HK1248290B - Improved knitting needle and method for producing a circular knitting needle - Google Patents

Description

Improved knitting needles and method for producing circular knitting needles

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an improved knitting needle and a method for producing a circular knitting needle according to the invention.

Background Art

Knitting needles have been known for a long time and are available in various types and forms. For example, DE 448 230 and US Pat. No. 7,874,181 B1 each describe a knitting needle that is non-circular in design or has raised and recessed areas in the area of the shank or gripping region, in order to make knitting more ergonomically comfortable for the fingers even during longer periods of time. However, this does not make the knitting process itself easier or even impaired.

DE 1 609 910 and DE 825 299 each describe a knitting needle designed to make knitting easier for the operator, even when the operator is somewhat clumsy. To this end, the needle tip has a deformation that completely or partially obstructs the return of the thread, such as a constriction, a thickening on one side, or two or more thickenings on all sides. However, a disadvantage of this needle tip design is that the knitting yarn can become snagged in the constriction or behind the thickening, making further knitting difficult with this specially shaped needle tip. Furthermore, most needles only have a corresponding point on one side, while the other side has a standard knitting needle tip. Knitting with two correspondingly deformed needle tips is also difficult. Furthermore, the knitting needle is designed to be very sharp in the area of the needle tip, which can cause injuries. Furthermore, there is the risk of penetrating the yarn during knitting (especially when using thicker yarns). When the operator notices this, he or she must retract the needle tip, which delays the knitting process. If the operator does not notice this, this leads to irregular stitch formation, which is also to be avoided.

US Pat. No. 2,133,431 also describes a knitting needle, in this case a circular knitting needle, which has a deformation at the head. The head has the shape of a truncated cone with curved sides, wherein the radius of the truncated cone in the direction of the tip is larger than the radius of the truncated cone pointing in the direction of the needle. The head is intended to provide resistance to the loops received on the needle in order to achieve secure knitting and prevent loose loops. However, a disadvantage is that the needle tip is designed to be very sharp, which can cause injuries. As explained above, this can also cause the yarn to be inserted. Ergonomic and low-fatigue knitting is also impossible with this needle, and the knitter cannot produce loosely knitted items because the deformation presents resistance at the needle tip and hinders this.

Summary of the Invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to improve the known knitting needles and thereby reduce the risk of injury and the risk of puncture of the yarn, and to enable ergonomic knitting with a small range of motion in the hand joints of the operator. A further object of the present invention is to develop an improved and cost-effective production method for producing circular knitting needles according to the invention. This object is achieved by a knitting needle and a method, which are of particular significance in that the needle tip itself is strongly rounded and transitions into a drop- or ear-shaped thickening, i.e., a pull-back drop, which is rounded toward the needle tip and has a significantly smaller diameter than the shank.

The gripping area between the handle and the needle tip tapers towards the needle tip.

The transitions between the shank and the tapering and between the tapering of the shank and the pull-back drop are designed without edges and with low friction resistance;

The knitting needle is designed as a circular knitting needle, wherein during the production of the circular knitting needle, a small cord is injected around the material of the shank.

The knitting needle tip is strongly rounded and has a thickened portion that is rounded toward the tip. This thickened portion can be described as a drop or ear-shaped thickening, i.e., a pull-back drop. The pull-back drop has a smaller diameter than the shank. The knitting needle tapers between the shank and the pull-back drop. The transitions between the shank and the tapering portion, and between the tapering portion and the pull-back drop, are designed to be free of edges and have low frictional resistance. The pull-back drop and the tapering portion, with low frictional resistance and without edges, allow the knitting yarn to slide smoothly over the needle tip during knitting, and the pull-back drop does not hinder knitting, preventing the yarn from becoming snagged. Since the pull-back drop has a smaller diameter than the shank, the needle is still light enough to achieve good knitting results even with thin knitting yarns. Nevertheless, the pull-back drop helps to accommodate the next stitch in the yarn during knitting. The strongly rounded shape of the pull-back dropper also significantly reduces the risk of injury and the risk of the yarn being pierced by the needle tip during the knitting process. This allows for good knitting results even with thicker yarns. The interaction of the handle, gripping area, and pull-back dropper enables particularly ergonomic and low-fatigue knitting, as the operator's hand movements during knitting are significantly smaller than with conventional knitting needles.

The ratio of the diameter of the shank of the knitting needle to the diameter of the pull-back drop is precisely coordinated with one another and is dimensioned (in coordination with the thickness of the knitting needle) in such a way that a very low-fatigue knitting process is possible. Here, the ratio of the diameters is approximately 25% to 75%, preferably 30% to 60%. Depending on the thickness of the knitting needle, the ratio can be varied in order to achieve the best possible ergonomic knitting process. Here, the ratio of the diameters generally decreases as the thickness of the knitting needle increases, for example to approximately 55% at a needle thickness of 2.5, 3 or 3.5 mm and to approximately 31% at a needle thickness of 12 mm. This is clearly only an individual example. The ratio of the diameters can also be provided differently within the scope of the present disclosure.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the shank has a shape transition along its length, viewed from the needle tip. This shape transition occurs behind the gripping area and has approximately a triangular shape in cross section. The resulting triangular area ensures very little friction between the loops of the knitted fabric and the knitting needle, since the fabric and the needle only touch in the area of the corners of the triangle. This allows the fabric to slide better on the knitting needle, which makes the knitting process itself more ergonomic, so that the person knitting does not get tired as quickly. Even in the case of wider fabrics, it is not necessary to constantly push the fabric back on the knitting needle. Here, the shape transition also occurs without edges and with little frictional resistance. The best results with regard to the low frictional resistance and also the hand feel are achieved by having the triangular area have rounded corners or convex sides in cross section. These two features can also be combined in order to obtain a knitting needle in which the shape transition from the gripping area to the triangular area occurs very gently and with little frictional resistance, and in which the triangular area is constructed in such a way that it does not damage the knitting yarn or the knitted fabric and also has a pleasant feel.

The shank of the knitting needle and also the needle point and the pull-back can be made of hard plastic at least in part. Thus, the knitting needle is light and fits well in the hand.

In a preferred embodiment, the knitting needle is designed as a circular knitting needle. Circular knitting needles can be used in many ways to produce a variety of knitted goods. Preferred embodiments of circular knitting needles taper behind the gripping area toward the cord. This also reduces the frictional resistance between the knitting needle and the knitted fabric, allowing the knitted fabric to slide more easily in the direction of the cord.

It is particularly advantageous if the transition to the string is designed to be flexible and bendable in the end region of the handle. This allows the knitted fabric to be slid onto the string particularly easily without the knitter having to move it in the desired direction. Furthermore, the knitted fabric cannot get caught at the transition to the string. Mechanical damage to the string is also avoided.

One possible solution for designing the end region of the shank to be flexible at the transition to the string is to manufacture the end region from a relatively soft, flexible plastic. This also results in a bendable and flexible transition to the string. However, depending on the thickness of the needle, the material of the end region can also have a small wall thickness, thereby utilizing the elastic properties of the shank material and thus creating a flexible and bendable transition to the string in the end region. In this case, the end region of the shank can be made of the same material as the knitting needle as a whole, for example, a hard plastic.

Another preferred embodiment provides that the knitting needle is configured as a jacket knitting needle. At its end facing away from the needle tip, the jacket knitting needle then has a ball head. The ball head prevents the knitted fabric from shifting beyond the end of the knitting needle and thereby losing the stitches. In addition, the ball head can also have a groove-shaped gap, which has approximately the same diameter as the shank or gripping area of the knitting needle itself. The second knitting needle can then be brought into the gap by clamping it with its shank or its gripping area. It is therefore particularly preferred that the two knitting needles are clamped with their respective shanks or their respective gripping areas into the groove-shaped gap of the ball head of the respective other knitting needle. The knitting needles can thus be well preserved. The knitted fabric on one of the knitting needles cannot be lost from the knitting needle because the largest part of the shank is limited by the two ball heads. If the knitting needles are not in use, they can also each engage in the groove-shaped recess of the ball head of another needle, so that both knitting needles can always be found together when they are needed. The ball head can be shaped differently, for example, in the form of a sphere, prism, cube, cuboid, cone, pyramid, etc. All possible shapes are conceivable.

The present invention also includes a method for producing circular knitting needles. In order to connect the shank to the string, the string is injection-molded around the shank material. The shank material is preferably a plastic that can be processed using conventional injection molding methods. If, in the case of the circular knitting needle, one area is to be made of hard plastic and one area is to be made of soft plastic, it makes sense to first at least partially injection-mold the string around the harder plastic of the shank and then at least partially injection-mold the string around the soft plastic. This allows for secure retention of the string in the plastic. Particularly preferably, an outer contour, in particular a fir-tree grid, is formed from the harder material. When the fir-tree grid or other contour is injection-molded around by the soft plastic, a particularly good bond is created between the two different plastics.

To ensure reliable encapsulation of the string, it is advantageous to retain the string during the injection process by one or more, in particular three, retaining cores. If only one material is provided for the shaft, the retaining cores are retracted during the injection process to create a smooth, gap-free surface in the end region. In a two-stage injection process, the retaining cores can retain the string in the first method step and are only retracted thereafter. If the string is then encapsulated by a soft component, the openings created by the retaining cores are covered by the soft plastic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and embodiments are apparent from the following description, other technical solutions of the present invention, and the accompanying drawings, in which the present invention is illustrated in a number of embodiments.

FIG1 shows an embodiment of a knitting needle according to the present invention as a sock knitting needle.

FIG2 shows an enlarged detail from FIG1 ,

FIG3 shows an embodiment of a knitting needle according to the present invention as a circular knitting needle,

FIG. 4 shows the circular knitting needle from FIG. 3 in an enlarged illustration,

FIG. 5 shows the end region of the circular knitting needle from FIG. 3 and 4 ,

FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of the arrangement of the small cord in the end region in the case of the circular knitting needle according to FIGS. 3 to 5 ,

FIG. 7 a shows a diagrammatic representation of the holding of the small cord by a holding core before the injection molding process for producing the circular knitting needle according to FIGS. 3 to 6 ,

FIG. 7 b shows the illustration according to FIG. 7 a after the injection process,

FIG8 shows another embodiment of a circular knitting needle according to the present invention,

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of the end region from FIG. 8 ,

FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration of the extension of the small cord in the end region of the circular knitting needle from FIGS. 8 and 9 ,

FIG. 11 shows the circular knitting needles from FIGS. 8 to 10 together with the small cord after the injection molding process with the harder plastic,

FIG. 12 shows a schematic illustration of a partial area from FIG. 11 being encapsulated with soft plastic,

FIG. 13 a shows the holding of the small cord by the holding core immediately after the first injection molding process in hard plastic for producing the circular knitting needle according to FIG. 8 to 12 ,

FIG. 13 b shows the finished two-component circular knitting needle according to FIG. 13 a without a retaining core,

FIG14 shows an enlargement of the shape transition to the triangular area,

FIG. 15 shows a section through the illustration at the location XV-XV of FIG. 14 ,

FIG16 shows a diagrammatic representation of a jacket knitting needle according to the present invention,

FIG17 shows an enlarged view of the ball head,

FIG18 is a perspective view showing the insertion of the knitting needle into the gap at the ball head of another knitting needle,

FIG. 19 shows the knitting needle pair from FIG. 18 in a front view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG1 shows a knitting needle 10 according to the invention, which is embodied here as a sock knitting needle. The knitting needle is symmetrically constructed and has two needle tips 11. A strongly rounded pull-back drop 20 is respectively arranged on the needle tips 11, and the needle tips 11 are connected to each other by means of the shank 12. In the area of the shank 12 facing the respective needle tip 11, a gripping area 13 is respectively provided, which can be gripped by an operator during the knitting process. A tapering portion 14 is provided between the respective gripping area 13 and the pull-back drop 20. Here, the transition between the pull-back drop 20 of the tapering portion 14 and the gripping area 13 is constructed very streamlined and has low friction resistance.

Furthermore, a triangular area 30 is visible, wherein a shape transition 16 occurs between the gripping area 13 and the triangular area 30. This shape transition is also designed so that it has the lowest possible frictional resistance. This allows the knitted fabric to slide more easily on the knitting needles, and the knitter does not have to constantly manually push the fabric further back. This makes knitting more comfortable and faster.

FIG2 shows an enlargement of the needle tip 11. The drop- or ear-shaped pull-back drop 20, which is strongly rounded toward the tip, and the tapering 14 can be seen here. A smooth transition also occurs between the pull-back drop 20 and the gripping area 13 of the shank 12, which has no edges and has low friction resistance, allowing the loops to slide easily over the knitting needle. The pull-back drop 20 is intended to help the operator more easily grasp the yarn in order to produce new loops. The pull-back drop 20, the shank 12, and the gripping area 13 are coordinated with one another in such a way that knitting is particularly ergonomic and low-fatigue for the operator.

The gripping area 13 is slightly conical in design so that it feels comfortable when gripped by an operator. There are no edges at all between the gripping area 13 and the rest of the shank 12, and the transition here is also designed so that the knitting needle 10 has little frictional resistance overall and can be gripped easily by an operator.

In Figures 3 and 4, the knitting needle 10 is designed as a circular knitting needle 40. Here, the pullback drop 20 at the needle tip 11 can also be seen. The tapering 14 between the gripping area 13 and the needle tip 11 can also be seen. The two shanks 12 of the circular knitting needle 40 are connected via a small string 41. Here, only one needle or shank 12 is shown.

This specialized circular knitting needle 40 shown here is a knitting needle 10 with a very low thickness. Therefore, the shape transition 16 and, consequently, the triangular region 30 are also not provided. The dash-dot illustration in FIG4 (which shows the outer contour of the shank 12, including the end region 42 and the string 41, somewhat widened) shows that the entire shank 12 tapers toward the string 41. As a result, the circular knitting needle 40 also has the low frictional resistance that would otherwise be achieved by the triangular region 30. This thin circular knitting needle 40 is therefore also inexpensive to manufacture, whereas the introduction of the triangular region 30 in such a thin needle is more difficult and, if necessary, more expensive.

The string 41 is inserted into the end region 41 of the circular knitting needle 40, wherein the circular knitting needle 40 is made of a hard plastic material. The string 41 is injected with the material during the manufacturing process, as will be shown below. Although the end region 42 is made of the same hard plastic material as the rest of the shank 12, the small wall thickness makes the end region 42 of the circular knitting needle 40 flexible and elastic. FIG6 shows how the string 41 is inserted into the end region 42 of the shank 12, wherein the portion of the string 41 located in the end region 42 is indicated by a dashed line.

Figures 7a and 7b illustrate a portion of the manufacturing process for the circular knitting needle 40 shown in Figures 3 to 6. In Figure 7a, the small cord 41 is positioned by three retaining cores 60. This is followed by a plastic injection molding process, in which the small cord 41 is injected around the material of the end region 42 (here, a hard plastic). After the injection process, the retaining cores 60 rest flush against the surface of the end region 42. This ensures that no gaps are visible in the end region 42 of the circular knitting needle 40, resulting in a visually appealing overall appearance.

FIG8 shows an alternative embodiment of a circular knitting needle 40. This circular knitting needle 40 has a greater thickness than the circular knitting needles shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 b. The thickness is 5 mm. This should obviously be considered merely as an example. The present invention encompasses circular knitting needles 40 of a wide variety of diameters and thicknesses.

Here again, the pullback drop 20 is provided at the needle tip 11, with a taper 14 being present towards the gripping area 13 of the shank 12. However, the circular knitting needle 40 has a shape transition 16 into the triangular area 30. This again yields the already known advantage of the low frictional resistance of the circular knitting needle 40. The triangular area 30 is provided with a pattern here that creates a visually appealing overall impression.

As can also be seen from the enlargement in Figure 9, the end region 42 is designed to taper and has the small rope 41. The end region 42 is made of soft plastic 44 so that a flexible and elastic end region 42 is provided even with a greater thickness of the circular knitting needle 40. The internal structure of the end region 42 of the circular knitting needle 40 differs from the internal structure of the circular knitting needle 40 shown in Figures 3 to 7b. Here, the shank 12 of the circular knitting needle 40 is also made of hard plastic. However, part of the end region 42 is made of soft plastic 44. Here, during the manufacturing process, the small rope 41 is also injected around the material of the end region 42. However, in order to ensure that the soft plastic 44 adheres well to the hard plastic, the hard plastic is given an external contour during the injection process. Particularly advantageous is the fir-tree-shaped grid 43 shown here, which can be clearly seen in Figures 11 and 12. In the second production step, that is, during the over-injection of the soft plastic 44, the fir-tree lattice 43 is covered. The two plastics can be selected so that the hard plastic melts slightly at the surface during the over-injection of the soft plastic 44 and thus connects well to the soft plastic 44. The soft plastic 44 still extends beyond the fir-tree lattice 43 in the direction of the string 41. The fir-tree lattice 43 additionally holds the soft plastic 44 in place and prevents it from sliding in the direction of the string 41. This creates a flexible and elastic end region 42 of the circular knitting needle 40 that exhibits good flexibility even with the large diameter of the circular knitting needle 40.

Figures 13a and 13b illustrate a portion of the manufacturing process for the circular knitting needle 40. The small cord 41 is again held in place by three retaining cores 60 and is initially surrounded by the hard plastic injection molding process. The retaining cores 60 are then removed, and a second injection molding process is performed using the soft plastic 44. This results in the area where the retaining cores 60 rest against the small cord 41 being filled with the soft plastic 44, creating a visually uniform overall appearance for the circular knitting needle 40.

Figures 14 and 15 now show the shape transition 16 from the rounded shank 12 to the triangular region 30. Figure 15 shows a cross section through the triangular region 30. It can be seen that the corners 31 of the triangular region 30 are rounded, while the sides 32 are convex. This allows for a particularly good shape transition 16 with low frictional resistance, and the knitted fabric in the triangular region 30 slides essentially only on the rounded corners 31. This further reduces the frictional resistance in the triangular region 30, allowing the knitted fabric to slide over the length 15 of the knitting needle 10 in a simple manner.

Figures 16 to 19 show a knitting needle 10 according to the present invention, which is configured as a jacket needle 50. Here, the pullback drop 20 is also provided on the needle tip 11, and the triangular area 30 is also provided on the shank 12. A ball head 51 is provided at the end 17 of the knitting needle 10 facing away from the needle tip 11. This ball head 51 has a groove-shaped recess 52 that has approximately the same width as the shank 12 of the jacket needle 50. The shank 12 of the second jacket needle 50 can then be inserted into the groove-shaped recess 52 with a clamping force, thereby connecting the two knitting needles 10 of a pair of jacket needles 50. Here, the two jacket needles 50 can be inserted with their shanks 12 into the groove-shaped recess 52 of the respective other knitting needle 50. The knitted fabric is then located between the two clamping areas of the ball head 51 and thus cannot inadvertently slip off the jacket needle 50. Furthermore, the two jacket needles 50 of a pair of jacket needles 50 are thus always together, and the troublesome search for a matching second jacket needle 50 is eliminated.

Finally, it should be noted that the embodiments shown here are merely exemplary implementations of the present invention. The present invention can be used with respect to so-called needle settings for all possible types of knitting needles, thus for jacket knitting needles, circular knitting needles, and sock knitting needles. The knitting needles can also be made of the most diverse materials and have completely or partially different colors, for example, also to differentiate between different thicknesses.

Reference Signs List

10 knitting needles

11 Needle Tip

12 handle

13 Grip Area

14 Tapering

15 10 length

16 Shape Transition

17 The end of 10 facing away from 11

20 Pull back

30 Triangular area

31 30 corner

32 30 side

40 circular knitting needles

41 small rope

42 End area

43 Fir Tree Grid

50 jacket knitting needles

51 ball head

52 Grooved gap

60 Keep the core.

Claims (17)

1. Knitting needles (10) With at least one needle tip (11) and a shank (12), the knitted fabric can be arranged at least partially on the shank. It has a gripping area (13) located at the shank (12) near the needle tip (11) and has a circular cross-section, wherein the gripping area (13) can be gripped by an operator during knitting. Furthermore, the knitting needle (10) gradually tapers along its length (15) from the shank (12) toward the needle tip (11). Its features are, The needle tip (11) itself is strongly rounded to reduce the risk of injury, and also to reduce the risk of the yarn being punctured by the needle tip during knitting, and the needle tip (11) transitions into a rounded drop or tassel-shaped thickened portion, i.e., a pull-back drop (20), which has a diameter significantly smaller than the shank (12), such that the ratio of the diameter of the shank to the diameter of the pull-back drop is between 25% and 75%. The gripping area (13) between the handle (12) and the needle tip (11) gradually tapers towards the needle tip (11). Furthermore, the transition between the handle (12) and the tapered portion (14) and between the tapered portion (14) and the pull-back drop (20) is constructed without sharp edges and with low frictional resistance. Thus, through the construction of the pull-back drop and the tapered portion with low frictional resistance and without sharp edges, the knitting yarn can still slide well on the needle tip during knitting, and the pull-back drop does not form an obstruction during knitting, thereby preventing the knitting yarn from being hooked. 2. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the ratio of the diameter of the pull-back drop (20) to the diameter of the shank (12) of the knitting needle (10) depends on the thickness of the shank (12) of the knitting needle (10) and is 25% to 75%. 3. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the shank (12) has a shape transition (16) along its length (15) from the needle tip (11) behind the gripping area (13), and the shape transition has a triangular shape, i.e., a triangular region (30) in cross-section. 4. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the triangular region (30) of the shank (12) has rounded corners (31) and/or convexly constructed sides (32) in terms of cross-section. 5. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the shape transition (16) extends gently and with little frictional resistance between the circular shank (12) and the triangular region (30), such that the triangular region is constructed such that the triangular region does not damage the knitting yarn or the knitted fabric and also has a comfortable feel. 6. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the shank (12) is at least partially made of hard plastic. 7. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the knitting needle (10) is constructed as a circular knitting needle (40) and becomes more elongated in the longitudinal direction (15) of the cord (41) behind the gripping area (13). 8. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 7, characterized in that the knitting needle (10) is constructed as a circular knitting needle (40), wherein the end region (42) of the shank (12) is flexibly and bendably designed at the transition to the cord (41). 9. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 8, characterized in that the knitting needle (10) is constructed as a circular knitting needle (40), wherein the shank (12) in its end region (42) at the transition to the cord (41) is made of soft plastic and/or flexible plastic. 10. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the knitting needle (10) is constructed as a jacket knitting needle (50) and has a ball head (51) at its end (17) away from the needle tip (11). 11. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 10, characterized in that the ball head (51) has a groove-shaped gap (52) having the same diameter as the shank (12) or gripping area (13) of the knitting needle (10), and the second knitting needle (10) can be clamped and inserted into the gap by its shank (12) or its gripping area (13). 12. The knitting needle (10) according to claim 2, wherein the ratio is 30% to 60%. 13. A method for manufacturing a knitting needle (10) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the knitting needle (10) is constructed as a circular knitting needle (40), wherein, in manufacturing the circular knitting needle (40), a cord (41) is injected surrounded by the material of the shank (12). 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the cord (41) is first partially surrounded by a harder plastic portion of the handle (12) and then partially surrounded by a soft plastic portion. 15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the cord (41) is formed with an external contour when it is surrounded by an injection of a material harder than the soft plastic. 16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the cord (41) is held by one or more retaining cores (60) during the injection process. 17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the outer contour is a fir-shaped grid (43).