Circular knitting machine and bearing assembly for same

A circular knitting machine, comprising:

• a bed member;
• a needle cylinder including a cylinder base rotatably mounted to said bed member;
• a bearing assembly positioned between said bed member and said cylinder base for rotatable mounting of said bed member to said cylinder base, said bearing assembly including a first race separate from and slidably connected to said cylinder base, a second race slidably connected to said bed member and positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, first and second tracks respectively mounted to said first and second races, and bearings positionally supported by and between said first and second tracks so that said cylinder base freely rotates about said bed member;
• and
• thermal-expansion compensating means integrally formed with said bed member and positioned closely adjacent said second race for compensating for thermal expansion in said cylinder base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensating means including a flexible bed flange integrally formed with said bed member and positioned closely adjacent said second race so that slidable movement of said second race responsive to heating and cooling of said cylinder base thereby moves said flexible bed flange.

A circular knitting machine, comprising:

• a frame;
• a bed member mounted to said frame and having a bed leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane;
• a needle cylinder including a cylinder base having a base leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane and rotatably mounted to said bed leg member;
• a bearing assembly positioned between said base leg member and said bed leg member positioned for rotatable mounting of said base leg member to said bed leg member, said bearing assembly including a first annular non-flexible race separate from and slidably connected to and extending downwardly from said base leg member, a second annular non-flexible race connected to and extending upwardly from said bed leg member and positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second annular races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein, first and second spaced-apart pairs of annular wire tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race, and a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of annular wire tracks so that said cylinder base freely rotates about said bed member;
• and
• a thermal-expansion compensator integrally formed with said first race and said cylinder base and adapted for compensating for thermal expansion in said cylinder base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensator including a connector slidably connecting said first race to said base leg member and a flexible base flange integrally formed with said base leg member, extending downwardly therefrom and positioned closely adjacent and abuttingly engaging said first race so that said first race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of said cylinder base and thereby moves said flexible base flange.

A circular knitting machine, comprising:

• a frame;
• a bed member mounted to said frame and having a bed leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane;
• a needle cylinder including a cylinder base having a base leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane and rotatably mounted to said bed leg member;
• a bearing assembly positioned between said base leg member and said bed leg member positioned for rotatable mounting of said base leg member to said bed leg member, said bearing assembly including a first annular non-flexible race separate from and slidably connected to and extending downwardly from said base leg member, a second annular non-flexible race slidably connected to and extending upwardly from said bed leg member and positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second annular races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein, first and second spaced-apart pairs of annular wire tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race, and a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of annular wire tracks so that said cylinder base freely rotates about said bed member;
• and
• a thermal-expansion compensator integrally formed with said second race and said bed member adapted for compensating for thermal expansion in said cylinder base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensator including a connector slidably connecting said second race to said bed leg member and a flexible bed flange integrally formed with said bed leg member, extending upwardly from said bed leg member, and positioned closely adjacent and abuttingly engaging said second race so that said second race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of said cylinder base and thereby moves said flexible bed flange.

A bearing assembly for connecting to and positioning between a bed member and a base of a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine, said bearing assembly comprising:

• a first non-flexible race adapted to slidably connect to a base of a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine;
• a second non-flexible race adapted to connect to a bed member of a circular knitting machine, said second race being positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein;
• first and second spaced-apart pairs of tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race;
• a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of tracks so that the base of the needle cylinder freely rotates about the bed member;
• and
• thermal-expansion compensating means integrally formed with the base of the needle cylinder and positioned closely adjacent said first race for compensating for thermal expansion in the base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensating means including a connector for slidably connecting said first race to the base and a flexible base flange integrally formed with the base and positioned closely adjacent said first race so that said first race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of the base of the needle cylinder and thereby moves said flexible base flange.

A bearing assembly for connecting to and positioning between a bed member and a base of a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine, said bearing assembly comprising:

• a first race adapted to connect to a base of a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine;
• a second race adapted to slidably connect to a bed member of a circular knitting machine, said second race being positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein;
• first and second spaced-apart pairs of annular tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race;
• a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of annular tracks so that the base of the needle cylinder freely rotates about the bed member;
• and
• thermal-expansion compensating means integrally formed with the bed member and positioned closely adjacent said second race for compensating for thermal expansion in the base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensating means including a connector for slidably connecting said second race to the bed member and a flexible bed flange integrally formed with the bed member and positioned closely adjacent said second race so that said first race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of the base of the needle cylinder and thereby moves said flexible bed flange.

A circular knitting machine, comprising:

• a frame;
• a bed member mounted to said frame and having a bed leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane;
• a needle cylinder including a cylinder base having a base leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane and rotatably mounted to said bed leg member;
• a bearing assembly positioned between said base leg member and said bed leg member positioned for rotatable mounting of said base leg member to said bed leg member, said bearing assembly including a first annular race separate from and slidably connected to and extending downwardly from said base leg member, a second annular non-flexible race connected to and extending upwardly from said bed leg member and positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second annular races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein, first and second spaced-apart pairs of annular wire tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race, and a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of annular wire tracks so that said cylinder base freely rotates about said bed member;
• and
• thermal-expansion compensating means integrally formed with said first race and said cylinder base for compensating for thermal expansion in said cylinder base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensating means including a connector slidably connecting said first race to said base leg member, a non-flexible base flange integrally formed with said base leg member, extending downwardly therefrom and positioned closely adjacent and abuttingly engaging said first race, a channel formed in said first race and extending downward from said base leg member, and a flexible race flange positioned between said downward extending channel and said non-flexible base flange so that said first race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of said cylinder base and thereby moves said flexible race flange.

A circular knitting machine, comprising:

• a frame;
• a bed member mounted to said frame and having a bed leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane;
• a needle cylinder including a cylinder base having a base leg member extending in a generally horizontal plane and rotatably mounted to said bed leg member;
• a bearing assembly positioned between said base leg member and said bed leg member positioned for rotatable mounting of said base leg member to said bed leg member, said bearing assembly including a first annular non-flexible race connected to and extending downwardly from said base leg member, a second annular race separate from and slidably connected to and extending upwardly from said bed leg member and positioned adjacent and spaced-apart from said first race, said first and second annular races each having an opposingly facing channel positioned therein, first and second spaced-apart pairs of annular wire tracks respectively positioned in said channel of said first race and in said channel of said second race, and a plurality of bearing balls positionally supported by and between said first and second pairs of annular wire tracks so that said cylinder base freely rotates about said bed member;
• and
• thermal-expansion compensating means integrally formed with said second race and said bed member for compensating for thermal expansion in said cylinder base during heating and cooling thereof, said compensating means including a connector slidably connecting said second race to said bed leg member, a non-flexible bed flange integrally formed with said bed leg member, extending upwardly from said bed leg member, and positioned closely adjacent and abuttingly engaging said second race, a channel formed in said second race and extending upwardly from said bed leg member, and a flexible race flange positioned between said upwardly extending channel and said non-flexible bed flange so that said second race slidably moves about said connector responsive to heating and cooling of said cylinder base and thereby moves said flexible race flange.