Knitting Needle Meander Arc Slit for High-Speed Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Knitting machine needles face challenges in wear resistance and longevity at increased working speeds, with existing solutions like slits, recesses, and grooves providing limited predictability and effectiveness in reducing hook breakage and maintaining precision positioning.
Innovation Solution
A knitting machine needle design featuring a meander curve with a slot extending through the upper or lower narrow side, which can be filled with a different material or remain empty to provide damping, and has angled end surfaces to influence stability and resonance, enhancing durability and precision at high speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the working speed of knitting machines is increased, then productivity is improved, but the service life of knitting machine needles deteriorates due to increased acceleration and deceleration causing hook breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The meander curve is divided into multiple segments by forming at least one slit through the needle body, creating upper and lower branches that can move independently. This segmentation allows the needle to better absorb acceleration and deceleration forces at high working speeds without hook breakage, thus maintaining reliability while enabling increased productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The slit configuration changes the mechanical parameters of the meander curve by creating flexible joints between segments. This allows the needle to dynamically adjust its flexibility characteristics during operation, optimizing the balance between stability for positioning and flexibility for absorbing speed variations, thereby maintaining service life at increased working speeds
2Reliability
If the meander curve is made more elastic to reduce breakage, then reliability is improved, but the stability of the needle shaft for precise hook positioning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The slit divides the meander curve into distinct segments that can flex independently, providing elasticity where needed while maintaining overall structural stability. The segmented design allows controlled deformation to absorb shock without compromising the positional stability of the hook during knitting operations
Solution Approach 2:
The slit is positioned specifically in the meander curve sections where flexibility is most beneficial for absorbing acceleration forces, while leaving other critical areas of the needle shaft intact to maintain stability. This localized modification optimizes the balance between elasticity for breakage resistance and stability for positioning precision
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
The design significantly increases the service life of knitting machine needles, reduces breakage, and maintains precise hook positioning even at high speeds, while allowing for adjustable stability and damping properties.
Implementation Method 1
This effect can be deliberately used to achieve a damping effect in the slotted zone of the meander curve
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4
AI summary
The needle (1) has a needle body (2) with a foot (3) and a shank (4) provided with an upper narrow side (8) and a lower narrow side (9) and bearing a hook (5) on one end. The shank includes a meander curve (12) provided between the hook and the foot. The meander curve is provided with a meander curve slit that extends through one of the upper and the lower narrow sides. The curve slit is defined by two sections (15, 16) extending in a longitudinal direction of the body. A latch slit is arranged at a distance from the curve slit.