EP3115491B2 - Flat knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a flat knitting machine with at least two needle beds, with at least one carriage equipped with knitting cams that can be moved over the needle beds, and a thread feed device with thread guide rails arranged above the needle beds, in which thread guides are arranged that can be moved by the at least one carriage.

Such flat knitting machines correspond to the state of the art that has been common for many years. However, ever higher demands are being placed on the pattern and design of knitted fabrics. This also increases the demands on the machines for producing such knitted fabrics, in particular intarsia knitted fabrics or plated knitted fabrics.

Improvements in thread feed have therefore already been proposed, which help to meet the increased requirements. Self-sufficiently driven thread guides have already been used, which can take up any desired position in the needle space of a knitting machine during the knitting process. Devices for inserting threads have also become known, which can feed threads to the knitting needles above and separately from the actual thread guides.

From the DE 43 08 251 A1 , the DE 695 08 696 T2 , the EP 872 587 B1 and the DE 695 03 831 T2 knitting machines are also known which have thread guides which can be moved independently of the carriage and which can be temporarily coupled to the carriage, or which have thread guides which can be moved by the carriage and which can be driven independently at times. However, these solutions are complex mechanically and in terms of control technology.

the U.S. 5,615,562 A discloses a special thread guide that is driven independently and can perform movements in and transverse to the direction of the carriage.

The object of the present invention is to provide a flat knitting machine with which conventional knitted fabrics and knitted fabrics with complex patterns or plated knitted fabrics can be produced in a rational manner.

The object is achieved by a flat knitting machine with the features of claim 1.

The flat knitting machine according to the invention thus provides a combination of a conventional thread feed, in which the thread guides are taken along by the carriage by suitable means, and thread guides driven independently of the carriage, with both thread feed concepts retaining their full functionality. This is advantageous over some of the thread feeding devices mentioned above which represent a compromise between the two types of thread feeding.

The advantages of such a combination of thread guide drive concepts in a single machine are that complicated patterns such as intarsia or plating patterns can be produced economically with the self-sufficient thread guides, since these thread guides can take up any position in the needle space at any time, while knitted fabrics or knitted sections with conventional patterns can be efficiently produced with the thread guides driven by the carriage.

Each self-sufficient thread guide can expediently have its own drive device in order to be able to fully exploit the variability of the thread feed. However, it is also possible to provide two or more self-sufficient thread guides with a common drive device.

In a first variant of the invention, the autonomous thread guide or thread guides are arranged in one or more separate thread guide rails so that they can be displaced longitudinally. They can be moved in these rails over the entire length without having to take into account possible collisions with a yarn guide moved by the carriage.

The thread guide rails with thread guides that can be moved along by the carriage and the thread guide rails with self-sufficient thread guides are arranged alternately parallel to one another above the needle beds in order to be able to create similar conditions for the thread feed to the needles for both thread guide types.

In a preferred embodiment of the flat knitting machine, four thread guides are arranged in each case in the thread guide rails for autonomous thread guides.

Eight thread guides can be arranged in the thread guide rails for thread guides that can be moved along with the carriage.

With this number of thread guides, multicolored patterns or patterns with different thread qualities can also be produced efficiently.

In an alternative embodiment of the flat knitting machine, the autonomous thread guides and the thread guides that can be moved along with the carriage are arranged in common thread guide rails. Fewer rails are then required than in an embodiment with separate rails for the autonomous thread guides.

The autonomous thread guides and the thread guides that can be moved along with the carriage are arranged together in at least one of the halves of the thread guide rail.

A further alternative is that at least one half of one or more thread guide rails has two tracks arranged one above the other, with one or more autonomous thread guides being arranged in one of the tracks and one or more thread guides moved by the carriage being arranged in the other track. This has the advantage that the thread guides of both Drive concepts can utilize the full length of the yarn guide rail.

There are also various options for arranging the thread guide rails above the needle beds. In a first embodiment, the thread guide rails are at least partially arranged in a common horizontal plane above the needle beds. However, it can also be advantageous to arrange the thread guide rails at least partially on a section of an imaginary cylinder surface above the needle beds. With such an arrangement of the rails, the yarn guide arms are aligned radially and all have the same shape and length, which enables simpler replacement and allows production to be made more quickly and cost-effectively.

The arrangements of the yarn guide rails described do not necessarily have to be symmetrical to the central axis of the knitting machine. Asymmetric arrangements are also conceivable.

In the flat knitting machine according to the invention, the threads can be fed in from the side, as is generally customary. However, the flat knitting machine can also have a carriage which has an opening on the upper side through which threads can be fed to the thread guides and further to the needles in the needle beds. With this solution, a whole series of thread guide and thread tensioning elements, which are necessary when the threads are fed in from the side, can be dispensed with. Furthermore, the thread tension is reduced by reducing the friction points with such a thread feed.

Various exemplary embodiments of the thread feed of flat knitting machines according to the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the drawing.

• Fig. 1 einen Querschnitt durch eine erste Flachstrickmaschine;
• Fig. 2 einen Querschnitt durch eine zweite Flachstrickmaschine;
• Fig. 3a eine schematische Ansicht auf Fadenführerschienen für autarke Fadenführer und für vom Schlitten mitbewegte Fadenführer;
• Fig. 3b eine schematische Ansicht einer nicht erfindungsgemäßen ersten Fadenführerschiene mit autarken und vom Schlitten mitbewegbaren Fadenführern;
• Fig. 3c eine schematische Ansicht einer zweiten Fadenführerschiene mit autarken und vom Schlitten mitbewegbaren Fadenführern;
• Fig. 3d eine schematische Ansicht einer dritten Fadenführerschiene mit autarken und vom Schlitten mitbewegbaren Fadenführern;
• Fig. 4a - 4d schematische Darstellungen unterschiedlicher Anordnungen von Fadenführerschienen in einer Flachstrickmaschine.

Show it:

• 1 a cross section through a first flat knitting machine;
• 2 a cross section through a second flat knitting machine;
• Figure 3a a schematic view of yarn guide rails for self-sufficient yarn guides and for yarn guides moved along by the carriage;
• Figure 3b a schematic view of a non-inventive first thread guide rail with self-sufficient thread guides that can be moved along with the carriage;
• 3c a schematic view of a second yarn guide rail with autonomous yarn guides that can be moved along with the carriage;
• 3d a schematic view of a third thread guide rail with self-sufficient thread guides that can be moved along with the carriage;
• Figures 4a - 4d Schematic representations of different arrangements of thread guide rails in a flat knitting machine.

1 shows a flat knitting machine 100 with a front needle bed 10 and a rear needle bed 10' in cross section. A carriage 20 can be moved over the needle beds 10, 10', to which front and rear knitting cams 30, 30' are attached, with which knitting tools not shown here, which are mounted in the needle beds 10, 10', can be controlled and moved . The two needle beds enclose a comb gap KS between them. This is located on a central axis M of the flat knitting machine 100.

Thread guides 40, 40' and 50, 50' are attached above the needle beds 10, 10' and the comb gap KS. The outer thread guides 40, 40', which are further away from the machine axis M, are conventional thread guides, which can be moved along with the carriage 20 via driver devices (not shown here). The inner thread guides 50, 50', on the other hand, are self-sufficiently driven thread guides, which can thus be moved by the carriage 20 independently. An up and down movement of the thread guide arm or the thread guide nut is also possible. The arrangement of the thread guides 40, 40' and 50, 50' in relation to the stitch axis M is merely an example. The thread guides 50, 50' could also be arranged on the outside or alternately with the thread guides 40, 40'. In the example shown, the thread guides 40, 40' and 50, 50' are also arranged on a circular arc around the comb gap. However, they could also be arranged in a common horizontal plane just above the comb gap, as later with reference to FIG 4 is made clear.

2 shows one of the 1 corresponding sectional view through a second flat knitting machine 100'. The machine 100' differs from the machine 100 in the design of the carriage 20' which, in contrast to the carriage 20, has an opening 21 on its upper side through which the threads are fed directly from above to the thread guides 40, 40', 50, 50' can become. A construction of the carriage 20' that is completely open at the top is also conceivable. Feeding the threads from above has the advantage that thread deflection devices, thread guide elements and thread tensioning elements can be dispensed with, which are necessary when the threads are fed to the thread guides 40, 40', 50, 50' from the side. Furthermore, the thread tension is reduced by reducing the friction points with such a thread feed.

In the Figures 3a - 3d are different arrangements of the two types of yarn guides 40, 40 'and 50, 50' shown in yarn guide rails. In Figure 3a a top view of four thread guide rails 61, 62, 63, 64 is shown, with thread guides 40, 40' that can be moved along with the carriage 20 being located exclusively in the thread guide rails 61 and 64. Separate thread guide rails 62, 63 are provided for the autonomous thread guides 50, 50'.

The thread guides 40, 40' have recesses 41 on their upper side, into which driver devices (not shown) coupled to the carriage 20 can engage when the thread guides 40, 40' are to be moved.

In the example shown, eight thread guides 40, 40' are arranged on the outer thread guide rails 61, 64, while only four independent thread guides 50, 50' are provided on the inner rails 62, 63.

Figure 3b Using the example of a single thread guide rail 60, FIG. On one of the halves of the thread guide rail 60 only thread guides 40 which can be moved along by the carriage are attached and on the other half only self-sufficient thread guides 50 are attached.

In 3c On the other hand, a thread guide rail 60' is shown in which both thread guides 40 that can be moved by the carriage and autonomous thread guides 50 are arranged on one half, while thread guides 40 that can only be moved by the carriage are provided in the other half.

In 3d a single thread guide rail 60" is shown, in which both thread guides 40, which can be moved by the carriage, and autonomous thread guides 50 are arranged on one half. The thread guides of the two drive concepts are mounted one above the other here. The principle can be used on one or both halves of the thread guide rail .

the Figures 4a - 4d show schematically different possibilities for the arrangement of the yarn guide rails above the carriage 20 with the knitting cams 30, 30' of the flat knitting machine 100.

In Figure 4a the rails are arranged on an imaginary cylinder surface, so that the thread guides (not shown) located therein 1 shown, take the central axis M toward inclined position. In Figure 4b on the other hand, the rails 61' to 64' are all arranged in a common horizontal plane. Figure 4c shows a combination of the arrangements from the Figures 4a and 4b . The inner thread guide rails 62", 63" are arranged in a common horizontal plane and the outer thread guide rails 61" and 64" are arranged on an imaginary cylindrical surface.

In Figure 4d the rails are arranged asymmetrically on an imaginary cylinder surface, so that the thread guides (not shown) located therein also have the 1 shown, take the central axis M toward inclined position. Other variants of the asymmetrical arrangement of the yarn guide rails in terms of their number and in the Figures 4a - 4c arrangements shown are possible.

Claims (6)

1. Flat knitting machine with at least two needle beds (30, 30'), at least one carriage (20) movable over the needle beds (10, 10') and equipped with knitting cams (30, 30'), and a yarn infeed device with yarn guide rails (60, 60', 61-64) arranged above the needle beds, wherein yarn guides (40, 40'), movable with the carriage (20), are arranged in said rails, wherein the yarn infeed device also has at least one autonomous yarn guide (50, 50') driven independently of carriage (20), wherein

   a) the at least one autonomous yarn guide (50, 50') is arranged to be movable longitudinally in one or more separate yarn guide rails (62, 63 and the yarn guide rails (61, 64) with yarn guides (40, 40') movable by the carriage and the yarn guide rails (62, 63) with autonomous yarn guides (50, 50') are arranged alternately parallel to each other above the needle beds (10, 10') or

   b) the autonomous yarn guides (50, 50') and the yarn guides (40, 40'), movable by the carriage (20), are arranged in common yarn guide rails (60, 60') and the autonomous yarn guides (50, 50') and the yarn guides (40, 40') movable by carriage (20) are jointly arranged in at least one of the halves of the yarn guide rail (60').
2. Flat knitting machine according to claim 1, characterised in that each autonomous yarn guide (50, 50') has its own drive device.
3. Flat knitting machine according to any of the preceding claims in connection with variant b) of claim 1, characterised in that at least one half of one or more yarn guide rails has two tracks arranged one over the other, wherein, in one of the tracks, one or more autonomous yarn guides and in the other track, one or more yarn guides movable by the carriage are arranged.
4. Flat knitting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the yarn guide rails (61' - 64', 62", 63") are arranged at least partly in a common horizontal plane above the needle beds (10, 10').
5. Flat knitting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the yarn guide rails (61 - 64, 61", 64") are arranged at least partly on a section of an imaginary cylindrical surface above the needle beds (10, 10').
6. Flat knitting machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the carriages (20) have an opening (21) an the upper side, through which yarn can be fed from above to the yarn guides (40, 40', 50, 50') and then to needles in the needle beds.

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