US3605447A

US3605447A - Straight bar knitting machine fabric draw-off means

Info

Publication number: US3605447A
Application number: US867305A
Authority: US
Inventors: Raymond Blood; Alan John Pearson
Original assignee: William Cotton Ltd
Current assignee: William Cotton Ltd
Priority date: 1968-11-02
Filing date: 1969-10-17
Publication date: 1971-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-20
Also published as: CH507402A; FR2022475A1; GB1252292A; DE1954437A1

Abstract

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE DRAW-OFF BAR IN WHICH THE DRAW-OFF HOOK ELEMENTS ARE EACH INDIVIDUALLY SPRING MOUNTED E.G. BY TAIL PORTIONS OF THE ELEMENTS BEING LOOPED OR COILED THUS PROVIDING SPRING FORMATION WHICH ARE ACCOMMODATED IN A LONGITUDINAL GROOVE IN THE BAR, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE ELEMENTS BEING INDEPENDENTLY SELFADJUSTABLE TO WORKING LOAD WHEN APPLIED.

Description

Sept. 20, 1971 R. 51.000 ErAL 3,605,447

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE FABRIC DRAW-OFF MEANS Filed Oct. 17, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG].

Se t. 20, 1971 R. BLOOD EIAL 3,605,447

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE FABRIC DRAW-OFF MEANS Filed Oct. 17, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Office 3,605,447 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 3,605,447 STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE FABRIC DRAW-OFF MEANS Raymond Blood and Alan John Pearson, Loughborough,

England, assignors to William Cotton Limited, Loughborough, Leicestershire, England 7 Filed Oct. 17, 1969, Ser. No. 867,305 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 2, 1968, 52,039/ 68 Int. Cl. D04b 27/34 US. Cl. 66--149R 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Straight bar knitting machine draw-off bar in which the draw-ofi hook elements are each individually spring mounted e.g. by tail portions of the elements being looped or coiled thus providing spring formations which are accommodated in a longitudinal groove in the bar, for the purpose of the elements {being independently selfadjustable to a working load when applied.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to straight bar knitting machines of the type having drawotf means in which there are main draw-off rollers widely spaced from the needles, an initial draw-01f hook bar for hooking onto fabric during an early part of its production, and spaced cam-racked guide chains for carrying the hook bar, while drawing off the fabric during its production, to a position enabling the fabric to be relinquished to the main draw-off rollers for further draw-off.

A difliculty with initial draw-off hook bars has been that they may be required to be hooked onto the fabric when it is of very short length, possibly only a few courses long, and while the fabric is untensioned form. Consequently the hooks do not necessarily engage the fabric in the same course, and this can result in the applied load being distributed between the points in undesirably uneven manner.

An object of the invention is to provide hook bar draw-off mechanism, for fabric being produced on a straight bar knitting machine, of such improved construction that the different hooks are not subjected to undesirably uneven loads.

The invention provides a draw-off hook bar, for drawoff of fabric being produced on a straight bar knitting machine, in which the hooks are mounted on the bar with spring or like means providing for the hooks being independently self adjustable to a working load when applied. Conveniently there is a plurality of spring or the like devices, one for each hook. Conveniently also each spring like device comprises an extension of the shank of the hook shaped into spring like form. Each spring like extension may be of coiled leaf spring form,

.the shank of the hook extending through a transverse slot in the bar and the leaf spring formations being constrained between longitudinally extending shoulders in the bar.

-In one arrangement the leaf spring formations are disposed in a longitudinal recess in the bar, and they are retained in position by a longitudinally extending cap removably secured by screws to the bar.

The above and other features of the invention set out in the appended claims are incorporated in the constructions which will now be described, as specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one end part of a fabric draw-off hook bar according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 showing the hooks hooked onto fabric being produced in a straight bar knitting machine.

Referring to FIG. 1 the draw-off hook bar comprises a body part 1 and a longitudinally extending cap 2 which is adapted to be removably fitted to the body 1 by screws such as 3 and clearance and screw holes such as 4, 5.

The bar body 1 is provided with a series of equally spaced hooks such as 6, each of which has a fabric penetrating point 6a and a shank 6b.

The shanks 6b extend through transverse slots such as 7 in the bar body 1 and each shank 6b is connected to a coil leaf spring such as 8.

The coil leaf springs 8 are conveniently disposed in a longitudinal recess 9 in the bar body 1, the recess 9 providing shoulders 10, 11 between which the leaf springs 8 are constrained.

Conveniently the leaf springs 8 are formed as extensions of the shanks 6b for which purpose the shank extensions are bent round to form an arm portion 8a which bears against the shoulder 10*, at least one coil portion 8b, and a free arm portion which bears against the shoulder 11.

Conveniently the shank is further formed into a further coil portion 8d between the shank 6b and the arm 8a.

In use of the hook bar, the hooks are hooked onto fabric as it is being knitted in a straight bar knitting machine by bearded needles 12, FIG. 2.

Since it may be required for this to take place after only a few courses of the fabric has been produced, the different hooks may not hook into the fabric in the same course.

As a result of this, and when the fabric has been further produced, as shown in FIG. 2, there would be a strong tendency for the fabric load to be unevenly distributed between the hooks. However since the hooks are mounted individually each by its own spring formation, the books will automatically become self-adjusted according to any differences in the applied fabric loads.

Furthermore at the time of engagement of the hooks with the initial few courses of the fabric the spring mounting of the hooks will advantageously allow the hooks to adapt themselves to the knitting motions of the needles.

The hook bar may be rigidly secured to a pair of spaced endless chains which are adapted by cam operated racking means to rack the hook bar away from the needles 12 as the fabric is being produced.

The hooks and springs are retained in the bar by the cap 2.

It is to be understood that the particular spring arrangement hereinbefore described may be modified by minor variations. For instance, the configuration of the spring could be altered in any minor manner giving the same results.

What we claim is:

1. A straight bar knitting machine fabric draw-off hook bar comprising, in combination, a single bar body part adapted for use in a fabric draw-off mechanism, a longitudinally extending cap removably fitted onto said bar body part, a longitudinally extending recess in said bar body part providing first and second opposite side shoulders, a series of longitudinally spaced transverse slots extending through said first side shoulders, a series of fabric draw-off hooks having shank portions extending from their hooks through said transverse slots into said longitudinally extending recess in said bar body part, and extensions of said shank extending in said recess and bent into leaf spring formations with opposite side arms extending in opposite directions, respectively, and longitudinally along said first and second opposite side shoulders, respectively, of said recess, said fabric draw-01f hooks being retained in position by said cap and being independently self adjusting to a working load of fabric attached to said hooks and being produced by said machine.

2. The invention of claim 1 having said extensions bent into coil formations at locations between mutually adjacent parts of said opposite side arms.

3. The invention of claim 1, having said extensions bent into coil formations at locations between mutually adjacent parts of said shanks and one of said opposite side arms.

4. The invention of claim 1, having said extensions bent into first coil formations at locations between adjacent parts of said shanks and one of said opposite side References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,519 5/1911 Guth 38102.91X 2,241,895 5/1941 Walker et a1. 38102.1

' FOREIGN PATENTS 116,098 1/1901 Germany 66-150 122,695 8/1901 Germany 66114 16,585 1887 Great Britain 26'62(A) 690,167 4/1953 Great Britain 66149 ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.