US3791174A

US3791174A - Patterning mechanism for circular knitting machines

Info

Publication number: US3791174A
Application number: US00194622A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Guell
Original assignee: Jumberca SA
Current assignee: Jumberca SA
Priority date: 1971-11-01
Filing date: 1971-11-01
Publication date: 1974-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 1991-02-12

Abstract

A rocking jack pattern mechanism for a circular knitting machine in which corresponding pairs of selector jacks and intermediate jacks cooperate in controlling selection of needles to perform knitting operations and in which cancellation of selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks occurs during the performance of knitting operations by the corresponding needles and selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks occurs prior to initiation of the next subsequent knitting operation to be performed by the corresponding needles.

Description

United States Patent 191 Guell PATTERNING MECHANISM FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES [75] Inventor: Jose Maria Dalmau Guell, Badalona,

Spain [73] Assignee: Jumberca, S. A., Badalona, Spain [22] Filed: Nov. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 194,622

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 868,046, Oct. 21, 1969,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 156/50 R [51] Int. Cl. D04b 9/38, D04b 15/68 [58] Field of Search 66/50 R, 50 B, 36 A, 36 B, 66/25, 50 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,063,269 11/1962 Losert et a1 66/50 R X 3,577,749 5/1971 Wright et a1. 66150 R 3,641,786 2/1972 Burdett et a1. 66/50 B 3,646,779 3/1972 Nuber et a1..... 66/25 3,616,654 11/1971 Llinas 66/25 2,164,118 6/1939 McAdams 66/50 R X mesa 1 Feb. 12, 1974 3,641,787 2/1972 Robottom 66/50 R 2,391,665 12/1945 Wildt et a1. 66/25 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 996,291 6/1965 Great Britain 66/50 B 705,358 5/1966 Italy 884,114 4/1943 France 66/50 B 1,230,961 12/1966 Germany 66/50 B Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson [57] ABSTRACT A rocking jack pattern mechanism for a circular knitting machine in which corresponding pairs of selector jacks and intermediate jacks cooperate in controlling selection of needles to perform knitting operations and in which cancellation of selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks occurs during the performance of knitting operations by the corresponding needles and selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks occurs prior to initiation of the next subsequent knitting operation to be performed by the corresponding needles.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEU FEB 1 2 1914

sum

2 or 4 IMPROVED PATTERNING MECHANISM FOR H C CLIL KNITTIEG MACHIN...

This application is a division of copending application Ser. No. 868,046 filed Oct. 21, 1969 now U. S. Pat. No. 3,638,456 issued Feb. I, 1972.

The present invention relates to a mechanism for circular knitting machines which facilitates needle selection and reduces the time required for this operation, as well as achieving a minimum of mistakes in positioning in comparison with the systems usually employed. At the same time this invention introduces improvements in the selection arrangements for these machines, designed to overcome the obstacles observed in knitting machines of this type, due to the fact that by increasing the number of spaces corresponding to the operative cycles of the needles, a notable reduction is caused in the time available within each space for the selective preparation phase to be performed by the jacks and associated elements, whereby the above preparation is hindered.

The solution of the problem relating to the needle selection is based on creating an effect directed towards keeping to the selection to be established in each case, without altering, thereby, the'space of time required by the normal development of the movements of the knitting needles.

In other known systems, the selection is retained by two or more jacks per needle, operating by lateral thrust. All of this creates factors which contribute towards an increase in the height of the mechanism and towards introducing a larger number of operative members. This new invention has been created specially to solve the above situation.

These improvements are, characterized by the fact that the selective perparation phase for the control of the needle movements is performed through one single intermediate jack, situated between the selector jack and the .relative needle, in such a way that the above mentioned selective action is developed, for each operative cycle of the needle under consideration, within a space inherent in the preceding cycle, in such a way that'the above mentioned intermediate jack retains the established selection in order to transfer it to the needle in its cycle through a rocking movement, whereby the selective space is not limited within each cycle and has a sufficiently ample prior area for its development, whereby there is a notable reduction in the height of the area covered by the needle cylinder and the number of members operating in said area.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal elevation of part of a circular knitting machine showing an active phase of an intermediate jack arranged between a selector jack and a needle;

FIG. 2 is a similar view to the previous figure, showing an inactive period of the intermediate jack;

FIG. 3 is a detail relating to the coupling area between the intermediate jacks and the control slots;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a cam area for the situation of the intermediate jacks;

FIG. 5 is a detail showing the cancelling action exerted on the intermediate jacks;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the relationship between the width of one sheet and the range covered by a selector jack tooth over an arc of circumference; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the idea of the present invention, on the basis of achieving a minimum projection in the movement of the tooth of ajack between its limits.

In a circular knitting machine, the essentially operative members are the needles 1, the jacks 2 and the sheetlike cams 3 for operation of the aforementioned members.

The needles 1, fitted with hook 4 and butt 5 correspond with some intermediate jacks 6 which enter the slot 7 of the sliding member 8 on which the butt 5 of the needles 1 rests. The jacks 2 have a rear butt 9 on which the intermediate jack 6 is adapted to be at times supported, when positioned as shown in FIG. 2 and a front butt 10 which cooperates with the cams 3.

Stitch cam means is provided (FIG. 4) for operation of the butts (5) of the needles (I) at each knitting station and includes a needle raising cam 3011 which is movable between the active position illustrated in FIG. 4 and a rearward inactive position so that it does not engage the butts 5 of the needles 1, and a recessed track 30 for passage of the butts of the needles.

The cams 3, normally housed in a box for that purpose, are now covered by a fixed support 11 connected to an angle iron 12, fitted in turn on the body member 13 with the aid of

screws

14 and 28.

The rotary part of the machine comprises the needles 1, jacks 2 and intermediate jacks 6, all arranged in a needle cylinder 16. The cams 3, with their associated members, the body member 13 and the upper upright 17, fonn the fixed part of the machine.

Other members shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 include an upper spring band 23 for normally urging the upper ends of the jacks 2 inwardly and a lower spring band 24 for pivotally supporting the lower ends of the jacks 2. A rear cover 25 is provided for the sheet-like cam 3. A locking member or lever 20 is supported for oscillation about a screw 21 fixed on support 11 and held in adjusted position by a hand operated screw 22.

The construction of the sheet-like cams 3 and the manner of accommodating selection of cams for a particular pattern is fully described in related U. S. Pat. No. 3,638,456 referred to hereinabove. For this reason, such disclosure will not be repeated at length in the present specificaion.

Basically, each operative cycle of a needle in a circular knitting machine comprises selection, raising, lowering and cancellation of selection. Ordinarily, these actions are developed within each cycle, which offers no problem provided that the number of sections in the knitting machine is relatively low. This is explained by the fact that if the available selection space is sufficiently large, the selection is performed without causing obstructions.

Nevertheless, when the above number of sections is large, the selection space is substantially reduced and this even arrives at a state of hindering the correct progress of the operations. The selector arrangement of the present invention is applied as a solution of this problem.

The behavior of the selector arrangement is as follows. In an inactive phase, as shown in FIG. 2, the selector jacks 2 are separated from the cams 3 and thus receive no impulse, while the intermediate jacks 6 have their rounded corner 29 resting against the cylinder 16 and hold their tooth 18 outside the slot 7.

Contrarily, as will be seen in FIG. 1, in an active phase, the selector jacks 2 rock and straighten up the intermediate jacks 6 which move to press against the cylinder 16 at the same time as their tooth l8 enters the slot 7 to control the needles 1 through their butt 5, and is applied against the upper inclined surface 42 of the cam 8.

Following the course of the intermediate jacks 6 in the slot 7, in the front view-in FIG. 3, it is seen that during an operative cycle, these jacks 6 develop a selection preparation phase which comprises space A, an operative phase B and a further non-operative phase C in which the cancellation profile 31 removes it from the slot 7. This cancellation action is exercised by the thrust that the profile 31 creates against the tooth 18 of the jack 6.

The above mentioned selection phase A covers a larger space than that reserved for one cycle in veiw of the fact that it comprises a zone of the previous cycle, whereby the said space allows a suitable development of the selective phase.

The function of the head 19 of the jack 2 consists of creating the lateral thrust on the intermediate jack 6 to put it into movement and that of the butt 9 is based on the fact that its stop limits the descent of the jack 6 so that its tooth 18 faces up to the slot 7.

As indicated in FIG. 6, the cams 3 must have a width D equal to the width covered by the tooth 10 of a selector jack 2 when covering its stroke in an arc of a circumference; it not being suitable that this value D be exceeded so as to occupy the smallest possible space, rather it is of interest to reduce this value as far as possible, which is precisely the purpose of this present invention.

To achieve the purpose sought after, arrangements are made for the stroke of a tooth 10 to develop in an arc of a circumference between a preselective rest point P and a selective point S, with the condition that the maximum value of the horizontal projection of the above stroke, that is, the part corresponding to the section MN, should fall on a vertical axis OR on which the radius OM is included within the stroke PS.

Thereby, the width H of the projection is reduced to a minimum value which will be precisely the magnitude of width that a selector cam 3 must have to comprise the field of movement of the tooth 10 from point P to point S.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is:

1. A circular knitting machine comprising:

a needle cylinder,

a plurality of selector jacks mounted on said needle cylinder and being pivotally supported at their lower ends, each of said selector jacks having an upper terminal end movable radially relative to said needle cylinder and a selection butt portion spaced downwardly from said upper terminal end,

selector cam means supported adjacent said cylinder for engaging said selection butt portions of selected ones of said selector jacks for moving said upper tenninal ends of said selected selector jacks inwardly of said needle cylinder, plurality of intermediate jacks mounted for movment relative to said needle cylinder and said selector jacks, each of said intermediate jacks having a lower terminal end and a tooth on its upper terminal end, each of said intermediate jacks being pivotable intermediate its ends and in response to inward movement of a corresponding upper terminal end of a corresponding selector jack for moving said tooth outwardly of said needle cylinder, an annular intermediate cam slot means extending along a path described by said intermediate jacks for receiving said teeth of those selected intermediate jacks which correspond to said selected selector jacks and for displacing said selected intermediate jacks axially of said needle cylinder and relative to corresponding selector jacks, plurality of needles mounted on said needle cylinder for movement relative to said needle cylinder and said intermediate jacks and said selector jacks and for performing knitting operations, each of said needles having a lower terminal end and a butt portion, each of said needles being movable axially of said needle cylinder in response to axial displacement of a corresponding selected intermediate jack which corresponds to a selected selector jack, and each of said needles being separable from said corresponding intermediate and selector jacks for independent movement axially of said needle cylinder, an annular stitch cam means extending along a path described by said needles for engaging said butts of such ones of said needles as are to perform knitting operations and for displacing such ones of said needles axially of said needle cylinder, said stitch cam means having at least one operative zone in which selected needles perform knitting operations, and

said intermediate cam slot means having at least first, second and third zones arranged in predetermined relation to said operative zone of said stitch cam means, said first zone being a cancellation zone and including cam means positioned in said intermediate cam slot means for canceling selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks by engaging and inwardly moving said teeth of selected intermediate jacks during the performance of knitting operations by the corresponding needles, said second zone being a selection zone for accommodating selection of correspoinding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks by receiving said teeth of selected intermediate jacks prior to initiation of the next subsequent knitting operation to be performed by the corresponding needles, and said third zone being an operative zone and including means for displacing selected intermediate jacks axially of said needle cylinder.

2. A knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein said lower end of each of said intermediate jacks extends downwardly of said upper end of the corresponding one of said selector jacks and along the side of said selector jack toward which said upper end moves in response to engagement with one of said selector cams.

Claims

1. A circular knitting machine comprising: a needle cylinder, a plurality of selector jacks mounted on said needle cylinder and being pivotally supported at their lower ends, each of said selector jacks having an upper terminal end movable radially relative to said needle cylinder and a selection butt portion spaced downwardly from said upper terminal end, selector cam means supported adjacent said cylinder for engaging said selection butt portions of selected ones of said selector jacks for moving said upper terminal ends of said selected selector jacks inwardly of said needle cylinder, a plurality of intermediate jacks mounted for movment relative to said needle cylinder and said selector jacks, each of said intermediate jacks having a lower terminal end and a tooth on its upper terminal end, each of said intermediate jacks being pivotable intermediate its ends and in response to inward movement of a corresponding upper terminal end of a corresponding selector jack for moving said tooth outwardly of said needle cylinder, an annular intermediate cam slot means extending along a path described by said intermediate jacks for receiving saiD teeth of those selected intermediate jacks which correspond to said selected selector jacks and for displacing said selected intermediate jacks axially of said needle cylinder and relative to corresponding selector jacks, a plurality of needles mounted on said needle cylinder for movement relative to said needle cylinder and said intermediate jacks and said selector jacks and for performing knitting operations, each of said needles having a lower terminal end and a butt portion, each of said needles being movable axially of said needle cylinder in response to axial displacement of a corresponding selected intermediate jack which corresponds to a selected selector jack, and each of said needles being separable from said corresponding intermediate and selector jacks for independent movement axially of said needle cylinder, an annular stitch cam means extending along a path described by said needles for engaging said butts of such ones of said needles as are to perform knitting operations and for displacing such ones of said needles axially of said needle cylinder, said stitch cam means having at least one operative zone in which selected needles perform knitting operations, and said intermediate cam slot means having at least first, second and third zones arranged in predetermined relation to said operative zone of said stitch cam means, said first zone being a cancellation zone and including cam means positioned in said intermediate cam slot means for canceling selection of corresponding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks by engaging and inwardly moving said teeth of selected intermediate jacks during the performance of knitting operations by the corresponding needles, said second zone being a selection zone for accommodating selection of correspoinding pairs of selector and intermediate jacks by receiving said teeth of selected intermediate jacks prior to initiation of the next subsequent knitting operation to be performed by the corresponding needles, and said third zone being an operative zone and including means for displacing selected intermediate jacks axially of said needle cylinder.