sinker is returned from the forward position to the backward position, and then the knitting needle continues to descend.

In the flat knitting machine, the sinker driving means is slidably arranged in a groove arranged on the needle bed in parallel with the knitting needle sliding groove, and a swinging sinker is fitted and connected to one end thereof. A sinker drive shaft may be used, and an elastic engagement means provided between the knitting needle or a connecting jack connected to the knitting needle and the sinker drive shaft may be used as the driving force transmission mechanism. With this configuration, the motion of the swing sinker can be performed at least partially in cooperation with the motion of the knitting needle without using a special cam, and as a result, the structure of the flat knitting machine can be simplified. it can. Further, if the drive transmission force of the elastic engaging means is properly selected, the knitting needle can be moved while the rotation of the swing sinker is stopped when the rotation of the swing sinker is resisted. It is possible to prevent the yarn from being damaged.

The present invention is effective for high-speed knitting and / or knitting a complicated knitted pattern structure with a flat knitting machine having a conventionally known structure (structure having a carriage). Japanese Patent Publication No. H01-012855 proposes a carriageless flat knitting machine capable of high-speed operation, that is, a plurality of knitting needles arranged in parallel in one plane, and the plurality of knitting needles supported slidably. At least one knitting mechanism comprising a knitting needle guide member that extends to the left and right along the plane, defines the intervals between a plurality of knitting needles, and forms knitted fabric loops
At least one traveling platform that has a pair and reciprocates in the left-right direction along the guide member is provided, and at least one yarn supplying device is provided on the traveling platform, and one of the plurality of knitting needles is provided. An actuator for slidingly moving the knitting needle, which is individually connected to each of the books, and a storage device for storing a predetermined knitting plan, and the operation of the actuator is synchronized with the reciprocating motion of the yarn supplying device. It is extremely effective when used in a flat knitting machine, which is provided with a control device for controlling based on the predetermined knitting plan.

In this flat knitting machine, either a thin linear motor or a small rotary motor and a device for converting the rotary motion of the motor into a linear motion can be used as an actuator, and an output shaft for linear motion of the actuator can be used. The sinker drive means may be linked to the connecting jack between the knitting needles via the elastic engagement means.

[0010]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing an example of a flat knitting machine according to the present invention. FIG. 1A and FIG.
FIG. 1B shows a plan view and a longitudinal sectional view of main parts of an embodiment of the flat knitting machine according to the present invention. 1 (A) and 1 (B), reference numeral 16 indicates a needle bed on the flat knitting machine, and reference numeral 1 indicates a knitting needle. A plurality of knitting needles 1 are arranged on a needle bed 16, each of which is connected to an actuator shaft 17 for driving the knitting needle 1 via a connecting jack 19, and performs a sliding movement in an ascending direction and a descending direction for knitting a knitted fabric. .

On the other hand, on the needle bed 16, sinker drive shafts 3 are arranged corresponding to the knitting needles 1, respectively. A leaf spring 4 is fixed to the sinker drive shaft 3 so as to come into contact with the connecting jack 19, and an upper guide member 2 and a lower guide member 5 installed on the needle bed 16 are provided between the upper stopper 6 and the lower stopper 7. It is slidably supported so as to interlock with the movement of the connecting jack 19.
Further, a swing sinker 8 is supported by a shaft pin 9 at the tip of the needle bed 16, and a fitting top portion 8-b (FIG. 2) of the swing sinker 8 is fitted and connected to the sinker drive shaft 3. Therefore, the swinging motion is performed around the shaft pin 9.

FIG. 2 shows the outer shape of the swing sinker 8.
The swing sinker 8 forms a knitted fabric in addition to a swing center hole 8-a for being supported by the shaft pin 9 and a fitting top portion 8-b for fitting and connecting with a sinker drive shaft. It has a knitted fabric forming edge 8-c and a protrusion 8-d for preventing the knitted fabric from rising. When the sinker is swung, the knitted fabric can be pushed in the pulling-down direction without slipping off from the knitted fabric forming edge 8-c by the protrusion 8-d. Further, the upper surface of the swing sinker 8 is an arc so that the yarn supplied for knitting the knitted fabric does not get caught in the swing sinker even if it shakes, and that it can pass without trouble even if it touches the scale. Part 8-e.

Next, the butt portion 20 of the connecting jack 19 is provided with an uneven contact friction portion 21 as shown in FIG. 3A, and the contact friction portion 21 is connected to the sinker drive shaft 3. The leaf spring 4 fastened by a method such as caulking or welding is pressed, and an elastic engaging means is formed by the contact friction portion 21 and the leaf spring 4, and the sinker is driven by the contact friction force due to the pressing of the leaf spring 4. The shaft 3 can be interlocked with the movement of the connecting jack 19. However, since the contact friction force is used, if resistance occurs in the movement of the sinker drive shaft 3 and the load becomes excessive,
The movement of the connecting jack 19 will not be transmitted to the sinker drive shaft 3, and only the connecting jack 19 will continue its own movement.

FIG. 3 (B) is an enlarged view of FIG. 3 (A).
As an example, when the flat gauge knitting machine of the present invention of 10 gauge was operated, a force of 300 to 400 gf could be transmitted in the sliding direction from the contact friction portion 21 to the sinker drive shaft 3 via the leaf spring 4. Further, FIG. 3C shows that the connecting jack 19 bends the leaf spring 4 via the contact friction portion 21 in the butt portion 20 and transmits the driving force in the ascending direction to the sinker drive shaft 3. The transmission force becomes maximum immediately before the leaf spring 4 gets over the convex portion (mountain portion) of the unevenness of the contact friction portion 21. In addition, the inclination angle α of the unevenness of the contact friction portion 21,
β was carried out at α = 45 ° and β = 45 °, but FIG.
In (B), if it is desired to increase the ascending direction transmission force, the angle β may be decreased, and if it is desired to increase the descending direction transmission force, the angle α may be decreased. In order to further increase the transmission force, the pressing force of the leaf spring 4 against the contact friction portion 21 may be increased. For that purpose, before the leaf spring 4 is engaged with the contact friction portion 21 of the butt portion 20 in FIG. As shown in D), the leaf spring 4 is provided with an initial deflection δ, and a high pressing force can be obtained even when the leaf spring 4 is in contact with the concave portion (valley portion) in the unevenness of the contact friction portion 21 in FIG. 3B. You may do it, and leaf spring 4
The spring constant may be increased by increasing the wall thickness of. As another means, the same effect can be obtained by increasing the height difference between the peaks and valleys of the unevenness. On the contrary, when it is desired to reduce the transmission force, the method opposite to the above may be adopted. In this example, the linear frictional contact friction portion 21 is illustrated, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained by forming the irregularities with a curved line.

The interlocking operation of the sinker drive shaft 3 and the swing sinker 8 with the movement of the connecting jack 19 will be described below. First, when the knitting needle 1 is at the stroke position of B in FIG. 1 (A),
As shown in (B), the knitting needle 1 and the connecting jack 19
Is in the standby state before the sliding motion for knitting, the sinker drive shaft 3 remains in the retracted position regulated by the lower stopper 7, and is fitted to the tip portion 10 of the sinker drive shaft 3. The connected swing sinker 8 remains in the counterclockwise position in the figure, that is, in the open position, with the shaft pin 9 as the swing fulcrum. Further, the leaf spring 4 is provided at the front portion 21- of the contact friction portion 21 provided on the connecting jack 19.
By pressing a, the sinker drive shaft 3 is held at the above position.

Next, the knitting needle 1 moves the actuator shaft 17
B in FIG. 1 (A) by the connection jack 19 connected to
The interlocking operation of the sinker drive shaft 3 and the swing sinker 8 when driven forward from the stroke position of C to the stroke position of C will be described. Sinker drive shaft 3
Until the contact with the upper stopper 6 is restricted by the contact frictional force of the leaf spring 4 that presses the front portion 21-a of the contact frictional portion 21 provided on the connecting jack 19 unless an excessive sliding load is applied. It is driven in synchronization with the connection jack 19. By this movement, the swing sinker 8 fitted and connected to the tip portion 10 of the sinker drive shaft 3 is swung in a clockwise clockwise closing motion as shown in FIG. 4 with the shaft pin 9 as a swing fulcrum. Hold down the ground 11 and old loop 1
Prevents the lifting of 2.

When the sinker drive shaft 3 comes into contact with the upper stopper 6, the forward movement of the sinker drive shaft 3 is restricted, the swing load becomes excessive, and the connecting jack 19
Since the synchronous driving force due to the contact frictional force between the contact frictional portion 21 and the leaf spring 4 provided in the above is exceeded, the contact frictional portion 21 and the leaf spring 4 start to slide without being synchronously driven. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (A) and FIG. 5 (B), the sinker drive shaft 3 remains in the position where it abuts on the upper stopper 6, and the connecting jack 19 and the knitting needle 1 are moved to the stroke position C by the actuator shaft 17. Driven upwards.

Even before the sinker drive shaft 3 comes into contact with the upper stopper 6, the sinker drive shaft is similarly subjected to an excessive load when the knitted fabric 11 is pressed down or the old loop 12 is prevented from rising. Since the sliding load of 3 becomes excessive and exceeds the synchronous driving force due to the contact frictional force between the contact friction portion 21 provided on the connecting jack 19 and the leaf spring 4, the contact friction portion 21 and the leaf spring 4 are driven synchronously. Start slipping without That is, FIG. 6 (A)
As shown in FIG. 6 (B), the connecting jack 19 and the knitting needle 1 are driven forward to the stroke position C by the actuator shaft 17, but the sinker drive shaft 3 holds the knitted fabric 11 or the old loop. The knitted fabric 11 and the old loop 12 can be knitted without damaging the knitted fabric 11 and the old loop 12 as a result, because the knitted fabric 11 and the old loop 12 are kept at the position where the load for preventing the floating of the fabric 12 becomes excessive.

Next, the knitting needle 1 moves the actuator shaft 17
C in FIG. 1 (A) by the connecting jack 19 connected to
The interlocking operation of the sinker drive shaft 3 and the swing sinker 8 when the sinker drive shaft 3 and the swing sinker 8 are driven downward from the stroke position of B to the stroke position of B through the stroke position of D will be described. The sinker drive shaft 3 is synchronized with the connecting jack 19 until it comes into contact with the lower stopper 7 and is regulated by the contact friction force of the leaf spring 4 that presses the rear portion 21-b of the contact friction portion 21 provided on the connecting jack 19. Driven. Due to this movement, the swing sinker 8 fitted and connected to the tip portion 10 of the sinker drive shaft 3 uses the shaft pin 9 as a swing fulcrum, as shown in FIGS. 7 (A) and 7 (B). The knitted fabric forming edge 8-c at the time of drawing in the yarn is formed by being swung by the opening operation of the circumference.

When the sinker drive shaft 3 comes into contact with the lower stopper 7, the backward movement of the sinker drive shaft 3 is restricted, the swing load becomes excessive, and the connecting jack 19
Since the synchronous driving force due to the contact frictional force between the contact frictional portion 21 and the leaf spring 4 provided in the above is exceeded, the contact frictional portion 21 and the leaf spring 4 start to slide without being synchronously driven. That is, as shown in FIG. 8 (A) and FIG. 8 (B), the sinker drive shaft 3 remains in the position where it abuts against the lower stopper 7, and the swing sinker 8 remains in the counterclockwise opening motion position in the drawings. As it is, the connection jack 19 and the knitting needle 1
The actuator shaft 17 drives downward through the stroke position of D to the stroke position of B which is the standby position.

What has been described so far is shown in FIG.
Although it is based on the knitting needle stroke pattern of
In order to respond flexibly by changing the size of the stitch, the knitting needle stroke pattern shown in FIG. 12 is desirable as an example. That is, the size of the stitch is changed by changing the E stroke position of the knitting needle 1 which determines the size of the stitch, and the knitting needle 1 further moves from the E stroke position to the F stroke position to B stroke position. When the swing sinker 8 is driven to the stroke position, the swing sinker 8 is swung from the open position to the closing motion, then swung to the opening motion, stays in the open position, and enters the standby state.

In the above-mentioned example, the case where the two needle bed type flat knitting machine is installed on either one of the front and rear needle beds is shown. However, rocking sinkers are installed on both the front and rear needle beds 16-f and 16-b. An example is shown in FIG.

In the example described with reference to FIG. 1, the swing sinker 8 is swingably supported by the tip of the needle bed 16 by the shaft pin 9, but the fixed sinker plate 2 is used.
An embodiment in which it is swingably supported to the side of 2 is shown in FIGS. 10 (A) and 10 (B).

In the example described with reference to FIG. 1, the swing sinker 8 is swingably supported by the tip of the needle bed 16 by the shaft pin 9, but the fixed sinker plate 2 is used.
It can also be rockably supported above 2. FIG. 11 shows an example thereof. The swing sinker 23 is swingably supported along the upper guide member 24 by two shaft pins 26a and 26b. The swing sinker 23 is provided with a cam-shaped elongated hole 27a and a deformed elongated hole 27b. The deformable cam hole 27b slides on the shaft pin 26b, so that the swing sinker 23 does not come into contact with the fixed sinker 22. Perform rocking motion to suppress the knitted fabric. FIG. 11 shows the state at the stroke position of B in FIG. 1, which is the standby state before the swing motion.

The rocking sinker described above is installed in a flat knitting machine in which knitting needles are driven by individual actuator shafts to knit a knitted fabric. As a result, when the flat knitting machine does not have the swing sinker, the knitting force of the present invention is less likely to be exerted on the knitting fabric pulling-down force and it is difficult to knit the knitting fabric. When a dynamic sinker was installed, a three-dimensional, three-dimensional pattern could be easily knitted due to the knitting fabric pushing down action due to the swinging of the sinker. Further, according to the swing sinker of the present invention, an excessive force is not applied when the knitted fabric is pushed down, as compared with the knitting by the sinker swinging method using a cam found in a conventional flat knitting machine. It was possible to produce high-quality knitted fabric without damaging the fabric.

[0026]

In the method of swinging the flat knitting machine and the swing sinker according to the present invention, since the sinker drive means for swinging the swing sinker is performed based on the movement of the knitting needle drive means, it is known in the related art. Since it is not necessary to use a cam like a dynamic sinker, the flat knitting machine can have a simple structure, and since an excessive force is not applied to press down the knitted fabric,
It is possible to produce high quality knitted fabric without damaging the knitted fabric and knitting yarn.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a flat knitting machine according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (A) is a plan view, and FIG. 1 (B) is a longitudinal sectional view.

FIG. 2 is an external shape view of a swing sinker.

3A and 3B are views showing an uneven contact friction portion and an elastic engaging means by a leaf spring, FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a contact friction portion of a bat, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view thereof. 3C is an enlarged plan view in which the contact friction portion bends the leaf spring and transmits the driving force in the ascending direction to the sinker drive shaft.
(D) is an enlarged plan view of the case where the initial deflection δ is set in the leaf spring.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a situation in which the knitted fabric and the old loop are prevented from being lifted up by the swing sinker.

5 is a diagram showing the position of each constituent member during the C stroke of the flat knitting machine according to the present invention shown in FIG.
FIG. 5A is a plan view, and FIG. 5B is a vertical sectional view.

6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 when the load is excessive at the time of C stroke, FIG. 6 (A) is a plan view, and FIG. 6 (B) is a vertical sectional view.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5 when moving from a C stroke to a D stroke, in which FIG. 7 (A) is a plan view and FIG. 7 (B) is a vertical sectional view.

8 is a view similar to FIG. 5 at the time of B stroke, and FIG.
8A is a plan view, and FIG. 8B is a vertical sectional view.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example in which swinging sinkers are provided for both front and rear needle beds.

10A and 10B are views showing a different structure of the support of the swing sinker, FIG. 10A is a plan view, and FIG. 10B is a vertical sectional view.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing still another configuration of the support of the swing sinker.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the main parts of another embodiment of the flat knitting machine according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Knitting needle 2 ... Upper guide member 3 ... Sinker drive shaft 4 ... Leaf spring 5 ... Lower guide member 6 ... Upper stopper 7 ... Lower stopper 8 ... Swing sinker 8-a ... Swing center hole 8-b ... Fitting Part 8-c ... Knitted fabric forming edge 8-d ... Projection part 8-e ... Arc part 9 ... Shaft pin 10 ... Sinker drive shaft tip part 11 ... Knitted fabric 12 ... Old loop 13 ... Loop receiving part 16 ... Needle bed 16 -F ... front needle bed 16-b ... rear needle bed 17 ... actuator shaft 19 ... connecting jack 20 ... butt portion 21 ... contact friction portion 21-a ... front portion of contact friction portion 21-b ... rear portion of contact friction portion 22 ... Fixed sinker plate 23 ... Swing sinker in the example of FIG. 11 24. Upper guide member 26a, 26b in the example of FIG. 11 ... Shaft pin 27a in the example of FIG. 11 Oblong hole 27b in the example of FIG. Deformed slot B in the example, C, D, E, F ... stroke position

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A front and rear needle bed, which are arranged to face each other along a knitting line, have a plurality of knitting needles slidably arranged on the respective needle beds and slide the knitting needle. A moving knitting needle drive means is provided, and a swinging sinker capable of swinging about an axis parallel to the knitting line corresponds to each knitting needle on either or both of the two needle beds. A flat knitting machine provided with a sinker drive means for swinging the swing sinker, and the movement of the sinker drive means is linked to at least a part of the movement of the knitting needle drive means. A flat knitting machine, characterized in that a driving force transmission mechanism is provided between the knitting needle driving means and the sinker driving means. 2. A method of rocking a rocking sinker of a flat knitting machine according to claim 1, wherein when the knitting needle is raised, the sinker driving means moves synchronously to move the rocking sinker from the retracted position to the advanced position. The knitting needle continues to rise until the rotation of the swinging sinker stops when the load on the swinging motion of the swinging sinker increases, and when the knitting needle descends, the sinker driving means synchronizes. A method for rocking a rocking sinker of a flat knitting machine, which comprises moving the rocking sinker from a forward position to a retracted position and then continuing to lower the knitting needle.