U.S. patent application number 14/899329 was filed with the patent office on 2016-05-05 for thread dispensing element for a thread guide for knitting machines, and thread guide comprising the dispensing element.
The applicant listed for this patent is SANTONI S.P.A.. Invention is credited to ETTORE LONATI, FAUSTO LONATI, TIBERIO LONATI.
Application Number | 20160122914 14/899329 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49035668 |
Filed Date | 2016-05-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160122914 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LONATI; TIBERIO ; et
al. |
May 5, 2016 |
THREAD DISPENSING ELEMENT FOR A THREAD GUIDE FOR KNITTING MACHINES,
AND THREAD GUIDE COMPRISING THE DISPENSING ELEMENT
Abstract
A thread dispensing element (60) for a thread guide (6) for
knitting machines, comprising a body (62) having a mounting portion
(63), destined to be removably mounted to a front end (8) of a
thread guide (6), and an operating portion (64), destined to be
facing towards the needles (N) of a needle-bearing organ of a
knitting machine. The mounting portion (63) enables mounting the
dispensing element to the thread guide according to a determined
discrete number of configurations with respect to the thread guide
(6), to which corresponds a same discrete number of positions
assumed by the operating portion (64) of the dispensing element
with respect to the needles (N) of the needle-bearing organ. The
dispensing organ (60) is configured so as to be selectively
mountable to the thread guide (6) exclusively in a configuration
selected from among the determined discrete number of
configurations.
Inventors: |
LONATI; TIBERIO; (BRESCIA,
IT) ; LONATI; FAUSTO; (BRESCIA, IT) ; LONATI;
ETTORE; (BOTTICINO, IT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SANTONI S.P.A. |
Brescia |
|
IT |
|
|
Family ID: |
49035668 |
Appl. No.: |
14/899329 |
Filed: |
June 17, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
June 17, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IB2014/062289 |
371 Date: |
December 18, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
66/145R |
Current CPC
Class: |
D04B 15/60 20130101;
D04B 15/80 20130101 |
International
Class: |
D04B 15/60 20060101
D04B015/60 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 21, 2013 |
IT |
BS2013A000089 |
Claims
1. A thread dispensing element (60) for a thread guide (6) for
knitting machines, the dispensing element (60) comprising a body
(62) having a mounting portion (63), destined to be removably
mounted to a front end (8) of a thread guide (6), and an operating
portion (64), destined to be facing towards the needles (N) of a
needle-bearing organ of a knitting machine, wherein said mounting
portion (63) is configured and predisposed to enable mounting the
dispensing element to the thread guide according to a determined
discrete number of configurations with respect to the thread guide,
to which corresponds a same discrete number of positions assumed by
the operating portion (64) of the dispensing element with respect
to the needles (N) of the needle-bearing organ, said dispensing
organ (60) being configured for being selectively mountable to the
thread guide (6) exclusively in a configuration selected from among
said determined discrete number of configurations.
2. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, wherein the mounting
portion (63) is destined to be inserted in a mounting seating (70)
of a thread guide complementarily shaped to the mounting portion
(63), such that the mounting portion of the element is at least
partially surrounded by the mounting seating of the thread guide,
and/or wherein the mounting portion (63) is configured such as to
enable mounting the dispensing element (60) by means of axial
insertion in the mounting seating (70) of the thread guide (6).
3. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, having an elongate
conformation and developing longitudinally between a rear end (65),
from which the mounting portion (63) develops, and a front end
(66), in correspondence of which the operating portion (64)
terminates, and/or wherein the body (62) of the dispensing element
is provided with a longitudinal hole (67, 61) passing through the
whole body from the rear end (65), or from the mounting portion, to
the front end (66), or to the operating portion, the longitudinal
hole (67) being destined to be slidably crossed by a feeding thread
for the needles of the knitting machine.
4. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, wherein said mounting
portion (63) develops along a longitudinal axis (63a) and has a
section (69), preferably constant, that is not circular and can
prevent rotation of the mounting portion (63) internally of the
mounting seating (70), in particular with respect to a rotation
axis that is parallel to or coincident with the longitudinal axis
(63a) of the mounting portion, and/or wherein the section (69) is
configured to enable insertion of the mounting portion in the
mounting seating (70) only in the discrete number of
configurations, said section (69) being polygonal or elliptical or
made up of curved tracts intervalled with straight tracts, and/or
wherein each of the positions of the discrete number of positions
assumed by the operating portion (64) of the dispensing element
with respect to the needles (N) of the needle-bearing organ is
characterised by a respective distance from the needles of the
machine and by a respective orientation assumed with respect to the
needles of the knitting machine.
5. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, wherein the determined
discrete number of mounting configurations is exactly two, the
mounting portion (63) being mountable to the thread guide (6) in a
first mounting configuration, to which corresponds a low position
of the operating portion (64), or in a second mounting
configuration, to which corresponds a high position of the
operating portion (64), and/or wherein in the second mounting
configuration the dispensing element (60) is arranged oppositely
with respect to the arrangement assumed in the first mounting
configuration, i.e. between the first and the second mounting
configuration the mounting portion (63) is rotated by 180.degree.,
and/or wherein the high position and the low position selectively
assumed by the operating portion (64) are vertically aligned along
a vertical axis that is substantially parallel to the needles (N)
present in the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
6. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, wherein the longitudinal
hole (67) is open on the rear end (65), defining a first opening
(75), and is open on the front end (66), defining a second opening
(76), the first opening enabling insertion of an infeed thread into
the longitudinal hole of the dispensing element and the second
opening enabling exit, towards the needles of the knitting machine,
of the infeed thread, and/or wherein the second opening (76) is
dealigned from the first opening (75) with respect to the
longitudinal axis (63a), and/or wherein the first opening is
coaxial to the longitudinal axis, and/or wherein in the first
mounting configuration the second opening (76) is lower than the
first opening (75) with respect to the longitudinal axis (63a), and
in the second mounting configuration the second opening is higher
than the first opening with respect to the longitudinal axis.
7. The dispensing element (60) of claim 1, wherein the operating
portion (64) extends from the mounting portion (63) and is
dealigned with respect thereto, in particular having a respective
longitudinal axis (64a) transversal to the longitudinal axis (63a)
of the mounting portion (63), and/or wherein the operating portion
(64) is inclined with respect to the mounting portion (63) such
that the longitudinal axis (64a) of the operating portion forms,
with the longitudinal axis (63a) of the mounting portion, an angle
of less than 5.degree. and/or less than 10.degree. and/or less than
20.degree. and/or less than 45.degree. and/or less than 90.degree.,
and/or wherein the operating portion (64) is arranged obliquely
with respect to the mounting portion (64), the dispensing element
(60) being asymmetric with respect to the longitudinal axis of the
mounting portion, and/or wherein the dispensing element (60) is
made of a ceramic material or zircon, preferably in a single
piece.
8. A thread guide (6) for knitting machines provided with a front
end (8) facing towards the needles (N) of the knitting machine, the
front end having at least a mounting seating (70) destined to
removably house a dispensing element (60) according to claim 1.
9. The thread guide (6) of claim 8, wherein the front end (8) of
the thread guide comprises a mounting seating (70) complementarily
shaped to the mounting portion (63) of the dispensing element,
and/or wherein the mounting seating (70) consists of a through-hole
(71) passing through the front end of the thread guide (6), in
which the mounting portion (63) of the dispensing element (60) is
insertable, and/or wherein the thread guide (6) comprises the
dispensing element (60) removably mounted thereto, and/or wherein
the thread guide (6) comprises blocking means (80) arranged at the
mounting seating (70) and configured to removably engage with the
mounting portion (63) of the dispensing element (60) in order to
stably and removably mount it in the mounting seating, and/or
wherein the blocking means (80) comprise a screw (81), or a
threaded grub screw, insertable in a hole (82), preferably threaded
and/or a through-hole, defined in the front end (8) of the thread
guide (6) and orientated such as to be transversal to the mounting
portion (63) of the dispensing element (60) once inserted in the
mounting seating (70).
10. A device (1) for feeding thread to needles of a knitting
machine, the device comprising: a body (2) of the device destined
to be associated to a knitting machine, at a needle-bearing organ
of the knitting machine, and provided with at least a housing
seating (3) configured to movably house the guide means (4) in the
body, thread guide means (4), movably housed at least partially in
the at least a housing seating and comprising at least a thread
guide (6) according to claim 8, wherein the knitting machine is
preferably a knitting machine for knitwear, hosiery or the like,
more preferably a circular knitting machine and/or seamless, and/or
wherein the needle-bearing organ is a needle-bearing cylinder of a
circular knitting machine or a needle bed of a linear knitting
machine.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a device for feeding thread
to needles of a knitting machine. The invention further relates to
a thread dispensing element for a thread guide for knitting
machines, and a thread guide comprising the dispensing element.
[0002] The present invention relates to the technical sector of
knitting machines for knitwear, seamless-type knitwear, hosiery and
the like, in particular circular knitting machines.
[0003] In the present text, the term "knitting machine" is taken in
general to mean a knitting machine, preferably circular, able to
produce knitted articles and provided with a plurality of feeding
points in which the thread is supplied to the needles of the
machine. This knitting machine can be for example a single-bed or a
double-bed type.
[0004] Devices are known for feeding thread to the needles of a
knitting machine, known in the sector as thread guide devices, or
thread guide groups. The devices are destined to be positioned at
the needles of the knitting machine and each comprise one or more,
typically a plurality, of thread feeding organs, known as thread
guides, which feed the needles of the knitting machine with the
threads necessary for forming the fabrics. The thread guides are
arranged adjacent to the needle-bearing organ at a feeding point of
the knitting machine.
[0005] Typically, at a single feeding point a plurality of thread
guides are provided, singly activatable, either contemporaneously
or alternatively, in such a way as to feed a plurality of threads
to the needles and/or vary the thread or the threads supplied to
the needles which transit by the feed point by effect of the motion
of the needle-bearing organ with respect to the thread guides (in
the case of circular knitting machines, by effect of the rotation
of the cylinder). A single thread guide device typically comprises,
for this purpose, a plurality of thread guides associated to a feed
point.
[0006] In the prior art, each thread guide is typically constituted
substantially by an elongate body pivoted, at an intermediate
portion of the longitudinal development thereof, to a fixed body of
the thread guide, and extending, with an operating end (or a
thread-dispensing end), in the direction of the needles arranged in
the needle-bearing organ. The thread guide is able to rotate
controlledly (according to a predetermined angle of amplitude), by
means of special actuators present in the device, about the fulcrum
thereof so as to operate between a rest condition, in which it is
distanced, with the dispensing end of the thread, from the needles
of the machine to as to prevent the needles, at the infeed point,
from catching the thread dispensed by the thread guide, and a
working condition in which the thread guide is neared, with the
thread dispensing end, to the needles so that the needles, being
activated at the desired infeed point, can catch the thread and
proceed with the formation of new knitted stitches.
[0007] The need to be able to carry out, at a same supply infeed of
the machine, various types of fabric working, has highlighted the
need to be able to position the dispensing end of the thread guide
in different positions, typically more than two distinct positions.
These positions require the predisposing of a specific elements
which make up the thread guide and various actuators supplied for
the activation thereof.
[0008] An example of a device for infeeding the thread to the
needles or a knitting machine designed to satisfy this requirement
is described in Italian Patent no. IT 1325202, in the name of the
present Applicant. In this solution the thread guide is able to
position the thread dispensing end thereof in six different
operating positions.
[0009] Also known are thread dispensing elements for a thread guide
for knitting machines, i.e. organs destined to be mounted on the
thread guide at the terminal dispensing end of the thread and able
to guide the running of the thread, in supply to a specific point,
so as to pass it to the needles of the cylinder (or other needle
bed of the knitting machine).
[0010] The thread dispensing element consists of a hollow tubular
body, projecting at the end of the thread guide, through which the
thread to be fed to the machine needles is made to pass and
run.
[0011] An example of a thread dispensing element, destined to be
mounted on a thread guide, is described in Italian patent no. IT
1325183, in the name of the same Applicant; in this solution, the
dispensing element is mounted to the thread guide in such a way as
to be rotatable about an axis arranged perpendicularly to the axial
development of the dispensing element. Additionally, the dispensing
element can be displaced axially with respect to the end of the
thread guide on which it is mounted. Once the dispensing element
has been established, it is fixed to the thread guide by means of a
grub screw. The possibility of modifying the inclination and
advancement of the thread dispensing element with respect to the
end of the thread guide enables regulating the distance and
orientation of the dispensing element with respect to the needles
of the knitting machine.
[0012] The Applicant has found that the known devices for feeding
thread to the needles of a knitting machine are not free of
drawbacks and are improvable in various aspects, in particular with
reference to the performance and the efficiency obtainable by the
devices and the structural and operating complexity thereof.
[0013] A typical drawback of the known solutions is represented by
the fact that it is not always possible to obtain a precise
positioning of the dispensing end of the thread guide, due to the
imprecisions in the movement of the thread guide and the components
thereof and/or due to the vibrations to which the thread guide is
subjected during the passage between the various operating
conditions, for example from the rest condition to the working
condition. Further, the thread guide devices of known type are
characterised by a lower repeatability in the positioning of the
ends of the single thread guides, which are typically positioned at
different points, with respect to the needles of the knitting
machine, at each respective passage between the rest condition and
the operating condition.
[0014] The lower positioning precision and the poor repeatability
in general lead to a reduction in the overall performances of the
device; for example, the dispensing end of the thread can be
further from or nearer to the needles with respect to a desired
value; in general, the vibrations of the thread guides of the known
devices can lead to a wrong realization of knitted stitches and/or
can generate mesh defects.
[0015] A further drawback of known solutions relates to the fact
that typically due to the structure of the thread guide and/or the
vibrations to which it is subjected, it is necessary to make
continuous and/or frequent regulations and calibrations to the
device for feeding the thread, so as to correct the positioning
errors of the thread guides and recalibrate the components so that
they move in the desired way.
[0016] A further drawback of the known devices, encountered by the
Applicant, lies in the kinematic structures typical of known thread
guides (i.e. the movement patterns of the components thereof) which
makes the movement poorly precise and/or makes it difficult to
realize.
[0017] A further drawback of the known devices consists in the
difficulty of precisely controlling and/or regulating, according to
needs, the various positions that the dispensing end of the thread
guide can assume; this makes the known devices poorly versatile and
difficult to adapt to various knitting machines and/or different
types of textile working.
[0018] A further drawback of the known devices consists in the
structural complexity thereof: in fact they typically comprise a
plurality of thread guides, singly activatable, movably inserted
internally of a single body of the device. Because of the number of
elements that make up each thread guide, as well as the position
and the movement of the actuators dedicated singly to each of the
thread guides, the body of the device assumes a complicated
structure that is difficult to realize; this increases the
production costs and makes it difficult and/or slow to mount, set
and maintain. Further, considering that a single knitting machine
comprises a plurality of devices for feeding the thread arranged
about or along the needle-bearing organ, the setting-up of known
knitting machines is more greatly susceptible to mounting errors,
and the functioning is subject to faults and/or malfunctioning.
[0019] A further drawback of the known solutions consists in the
poor activating velocity obtainable for the single thread guides,
due to the structure and/or the kinematics of the thread guides of
known type.
[0020] The Applicant has further found that the thread dispensing
elements of known type, present in the thread guides for knitting
machines, and in general the thread guide organs for knitting
machines, are not without drawbacks and are improvable in various
ways.
[0021] A drawback typical of the thread dispensing elements of
known type consists in the difficulty of precisely defining the
position thereof with respect to the end of the thread guide on
which they are mounted. This is due in particular to the need to
manually rotate the dispensing element in the thread guide seating
and thus fix the position with an appropriate blocking grub screw.
These operations can be difficult and/or slow and typically lead to
errors in the positioning of the dispensing element, which takes on
an orientation and/or a distance that are wrong with respect to the
needles.
[0022] A further drawback of the known dispensing elements is
characterised by the instability of the fixing position assumed
with respect to the thread guide on which they are mounted and/or
the predisposition--during the movement of the thread guide--to
vibratory phenomena. This instability is also due, and often
significantly so, to the masses in motion, in particular the mass
of the thread guide.
[0023] A further drawback of the known dispensing elements relates
to the difficulty of realising and/or the high cost of these
solutions, and/or in the predisposition to breakage and wear
phenomena. In this situation the aim at the base of the present
invention, in the various aspects and/or embodiments thereof, is to
provide a device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting
machines which can obviate one or more of the mentioned
drawbacks.
[0024] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines
characterised by a high level of precision and/or repeatability in
the positioning of the dispensing end of the thread, and/or
characterised by a movement of the single thread guides that is
stable and not subject to vibratory phenomena.
[0025] A further aim of the present invention is to make available
a device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines
able to position the dispensing end of the thread of each thread
guide selectively in a multiplicity of positions, and characterised
by a high versatility of use such as to make it easily adaptable to
the various types of knitting machines and/or to production
needs.
[0026] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines able
to activate the respective thread guides with a greater velocity
with respect to the known devices.
[0027] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines that
is able to improve the performance of a knitting machine, in
particular increasing the knitting productivity of the machine, for
example in terms of quantity of fabric produced per unit of time
and/or complexity of the fabric produced.
[0028] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines able
to give a more efficient and effective control of the feed of
thread to the needles of the machine.
[0029] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines
characterised by a simple and rational structure.
[0030] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to knitting machines characterised by a
competitive overall cost and/or by a high degree of reliability of
functioning and/or a high degree of ease of mounting and/or
setting-up and/or maintenance.
[0031] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
device for feeding thread to the needles of knitting machines
characterised by a structure and/or a functioning that are
innovative.
[0032] A further aim of the present invention, in its various
aspects and/or embodiments, in particular in relation to the
dispensing element of the thread destined to be mounted on a thread
guide, is to make available a dispensing element of the thread to
the needles of knitting machines, and a thread guide comprising the
element, which are able to obviate one or more of the
drawbacks.
[0033] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
dispensing element of the thread that can be mounted on a
respective thread guide precisely, such as to take on a determined
position and a specific orientation with respect to the needles of
the machine.
[0034] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
thread dispensing element mountable to a respective thread guide
simply and/or rapidly and/or easily reversibly.
[0035] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
thread dispensing element characterised by a high degree of
mounting stability on the respective thread guide.
[0036] A further aim of the present invention is to provide a
thread dispensing element that is simple and/or economical to
realise.
[0037] These aims and others besides, which will emerge more
clearly during the following description, are substantially
attained by a device for feeding thread to needles of a knitting
machine and/or by a dispensing element of the thread for a thread
guide for knitting machines and/or by a thread guide comprising the
dispensing element, according to one or more of the accompanying
claims, each of which taken alone (without the relative
dependencies) or in any combination with the other claims, as well
as according to the following aspects and/or embodiments, variously
combined, including with the above-mentioned claims.
[0038] In a first aspect, the invention relates to a device for
feeding thread to the needles of a knitting machine, the device
comprising: [0039] a body of the device destined to be associated
to a knitting machine, at a needle-bearing organ of the knitting
machine, and configured to movably house thread guide means, [0040]
thread guide means, movably housed at least partially in the body
and comprising a first lever, a second lever and a thread
guide.
[0041] In an aspect the first lever is rotatably mounted to the
body of the device such as to be able to rotate about a first
rotation axis.
[0042] In an aspect the thread guide rotatably mounted to the first
lever such as to be able to rotate, with respect to the first
lever, about a second rotation axis, the thread guide having an
elongate conformation and extending longitudinally between a rear
end and a front end, the front end projecting and emerging from the
body in a direction of the needle-bearing organ and defining at
least a passage for a thread to be dispensed to the needles of the
needle-bearing organ, the thread guide being provided with a guide
portion interposed between the rear end and the front end.
[0043] In an aspect the second lever is rotatably mounted to the
body of the device such as to be able to rotate about a third
rotation axis, the second lever longitudinally extending between an
activating end and a guide end, the guide portion of the thread
guide being configured such as to stay slidably in contact with the
guide end of the second lever.
[0044] In an aspect the thread guide means comprise activating
means positioned at least partially in the body and configured and
predisposed so as to controlledly move at least the first lever and
the second lever so as to position the thread guide into a
plurality of operating positions with respect to the body and with
respect to the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0045] In an aspect the activating means comprise a first actuator
activatable on the first lever such as to determine a rotation
thereof about the first rotation axis and with an amplitude equal
to a first regulatably-variable angle between an advanced position
and a retracted position, to which correspond respectively a
displacement of the front end of the thread guide distancingly from
the needle-bearing organ and a displacement of the front end of the
thread guide nearingly to the needle-bearing organ.
[0046] In an aspect, the displacements occur in a mode and/or a
trajectory defined by the conformation of the guide portion of the
thread guide.
[0047] In an aspect the activating means comprise a second actuator
activatable on the second lever so as to determine a rotation
thereof, about the third rotation axis and with an amplitude equal
to a second regulatably-variable angle, between a first position
and a second position, to which correspond respectively a
displacement of the front end of the thread guide in a rising
direction with respect to the needle-bearing organ, up to a first
vertical height, and a displacement of the front end of the thread
guide in a lowering direction with respect to the needle-bearing
organ, up to a second vertical height lower than the first vertical
height.
[0048] In an aspect the thread guide means comprise elastic means
positioned at least partially in the body and configured and
predisposed to elastically oppose the movement imposed on the first
lever and/or on second lever by the activating means.
[0049] In an aspect the first and second lever are not constrained
to one another, i.e. they perform respective rotating movements
thereof independently of one another.
[0050] In an aspect the needle-bearing organ is a needle bed;
preferably the needle-bearing organ is a cylinder of a circular
knitting machine.
[0051] In an aspect the first, second and third axis are parallel
to one another.
[0052] In an aspect the device is destined to be mounted on the
knitting machine in such a way as to be positioned adjacent to the
needle-bearing organ and in proximity thereof, such that it can
interact selectively with the needles of the needle-bearing
organ.
[0053] In an aspect the thread guide exhibits a back at a thickness
of the thread guide, the thickness developing perpendicularly to
the longitudinal development of the thread guide. In an aspect the
back is in an upper position in the thread guide. In an aspect the
guide portion of the thread guide is defined on the back of the
thread guide and comprises a portion of an upper surface of the
thread guide which extends in the direction of the longitudinal
development of the thread guide.
[0054] In an aspect the portion of upper surface defining the guide
portion develops on planes that are substantially parallel to the
second rotation axis of the thread guide with respect to the first
lever.
[0055] In an aspect the back of the thread guide, in particular the
portion of guide on the back of the thread guide, is maintained
pressed, with a determined force, on the guide end of the second
lever by means of the first elastic element, which prevents
detachment, typically due to gravity, of the thread guide from the
second lever.
[0056] In an aspect the guide portion of the thread guide realizes
a flat cam associated to the guide end of the second lever, which
functions as a yielding element associated to the flat cam. The
profile of the guide portion determines the trajectory followed by
the front end of the thread guide following the rotation imposed on
the thread guide by the first lever and/or following the rotation
imposed on the thread guide of the second lever.
[0057] In an aspect the thread guide comprises a fin emerging
superiorly from the thread guide and developing over a longitudinal
portion of the thread guide, parallel to the longitudinal axis of
the thread guide. In an aspect the back of the thread guide is
realized on the fin and/or coincides with an upper surface of the
fin. In an aspect the guide portion is defined on the fin,
preferably is defined on an upper surface of the fin. In an aspect
the upper surface of the fin develops on planes that are
substantially parallel to one or more of the first, second and
third rotation axis.
[0058] In an aspect the fin is maintained pressed, with a
determined force, on the guide end of the second lever, preferably
by means of the first elastic element.
[0059] In an aspect the first lever and the second lever are
rotatably mounted to the body at a same point, the third rotation
axis coinciding with the first rotation axis, at which they
intersect to form a cross configuration. In an aspect the second
lever comprises, between the activating end and the guide end, a
through-recess in which the first lever is inserted, the recess
realizing a forked mounting of the first lever on the second
lever.
[0060] In an aspect the first elastic element is constrained to the
thread guide at a point of the thread guide interposed between the
guide portion and the front end. In an aspect the second elastic
element is constrained to the first lever at the upper end of the
first lever, or at a proximal point to the upper end, or a point
interposed between the central portion and the upper end of the
first lever.
[0061] In an aspect the activating means comprise a third actuator
acting on the second lever such as to determine a further rotation
thereof, about the third rotation axis and with an amplitude equal
to a third regulatable angle, between the first or second position
and a third position, in which to the further rotation of the
second lever so as to bring itself into the third position
corresponds a displacement of the front end of the thread guide in
a lowering direction with respect to the needle-bearing organ, up
to a third vertical height lower than the second vertical
height.
[0062] In an aspect the activating of the third actuator enables
rotating the guide end of the second lever in a downwards
direction, bringing it into the third position. In an aspect the
passage of the second lever into the third position can occur both
starting from the first position, and starting from the second
position, in the first case the third actuator moving the second
lever, in a lowering direction, from the first height directly to
the third vertical height, while in the second case the third
actuator moving the second lever--in a lowering direction--from the
second height to the third vertical height.
[0063] In an aspect the thread guide means comprise a third lever
rotatably mounted to the body in such a way as to be able to rotate
about a fourth rotation axis, preferably parallel to the first
rotation axis, the third lever comprising an activating portion,
which the second actuator can act, and a thrust portion, the thrust
portion being configured such as to interact with the activating
end of the second lever so as to determine the rotation of the
second lever about the third rotation axis between the first
position and the second position.
[0064] In an aspect the second actuator is arranged in the body in
such a way as to interact with the activating end of the second
lever, preferably at a point that is distinct from the point on
which the third actuator acts on the second lever, or it is
arranged in the body such as to interact with the thrust portion of
the third lever.
[0065] In an aspect the front end of the thread guide is destined
to cooperate with one or more needles of the knitting machine and
is provided with at least a dispensing element of the thread
removably associated to the guide thread and defining the passage
for a thread to be dispensed to the needles of the needle-bearing
organ.
[0066] In an aspect the body is provided with at least a housing
seating configured such as to at least partially movably house the
thread guide means in the body. In an aspect, the first lever
and/or the second lever are rotatably mounted to the body
internally of the seating. In an aspect, the front end of the
thread guide projects and emerges from the seating in the direction
of the needle-bearing organ and the activating means are preferably
positioned internally of the seating In an aspect the body
comprises a plurality of the seatings, distinct from one another,
each of the seatings being configured such as to movably house
respective thread guide means in the body, each of the respective
thread guide means comprising at least a respective thread guide
and respective activating means configured so as position the
respective thread guide in a plurality of operating positions with
respect to the seating and with respect to the needle-bearing organ
of the knitting machine.
[0067] In an aspect the invention relates to a knitting machine for
knitwear, hosiery or the like, comprising a needle-bearing organ
exhibiting a plurality of flanked grooves extending substantially
vertically, each groove movably housing a needle mobile on command
in the respective groove for the formation of fabric, and
comprising a device for feeding thread to the needles according to
any one of the preceding aspects and/or the claims, the
needle-bearing organ being mobile with respect to the device for
feeding thread along a motion trajectory.
[0068] In a further independent aspect, the invention relates to a
device for feeding thread to needles of a knitting machine, the
device comprising: [0069] a body of the device destined to be
associated to a knitting machine at a needle-bearing organ of the
knitting machine, and provided with at least a housing seating
configured such as to movably house thread guide means in the body,
[0070] thread guide means, movably housed at least partially in the
at least a housing seating and comprising at least: [0071] a thread
guide having an elongate conformation and extending longitudinally
between a rear end and a front end, the front end projecting and
emerging from the body in a direction of the needle-bearing organ
and defining at least a passage for a thread to be dispensed to the
needles of the needle-bearing organ; [0072] activating means
positioned at least partially in the seating and configured and
predisposed to move so as to controlledly move the thread guide
into a plurality of operating positions with respect to the body
and with respect to the needle-bearing organ of the knitting
machine, wherein the seating is configured and predisposed, in
particular is profiled, so as to guide the movement of the thread
guide means, in particular for guiding the movement of the thread
guide means in the movement thereof between the plurality of
operating positions, and/or for guaranteeing maintenance of each
operating position assumed by the thread guide during the working
of the knitting machine.
[0073] In an aspect the seating defines an operating plane on which
the thread guide means lie and/or are mobile in the seating, the
operating plane having a substantially parallel development to the
orientation of the needles of the needle-bearing organ, the
longitudinal development of the seating lying on the operating
plane. In an aspect the seating is singly dedicated to movably
housing a single thread guide. In an aspect the operating plane of
the seating is such as to be, when the device is mounted,
substantially aligned to the needles of the knitting machine.
[0074] In an aspect the seating has a recess shape, or a groove
shape, realised in the body of the device, and comprises two facing
lateral walls, preferably parallel to one another, configured so as
to slidably house the thread guide means. In an aspect, the two
lateral walls are substantially identical to one another and/or
each exhibit a respective lower portion, the lower portions being
facing and configured so as to guide from the sides the movement of
the thread guide, parallel to the walls, between the plurality of
operating positions, containing it laterally internally of the
seating.
[0075] In an aspect the distance between the lateral walls of the
seating is substantially equal to a thickness of the thread guide,
perpendicular to the longitudinal development thereof, so that the
thread guide, in the movement thereof between the operating
positions, in particular nearingly and distancingly with respect to
the needle-bearing organ, moves substantially into contact with the
lateral walls of the seating, and parallel to the walls, preventing
lateral oscillations, or transversal oscillations with respect to
the walls of the thread guide.
[0076] In an aspect the seating, in particular the distance between
the lateral walls of the seating, is dimensioned such that the
thread guide, inserted movably internally of the seating, is
laterally separated from the lateral walls, in particular from at
least a portion thereof, by a space or gap of at least 1 hundredth
of a millimetre and/or at least 5 hundredths of a millimetre,
and/or at least 1 tenth of a millimetre and/or at least 2 tenths of
a millimetre and/or at least 5 tenths of a millimetre and/or at
least 1 millimetre with respect to each wall.
[0077] In an aspect the seating is configured so as to guide the
movement of the thread guide from inside the body, in particular
along the operating plane.
[0078] In an aspect the seating is configured so as to guide
movement of the thread guide from inside the body by means of a
lateral containing, between the two facing lateral walls, at least
of the rear end of the thread guide.
[0079] In an aspect the seating is configured so as to guide, from
the sides, the movement of the thread guide without interacting
with the front end thereof.
[0080] In an aspect the seating is configured so as to guide from
inside the body the movement of the thread guide by means of a
lateral containing, between the two facing lateral walls, of a
fraction of the longitudinal extension, thereof, from the rear end,
by at least 10% and/or at least 20% and/or at least 40% and/or at
least 60% and/or at least 80% of the longitudinal development
thereof.
[0081] In an aspect the seating is configured so as to guide from
the sides the movement of the first lever, in particular at least
the upper end and/or the lower end of the first lever. In an aspect
the upper portions of the two walls of the seating contain and
guide from the sides the upper end of the first lever, and/or the
lower portions of the two walls of the seating contain and guide
from the sides the lower end of the first lever.
[0082] In an aspect the seating does not guide or contain the from
the sides the movement of the second lever, which is positioned at
the free space of the seating.
[0083] In an aspect the guide end of the second lever comprises a
respective fork configured so as to at least partially slidably
house the guide portion of the thread guide, so as to guide it from
the sides the motion into contact with the guide end of the second
lever, and prevent lateral oscillations of the guide portion. In an
aspect the fork of the guide end enables maintaining the motion of
the thread guide internally of the seating and aligned with the
operating plane of the seating. In an aspect, the fork of the guide
end of the second lever realizes an upper guide for the thread
guide, which completes the guide function carried out below the
lower portions of the two lateral walls of the seating.
[0084] In an aspect the body comprises a plurality of the seatings,
distinct from one another, each of the seatings being configured so
as to movably house respective thread guide means in the body, each
of the thread guide means comprising at least a respective thread
guide and respective activating means configured to position the
respective thread guide in a plurality of operating positions with
respect to the seating and with respect to the needle-bearing organ
of the knitting machine.
[0085] In an aspect the seatings of the plurality of seatings of
the body of the device exhibit respective longitudinal developments
that are parallel to one another, i.e. they define respective work
planes parallel to one another and parallel to the orientation of
the needles of the needle-bearing organ.
[0086] In an aspect the seatings of the plurality of seatings are
configured and predisposed each to house respective thread guide
means, the respective thread guides means being able to comprise a
respective thread guide means of an oscillating type, i.e. mobile
both vertically with respect to the needle-bearing organ and
radially distancingly from and nearingly to the needle-bearing
organ, or being able to comprise a respective thread guide of a
non-oscillating type, i.e. mobile only vertical with respect to the
needle-bearing organ.
[0087] In a further independent aspect, the invention relates to a
thread dispensing element for a thread guide for knitting machines,
the dispensing element comprising a body having a mounting portion,
destined to be removably mounted to a front end of a thread guide,
and an operating portion, destined to be facing towards the needles
of a needle-bearing organ of a knitting machine,
wherein the mounting portion is configured and predisposed to
enable mounting the dispensing element to the thread guide
according to a determined discrete number of configurations with
respect to the thread guide, to which corresponds a same discrete
number of positions assumed by the operating portion of the
dispensing element with respect to the needles of the
needle-bearing organ, the dispensing organ being configured so as
to be selectively mountable to the thread guide exclusively in a
configuration selected from among the determined discrete number of
configurations.
[0088] In an aspect the determined discrete number of mounting
configurations is exactly two in number, the mounting portion being
mountable to the thread guide in a first mounting configuration, to
which corresponds a low position of the operating portion, or in a
second mounting configuration, to which corresponds a high position
of the operating portion.
[0089] In an aspect the mounting portion is characterised by a
bilateral symmetry, i.e. it is symmetrical with respect to a plane
of symmetry passing through the longitudinal axis of the mounting
portion.
[0090] In an aspect the longitudinal hole is open on the rear end
defining a first opening and is open on the front end defining a
second opening, the first opening enabling insertion of an infeed
thread into the dispensing element and the second opening enabling
exit, towards the needles of the knitting machine, of the infeed
thread.
[0091] In an aspect the second opening is dealigned from the first
opening with respect to the longitudinal axis. In an aspect the
first opening is coaxial to the longitudinal axis. In an aspect, in
the first mounting configuration the second opening is lower than
the first opening with respect to the longitudinal axis, and in the
second mounting configuration the second opening is higher than the
first opening with respect to the longitudinal axis.
[0092] In an aspect the operating portion extends from the mounting
portion and is dealigned with respect thereto, in particular having
a respective longitudinal axis transversal to (i.e. does not
coincide with) the longitudinal axis of the mounting portion.
[0093] In an aspect the mounting configuration is selected during
the step of inserting the mounting portion in the mounting seating,
internally of which any rotation of the dispensing element with
respect to the thread guide is prevented.
[0094] In an aspect the axial position of the mounting portion
internally of the seating of the thread guide can be selectively
varied during the mounting step, so as to vary the distance between
the operating portion and the needles of the knitting machine.
[0095] In a further aspect the invention relates to a thread guide
for knitting machines provided with a front end facing towards the
needles of the knitting machine, the front end having at least a
mounting seating destined to removably house a dispensing element
according to any one of the preceding aspects and/or the
claims.
[0096] In an aspect the front end of the thread guide comprises a
mounting seating complementarily shaped to the mounting portion of
the dispensing element. In an aspect the mounting seating consists
of a through-hole passing through the front end of the thread
guide, in which the mounting portion of the dispensing element is
insertable. In an aspect the thread guide comprises the dispensing
element removably mounted thereto.
[0097] In an aspect the thread guide comprises blocking means
arranged at the mounting seating and configured so as to removably
engage with the mounting portion of the dispensing element in order
to stably and removably mount it in the mounting seating.
[0098] In an aspect, the needle-bearing organ is a needle cylinder
of a circular knitting machine or a needle bed of a linear knitting
machine.
[0099] In an aspect the knitting machine is a knitting machine for
knitwear, hosiery or the like, preferably a circular knitting
machine, preferably a knitting machine of the seamless type.
[0100] Each of the above-mentioned aspects of the invention can be
taken alone or in combination with any one of the claims or other
aspects described.
[0101] Further characteristics and advantages will more fully
emerge from the detailed description of some embodiments, among
which also a preferred embodiment, given by way of non-exclusive
example, of a device for feeding thread to the needles of a
knitting machine according to the present invention, and a thread
dispensing element for a thread guide for knitting machines
according to the present invention. This description will be made
in the following with reference to the accompanying figures of the
drawings, supplied by way of non-limiting example, in which:
[0102] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a possible embodiment
of a device for feeding thread to the needles of a knitting machine
according to the present invention;
[0103] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the device of FIG.
1;
[0104] FIG. 3 is a further perspective view of the device of FIG.
1;
[0105] FIG. 4 is a lateral view of the device of FIG. 1;
[0106] FIG. 5 is a view from below of the device of FIG. 1;
[0107] FIG. 6 is a larger-scale detail of a front portion of the
device of FIG. 1;
[0108] FIG. 7 is a further perspective view of the device of FIG.
1, with some parts removed;
[0109] FIG. 8 is a front view of the device of FIG. 1;
[0110] FIG. 8a is a section view of the device of FIG. 1, sectioned
along plane VIIIa-VIIIa;
[0111] FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e and 9f are six longitudinal-section
views of the device of FIG. 1, with some parts removed, in six
different operating positions, the sections being obtained by
sectioning the device along plane VIIIa-VIIIa of FIG. 8;
[0112] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a possible embodiment of a
thread guide for knitting machines comprising a dispensing element
of the thread according to the present invention;
[0113] FIG. 10a is a larger-scale view of a portion of the thread
guide of FIG. 10, with some parts shown transparent and with the
dispensing element of the thread in a first working
configuration;
[0114] FIG. 10b is a further enlarged view of a portion of the
thread guide of FIG. 10, with some parts transparent and with the
dispensing element of the thread in a second working
configuration;
[0115] FIG. 11 is a perspective exploded view of the thread guide
and the dispensing element of the thread of FIG. 10;
[0116] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a possible embodiment of a
thread dispensing element according to the present invention;--FIG.
12a is a longitudinal section view of the thread dispensing element
of FIG. 12, sectioned along plane XIIa-XIIa.
[0117] With reference to the figures, reference numeral 1 denotes
in its entirety a device for feeding thread to the needles of a
knitting machine according to the present invention, while numerals
60 and 6 denote respectively a thread dispensing element for a
thread guide for knitting machines and a thread guide for knitting
machines according to the present invention. In general, the same
reference numeral is used for identical or similar elements,
possible in the variant embodiments thereof.
[0118] The device of the present invention is destined to be
located in any knitting machine for feeding thread to the needles
of a needle-bearing organ of the machine, for the formation of
fabric.
[0119] The knitting machine can be a knitting machine for knitwear,
hosiery or the like, and is preferably a circular knitting machine
and/or a knitting machine of the seamless type. The needle-bearing
organ is preferably a needle-bearing cylinder of a circular
knitting machine, but can also be a needle-bed of a linear knitting
machine. The knitting machine and the relative needle-bearing organ
are not shown in detail in the figures, as of known type and
conventional. The present invention can be used both on new
machines and on already-existing machines, in the latter case in
substitution of the thread-feeding devices of traditional type. The
functioning of the whole knitting machine (for example the
interaction between the thread guides and the needles, the
cooperation between needles and threads, etc.) is not described in
detail, as it is known in the technical sector of the present
invention.
[0120] The device 1 comprises a body 2 of the device associable to
a knitting machine, at a needle-bearing organ of the knitting
machine, and configured to movably house thread guide means 4.
[0121] The thread guide means 4 are movably housed at least
partially in the body 2 and comprise a first lever 5 rotatably
mounted to the body 2 of the device such as to be able to rotate
about a first rotation axis X. The thread guide means further
comprise a thread guide 6 rotatably mounted to the first lever 5
such as to be able to rotate, with respect to the first lever,
about a second rotation axis Y. The thread guide 6 has an elongate
conformation and extends longitudinally between a rear end 7 and a
front end 8, the front end 8 projecting and emerging from the body
2 in a direction of the needle-bearing organ and defining at least
a passage 61 for a thread to be dispensed to the needles N of the
needle-bearing organ. The thread guide is further provided with a
guide portion 9 interposed between the rear end 7 and the front end
8.
[0122] The thread guide means further comprise a second lever 10
also rotatably mounted to the body 2 of the device such as to be
able to rotate about a third rotation axis Z. The second lever
longitudinally extends between an activating end 11 and a guide end
12. The guide portion 9 of the thread guide 6 is configured to stay
translatably and/or slidably in contact with the guide end 12 of
the second lever. In other words, the guide portion of the thread
guide and the guide end of the second lever are maintained, during
functioning, in contact with one another and can slide on one
another. The sliding occurs on respective contact surfaces and the
contact point changes instantaneously during the movement of the
thread guide and the second lever. In particular, in the contact
point the guide portion of the thread guide and the guide end of
the second lever translate with respect to one another, while
overall the contact point follows a curved trajectory determined by
the rotation of the first lever with respect to the body and/or by
the rotation of the thread guide with respect to the first lever
and/or by the rotation of the second lever with respect to the
device of the body.
[0123] The thread guide is preferably rested on or suspended from
the body of the device, i.e. it is not directly constrained to the
body of the device but is movably mounted thereto by means of
interposing of the first lever and the second lever. In more
detail, the thread guide is pivoted at a first point (preferably
the rear end thereof) on the first lever, and is further
maintained, in a second point (preferably the front end thereof) in
contact with the second lever. The thread guide means further
comprise activating means 13 positioned at least partially in the
body 2 and configured and predisposed so as to controlledly move at
least the first lever 5 and the second lever 10 so as to position
the thread guide 6 into a plurality of operating positions (A, B,
C, D, E, F, described in detail in the following) with respect to
the body and with respect to the needle-bearing organ of the
knitting machine.
[0124] The activating means 13 comprise a first actuator 14 acting
on the first lever 5 so as to cause a rotation thereof, about the
first rotation axis X and with an amplitude equal to a first
regulatably-variable angle between an advanced position and a
retracted position, to which correspond respectively a displacement
of the front end 8 of the thread guide distancingly from the
needle-bearing organ and a displacement of the front end 8 of the
thread guide nearingly to the needle-bearing organ. The
displacements occur in a mode and/or a trajectory defined by the
conformation of the guide portion of the thread guide.
[0125] In other words, the first actuator acts on the first lever
so as to impress on the thread guide a radial to and fro movement
with respect to the needle-bearing organ, between a radially
retracted height with respect to the needle-bearing organ and a
neared height to the needle-bearing organ.
[0126] The activating means 13 preferably comprise a second
actuator 15 activatable on the second lever 10 so as to determine a
rotation thereof, about the third rotation axis Z and with an
amplitude equal to a second regulatably-variable angle, between a
first position and a second position, to which correspond
respectively a displacement of the front end 8 of the thread guide
6 in a rising direction with respect to the needle-bearing organ,
up to a first vertical height 101, and a displacement of the front
end 8 of the thread guide 6 in a lowering direction with respect to
the needle-bearing organ, up to a second vertical height 102 lower
than the first vertical height.
[0127] The guide means preferably comprise elastic means positioned
at least partially in the body 2 and able to elastically oppose the
movement imparted on the first lever 5 and/or on second lever 10 by
the activating means.
[0128] The elastic means preferably comprise a first elastic
element 17 having an end constrained to the body 2 and the opposite
end constrained to the thread guide 6. The first elastic element 17
is configured such as to determine a tensioning of the thread guide
6 towards the second lever 10 and to maintain the guide portion 9
of the thread guide in contact with the guide end 12 of the second
lever 10.
[0129] Additionally, the first elastic element 17 preferably
determines a tensioning of the thread guide 6, towards the first
vertical height, such as to transmit (by means of the guide portion
9 of the thread guide in contact with the guide end 12 of the
second lever), a thrust on the second lever 10 towards the first
position thereof.
[0130] The first elastic element is preferably configured such as
to oppose the action of at least the second actuator 15,
maintaining the second lever 10 in the respective first position
when the second actuator does not act on the second lever.
[0131] The elastic means preferably comprise a second elastic
element 18 having an end constrained to the body 2 and the opposite
end constrained to the first lever 5. The second elastic element 18
determines a tensioning of the first lever 5 towards the retracted
position thereof and opposes the action of the first actuator 14,
maintaining the first lever in a retracted position when the first
actuator does not act on the first lever 5.
[0132] In substance, the elastic means enable an "automatic return"
of the lever on which they act when the actuator acting on the
lever is deactivated. In other words, the elastic means work "in
opposition" with respect to the actuator acting on the lever: when
the actuator is active it overcomes the elastic force of the
elastic means, while when inactive the elastic force is such as to
return the lever into the opposite position to the position
determined by the activation of the actuator. In particular, the
first elastic element is active on the thread guide, and via the
thread guide on the second lever, while the second elastic element
is active on the first lever, and via the first lever on the thread
guide.
[0133] As shown by way of example in the figures, the first elastic
element and/or the second elastic element preferably consist in a
helical spring having a determined elastic coefficient, such as not
to halt the movement of the lever when the actuator acting thereon
is active and at the same time able to guarantee the return of the
lever when the actuator is deactivated.
[0134] As can be seen in particular in FIGS. 9a-9f, the thread
guide means are characterised in that the first lever 5, the second
lever 10 and the thread guide 6 together realise a four-bar
kinematic structure configured so as to selectively position the
front end 8 of the thread guide 6 in the plurality of operating
positions.
[0135] The four-bar structure is kinematically defined by a first
fixed hinge, corresponding to the point in which the first lever 5
is rotatably mounted to the body 2, a second mobile hinge,
corresponding to the point in which the thread guide 6 is rotatably
mounted to the first lever 5, a simple constraint in the contact
point between the guide portion 9 of the thread guide 6 and the
guide end 12 of the second lever 10, and a third fixed hinge,
corresponding to the point in which the second lever 10 is
rotatably mounted to the body. Preferably (as shown by way of
example in the figures) the first fixed hinge and the third hinge
coincide in a single point, i.e. the first lever and the second
lever are rotatably mounted to a same point of the body 2, in which
case the first rotation axis X and the third rotation axis Z
coincide. The first fixed hinge and the third fixed hinge are both
are both kinematically connected "to earth", i.e. they enable
rotation respectively of the first lever and the second lever but
are fixed with respect to the body of the device (the first
rotation axis X and the third rotation axis Z are fixed with
respect to the body 2). From a kinematic point of view, the line
joining the first fixed hinge to the third fixed hinge (which is
reduced to a point if the first lever and the second lever are
rotatably mounted to the body in a same point, i.e. have the
respective rotation axes that coincide) represents the fixed frame
of the four-bar link.
[0136] The activating means preferably comprise a third actuator 19
acting on the second lever 10 such as to determine a further
rotation thereof, about the third rotation axis Z and with an
amplitude equal to a third regulatable angle, between the first or
second position and a third position, in which to the further
rotation of the second lever so as to bring itself into the third
position corresponds a displacement of the front end 8 of the
thread guide in a lowering direction with respect to the
needle-bearing organ, up to a third vertical height 103 lower than
the second vertical height 102. In substance, the activation of the
third actuator 19 enables rotating the guide end of the second
lever in a downwards direction, bringing it into the third
position. The passage of the second lever into the third position
can occur both starting from the first position, and starting from
the second position: in the first case the third actuator moves the
second lever, in a lowering direction, from the first height
directly to the third vertical height, while in the second case the
third actuator moves the second lever--in a lowering
direction--from the second height to the third vertical height.
[0137] Note that the third actuator enables bringing the second
lever into the third position (to which corresponds a positioning
of the front end of the thread guide at the third vertical height
103) without any need to previously have activated the second
actuator: in other words, the second and the third actuator act
independently on the second lever, such that the second lever can
be positioned as required in the first, second or third position
thereof.
[0138] The first actuator 14, the second actuator 15 and/or the
third actuator 19 each comprise a respective piston, preferably
pneumatic (or fluid-dynamic): each piston is movable selectively at
least between an inactive configuration, in which it does not
interact with the respective lever or thread guide, and an active
configuration, in which it is active on the respective lever or
thread guide and exerts on the respective lever or thread guide a
thrust having a determined entity. Each piston typically has a
respective stem, which exits when the piston is activated and
returns (or is maintained internally of a cylinder) when the piston
is deactivated.
[0139] The body 2 is preferably provided with at least a housing
seating 3 configured such as to movably house, at least partially,
the thread-guide means 4 in the body 2. The first lever 5 and/or
the second lever 10 are preferably rotatably mounted to the body
internally of the seating 3. The front end 8 of the thread guide
preferably extends and emerges from the seating in the direction of
the needle-bearing organ. The activating means are preferably
positioned internally of the seating.
[0140] In substance the thread guide of the present invention is
characterised in that it can move, with respect to the
needle-bearing organ (for example a cylinder of a circular knitting
machine), both radially (nearingly and distancingly with respect to
the needle-bearing organ) and vertically (rising and lowering with
respect to the needles of the needle-bearing organ). This type of
thread guide is known in the sector as an oscillating thread guide
precisely because--beyond the traditional vertical motion--it can
near and retract with respect to the needle-bearing organ.
[0141] The first actuator is the activating means which enables the
radial movement of the thread guide (i.e. to bring the thread guide
"out" and "into" the body of the device, i.e. respectively
nearingly to or distancingly from the needle-bearing organ), while
the second actuator enables a first vertical movement of the thread
guide (between the first height 101 and the second height 102).
Overall the presence of two actuators enables therefore defining
four different operating positions for the thread guide, shown in
FIGS. 9a-9d: the first position A (FIG. 9a) corresponds to the
retracted thread guide at the first height, and the second position
B (FIG. 9b) corresponds to the advanced thread guide at the first
height, the third position C (FIG. 9c) corresponds to the retracted
thread guide at the second height, the fourth position D (FIG. 9d)
corresponds to the thread guide advanced and at the second
height.
[0142] The addition of the third actuator 19, also active (like the
second actuator 15) on the second lever 10, enables introducing a
further lowering of the thread guide from the second 102 to the
third height 103. The third actuator, in combination with the first
actuator 14, introduces two further operating positions for the
thread guide, shown in FIGS. 9e-9f: The fifth position E (FIG. 9e)
corresponds to the thread guide retracted and at the third height,
the sixth position (FIG. 9f) corresponds to the thread guide
advanced and at the third height.
[0143] In substance, the first actuator--managing the radial
movement--enables passage of the thread guide between the positions
A and B, between the positions C and D and between the positions E
and F; the second actuator--managing a first vertical
movement--enables the passage of the thread guide between the
positions A and C and between the positions B and D; the third
actuator--managing a further vertical movement--enables passage of
the thread guide between the positions C (or A) and E and between
the positions D (or B) and F. By means of three different
independent actuators six distinct operating positions can be
obtained.
[0144] In the following a more detailed analysis is made of the
operating positions.
[0145] The first operating position is obtained by activation of
the first actuator 14 and deactivation of the second actuator 15
(and the third actuator, if present): in this position the front
end 8 of the thread guide is positioned in a first point (A) in
which the thread guide is prepared for lowering towards the second
vertical height and the third vertical height 103.
[0146] The second operating position is obtained by deactivation of
the first 14 and the second actuator 15: in this position the front
end of the thread guide is positioned in a second point (B) in
which either the possibility of an uptake of the thread by the
needles (N) of the knitting machine is excluded, or the thread,
previously dispensed to the needles of the machine, is brought
posteriorly of the needle head, so as to enable interruption of the
feed to the needles.
[0147] The third operating position is obtained by activation of
the first 14 and the second actuator 15 (and deactivation of the
third actuator, if present): in which the front end of the thread
guide is positioned in a third point (C) in which all the needles
(N) of the knitting machine can take up the thread, which are
brought into the working process at the desired infeed.
[0148] The fourth operating position is obtained by deactivation of
the first actuator 14 and activation of the second actuator 15 (and
deactivator of the third actuator, if present): in this position
the front end of the thread guide is positioned in a fourth point
(D) in which uptake is enabled only for the needles (N) of the
knitting machine which are raised more than other needles, which
other needles are raised less and therefore do not take up the
thread.
[0149] The fifth operating position is obtained by activation of
the first 14 and the third actuator 19, and preferably deactivation
of the second actuator 15, in which the front end of the thread
guide is positioned in a fifth point (E) in which thread take-up is
enabled for all the needles (N) of the knitting machine, which
needles (N) are brought into working condition at the desired
infeed.
[0150] The sixth operating position is obtained by deactivation of
the first actuator 14 and activation of the third actuator 19, and
preferably deactivation of the second actuator 15, in which the
front end of the thread guide is positioned in a sixth point (F) in
which take-up of the thread is enabled only for the needles (N) of
the knitting machine which are raised less, while thread take-up is
disabled for the needles (N) which are raised more, as the infed
thread is positioned lower than the tongue of the latter
needles.
[0151] The activation of the third actuator, so as to work between
positions E and F, preferably does not require the contemporary
activation also of the second actuator. They work on distinct
portions of the second lever, and each of them imparts on the lever
the respective rotation independently and for an angle that is
sufficient to attain the respective vertical height.
[0152] From a kinematic point of view, the actuators impart
particular rotary movement on the first and second lever, which
transmit the motion in a controlled way to the thread guide, which
is thus subjected to roto-translations which position it in the
above-mentioned operating positions A-F.
[0153] The movement of the levers and the thread guide can be
understood from the sequence of FIGS. 9a-9f and is described in the
following.
[0154] The activation of the first actuator preferably determines
the rotation forwards of the upper end of the first lever and the
consequent rotation backwards of the lower end, determining a
retracting of the front end of the thread guide with respect to the
needles of the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0155] The deactivation of the first actuator preferably determines
the rotation backwards of the upper end of the firs lever and the
consequent forwards rotation of the lower end, determining an
advancing of the front end of the thread guide towards the needles
of the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0156] The deactivation of the second actuator preferably
determines the rotation downwards of the activating end of the
second lever, or the backwards rotation of the third lever acting
on the activating end of the second lever, and the consequent
upwards rotation of the guide end of the second lever, determining
a raising of the front end of the thread guide with respect to the
needles of the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0157] The activation of the second actuator preferably determines
the rotating upwards of the activating end of the second lever, or
the rotation forwards of the third lever acting on the activating
end of the second lever, and the consequent downward rotation of
the guide end of the second lever, determining a lowering of the
front end of the thread guide with respect to the needles of the
needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine, from the first
vertical height to the second vertical height.
[0158] The deactivation of the third actuator preferably does not
influence the position assumed by the second lever, which remains
with the guide end thereof raised or lowered respectively with the
second actuator deactivated or activated.
[0159] The activation of the third actuator preferably determines
the rotation upwards of the activating end of the second lever and
a consequent further rotation downwards (with respect to the
rotation downwards imparted by the second actuator) of the guide
end of the second lever, determining a further lowering of the
front end of the thread guide with respect to the needles of the
needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine, from the first to the
second vertical height up to the third vertical height.
[0160] In substance, the activation of the third actuator
determines a rotation upwards of the activating end of the second
lever greater than the respective upwards rotation imparted by the
second actuator, and thus a rotation downwards of the guide end of
the second lever greater than the respective rotation downwards
imparted by the second actuator, thus determining a further
lowering of the front end of the thread guide with respect to the
needles of the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine, beyond
the second height and into the third vertical height.
[0161] On the basis of the configuration of the activating means
and the elastic means, the correlation between the state of the
actuators and the position of the thread guide can be summarised in
the following table:
TABLE-US-00001 First actuator Second actuator Third actuator
Position A Active Inactive Inactive Position B Inactive Inactive
Inactive Position C Active Active Inactive Position D Inactive
Active Inactive Position E Active Inactive Active Position F
Inactive Inactive Active
[0162] The three actuators are commanded and operate independently
of one another: this means that it is possible to move the front
end of the thread guide as desired both among the three vertical
heights 101, 102 and 103, and nearingly to or distancingly from the
needle-bearing organ: in other words, the six positions A, B, C, D,
E and F can be selected and reached by passing as desired between
one another, by selecting the correct combination of
activation/deactivation of the actuators. This without the need for
the passage between "distant" points, i.e. having different
vertical or radial heights to require a transit through
"intermediate" points, for example having intermediate vertical
heights or neared or distanced heights with respect to the
needle-bearing organ.
[0163] In particular, it is possible to pass among the three
vertical heights 101 and 103 without any need for activating or
deactivating the second actuator (but acting directly with the
third actuator), and the radial movement between points A, C, E and
points B, D and F can be selected regardless of the start point and
the end point (by acting directly on the first actuator).
[0164] Note that the thread guide means of the present invention
are configured, preferably, in such a way that when the three
actuators are all deactivated, the thread guide is automatically
brought, by effect of the elastic means, into position B. This is
advantageous, as position B is the normal working position of the
thread guides, maintained more frequently than the other positions
during the functioning of the machine. In this way, the position
does not require any energetic effort (there being no actuators
activated), and thus reduces the wear on the actuators and limits
the stresses on the structure of the device.
[0165] As in the embodiment shown in the figures, the activating
means are preferably active only on the first lever and the second
lever, and do not interact directly with the thread guide.
[0166] The first rotation axis X is preferably orientated
substantially parallel to the tangent to the motion trajectory of
the needle-bearing organ relatively to the body 2. For example in
the case of the needle-bearing organ being a cylinder, it rotates
about a vertical axis and the needles thereof move with a
tangential velocity that is substantially horizontal; the rotation
axis X--with the device mounted--is also horizontal.
[0167] The second rotation axis Y (between the first lever and the
thread guide) is preferably substantially parallel to the first
rotation axis and distinct therefrom.
[0168] The third rotation axis Z preferably coincides with the
first rotation axis X, i.e. the first lever 5 and the second lever
10 are pivoted to a same point of the body.
[0169] The body preferably comprises a pin 16 arranged
transversally to a longitudinal development of the body, the first
lever and/or the second lever being rotatably pivoted to the pin.
The pin 16 preferably develops along an axis, substantially
horizontal, coinciding with the first rotation axis X and/or with
the third rotation axis Z. In substance the pin 16 constitutes the
fixed element of the body to which the levers of the thread guide
means are independently constrainable so that each of them can
rotate with respect to the rotation axis thereof. The pin enables
rotation of the levers pivoted thereto and prevents any translation
of the levers. On the contrary the thread guide is associated to
the first and the second lever such as to be able to perform
roto-translations, but preferably it is not constrained to the body
of the device.
[0170] The first lever 5 and the second lever 10 are preferably not
constrained to one another (though pivoted to the same point of the
body or to a same fixed pin of the body), i.e. they perform the
relative rotary movements independently of one another.
[0171] The thread guide 6 is preferably rotatably hinged to the
first lever 5 at the rear end 7 of the thread guide 6 itself. The
first lever 5 preferably extends longitudinally between a lower end
5a and an upper end 5b and comprises a central portion 5c,
intermediate between the lower end and the upper end, at which it
is mounted to the body (or to the pin of the body).
[0172] The thread guide 6, in particular the rear end 7 thereof, is
preferably rotatably hinged to the lower end 5a of the first lever
5.
[0173] The thread guide 6 and the first lever 5, in particular the
rear end 7 of the thread guide and the lower end 5a of the first
lever, preferably realize a cylindrical joint 20 which enables
relative rotation between the thread guide and the first lever at
least about the second rotation axis Y. The joint 20 represents the
above-mentioned second mobile chain of the four-bar linkage
realized by levers and thread guide.
[0174] The cylindrical joint 20 preferably comprises a protrusion
21 having a conformation, in a perpendicular section to the second
axis Y, at least partially circular, and comprises a recess 22
complementarily--shaped to the protrusion 21 and configured such as
to house the protrusion so as to enable rotation thereof internally
of the recess. The protrusion 21 preferably emerges from the first
lever and the recess is fashioned in the thread guide, or
alternatively the recess is fashioned in the first lever. The
protrusion 21 is preferably solidly constrained to or in a single
piece with the first lever (or respectively with the recess 22 if
the protrusion and the recess are inverted). In an embodiment that
is not illustrated, the joint can enable a relative rotation
between the thread guide and the first lever also according to axes
that are different to the second rotation axis and rotated by an
angle comprised between 0.degree. and 20.degree. with respect to
the second rotation axis. In this case the cylindrical joint
becomes a ball joint (or partially spherical).
[0175] The first lever and/or the second lever and/or the thread
guide preferably have a substantially plate-shaped configuration.
The thread guide 6 preferably exhibits a prevalent longitudinal
direction, from the rear end 7 to the front end 8, and is arranged
vertically internally of the seating (or in general of the body) of
the device (i.e. parallel to the needs of the needle-bearing
organ).
[0176] The thread guide preferably exhibits a back 6a at a
thickness of the thread guide, the thickness developing
perpendicularly to the longitudinal development of the thread
guide. The back is preferably in an upper position in the thread
guide. The guide portion 9 of the thread guide is preferably
defined on the back of the thread guide and comprises a portion of
an upper surface of the thread guide which extends in the direction
of the longitudinal development of the thread guide. The portion of
upper surface defining the guide portion preferably develops on
planes that are substantially parallel to the second rotation axis
of the thread guide with respect to the first lever.
[0177] The guide end 12 of the second lever 10 preferably comprises
a bearing 23 or roller configured such as to enable and/or
facilitate sliding of the guide portion 9 of the thread guide with
respect to the guide end 12 of the second lever.
[0178] The guide portion 9 on the back 6a of the thread guide is
preferably maintained pressed, with a determined force, on the
guide end 12 of the second lever 10 by means of the first elastic
element 17, which prevents detachment of the thread guide from the
second lever. This detachment would normally occur by force of
gravity (because of how the thread guide and the levers are
positioned).
[0179] The guide portion 9 of the thread guide 6 preferably
realizes a flat cam associated to the guide end 12 of the second
lever 10; the guide end has the function of feeding the flat cam.
The profile of the guide portion determines the trajectory followed
by the front end of the thread guide following the rotation
imparted on the thread guide by the first lever and/or following
the rotation imparted on the thread guide of the second lever. The
guide portion thus-shaped enables obtaining a radial movement of
the thread guide (nearingly to or distancingly from the
needle-bearing organ) substantially straight and perpendicular to
the orientation of the needles. In the absence of this guide
portion, which cooperates with the end of the guide of the second
lever, the thread guide would perform curved movements by effect of
the thrust received from the first and second lever, determined by
the geometry of the rotation axes between the levers and the thread
guide. Consequently the movement of the guide thread and the
positioning of the operating positions A-F would be imprecise
and/or subject to vibration.
[0180] In an alternative embodiment, the thread guide comprises a
fin emerging superiorly from the thread guide and developing over a
longitudinal portion of the thread guide, parallel to the
longitudinal axis of the thread guide (see for example FIGS. 10 and
11). The back of the thread guide is preferably defined on the fin
and/or coincides with an upper surface of the fin. The guide
portion is preferably defined on the fin, and more preferably is
defined on an upper surface of the fin. The upper surface of the
fin preferably develops on planes that are substantially parallel
to one or more of the first, second and third rotation axis.
[0181] With the device mounted, the fin is maintained pressed
superiorly, with a determined force, on the end of the guide of the
second lever, preferably by means of the elastic element.
[0182] In a possible embodiment, the second lever 10 comprises,
between the activating element 11 and the guide element 12, a
through-recess in which the first lever 5 is inserted, the recess
realizing a forked mounting of the first lever on the second lever.
The forked mounting is advantageous in particular with the first
axis X and the third axis Z coinciding (as shown in the case in the
figures).
[0183] The first actuator 14 is preferably arranged in the seating
(or in general in the body) in such a way as to interact with the
upper end 5b of the first lever 5, or with a point proximal to the
upper end, or in general with a point interposed between the
central portion 5c (where the first lever is pivoted) and the upper
end 5b of the first lever. In this way, to a clockwise rotation of
the upper end of the first lever corresponds a rotation in an
anticlockwise direction of the lower end, and vice versa.
[0184] The second actuator 15 is preferably arranged in the seating
(or in general of the body) in such a way as to interact with the
activating end 11 of the second lever 10, or with a point proximal
to the activating end, or again with a point interposed between a
central portion, at which the second lever is mounted to the body,
and the activating end 11. In this way, to a rotation in a
clockwise direction of the activating end of the second lever
corresponds a rotation in an anticlockwise direction of the guide
end, and vice versa. Note that the second lever, described in the
present invention, is pivoted to the centre and has the guide end
advanced towards the needle-bearing organ and in contact with the
thread guide: this configuration enables having a rest and a guide
for the oscillating thread guide during each movement.
[0185] The first elastic element 17 is preferably constrained to
the thread guide 6 at a point of the thread guide interposed
between the guide portion 9 and the front end 8. At this point the
thread guide can exhibit, for example, an attaching hook of the
first elastic element.
[0186] The second elastic element 18 is preferably constrained to
the first lever 5 at the upper end 5b of the first lever, or a
point proximal to the upper end, or at a point interposed between
the central portion 5c and the upper end of the first lever.
[0187] In a first possible embodiment, as shown by way of example
in the figures, the thread guide means 4 can further comprise a
third lever 30 rotatably mounted to the body of the device such as
to be able to rotate about a fourth rotation axis W, preferably
parallel to the first rotation axis. The third lever comprises an
activating portion 31 and a thrust portion 32, where the thrust
portion interacts with the activating end of the second lever 10 so
as to determine the rotation of the second lever about the third
rotation axis between the first position and the second
position.
[0188] The second actuator 15 is preferably arranged in the body
(or the seating) in such a way as to interact with the activating
end 31 of the second lever, preferably (as in the figures) in a
point distinct from the one on which the third actuator 19 acts on
the second lever 10, or it is arranged in the body in such a way as
to interact with the thrust portion of the third lever.
[0189] Observe that the third level is optional: it is possible to
active both with the second actuator and the third actuator
directly on the second lever 10, for example in two distinct points
of the activating end 11 of the second lever or on other portions
thereof.
[0190] The thread guide means 4 preferably comprise a first end-run
stop 91 housed in the body (or the seating) and able to halt the
rotation of the first lever 5 determined by the activation of the
first actuator 14. The first end-run stop thus defines the
amplitude of the rotation in the clockwise direction of the first
lever. The first end-run stop can be an adjustable grub screw, so
as to select the angular amount on the rotation of the first
lever.
[0191] The thread guide means 4 preferably comprise a second
end-run stop 92 housed in the body (or the seating) and able to
halt the rotation of the second lever 10, or the rotation of the
third lever acting on the activating end of the second lever,
determined by the activation of the second actuator 15. In the
figures the third lever is present, on which the second actuator
acts, so the second end-run stop is positioned so as to halt the
rotation of the third lever; alternatively, the second end-run stop
might directly halt the activating end of the second lever, should
the thread guide include only four operating positions (A, B, C,
D). The second end-run stop thus defines the amplitude of the
rotation in the clockwise direction of the second lever between the
first and the second position. The second end-run stop 92 can be an
adjustable grub screw, so as to select the angular amplitude of the
first rotation of the second lever.
[0192] The thread guide means 4 preferably comprise a third end-run
stop 93 housed in the body (or in the seating) and able to halt the
further rotation of the second lever 10 determined by the
activation of the third actuator 19. The third end-run stop thus
defines the amplitude of the further clockwise rotation of the
second lever between the second and the third position thereof. The
third end-run stop 93 can be an adjustable grub screw, such as to
select the angular amplitude of the further rotation of the second
lever.
[0193] The regulating of the first and/or second and/or third
end-run stop enables precisely defining points A-F attained by the
front end 8 of the thread guide, with particular reference to the
respective first height 101, second height 102 and third height 103
associated to each point.
[0194] The thread guide 6 (see in particular FIGS. 9a-9f)
preferably comprises a foot 55 destined to cooperate with a stop 57
of the device for halting a radial advancement of the thread guide,
nearingly to the needle-bearing organ, in the motion thereof
towards the fourth position D, and/or towards the sixth position F,
in this way defining the respective radial distance of the front
end 8 from the needle-bearing organ in the fourth position D and/or
sixth position F. The foot 55 is positioned preferably inferiorly
of the thread guide and in an intermediate position between the
rear end and the front end, for example below the guide portion 9
of the thread guide.
[0195] The foot 55 of the thread guide 6 can comprise a front
surface 56, destined to enter into contact with the stop 57 and to
cause halting of the radial motion of the thread guide towards the
needle-bearing organ. The front surface of the foot is preferably
shaped or profiled in such a way that when the foot 55 is in
contact with the stop 57, a vertical movement of the thread guide
determines a thrust by the stop on the front surface of the foot,
the thrust causing a radial displacement of the foot and the whole
thread guide according to a trajectory which is a function of the
shaping or profiling of the front surface of the foot.
[0196] In other words, the front surface 56 of the foot 55 realises
a cam profile cooperating with the stop 57, and a vertical motion
of the thread guide foot on the stop determines a radial movement
of the whole thread guide with respect to the stop and a consequent
radial retraction or advancement of the front end of the thread
guide with respect to the needle-bearing organ.
[0197] The presence of the foot 55 of the thread guide, and the
specific profiling thereof, enable performing an automatic
retraction of the thread guide during determined movements thereof.
In particular, consider that when the thread guide is in the sixth
position F and is moved towards the operating position, the front
end of the thread guide can interfere with one or more needles of
the knitting machine, due to the vertical raising of the thread
guide. The foot of the thread guide, with the profiling thereof,
advantageously enables introducing an automatic radial retraction
of the thread guide during the rising thereof, which enables
slightly displacing the thread guide distancingly from the
needle-bearing organ (retracting into the seating of the body of
the device), enabling impacts or interference with the needles to
be avoided.
[0198] The stop 57 is associated to the body anteriorly of the
seating housing the thread guide in an intermediate position
between the seating and the needle-bearing organ. The stop can be a
separate element associable to the body of the device or can be
realized in a single piece therewith. In any case the stop, if
present, constitutes a part of the body of the device or the
seating housing the thread guide.
[0199] In FIGS. 9d and 9f it is possible to observe the cooperation
between the foot 55 of the thread guide and the stop 57 of the body
of the device, respectively with the thread guide in the fourth
position D and in the sixth position F.
[0200] As described above, the front end 8 of the thread guide 6 is
destined to cooperate with one or more needles of the knitting
machine and is provided with at least a dispensing element 60 of
the thread removably associated to the thread guide and defining
the passage 61 for a thread to be dispensed to the needles of the
needle-bearing organ. A dispensing element 60 according to the
present invention will be described in detail in the following.
[0201] As shown by way of example in FIG. 1-8, the body 2 of the
device can comprise a plurality of the above-mentioned seatings 3,
distinct from one another, each configured so as to movably house
respective thread guide means internally of the body. Each of the
respective thread guide means comprises at least a respective
thread guide and respective activating means configured so as to
position the respective thread guide in a plurality of operating
positions with respect to the seating thereof and with respect to
the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine. In other words, a
single device 1 can internally contain a plurality of thread
guides, each moved by respective command levers and activating
means dedicated thereto. For this purpose the body can comprise a
plurality of seatings, each of which is dedicated to a single
thread guide (and to the thread guide means and activating means
thereof).
[0202] FIGS. 1-8 illustrate an example configuration of a device 1
which comprises a plurality of thread guides, among which can be
identified: three thread guides of the oscillating type, object of
the present invention and described above, three thread guides of
the non-oscillating type and two lateral thread guides, also of the
non-oscillating type. The three oscillating thread guides can each
have two or three actuators, i.e. they can operate between four
positions (A-D) or six positions (A-F). The five thread guides of
the non-oscillating type are not further described as they are of a
known type in the sector. By "non-oscillating" thread guides is
meant a thread guide which does not perform a radial nearing and
distancing movement with respect to the needle-bearing organ, but
only a movement between two or more vertical heights, or a thread
guide which, in passage between two vertical heights, can vary the
radial position (typically nearing or distancing with respect to
the needle-bearing organ), but does not include a selective and
controlled radial movement between two points having substantially
the same vertical height.
[0203] The number of oscillating and non-oscillating thread guides
can vary according to the knitting requirements: in a same seating
of the device both an oscillating and a non-oscillating thread
guide can be mounted and possible replaced.
[0204] In the following the structure of the device body of the
present invention will be described in greater detail.
[0205] As illustrated above, the body 2 of the device is provided
with at least a housing seating configured so as to movably house
thread guide means in the body: this seating is shaped so as to
guide the movement of the thread guide means, in particular guiding
the movement of the thread guide 6 in the movement thereof between
the plurality of operating positions (A-F), and so as to guarantee
the maintaining of each operating position assumed by the thread
guide during the working of the knitting machine.
[0206] The body 2 develops longitudinally between a rear side 41,
destined to house command means 35, for example solenoids 36,
configured so as to command the activating means 13, and a front
side 42, facing towards the needle-bearing organ of the knitting
machine.
[0207] As visible in particular in FIGS. 6 and 7, the seating
develops longitudinally at least along a tract of the body from the
rear side 41 to the front side 42 and is open on the front
side.
[0208] The seating preferably develops in the body leaving a free
space 50, in particular in a central portion of the longitudinal or
vertical development thereof, at the fulcrum of the first lever and
where the second lever extends. The seating preferably does not
extend in a central portion of the body in which the pivot 16 is
housed in a fixed position.
[0209] The seating preferably defines an operating plane P on which
the thread guide means lie and/or are mobile in the seating; the
operating plane P has a substantially parallel development to the
orientation of the needles of the needle-bearing organ. The
longitudinal development of the seating lies on the operating
plane.
[0210] The operating plane of the seating is preferably such as to
be, with the device mounted, aligned to the needles of the knitting
machine.
[0211] The seating is preferably singly dedicated to movably house
a single thread guide.
[0212] As shown by way of example in FIGS. 1-9, the seating 3 is
shaped as a recess, or groove, realized in the body of the device,
and comprises two facing lateral walls 43 and 44, preferably
parallel to one another, configured such as to slidably house the
thread guide means.
[0213] The two lateral walls are preferably substantially identical
and each exhibit a respective lower portion. The two lower portions
are facing and shaped so as to guide from the sides the movement of
the thread guide 6, parallel to the walls, during the movement
thereof among the various operating positions, laterally containing
it internally of the seating. Preferably, the distance between the
lateral walls of the seating is substantially identical to a
thickness of the thread guide, perpendicular to the longitudinal
development, so that the thread guide, in the movement thereof
between the operating positions, in particularly nearingly and
distancingly with respect to the needle-bearing organ, moves
substantially in contact with the lateral walls 43 and 44 of the
seating 3, and parallel to the walls, preventing lateral
oscillations or transversal oscillations with respect to the walls
of the thread guide.
[0214] As shown by way of example in the figures (and as is visible
in particular in FIG. 10), the thread guide can be realised in two
distinct portions solidly constrained to one another, which realize
the whole thread guide 6 between the rear end 7 and the front end 8
thereof. A first portion 51 extends between the rear end and a
central portion of the thread guide and has a first thickness
(perpendicular to the longitudinal development thereof). Optionally
the first portion 51 of the thread guide can comprise a hooked
protuberance to which the lower end of the first elastic element is
hooked or mounted.
[0215] The thread guide can further comprise a second portion 52
stably mounted to the first portion and extending between a central
portion of the thread guide and the front end 8; the second portion
has a second thickness (perpendicular to the longitudinal
development thereof), preferably greater than the first thickness
of the first portion. The second portion 52 preferably partially
surrounds, at the central portion of the thread guide, the first
portion 51. The second portion 52 preferably exhibits the back 6a
of the thread guide (i.e. the "fin" of the thread guide) and the
above-mentioned guide portion 9.
[0216] The distance between the lateral walls 43 and 44 of the
seating 3 is substantially equal to the first thickness, i.e. to
the thickness of the first portion 51 of the thread guide 6.
[0217] The seating, in particular the distance between the lateral
walls 43 and 44 of the seating 3, is preferably dimensioned such
that the thread guide 6, inserted movably internally of the
seating, is laterally separated from the lateral wall, in
particular from at least a portion thereof, by a space or gap of at
least 1 hundredth of a millimetre and/or at least 5 hundredths of a
millimetre, and/or at least 1 tenth of a millimetre and/or at least
2 tenths of a millimetre and/or at least 5 tenths of a millimetre
and/or at least 1 millimetre with respect to each wall.
[0218] The seating 3 is preferably configured so as to guide the
movement of the thread guide 6 from inside the body, in particular
along the operating plane P.
[0219] The seating (3) is preferably configured so as to guide the
movement of the thread guide from inside the body by means of a
lateral containing, between the two facing lateral walls 43, 44, at
least of the rear end 7 of the thread guide.
[0220] The seating 3 is preferably configured so as to guide the
movement of the thread guide from the sides without interacting
with the front end 8 thereof.
[0221] The seating 3 is preferably configured to guide the movement
of the thread guide from inside by means of a lateral containing,
between the two facing lateral walls 43, 44, of a fraction of the
longitudinal extension thereof, by the rear end 7, by at least 10%
and/or at least 20% and/or at least 40% and/or at least 60% and/or
at least 80% of the longitudinal development thereof.
[0222] The fraction of longitudinal extension of the thread guide
from the seating is preferably continuous and without
interruptions.
[0223] The seating 3 is preferably configured to guide the movement
of the first lever from the sides, in particular at least of the
upper end and/or the lower end of the first lever. The upper
portions of the two walls of the seating preferably contain and
guide from the sides the upper end 5b of the first lever, and/or
the lower portions of the two walls of the seating contain and
guide from the sides the lower end 5b of the first lever.
[0224] The seating preferably does not guide or contain from the
sides the movement of the second lever, which is positioned at the
free space of the seating.
[0225] The guide end 12 of the second lever 10 preferably comprises
a respective fork configured to at least partially slidably house
the guide portion 9 of the thread guide, so as to guide the motion
from the sides in contact with the end of the guide of the second
lever, and prevent lateral oscillations of the guide portion.
[0226] The fork of the guide end 12 enables the thread guide to be
continued to move internally of the seating aligned with the
operating plane of the seating.
[0227] The fork of the guide end of the second lever comprises a
recess, in which the guide portion of the thread guide is slidably
inserted, and two guide walls between which the recess is
interposed, the guide walls containing the thread guide from the
two sides and being preferably aligned vertically with the two
walls of the seating of the body housing the thread guide.
[0228] The fork of the guide end 12 of the second lever realises an
upper guide for the thread guide, which completes the guide
function carried out inferiorly of the lower portions of the two
lateral walls of the seating. Overall the seating and the fork of
the second lever guide with precision--both superiorly and
inferiorly--the thread guide and prevent any oscillating motion (in
particular lateral) of the thread guide both dynamically, during
the movement of the thread guide, and statically, in each of the
above-mentioned operating positions assumed by the thread
guide.
[0229] The lateral walls 43 and 44 preferably each exhibit a
respective upper portion. The upper portions face one another and
are configured so as to guide from the sides the movement of the
first thread guide lever, or at least the upper end 5b of the first
lever, internally of the seating, preventing lateral oscillations,
or transversal oscillations with respect to the walls, of the first
lever. As visible in FIGS. 8a and 9a-9f, the first lever has the
upper end 5b and the lower end 5a surrounded laterally by the upper
portions of the walls of the seating, while it is free (i.e. not
laterally flanked to the seating), at the central portion 5c, where
it is pivoted to the body (in particular it is pivoted on the
second lever by a forked mounting, and the body 2 is mounted with
it). Each of the lateral walls 43, and 44 preferably has the upper
portion thereof aligned vertically with the respective lower
portion.
[0230] As described above, the body can advantageously comprise a
plurality of seatings, distinct from one another and each
configured to guide respective guide means.
[0231] The seatings of the body of the device preferably exhibit
respective longitudinal developments parallel to one another, i.e.
they define respective operating planes parallel to one another and
parallel to the orientation of the needles of the needle-bearing
organ.
[0232] The respective first lever and second lever of a plurality
of thread guides of the device (preferably the levers of all the
thread guides present) are preferably pivoted to the pivot 16 of
the body 2.
[0233] As can be seen in the figures, the body is advantageously
predisposed with seatings of the above-described type even where
there are thread guides of the non-oscillating type present, which
in themselves do not require laterally guiding as they do not
perform roto-translating and radial movements (they do not move to
and fro). Should it be necessary to replace non-oscillating thread
guides with oscillating thread guides (in one or more positions),
this means already having profiled seatings for laterally guiding
the oscillating thread guides, with considerable advantages in
terms of performance and stability. The seatings of the present
invention are configured such as to laterally guide all types of
oscillating thread guide, of both known type and of the
"bar-linkage" type of the present invention.
[0234] Note that, in the scope of the present description and
claims, the term "seating" is used to identify, primarily,
substantially a "logical" concept internally of the device: the
term "seating" in general identifies the portion of body of the
device destined to a single thread guide and the respective
activating means thereof, which command movement thereof. According
to the embodiments, the technical characteristic of the seating is
enriched with structural characteristics, such as the walls, which
define how the seating interacts with the thread guide means, and
in particular with the thread guide, guiding the movement thereof
with respect to the device body. An important aspect relates to the
definition of a plurality of seatings internally of the body 2,
each associated independently to a thread guide. In the embodiment
illustrated by way of example in the figures, each of the seatings
is clearly destined to respective thread guide means (and therefore
to a single thread guide): however zones can exist of the seating
that are open and communicating with the adjacent seatings: this is
the case of the free space 50 of each seating (vertically
interposed between the respective upper portion and the respective
lower portion and at which the seating does not interact with the
thread guide means): the free spaces of the various seatings
communicate with one another to form a free space (internally of
the body) transversally crossing all the seatings. This shows that
the seatings can be not completely circumscribed or defined
spatially, but are defined by respective thread guide means with
which they cooperate, and in particular by the thread guide thereof
which they guide in the movement thereof among the plurality of
operating positions.
[0235] The above-mentioned body of the device is realised in a
single piece, at least in the part thereof comprising the seatings
(i.e. all the seatings are afforded in a single piece of the body).
Alternatively, the body of the device can be realized by assembly
of several parts, in such a way as to facilitate the assembly
operations of the components of the device. For example, the body
can comprise a main block, which comprises at least the lower
portions of the pairs of walls of each seating of the device body
and/or the above-mentioned free space, and an upper plate, which
comprises the upper portions of the pairs of walls of each seating
and is mountable on the main block such as to complete each of the
seatings.
[0236] FIG. 1-8 show the command and control part of the device 1
of the present invention. The command means 35 of the device
comprise a plurality of solenoids 36, which command the actuators
of the activating means acting on levers and thread guides, and an
electronic board 37 which interfaces the device with a central unit
of the knitting machine (not illustrated). The electronic board can
receive the instructions relative to the management of the device
by the central unit of the knitting machine.
[0237] The electronic board 37 can comprise a connecting portion 39
(for example a network port or a field bus port) configured such as
to enable connection of the device 1 to the central unit of the
knitting machine. The device can further comprise a casing 38
housing the electronic board.
[0238] In the following a further object of the present invention
is described, independent of the preceding, i.e. a dispensing
element 60 for thread guides for knitting machines. By way of
example an embodiment of the dispensing element is shown in FIGS.
10, 11, 12.
[0239] The dispensing element 60 of the thread is in general
destined to be mounted to the front end of a thread guide, for
example to the front end 8 of the thread guide 6 of the present
invention, but can also be used with known-type thread guides:
regardless of the type of thread guide, the dispensing element
defines internally thereof the passage 61 for a feeding thread of
the needles of a knitting machine. The dispensing element 60
comprises a body 62 having a mounting portion 63, destined to be
removably mounted to a front end of a thread guide, and an
operating portion 64, destined to be facing towards the needles of
the needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0240] The peculiarity of the dispensing element of the present
invention is that the mounting portion 63 enables mounting the
whole dispensing element to the thread guide in a determined
discrete number of configurations with respect to the thread guide,
to which correspond a same discrete number of positions assumed by
the operating portion of the dispensing element with respect to the
needles of the needle-bearing organ. The dispensing element can be
mounted selectively to the thread guide exclusively in a
configuration selected from among the determined discrete number of
configurations.
[0241] The mounting portion 63 is further destined to be inserted
in a mounting seating 70 of the thread guide complementarily shaped
to the mounting portion, such that the mounting portion of the
element is at least partially wound by the mounting seating of the
thread guide. In the figures the mounting seating 70
circumferentially surrounds the mounting portion 63.
[0242] The mounting seating 70 preferably consists in a
through-hole 71 which crosses the front end 8 of the thread guide
6.
[0243] The mounting portion 63 preferably enables mounting the
dispensing element 60 by means of an axial insertion in the
mounting seating of the thread guide.
[0244] The dispensing element 60 has an elongate conformation and
develops longitudinally between a rear end 65, from which the
mounting portion 63 develops, and a front end 66, at which the
operating portion 64 terminates.
[0245] The body 62 of the dispensing element is provided with a
longitudinal hole 67 passing through the whole body of the rear end
65, is in general from the mounting portion 63, the front end 66,
or in general the operating portion 64: the hole is slidably
crossed by an infeed thread for the needles of the knitting
machine. The longitudinal hole 67 defines and realizes the passage
61 for the infeed thread.
[0246] The mounting portion 63 preferably develops along a
longitudinal axis 63a and has a second 69, preferably constant, not
circular and able to prevent the rotation of the mounting portion
internally of the seating, in particular with respect to a rotation
axis that is parallel to, or coincident with, the longitudinal axis
of the mounting portion.
[0247] The section 69 of the mounting portion is preferably
configured to enable insertion in the seating only according to the
discrete number of configurations. The section is polygonal or
elliptical or made up of curved tracts intervalled by straight
tracts. In the embodiment shown in the figures the section is made
up of two straight vertical tracts (having a same length) connected
superiorly and inferiorly by two substantially semi-circular
tracts. In general, the mounting portion has a section that is such
as to realize a snug fitting with the complementarily-shaped
seating of the thread guide, such as to prevent rotation of the
dispensing element with respect to the seating of the thread
guide.
[0248] Each of the positions of the above-mentioned discrete number
of positions assumed by the operating portion of the dispensing
element with respect to the needles of the needle-bearing organ is
preferably characterised by a respective distance from the needles
of the machine and a respective orientation assumed with respect to
the needles of the knitting machine.
[0249] Preferably, as in the embodiment shown by way of example in
the figures, the above-mentioned determined discrete number of
mounting configurations is exactly two: the mounting portion can be
mounted to the thread guide in a first mounting configuration, to
which corresponds a low position of the operating portion, or in a
second mounting configuration, to which corresponds a high position
of the operating portion. In this case the conformation of the
mounting portion does not enable other mounting configurations from
the two above-described ones.
[0250] In the second mounting configuration the dispensing element
is arranged oppositely with respect to the arrangement assumed in
the first mounting configuration, i.e. between the first and the
second mounting configuration the mounting portion is rotated by
180.degree..
[0251] The high position of the operating portion preferably
corresponds to a position known in the sector as a traditional
position, while the low position also corresponds, mainly though
not exclusively, to a traditional position, but below the needle
tongues. The dispensing element is typically used in the low
position for the thread guides operating between six positions
(A-F), while the mounting for the high position is used for the
thread guides operating between four positions (A-D). The selection
of the mounting configuration of the dispensing element typically
mainly occurs on the basis of the type of thread guide on which the
element is mounted. However, the selection of the mounting
configuration of the dispensing element can be determined,
additionally or alternatively, also on the basis of the knitting
operations to be realized.
[0252] The high position and the low position selectively assumed
by the operating portion are preferably vertically aligned along a
vertical axis substantially parallel to the needles present in the
needle-bearing organ of the knitting machine.
[0253] The mounting portion 63 is preferably characterised by a
bilateral symmetry, i.e. it is symmetrical with respect to a plane
of symmetry passing through the longitudinal axis of the mounting
portion.
[0254] In the case shown in the figures the symmetry is with
respect to a vertical plane XIIa-XIIa.
[0255] The longitudinal hole 67 is preferably open on the rear end
65, defining a first opening 75, and is open on the front end 66,
defining a second opening 76: the first opening enables inserting
the infeed thread into the dispensing element and the second
opening enables exit, towards the needles of the knitting machine,
of the feeding thread.
[0256] The second opening (or the centre thereof) is preferably
dealigned from the first opening (or the centre thereof) with
respect to the longitudinal axis 63a of the mounting portion. The
first opening 75 is preferably coaxial to the longitudinal axis
63a.
[0257] In the first mounting configuration the second opening 76 is
preferably lower than the first opening 75 with respect to the
longitudinal axis 63a, and in the second mounting configuration the
second opening 76 is higher than the first opening with respect to
the longitudinal axis 63a.
[0258] The operating portion 64 preferably extends from the
mounting portion 63 and is dealigned with respect thereto, in
particular it has a respective longitudinal axis 64a transversal to
the longitudinal axis of the mounting portion.
[0259] The operating portion 64 is preferably inclined with respect
to the mounting portion 63 in such a way that the longitudinal axis
64a of the operating portion forms, with the longitudinal axis 63a
of the mounting portion, an angle of less than 5.degree. and/or
less than 10.degree. and/or less than 20.degree. and/or less than
45.degree. and/or less than 90.degree.. The operating portion 64 is
preferably arranged obliquely with respect to the mounting portion,
and the dispensing element is asymmetrical with respect to the
longitudinal axis 63a of the mounting portion. The operating
portion is substantially asymmetric with respect to the mounting
portion.
[0260] The mounting configuration is preferably selected during the
inserting step of the mounting portion in the mounting seating,
internally of which all rotation of the dispensing element is
prevented with respect to the thread guide. Therefore once the
mounting portion is inserted in the mounting seating, the
configuration of the dispensing element is fixed; to modify the
configuration it is first necessary to remove the dispensing
element from the thread guide (de-inserting it from the mounting
seating 70), and thus re-insert it in the desired
configuration.
[0261] The axial position of the mounting portion 63 internally of
the seating 70 of the thread guide (i.e. the position thereof along
the longitudinal axis 63a) can preferably be selectively varied
during the mounting step, in such a way as to vary the distance
between the operating portion 64 and the needles of the knitting
machine.
[0262] The dispensing element 60 is preferably realised in a
ceramic material or zircon. In this way the dispensing element
exhibits a high resistance to wear in the sliding of the thread on
the internal surface of the longitudinal hole. As shown in the
figures, the dispensing element is preferably made in a single
piece.
[0263] The longitudinal hole 67 preferably has a conical extension
and/or exhibits a section narrowing or a tapering starting from the
first opening 75 in the rear end 65 up to the second opening 76 in
the front end 66.
[0264] FIGS. 10 and 11 show a thread guide 6 housing a dispensing
element at the front end thereof. The thread guide comprises
blocking means 80 arranged at the mounting seating 70 and
configured to removably engage with the mounting portion 63 of the
dispensing element, with the aim of stably and removably mounting
it in the mounting seating. The blocking means preferably comprise
a screw 81, or grub screw, insertable in a hole 82, preferably
threaded, defined in the front end of the thread guide and oriented
in such a way as to be transversal, preferably perpendicular, to
the mounting portion of the dispensing element once inserted in the
mounting seating.
[0265] The blocking means 80 preferably comprise an abutting
element 83 cooperating with the screw 81 so as to block the
mounting portion of the dispensing element in the mounting seating.
The screw 81 and the abutting element 83, operating in the hole,
overall realize a clamped mounting of the mounting portion of the
dispensing element.
[0266] The hole 82 is preferably a through-hole in the front
portion of the thread guide. The screw and the abutting element are
preferably inserted in opposite sides of the hole, such as to act
on the opposite sides of the mounting portion of the dispensing
element.
[0267] The invention as it is conceived is susceptible to numerous
modifications and variants, all falling within the ambit of the
inventive concept, and the mentioned components can be replaced
with others that are technically equivalent. The invention provides
important advantages.
[0268] Primarily the invention enables obviating at least some of
the drawbacks of the prior art.
[0269] Further, the device of the present invention enables
positioning the thread guides precisely and effectively obtaining
the knitting functions required by knitting machines (both new and
already in existence).
[0270] Further, the device of the present invention is
characterised by a movement of the single thread guides that is
stable and not significantly subject to vibratory phenomena.
[0271] Further, the device of the present invention enables
positioning the dispensing end of the thread of each thread guide
selectively in a multiplicity of positions, increasing the
versatility of use in various knitting machines and for different
production needs. Further, the device of the present invention is
characterised by a competitive cost and a high degree of
functioning reliability. Further, the thread dispensing element of
the present invention is able to obviate one or more of the
drawbacks of the prior art. Further, the thread dispensing element
of the present invention is able to realize an extremely precise
and stable mounting on a respective thread guide, so as to assume a
determined position and a specific orientation with respect to the
needles of the machine and to maintain them over time. The device
1, in its various aspects, the dispensing element 60 and the thread
guide 6 of the present invention are further simple and/or sturdy
and have a modest realization cost with respect to the performance
and quality provided.
* * * * *