High Gauge Knitting Machine Needle Guidance Segmentation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional knitting machines face limitations in achieving higher gauges due to mechanical rigidity issues with the slats, which decrease in strength as gauge increases, and cannot reduce needle thickness or play further without compromising textile parameters or increasing energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
The knitting machine design features a reduced number of sliding channels compared to knitting forming channels, allowing thicker slats and accommodating multiple needles per channel, utilizing their elastic flexibility to achieve higher gauges with improved mechanical strength and reduced energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the gauge is increased in conventional knitting machines, then the needle density increases, but the slat strength decreases due to reduced thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the needle support function into two separate components: sliding channels for guiding needle movement and slats for providing structural support. This segmentation allows the sliding channels to be positioned such that they do not compromise slat thickness, enabling high gauge while maintaining slat strength. Multiple needles can share common sliding channels, reducing the number of slats required while preserving individual needle functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention repositions the sliding channels from a configuration where each needle has its own channel along the slat length, to a configuration where sliding channels are arranged in a different spatial dimension - specifically, channels are positioned to allow slats to maintain adequate thickness while still providing necessary needle guidance through alternative geometric arrangements.
2Productivity
If the needle thickness is reduced to achieve higher gauge, then the needle density increases, but the textile parameters deteriorate and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the sliding channels universal by allowing them to serve multiple needles simultaneously. The channels are designed with dimensions and positioning that accommodate standard needle specifications, ensuring that needle thickness and play remain adequate for proper textile formation. This multi-functionality approach allows high gauge achievement without compromising individual needle performance or textile quality.
3Productivity
If the slat thickness is reduced to accommodate higher gauge, then the needle density increases, but the mechanical rigidity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the structural support function from the needle guidance function. Slats are dedicated purely to structural support and can maintain adequate thickness for mechanical rigidity, while sliding channels provide needle guidance. This segmentation allows optimization of each component independently - slats for rigidity and channels for precision guidance - resolving the contradiction between high gauge and mechanical stability.
4Productivity
If conventional machine design is used to achieve higher gauge, then the needle density increases, but the reliability decreases due to slat strength limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the load-bearing function from the guidance function. Slats are designed exclusively for load-bearing with adequate thickness to prevent deformation and failure, while sliding channels handle needle guidance. This functional segmentation significantly improves reliability by ensuring that structural components are not compromised by the requirements of high needle density.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding channels act as intermediaries between the needles and the slats. They transfer needle movement requirements without requiring the slats themselves to be thin or flexible, thus protecting the structural integrity of the slats while enabling precise needle guidance necessary for reliable high-gauge operation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enables the production of knitting machines with higher gauges and improved reliability, lower energy consumption, and reduced heat generation, achieving gauges previously unattainable with conventional machines while maintaining mechanical integrity.
Implementation Method 1
utilizing their elastic flexibility to achieve higher gauges with improved mechanical strength
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A knitting machine, particularly with a high gauge, comprising a needle holder (2), which supports a plurality of needles (3) which can be actuated with an alternating motion along their axis and means (4) for guiding the needles (3) on the needle holder (2); each needle (3) can be actuated with an alternating motion along its axis with respect to the needle holder (2) with an extraction motion, by means of which the needle (3) is extracted with its tip (3 a) and with a portion of its shank from one end of the needle holder (2) in order to drop, onto its shank, the previously formed loop of knitting and/or to pick up the yarn or yarns dispensed at a feed or drop of the machine, and with a retracting motion, by means of which the needle (3) is made to retract with its tip (3a) into the end of the needle holder (2) in order to form a new loop of knitting, performing knockover of the loop of knitting formed previously in order to produce knitting, the guiding means (4) comprising channels for forming knitting (5) which are defined proximate to the end of the needle holder (2) and sliding channels (6) which are defined on the needle holder (2) in a region that is spaced from the end of the needle holder (2), each one of the channels for forming knitting (5) being engageable by a needle (3) and defining with its inlet, which is directed toward the outside of the needle holder (2), resting contact regions for the knitting during the retracting motion of the needles (3), the number of the sliding channels (6) being smaller than the number of the channels for forming knitting (5).