Pick-up device and pick-up method for removing and holding the knitted product from a hosiery machine

Abstract

The application discloses a picking device and picking method for taking off and holding the knitted products from a hosiery machine, which comprises a fixed half tooth rack and a turnover half tooth rack, an upper ring and a lower ring are installed on the fixed half tooth rack and the turnover half tooth rack and can independently move axially, a stitch needle is installed on the outer periphery of the upper ring and corresponds to the knitting needle of the hosiery machine in phase, and the picking device further comprises a supporting sheet ring, a plurality of supporting sheets are arranged on the annular body and can move radially inward or outward relative to the center of the annular body under the driving of an actuating mechanism, the number of the supporting sheets is the same as that of the knitting needle of the hosiery machine and the supporting sheets are in phase dislocation with the knitting needle of the hosiery machine, and the supporting sheet ring can move synchronously with the fixed half tooth rack and the turnover half tooth rack or independently. The application is reliable in work and low in processing difficulty and is suitable for popularization and application in the industry.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of knitting machines, and relates to a hosiery knitting machine, more particularly, to a picking device for picking up and holding the knitted product after the completion of the knitting of a sock, and a picking method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The current development trend of hosiery knitting machines is to integrate the knitting and sewing processes, i.e., to automatically complete the sewing process after the completion of the knitting of a sock. For this purpose, the knitted product, i.e., the sock, that has been completed needs to be picked up from the hosiery knitting unit and transferred to the sewing unit. The device that completes this process is the picking device. When the knitting of a sock is completed, the sock is hung on the needles of the needle cylinder by the last row of loops, and each loop corresponds to a needle. In order to complete the subsequent sewing, the regularity of each loop needs to be ensured so that each loop can be operated subsequently. Therefore, the loops cannot be disturbed, and each loop needs to be held separately, which is the main difficulty in the design of the picking device.

[0003] CN101970739A discloses a picking device that can complete the above-mentioned purpose. The picking device includes an annular picking body that supports picking pieces that can slide radially relative to the picking body. The picking body can be coaxially arranged around a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine for hosiery or the like, so that each of the picking pieces faces the needles of the machine. An actuating device is arranged to act on the picking pieces to move them towards or away from the axis of the picking body, so that each picking piece cooperates with or is separated from the needle of the machine that it faces. Each of the picking pieces is adapted to pick up a knitted loop held on the needle. The end of each of the picking pieces that faces the axis of the picking body has a seat that can be arranged close to the needle tongue of the needle that is opposite to the needle head of the needle. The actuating device includes elastic means that act on the picking pieces to slide them towards the axis of the picking body, and radial pushers that act on the picking pieces to slide them away from the axis of the picking body against the action of the elastic means.

[0004] This technical solution, its pickup is perpendicular to the knitting needle, from the space, the knitting needle is vertical direction and the pickup is horizontal direction, in order to complete the subsequent toe operation, the pickup device must be transferred to the toe device again to complete the toe. Obviously, this increases the overall cost of the machine, on the other hand, also reduces the efficiency of the machine.

[0005] CN105887322A discloses another pickup device, which comprises: a fixed seat frame; a fixed half-tooth frame fixed below the fixed seat frame, having at least one first functional tooth thereon; a turnover half-tooth frame radially opposite to the fixed half-tooth frame and rotatably connected to the fixed seat frame, having at least one second functional tooth thereon, the outer surface of the second functional tooth having a sewing needle groove, the turnover half-tooth frame being able to turn relative to the fixed half-tooth frame to align the first functional tooth and the second functional tooth; a fixed half-tooth frame loop transfer assembly connected to the fixed seat frame and the fixed half-tooth frame, for transferring the loop on the first functional tooth to the second functional tooth after the first functional tooth and the second functional tooth are aligned; and a turnover half-tooth frame loop release assembly connected to the fixed seat frame and the turnover half-tooth frame, for releasing the loop from the second functional tooth after the toe is sewn.

[0006] This technical solution uses the fixed half-tooth frame and the turnover half-tooth frame as part of the pickup device and the toe device at the same time, reducing the number of loop transfers. Its defects are that the first functional tooth and the second functional tooth are parallel to the knitting needle, and in fact, they are 180 degrees to the knitting needle when completing the pickup action; during the process of picking up the loop and keeping the loop to start the toe, the loop has no support for a short period of time and can only rely on the external negative pressure source to provide suction to keep the loop, but this suction is not reliable, and the loop may still slide down under the action of the weight of the sock, thereby separating from the functional tooth. 0

[0007] CN1723308A discloses another method and device for connecting the edges of tubular knitted fabric, which is the closest prior art to the present invention, comprising a movable carriage (300) which can be associated with the needle bed (100) of a circular machine and can move from said needle bed (100) and a closing station and / or a hooking station (400), said carriage (300) supporting means (25, 26) for the removal of the loops of the last knitted course, comprising means (26) for the removal of one half course, i.e. half of the loops of said last knitted course, and means (25) for the removal of the other half course, and the above movable carriage (300) is provided with driving means (22, 23) and transfer means (28) which can move one half course of loops onto the means (26) for the removal of the other half course. The unquoted part of this prior art can also be seen in the original text.​

[0008] The disadvantage of this technical solution is that its crown (13) and ring (15) need a larger volume to complete the installation, driving action, including a larger diameter and thickness. Larger thickness makes it necessary to tilt the top cover of the hosiery machine at a larger angle to accommodate the picking device when it is matched with the hosiery machine, which requires increasing the structural strength of the hosiery machine and increases the difficulty of arranging parts on the hosiery machine. Larger diameter makes the picking device cannot be directly used as a workstation for sewing heads, that is, after moving a half column of loops to the device for removing the other half column of loops, the loops still need to be moved to other parts to perform sewing heads.

[0009] The applicant has previously applied for another patent with the same subject matter, application number 2023108377698, which uses the following technical solution: a picking device for taking and holding finished products from a hosiery machine, comprising a fixed half-tooth rack and a turning half-tooth rack, the turning half-tooth rack can be turned radially by 180 0 , so that the two have two states of being laid flat as a complete ring and being stacked as two half-rings; the fixed half-tooth rack and the turning half-tooth rack are indirectly each mounted with a plurality of transfer teeth, when the two half-tooth racks are stacked, all the transfer teeth are opposite to each other; the fixed half-tooth rack and the turning half-tooth rack are each mounted with an upper half-ring and a lower half-ring in the axial direction, the upper half-ring and the lower half-ring can be laid flat as a complete upper ring and a complete lower ring with the movement of the turning half-tooth rack, and can be folded as axially stacked half-rings; the upper ring and the lower ring can be axially relatively displaced under the drive of a first driving mechanism; the transfer teeth are installed on the outer circumference of the upper ring and extend to the outer circumference of the lower ring; the inner wall of the lower ring has a circumferential circular groove, and the outer wall of the lower ring has a plurality of hook grooves extending to the bottom surface of the lower ring in the axial direction; further comprising a plurality of transfer hooks, the transfer hook is frame-shaped, having one longitudinal edge and two transverse edges, one of the transverse edges is a driving part, the other transverse edge and the longitudinal edge form an L-shaped hooking part, and the connection between the driving part and the hooking part is a transfer hook shaft; the transfer hook is installed in the lower ring, the transfer hook shaft is placed in the circumferential circular groove, the driving part faces the center of the lower ring, and the hooking part extends out of the hook groove; further comprising a second driving mechanism extending into the lower ring from above to drive the driving part of the transfer hook to move up and down.

[0010] When the socks are knitted, the picking device is moved as a whole above the needle cylinder of the hosiery machine, so that the transfer teeth, the guide groove and the knitting needles of the needle cylinder are in one-to-one correspondence and in the same straight line. The front end of the transfer teeth is matched with the needle head of the knitting needle. At this time, the last row of loops of the sock is hooked on the needle head of the knitting needle, the fixed half tooth holder and the turnover half tooth holder are in the form of a complete ring, and the upper ring and the lower ring are both in the form of a complete ring. The second driving mechanism drives the driving part of the transfer hook to rotate around the transfer hook shaft, and the hooking part of the transfer hook swings axially relative to the lower ring, so that the hooking part forms a large angle with the axial direction. At the same time, the first driving mechanism drives the lower ring to descend below the position of the loop on the knitting needle. The second driving mechanism reversely drives the driving part of the transfer hook to rotate reversely around the transfer hook shaft, so that the hooking part forms a small angle with the axial direction or is parallel to the axial direction to hold the loop from below. The picking device as a whole rises and moves to a set position to take away the knitted socks. In this process, on the one hand, the transfer teeth pass through the loop from inside, and on the other hand, the hooking part of the transfer hook holds the loop from outside so as to keep the loop.

[0011] It is found in practice that the above technical solution has the defect that the processing difficulty of the transfer hook is too great, both sufficient precision and sufficient strength and wear resistance are required, so that the yield of the transfer hook is low and it is difficult to popularize and apply in mass production. SUMMARY

[0012] The purpose of the present application is to provide a picking device and a picking method for taking down and holding the knitted products from the hosiery machine.

[0013] To this end, the present application adopts the following technical solution: a picking device for taking down and holding the knitted products from the hosiery machine, comprising a fixed half tooth holder and a turnover half tooth holder, the turnover half tooth holder can be turned by 180 0 radially to have two states of being flatly in the form of a complete ring and being stacked in the form of two half rings; a plurality of split tooth needles are indirectly mounted on the fixed half tooth holder and the turnover half tooth holder, respectively, when the two half tooth holders are stacked, all the split tooth needles are opposite to each other; the fixed half tooth holder and the turnover half tooth holder are both axially mounted with an upper half ring and a lower half ring, the upper half ring and the lower half ring can be flatly in the form of a complete upper ring and a complete lower ring with the movement of the turnover half tooth holder, or can be folded into axially stacked half rings; the upper ring and the lower ring can be axially relatively displaced under the drive of a first driving mechanism; the split tooth needles are mounted on the outer circumference of the upper ring and correspond to the knitting needles of the hosiery machine in phase; the outer circumference of the lower ring has a plurality of axial limiting grooves corresponding to the split tooth needles, so that the transfer teeth can extend to the outer circumference of the lower ring; characterized in that:

[0014] It also includes a support ring, which has an annular body with several support plates arranged horizontally and can move radially inward or outward relative to the center of the annular body under the drive of the actuation mechanism; the number of support plates is the same as that of the knitting needles of the sock machine, but they are staggered in phase with the knitting needles of the sock machine; the support ring is driven by the second drive mechanism to move axially and horizontally, and it can move synchronously with the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, or it can move independently.

[0015] The actuation mechanism of the support plate includes a radial pushing member and a circumferential spring. The circumferential spring surrounds all the support plates and compresses the support plates toward the center. Under the action of a motor or cylinder, the radial pushing member overcomes the elastic force of the circumferential spring and pushes the support plates away from the center.

[0016] The support plate has a thinner head and a thicker body. When the body is inserted between two adjacent knitting needles, all the support plates and all the knitting needles are in a clearance fit in the horizontal direction.

[0017] The present invention also employs the following technical solution: a method for picking up and holding knitted products from a sock machine, using the aforementioned picking device, comprising the following steps:

[0018] After the socks are knitted, the fixed half-tooth frame and the flip half-tooth frame are moved together above the cylinder of the sock knitting machine, with the needle tip of the sewing needle higher than the knitting needle of the sock machine; the support plate ring is also moved to the cylinder of the sock knitting machine, with the height of the support plate lower than the last few rows of loops of the sock hooked on the knitting needle; at this time, the cylinder, support plate ring, fixed half-tooth frame and flip half-tooth frame are all coaxial, and the sewing needle, the limiting groove and the knitting needle of the cylinder correspond one by one, having the same phase on the circumference, and therefore are on the same straight line, with the phase of the support plate misaligned with the knitting needle;

[0019] The actuation mechanism compresses the support plates inward, causing them to move radially in the horizontal direction, such that each support plate is inserted between two adjacent knitting needles and provides support for the coils at least below the last few rows of coils.

[0020] The first driving mechanism drives the lower ring to move downward, so that the limiting groove on the outer circumference of the lower ring engages with the knitting needle. At this time, both the sewing needle and the knitting needle are in the limiting groove.

[0021] The fixed half-tooth frame and the flipped half-tooth frame move downward as a whole, that is, the upper ring, the lower ring, and the sewing needle all move downward until the sewing needle contacts the knitting needle and forms a fit;

[0022] The second drive mechanism drives the support plate ring to move upward, and the support plate, carrying the coil it supports, leaves the knitting needle and comes to the height of the sewing needle.

[0023] The support ring moves synchronously with the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, carrying the supported coil away from the area where the needle cylinder is located and to the working area of ​​the next sock sewing operation.

[0024] Furthermore, the working area for the sock-sewing operation has a sock-turning tube that passes from bottom to top through the support plate ring and the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, allowing the sock to be held above the picking device. At this point, the support plate coil is no longer needed, and the support plate ring can return to its original position first under the drive of the second drive mechanism; the flipping half-tooth frame then rotates radially by 180 degrees. 0 The flipping mechanism allows it to overlap with the fixed half-tooth frame for sock sewing.

[0025] The most important innovation of this invention is the application of the support plate and support plate ring. The support plate is perpendicular to the knitting needle and the transfer tooth, and cooperates with them in the horizontal direction. One function is to support the coil, ensuring that all the coils can be transferred from the knitting needle to the sewing needle without the phenomenon of missing needles or "biting off single threads". Another function is that after the sock machine has been used for a long time, the knitting needle and the needle cylinder will age and wear, causing the knitting needle to deviate from its original phase, that is, it will be offset by a small angle relative to its original position, making it difficult to align and cooperate with the sewing needle. The support plate is inserted between adjacent knitting needles and fits with a gap, which is equivalent to adding a hoop that plays a fixing role. It can correct the angle of the knitting needle, ensuring that the knitting needle can enter the limiting groove of the lower ring. Through the limiting groove, the limiting effect is further limited, so that each knitting needle and the sewing needle can correspond one by one and cooperate in action. Another advantage of the present invention is that, in the prior art, the picking device and method only hooks the last row of coils during the process of removing and transferring the sock, that is, the weight of the sock is supported only by the last row of coils, which is easy to damage the sock; while the present invention also only hooks the last row of coils, but the support plate can support several rows of coils, that is, multiple rows of coils support the weight of the sock, so the sock will not be damaged.

[0026] It is evident that this invention is reliable and easy to process, making it suitable for widespread industrial application. Attached Figure Description

[0027] Figures 1 to 9 This is a schematic diagram of the working process of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a toothed needle.

[0029] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the support plate.

[0030] The following labels are used in the attached diagram: 00-sock loop; 1-knitting needle; 11-knitting needle hook; 2-upper ring; 3-lower ring; 31-limiting groove; 4-sewing needle; 41-sewing needle tip; 42-sewing needle root; 5-support piece; 51-support piece head; 52-inner side of support piece hub; 53-outer side of support piece hub. Detailed Implementation

[0031] Given that the readers of this specification are skilled in the art and familiar with the prior art, the prior art is not described in detail in the embodiments; relevant literature can be consulted. Specifically, the fixed half-tooth frame, the flipping half-tooth frame, and their operational relationship with the upper and lower rings are consistent with those disclosed in Chinese Patent 2023108377698; the relationship between the support plate and the support plate ring and its actuation method are consistent with the actuation method of the pickup body and pickup element disclosed in CN101970739A; regarding the sock-flipping tube passing through the support plate ring from bottom to top during the sock-sewing operation to keep the sock above the pickup device, Chinese Patents 2009801088587 and 2013800705434 disclose different solutions, both of which can be used in this embodiment.

[0032] See Figure 10 , Figure 11 The sewing needle 4 in this embodiment has a needle tip 41 and a root 42, wherein the root 42 is used to fix the sewing needle to the upper ring, so that the needle body extends downward along its outer circumference; the needle tip 41 has a groove on its inward side to accommodate the needle hook of the knitting needle. The support plate 5 has a thinner plate head 51 and a thicker plate body, and the plate at the rear of the plate has two sides. The inner side 52 faces the center of the support plate ring and is used to abut against the radial pushing member. The radial pushing member applies force to the inner side 52, thereby causing all the support plates to move outward radially; the outer side 53 has an arc-shaped groove, and a circumferential spring is fitted in the groove of all the support plates, giving all the support plates a pressure for inward radial movement.

[0033] The following is combined with Figures 1 to 9 The working process of the embodiment is described. Throughout the process, the position of the knitting needle 1 remains unchanged. If the knitting needle is not shown in the figure, it means that the component shown in the figure has left the area where the knitting needle is located.

[0034] Figure 1 The image shows the initial state, at which point the sock has been knitted and the last row of loops is hooked onto the needle 1 of the needle cylinder; the support plate ring is located outside the needle cylinder, and the support plate 5 is lower than the sock's loop 00, approximately below the 10th row of loops from the bottom; the fixed half-tooth frame and the flip half-tooth frame, as well as the upper ring, the lower ring, and a ring of toothed needles 4 fixed to the upper ring are all located above the needle cylinder, with the needle tips of the toothed needles higher than the hooks of the knitting needles.

[0035] Figure 2 Compared to Figure 1 The change lies in that the support plate 5 extends inward under the compression of the circumferential spring, and its thinner tip allows it to be smoothly inserted between two adjacent knitting needles 1. In this embodiment, there are a total of 200 knitting needles and 200 support plates. There is a support plate between every two adjacent knitting needles, thereby providing positioning for the knitting needles and preventing the needle hooks from shifting.

[0036] Figure 3 Compared to Figure 2 The lower ring 3 moves downward, accommodating the needle hook 11 of the knitting needle into its limiting groove 31. Since the support plate has already positioned the knitting needle in the previous steps, the limiting groove 31 can smoothly engage with the knitting needle, allowing the corresponding knitting needle and sewing needle to enter the same limiting groove. At this time, the needle hook 11 of the knitting needle and the needle tip 41 of the sewing needle have not yet contacted each other and there is still a certain distance between them.

[0037] Figure 4 Compared to Figure 3 Both the upper and lower rings move downwards a certain distance. At this time, the needle hook 11 of the knitting needle and the needle tip 41 of the sewing needle are engaged and matched, and the needle hook 11 has entered the inward groove of the needle tip 41.

[0038] See Figure 5 After the needle hook 11 of the knitting needle and the needle tip 41 of the sewing needle have formed a fit, the limiting groove 31 is no longer needed. At this time, the lower ring 3 moves upward and returns to its original position, fitting with the upper ring.

[0039] See Figure 6 The support ring moves upward, and all the support plates 4 drive the coil 00 upward, so that the last row of coils of the sock leaves the knitting needle and comes to the sewing needle.

[0040] See Figure 7 The upper ring, lower ring, and support ring move upward together, and the toothed needle 4 leaves the knitting needle 1.

[0041] See Figure 8 At this point, the upper ring, lower ring, and support plate ring have all moved in a coordinated translational motion, bringing the sock to the sewing area, meaning it is no longer coaxial with the needle cylinder. The sock-turning tube has already held the sock above the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame. That is, the last row of loops 00 shown in the diagram is still hooked onto the sewing needle 4 and is stuck below the lower ring, but the main body of the sock has been turned upside down. Now, the weight of the sock is supported by the sock-turning tube or other components, and the support plate 5 is no longer needed. Therefore, the support plate 5 moves downwards independently, separating itself from the upper and lower rings.

[0042] See Figure 9 At this point, the support ring moves horizontally independently, returning to its original position. Figure 1The rings are positioned as shown, ready for the next round of operations. The upper and lower rings are prepared to be flipped into overlapping semi-rings by the action of the flipping half-tooth frame, for the sock sewing operation.

Claims

1. A pick-up device for removing and holding knitted products from a sock machine, comprising a fixed half-tooth frame and a flipping half-tooth frame, the flipping half-tooth frame being capable of radially rotating 180°, thus allowing both to be laid flat as a complete ring or stacked as two half-rings; several sewing needles are indirectly mounted on both the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, and when the two half-tooth frames are stacked, all the sewing needles are opposite each other in pairs; both the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame are axially mounted with an upper half-ring and a lower half-ring, the upper half... The upper and lower half-rings can be laid flat to form a complete upper and lower ring as the half-tooth frame rotates, or folded into axially stacked half-rings; the upper and lower rings can be axially displaced relative to each other under the drive of the first drive mechanism; the sewing needles are installed on the outer circumference of the upper ring and correspond one-to-one with the knitting needles of the sock machine in phase; the outer circumference of the lower ring has several axial limiting grooves, the positions of which correspond one-to-one with the sewing needles, so that the transfer teeth can extend to the outer circumference of the lower ring; its characteristic is: It also includes a support ring, which has an annular body with several support plates arranged horizontally and can move radially inward or outward relative to the center of the annular body under the drive of the actuation mechanism; the number of support plates is the same as that of the knitting needles of the sock machine, but they are staggered in phase with the knitting needles of the sock machine; the support plates can support several rows of coils; the support ring is driven by the second drive mechanism to move axially and horizontally, and it can move synchronously with the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, or it can move independently; The support plate has a thinner head and a thicker body. When the body is inserted between two adjacent knitting needles, all the support plates and all the knitting needles are in a clearance fit in the horizontal direction.

2. The pick-up device for removing and holding the knitted product from the sock machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The actuation mechanism of the support plate includes a radial pushing member and a circumferential spring. The circumferential spring surrounds all the support plates and compresses the support plates toward the center. Under the action of a motor or cylinder, the radial pushing member overcomes the elastic force of the circumferential spring and pushes the support plates away from the center.

3. A method for picking up and holding a knitted product from a sock machine, using the picking device as described in claim 1 or 2, comprising the following steps: After the socks are knitted, the fixed half-tooth frame and the flip half-tooth frame are moved together above the cylinder of the sock knitting machine, with the needle tip of the sewing needle higher than the knitting needle of the sock machine; the support plate ring is also moved to the cylinder of the sock knitting machine, with the height of the support plate lower than the last few rows of loops of the sock hooked on the knitting needle; at this time, the cylinder, support plate ring, fixed half-tooth frame and flip half-tooth frame are all coaxial, and the sewing needle, the limiting groove and the knitting needle of the cylinder correspond one by one, having the same phase on the circumference, and therefore are on the same straight line, with the phase of the support plate misaligned with the knitting needle; The actuation mechanism compresses the support plates inward, causing them to move radially in the horizontal direction, such that each support plate is inserted between two adjacent knitting needles and provides support for the coils at least below the last few rows of coils. The first driving mechanism drives the lower ring to move downward, so that the limiting groove on the outer circumference of the lower ring engages with the knitting needle. At this time, both the sewing needle and the knitting needle are in the limiting groove. The fixed half-tooth frame and the flipped half-tooth frame move downward as a whole, that is, the upper ring, the lower ring, and the sewing needle all move downward until the sewing needle contacts the knitting needle and forms a fit; The second drive mechanism drives the support plate ring to move upward, and the support plate, carrying the coil it supports, leaves the knitting needle and comes to the height of the sewing needle. The support ring moves synchronously with the fixed half-tooth frame and the flipping half-tooth frame, carrying the supported coil away from the area where the needle cylinder is located and to the working area of ​​the next sock sewing operation.

4. The picking method for removing and holding the knitted product from the sock machine as described in claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes the following steps: The working area for sewing socks has a sock-turning tube that passes from bottom to top through the support plate ring, the fixed half-tooth frame, and the flipping half-tooth frame, so that the sock can be held above the picking device. At this time, the support plate support coil is no longer needed, and the support plate ring can return to its original position first under the drive of the second drive mechanism. The flipping half-tooth frame is rotated 180° radially to overlap with the fixed half-tooth frame for sewing socks.

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