Warp Knitting Needle Body with Reduced Hook Height
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing chain activity machines are limited in their ability to produce diverse chain effects due to the fixed geometric dimensions of active tools, which restrict the versatility and efficiency of chain operations.
Innovation Solution
The design of a needle body with a reduced hook height and cross-sectional height, along with a slide arrangement featuring a compact enclosure length, allows for the production of smaller needle stitches without altering other parameters of the chain activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the geometric dimensions of knitting tools (needles and sliders) are increased to produce larger needle stitches, then the appearance and size of warp-knitted fabric is improved, but the drive movement constraints prevent independent dimension changes and reduce manufacturing flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The knitting tool is divided into two separate components: a needle body with fixed drive-section dimensions and a slider with adjustable geometry. This segmentation allows the slider dimensions to be independently optimized for different needle stitch sizes without affecting the drive mechanism, resolving the contradiction between shape control and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The slider is designed with movable or adjustable geometric dimensions relative to the needle body, enabling dynamic adaptation of the knitting tool geometry. This allows the same base mechanism to produce variable needle stitch sizes by adjusting slider position or configuration, maintaining versatility while achieving desired fabric appearance.
2Ease of manufacture
If uniform knitting tool dimensions are used across different gauge machines, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the inability to produce different needle stitch sizes reduces product versatility
Solution Approach 1:
The needle body is designed with universal drive-section dimensions that fit standard machine mechanisms, while the slider component can be interchangeably attached with varying geometries. This multi-functionality allows a single needle body design to serve multiple fabric production needs by simply changing the slider attachment, achieving both manufacturing simplicity and product versatility.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional tubular cross-section needles are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but insufficient bending moment in load direction reduces reliability for high-speed machines
Solution Approach 1:
The needle body and slider are designed as composite components with optimized cross-sectional geometries that provide sufficient bending moment capacity. Rather than using simple tubular sections, the design incorporates flattened or reinforced cross-sections that maintain manufacturability while significantly improving structural reliability for high-speed operation.
4Manufacturing precision
If needle hook dimensions are reduced to produce smaller needle stitches, then fabric density and quality are improved, but the drive movement constraints limit the ability to independently adjust hook dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The hook is integrated into the slider component rather than the needle body, separating the hook dimension control from the drive mechanism. This allows the hook dimensions to be precisely adjusted by modifying only the slider geometry, enabling small needle stitch production while maintaining independence from drive movement constraints.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A needle body for a slider needle assembly of a warp knitting machine comprises a shank and a hook. The lower edge of the hook is arranged opposite and facing away from a re-bent portion of the hook. The upper edge of the hook is arranged facing away from the lower edge of the hook on the re-bent portion of the hook. The claimed needle body is characterized in that the hook height, measured longitudinally at the point of maximum vertical distance between the lower and upper edges of the hook, is a maximum of 0.81 mm, and the cross-sectional height, measured in a cross-section of the shank in a mesh sliding section perpendicular to the thickness direction, is a maximum of 0.81 mm. A claimed slider needle assembly comprises a needle body according to the invention and a slider and has a wrap-around length of 2.3 mm or less between the hook and the slider.