TWI748170B - Mechanism to reverse tubular textile material and the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A mechanism and method to reverse a tubular textile material, such as sock, upon sewing off the open end after knitted in the knitting machine and then transferred from knitting needles.

Description

Turning mechanism and method of tubular fabric

The present invention relates to a turning mechanism and method for turning a tubular knitted fabric. The fabric is a sock body knitted by a knitting machine, for example, the sock body is first removed from the knitting needles of the knitting machine and then The opening of the sock body is stitched, and the turning mechanism and method disclosed in the present invention can be used to turn the sock body before and after stitching.

Tubular knitted fabrics (such as socks) are woven by a knitting machine, and the two ends of the fabric have openings; the aforementioned fabric will be removed from the knitting needles of the knitting machine and moved to the sewing station to sew one end of the opening (sock toe), as Patent EP23777979 described. The stitching of the toe is on the outside of the fabric. When the stitching of the toe is completed, the excess stitches will be exposed, and it is not appropriate to sell products with exposed stitches to customers. Therefore, the industry is required to turn the suture surface of the sock body upside down so that the suture is located inside the sock body. For industry operators, automating the turning operation of tubular fabrics will inevitably reduce costs. At present, the patent for turning the sock body has been recorded in the previous cases US5052196 and WO02070801. In addition to the complexity of the solution disclosed by the known technology, the cost is also high.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a mechanism and method that can effectively turn the fabric over, especially suitable for tubular fabrics.

In order to achieve this objective, the present invention provides a mechanism capable of turning over a tubular fabric, which includes: a vertically extending suction pipe; and an air suction unit connected to the suction pipe to generate air suction. The turning mechanism also includes a driving source that allows the suction pipe to move up and down, a guide unit arranged in the suction pipe and protruding from the lower end of the suction pipe, and a vertically extending support unit for receiving the tube Fabric.

A preferred implementation aspect is that the guiding unit includes at least two support rods extending vertically, the support rods are located in the suction pipe and are arranged coaxially, and a collar is arranged at the lower end of the support rods .

A preferred implementation aspect is that the supporting unit is in the shape of a long rod, and its axis is projected on the inner side of the collar.

The present invention also discloses a knitting machine for producing a tubular fabric, including a bracket and the aforementioned turning mechanism.

The present invention also discloses a method for turning over a tubular fabric, which includes the following steps: a) removing a tubular fabric on the knitting needles of a knitting machine; b) using a turning mechanism described in patent claim 1 The tubular fabric is turned over; c) an open end of the tubular fabric is stitched at a sewing station; and d) the tubular fabric is turned over again using the turning mechanism.

Thereby, the turning mechanism of the present invention is suitable for turning the tubular fabric before and after sewing, and can achieve automated production.

The present invention is exemplified and described in detail here to further illustrate the mechanism of the present invention, but the actual effect of the present invention is not limited by this.

The embodiment provided by the present invention is a turning mechanism that can accurately turn the sock body, that is, after the sock body is knitted and the opening is stitched, the sock body is turned over to leave the suture inside the sock body And method.

As described in the previous case EP2377979, when the knitting process of the sock body is completed, the toe of the sock is open and the suture of the toe is still left on the knitting needle of the knitting machine. A plurality of strip elements and transfer elements are used to sew the toe of the sock. , These elements are opposed to each other in two opposite brackets, as described in the previous case EP2377979.

As shown in Figure 1, the turning mechanism (60) disclosed in the present invention includes a suction pipe (61) extending vertically, an air suction device is connected to the suction pipe (61) to generate air suction, and a guide unit (62) is arranged at the bottom end of the suction pipe (61), and a supporting unit (64) is located below the guide unit (62), which is suitable for any state where the sock body is still open after the knitting is completed and removed. Phased implementation, for example when the last row of stitches is on the conveying element or when the sock is at the sewing station. In this embodiment, the sock body with an open end is turned over when it is on the conveying element, and then transferred to the sewing table, and turned over after being stitched.

As shown in Fig. 2, the sock body (70) with an open end is located on the bracket (20a) provided with the transmission element, as described in the previous case EP2377979. In fact, the positions of the strip elements on two different brackets are aligned with each other, as described in the previous case EP2377979. To avoid confusion, there are strip elements on other brackets that are not shown.

First, the bracket (20a) moves the sock body (70) and is located below the suction pipe (61) and the guide unit (62) in the turning mechanism (60). Wherein, the suction pipe (61) can be moved up and down by connecting the main body (67) and the driving source (611) on the carrier (68). In order to ensure the connection between the suction pipe (61) and the main body (67), as shown in Figure 1, the main body (67) is provided with a first pulley (612) connected to the output shaft of the driving source (611). Two pulleys (613) are arranged at a higher position of the main body (67) and far away from the driving source (611), and a timing belt (614) (timing belt) is arranged between the first pulley (612) and the second pulley (613) In the meantime, the rack on the timing belt (614) is used to engage and connect the gear on the suction pipe (61) for power transmission. In addition, the driving mechanism for the suction pipe (61) to move up and down can also be replaced by other conventional technologies.

The guiding unit (62) is located in the suction pipe (61) and extends a proper length vertically along the axis of the suction pipe (61). In this embodiment, the guiding unit (62) is fixedly arranged on the suction pipe (61) without relative displacement with the suction pipe (61).

In this embodiment, the guiding unit (62) includes three coaxial and equidistant support rods arranged in the suction pipe (61). The number of poles in the embodiment is at least two or more, maybe four or five... and so on.

In this embodiment, the guiding unit (62) can also be provided with a collar (63) at the lower part of the aforementioned supporting rod. In this embodiment, the guide unit (62) protrudes from the lower end of the suction pipe (61), and there is a gap between the lower end of the suction pipe (61) and the collar (63), as shown in the figure 3 shown. When the suction pipe (61) moves downward, the bottom end of the suction pipe (61) can be slightly lower than the open end of the sock body. Since the length of the sock body is known, the downward movement distance of the suction pipe (61) can be preset by the control unit.

After the bottom end of the suction pipe (61) is lower than the open end of the sock body, the air suction device will be activated to make the suction pipe (61) start to suck in air. The invention is provided with a valve body located on the existing vacuum line in the hosiery machine. At the same time, the suction pipe (61) starts to move upwards. When the lower end of the suction pipe (61) moves to align with the open end of the sock body, the sock body (70) starts to be sucked into the suction pipe (61) , As shown in Figure 4. When the suction pipe (61) continues to move upward, the reserved part of the sock body is also sucked into the pipe. Because the open end of the sock body is still fixed on the conveying element of the bracket (20a), it will not be sucked into the suction pipe (61). The sucked sock body (70) is interposed between the suction pipe (61) and the guiding unit (62), as shown in FIG. 13.

In the next stage, the sock body (70) will be transferred to the stitching station for stitching. In this case, the guiding unit (62) remains in the sock body (70) where the toe is sewn, as shown in FIG. 15.

As shown in Fig. 8 or Fig. 15, the supporting unit (64) extends vertically below the suture table. The supporting unit (64) has a long stick-like appearance, and can be moved close to or away from the suture table by rotating. In other implementation aspects, the supporting unit (64) may also be close to or away from the sewing table in a vertical direction instead of rotating.

The lower end of the support unit (64) is connected to a longitudinally extending support plate (641), the support plate (641) is connected to a rotating shaft (642), the rotating shaft (642) is connected to a bracket (644) in a rotating manner, and the bracket (644) is also provided with a driving source (643) capable of rotating the shaft (642), and the aforementioned driving source (643) can be a pneumatic cylinder, but it is not limited to this.

After the toe (70) is stitched, the supporting unit (64) will be driven to rotate to a position, as shown in Fig. 7 or Fig. 16. In this case, the extension direction of the long axis of the supporting unit (64) is aligned with the axis of the suction pipe (61) and the collar (63), or at least aligned with the center of the collar (63). Then, the suction pipe (61) moves downward and the air suction device is closed, so that the sock body (70) is released and stays in the supporting unit (64), and at the same time, the turning action of the sock body (70) is completed, Keep the suture inside the sock body (70).

20a‧‧‧Bracket 60‧‧‧Turning mechanism 61‧‧‧Suction pipe 611‧‧‧Drive source 612‧‧‧First pulley 613‧‧‧Second pulley 614‧‧‧Synchronous belt 62‧‧‧Guide unit 63‧‧‧Collar 64‧‧‧Support unit 641‧‧‧Support plate 642‧‧‧shaft 643‧‧‧Drive source 644‧‧‧ Bracket 67‧‧‧Ontology 68‧‧‧vehicle 70‧‧‧sock body 71‧‧‧sock tip

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows the state before turning the sock.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows the suction pipe and the guiding unit passing through the sock body.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the sock body is sucked into the suction pipe.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the sock body is sucked into the suction pipe.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the supporting unit is far away from the suction pipe.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the supporting unit is aligned with the suction pipe.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism, which shows a state where the supporting unit is aligned with the suction pipe and the suction pipe moves downward.

Figure 9 is a three-dimensional view of the turning mechanism, which shows the state of the toe being sewn by the supporting unit after stitching.

Figure 10 is a three-dimensional view of the turning mechanism, which shows the final stage, when the toe of the sock is sewn by the supporting unit.

Fig. 11 is a conceptual diagram of Fig. 2 in front view.

Fig. 12 is a front view conceptual diagram of Fig. 3.

Fig. 13 is a front view conceptual diagram of Fig. 4.

Fig. 14 is a front conceptual view of Fig. 5.

Figure 15 is a front view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the toe of the sock has been stitched.

Fig. 16 is a front view of the turning mechanism, which shows that the supporting unit is aligned with the suction pipe.

Fig. 17 is a front view of the turning mechanism, which shows the state when the toe of the sock is sewn and taken by the support unit.

Figure 18 is a front view of the turning mechanism, which shows the final stage, when the toe of the sock is stitched and is in the state of being received by the support unit.

60‧‧‧Turning mechanism

61‧‧‧Suction pipe

611‧‧‧Drive source

612‧‧‧First pulley

613‧‧‧Second pulley

614‧‧‧Synchronous belt

62‧‧‧Guide unit

63‧‧‧Collar

64‧‧‧Support unit

67‧‧‧Ontology

Claims (14)

A turning mechanism for a tubular fabric, the tubular fabric having an open end, the turning mechanism includes: a vertically extending suction pipe; an air suction device connected to the suction pipe to generate air suction, characterized in that: It also includes a drive source for driving the suction pipe to move up and down, a guide unit arranged inside the suction pipe and protruding from the lower end of the suction pipe to allow the fabric to penetrate, and a vertically extending support The unit is arranged under the suction pipe for receiving the fabric from the guiding unit. The turning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the guiding unit includes at least two supporting rods extending vertically, and the supporting rods are located in the suction pipe and arranged coaxially. The turning mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the guiding unit further has a collar, and the collar is arranged at the lower ends of the struts. The turning mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the supporting unit is in the shape of a long bar, and its axis is projected on the inner side of the collar. The turning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the supporting unit is in the shape of a long rod, and the extending direction of the long axis is consistent with the axis of the suction pipe and the collar. The turning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the supporting unit has a rotating shaft to rotate. The turning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the supporting unit is vertically operated. The turning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the suction pipe is movably arranged on a main body, and a driving source is provided on the main body to drive the suction pipe to move. The turning mechanism according to claim 8, wherein two pulleys are provided between the main body and the driving source, and a timing belt is connected between the pulleys to transmit power. A knitting machine is used to produce a tubular fabric, including a bracket, and the turning mechanism described in any one of claims 1 to 9 of the scope of patent application. A method for turning over a tubular fabric, which comprises the following steps: a) removing a tubular fabric on a knitting needle of a knitting machine; b) using a turning mechanism described in Patent Claim 1 to perform the tubular fabric Turn over; c) stitch an open end of the tubular fabric at a sewing station; and d) use the turning mechanism to turn over the tubular fabric again; wherein, step b) also includes the following steps: b1) the turning A suction pipe of the surface mechanism passes through the bottom end of the fabric to be sewn, and then moves down; b2) When the suction pipe moves down to be lower than the open end of the fabric, it stops immediately; b3) Starts the turning The air suction device of the mechanism; b4) the suction pipe moves upward; and b5) the fabric is sucked into the suction pipe and then turned over. The turning method of claim 11, wherein the turning operation of step b) is performed before entering the stitching station or is operated on the stitching station. A method for turning over a tubular fabric, which comprises the following steps: a) removing a tubular fabric on a knitting needle of a knitting machine; b) using a turning mechanism described in Patent Claim 1 to perform the tubular fabric Turning over; c) sewing an open end of the tubular fabric at a sewing station; and d) using the turning mechanism to turn over the tubular fabric again; wherein, the step d) includes the following steps: d1) the supporting unit is brought under the stitched fabric; d2) the air suction pipe drives the stitched fabric to move downward; and d3) the fabric is released and located in the supporting unit. The turning method according to claim 13, wherein the turning operation of step b) is performed before entering the stitching station or is operated on the stitching station.

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