Apparatus for accelerating a knitting needle during its stitch drawing stroke
AssigneeBattelle Memorial Institute
InventorGerard Durville
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A circular knitting machine comprises a needle cylinder, centered on a vertical axis, formed with a multiplicity of vertical guide grooves for respective knitting needles which have heels riding on an upper ramp surface formed by one or more lifting cams on a stationary support about which the cylinder rotates. A lower ramp surface acts upon the needles through respective hairpin springs, the two ramp surfaces diverging in the first part and converging in the second part of a descending cam section whereby a force stored in the springs at the beginning of a downstroke motion accelerates the descent of the needles toward the end of that stroke.
Claims12
A knitting machine comprising:
- a needle carrier formed with a multiplicity of parallel guide channels;
- a support provided with cam means forming a first and a second ramp surface, said support and said needle carrier being relatively movable in a direction substantially transverse to siad guide channels;
- a multiplicity of knitting needles respectively received in said guide channels for longitudinal displacement therein under the control of said cam means, each of said needles being provided with a heel engaging said first ramp surface and with a hook for drawing a thread into loops to form a succession of stitches, said first ramp surface being effective to advance each needle in a forward stroke of a stitch-forming cycle;
- a slide individual to each needle limitedly movable in the assoicated guide channel and engaging said second ramp surface;
- and
- resilient link means individual to each needle coupling the respective slide with the respective needle for retracting the latter in a return stroke of a stitch-forming cycle, said resilient link means storing a needle-retracting force during an initial phase of said return strokes and releasing the stored force during a terminal phase of said return stroke with resulting acceleration of the needle, said first and second ramp surfaces diverging from each other in one part of a cam section, effective during said initial phase, for stressing said resilient link means and converging toward each other in another part of said cam section, effective during said terminal phase, for relaxing said link means.
A knitting machine comprising:
- a needle carrier formed with a multiplicity of parallel guide channels;
- a support provided with cam means forming a first and a second ramp surface, said support and said needle carrier being relatively movable in a direction substantially transverse to said guide channels;
- a multiplicity of knitting needles respectively received in said guide channels for longitudinal displacement therein under the control of said cam means, each of said needles being provided with a heel engaging said first ramp surface and with a hook for drawing a thread into loops to form a succession of stitches, said first ramp surface facing in the direction of said hook and being effective to advance each needle in a forward stroke of a stitch-forming cycle;
- cam-follower means individual to each needle but movable independently thereof, said cam-follower means engaging said second ramp surface for retracting the respective needle in a return stroke of a stitch-forming cycle, said second ramp surface facing in a direction away from said hook;
- and
- resilient link means coupling said cam-follower means with the respective needle for storing a needle-retracting force during an initial phase of said return stroke and releasing the stored force during a terminal phase of said return stroke with resulting acceleration of the needle, said first and second ramp surfaces diverging from each other in one part of a cam section, effective during said initial phase, for stressing said resilient means and converging toward each other in another part of said cam section, effective during said terminal phase, for relaxing said resilient means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.