US3387467A

US3387467A - Knitting machine cam-needle apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3387467A
Application number: US505805A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leonard A Beckenstein
Original assignee: Singer Co
Current assignee: Singer Co
Priority date: 1965-11-01
Filing date: 1965-11-01
Publication date: 1968-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 1985-06-11
Also published as: DE1585350A1; GB1091260A

Description

June 11, 1968 1.. A. BECKENSTEIN 3,

KNITTING MACHINE CAM'NEEDLE APPARATUS 4 w w n 0 9 i 7 R M/ 0 l L C .n 2 T Mw I M m 2 1 e2 5 .m v WI m 1 w W Leonard A. Beckenstein fiww ATTORNEY WITNESS United States Patent 3,337,467 KNlTTlNG MACHINE CAM-NEEDLE APPARATUS Leonard A. Beelrenstein, Farmingdale, N.Y., assignor to The Singer Company, New York, Nil? a corporation of New Jersey Filed Nov. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 505,805 3 Claims. (Q1. file-57) ABSTRACT OF THE DlSCLUSURE This invention relates in general to knitting machines, and in particular to cams and the like for raising and lowering the latch needles of a circular knitting machine of the independent needle type.

The invention provides a complete reversal of the present generally employed practice of providing knitting machine cams with female slots that cooperates with needles having male butts, and instead provides a cam-needle combination wherein cams in the nature of male members cooperate with female slots within the needles. Such an expedient provides, as will be indicated below, advantages heretofore unavailable in the knitting industry.

More specifically, the invention takes a conventional two-butt latch needle and uses the inside walls of both such butts simultaneously as cam followers that cooperate with respective parallel surfaces of actuating cams. This, as above noted, is opposed to the present practice of having both sides of a single needle butt cooperate, at any given time, with both walls of a female cam slot, and is somewhat akin to the manner in which the knitting machine sinkers cooperate with their actuating means.

With the adoption of modern die casting techniques to the fabrication of needle actuating came, the problem of providing female cam slots to close tolerances with respect to precisely controlled needle tolerances has become comparatively acute, since without such tolerance control, stitch setting etc. during machine knitting may be haphazard, and attendantly high quality cloth cannot be manufactured. It has been found that the die casting of a prior art cam has been unsatisfactory, without substantial corrective machining, in the very area of the cam that is of principal concern, viz. the relatively narrow female slot that accommodates the male needle butt. To overcome this problem of die casting a narrow slot in a cam, the present invention proposes the complete elimination of such slots, and the use instead of the outside walls of the cam member itself for cam surfaces, which outside walls by virtue of their respective dimensions are more easily die cast to close tolerances.

By providing needle actuating cams as briefly described above, machine needles are assured of being always under complete control of their cooperating cams, since they etfectively straddle such cams during all phases of the knitting process, and are hence never free to fly to various stitch depths, and thereby produce cloth of questionable quality. Since respective cams in a circular knitting machine cooperate periodically (as determined by the rotational rate of the machine cylinder) and successively with individual needles, they successively place such ice needles under stress. With the prior practice of employing only one needle butt in cooperation with a cam slot, all stress in any given needle is borne by that one butt, and attendantly the frequency of needle breakage in the prior art has been relatively high. With the needlecam combination of the invention, contrarily, stress during actuation of any given needle is distributed between two needle butts, and needle breakage has been found to be substantially minimized. As an aside, the fact that cams according to the invention are without narrow slots has also meant improvement as to the question of machine maintenance: No longer is there the difficult prior art need to clean dirt and filings that collect in narrow cam slots, since with the invention cams according; thereto have no slots.

A principal object of the invention is to provide improved knitting machine apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus for controlling the actuation of needles in a knitting machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cam-needle combination for use in knitting machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a camneedle combination, especially useful in circular knitting machines of the independent needle type, which is easy to manufacture to close tolerances, is easy to maintain, and reduces the tendency of needles to break.

Another object of the invention is to provide a camneedle combination of circular knitting machine of the independent needle type, which combination so precisely controls continuously such needles that high quality cloth is virtually assured.

The invention will be described with reference to the figures, wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively front and rear elevational views of cam sections according to the invention,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the cam sections of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along lines 3-3 thereof,

FIG. 4 is an exploded view, in perspective, that is useful in understanding the details of construction of cams according to the invention, and

FIG. 5 is a. side elevational view of a portion of a circular knitting depicting the arrangements of parts thereof with which the apparatus of the invention cooperates.

Referring to the figures, stitch and raising cams, respectively 1t) and 12, are supported by respective cam sections 14. Each stitch cam is provided with a flange 16 that is adapted to seat within a longitudinal slot 18 in a generally cylindrical piece 20. The cams 10 rigidly secure to their respective cylindrical pieces 20 by means of respective screws 22, and the pieces 20 are slidably positionable within respective generally cylindrical channels 24 provided within the cam sections 14. The raising cams l2 rigidly secure to their respective cam sections 14 by means of screws 26, and are therefore not relatively positionable with respect to such sections.

Cut into each stitch cam supporting piece 20 are a pair of

notches

28 and 30 which provide inclined faces, respectively 32 and 34, for use respectively in indicating the depth of stitch setting, and for varying such setting. Stitch depth adjusting screws 36 are screwably supported in respective cam sections 14, and are each provided with a tapered tip it) that is adapted to bear against a respective notch face 34. The pieces 2% with their respective attached stitch cams it are axially urged upward, by means of respective compression springs 42 that seat within recesses 44 in the cam sections 14, into contact with the tips of respective stitch depth adjusting screws 36. The tension in the springs 42 is maintained by means of screws 46 that secure a plate 47 to the section 14. Respective compression springs 48 for exerting axial forces on the screws 36 seat within recesses 50 and serve to lock the screws 36, once set, in place. By adjusting a screw 36 so as to compress its respective spring 48 the screw tip 40 bears against the notch face 34 to urge the piece 20 downward, whereby the spring 42 further compresses, and whereby a deep setting of the stitch cam is had: By adjusting the screw 36 to relieve tension in the spring 48, the reverse occurs.

A dial indicator 52 having a spring loaded push rod 54 that is prevented from rotating about its own longitudinal axis by means of a rotatably restrained pin 56 (restrained by a pair of members 58) has such rod 54 bear against the face 32 of the notch 28, whereby axial movement of the stitch cam supporting piece may be reflected by the indicator 52. That is, the indicator pointer 60 is positioned by a worm drive 62 that cooperates with the pin 56, whereby depending on the setting of the push rod 54 by the face 32 of the notch 28, the setting of the setting of the stitch cam 10 may be determined.

Referring now in particular to FIG. 5, a circular knitting machine that may include the cam-needle combination of the invention has a cylinder which is fixedly secured (by means of screws 71) to a ring gear 72, which in turn is rotatably driven by a gear drive 74. The gear drive 74 is supported by a stationary leg member 76 that fixedly supports an outer ring member 80. A cam retaining ring 82 bolts to the outer ring 80 by means of screws 84; and the outer ring 80 and the cam retaining ring 82 together form a raceway 86 to accommodate a flange bearing 83 on the ring gear 72. The cam sections 14 bolt to the stationary cam retaining ring 82 by means of screws 90, and as is known the rotatable cylinder 70 is provided with slots 92 for respectively slidably housing therein latch needles 94. Hence, the needles 94 are rotatably carried by the cylinder 70 with respect to the stationary cam sections 14.

Each needle 94 has a pair of spaced

apart butts

96, 98 which provide a female part 100 that is adapted to accommodate the stitch and raising cams 10, 12 as male members for successively lowering and raising the needles. Therefore, each needle is always held captive by its actuating earns 10, 12 and attendantly the features of 1) positive stitch depth setting and (2) shock distribution for the minimizing of needle breakage are provided. The needles 94, traveling in their respective cylinder slots 92 past yarn feed stations 102 knit with yarn 105 fed to the needle hooks 104 by a yarn carrier 106. The yarn carrier 106 is held stationary by means of a carrier ring 108 that is itself held fixedly to a sinker cam ring 110 by means of screws 112. The sinker cam ring 110 couples to the stationary outer ring 80 by means not shown.

Cooperating with the needles 94 are sinkers 114 which, like the needles 94, slidably ride in slots in a sinker rest ring 116. The sinker rest ring 116 is fixedly held to the cylinder 70 and is rotatable with the cylinder 70. Hence the needles 94 and their cooperating sinkers 114 have rotational phases that are relatedly fixed with respect to each other, and therefore rotate in unison during the generation of cloth 113. To and fro movement of the sinkers 114 in their respective slots is afforded by sinker cams 120 that fixedly secure to the sinker ca-m ring 110 by means of screws 122, which sinker cams ride as male members within female notches 124 in the sinkers 114.

While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is:

1. Apparatus forming part of a circular knitting machine of the independent needle type comprising a plurality of substantially identical latch type knitting needles each of which has a pair of spaced apart butts, a cylinder having a plurality of parallel slots in its outer circumferential wall for so slidably housing respective needles that the butts of each of said needles protrude from their respective slots, a ring member of larger inner diameter than said cylinder outer diameter and providing a plurality of substantially identical stitch cams and substantially identical raising cams, means supporting said cylinder and ring member coaxially with respect to each other and for relatively rotating them, said stitch and raising cams being each provided with respective pairs of parallel cam surfaces that are spaced apart by a distance slightly less than the distance between said needle butts, and each of said stitch and raising cams being so adapted to ride successively as a male member between the butts of said needles that the butts thereof each cyclically follow respective cam surfaces of each of said cam means, said apparatus including means for positioning said stitch cams in a direction that is parallel to the slots in said cylinder, and means for fixedly securing said raising cam to said ring member.

2. Cam apparatus for use in a circular knitting machine comprising a body portion having a facial part and a sleeve therein that is parallel to and opens along its length into said facial part, said sleeve having a cross section that is wider than the width of the opening said sleeve provides in said facial part, a cam supporting piece having a cross section that is similar to, but slightly smaller than the cross section of said sleeve, said cam supporting piece being slidably housed within said sleeve, a stitch cam member having first and second parallel cam surfaces and a substantially fiat face, a raising cam member having first and second parallel cam surfaces and a substantially flat face, means for so securing said stitch cam member to said cam supporting piece that its fiat face abuts against said facial part, means for fixedly securing said raising cam member to the facial part of said body portion, said cam supporting piece having a generally wedge-shaped notch therein having a wall which is cut at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of that piece, a spring constrained within said sleeve to urge said cam supporting iece one way within said sleeve, the distance between the parallel surfaces of said stitch cam member being equal to the distance between parallel surfaces of said raise cam member, and a screw adapted to bear against said wall of the notch in said cam supporting piece to counterurge said piece against the tension of said spring.

3. Apparatus for use in a circular knitting machine comprising in combination a body portion having a facial part and sleeve therein that is parallel to and opens along its length into said facial pant, said sleeve having a cross section that is wider than the width of the opening said sleeve provides in said facial part, a cam supporting piece having a cross section that is similar to, but slightly smaller than the cross section of said sleeve, said cam supporting piece being slidably housed within said sleeve, a stitch cam member having first and second parallel cam surfaces and a substantially fiat face, at raising cam memher having first and second parallel cam surfaces and a substantially flat face, means for so securing said stitch cam member to said cam supporting piece that its fiat face abuts against said facial part, means for fixedly securing said raising cam member to the facial part of said body portion, said cam supporting piece having a generally wedge-shaped notch therein having a wall which is cut at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of that piece, a spring constrained within said sleeve to urge said cam supporting piece one way within said sleeve, a screw adapted to bear against said wall of the notch in said cam supporting piece to counterurge said piece against the tension of said spring, the distance between the parallel surfaces of said stitch cam member being equal to the distance between parallel surfaces of said raise cam member, a latch needle having a pair of butts that are spaced apart by a distance slightly greater than the distance between said parallel cam surfaces, and means for so supporting said needle that both butts may ride on said cam surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 7/1870 Abels 66-423 9/1886 Osborne 66-123 XR 10/1890 Davis 66123XR 3/1 91 Holt 66--123 XR 2/1901 Gilbert 66-423 XR 10 9/1916 Rush 66-423 XR Jones 66-38 Burdett 66-14 Mishcon et a1, 66-54 XR Mishc-on 66107 Farmer 6650 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RONALD FELDBAUM, Examiner.