How to start the needle after knitting on a hosiery machine

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for starting needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed. In the initial state, all the knitting needles are on the needle cylinder and lower than the top surface of the needle cylinder. The starting needles are completed by the steps of lifting the knitting needles to the drop needle position, pushing the coils mounted on the knitting needles upward, and disengaging the sinker from the fabric. At least a part of the knitting needles are lifted from the initial state to the drop needle position within an operation cycle of less than 360 degrees of the needle cylinder. The invention can lift the knitting needles faster and complete the starting needle action.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of knitting machinery, in particular to a hosiery machine, and more specifically to a method for starting the needles of the hosiery machine after knitting is completed. Background Art

[0002] At present, a large number of sock machines are intelligent sock machines that can knit and sew in one; that is, after knitting is completed, the socks are sewn directly on the same machine, that is, the toes of the socks are sewn to close the socks. Its basic action is to transport the socks intact to the sewing part for the next step after the sock knitting machine, or the sock knitting part of the sock machine, has completed knitting; the action of transporting the socks from the sock knitting part to the sock sewing part is generally referred to as transfer in the industry. There are currently a variety of technical solutions for transferring socks, such as the prior art recorded in Chinese patent CN101970739A, the prior art recorded in Chinese patent CN103015028A, etc. Regardless of the transfer method, before grabbing the socks from the sock knitting machine, the knitting needles of the sock knitting machine need to be higher than the knitting plane so that there is space for other parts to cooperate with the knitting needles; and when knitting is completed, the knitting needles are lower than the knitting plane, so the knitting needles must first be raised before the transfer step can be performed. This step of raising the knitting needles is called starting.

[0003] The prior art closest to the present invention is CN103946432A, which relates to a method for preparing a tubular product such as a sock or the like for automatic pickup when the product is formed, the method comprising five steps, the first step comprising delivering or retaining all needles into a lower needle cylinder, the last row of loops knitted of the product being fitted into the upper heads of the needles, and the product being tensioned downward in the lower needle cylinder; the second step comprising moving all needles to a tuck position; the third step comprising pushing upward a portion of the product that fits with the needles; the fourth step comprising disengaging the sinker from the product so that the product moves due to the upward propulsion force so that the last row of loops knitted are in the upper heads of the needles; the fifth step comprising lifting the needles to a dropped needle position, keeping the product pushed upward so as to keep the last row of loops knitted in the upper heads of the needles. The prior art further discloses that the order of the above steps can be changed, including the scheme that the first step, the second step, the third step and the fourth step are implemented successively, the scheme that the second step, the third step and the fourth step are implemented substantially simultaneously, and the scheme that the third step is implemented before the second step and the fourth step, and the second step and the fourth step are implemented substantially simultaneously. It should be pointed out that although the prior art is limited to a double-cylinder circular loom, in fact, a single-cylinder hosiery machine can also operate in the same manner.

[0004] It is not difficult to see that in the above-mentioned prior art, no matter how the order of implementation changes, the path of the knitting needle is unchanged. That is, the knitting needle is in the lower needle cylinder in the first step, the knitting needle is in the tuck position in the second step, and the knitting needle is in the drop position in the fifth step; roughly speaking, the three positions of the knitting needle can be summarized as low position, middle position and high position, that is, the knitting needle is from the low position to the middle position and finally to the high position in the whole process of starting the needle.

[0005] It is particularly worth pointing out that, whether in the description of the reference document or in the actual machine, all the knitting needles need to be gathered at the low position, middle position and high position mentioned above; that is, after all the knitting needles reach a certain position, they will enter the next position in sequence. Therefore, for the needle cylinder, it is necessary to rotate at least 360° in each of the three positions in a cycle to ensure that all the knitting needles reach the low position, the middle position, and finally the high position to complete the entire needle raising action. This increases the process of needle cylinder rotation and affects the overall efficiency of the machine.

[0006] The applicant has found that the reason why the prior art designs the needle raising method in this way is that when the knitting needles move from a low position to a high position, if they move directly in one step, the span of the knitting needles will be too large, and the height difference between different knitting needles will also be too large, which will easily cause the coils hanging on the knitting needles to be unhooked or broken; therefore, a two-step design is made, so that the tension generated by pulling on the coils acts on the coils twice, which will not affect the quality of the socks. However, the above prior art has room for improvement. Summary of the invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide a method for starting the needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed, so as to obtain higher working efficiency.

[0008] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: a method for starting the needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed, in which, in the initial state, all the knitting needles are on the needle cylinder and lower than the top surface of the needle cylinder, and the starting of the needles is completed by the steps of lifting the knitting needles to the dropped needle position, pushing the coils mounted on the knitting needles upward, and disengaging the sinker from the fabric, and is characterized in that: at least a part of the knitting needles are lifted from the initial state to the dropped needle position within an operating cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder.

[0009] In the present invention, there is no strict order relationship between the step of pushing the coil upward and the step of disengaging the sinker from the fabric and the action of the knitting needle. As described in the prior art in the background technology section, these steps can be performed simultaneously or sequentially, and the order of several steps can be interchanged to a certain extent without affecting the final completion of the needle raising.

[0010] The present invention can be used for a single-needle cylinder hosiery machine or a double-needle cylinder hosiery machine. When used for a double-needle cylinder hosiery machine, the so-called needle cylinder refers to the lower needle cylinder.

[0011] Furthermore, in the present invention, all the knitting needles are lifted from the initial state to the dropped needle position within an operation cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder.

[0012] Furthermore, the present invention can also adopt such a technical solution: except for the first knitting needle or the first N knitting needles at the beginning of knitting, the remaining knitting needles are lifted from the starting state to the missed needle position within an operating cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder; the N is less than half of the total number of knitting needles.

[0013] Said N<10.

[0014] All the knitting needles move upward in two steps, first from the starting state to the middle height, and then from the middle height to the missed needle position; before the knitting needles reach the middle height, their corresponding sinkers have been opened and detached from the fabric.

[0015] In one of the above technical solutions, for the first one or several knitting needles to move upward when starting the needle, the present invention still allows them to move at least 360° at the middle height, that is, the tuck position, while the remaining knitting needles move up to the drop needle height within a 360° cycle; the first one or several knitting needles move up to the drop needle height during the second cycle. Since the needle cylinder is rotating, the knitting needles arranged circumferentially on the needle cylinder do not move upward at the same time, but occur successively as the needle cylinder rotates.

[0016] The above description can be further refined: suppose the phase of the knitting needle starting to move upward from the initial state is o, and after a stroke oa, it reaches the middle height at phase a, and then maintains the middle height for a stroke ab, and moves upward again after reaching phase b, and reaches the drop needle height at phase c after a stroke bc. For most knitting needles, the total stroke is oc; for the first or first N knitting needles, it does not move upward after reaching phase b for the first time, but continues to move 360° at the middle height, and then moves upward after reaching b for the second time, and reaches the drop needle height at phase c after a stroke bc, so its total stroke is 360°+oc.

[0017] When all the needles are at the same height, the fabrics mounted on the needles are on the same plane and the force is uniform; when one needle is higher than the others, the coils on this needle will bear additional tension; when two needles are higher than the others, the coils on these two needles will share this additional tension. It can be seen that the tension caused by the different heights of the needles, that is, the risk of fabric damage, depends on the height difference between the needles on the one hand, and on the number difference between the needles at different heights on the other.

[0018] Further analysis is as follows: In one case, when the first needle is lifted to the middle height, assuming it is half of the final height, the additional tension on the coil on the first needle can be roughly considered to be half; when the second needle is lifted to the final height, the height difference between it and the first needle is also half of the final height, and the tension on the coil on the second needle is also greatly reduced (compared to directly lifting to the final height). In another case, the first and second needles are lifted to the middle height, and the third needle is lifted to the final height. The first and second needles share half of the tension, and the third needle also bears half of the tension. It can be seen that the tension on the coils on these needles is smaller than in the above case, but the improvement is much smaller. By analogy, it can be found that the effect of dividing the first knitting needle into two steps and walking 360° is the most obvious. Although the following knitting needles also have an effect, the marginal utility is getting lower and lower.

[0019] At the same time, as mentioned above, the more knitting needles move 360° at the middle height, the more the needle cylinder rotates, and the less the work efficiency is improved. When there are more than half of such knitting needles, it is actually meaningless, and it may be just to circumvent the protection scope of "moving all needles to the tuck position" in the prior art.

[0020] In order to prevent damage to the fabric, the present invention can also have another further technical solution: the step of pushing the coil mounted on the knitting needle upwards is completed by the upward movement of the top sock tube arranged in the needle cylinder; the upward movement of the top sock tube is divided into two sections, namely from a low position to a middle position and from the middle position to a high position, wherein the first section of the movement from the low position to the middle position occurs before the knitting needle starts to lift from the starting state, or occurs simultaneously with the lifting action of the knitting needle from the starting state.

[0021] The extra tension that the coil bears is related to the height difference between the knitting needles on the one hand, and to the position of the entire fabric on the other hand; taking the plane where the fabric is located as the reference system, the greater the height difference between the knitting needle and the plane, the easier it is to cause damage to the fabric. Therefore, the present invention divides the rise of the coil on the knitting needle, that is, the rise of the fabric into two steps. Its basic idea is consistent with the two-step process of the knitting needle, that is, the height difference is realized in two sections, thereby reducing the height difference of each section. The rise of the top sock tube has only one action, unlike the rise of knitting, which must be carried out one by one. Therefore, no matter how it rises, the time consumed can be ignored; moreover, the rise of the top sock tube can be carried out simultaneously with the lifting of the knitting needle, and no extra working time is required. Therefore, this further technical solution will not cause any damage to the working efficiency of the machine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 , Figure 2It is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of this embodiment.

[0023] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a sinker.

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the sinker track and part of the sinker.

[0025] Figures 5 to 7 It is a schematic diagram of the needle cylinder and knitting needles at different stages of needle casting.

[0026] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the expansion of the needle cylinder and the knitting needles in this embodiment.

[0027] Figures 9 to 16 It is a schematic diagram of different needle movement methods. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] See also Figure 1 , Figure 2 This embodiment relates to a double-cylinder hosiery machine. Since the present invention only relates to the lower needle cylinder, the upper needle cylinder is not shown in the figure. Figure 1 The complete condition of the needle groove is not reflected. Figure 2 The syringe is not shown, so the two pictures need to be combined to express it.

[0029] This embodiment includes a lower needle cylinder 1, on the circumferential surface of which there is a longitudinal needle groove, in which a knitting needle 2, a needle guide 4, a control plate 5, a needle selector 6, and an electromagnetic needle selector 7 are arranged from top to bottom, wherein the knitting needle 2 is a double-headed knitting needle; the needle guide 4 can be combined with or disengaged from the knitting needle 2, and the needle guide 4 and the control plate 5 are connected by the geometric shape of the end, and the needle selector 6 can move upward under the selection of the electromagnetic needle selector 7 and push the control plate 5. A gate knife 8 is also arranged on the periphery of the needle cylinder, acting on the needle guide 4 or the control plate 5 to make it move upward or downward. In this embodiment, a total of four electromagnetic needle selectors 7 are arranged, marked as 71-74; a total of 7 gate knives are arranged on the lower needle cylinder, marked as 81-87, which will be further introduced below.

[0030] A coaxial top sock tube 9 is also provided in the syringe, which can perform axial lifting and lowering motion relative to the syringe. The figure shows the top sock tube 9 raised to the highest position.

[0031] The above is the prior art, and reference may be made to the literature in the background technology section, or to other patents of the applicant related to double-needle hosiery machines, which will be described in more detail below.

[0032] See also Figure 3 , Figure 4. A sinker support mechanism is provided inside the needle cylinder to support the sinker 3. Since the sinker support mechanism rotates synchronously with the needle cylinder and the two remain relatively stationary, the sinker support mechanism can also be considered as a part of the needle cylinder; the arrangement of the sinker is that a sinker 3 is provided between two adjacent knitting needles 2, and the head 31 of the sinker 3 extends away from the axis of the needle cylinder, and has a hook 311 at its end facing the axis of the needle cylinder, so that the hook 311 can press the fabric between the two knitting needles inward. There is also an annular sinker track 13 inside the needle cylinder. The sinker track 13 is stationary relative to the frame, so the needle cylinder rotates around the sinker track 13; the heel 32 of the sinker is placed in the sinker track 13. When the needle cylinder rotates, the sinker 3 rotates with the needle cylinder, and its heel moves along the sinker track 13. There is a section of track 1c in the sinker track 13 that is higher than other parts, commonly known as the "gap". When the sinker moves to this section with the needle cylinder, its heel 32 is raised, and accordingly its head 31 and hook 311 swing away from the axis of the needle cylinder. This action is called the opening of the sinker, and its hook will leave the fabric between the two knitting needles; when the sinker continues to run and leaves the gap and returns to the track at its original height, it will swing in the opposite direction, that is, close the sinker and press the fabric.

[0033] The above description is also prior art. The innovation of this embodiment is that in addition to 1c, there are two more notches 1a\1b on the sinker track, which will be described below in conjunction with other drawings.

[0034] Figures 5 to 7 The different stages of needlework are shown, Figure 5 It is the starting state when starting the needle. Figure 6 It is the middle state of starting the needle. Figure 7 This is the state after the needle is raised. For the sake of clarity, the top sock tube is omitted in the figure. Figures 5 to 7 The parts structure is exactly the same and the angles are also the same, so the same elements are not marked repeatedly in the three figures. The three figures can be read together.

[0035] The rotation direction of the lower needle cylinder 1 is counterclockwise. It can be seen that in the initial state of starting the needle, all the knitting needles 1 are lower than the tube mouth, or lower than the sinker. At the three positions 1a\1b\1c, the sinker track each has an upward higher section track, that is, when the sinker runs along the sinker track to these three positions, it will be pushed by the track to swing away from the axis of the needle cylinder, so that the head of the sinker moves upward away from the fabric, that is, the sinker is "opened". The notch at 1c is originally designed to allow the sinker to cooperate with the knitting action, and the notch at 1a\1b is a unique design of the present invention.

[0036] When starting to start, the sinker at 1a begins to open, and the knitting needle 21 at this time begins to move upward, and the top sock tube 9 rises to the middle height; after running a distance of about 6 knitting needles, the first knitting needle 21 moves up to the middle height, and then continues to move at the middle height, and the second to fifth knitting needles also move in the same way. When the sixth knitting needle 26 also reaches 1a, it first moves up to the middle height, runs about 2 knitting needles at the middle height, and then moves up again to the drop needle height, and continues to move at the drop needle height, and the subsequent knitting needles also move in the same way. In this process, the top sock tube is also lifted from the middle height to the highest position. Figure 6 It can be seen that the knitting needle 26 and the subsequent knitting needles are raised from the initial state to the dropped needle height within the distance range of X. Figure 6 The displayed status is that the first five knitting needles are already running at the middle height, and the subsequent knitting needles are being lifted one after another and are running after being lifted to the missed needle height.

[0037] When the rotation distance of the needle cylinder exceeds 360°, the knitting needle 21 comes to the right end of X again, at this time, all the knitting needles except the first five knitting needles have risen to the drop needle height, and then the first five knitting needles also rise to the drop needle height in turn, that is, Figure 7 The status shown. The stitching is completed.

[0038] It should be noted that the sinker track gap at 1b does not work in this embodiment, but it will still be opened when the sinker runs to this point. In fact, the gaps at 1a\1b are optional, and you can choose to start the needle at 1a or 1b as needed.

[0039] See also Figure 8 . Since the present invention only involves the lower needle cylinder, the upper needle cylinder part is not marked. The needle groove of the lower needle cylinder is provided with a double-headed latch needle 2, a needle guide piece 4, a control piece 5, and a needle selection piece 6 from top to bottom, wherein the needle guide piece 4 has a needle clock 41, and the control piece 5 has a needle clock 51; seven gate knives are provided on the periphery of the lower needle cylinder, respectively marked as 81-87, and the first gate knife 81, the fourth gate knife 84 and the seventh gate knife 87 are used in this embodiment; four electromagnetic needle selectors are also provided on the periphery of the lower needle cylinder, marked as 71-74, and the first electromagnetic needle selector 71, the second electromagnetic needle selector 72 and the fourth electromagnetic needle selector 74 are used in this embodiment, which will be described in detail below.

[0040] Figures 9 to 16 Several ways of implementing the present invention are shown. In these figures, the knitting needles move from right to left; the needles are started from behind the dotted line, and the right side of the dotted line in most cases indicates the knitting needles that have reached the missing needle position; the figure cannot show all the knitting needles, so only a few knitting needles are shown, rather than the specific first, second, etc. knitting needles.

[0041] Fig. 9In the illustrated embodiment, the first gate knife 81 and the fourth gate knife 84 act successively on the needle clock 51 of the control plate, thereby pushing the knitting needle upward.

[0042] Fig.10 In the illustrated scheme, the fourth electromagnetic needle selector 74 and the fourth knife gate 84 act on the needle selector and the needle clock 51 of the control plate successively, thereby pushing the knitting needles upward.

[0043] Fig.11 In the illustrated scheme, the first knife gate 81 and the first electromagnetic needle selector 71 act on the needle clock 51 of the control plate and the needle selector plate successively, thereby pushing the knitting needles upward.

[0044] Fig.12 In the illustrated scheme, the fourth electromagnetic needle selector 74 and the first electromagnetic needle selector 71 act on the needle selector piece successively, thereby pushing the knitting needle upward.

[0045] Fig.13 In the scheme shown, the fourth electromagnetic needle selector 74 and the second electromagnetic needle selector 72 act on the needle selector successively, thereby pushing the knitting needle upward. In this scheme, the sinker tracks only have 1a and 1c but not 1b.

[0046] Fig.14 In the scheme shown, the fourth knife 84 and the second electromagnetic needle selector 72 act on the needle clock 51 of the control plate and the needle selector plate in sequence, thereby pushing the knitting needles upward. In this scheme, the sinker tracks only have 1a and 1c but not 1b.

[0047] Fig.15 In the illustrated scheme, the first gate knife 81 and the seventh gate knife 87 act on the needle clock 51 of the control plate successively, thereby pushing the knitting needle upward.

[0048] Fig.16 In the illustrated scheme, the seventh knife gate 87 and the fourth electromagnetic needle selector 74 act on the needle clock 51 of the control plate and the needle selector plate successively, thereby pushing the knitting needles upward.

Claims

1. A method for starting the knitting of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed, wherein in the initial state, all the knitting needles are on the needle cylinder and below the top surface of the needle cylinder, and the starting of the knitting needles is completed by the steps of lifting the knitting needles to the missed needle position, pushing the coils mounted on the knitting needles upward, and disengaging the sinker from the fabric, and the method is characterized in that: All the knitting needles move upward in two steps, first from the starting state to the middle height, and then from the middle height to the dropped needle position; before the knitting needles reach the middle height, their corresponding sinkers have been opened and detached from the fabric; at least a part of the knitting needles are lifted from the starting state to the dropped needle position within an operating cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder.

2. The method for casting off the needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: All the knitting needles are lifted from the starting state to the dropped needle position within an operating cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder.

3. The method for casting off needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Except for the first knitting needle or the first N knitting needles at the beginning of the knitting, the remaining knitting needles are lifted from the starting state to the missed needle position within an operation cycle of less than 360° of the needle cylinder; the N is less than half of the total number of knitting needles.

4. The method for casting off the needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: Said N<10.

5. The method for casting off needles of a hosiery machine after knitting is completed as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The step of pushing the coil mounted on the knitting needle upward is completed by the upward movement of the top sock tube arranged in the needle cylinder; the upward movement of the top sock tube is divided into two sections, namely from the low position to the middle position and from the middle position to the high position, wherein the first section of the movement from the low position to the middle position occurs before the knitting needle starts to be lifted from the starting state, or occurs simultaneously with the lifting action of the knitting needle from the starting state.

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