Pickup device for picking up a knitted tubular manufacture from a circular knitting machine for hosiery or the like and for transferring it to a unit adapted to perform additional operations on the manufacture

A pickup device for picking up a knitted tubular manufacture from a circular knitting machine for hosiery and for transferring it to a unit adapted to perform additional operations on the manufacture, comprising an annular pickup body that supports a plurality of pickup elements, which are arranged radially around an axis of said annular pickup body and can slide with respect to said annular pickup body along radial directions, said annular pickup body being arrangeable coaxially around a needle cylinder of the circular knitting machine for hosiery, with each one of said plurality of pickup elements laterally facing a needle of the machine;

• actuation means being provided which act on said plurality of pickup elements for their movement along said radial directions at least from a first position, in which said plurality of pickup elements are closer to the axis of said annular pickup body, to a second position, in which each one of said plurality of pickup elements are spaced further from the axis of said annular pickup body with respect to said first position, and vice versa;
• an end of each one of said plurality of pickup elements that is directed toward the axis of said annular pickup body being hook-shaped and forming a compartment that is adapted to receive at least one loop of knitting, further comprising safety means which are associated with said annular pickup body and can be engaged by said end of each one of said plurality of pickup elements in their transition from said first position to said second position for a closure of said compartment, wherein the end of each one of said plurality of pickup elements that is directed toward the axis of said annular pickup body is hook-shaped and has its tip oriented substantially parallel to the axis of the annular pickup body, said safety means comprising a circumferential abutment that is extended around the axis of said annular pickup body;
• said plurality of pickup elements, in said second position, engaging the tip of their hook-shaped end against said circumferential abutment;
• wherein said circumferential abutment is formed by a ring that is accommodated in a circumferential seat that is formed coaxially on the internal lateral surface of said annular pickup body and is open toward the axis of said annular pickup body.