A flat knitting machine without a head

Abstract

The application discloses an inorganic head needle knitting machine, which comprises a needle plate, a plurality of parallel needle slots arranged on the needle plate, knitting needles arranged in the needle slots and driven by a driving mechanism to move forward and backward in the needle slots, a rack arranged above the rear part of the knitting needle directly or indirectly, the rack exposed outside the needle slot and protruding leftward or rightward parallel to the plane of the needle plate, and the driving mechanism is a gear and a motor, each knitting needle is matched with a gear and a motor, the knitting needle is driven to move back and forth through the meshing of the gear and the rack, and the positions of the racks of two adjacent knitting needles on the knitting needles are staggered, so that the positions of the corresponding two gears are staggered and arranged in front of and behind the length direction of the knitting needle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of knitting machinery technology, specifically to flat knitting machines, and particularly relates to a headless flat knitting machine. Background Technology

[0002] A flat knitting machine typically consists of two needle plates, front and back, arranged in a figure-eight shape. Each needle plate has numerous needle slots, each containing a knitting needle. The needles on the front and back needle plates correspond one-to-one. During operation, the needles can move forward or backward, thus achieving zero positions and different working positions. Through the coordinated movements of the needles in different positions, yarn is knitted into loops, ultimately forming fabric. Therefore, the knitting needle is the core component of the flat knitting machine, and the precision of its movement—including positional and temporal accuracy—is a crucial parameter determining the quality of the knitting.

[0003] In existing flat knitting machines, the needles have several needle pins, either directly or indirectly, usually indirectly. This means the needles interlock with the needle feet (or head pins) behind them, with several needle pins on the needle feet. The machine head is positioned above the needle plate, and its side facing the needle plate has several triangles. These triangles combine to form different tracks that coordinate with the needle pins. When the machine head moves laterally on the needle plate, these tracks push the needles back and forth within the needle grooves via the needle pins, thus completing the knitting action. It's easy to see that the machine head pushes the needles sequentially; therefore, adjacent needles typically have the same but ordered trajectory. When adjacent needles need to have different trajectories, the positions of the triangles on the machine head are changed to alter the tracks, causing the adjacent needles to move along different paths. Such a switching process is difficult to achieve accurately and precisely, requiring extremely high precision in machine processing and control.

[0004] Therefore, the concept of a headless flat knitting machine has been proposed, as evidenced by Chinese patents 2016110625338 and 202011524632X, and the research on new needle driving methods documented in the 8th issue of the journal "Knitting Industry" in 2014. These technical solutions utilize a motor-driven screw-slider mechanism to drive the needles. Each needle corresponds to a set of motors and screw-slider mechanisms, allowing independent control of each needle's movement, resulting in more precise motion and suitability for knitting special fabric structures. This method requires a slider on each needle, and to precisely control needle movement, two sets of motors and screw-slider mechanisms are actually needed for initial and fine adjustments, as detailed in 2016110625338. These factors result in this single-needle drive method occupying a significant amount of space, affecting the density of the needle arrangement.

[0005] Based on this, the applicant has proposed a new knitting needle and knitting needle drive mechanism applicable to flat knitting machines without knitting heads, and has applied for a Chinese patent with application number 2026104840364. This invention is the application of such knitting needle and drive mechanism. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a headless flat knitting machine.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: a headless flat knitting machine, including a needle plate, the needle plate having a plurality of parallel needle grooves, in which knitting needles are arranged and driven by a drive mechanism to move back and forth within the needle grooves, characterized in that: a rack is provided directly or indirectly above the rear part of the knitting needle, the rack protruding outside the needle groove and protruding to the left or right parallel to the plane of the needle plate; the drive mechanism is a gear and a motor, each knitting needle cooperating with a gear and a motor, and through the meshing of the gear and rack, the knitting needle is driven to move back and forth; the racks of two adjacent knitting needles are staggered in position on the knitting needle, so that the positions of the corresponding two gears are staggered and arranged one in front and one behind along the length direction of the knitting needle.

[0008] The knitting needle has separate needle feet that interlock geometrically; a toothed rack is set on the needle feet.

[0009] The teeth of two adjacent knitting needles protrude in opposite directions.

[0010] Furthermore, a group of several knitting needles is formed, with the racks and gears positioned in staggered positions.

[0011] The coordinate system used in this invention is as follows: when the knitting needle is mounted on the needle plate and observed, the direction of movement of the knitting needle is forward and backward, the direction of extension and bending of the needle hook is up and down, and the direction of adjacent knitting needles is left and right.

[0012] The present invention has a simple structure, omitting the knitting head, and directly driving the knitting needles with a motor and gears, with each knitting needle being independently controlled; the use of miniaturized motors and gears can reduce the size of the drive mechanism. The racks of adjacent knitting needles are in opposite directions, one to the left and one to the right, thus two gears are arranged between two knitting needles; the staggered position of the racks refers to the staggered position of their effective working sections, which is actually the staggered position of the two gears.

[0013] In a further technical solution, it was considered that although the diameter of the gear was reduced as much as possible, it was still significantly larger than the thickness of the knitting needle and the ideal spacing between the knitting needles. If the gear were placed between two knitting needles, the spacing between the two knitting needles would be too large, which would not be suitable for knitting requirements. At the same time, the main body of the knitting needle is located in the needle groove while the rack is higher than the needle groove. Therefore, the gear can occupy the space above other knitting needles without affecting their movement in the needle groove. Thus, several knitting needles can be grouped together, that is, several gears can be arranged back and forth along the length of the knitting needle within the area of ​​a knitting needle. This greatly increases the knitting needle arrangement density and reduces the spacing between the knitting needles, thereby better meeting the knitting requirements. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a single knitting needle and gear in this embodiment.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a partial schematic diagram of the needle plate in this embodiment.

[0016] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of an tissue needle and its driving mechanism.

[0017] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the breakdown.

[0018] Figure 5 yes Figure 3 A top-down view. Detailed Implementation

[0019] See Figure 1 In this embodiment, the knitting needle is a separate unit. The knitting needle 1 has a needle foot 2 at the rear, and the two are interlocked by geometric shapes and installed in the needle groove. The front part of the knitting needle has a needle hook 11 and a rotatable needle tongue 12. Above the needle foot is a rack 21 that meshes with a gear 3.

[0020] See Figure 2 The figure shows the needle plate, a portion of the knitting needles, and the drive mechanism, specifically including the needle plate 5, which has several parallel needle grooves 50. Figure 1 The knitting needle 1 and needle foot 2 shown are set inside the needle groove, while the toothed rack protrudes outside the needle groove; Figure 2 The diagram schematically illustrates two sets of eight knitting needles and their drive mechanism. Due to the angle, only motor 4 is visible; the gears are... Figure 2 It is not visible in the middle.

[0021] See Figures 3 to 5 The needle plate has been removed from the diagram, showing the relationship between a tissue needle and its drive mechanism. In these accompanying figures, especially... Figure 5As can be clearly seen, the racks 21 of adjacent needles (stitches) are arranged in opposite directions, protruding to the left and to the right in alternating intervals, forming a face-to-face and back-to-back shape; at the same time, the racks of the four needles are staggered in the length direction of the needle, which is reflected in the position of the gear 3, that is, there are four gear positions in the length direction of the needle, which drive the needle by meshing with the racks 21 in different positions.

[0022] In this embodiment, there are two mounting plates 6, each with four gears 3 and a motor 4, forming a drive mechanism to drive two tissue needles from one tissue needle and two tissue needles from another tissue needle; for clarity, Figures 3 to 4 Only one set of four knitting needles is shown, but eight sets of gears and a motor are retained.

[0023] This embodiment eliminates the traditional knitting head of a flat knitting machine, allowing any single needle to be driven independently. Simultaneously, the needles and drive mechanism can be arranged relatively densely on the needle plate.

Claims

1. A headless flat knitting machine, comprising a needle plate, wherein the needle plate is provided with a plurality of parallel needle grooves, and knitting needles are disposed in the needle grooves and driven by a drive mechanism to move back and forth within the needle grooves, characterized in that: A rack is provided directly or indirectly above the rear of the knitting needle, protruding out of the needle groove and parallel to the needle plate plane to the left or right; the driving mechanism is a gear and a motor, each knitting needle is engaged with a gear and a motor, and the knitting needle is driven to move back and forth through the meshing of the gear and rack; the racks of two adjacent knitting needles are staggered in position on the knitting needle, so that the positions of the corresponding two gears are staggered, and they are arranged one in front and one behind along the length of the knitting needle.

2. The headless flat knitting machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The knitting needle has separate needle feet that interlock geometrically; a toothed rack is set on the needle feet.

3. A headless flat knitting machine as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The teeth of two adjacent knitting needles protrude in opposite directions.

4. The headless flat knitting machine as described in claim 1, characterized in that: A group consists of several knitting needles, with their racks and gears staggered.

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