Knitting System Flattened Guide Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knitting systems face challenges in manufacturing cost-effectiveness and accuracy, particularly with high intricacies and finer gauges, where guide channel designs with parallel flanks lead to hardening difficulties and increased production costs, and the use of segmented cylinders can result in distortion issues during hardening.
Innovation Solution
A knitting device with a needle bed featuring guide channels where the channel depth is between ¾ and five times the channel width, made from a seamless one-piece body, allowing for reduced weight and material usage, and incorporating axially displaceable knitting tools with recesses to minimize friction and wear, enabling efficient manufacturing and coating processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If guide channels with parallel flanks are used in knitting cylinders for coarse gauges, then manufacturing is simplified, but hardening becomes difficult and Vex wear problems occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the guide channel by introducing an inclination angle (5-15 degrees) of the flank relative to the axial direction. This parameter modification allows the channel to be milled with standard tools while creating a tapered geometry that facilitates hardening processes and reduces Vex wear, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing ease and hardening capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces asymmetry in the guide channel geometry by inclining one or both flanks at angles between 5-15 degrees to the axial direction. This asymmetric design breaks the parallel flank configuration, enabling better hardening penetration and wear resistance while maintaining manufacturability through conventional milling processes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If inserted webs are used to define guide channels in knitting cylinders, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but production cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the guide channel formation directly into the knitting cylinder body through monolithic milling operations. Instead of inserting separate webs to define channels, the channels are milled directly into the cylinder, eliminating the need for additional components and reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining the required geometric flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the inserted webs from the design, eliminating this additional component entirely. The guide channels are now defined directly by the cylinder body geometry itself, which simplifies the manufacturing process and reduces production costs while preserving the ability to define precise channel configurations through milling operations.
3Reliability
If shell-shaped hardened segments are attached to a hollow-cylindrical body, then hardening is achieved, but distortion during hardening causes major problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the hardening process into the manufacturing of the knitting cylinder itself. The entire cylinder body, including the guide channels, is hardened as a single integrated component during production. This eliminates the need to attach separate hardened segments, thereby preventing distortion issues while achieving the required hardening capability throughout the structure.
4Manufacturing precision
If trapezoidal webs are used to compensate for trapezoidal guide channels, then accuracy requirements are met, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves the required trapezoidal geometry accuracy by directly controlling the milling parameters of the guide channels during manufacturing. By precisely setting the inclination angles (5-15 degrees) and using appropriate cutting tools, the desired trapezoidal shape is achieved without requiring specially shaped webs, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while avoiding additional production costs.
Data Source
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AI summary
A knitting device (10) according to the invention comprises a needle bed (12) and knitting tools (16), wherein the needle bed (12) is seamless and jointless both with respect to the design of its channel walls (18, 19) and perpendicular to the bottom (23) of the channel through the base body (20) of the needle bed (12). The channel depth of the individual guide channels (13, 14, 15) is preferably less than three times the channel width. This results, particularly with very fine needle pitches, in robust and stable channel walls (18, 19) that can be subjected to a hardening or coating treatment. The reduced overall weight, the smaller friction surfaces, and the more stable design of the knitting device enable operation at increased knitting speeds and rotational accelerations, especially in pendulum operation, and result in overall savings in lubricant and energy.