US3616654A - Needle selecting mechanism for multifeed circular knitting machines - Google Patents
Needle selecting mechanism for multifeed circular knitting machines Download PDFInfo
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- US3616654A US3616654A US833469A US3616654DA US3616654A US 3616654 A US3616654 A US 3616654A US 833469 A US833469 A US 833469A US 3616654D A US3616654D A US 3616654DA US 3616654 A US3616654 A US 3616654A
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
- D04B—KNITTING
- D04B15/00—Details of, or auxiliary devices incorporated in, weft knitting machines, restricted to machines of this kind
- D04B15/66—Devices for determining or controlling patterns ; Programme-control arrangements
- D04B15/68—Devices for determining or controlling patterns ; Programme-control arrangements characterised by the knitting instruments used
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- a multi-feed circular knitting machine having a mechanism capable of bringing about needle selection even though an extremely small circumferential space is available for this purpose.
- a cam cylinder carries a plurality of circumferentially distributed cam sets each of which has an initial needle-selecting region and a subsequent much wider knitting region.
- the needle cylinder has lower selecting jacks, upper needle jacks, and intermediate selection-transmission jacks.
- Each cam set has an upper knitting region and a lower selecting region.
- This lower selecting region of each cam set coacts with the lower jacks and the intermediate jacks for retaining at the intermediate jacks selections made with the lower jacks so that in the lower selecting region of each cam set selections may initially be madefor needles which are to carry out knitting functions in the next-following cam set.
- this next-following cam set there is in circumferential alignment with the initial region thereof a camming structure which transmits the selection retained by the intermediate jacks to the upper jacks substantially instantaneous selection of needles in an extremely small circumferential space at the initial region of each cam set.
- the present invention relates to circular knitting machines.
- the present invention relates to needleselecting mechanisms for circular knitting machines.
- each cam set has a given circumferential dimension of a given angular magnitude, it is essential to incorporate within each of these angular dimensions a relatively unchanging knitting region which follows an initial selecting region where selection of those needles which are to carry out the knitting functions is made.
- each knitting region of each cam set there will be an initial needle-raising cam which raises a selected needle to an elevation where it can carry out the knitting function, and this needle-raising cam of each knitting region is followed by a loop-forming cam which coacts with the raised needle to pull the latter down so as to complete the formation of a loop.
- These latter cams and operations are well known in the art and require a certain minimum space in order for the operations to be carried out properly, so that when the total angular dimension of a given cam set is reduced, it only becomes possible to reduce the angular dimension of the initial needle-selecting region of each cam set.
- the multi-feed circular knitting machine includes coaxial needle and cam cylinders one of which rotates with respect to the other.
- the cam cylinder carries a plurality of cam sets which are substantially identical and which are circumferentially distributed about the axis of the cam cylinder with each cam set having an initial needle-selecting region and a subsequent knitting region which circumferentially is several times as great as the initial needle-selecting region.
- each cam set includes an upper portion for carrying out knitting functions and a lower portion for carrying out selecting functions to be used in connection with a selection to be made at the next-following cam set.
- the needle cylinder carries beneath each needle an upper needle-operating jack, and spaced below the upper jack a lower selecting jack.
- each lower selecting jack and the upper jack situated thereover is an intermediate jack for retaining a selection made with the lower jack and transmitting this selection to the upper jack.
- an intermediate jack for retaining a selection made with the lower jack and transmitting this selection to the upper jack.
- FIG. 1 is a fragmentary developed view of the cam cylinder showing a plurality of cam sets and selecting means circumferentially arranged one next to the other around the axis of the cylinder with FIG. 1 also schematically indicating at the upper part thereof the path of movement of the needle heads during the knitting operation;
- FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken in a radial plane and showing a needle and the jacks arranged in series therebeneath in a groove of the needle cylinder.
- FIG. 1 shows at its upper left region the circumferential angular dimension B of each cam set.
- This circumferential dimension B includes a relatively large knitting region C and a relatively small initial selecting region A.
- it is essential at each knitting region C to provide for raising of a selected needle, as by the cam 3 and lowering of the needle to form a loop by the loop-forming cam 2.
- each cam set has a lower region where selecting operations are carried out in connection with the next-following cam set, while at each cam set a substantially instantaneous selection is made at the initial selecting region A in accordance with the selection operations carried out at the lower region of the immediately preceding cam set.
- each cam set there is in the upper region thereof the cams 2 and 3 which carry out the knitting functions in the manner described above.
- the needles 15 are slidable in the vertical grooves of the needle cylinder, and in the illustrated example it is assumed that the needle cylinder rotates with respect to the cam cylinder shown in FIG. 1 so that the butts 27 of the needles 15 coact with the cams 3 and 2 of each set to carry out the knitting functions with the heads or top ends 19 of the needles, these ends 19 moving along the path 1 indicated schematically at the upper part of FIG. 1.
- each groove of the needle cylinder there is an upper jack 14 situated beneath the needle 15 therein and directly coacting with the needle to place a selected needle in a position to be raised by the cam 3 except when the latter is in an inactive horizontal position.
- a cam 4 aligned circumferentially beneath the cam 3 of each cam set is a cam 4 having a portion formed by cam 18 which coacts with a butt 28 of an upper jack 14 for raising the latter in a manner analogous to the manner in which the cam 3 raises a needle, and it is this cam 4 which coacts with selected jacks 14 to bring about the raising of selected needles.
- each knitting region includes a downwardly inclined camming edge .17 coacting with the butts of the successive upper jacks 14 for lowering the latter into an engagement with an erasing cam 5 which serves to displace each previously selected jack 14 inwardly into the grove of the needle cylinder to a neutral position in preparation for new selections which are made at the initial region A of the next following cam set.
- an erasing cam 5 which serves to displace each previously selected jack 14 inwardly into the grove of the needle cylinder to a neutral position in preparation for new selections which are made at the initial region A of the next following cam set.
- each upper needle-selecting jack 14 is an intermediate jack 13 which forms a selection-transmitting jack, as will be apparent from the description which follows. Furthermore, beneath each selection-transmitting jack 13 is a lower selecting jack 12 acted on directly by the selecting mechanism. Thus, with the structure of the invention the selections are made directly on the lower selecting jacks 12 which coact with the intermediate jacks 13 in a manner enabling the latter to retain the selections so that these retained selections can be instantaneously transmitted to the upper jacks 14 at the initial regions A of the several cam sets.
- each cam set which has the dimension B equaling the total of the circumferential regions A and C.
- an erasing cam 7 situated circumferentially in advance of the upper erasing cam 5 referred to above.
- Each erasing earn 7 coacts with an upper butt 29 of a lower jack 12 to displace previously selected lower jacks into the grooves of the needle cylinder so as to thus situate all of the jacks 12 in neutral positions within the grooves in preparation for new selections.
- the top ends of the lower jacks 12 are operatively connected with the lower ends of the intermediate jacks 13 in such a way that when each jack 12 is displaced into the groove of the needle cylinder by the erasing cam 7 the lower end of each intermediate jack 13 is also displaced into the groove of the needle cylinder, thus displacing the butt of each intermediate jack 13 into the needle cylinder in preparation for a new selection.
- the mech anism includes a conventional lower selecting mechanism 8 in the form of levers actuated by a suitable pattern wheel or the like so that preselected levers will project from the lever box 8 in order to engage the lower ends of selected jacks 12.
- Each cam set of the invention includes at its lower region a selecting cam 6 provided with an upper camming edge having an initial lower camming edge portion 10 located at the elevation of the butts 30 of the intermediate selection-retaining jacks 13.
- the result is that the inward movement of the bottom end of those jacks 12 which are selected by the pattern mechanism produces an outward movement of the butts of the intermediate jacks 13 which are operatively connected with the selected jacks 12 so that these butts of the thus-selected intermediate jacks 13 will ride along the camming edge portion 10.
- the butts of the non-selected intermediate jacks 13 remain at the elevation of the edge 10 but simply move circumferentially around the common axis of the cylinders without providing any participation of the jacks 14 situated thereover and the needles 15 situated over the latter jacks 14 in the knitting operations.
- each intermediate jack 13 which coacts with a selected lower jack 12 will arrive at the inclined camming edge portion 11 of the selecting cam 6, this inclined portion 11 being situated at the trailing end of the initial or leading upper camming edge portion 10 of each cam 6.
- this inclined camming edge portion 11 will raise each intermediate jack 13 which corresponds to and is operatively connected with a selected jack 12 to the elevation of the next camming edge portion 16 of each cam 6.
- conventional selecting levers are actuated in a known way by the pattern mechanism so as to bring about tilting of selected jacks 12 which will thus result in tilting of the intermediate selection-transmitting jacks 13.
- each upper jack 14 The lowering of each upper jack 14 by the cam 17 locates each jack 14 in a position for engagement with the second erasing cam which acts upon the operating butt of each upper jack 14 for displacing the latter further into the groove of the needle cylinder to a neutral position in preparation for the next selection.
- cam set to which the dimensions AC are applied is immediately preceded by an identical cam set where the reference characters for the edge portions of the upper camming edge for the selection calm 6 are designated.
- cam 18 past which the non-selected upper jacks 14 move without raising the needles thereover.
- the second selecting mechanism 9 which serves to remove selected needles from among those which have previously been selected, so that in effect a negative selection is made by the selecting mechanism 9*.
- the second selecting mechanism 9 which is also in the form of a lever box having selecting levers actuated by the pattern mechanism.
- the previously selected intermediate jacks 13 will arrive with their butts at the final inclined edge 19" of a given selecting cam 6.
- this inclined edge 19' is located circumferentially in alignment with the initial region A of each cam set.
- the inclined edge 19' is located circumferentially just subsequent to the erasing cam 5 of the immediately preceding cam set.
- a selecting lever of the lever box 9 does project it will act upon a previously selected jack 12 to displace the latter for retracting the cooperating intermediate jack 13 into the groove of the needle cylinder to a location where it will not be raised by the camming edge 19.
- the levers of the mechanism 9 will act upon the upper butts of the jacks 12 to cause depression of the intermediate jacks 13 into the needle grooves so as to cancel a selection previously made with the lever box 8.
- each intermediate selection-retaining and transmitting jack 13 causes the upper end 20 thereof, which terminates in an upper bevelled surface, to engage the lower equally bevelled end surface 21 of the upper needle-operating jack 14.
- This lower end 21 is raised to the elevation of the dot-dash line 22 indicated in FIG. 2 through the action of the inclined edge 19 on the butt of the intermediate jack 13.
- Each needle groove is provided with a recess 24 having at its upper end the inclined portion 23 coacting with a shoulder 31 of each jack 14 for displacing the latter out of the groove when each jack 14 is raised by an intermediate jack 13.
- cams 3 each of which may be oscillated from the illustrated position to a substantially horizontal position, in the same way as illustrated for the cam 18.
- the cams 3 are used in the illustrated inclined positions in connection with plain knitting.
- the cams 3 are placed in the horizontal positions illustrated for the cam 18 so that in this case the needles are raised by means of the upper jacks 14 which, when selected, have their butts situated within reach of the earns 18 which are left at this time at their operative inclined positions.
- FIG. 2 illustrates conventional components which do not form part of the invention.
- FIG. 2 illustrates the needle cylinder components 32 and 33 which are interconnected by the bolts 34.
- the crown wheel 35 for driving the cylinder.
- This wheel is fixed to the cylinder by screws 36 and is centered by screws 37 and nuts 38.
- FIG. 2 also shows one of the several elongated steel strips 4-1 which define between themselves the grooves of the needle cylinder. These strips 41 have the anchoring projections 39 and 40 received in the anchoring grooves 42.
- FIG. 2 also shows the lower jack rings 43 and the needle holding spring ring 44.
- FIG. 2 shows the dish or plate 45 which carries the radial crown 46 which is fixed to the support 45 by way of the bolts 47. Also, FIG. 2 shows the radially extending steel strips 48 which correspond to the strips 41 and form the dial grooves, these strips 48 respectively having the anchoring projections 49 received in the anchoring groove 50. Thus, these strips 48 form the radial needle grooves 51 for the radial needles 52 which have the two different butts '53 and 54.
- each cam set having an upper knitting portion and a lower selecting portion for participating in the selection of needles which carry out knitting functions in the next-following cam set
- said needle cylinder having upper jacks for coacting with needles over said upper jacks, lower jacks respectively situated beneath and spaced from said upper jacks, and intermediate jacks situated between said lower and upper jacks so that beneath each needle there is an upper jack situated over an intermediate jack which in turn is situated over a lower jack, said selecting portion of each cam set coacting with said lower jacks for making a selection for the next-following cam set while the upper portion of each cam set carries out the knitting functions with the upper jacks and needles thereover,
- each cam set which carries out the selecting function includes a selecting cam having an upper camming edge provided with a leading lower selecting portion, an upwardly inclined camming edge extending upwardly from a trailing end of said leading edge portion, a second upper selecting edge portion extending from said inclined edge portion, and a second inclined edge portion extending upwardly from said second edge portion, said first-mentioned selecting means placing selected lower jacks with butts thereof in engagement with said leading lower camming edge to be guided thereby to the inclined edge extending from the trailing end of said leading camming edge to be raised to said second, upper camming edge, and said second selecting means determining those previously selected lower jacks which will be retracted before moving upwardly along said second inclined camming edge.
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Abstract
A MULTI-FEED CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE HAVING A MECHANISM CAPABLE OF BRINGING ABOUT NEEDLE SELECTION EVEN THOUGH AN EXTREMELY SMALL CIRCUMERENTIAL SPACE IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS PURPOSE. A CAM CYLINDER CARRIES A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTRIBUTED CAM SETS EACH OF WHICH HAS AN INITIAL NEEDLE-SELECTING REGION AND A SUBSEQUENT MUCH WIDER KNITTING REGION. THE NEEDLE CYLINDER HAS LOWER SELECTING JACKS, UPPER NEEDLE JACKS, AND INTERMEDIATE SELECTION-TRANSMISSION JACKS. EACH CAM SET HAS AN UPPER KNITTING REGION AND A LOWER SELECTING REGION. THIS LOWER SELECTING REGION OF EACH CAM SET COACTS WITH THE LOWER JACKS AND THE INTERMEDIATE JACKS FOR RETAINING AT THE INTERMEDIATE JACKS SELECTIONS MADE WITH THE LOWER JACKS SO THAT IN THE LOWER SELECTING REGION OF EACH CAM SET SELECTIONS MAY INITIALLY BE MADE FOR NEEDLES WHICH ARE TO CARRY OUT KNITTING FUNCTIONS IN THE NEXT-FOLLOWING CAM SET. AT THIS NEXT-FOLLOWING CAM SET THERE IS IN CIRCUMFERENTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE INITIAL REGION THEREOF A CAMMING STRUCTURE WHICH TRANSMITS THE SELECTION RETAINED BY THE INTERMEDIATE JACKS TO THE UPPER JACKS SUBSTANTIALLY INSTANEOUS SELECTION OF NEEDLES IN AN EXTREMELY SMALL CIRCUMFERENTIAL SPACE AT THE INITIAL REGION OF EACH CAM SET.
Description
Nov. 2, 1971 Filed June 16, 1969 JUAN BIBOLAS LLINAS NEEDLE SELECTING MECHANISM FOR MULTI-FUUD CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Ti Sheets-Shoat 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 2 1971 JUAN BIBOLAS LLINAS NEEDLE SELECTING MECHANISM FOR MULTI-FEED CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1969 INVENTOR dbl W B/ISOL/YS 44/11 95 BY vM ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,616,654 NEEDLE SELECTING MECHANISM FOR MULTI- FEED CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Juan Bibolas Llinas, Calle San Pedro 46, Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, Spain Filed June 16, 1969, Ser. No. 833,469 Int. Cl. D04b 9/06, 9/38 U.S. Cl. 66-25 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A multi-feed circular knitting machine having a mechanism capable of bringing about needle selection even though an extremely small circumferential space is available for this purpose. A cam cylinder carries a plurality of circumferentially distributed cam sets each of which has an initial needle-selecting region and a subsequent much wider knitting region. The needle cylinder has lower selecting jacks, upper needle jacks, and intermediate selection-transmission jacks. Each cam set has an upper knitting region and a lower selecting region. This lower selecting region of each cam set coacts with the lower jacks and the intermediate jacks for retaining at the intermediate jacks selections made with the lower jacks so that in the lower selecting region of each cam set selections may initially be madefor needles which are to carry out knitting functions in the next-following cam set. At this next-following cam set there is in circumferential alignment with the initial region thereof a camming structure which transmits the selection retained by the intermediate jacks to the upper jacks substantially instantaneous selection of needles in an extremely small circumferential space at the initial region of each cam set.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to circular knitting machines.
In particular, the present invention relates to needleselecting mechanisms for circular knitting machines.
In multi-feed circular knitting machines, there are a plurality of circumferentially distributed substantially identical cam sets which operate sequentially on the needles to carry out the knitting functions. When fairly intricate pattern selections are required with a relatively large number of cam sets, particular difficulties are involved in conventional circular knitting machines in achieving the required selections.
Thus, in certain knitting machines which have a fixed unchanging diameter it is only possible to situate a large number of sets by providing each set with the smallest possible circumferential dimension. Thus, the smaller the circumferential dimension of the several sets the greater the number thereof which can be circumferentially distributed about the axis of a cylinder of a given diameter. Assuming that each cam set has a given circumferential dimension of a given angular magnitude, it is essential to incorporate within each of these angular dimensions a relatively unchanging knitting region which follows an initial selecting region where selection of those needles which are to carry out the knitting functions is made. Because of the fixed requirements for the knitting region of each cam set, when a large number thereof are situated in a given cam cylinder, it becomes necessary to reduce the angular dimension of the initial selecting region, and this reduction in the magnitude of the selecting region gives rise to considerable problems because it is extremely difficult to make the required needled selection in an extremely small angular space. Thus, not only is needle selection required, but in addition erasing of previous selections is essential, so that this requirement of both erasing previous selections and making new selections renders the location of the erasing and selecting structure in a small angular space almost impossible to achieve.
Thus, at each knitting region of each cam set there will be an initial needle-raising cam which raises a selected needle to an elevation where it can carry out the knitting function, and this needle-raising cam of each knitting region is followed by a loop-forming cam which coacts with the raised needle to pull the latter down so as to complete the formation of a loop. These latter cams and operations are well known in the art and require a certain minimum space in order for the operations to be carried out properly, so that when the total angular dimension of a given cam set is reduced, it only becomes possible to reduce the angular dimension of the initial needle-selecting region of each cam set.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above. problems.
In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide the possibility of locating an extremely large number of cam sets in a given cam cylinder of a given diameter with each cam set having an exceedingly small initial selecting region while at the same time providing the structure with the possibility of efficient selection of needles and erasing of previously made selections.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a needle-selecting mechanism capable of carrying out a substantially instantaneous needle selection at the initial region of each cam set so that an exceedingly small angular space is required for the initial region of each cam set.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a needle selecting mechanism which makes it possible for each cam set to carry out not only knitting functions but simultaneously selecting functions in preparation for the instantaneous selection to be made at the initial region of a next-following cam set.
Thus, in accordance with the invention the multi-feed circular knitting machine includes coaxial needle and cam cylinders one of which rotates with respect to the other. The cam cylinder carries a plurality of cam sets which are substantially identical and which are circumferentially distributed about the axis of the cam cylinder with each cam set having an initial needle-selecting region and a subsequent knitting region which circumferentially is several times as great as the initial needle-selecting region. In addition each cam set includes an upper portion for carrying out knitting functions and a lower portion for carrying out selecting functions to be used in connection with a selection to be made at the next-following cam set. The needle cylinder carries beneath each needle an upper needle-operating jack, and spaced below the upper jack a lower selecting jack. Between each lower selecting jack and the upper jack situated thereover is an intermediate jack for retaining a selection made with the lower jack and transmitting this selection to the upper jack. Thus, while knitting functions are proceeding at the upper region of each cam set the lower region thereof coacts with the intermediate jacks to place the latter in positions for transmitting substantially instantaneously a selection to the upper jack at the initial region of the next-following cam set.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary developed view of the cam cylinder showing a plurality of cam sets and selecting means circumferentially arranged one next to the other around the axis of the cylinder with FIG. 1 also schematically indicating at the upper part thereof the path of movement of the needle heads during the knitting operation;
FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken in a radial plane and showing a needle and the jacks arranged in series therebeneath in a groove of the needle cylinder.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the path of movement of the upper knitting heads of the needles is indicated schematically by the upper line 1 of FIG. 1. Also, FIG. 1 shows at its upper left region the circumferential angular dimension B of each cam set. This circumferential dimension B includes a relatively large knitting region C and a relatively small initial selecting region A. As has been indicated above, it is essential at each knitting region C to provide for raising of a selected needle, as by the cam 3 and lowering of the needle to form a loop by the loop-forming cam 2. Inasmuch as these functions are essential and require a given circumferential space, then when the dimension B of an entire cam set is to be reduced, it is not possible to reduce the dimension C, so that the result is that it becomes necessary to reduce the initial selecting region A. Thus, it becomes necessary to maintain the dimension C of each set constant, so that as the number of sets are increased the circumferential dimension A decreases to an extent where it is not longer possible to provide for a convenient selection of the needles. Such selections are made conventionally either directly on the needles or by selections transmitted thereto by jacks.
In accordance with the invention each cam set has a lower region where selecting operations are carried out in connection with the next-following cam set, while at each cam set a substantially instantaneous selection is made at the initial selecting region A in accordance with the selection operations carried out at the lower region of the immediately preceding cam set. Thus, no matter how small the zone A is, a proper selection can be made with the mechanism of the invention.
The reasons why it is not possible to carry out the selections properly in an exceedingly small angular space include not only the fact that certain structure is required for making selection but also the fact that certain structure is required for erasing previous selections. Therefore, sufficient space must be provided for erasing a previous selection and making a new selection. In a machine which has a relatively large number of cam sets, as, for example, a machine where 48 cam sets are situated in a cam cylinder which has a diameter of 30 inches, the available zone A becomes so small that it is no longer possible for the required erasing and selecting operations to be carried out effectively.
Thus, it will be noted that in each cam set there is in the upper region thereof the cams 2 and 3 which carry out the knitting functions in the manner described above. Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the needles 15 are slidable in the vertical grooves of the needle cylinder, and in the illustrated example it is assumed that the needle cylinder rotates with respect to the cam cylinder shown in FIG. 1 so that the butts 27 of the needles 15 coact with the cams 3 and 2 of each set to carry out the knitting functions with the heads or top ends 19 of the needles, these ends 19 moving along the path 1 indicated schematically at the upper part of FIG. 1.
As is apparent from FIG. 2, in each groove of the needle cylinder there is an upper jack 14 situated beneath the needle 15 therein and directly coacting with the needle to place a selected needle in a position to be raised by the cam 3 except when the latter is in an inactive horizontal position. Thus, aligned circumferentially beneath the cam 3 of each cam set is a cam 4 having a portion formed by cam 18 which coacts with a butt 28 of an upper jack 14 for raising the latter in a manner analogous to the manner in which the cam 3 raises a needle, and it is this cam 4 which coacts with selected jacks 14 to bring about the raising of selected needles. On the other hand, each knitting region includes a downwardly inclined camming edge .17 coacting with the butts of the successive upper jacks 14 for lowering the latter into an engagement with an erasing cam 5 which serves to displace each previously selected jack 14 inwardly into the grove of the needle cylinder to a neutral position in preparation for new selections which are made at the initial region A of the next following cam set. Thus, actual needle selection is made by way of the upper selecting jacks 14 with the selection previously made in one cam set being erased by the cam 5 thereof prior to movement of the jacks 14 to the nextfollowing cam set.
Referring to FIG. 2 it will be seen that beneath each upper needle-selecting jack 14 is an intermediate jack 13 which forms a selection-transmitting jack, as will be apparent from the description which follows. Furthermore, beneath each selection-transmitting jack 13 is a lower selecting jack 12 acted on directly by the selecting mechanism. Thus, with the structure of the invention the selections are made directly on the lower selecting jacks 12 which coact with the intermediate jacks 13 in a manner enabling the latter to retain the selections so that these retained selections can be instantaneously transmitted to the upper jacks 14 at the initial regions A of the several cam sets.
Referring to FIG. 1, it is to be assumed that the needle cylinder rotates in the direction indicated by the upper substantially central arrow of FIG. 1, to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that the several needle and jack butts will arrive first at the initial region A and then at the knitting region C of each cam set which has the dimension B equaling the total of the circumferential regions A and C. At the lower region of each cam set there is an erasing cam 7 situated circumferentially in advance of the upper erasing cam 5 referred to above. Each erasing earn 7 coacts with an upper butt 29 of a lower jack 12 to displace previously selected lower jacks into the grooves of the needle cylinder so as to thus situate all of the jacks 12 in neutral positions within the grooves in preparation for new selections. The top ends of the lower jacks 12 are operatively connected with the lower ends of the intermediate jacks 13 in such a way that when each jack 12 is displaced into the groove of the needle cylinder by the erasing cam 7 the lower end of each intermediate jack 13 is also displaced into the groove of the needle cylinder, thus displacing the butt of each intermediate jack 13 into the needle cylinder in preparation for a new selection. However, because the erasing cam 7 act on the upper butts of the lower jacks 12, the bottom ends of the jacks 12 project outwardly so as to be situated in the path of movement of selecting levers. The mech anism includes a conventional lower selecting mechanism 8 in the form of levers actuated by a suitable pattern wheel or the like so that preselected levers will project from the lever box 8 in order to engage the lower ends of selected jacks 12. These lower ends will in this way be displaced into the groove of the needle cylinder by the actuation of the selecting levers, while the non-selected jacks 12 will simply remain with their lower ends projecting and their upper butts and upper ends depressed into the needle grooves, thus maintaining these non-selected lower jacks and the intermediate jacks 13 operatively connected therewith from participating in knitting functions to be carried out at the next following cam set.
Each cam set of the invention includes at its lower region a selecting cam 6 provided with an upper camming edge having an initial lower camming edge portion 10 located at the elevation of the butts 30 of the intermediate selection-retaining jacks 13. The result is that the inward movement of the bottom end of those jacks 12 which are selected by the pattern mechanism produces an outward movement of the butts of the intermediate jacks 13 which are operatively connected with the selected jacks 12 so that these butts of the thus-selected intermediate jacks 13 will ride along the camming edge portion 10. The butts of the non-selected intermediate jacks 13 remain at the elevation of the edge 10 but simply move circumferentially around the common axis of the cylinders without providing any participation of the jacks 14 situated thereover and the needles 15 situated over the latter jacks 14 in the knitting operations.
Thus, the butt of each intermediate jack 13 which coacts with a selected lower jack 12 will arrive at the inclined camming edge portion 11 of the selecting cam 6, this inclined portion 11 being situated at the trailing end of the initial or leading upper camming edge portion 10 of each cam 6. The result is that this inclined camming edge portion 11 will raise each intermediate jack 13 which corresponds to and is operatively connected with a selected jack 12 to the elevation of the next camming edge portion 16 of each cam 6. Thus, in the conventional cam box 8 conventional selecting levers are actuated in a known way by the pattern mechanism so as to bring about tilting of selected jacks 12 which will thus result in tilting of the intermediate selection-transmitting jacks 13.
It is apparent, therefore, that with this construction while knitting functions are going forward in an upper region of each cam set in connection with the upper jacks 14 and needles 15 situated thereover, selecting functions are taking place in the lower region of each cam set by way of the camming edge regions 10, 11, and 16 at the upper camming edge of each selecting cam 6. With this construction the selections made on the lower selecting jacks 12 are retained by the intermediate jacks 13 which have their butts raised to the elevation of the camming edge portion 16, with the thus raised intermediate jacks 13 being enabled in this way to retain the selections made by way of the selecting mechanism 8 and the lower jacks 12. Thus, during the knitting operations each upper jack 14 which has been selected for participating in the knitting operations will be raised by cam 4 and then lowered by the cam 17. The lowering of each upper jack 14 by the cam 17 locates each jack 14 in a position for engagement with the second erasing cam which acts upon the operating butt of each upper jack 14 for displacing the latter further into the groove of the needle cylinder to a neutral position in preparation for the next selection.
As may be seen from FIG. 1, that cam set to which the dimensions AC are applied is immediately preceded by an identical cam set where the reference characters for the edge portions of the upper camming edge for the selection calm 6 are designated. At the same cam set where the reference characters for the upper edge portion of the selecting cam 6 are located there is also designated the cam 18 past which the non-selected upper jacks 14 move without raising the needles thereover. Thus, it will be seen that when the shoulder 31 of a jack 14 is within the groove 24, the butt 28 of the jack 14 will not reach the cam 18. This operation is further described below.
With the structure of the invention there is a second selecting mechanism 9 which serves to remove selected needles from among those which have previously been selected, so that in effect a negative selection is made by the selecting mechanism 9*. Thus, circumferentially subsequent to the selecting mechanism 8 there is the second selecting mechanism 9 which is also in the form of a lever box having selecting levers actuated by the pattern mechanism. In the event that there is no projecting lever at the lever box 9 beneath a given can set, then the previously selected intermediate jacks 13 will arrive with their butts at the final inclined edge 19" of a given selecting cam 6. It is to be noted that this inclined edge 19' is located circumferentially in alignment with the initial region A of each cam set. Thus, the inclined edge 19' is located circumferentially just subsequent to the erasing cam 5 of the immediately preceding cam set.
On the other hand, if a selecting lever of the lever box 9 does project it will act upon a previously selected jack 12 to displace the latter for retracting the cooperating intermediate jack 13 into the groove of the needle cylinder to a location where it will not be raised by the camming edge 19. Thus, the levers of the mechanism 9 will act upon the upper butts of the jacks 12 to cause depression of the intermediate jacks 13 into the needle grooves so as to cancel a selection previously made with the lever box 8.
In the above-described manner those selected intermediate jacks 13 which do not have the selections cancelled will rise along the inclined camming edges 19' precisely at the initial selecting region A of each cam set. Thus, it will be seen that the mechanism 9 forms a second selecting means determining those previously selected lower jacks which will be retracted before moving upwardly along the second inclined camming edge 19.
As may be seen from FIG. 2, the upward movement of each intermediate selection-retaining and transmitting jack 13 causes the upper end 20 thereof, which terminates in an upper bevelled surface, to engage the lower equally bevelled end surface 21 of the upper needle-operating jack 14. This lower end 21 is raised to the elevation of the dot-dash line 22 indicated in FIG. 2 through the action of the inclined edge 19 on the butt of the intermediate jack 13. Each needle groove is provided with a recess 24 having at its upper end the inclined portion 23 coacting with a shoulder 31 of each jack 14 for displacing the latter out of the groove when each jack 14 is raised by an intermediate jack 13. As is apparent from FIG. 2, the movements at this time in connection with the transmission of the selection to a jack 14 by a jack 13 and movement of the jack 14 radially are extremely small. However, only this small extent of movement is required at the initial region A of each cam set to place the butt of the selected jack 14 in engagement with the camming edge 25 which transfers a selected jack 14 to the part of cam 4 formed by cam 18 which raises the jack 14 and thus also raises the needle 15 thereover so that the butt of this needle can be acted upon by the raising cam 3. In this way selected needles are raised to participate in the knitting functions in a manner described above. It is common and well known in machines of the type described above and disclosed in the drawing to provide cams 3 each of which may be oscillated from the illustrated position to a substantially horizontal position, in the same way as illustrated for the cam 18. The cams 3 are used in the illustrated inclined positions in connection with plain knitting. However, when patterning operations are carried out the cams 3 are placed in the horizontal positions illustrated for the cam 18 so that in this case the needles are raised by means of the upper jacks 14 which, when selected, have their butts situated within reach of the earns 18 which are left at this time at their operative inclined positions.
Thus, it will be seen that with the structure of the invention even though the initial selecting region A is maintained at an extremely small magnitude, in a circumferential direction, and even though the selection of a given upper jack 14 is made substantially instantaneously with an exceedingly small extent of movement thereof, nevertheless by utilizing the lower region of the immediately preceding cam set for preliminary selecting functions it becomes possible to carry out the required erasing and selecting operations in a highly effective, fully efiicient manner while at the same time providing for each cam set an exceedingly small circumferential dimension B which need only be slightly greater than the minimum required circumferential space C where the knitting functions are carried out.
FIG. 2 illustrates conventional components which do not form part of the invention. Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates the needle cylinder components 32 and 33 which are interconnected by the bolts 34. At the lower part of FIG. 2 is illustrated the crown wheel 35 for driving the cylinder. This wheel is fixed to the cylinder by screws 36 and is centered by screws 37 and nuts 38. FIG. 2 also shows one of the several elongated steel strips 4-1 which define between themselves the grooves of the needle cylinder. These strips 41 have the anchoring projections 39 and 40 received in the anchoring grooves 42. FIG. 2 also shows the lower jack rings 43 and the needle holding spring ring 44.
At the upper region of FIG. 2 there is fragmentarily illustrated the dish or plate 45 which carries the radial crown 46 which is fixed to the support 45 by way of the bolts 47. Also, FIG. 2 shows the radially extending steel strips 48 which correspond to the strips 41 and form the dial grooves, these strips 48 respectively having the anchoring projections 49 received in the anchoring groove 50. Thus, these strips 48 form the radial needle grooves 51 for the radial needles 52 which have the two different butts '53 and 54.
What is claimed is:
1. In a multi-feed circular knitting machine, coaxial cam and needle cylinders one of which rotates with respect to the other, said cam cylinder having a plurality of substantially identical cam sets circumferentially distributed abou the axis of said cam cylinder and located in a series one after the other for sequentially carrying out knitting and selecting functions, each cam set having an upper knitting portion and a lower selecting portion for participating in the selection of needles which carry out knitting functions in the next-following cam set, said needle cylinder having upper jacks for coacting with needles over said upper jacks, lower jacks respectively situated beneath and spaced from said upper jacks, and intermediate jacks situated between said lower and upper jacks so that beneath each needle there is an upper jack situated over an intermediate jack which in turn is situated over a lower jack, said selecting portion of each cam set coacting with said lower jacks for making a selection for the next-following cam set while the upper portion of each cam set carries out the knitting functions with the upper jacks and needles thereover, and said intermediate jacks retaining the selections made with said lower jacks, the lower portions of the cam sets coacting with said intermediate jacks for transmitting selections therefrom to the upper jacks at the instant when the latter and the needles become aligned with the next-following cam set so that each cam set has an initial needle-selecting region where substantially instantaneous needle selection is carried out in an exceedingly small circumferential space, each cam set including an upper erasing cam and a lower erasing cam situated circumferentially in advance of said upper erasing cam, said lower erasing cam placing previously selected lower jacks in neutral positions for selectively receiving a new selection and said upper erasing cams placing said upper jacks in neutral positions to receive upon attaining alignment with the next following set the selection retained by the intermediate jacks, a selecting means being located beneath each cam set circumferentially in advance of said upper erasing cam and subsequent to said lower erasing cam for making a selection of a lower jack which has been placed in a neutral position by said lower erasing cam, a second selecting means being located beneath each cam set circumferentially subsequent to the first-mentioned selecting means for placing lower jacks previously selected by said firstmentioned selecting means in neutral non-selecting positions just prior to transmission of the selection to the upper jacks by the intermediate jacks, so that the second selecting means provides a further selection retracting selected lower and intermediate jacks from selecting positions where a selection will be transmitted to an upper jack.
2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said lower portion of each cam set which carries out the selecting function includes a selecting cam having an upper camming edge provided with a leading lower selecting portion, an upwardly inclined camming edge extending upwardly from a trailing end of said leading edge portion, a second upper selecting edge portion extending from said inclined edge portion, and a second inclined edge portion extending upwardly from said second edge portion, said first-mentioned selecting means placing selected lower jacks with butts thereof in engagement with said leading lower camming edge to be guided thereby to the inclined edge extending from the trailing end of said leading camming edge to be raised to said second, upper camming edge, and said second selecting means determining those previously selected lower jacks which will be retracted before moving upwardly along said second inclined camming edge.
3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said second inclined camming edge is situated circumferentially in line with the initial region of each cam set where the selection is transmitted to an upper jack.
4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said second inclined camming edge is situated at each set circumferentially in advance of the lower erasing cam.
References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,019,396 10/1935 Deans et a1. 6650 B 2,025,463 12/1935 Lombardi 6650 A 2,974,506 3/1961 Lawson 66--5O X 3,063,269 11/1962 Losert et a1. 66-50 X 3,240,032 3/1966 Carrotte 6650 X 3,457,734 7/1969 Millar 6650 X FOREIGN PATENTS 820,832 9/1959 Great Britain 6614 OTHER REFERENCES German Printed Application No. 1,199,425, Losert, August 1965.
WILLIAM CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 66--42
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US83346969A | 1969-06-16 | 1969-06-16 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US3616654A true US3616654A (en) | 1971-11-02 |
Family
ID=25264503
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US833469A Expired - Lifetime US3616654A (en) | 1969-06-16 | 1969-06-16 | Needle selecting mechanism for multifeed circular knitting machines |
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US (1) | US3616654A (en) |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3744275A (en) * | 1971-03-22 | 1973-07-10 | Stibbe Machinery Ltd | Patterning mechanism for multi-feed circular knitting machines and to a method of knitting on the same |
US3747371A (en) * | 1970-09-11 | 1973-07-24 | J Comas | Pattern controls for circular knitting machines |
US3791174A (en) * | 1971-11-01 | 1974-02-12 | Jumberca Sa | Patterning mechanism for circular knitting machines |
US3802224A (en) * | 1970-06-09 | 1974-04-09 | Mayer & Cie Maschinenfabrik | Circular knitting machine with multiple knitting systems |
US4570463A (en) * | 1982-12-22 | 1986-02-18 | Edouard Dubied & Cie. S.A. | Needle selection device for a knitting machine |
-
1969
- 1969-06-16 US US833469A patent/US3616654A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3802224A (en) * | 1970-06-09 | 1974-04-09 | Mayer & Cie Maschinenfabrik | Circular knitting machine with multiple knitting systems |
US3747371A (en) * | 1970-09-11 | 1973-07-24 | J Comas | Pattern controls for circular knitting machines |
US3744275A (en) * | 1971-03-22 | 1973-07-10 | Stibbe Machinery Ltd | Patterning mechanism for multi-feed circular knitting machines and to a method of knitting on the same |
US3791174A (en) * | 1971-11-01 | 1974-02-12 | Jumberca Sa | Patterning mechanism for circular knitting machines |
US4570463A (en) * | 1982-12-22 | 1986-02-18 | Edouard Dubied & Cie. S.A. | Needle selection device for a knitting machine |
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