EP4306698A1

EP4306698A1 - Method for knitting punch-lace knitted fabric produced by flat-knitting machine

Info

Publication number: EP4306698A1
Application number: EP22767158.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Masato Morita; Yoshinori Shimasaki; Masanori Goto
Original assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-10
Filing date: 2022-03-08
Publication date: 2024-01-17
Also published as: JPWO2022191204A1; WO2022191204A1; KR20230153473A; CN117043404A

Abstract

A knitted fabric (53) having a punch lace by a lace yarn (49) and a pattern yarn (51) is knitted with a flat knitting machine equipped with a compound needle. In order to knit the knitted fabric (53) having the punch lace by the flat knitting machine including the knitting needle (1), the cam system (10), and the loop presser (9), a pattern yarn (51) is not pulled in and is missed and only the lace yarn (49) is pulled in to form a knit loop at a hook (7) on a knitting needle (B) for knitting a base (55), and both the lace yarn (49) and the pattern yarn (51) are pulled in to form a knit loop at a hook (7) of a knitting needle (P) for knitting a pattern portion (57) by combining an advancing and retreating control of a needle main body (3) and a slider (5) and a pressing control of a loop presser (9).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for knitting a punch lace knitted fabric by a flat knitting machine.

BACKGROUND ART

As shown in Fig. 3, a punch lace knitted fabric 53 is a knitted fabric in which a base 55 in which knit loops are formed of a lace yarn 49 as a whole, a pattern portion 57 in which knit loops are formed in a state where a pattern yarn 51 is aligned with the lace yarn 49, and a portion other than the pattern portion where the pattern yarn 51 is formed by miss. The punch lace is sometimes referred to as a watermark pattern.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method of knitting a punch lace knitted fabric using a flat knitting machine. However, the knitting method described in Patent Document 1 is a method for knitting by a flat knitting machine equipped with latch needles as a knitting needle, and there is no disclosure of a method for knitting by a flat knitting machine equipped with compound needles that relatively moves a needle main body with a hook and a slider to open and close the hook.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

PATENT DOCUMENT

Patent Document 1: EP 3556921 A1

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for knitting a punch lace knitted fabric with a flat knitting machine equipped with compound needles.

MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

In the present invention, there is provided a method for knitting a knitted fabric having punch lace using a flat knitting machine equipped with:

a compound needle including a needle main body having a hook as a knitting needle on a needle bed and a slider that moves relative to the needle main body to open and close the hook;
a compound needle control unit configured to control advance and retreat of the needle main body and the slider of the compound needle;
as a yarn feeder that travels on the needle bed and supplies a knitting yarn to a knitting needle, a lace yarn feeder configured to supply a lace yarn as a lower yarn and
a pattern yarn feeder configured to supply a pattern yarn as an upper yarn; and
a loop presser configured to act on a knitting yarn portion extending from the yarn feeder to the knitting needle and push downward;
the lace yarn forming a base of the knitted fabric with a knit loop;
a pattern yarn forming a knit loop in a state a pattern portion is aligned with the lace yarn, and a portion other than the pattern portion being missed; wherein
the course of knitting the punch lace, the method including the steps of:
- selecting a base knitting needle for forming the base of the knitted fabric and a pattern knitting needle for forming the pattern portion by the compound needle control unit, advancing the needle main body and the slider of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle to a position where the stitch held on the hook can be cleared, and moving each yarn feeder so that the knitting needle in a state where the hook is opened and the lace yarn of a portion extending from each yarn feeder to the knitting needle is within an advancing and retreating path of the hook and the pattern yarn is at a height above the advancing and retreating path of the hook;
- further advancing only the slider of the base knitting needle by the compound needle control unit and allowing a distal end of the slider to enter between the lace yarn and the pattern yarn;
- retreating the needle main bodies of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle by a predetermined amount by the compound needle control unit to abut the distal end of the slider with the hook of the base knitting needle to close the hook, and maintaining the hook in an open state in the pattern knitting needle, subsequently further lowering the loop presser to push down the pattern yarn portion extending from the pattern yarn feeder into an advancing and retreating path of the hook of the pattern knitting needle in a state in which the hook is opened;
- retreating the needle main bodies of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle by the compound needle control unit to cause the base knitting needle to form the knit loop by pulling in only the lace yarn without pulling in the pattern yarn with the hook and missing the pattern yarn and cause the pattern knitting needle to form the knit loop by pulling in both the lace yarn and the pattern yarn with the hook.

Preferably, a base and a pattern portion are formed in plurals continuously in the course direction by repeatedly performing the above steps.
Preferably, the compound needle control unit is configured by a cam system mounted on a carriage of the flat knitting machine.
Preferably, the cam system includes a slider switching presser that sinks a butt of the slider in a needle groove by a pressing action, and a slider side raising cam that acts on the butt of the slider; and the pattern yarn forms knit loops with the lace yarn or only the pattern yarn is missed by the slider switching presser and the slider side raising cam.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, the punch lace knitted fabric can be knitted by combining the advancing and retreating control of the needle main body and the slider and the pushing down of the knitting yarn by the loop presser according to the needle selection of the knitting needle even in the flat knitting machine equipped with the compound needle.
The course knitting of the punch lace knitted fabric can be completed by carrying out the advancing and retreating control of the knitting needle in the single cam system, so that the knitting can be efficiently carried out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a cam system of a flat knitting machine used for knitting a punch lace knitted fabric according to an embodiment.
Figs. 2(a) to 2(e) are views illustrating a state on a needle bed gap of a knitting needle B and a knitting needle P at each position of X, Y, and Z in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a view showing a punch lace knitted fabric.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3.

EXAMPLE

In the present embodiment, a method of knitting a punch lace knitted fabric using a two-bed flat knitting machine will be described. A plurality of compound needles are arranged as knitting needles 1 on a needle bed 2 of the flat knitting machine. A carriage (not illustrated) that includes a cam system 10 reciprocates on the needle bed to operate knitting needles 1 advance and retreat and a plurality of yarn feeders that feed knitting yarns to the knitting needles 1 are provided on the flat knitting machine. As the knitting needle 1, the same configuration as that of the known flat knitting machine disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2917146 , as the presser mounted on the cam system 10, the needle bed and the needle selection mechanism, the same configuration as that of Japanese Patent No. 5057996 , and as the loop presser 9 for pressing the knitting yarn, the same configuration as that of the known flat knitting machine disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4102430 can be applied, and thus the description thereof will be omitted here.

The knitting needle 1 includes a needle main body 3 having a hook 7 at a distal end, and a slider 5 that moves relative to the needle main body 3 to open and close the hook 7. Each of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 is provided with a butt, and the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 advance and retreat with respect to the needle bed gap upon receiving the action of the cam system 10 to be described later.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a cam system 10 mounted on a carriage. The cam system 10 is configured to be able to carry out knit tuck miss, but may be a composite cam system that can transfer stitches in addition to such a configuration. A plurality of cam systems 10 may be mounted on the carriage. The cam system 10 functions as a compound needle control unit that controls advancing and retreating movement of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 of the knitting needle 1.
Fig. 1 shows a state in which the cam system 10 travels leftward to perform knitting. The cam system 10 includes a presser unit 13 that acts on a butt (not illustrated) of a select jack, a needle main body control cam unit 21 that acts on the butt of the needle main body 3 of the knitting needle 1, and a slider control cam unit 31 that acts on the butt of the slider 5.
The presser unit 13 is provided in correspondence with the butt of the select jack selected at three positions of A, H, and B by a needle selection mechanism (not illustrated) provided below the presser unit 13.
A fixed welt presser 15 is provided at position B, a tuck presser 17 is provided at position H, and a pair of left and right slider switching pressers 19 is provided at position A. The tuck presser 17 and the slider switching presser 19 can be controlled to protrude and retreat by an electromagnet, and can be switched to an acting position or a non-acting position. As illustrated in Fig. 1-C of Japanese Patent Publication No. 2917146 , the presser presses the butt of the select jack accommodated in the needle groove and sinks the butt into the needle groove. Therefore, the butts of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 accommodated below the select jack also sink in the needle groove, and thus are not subjected to the action of the cam. As described above, the slider switching presser 19 of the present embodiment acts on the butt of the select jack, but for example, in a case where the slider has two butts (first and second butts) in the front and back as in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3292836 , the slider switching presser may act on the first butt (auxiliary butt) on the front side to sink the second butt.
The needle main body control cam unit 21 is provided above the presser unit 13. A needle raising cam and a bridge cam 25 are provided at the center, and a stitch cam 27 is provided on the left and right sides with the needle raising cam 23 and the bridge cam 25 interposed therebetween. The needle raising cam 23 acts as a raising cam that acts on the butt of the needle main body 3 to raise the needle main body 3 to the knit position. The bridge cam 25 pulls down the butt of the needle main body 3 and guides the butt to the subsequent stitch cam 27. The slider control cam unit 31 is provided above the needle main body control cam unit 21. A slider raising cam 33 is provided at the center, and a slider side raising cams 35 is provided on the right and left sides thereof. The slider side raising cam 35 and the slider switching presser 19 are provided in the same phase in the advancing direction of the carriage. Note that in the slider switching presser 19, only the trailing side in the carriage advancing direction is the acting position, and the leading side is the non-acting position.
Since the butt of the select jack at position B is pressed by the welt presser 15 during the advancement of the carriage, the knitting needle 1 at this position is not subjected to the actions of the needle raising cam 23 and the slider raising cam 33, and thus the knitting needle does not form the stitch (miss).
When the tuck presser 17 is at position H position, the butts of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 are sunk by the tuck presser 17, and thus, the engagement with the cam is released before the top portion of the needle raising cam 23, and each butt passes through the route 42 without being subjected to the action of the slider center raising cam 33 (tuck). When the tuck presser 17 is at the non-acting position, the butts of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 rise along the slopes of the needle raising cam 23 and the slider center raising cam 33, respectively. Thereafter, the butt of the slider 5 rises by the action of the slider side raising cam 35 and passes through a route 41 indicated by a broken line in the drawing. The knitting at this time will be described later.
When the slider switching presser 19 is in the non-acting position at position A, the butt passes the same route as when the tuck presser 17 is non-acting at position H described above. When the slider switching presser 19 on the trailing side is at the acting position at position A, the butt of the needle main body 3 and the butt of the slider 5 rise along the inclined surfaces of the needle raising cam 23 and the slider center raising cam 33, respectively, and then, receives the pressing action of the slider switching presser 19, so that the butt of the slider 5 moves straight without engaging with the slider side raising cam 35 and lowers upon receiving the action of the slider guide cam 39. As a result, the butts of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 pass through a route 40 indicated by a solid line (knit).

As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4102430 , the loop presser 9 is provided on an auxiliary bed (not illustrated) above the needle bed, and acts to advance and retreat with respect to the needle bed gap by a loop presser control cam (not illustrated) mounted on the carriage, and lower at above the needle bed gap to push down the knitting yarn. It is also possible to provide the loop presser 9 for every plurality of knitting needles, but preferably, if the loop presser 9 is provided so as to correspond to every knitting needle 1, the pattern portion of the punch lace knitted fabric can be formed with any knitting needle. That is, there is an advantage that the restriction of the pattern is eliminated.

The yarn feeder is illustrated at the upper part of Fig. 1. The leading side in the advancing direction of the carriage is the lace yarn feeder 45, and the trailing side is the pattern yarn feeder 47. The lace yarn feeder 45 precedes the pattern yarn feeder 47 such that the lace yarn 49 extending to the knitting needle 1 is positioned lower than the pattern yarn 51, and the height of the lace yarn feeder 45 is set low. Instead of such a configuration, as long as a height difference is obtained between the lace yarn 49 and the pattern yarn 51, the heights of the respective yarn feeders may be the same if, for example, the lace yarn feeder 45 is made to greatly precede. Since the lace yarn 49 is positioned below the pattern yarn 51, the lace yarn may be referred to as a lower yarn, and the pattern yarn may be referred to as an upper yarn. When the transparent nylon-based lace yarn is used as the lace yarn 49, a visual effect such as floating of the pattern yarn portion can be obtained, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and other types of yarns may be used.

A method for knitting the punch lace knitted fabric carried out using the flat knitting machine having such a configuration will be described below. In the present embodiment, a case where the knitting needle 1 at position A passes through the route 40 and the knitting needle 1 at position H passes through the route 41 will be described as an example. In the course of knitting the punch lace knitted fabric, the knitting needle 1 is selected at position H to knit the base 55 of the knitted fabric with the lace yarn 49, and the knitting needle 1 for knitting the pattern portion 57 is selected at position A. In the present embodiment, the knitting needle selected at position A is referred to as the pattern knitting needle (hereinafter, knitting needle P), and the knitting needle selected at position H is referred to as the base knitting needle (hereinafter, knitting needle B). In the cam system 10, the slider switching presser 19 on the leading side and the tuck presser 17 are set to the non-acting position, and the slider switching presser 19 on the trailing side is set to the acting position.
First, when the carriage advances in the left direction with each yarn feeder, the knitting needle B, the needle main body 3 of the knitting needle P, and the slider 5 all reach position X through the route 40. Fig. 2(a) illustrates a state of the needle bed gap at this time. The needle main body 3 and the slider 5 are in a state in which the hook 7 is opened with a distance between the distal ends of the hook 7 and the slider 5 due to a difference in the advancing amount by the cam. The lace yarn 49 is within the advancing and retreating path of the hook 7, and the pattern yarn 51 is above the advancing and retreating path of the hook 7. The loop presser 9 is advanced to a position further above the pattern yarn 51.
After position X, the sliders 5 of the knitting needle B and the knitting needle P take different routes. Since the slider switching presser 19 is set at the acting position at position A, the slider 5 of the knitting needle P does not receive the action of the slider side raising cam 35 and passes through the route 40 forming the knit loop. On the other hand, since there is no presser at position H, the slider 5 of the knitting needle B is raised to position Y through the route 41 by the action of the slider side raising cam 35. Fig. 2(b) shows the state of the needle bed gap at this time, and the distal end of the slider 5 of the knitting needle B enters between the lace yarn 49 and the pattern yarn 51. At this time, the loop presser 9 is lowered to a position to abut on the pattern yarn 51. Fig. 2(c) illustrates a state of the needle bed gap of the knitting needle P at position A, which is substantially the same state as Fig. 2(a).
At position Z, the slider 5 of the knitting needle B is at substantially the same height as position Y, but since the needle main body 3 lowers along the lowering surface of the bridge 25, the hook 7 abuts on the distal end of the slider 5 to close the hook. Fig. 2(d) illustrates a state of the needle bed gap of the knitting needle B at this time. The lace yarn 49 is held in the hook 7, and the loop presser 9 further lowered to push down the pattern yarn 51, but since the hook 7 of the knitting needle B is already closed by the slider 5, the hook 7 does not bite the pattern yarn 51. Therefore, in Fig. 2(d), the pattern yarn 51 is omitted. Fig. 2(e) illustrates a state of the needle bed gap of the knitting needle P at position Z. While the slider 5 remains in the state of Fig. 2(c), the needle main body 3 is lowered along the lowering surface of the bridge 25, and the pattern yarn 51 is pushed down to within the advancing and retreating path of the hook 3 of the knitting needle P by further lowering of the loop presser 9.
Thereafter, the knitting needle P at position A pulls in both the lace yarn 49 and the pattern yarn 51 to form a knit loop. On the other hand, the knitting needle B located at position H pulls only the lace yarn 49 into the hook 7, and a knit loop of only the lace yarn 49 is formed as the pattern yarn 51 is located outside the closed hook 7, and the pattern yarn 51 is missed. In the punch lace knitted fabric knitted in this manner, the base 55 of the knitted fabric 53 is formed by the lace yarn 49, and the pattern yarn 51 is in a state in which only a portion forming the pattern portion 57 forms knit loops while being aligned with the lace yarn 49 and in a portion other than the pattern portion 57 the pattern yarn 51 does not form a loop and is missed thus extending horizontally. Thus, the course knitting of the punch lace knitted fabric can be completed by carrying out the advancing and retreating control of the knitting needle 1 in the single cam system 10, and the plurality of combinations of the base 55 and the pattern portion 57 can be efficiently knitted in continuation in the course direction. Furthermore, if the base 55 and the pattern portion 57 are arranged in combination in the wale direction, a wide variety of pattern patterns can be formed in the knitted fabric 53.
In the embodiment described above, the advancing and retreating of the needle main body 3 and the slider 5 of the knitting needle 1 is carried out by the slider switching presser 19 and the slider side raising cam 35 with the carriage including the cam system 10, but other configurations may be adopted as long as the movement necessary for knitting the punch lace knitted fabric can be given to the knitting needle 1. It is of course also possible to perform knitting with a carriage-less flat knitting machine by, for example, providing a drive mechanism on the knitting needle 1 itself to control the needle main body 3 and the slider 5. Furthermore, each yarn feeder 45, 47 may not only be a type that moves while being entrained by the carriage, but also a flat knitting machine of a type in which the yarn feeder itself includes an independent drive source and self-travels independently of the carriage. The knitted fabric in which the relationship between the lace yarn and the pattern yarn in the punch lace knitted fabric is interchanged can be knitted by interchanging the relationship of the yarn feeder on the leading side as the lower yarn and the yarn feeder on the trailing side as the upper yarn.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1: knitting needle
2: needle bed
3: needle main body
5: slider
7: hook
9: loop presser
10: cam system
13: presser unit
15: welt presser
17: tuck presser
19: slider switching presser
21: needle main body control cam unit
23: needle raising cam
25: bridge cam
27: stitch cam
31: slider control cam unit
33: slider raising cam
35: slider side raising cam
37: slider center guide cam
39: slider guide cam
40, 41, 42: route
45: lace yarn feeder
47: pattern yarn feeder
49: lace yarn
51: pattern yarn
53: knitted fabric
55: base
57: pattern portion

Claims

A method for knitting a punch lace knitted fabric using a flat knitting machine equipped with:
a compound needle including a needle main body having a hook as a knitting needle on a needle bed and a slider that moves relative to the needle main body to open and close the hook;

a compound needle control unit configured to control advance and retreat of the needle main body and the slider of the compound needle;

as a yarn feeder that travels on the needle bed and supplies a knitting yarn to a knitting needle, a lace yarn feeder configured to supply a lace yarn as a lower yarn and a pattern yarn feeder configured to supply a pattern yarn as an upper yarn; and

a loop presser configured to further act on a knitting yarn portion extending from the yarn feeder to the knitting needle and push downward, the lace yarn forming a base of the knitted fabric with a knit loop, a pattern yarn forming a knit loop in a state a pattern portion is aligned with the lace yarn, and missing a portion other than the pattern portion to form a punch lace, wherein in the course of knitting the punch lace, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:
selecting a base knitting needle for forming the base of the knitted fabric and a pattern knitting needle for forming the pattern portion by the compound needle control unit, advancing the needle main body and the slider of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle to a position where a stitch held on the hook can be cleared, and moving each yarn feeder so that the knitting needle in a state where the hook is opened and the lace yarn of a portion extending from each yarn feeder to the knitting needle is within an advancing and retreating path of the hook and the pattern yarn is at a height above the advancing and retreating path of the hook;

further advancing only the slider of the base knitting needle by the compound needle control unit and allowing a distal end of the slider to enter between the lace yarn and the pattern yarn;

retreating the needle main bodies of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle by a predetermined amount by the compound needle control unit to abut the distal end of the slider with the hook of the base knitting needle to close the hook, and maintaining the hook in an open state in the pattern knitting needle;

subsequently further lowering the loop presser to push down the pattern yarn portion extending from the pattern yarn feeder into an advancing and retreating path of the hook of the pattern knitting needle in a state in which the hook is opened;

retreating the needle main bodies of the base knitting needle and the pattern knitting needle by the compound needle control unit to cause the base knitting needle to form the knit loop by pulling in only the lace yarn without pulling in the pattern yarn with the hook and missing the pattern yarn and cause the pattern knitting needle to form the knit loop by pulling in both the lace yarn and the pattern yarn with the hook.
The method for knitting the punch lace knitted fabric by the flat knitting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of bases and pattern portions are continuously formed in a course direction by repeatedly carrying out each step.
The method for knitting the punch lace knitted fabric by the flat knitting machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the compound needle control unit is a cam system mounted on a carriage of the flat knitting machine.
The method for knitting the punch lace knitted fabric by the flat knitting machine according to claim 3, characterized in that the cam system includes a slider switching presser that sinks a butt of the slider in a needle groove by a pressing action, and a slider side raising cam that acts on the butt of the slider; and the pattern yarn forms knit loops with the lace yarn or only the pattern yarn is missed by the slider switching presser and the slider side raising cam.