Circular Knitting Sinker with Movable Transition Surfaces
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing knitting mechanisms for plating jacquard knitting require multiple types of sinkers, increasing costs and reducing gauge, while also causing unintended yarn position reversals due to instability and vibrations.
Innovation Solution
A knitting mechanism with sinkers that move horizontally and have specific transition surfaces to guide yarns, allowing for interchangeable positions of ground and plating yarns without increasing the number of sinker types, reducing unintended position reversals by stabilizing yarn positions and minimizing load on the yarns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple types of sinkers are used to interchange yarn positions, then plating jacquard knitting is enabled, but device complexity increases and gauge decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The sinker is designed with a sinker nose that can guide both the first yarn (plating yarn) and the second yarn (ground yarn) to different positions. By making the sinker nose movable between a first position and a second position, a single sinker type can perform the function previously requiring multiple sinker types, enabling plating jacquard knitting while maintaining uniform sinker design across the machine.
Solution Approach 2:
The sinker nose is made movable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically switch between guiding the first yarn and guiding the second yarn. This dynamic positioning capability enables a single sinker to adapt its function based on the knitting pattern requirements, eliminating the need for multiple specialized sinker types while maintaining the ability to produce plated jacquard fabrics.
2Device complexity
If sinkers follow a single route, then device complexity is reduced, but yarn position stability decreases causing unintended reversals
Solution Approach 1:
The sinker nose position is made dynamic and controllable, allowing it to be placed at different positions (first position or second position) based on the knitting pattern requirements. This dynamic adjustment enables the sinker to reliably guide yarns to the correct positions without requiring multiple fixed-route sinkers, maintaining yarn position stability while using a single sinker type with a single physical route.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sinker nose pushes yarns to interchange positions, then plating knitting is achieved, but vibrations increase causing unintended position reversals
Solution Approach 1:
The sinker nose acts as an intermediary that guides yarns to different positions through controlled movement rather than forceful pushing. By positioning the sinker nose at different locations (first position or second position), the yarns are gently directed to their intended paths without experiencing excessive vibrations or loads, preventing unintended position reversals while achieving the desired yarn interchange for plating knitting.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5A~5(b3)
AI summary
Provided are a sinker that is unlikely to cause the positions of a plating yarn and a ground yarn to be reversed unintentionally, and a knitting mechanism using the sinker. In a knitting mechanism with which plating knitting can be performed on a circular knitting machine, a sinker has a first transition surface (42, 42B) and a second transition surface (43, 43B) on a sinker top thereof. Either a first route (61, 61A) or a second route (62, 62A) is selected as a movement route for the sinker. The first route (61, 61A) brings the first transition surface (42, 42B) into the closest proximity to a knitting needle when the knitting needle is being lowered, and allows the knitting needle to be lowered in this state to the lowest point of a movement route of the knitting needle. The second route (62, 62A) brings the second transition surface (43, 43B) into the closest proximity to the knitting needle when the knitting needle is being lowered, and allows the knitting needle to be lowered in this state to the lowest point of the movement route of the knitting needle. Thus, during plating knitting on the circular knitting machine, knitting can be performed by interchanging positions of a first yarn (71, 71A) and a second yarn (72, 72A).