U.S. patent application number 09/778128 was filed with the patent office on 2001-08-30 for method for manufacturing closed end tubular items, in particular hosiery, on a circular knitting machine.
Invention is credited to Ando', Jan.
Application Number | 20010017047 09/778128 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11444226 |
Filed Date | 2001-08-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010017047 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ando', Jan |
August 30, 2001 |
Method for manufacturing closed end tubular items, in particular
hosiery, on a circular knitting machine
Abstract
The method consists in forming a tubular item on a circular
machine by means of the needles of the needle cylinder, starting
from the opposite axial end of the item with respect to the axial
end to be closed and retaining on the needles of the needle
cylinder the last formed row of knitting. The loops of the last row
of knitting are then transferred individually to an auxiliary
element provided with supporting elements for individually
supporting the loops, and the supporting elements of at least one
first half-row of the last row are suitable to receive two loops
and to pass one of the two loops in the other loop. The item is
furthermore reversed before and after the transfer. In a subsequent
step, the loops of the second half-row are transferred from the
corresponding supporting elements to the supporting elements
engaged with the loops of the first half-row, and the loops of the
second half-row are knitted in with the loops of the first half-row
by passing the loops of the second half-row through the loops of
the first half-row, thus closing the axial end of the item.
Finally, an additional operation is performed in order to stabilize
the closure of the item.
Inventors: |
Ando', Jan; (Scandicci,
IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Gerald T. Shekleton, Esq.
Welsh & Katz, Ltd.
22nd Floor
120 S. Riverside Plaza
Chicago
IL
60606
US
|
Family ID: |
11444226 |
Appl. No.: |
09/778128 |
Filed: |
February 6, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
66/147 ;
66/58 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D04B 9/40 20130101; D04B
15/92 20130101; D04B 15/02 20130101; D04B 1/108 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
66/147 ;
66/58 |
International
Class: |
D04B 035/00; D04B
009/40 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 28, 2000 |
IT |
MI2000A000374 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for manufacturing knitted tubular items, which are
closed at an axial end by way of a circular knitting machine,
comprising the steps of: forming the tubular item on a circular
machine by way of needles of a needle cylinder thereof, starting
from an opposite axial end of the item with respect to an axial end
to be closed; retaining on the needles of the needle cylinder a
last formed row of knitting; individually transferring loops of the
last row of knitting formed by the needles of the needle cylinder
to an auxiliary element provided with supporting means for
individually supporting the loops, the supporting means of at least
one first half-row of said last row being adapted to receive two
loops and to pass one of said two loops in the other loop;
reversing the item; transferring the loops of a second half-row of
said last row from corresponding ones of said supporting means to
the supporting means of the loops of the first half-row; knitting
in the loops of the second half-row with the loops of the first
half-row by passing the loops of the second half-row through the
loops of the first half-row and closing the axial end of the item;
and performing an additional operation for stabilizing closure of
the item.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein in the reversing step the item is
reversed before transferring the loops of the last row of knitting
formed on the needle cylinder to the auxiliary element.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein in the reversing step the item is
reversed after transferring the loops of the last row of knitting
formed on the needle cylinder to the auxiliary element.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said additional operation
comprises forming of at least one additional row of knitting which
is knitted in with the loops of the second half-row after passage
thereof through the loops of the first half-row.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one additional row
of knitting is formed with a thread of heat-sensitive material.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said thread of heat-sensitive
material is made of a heat-activated adhesive substance.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein said additional operation
comprises sewing of the loops of said second half-row after their
passage through the loops of said first half-row.
8. The method of claim 4, wherein said additional operation
comprises chain-stitching the loops of said second half-row after
their passage through the loops of said first half-row.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein said additional operation
comprises execution of at least one row of non-run knitting which
is knitted in with the loops of said second half-row after passage
thereof through the loops of said first half-row.
10. A tubular knitted item closed at one axial end thereof,
obtained with the method of claim 1.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing
tubular items, particularly hosiery items, closed at an axial end,
by means of circular hosiery knitting machines or the like.
[0002] It is known that hosiery items are generally manufactured on
circular hosiery knitting machines and that in the conventional
manufacturing method they are unloaded from the machine while their
toe is still open and must be subjected to subsequent sewing or
looping in order to form the finished product.
[0003] Since the sewing or looping operation requires a manual
intervention of an operator to load the hosiery item on the looping
or sewing machine, this operation has a significant effect on the
overall manufacturing costs of hosiery items.
[0004] For this reason, methods and devices have been devised in
recent years which are adapted to obtain hosiery items having a
closed toe directly on the machine that manufactures them or are
adapted to mechanize the transfer of the hosiery items from the
machine that produces them to the looping or sewing machine in
order to fully eliminate, or at least substantially reduce, manual
interventions for performing this operation.
[0005] In some of these methods, for example in the method
disclosed in Italian patent no. 1,277,396 in the name of the same
Assignee, the hosiery item is started from the opposite end with
respect to the toe, i.e., from the top of the leg, and is completed
at the toe, retaining the last row of knitting on the needles of
the machine. Said last row is then transferred, loop by loop, from
the needles of the circular machine to the hooks supported by an
annular element which is arranged around the upper end of the
needle cylinder. The annular element is divided into two halves
which can mutually overlap so as to overlap the loops of a
half-row, carried by the hooks arranged in one half of the annular
element, on the loops of the other half-row, which are supported by
the hooks of the other half of the annular element. In a subsequent
step, the pairs of loops thus arranged side by side are sewn in
order to join them and thus close the toe of the hosiery item,
which is then unloaded from the annular element.
[0006] The closure of the toe, performed with methods and devices
of this kind, suffers the drawback that it is not fully
satisfactory from an aesthetic point of view.
[0007] The joining of mutually adjacent pairs of loops by sewing in
fact does not achieve a tight coupling of the loops that can be
compared with the one obtainable by conventional sewing or
looping.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The aim of the present invention is to solve the above
problem by devising a method and an apparatus for manufacturing
tubular items, particularly hosiery items, which are closed at an
axial end and in which the closure of said axial end is fully
satisfactory and comparable with the closure that can be obtained
by means of conventional sewing or looping operations.
[0009] Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a
method which allows to manufacture tubular items, particularly
hosiery items, which are closed at an axial end in a fully
automated manner and therefore without requiring the manual
intervention of an operator.
[0010] This aim and these and other objects which will become
better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a method for
manufacturing tubular items, particularly hosiery items, which are
closed at an axial end by way of circular hosiery knitting machines
or the like, which comprises a step for forming the tubular item on
a circular machine by ways of the needles of the needle cylinder,
starting from the opposite axial end of the item with respect to
the axial end to be closed and retaining on the needles of the
needle cylinder the last formed row of knitting, characterized in
that it comprises the following additional steps:
[0011] individually transferring the loops of the last row of
knitting formed by the needles of the needle cylinder to an
auxiliary element provided with supporting means for individually
supporting the loops, the supporting means of at least one first
half-row of said last row being adapted to receive two loops and to
pass one of the two loops in the other loop;
[0012] reversing the item;
[0013] transferring the loops of the second half-row of said last
row from the corresponding supporting means to the supporting means
engaged with the loops of the first half-row;
[0014] knitting in the loops of the second half-row with the loops
of the first half-row by passing the loops of the second half-row
through the loops of the first half-row and closing the axial end
of the item;
[0015] performing an additional process in order to stabilize the
closure of the item.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will
become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not
exclusive embodiment of the method according to the invention,
illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0017] FIGS. 1 to 5 show schematically the execution of some steps
of the method according to the invention with a particular
auxiliary element constituted by an auxiliary needle cylinder;
[0018] FIG. 6 shows the knitting-in of the loops of knitting of the
second half-row with the loops of knitting of the first
half-row;
[0019] FIGS. 7 to 10 show some possibilities of execution of the
additional process for stabilizing the closure of the item.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] With reference to the above figures, the method according to
the invention comprises a step for manufacturing a tubular item 30
on a circular hosiery knitting machine or the like of the
conventional type, i.e., as shown schematically in FIGS. 1 to 5, a
machine provided with a needle cylinder 3 which has, on its side
wall, a plurality of axial slots 24, each of which internally and
slidingly accommodates a needle 25 which can be actuated in a per
se known manner to form knitting.
[0021] The needle cylinder 3 is furthermore provided with a sinker
ring 26 which has multiple radial slots which accommodate in a per
se known manner sinkers 27 which can be actuated in order to
cooperate with the needles 25 in forming knitting.
[0022] The needle cylinder 3 can be actuated with a rotary motion
about its own axis 3a in a per se known manner with respect to cams
which face the side wall of the needle cylinder 3 and form paths
which can be engaged by the heels 25b of the needles 25 and with
respect to cams which face in an upward region the sinker ring 26,
are not shown for the sake of simplicity and form paths for the
heels 27a of the sinkers 27, so as to achieve the actuation, in a
per se known manner, of the needles 25 and of the sinkers 27 in
order to form knitting.
[0023] A substantially cylindrical suction duct 28 is accommodated
inside the needle cylinder 3 and coaxially thereto and can be
connected to suction means in order to tension the item 30 during
its manufacture.
[0024] The item 30 is produced with the needles of the circular
hosiery knitting machine or the like starting from its opposite
axial end with respect to the axial end to be closed and by
retaining on the needles 25 of the needle cylinder 3 the last
formed row of knitting loops 30a, 30b.
[0025] The loops 30a, 30b of the last row of knitting, formed by
the needles 25 of the needle cylinder 3, are then individually
transferred to an auxiliary element which is provided with
supporting means for the individual support of the loops 30a, 30b.
The means for supporting the loops 30a of at least one first
half-row of the last row of knitting are suitable to receive two
loops and to pass one of the two loops in the other loop.
[0026] Merely by way of example and only in order to better explain
the method according to the invention, FIGS. 1 to 5 illustrate by
way of example an auxiliary element which is constituted by an
auxiliary needle cylinder 2, corresponding to an inverted needle
cylinder which has a simplified structure with respect to the
needle cylinder of conventional circular hosiery knitting
machines.
[0027] The auxiliary needle cylinder 2 furthermore has, at its
lower end, a sinker ring 6 which accommodates in a per se known
manner a plurality of sinkers 7 which can be actuated in order to
cooperate with the needles 5 in forming knitting.
[0028] The sinkers 7 can be actuated with a translatory motion
toward or away from the axis 2a of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2
by way of appropriate cams, not shown for the sake of simplicity,
which face in a downward region the sinker ring 6 and form paths
for a heel 7a of the sinkers.
[0029] The needles 5 have at least one heel 5b which protrudes
radially from the axial slots 4 of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2
and can engage cams which are arranged around the side wall of the
auxiliary needle cylinder 2 and form paths for the heels 5b of the
needles 5.
[0030] The auxiliary needle cylinder 2 can be actuated with a
rotary motion about its own axis 2a with respect to the cams that
form the paths for the heels 5b of the needles 5 and with respect
to the cams that form paths for the heels 7a of the sinkers 7, so
that the rotation of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2 about the axis
2a moves the needles 5 along the axial slots 4 of the auxiliary
needle cylinder 2 in order to form knitting and for other
operations described in greater detail hereinafter, and actuates
the sinkers 7 toward or away from the axis 2a of the auxiliary
needle cylinder 2 in order to cooperate with the needles 5 in
forming knitting.
[0031] Differently from conventional needle cylinders, the
auxiliary needle cylinder 2 is formed in two halves 12a, 12b which
are mutually coupled on a diametrical plane which passes through
the axis 2a of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2.
[0032] A first half 12a of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2,
together with the corresponding cams for the actuation of the
needles and of the sinkers, is pivoted to a supporting structure,
not shown for the sake of simplicity, about an axis 13 which is
parallel to a diametrical axis at right angles to the axis 2a of
the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, so that it can be rotated on
command about said axis 13 in order to move the needles 5 that
belong to the first half 12a so that they face from below, with
their tip 5a, the tip 5a of the needles 5 supported by the second
half 12b of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2.
[0033] After the needles 25 of the needle cylinder 3 have formed
the last row of knitting, retaining the loops 30a and 30b of the
two half-rows that form said last row, the auxiliary cylinder 2 is
arranged above and coaxially with respect to the needle cylinder 3
and the loops 30a of the first half-row are transferred to the
needles 5 located in the first half 12a, which cannot turn over, of
the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, while the loops of the second
half-row 30b are passed individually from the needles 25 to the
needles 5 that belong to the second half 12b, which can turn over
about the axis 13, of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, as shown in
FIG. 1.
[0034] The loops can be transferred from the needles 25 to the
needles 5 by lowering the needles 5, which are conveniently
arranged along a cylinder whose diameter is smaller than the
cylinder along which the needles 25 are arranged, toward the
needles 25, so that the tip 5a of the needles 5 enters the loop of
knitting retained on the needles 25. The needles 25 are then raised
so that their tongue 25c moves beyond said last loop and are then
lowered so as to permanently release said loop of knitting.
[0035] The item 30 is then reversed inside the auxiliary needle
cylinder 2 by virtue of suction applied to a suction duct 40 which
is arranged internally and coaxially with respect to the needle
cylinder 2 and has an inlet 40a proximate to the lower end of the
auxiliary needle cylinder 2, as shown in FIG. 2.
[0036] It should be noted that the item 30 can be reversed either
before or after its transfer from the needle cylinder 3 to the
auxiliary needle cylinder 2.
[0037] At this point, the auxiliary needle cylinder 2 can be moved
away from the needle cylinder 3 and the second half 12b of the
auxiliary needle cylinder is turned about the axis 13 in order to
move the needles 5 of the second half 12b so that they face, with
their tip 5a, the tip 5a of the needles 5 that belong to the first
half 12a.
[0038] In a subsequent step, the loops 30b of the second half-row
are transferred from the corresponding supporting means,
constituted by the needles 5 that belong to the second half 12b of
the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, to the supporting means that are
engaged with the loops 30a of the first half-row and are
constituted, in the illustrated embodiment, by the needles 5 that
belong to the first half 12a of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, as
shown in FIG. 3. It should be noted that the loops 30b of the
second half-row are engaged by the needles 5 of the first half 12a
of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, while the loops 30a of the
first half-row are passed above the tongue 5c of the needles 5, as
shown in FIG. 4.
[0039] In a subsequent step, the loops 30b of the second half-row
are knitted in with the loops 30a of the first half-row, passing
the loops 30b of the second half-row through the loops 30a of the
first half-row, as shown in FIG. 6. This operation in practice
closes the axial end of the item 30.
[0040] In a subsequent step, an additional process is performed so
as to stabilize the closure of the item 30.
[0041] As shown in particular in FIG. 7, said additional process
can simply consist in the forming of at least one additional row of
knitting 50, which is knitted in with the loops of the second
half-row of knitting 30b after they have passed through the loops
30a of the first half-row.
[0042] Conveniently, the additional row of knitting 50 can be
provided by means of a thread made of heat-sensitive material,
preferably a thread made of a heat-activated adhesive substance of
a known type, which is subsequently heated so as to stably adhere
to the loops 30b, thus making them non-run.
[0043] As an alternative, the additional process can comprise the
sewing of the loops 30b of the second half-row, after their passage
through the loops 30a of the first half-row, with two threads 51
and 52, as shown in FIG. 8. Said sewing can be performed, in a per
se known manner, by means of a sewing head which cooperates with
the needles 5 that belong to the first half of the auxiliary needle
cylinder 2.
[0044] The additional process can also be constituted by the
forming of a chain-stitched seam with a single thread 53 which
mutually connects the loops 30b of the second half-row after their
passage through the loops 30a of the first half-row, as shown in
FIG. 9. Said chain-stitched seam can also be formed by way of a
known type of sewing head which cooperates with the needles 5 that
belong to the first half 12a of the auxiliary needle cylinder
2.
[0045] The additional process can also comprise the forming of at
least one row of non-run knitting 54 knitted in with the loops 30b
of the second half-row after their passage through the loops 30a of
the first half-row. Said row of non-run knitting can be formed, as
disclosed in Italian patent no. 1,286,282 in the name of the same
Assignee, by using a half-dial or dial provided with hooks which
face the needles that belong to the first half 12a of the auxiliary
needle cylinder 2, or by using the needles 5 of the second half 12b
of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2, which are appropriately offset
laterally with respect to the needles 5 that belong to the first
half 12a of the auxiliary needle cylinder 2.
[0046] It should be noted that instead of transferring the loops
30a from the needles 5 that belong to the second half 12b of the
auxiliary needle cylinder to the needles 5 that belong to the first
half 12a of the auxiliary cylinder 2 it is possible to transfer the
loops 30a of the first half-row to the needles 5 of the second half
12b which already carry the loops 30b of the second half-row. In
this case, the needles 5 that belong to the second half 12b of the
auxiliary needle cylinder pass the loops 30a through the loops 30b,
closing the axial end of the item 30, and are used to perform the
additional processes for stabilizing the closure of the item 30 as
an alternative to the needles of the first half 12a of the
auxiliary needle cylinder.
[0047] In practice, with the method according to the invention, by
virtue of the fact that the closure of an axial end of the item is
performed by passing the loops of one half-row of the last formed
row of knitting through the loops of the other half-row, one
achieves a compact closure which is fully satisfactory from an
aesthetic point of view.
[0048] At the end of the additional process for closure
stabilization, the item 30, closed at one of its axial ends, is
released by the needles 5 and is aspirated, starting from the
closed axial end, into a second suction duct 42 which is arranged
inside the suction duct 41, as shown in FIG. 5. By virtue of this
suction, the item 30 is reversed again and is unloaded from the
machine "right way out".
[0049] It should be noted that the method according to the
invention has been described with reference to the use of an
auxiliary element which is constituted by an auxiliary needle
cylinder, but the auxiliary element can be constituted by any other
element capable of individually receiving the loops of the last row
of knitting formed by the needles of a needle cylinder and of
transferring the loops that belong to one half-row of said last row
inside the loops of the other half-row.
[0050] Furthermore, the passage of the loops of the last row formed
on the circular hosiery knitting machine or the like can be
performed directly or by means of an intermediate transfer element,
such as for example a half-dial or a dial provided with hooks which
can receive and release loops of knitting, such as for example the
annular element disclosed in Italian patent no. 1,277,396 in the
name of the same Assignee.
[0051] In practice it has been found that the method according to
the invention fully achieves the intended aim, since by closing an
item at one of its axial ends by passing the loops that belong to
one half-row inside the loops of the other half-row of the last row
of knitting formed on the machine that manufactures the item, one
achieves a compact closure of an axial end of the item which is
fully satisfactory from an aesthetic point of view.
[0052] Another advantage of the method according to the invention
is that the item is closed at one of its axial ends by acting on
the reverse side of the item, thus obtaining all the more an
excellent result from an aesthetic point of view.
[0053] The method thus conceived is susceptible of numerous
modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of
the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced
with other technically equivalent elements.
[0054] In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions,
may be any according to requirements and to the state of the
art.
[0055] The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No.
MI2000A000374 from is which this application claims priority are
incorporated herein by reference.
* * * * *