| 1. | A circular knitting machine 1 for knitting bothsided velour textile, the knitting machine including knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d and sinkers 4,4'and 4", knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d provided in a cylindrical cylinder 2, for advancing and retreating the knitting needles and the sinkers, and a sinker cam 3 provided in a circular sinker ring 7, wherein the sinkers 4, 4'and 4"comprise sinker butts 4b, 4c and 4d of second to fourth stages other than the main sinker butt 4a of a first stage; the sinker cam 3 comprises an end 14 on its top front side ; a knitting cam box 6 having the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d mounted in is provided as upper and lower fourth stages so that the knit cam 6a, the stitch cam 6b, the miss cam 6c and the tuck cam 6d are separately operated, wherein the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are arranged so that the height of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d can be easily adjusted through manipulation of a gap (D) between a top knitting cam and a bottom knitting cams; knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d having needle butts 5a', 5b', 5c'and 5d'at different locations so that they are suitable for the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are operated up and down; and the sinkers 4,4'and 4"advance and retreat in cooperation with an operating cam 8 provided in the sinker ring 7 together with the sinker cam 3. |
| 2. | The circular knitting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the operating cam 8 is coupled to an operating cam assembly 11 of one unit by an upper plate 11a and a middle plate llb having four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d and four operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d, respectively, and is settled to the operating cam box 10 provided in plural in substantially the same shape as the operating cam assembly 11 on the sinker ring 7 depending on a desired pattern. |
| 3. | The circular knitting machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein a handle 9 is provide in the upper plate lla so that the operating cam assembly 11 can be easily mounted in and detached from the plurality of the operating cam boxes 10 provided in the sinker ring 7. |
| 4. | The circular knitting machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d, and the four operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d each provided in the upper plate lla and the middle plate llb of the operating cam assembly 11 are formed approximately in an elliptical slot shape to have an operating position X and an nonoperating position Y. |
| 5. | The circular knitting machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operating cam 8 is settled to the operation location through a square groove 15 provided in the longitudinal direction at the rear center of the middle plate 11b facing the operating cam assembly 11 and has a smooth contact face so that the sinker butts 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d can move smoothly. |
Background Art As a kind of pile fabrics, velour fabric having excellent thermal insulating properties and soft touch has been widely used as sport cloth, a T-shirt, etc. However, velour fabric is a little transformed due to its unique characteristic of knit fabric itself that is different in flexibility lengthwise and breadthwise. However, this fabric has a problem when cloth whose shape is formalized is cut.
Thus, it is rarely used in a formal dress.
Common velour fabric is knitted through a circular knitting machine that forms knitted fabrics as a sinker and a knitting needle are driven by a single sinker cam and a knitting cam of a first stage.
If a pile knit is to be represented in a stripe shape, square or diamond, there are disadvantages in that fabrics are not flat since a loop exists from the rear bottom of the knitted fabric and durability
of fabrics is degraded since the bottom is weak. Therefore, in most velour fabrics so far, piles are formed all over the surface uniformly.
Therefore, if the appearance of the knitted fabric is to be changed, design of grey cotton fabric was uniform.
However, in order to suit taste of customers and produce high value added fabrics, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various shapes must be produced by changing the tissue of velour fabric. However fabrics of a specific design has not yet been developed so far. Also, improvement of a circular knitting machine of knit is insignificant. Thus, it is impossible to knit knitted fabrics of new atmosphere through an existing circular knitting machine for velour fabric.
Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics in which knitting of a slant line pattern is possible by constructing a knitting cam as a fourth stage and a knitting loop can be evenly formed by allowing a passage gap of a knitting needle to be adjusted easily and correctly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics in which stiffness is
assigned to fabrics in such a way that knit fabrics are knitted lengthwise and breadthwise through a special sinker cam without the degree of expansion, and over 100 kinds of patterns such as a diamond pattern and a checker pattern can be represented since the degree of advancement and retreat of a sinker can be controlled freely and a pile can be formed variously.
To achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a circular knitting machine 1 for knitting both- sided velour textile, the knitting machine including knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d and sinkers 4, 4'and 4", knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d provided in a cylindrical cylinder 2, for advancing and retreating the knitting needles and the sinkers, and a sinker cam 3 provided in a circular sinker ring 7, wherein the sinkers 4,4'and 4"comprise sinker butts 4b, 4c and 4d of second to fourth stages other than the main sinker butt 4a of a first stage ; the sinker cam 3 comprises an end 14 on its top front side ; a knitting cam box 6 having the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d mounted in is provided as upper and lower fourth stages so that the knit cam 6a, the stitch cam 6b, the miss cam 6c and the tuck cam 6d are separately operated, wherein the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are arranged so that the height of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d can be easily adjusted through manipulation of a gap (D) between a top knitting cam and a bottom knitting cams ; knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d having needle butts
5a', 5b', 5c'and 5d'at different locations so that they are suitable for the knitting cams 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are operated up and down ; and the sinkers 4,4'and 4"advance and retreat in cooperation with an operating cam 8 provided in the sinker ring 7 together with the sinker cam 3.
In the present invention, the operating cam 8 is coupled to an operating cam assembly 11 of one unit by an upper plate lla and a middle plate llb having four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d and four operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d, respectively, and is settled to the operating cam box 10 provided in plural in substantially the same shape as the operating cam assembly 11 on the sinker ring 7 depending on a desired pattern.
In the present invention, a handle 9 is provide in the upper plate lla so that the operating cam assembly 11 can be easily mounted in and detached from the plurality of the operating cam boxes 10 provided in the sinker ring 7.
In the present invention, the four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d, and the four operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d each provided in the upper plate lla and the middle plate llb of the operating cam assembly 11 are formed approximately in an elliptical slot shape to have an operating position X and an non- operating position Y.
In the present invention, the operating cam 8 is settled to the
operation location through a square groove 15 provided in the longitudinal direction at the rear center of the middle plate llb facing the operating cam assembly 11 and has a smooth contact face so that the sinker butts 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d can move smoothly.
Brief Description of Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a knit structure of a circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention ; Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the mounting structure of a knitting cam in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention ; Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of an operating cam assembly in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the operating cam assembly shown in Fig. 3 ; Fig. 5 is a partially cut perspective view illustrating the structure of the operating cam assembly provided in the sinker ring of the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according
to the present invention ; Fig. 6 is a dismantled perspective view illustrating the sinker cam and the operating cam assembly each disposed in the sinker ring shown in Fig. 5 ; Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the whole structure of the sinker ring shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view shown to explain the operation relationship between the sinker cam and the operating cam shown in Fig.
6, and the sinker ; Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view shown to explain the operation relationship between the knitting cam of the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics and the knitting needle according to the present invention ; Fig. 10a, Fig. 10b and Fig. 10c are front views showing the structure of the sinker applied to the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention ; and Fig. 11 shows a chart illustrating the relationship between patterns knitted by the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention, arrangement of the sinker cam and the operating cam, and arrangement of the sinker and the knitting needle.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a knit structure of a circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the mounting structure of a knitting cam in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of an operating cam assembly in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is a lateral cross-sectional view of the operating cam assembly shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partially cut perspective view illustrating the structure of the operating cam assembly provided in the sinker ring of the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention. Fig. 6 is a dismantled perspective view illustrating the sinker cam and the operating cam assembly each disposed in the sinker ring shown in Fig.
5. Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the whole structure of the sinker ring shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view shown to explain the operation relationship between the sinker cam and the operating cam shown in Fig. 6, and the sinker. Fig. 9 is a cross- sectional view shown to explain the operation relationship between the
knitting cam of the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics and the knitting needle according to the present invention.
Fig. 10a, Fig. 10b and Fig. 10c are front views showing the structure of the sinker applied to the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention.
Referring to Fig. 1, the circular knitting machine for both- sided velour fabrics 1 according to the present invention includes a cylinder 2 cylindrical ring shape that is rotated within a horizontal plane around its center location and provides a passage of knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d, and a circular sinker ring 7 disposed on the outer circumference of the top of the cylinder 2. At this time, the sinker ring 7 is adapted to rotate in the same direction within a plane surface in cooperation with rotation of the cylinder 2.
Furthermore, sinkers 4,4'and 4"are disposed on the sinker ring 7, so that they advance and retreat through a plurality of grooves in its axis direction.
Moreover, a sinker cam 3 and an assistant sinker cam 18 for guiding movement of the sinkers 4,4'and 4"are settled on the sinker ring 7 through coupling holes 3a and 18a. An operating cam box 10 for contains an operating cam 8 is disposed in plural with the same gap, as shown in Fig. 5 to 7.
A plurality of grooves are formed in the outer circumference of the cylinder 2. The knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d are disposed
along the respective grooves. The knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d go up and come down in their axis direction.
A knitting cam box 6 of the same ring shape is disposed on the outer circumference of the cylinder 2. Slots 19a, 19b and 19c for coupling the knitting cams are disposed in the knitting cam box 6 so that the knitting cams can be disposed in the fourth stage, as shown in Fig. 2. The knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d move up and down from the cylinder 2 as butts 5a', 5b', 5c'and 5d'each formed in the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d moves along the passage of the knitting cam having a fourth stage. That is, as shown in Fig. 9, knitting cams such as a knit cam 6a, a stitch cam 6b, a miss cam 6c and a tuck cam 6d are disposed in the knitting cam box 6 as an upper and lower fourth stage so that they are separately driven depending on a desired pattern. Also, the knitting cams of the first stage to fourth stage are disposed by means of slots 19a, 19b and 19c for coupling the knitting cams formed in the knitting cam box 6 with some gap (D) intervened between them.
Therefore, as the cylinder 2 rotates, the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d rotate in the same rotary direction. However, the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d form desired patterns as they go up and come down depending the type of the knitting cam. It is possible not only to knit the knitting loop through four-stage arrangement of the knitting cam but also to knit over 100 kinds of patterns including
a slant pattern.
The sinkers 4, 4'and 4"in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics according to the present invention can include three kinds, as shown in Figs. 10a, 10b and 10c. The sinkers 4,4'and 4"includes the sinker butts 4b, 4c and 4d of the second stage to fourth stage, respectively together with a nose 17 and the main sinker butt 4a of the first stage.
In addition, the knitting cam box 6 mounted in the knitting cam includes slots 19a, 19b and 19c for coupling the three knitting cams so that the knit cam 6a, the stitch cam 6b, the miss cam 6c and the tuck cam 6d can be separately operated. By adjusting the gap (D) among the first stage to fourth stage knitting cams through the slots 19a, 19b and 19c as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 9, it is possible to adjust the height of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d. It is possible to obtain a uniform knitting loop by controlling arrangement of the top of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d constantly.
Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 2, the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d that operate in cooperation with the knitting cam have the needle butts 5a', 5b', 5c'and 5d'whose locations are different from one another.
In particular, in the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics 1 according to the present invention, as shown in Figs.
3,4 and 8, in addition to an assistant sinker cam 18 that assists
formation of the knitting loop of the sinker cam 3 and the sinker cam 3 in order to make the knitted fabrics uniform, an upper plate 11a having four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d formed in and a middle plate 11b having four coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d each corresponding to the operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d are combined to form an operating cam assembly 11 of one set.
This operating cam assembly 11 operates in cooperation with an additional operating cam 8 mounted in the sinker ring 7 at the same time, thereby making the sinkers 4, 4'and 4"advance and retreat.
The sinker cam 3 used in the present invention has an end 14 on its top so that the nose 17 of the sinkers 4, 4'and 4"are deviated from latches of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d, as shown in Fig. 8. For this reason, the sinkers 4,4'and 4"are detached from the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d approximately 0.5 mm. The sinkers 4, 4'and 4"are adapted so that piles are not formed before they are pushed out forwardly by the operating cam 8.
The operating cam assembly 11 shown in Figs. 3,5 and 6 has an approximately a pentagon. This shape is set considering the width of the sinker ring 7 and arrangement of the sinker cam 3 and the assistant sinker cam 18, but can be changed variously such as a square in some cases.
In the operating cam assembly 11, the operating cams 8 of any
pair of the four operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d of the upper plate 11a and the four coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d of the middle plate 11b are integrally settled to any pattern and are contained in the plurality of the operating cam boxes 10 on the sinker ring 7.
The operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d, and the operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b and 16c are formed in an elliptical slot shape, as shown in Fig. 3 and each have an operating position X and a non-operating position Y. It is thus possible to prevent loss of the coupling bolt 13 settled to the coupling holes 8b of the operating cam 8 and facilitate switch to the operating position X and the non-operating position Y.
In the operating cam assembly 11, a handle 9 is formed at one or both ends of the upper plate so that the operating cam assembly 11 can be easily mounted in and detached from the operating cam box 10.
The operating cam 8 includes a coupling unit 8a that penetrate the middle plate 11b through an approximately regular square groove 15 formed in the longitudinal direction at its center in case of the middle plate llb of the operating cam assembly 11 and is then settled to the operating cam coupling holes 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d that, and a coupling hole 8b formed at its center. Furthermore, the operating cam 8 has a smooth contact face by which the first stage to fourth stage sinker butts 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d can be guided smoothly.
In the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics constructed according to the present invention, according to a desired pattern, the operating cam 8 is fixed to one of the first operating cam coupling hole 12a, the second operating cam coupling hole 12b, the third operating cam coupling hole 12c and the fourth operating cam coupling hole 12d. The upper plate lla and the middle plate llb are combined each other through their coupling holes (not shown) by means of binding means, so that an integrated operating cam assembly 11 is implemented. Thus, the integrated operating cam assembly 11 is mounted in the sinker ring 7 by inserting it into the operating cam box 10 formed in the sinker ring 7.
In addition, if a pattern is changed and the location of the operating cam 8 is to be changed thus, the operating cam assembly 11 is taken out from the operating cam box 10 using the handle 9, the location of the operating cam 8 is changed and the operating cam assembly 11 is inserted into the operating cam box 10 again.
Accordingly, a pattern change work can be performed easily.
Also, the kitting needle passage can be made constant and the location of each of the knitting needles 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d can be adjusted regularly accordingly by easily adjusting the gap (D) between the knitting cams disposed at the top and bottom stages of the knitting cam box 6, i. e. , the knit cam 6a, the stitch cam 6b, the miss cam 6c and the tuck cam 6d. Therefore, the quality of the knitted
fabrics is improved and badness is reduced since the knitting loop is constant.
As shown in Fig. 8, as the sinkers 4,4'and 4"are operated along the operating cam 8 along with the sinker cam 3 and the assistant sinker cam 18, formation of the pile can be changed variously while assigning stiffness to knit fabrics. Therefore, as illustrated in Fig. 11, it is possible to knit over 100 kinds of patterns such as a checker pattern and a diamond pattern.
That is, if the operating cam 8 mounted in the operating cam assembly 11 is disposed in the first operating cam coupling holes 12a and 16a of the upper plate lla and the middle plate llb, in four columns of the knitted fabrics in the longitudinal direction, the sinkers 4,4'form the piles in cooperation with the main sink butt 4a of the first stage together with the sinker cam 3. In two columns in the longitudinal direction, the sinkers 4,4'pass by the second stage to third stage sinker butts 4b and 4c of the sinkers 4 and 4' without operating in cooperation with them, so that the piles are not formed. If this is repeated, four plies form piles and two piles do not form piles on the surface of a letter in a wale direction, as in Fig. 11 (a). A checker pattern is thus formed on the whole.
As shown in Fig. 11 (b), if the operating cam 8 is disposed in the first operating cam coupling holes 12a and 16a of the upper plate lla and the middle plate llb and in the knitting cam, the knit cam 6a
and the miss cam 6c are alternately disposed in the first stage and the miss cam 6c and the knit cam 6a are alternately disposed in the second stage, piles are formed in a slant line in the longitudinal direction of the knitted fabrics, so that so called a slant line paper velour is knitted. Meanwhile, if the operating cam 8 is alternately disposed in the second operating cam coupling holes 12b and 16b and the third operating cam coupling holes 12c and 16c of the upper plate 11a and the middle plate llb and the sinker and the knitting needle are arranged for knitting as in Fig. 11 (c), piles are formed every two plies in the course direction to form a stripe pattern in the longitudinal direction.
As such, the circular knitting machine for both-sided velour fabrics 1 according to the present invention includes the operating cam 8. Thus, the operating cam 8 is coupled to one of the first, second, third and fourth operating cam coupling holes 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d provided in at its operating position, i. e. , the upper plate 11a of the operating cam assembly 11 and the operating cam coupling hole 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d of the middle plate 11b corresponding to the upper plate 11a. Therefore, as the operating position of the sinkers 4,4'and 4"can be adjusted freely, a pattern can be changed so that piles are formed or not formed.
Industrial Applicability
According to the present invention, in a circular knitting machine for both-sided velour textile, a knitting cam can be disposed as fourth stages. It is thus possible to produce a slant line pattern.
By changing a sinker cam and including an operating cam cooperatively operating with the sinker cam, piles can be formed while assigning stiffness to knitting needle fabrics so that various patterns can be knitted by controlling the degree of advancement of the sinker for the knitting needle.
Furthermore, an operating cam is integrally assembled and is constructed in such a way that it is inserted into an operating cam box simply. Thus, an operating position of the operating cam can be manipulated depending on a desired pattern. This allows cams to be arranged entirely or partially simply without removing the whole sinker ring and adjusting the cam. As such, since a work for changing a pattern can be easily performed, working hours and efforts can be reduced significantly, high value-added both-sided velour fabrics can be produced, and production efficiency can be maximized.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.