US3769814A

US3769814A - Device for automatic and programmed insertion of needles into work in rectilinear hosiery machines

Info

Publication number: US3769814A
Application number: US00221197A
Authority: US
Inventors: A Pieracci; A Giachetti
Original assignee: G Billi and C SpA
Current assignee: G Billi and C SpA
Priority date: 1972-01-27
Filing date: 1972-01-27
Publication date: 1973-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-06

Abstract

Apparatus for use on a straight independent needle knitting machine to progressively add needles from a spaced pair of inactive non-knitting series thereof to each end of an active knitting series of needles thereby to increase the number of needles in the active knitting series of needles. The knitting machine has a lengthwise extending needle bed with a plurality of equally spaced parallel needle slots extending crosswise thereof. A needle and an associated jack are individually disposed in each of a series of the slots, the jacks being individually movable from a first to a second position thereby to individually move their associated needles from inactive to active position. A portion of each of the jacks in their first position extends from the needle slots at one side of the needle bed, the jack extensions being in engagement with a spiral groove peripherally formed on a sleeve which encircles a rotatable shaft disposed in spaced parallel rotation to the needle bed. The sleeve rotates with the shaft and moves axially thereof by reason of the jack engagement therewith, the sleeve being provided with a radially extending cam to progressively engage and move successive jacks and their needles during intermittently pattern controlled turns of the shaft.

Description

United States Patent 11 1 Pieracci et al.

451 Nov. 6, 1973 l l DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC AND PROGRAMMED INSERTION OF NEEDLES INTO WORK IN RECTILINEAR HOSIERY MACHINES [75] Inventors: Angiolo Pieracci, Staffoli, Pisa;

Alfredo Giachetti, Lastra A Signa, Firenze, both of Italy [73] Assignee: Billi S.p.A., Firenze, Italy [22] Filed: Jan. 27, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 221,197

I52] U.S. Cl 615/76 R Primary Examiner-Ronald Feldbaum AttorneyLouis Necho [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for use on a straight independent needle knitting machine to progressively add needles from a spaced pair of inactive non-knitting series thereof to each end of an active knitting series of needles thereby to increase the number of needles in the active knitting series of needles. The knitting machine has a lengthwise extending needle bed with a plurality of equally spaced parallel needle slots extending crosswise thereof. A needle and an associated jack are individually disposed in each of a series of the slots, the jacks being individually movable from a first to a second po' sition thereby to individually move their associated needles from inactive to active position. A portion of each of the jacks in their first position extends from the needle slots at one side of the needle bed, the jack extensions being in engagement with a spiral groove peripherally formed on a sleeve which encircles a rotatable shaft disposed in spaced parallel rotation to the needle bed. The sleeve rotates with the shaft and moves axially thereof by reason of the jack engagement therewith, the sleeve being provided with a radially extending cam to progressively engage and move successive jacks and their needles during intermittently pattern controlled turns of the shaft.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures [51] Int. Cl D04b 7/10 [58] Field of Search 66/64, 75, 67, 70, 66/73, 76

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 559,850 5/1896 Johanson 66/64 528,810 11/1894 Salisbury.... 66/62 2,153,342 4/1939 Ruinnet 66/60 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 294,869 12/1928 Great Britain 66/75 996,125 6/1925 Great Britain 66/60 l l f I l Patented Nov. 6, 1973 3,769,814

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

' Patented Nov. 6,1973

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 6, 1973 3 Sheets-Sheet :1

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC AND PROGRAMMED INSERTION F NEEDLES INTO WORK IN RECTILINEAR IIOSIERY MACHINES The present invention relates generally to the art of knitting and more particularly to straight independent latch needle knitting machines wherein means is provided to progressively add needles from inactive series thereof to each end of a series of active needles thereby to progressivelyincrease the number of needles in the active series of needles.

Straight independent latch needle knitting machines are provided with lengthwise extending needle beds which have a series of crosswise extending equally spaced parallel slots within which latch needles are individually slidable. Cam carriages reciprocate lengthwise of the needle beds and operate those of the active needles which are disposed in a knitting area or position in the needle slots while not operating those of the inactive needles which are disposed in a non-knitting area or position in the needle slots. The needles are movable in their slots to and from the active knitting and the inactive non-knitting positions.

It is desirable to fashion or shape fabric being made on the above type of machines by first knitting, upon a central series of active needles while. needles. at each end of the active series are inactive in non-knitting position, and then progressively adding inactive needles to each end of the series of active needles thereby to progressively increase the number of' active needles knitting the fabric, thus to accordingly shape the fabric.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide means on straight independent latch needle knitting machines to automatically and progressively add needles from inactive series thereof to each endof a series of active needles thereby to increase the number of needles in the active series of needles.

It is also an object of the present invention to add the inactive needles to the active series of needles by means of a pattern controlled intermittently rotatably driven shaft having at least one spirally grooved sleeve thereon wherein the sleeve rotates with the shaft. The grooves in the sleeve are engaged by a series of spaced jacks or spring clips operatively related to the seriesof inactive needles so that the rotating sleeveis thereby caused to move axially of the shaft andwhereby a projecting cam on the rotating sleeve progressively acts upon the spring clips of the series thereof to move: the clips and their related needles from the inactive to the active series thereof.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view as will become apparent from the. following, detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings, the present invention resides in the elements of construction and arrangement of parts of the automatically operable means. for adding needles from inactive series thereof to eachend of an active series of needles as illustrated, and as pointed out in the. claims;

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan: view oftheslotted inclined needle beds of a two. bed. straight knitting machine, the needles in the needle slotsandthe'apparatus' of the present invention applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the machine and of the apparatus of the present invention as taken onlinellll of FIG. I.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view as taken on line III III of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing in greater detail how the present apparatus functions to move needles from non-knitting to knitting positions.

FIGS. 5 and. 6 are sectional views as taken on lines V V and VI VI of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view, generally similar to FIG. 6, as taken on line VII VII of FIG. 4 and showing the needle advancing cam in operative position, and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view as taken on line VIII VIII of FIG. 4 showing a modified manner of attaching the needle advancing cam.

Referring to the drawings, a pair of lengthwise extending inclined needle beds of a conventional straight independent needle knitting machine are shown at l and at 1A of FIG. 1. The needle beds are each provided with a series of crosswise extending spaced parallel slots within which conventional latch needles 3, having butts 3A, are disposed. The needles 3 are slidable lengthwise of their slots to inactive non-knitting welt position and to active knitting position.

Only so much of the machine as is deemed essential to explain the present invention has been shown, and it is understood that the machine is provided with cam carriages which reciprocate lengthwise of the needle beds to operate those of the active needles 3 which are positioned in the knitting zone or position wherein their butts 3A are acted upon by the cam carriages to activate the needles to take and to knit yarn. As to those inactive needles 3 disposed in the non-knitting zone or position, their butts 3A will not be acted upon by the cam carriages and consequently these needles will remain inactive at welt level and will not be actuated to take and to knit the yarn. The apparatus of the present invention is adapted to progressively move at least one inactive needle from the non-knitting to the knitting zone, at each of the series of active needles, at desired reciprocations of the cam carriages, whereby the number of active needles knitting the yarn will be accordingly increased and the fabric being knitted will be accordingly shaped.

Inasmuch as similar apparatus is provided for each of the needle b'edsl and 1A, it should be understood that the description of the appartus related to needle bed 1 is also applicable to needle bed 1A. Each needle 3 has a U-shaped spring clip or jack 5 associated therewith, one end of each clip is disposed in a needle slot while the other end of each clip is disposed on and frictionally engages the undersideof the needle bed. The clips 5 are slidable lengthwise of the needle slots from their position of FIG. 6 to their position of FIG. 7. In FIG. 6, the needle 3 is in its inactive withdrawn position with itsclip 5 also in withdrawn position, and the clip, when moving in the direction of the arrow f1, engages the butt end of the needle to move the same to its active position wherein its butt 3A willbe in position to be operated upon by thecam carriage.

In order to move the spring slipsS, a longitudinally extending rotatable shaft 7 is provided adjacent to the clipsS, the shaft 7 being parallclto-the needle bed 1 and suitably'joumalled in brackets attachedto the ends of the needle bed. As showninFIG 2, each shaft 7 can be rotated by an endless chain 9 trained over a suitable sprocket on shaft 7 and over a suitable sprocket on the drive shaft of a motor 11. The rotation of each motor is pattern controlled so as to start and stop at desired intervals and in so doing to accordingly rotate shaft 7. The arrangement is such that, at desired intervals, shaft 7 is turned for either a full revolution or for a half revolution.

A pair of spaced

tubular sleeves

13, 13 are disposed on shaft 7, the sleeves being keyed to the shaft by a lengthwise extending key 7A disposed in suitable keyways cut in shaft 7 and in sleeves 13. With this arrangement the sleeves can rotate with and also move axially along shaft 7. The near ends of the sleeves 13 are each provided with a radially projecting cam shoulder 13A. The width of cam shoulders 13A may be such as to engage and move a single clip 5 or to engage and move a plurality of adjacent clips 5. The cam shoulders 13A on the sleeves 13 are angularly spaced one hundred and eighty degrees, FIG. 3. As in FIG. 8, the cam shoulders 13A may be attached to the end faces of the sleeves 13 by suitable means for ready replacement thereof. The periphery of sleeves 13 are spirally grooved in opposite directions with the pitch distance between grooves being equal to the pitch distance between the needles and the clips. The ends of the withdrawn clips are engaged in the grooves of sleeves 13. Adjacent each end of and attached to needle bed 1 is a flat plate having a series of rack teeth 15A which are adjacent to, aligned with and have the same pitch distance as the series of clips 5.

With the parts arranged so that the cam shoulders 13A are to first operate upon the withdrawn spring clips of the inactive needles next to the series of active needles, rotation of shaft 7 and sleeves 13 (under pattern control via motor 11) will cause the sleeves to move away from each other by reason of the engagement of the ends of the clips in the grooves of the sleeves. As the grooves of sleeves 13 move axially along and away from the clips 5, they will engage and move along the rack teeth 15A of the plate 15.

Assuming a full rotation of three hundred sixty degrees of shaft 7, the cam shoulder 13A in position of FIGS. 3, 4 facing away from the needle bed, will, in its rotary movement, act on withdrawn clip 5X to move it to a forward position in line with the clips 5Y. In doing so, the cam shoulder 13A moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7, to move the spring clip from its position of FIG. 6 to its position of FIG. 7. The position of clip 5 in FIG. 7 corresponds to position 5Y in FIG. 4. The other cam shoulder 13A, in position of FIG. 7 facing toward the needle bed, will, after its rotary movement, return to the position of FIG. 7 after having moved a clip 5 adjacent to the clip shown in FIG. 7 inasmuch as the cam 13A advances one pitch distance with each rotation of shaft 7.

Assuming the shaft 7 to be rotated one hundred eighty degrees, at the first of such movements one cam shoulder 13A, facing away from the needle bed, will rotate to its position of FIG. 7 thereby to engage and to advance one spring clip 5 while the other of the cam shoulders 13A will rotate from its position facing the needle bed to a position facing away from the needle bed without advancing any of the spring clips. Upon the next half revolution of shaft 7, the described actions of the two cam shoulders 13A will be reversed.

Accordingly, when shaft 7 is rotated a full turn, inactive needles are added to the series of active needles at each end thereof, whereas when shaft 7 is alternately rotated a half turn, needles are alternately added to the series of the active needles at each end thereof. The added needles are then within the sphere of influence of the cam carriages and are actuated along with the previously active needles.

It will be understood that an independently rotatable shaft, under pattern control, may be provided for each of the sleeves l3;for each end of the needle beds so that the addition of needles to the active series thereof at each end of the needle bed may be independently controlled. It will also be understood that the sleeves 13 may be returned to their initial positions in any desirable manner in conjunction with the placing of the previously added needles and their spring clips in their inactive position.

What we claim is:

1. Straight independent needle knitting machine having a lengthwise extending needle bed provided with a plurality of equally spaced parallel needle slots extendingcrosswise thereof, a needle and an associated jack individually disposed in and slidable lengthwise of each ofa series of said needle bed slots, said jacks being individually movable from a first to a second position thereby to individually move their associated needles from inactive to active positions, said jacks in their first said position having portions thereof extending from said needle slots at one side of said needle bed, means to so move said jacks and their associated needles comprising a lengthwise extending rotatable shaft disposed in spaced parallel relation to said one side of said needle bed, said shaft being intermittently turned under pattern control for limited angular movements thereof, a sleeve disposed on said shaft for rotatable movement therewith and for movement axially thereof, said sleeve being peripherally spirally grooved with the pitch distance of the grooves being equal to the pitch distance of said needle slots, said extending portions of said jacks being aligned and engaged in said grooves whereby said sleeve moves axially of said shaft when the latter is turned, and said sleeve having at least one radially extending cam to engage and to move at least one of said jacks from its said first to its said second position during each turn of said shaft, whereby said so moved jack moves its associated needle from its inactive to its active position in said needle bed.

2. Knitting machine as in claim 1 wherein said needle bed is provided with a series of rack teeth disposed in alignment with and in extension of said extending portions of said jacks in their first said position, the pitch distance of said rack teeth being equal to the pitch distance of said needle bed, said rack teeth engaging said grooves in said sleeve as the latter is moved axially of said shaft by said jack portions.

3. Knitting machine as in claim 1 wherein each of successive ones of said jacks and of their associated needles are progressively moved by said radially extending cam during each of successive turns of said shaft.

4. Knitting machine as in claim 3 wherein a pair of said sleeves are disposed in spaced relation on said shaft, wherein said grooves in said pair of sleeves are oppositely disposed, and wherein said pair of sleeves are caused to move in opposite directions when said shaft is turned.

5. Knitting machine as in claim 4 wherein each of said sleeves is provided with a radially extending cam, wherein said cams are diametrically opposed, wherein each of said cams moves a jack and its associated needle during a full turn of said shaft and wherein one of said cams moves a jack and its associated needle during the first half of an interrupted full turn of said shaft and the other of said cams moves a jack and its associated needle during the second half of said interrupted full turn of said shaft.

Claims

1. Straight independent needle knitting machine having a lengthwise extending needle bed provided with a plurality of equally spaced parallel needle slots extending crosswise thereof, a needle and an associated jack individually disposed in and slidable lengthwise of each of a series of said needle bed slots, said jacks being individually movable from a first to a second position thereby to individually move their associated needles from inactive to active positions, said jacks in their first said position having portions thereof extending from said needle slots at one side of said needle bed, means to so move said jacks and their associated needles comprising a lengthwise extending rotatable shaft disposed in spaced parallel relation to said one side of said needle bed, said shaft being intermittently turned under pattern control for limited angular movements thereof, a sleeve disposed on said shaft for rotatable movement therewith and for movement axially thereof, said sleeve being peripherally spirally grooved with the pitch distance of the grooves being equal to the pitch distance of said needle slots, said extending portions of said jacks being aligned and engaged in said grooves whereby said sleeve moves axially of said shaft when the latter is turned, and said sleeve having at least one radially extending cam to engage and to move at least one of said jacks from its said first to its said second position during each turn of said shaft, whereby said so moved jack moves its associated needle from its inactive to its active position in said needle bed.