Method and knitting machine for rectilinear knitting to form a tubular seamless knitted material

A method of forming a seamless tubular knit of variable diameters on a rectilinear knitting machine in which the stitches are formed by a descent of knitting needles, comprising two parallel straight sections for guiding said knotting needles, means of selecting these knitting needles for increasing or reducing the diameter if the tubular knitted element or elements when knitting it or them, carriages for moving the selected knitting needles and members for guiding the knitting yarn, comprising the steps of

• placing the two sections so that the needles of one of the two sections do not cross the needles of the other of the two sections during their normal knitting travel;
• moving said carriages in a single direction along each of the two sections, the direction of movement of said carriages along their respective sections being opposite to each other;
• supply a knitting yarn associated with each carriage moving with respect to a succession of selected needles of one of the two sections in order to form part of a tubular knit;
• transferring the yarn from the needles of one of the two sections to those of the other of the two sections, each time said yarn arrives at the end of said succession of selected needles, by combining it with another carriage located at the start of a succession of needles selected from said other of the two sections in order to form the other part of said tubular knit;
• and
• changing the transfer positions or said yarn each time the diameter of said tubular element or elements is increased or reduced.