Tinkle-free knitted wire mesh filters and methods for making such filters
AssigneeACS Industries, Inc.
InventorGeorge Greenwood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
“Tinkles” (also known as “gotchas”) (see reference number 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2) are portions of knitted metal loops produced when a tube of knitted wire mesh is cut into individual pieces. In the prior art, tinkles have been considered a fact of life and the approach has been to try to shake them out of the mesh or immobilize them on or in the mesh. By producing a knitted tube (11) having alternating segments (12,13) of knitted rows of yarn and knitted rows of wire, completely tinkle-free knitted socks are produced which are used to produce completely tinkle-free knitted wire mesh filters. Knitted wire mesh filters that cannot release tinkles because they do not have any tinkles can be used in such applications as fuel filters and airbag filters.
Claims22
A method of making a plurality of knitted wire mesh filters each of which is free of tinkles comprising:
- (I) producing a knitted tube that comprises (i) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of wire and (ii) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of yarn, the segments comprising knitted rows of wire alternating with segments comprising knitted rows of yarn;
- (II) producing a plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire without cutting any loops of knitted wire and thus without producing any tinkles;
- and
- (III) producing the plurality of knitted wire mesh filters from the plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire;
- wherein step (II) comprises treating the knitted tube or a separated portion thereof to remove yarn.
A method of making a plurality of knitted wire mesh filters each of which is free of tinkles comprising:
- (I) producing a knitted tube that comprises (i) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of wire and (ii) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of yarn, the segments comprising knitted rows of wire alternating with segments comprising knitted rows of yarn;
- (II) producing a plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire without cutting any loops of knitted wire and thus without producing any tinkles;
- and
- (III) producing the plurality of knitted wire mesh filters from the plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire;
- wherein the segments comprising knitted rows of wire are connected to one another by non-knitted sections of wire that span the intervening segments comprising knitted rows of yarn and step (II) comprises:
- (A) cutting segments comprising knitted rows of yarn and non-knitted sections of wire to free segments comprising knitted rows of wire from the knitted tube;
- and
- (B) treating the freed segments comprising knitted rows of wire to remove the yarn.
A method of making a plurality of knitted wire mesh filters each of which is free of tinkles comprising:
- (I) producing a knitted tube that comprises (i) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of wire and (ii) a plurality of segments comprising knitted rows of yarn, the segments comprising knitted rows of wire alternating with segments comprising knitted rows of yarn;
- (II) producing a plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire without cutting any loops of knitted wire and thus without producing any tinkles;
- and
- (III) producing the plurality of knitted wire mesh filters from the plurality of separated segments comprising knitted rows of wire;
- wherein step (II) comprises unweaving of knitted yarn.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.