US3728872A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for knitting sliver high pile fabrics
Assignee: Glenoit Mills Inc
•
Filing: 1971-05-03
•
Granted: 1973-04-24
•
Expires: 1991-05-03
Abstract
Abstract A pneumatic system for sliver high pile fabric knitting machines whereby the usual air jets, disposed adjacent the needle circle and operative during knitting, are eliminated, and suction is employed for retaining the sliver fibers on the needles during knitting and for removing loose fibers from within the needle circle to a location remote from the needle circle, from which location the loose fibers either may be handled as waste or conveyed back to the machine for re-delivery to the needles.
Inventors
- 👤 T Thore
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 12:54
CPC Classifications
D; D04; D04B; D04B23/00; D04B23/08
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
169 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and a plurality of sliver and yarn feeding stations, a pneumatic system for holding fibers on the needles during knitting and for removing loose fibers from within the needle circle, said pneumatic system including: a. means to create suction, b. a suction hood within the needle circle, c. a plurality of spaced apertures in the hood, each aperture being disposed adjacent to a feeding station in advance of where the needles cast-off at said station, d. a conduit connecting the hood to the suction creating means, e. a manifold, f. a conduit connecting the suction creating means to the manifold, g. a plurality of return conduits extending from the manifold, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a feeding station, the number of said return conduits being equal to the number of feeding stations, and h. means associated with the manifold for distributing fibers entering the manifold substantially uniformly among the return conduits extending from the manifold.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
169 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and a plurality of sliver and yarn feeding stations, a pneumatic system for holding fibers on the needles during knitting and for removing loose fibers from within the needle circle, said pneumatic system including: a. means to create suction, b. a suction hood within the needle circle, c. a plurality of spaced apertures in the hood, each aperture being disposed adjacent to a feeding station in advance of where the needles cast-off at said station, d. a conduit connecting the hood to the suction creating means, e. a manifold, f. a conduit connecting the suction creating means to the manifold, g. a plurality of return conduits extending from the manifold, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a feeding station, the number of said return conduits being equal to the number of feeding stations, and h. means associated with the manifold for distributing fibers entering the manifold substantially uniformly among the return conduits extending from the manifold.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
a second passageway for transmitting loose sliver fibers from the return conduit to the sliver in the first passageway and
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
a second passageway for transmitting loose sliver fibers from the return conduit to the sliver in the first passageway and
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
130 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of independent needles and means for feeding sliver and yarn to the needles, means for holding sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles take and knit the yarn, said means including: a. a device for creating suction, b. a suction hood disposed internally of the needle circle, c. a conduit connecting the hood to the suction creating device, d. said suction hood terminating at the region of the needles, and having an aperture disposed adjacent the needle circle proximate to and in advance of where the needles reach cast-off level, and e. a cam disposed in the aperture for aiding in retaining sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles descend to cast-off level.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
130 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of independent needles and means for feeding sliver and yarn to the needles, means for holding sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles take and knit the yarn, said means including: a. a device for creating suction, b. a suction hood disposed internally of the needle circle, c. a conduit connecting the hood to the suction creating device, d. said suction hood terminating at the region of the needles, and having an aperture disposed adjacent the needle circle proximate to and in advance of where the needles reach cast-off level, and e. a cam disposed in the aperture for aiding in retaining sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles descend to cast-off level.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
114 words
A pneumatic system for a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and plural yarn and sliver feeding stations, said pneumatic system including: a. a hood disposed internally of the needle circle and having means for concentrating suction at each feeding station in the area where the needles descend to cast-off level, b. means for creating suction within the hood, c. a manifold for receiving and dividing uniformly loose sliver fibers, d. a conduit between the hood and the manifold for conveying loose sliver fibers from the hood to the manifold and e. conduit means for conveying loose sliver fibers from the manifold to each feeding stAtion of the machine.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
114 words
A pneumatic system for a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and plural yarn and sliver feeding stations, said pneumatic system including: a. a hood disposed internally of the needle circle and having means for concentrating suction at each feeding station in the area where the needles descend to cast-off level, b. means for creating suction within the hood, c. a manifold for receiving and dividing uniformly loose sliver fibers, d. a conduit between the hood and the manifold for conveying loose sliver fibers from the hood to the manifold and e. conduit means for conveying loose sliver fibers from the manifold to each feeding stAtion of the machine.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
means for closing off communication between the two passageways, whereby the loose sliver fibers may be trapped and collected in the second passageway preparatory to changing sliver fed to the knitting machine.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
means for closing off communication between the two passageways, whereby the loose sliver fibers may be trapped and collected in the second passageway preparatory to changing sliver fed to the knitting machine.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
48 words
The invention of claim 3 wherein: a. the means for creating suction comprises a blower located in the conduit between the hood and the manifold and b. the portion of the conduit between the blower and the manifold includes means to reduce air pressure in said conduit portion.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The invention of claim 4 wherein the air pressure reduction means includes a rotatable foraminous cylinder mounted in said conduit.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
96 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and a plurality of yarn feeds, each yarn feed having adjacent thereto a doffer for delivering fibers to the needles, a. means for creating suction within the needle circle, b. means for concentrating suction at spaced intervals about the needle circle, each interval being disposed between a doffer and the point where the needles reach cast-off level and c. cam means adjacent the needle circle to aid in retaining sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles descend to cast-off level.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
96 words
In a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having a circle of needles and a plurality of yarn feeds, each yarn feed having adjacent thereto a doffer for delivering fibers to the needles, a. means for creating suction within the needle circle, b. means for concentrating suction at spaced intervals about the needle circle, each interval being disposed between a doffer and the point where the needles reach cast-off level and c. cam means adjacent the needle circle to aid in retaining sliver fibers generally normal of the needles as the needles descend to cast-off level.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
The invention of claim 6 further including: a. a manifold, b. a conduit for conveying loose sliver fibers from within the needle circle to the manifold and c. conduit means for conveying loose sliver fibers from the manifold to the doffers.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
125 words
A pneumatic fiber recovery system for high pile fabric knitting machines having a circle of needles and plural sliver feeding means, each said sliver feeding means including a doffer, which system includes: a. a hood disposed within the needle circle and having means for concentrating suction adjacent each sliver feeding means in the area between the doffer and the point where the needles reach cast-off level, b. means for creating suction within the hood, c. a fiber distributor, d. a conduit for conducting loose sliver fibers from the hood to the distributor and e. plural return conduits extending from the distributor for conducting loose sliver fibers from the distributor to the plural sliver feeding means, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a sliver feeding means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
125 words
A pneumatic fiber recovery system for high pile fabric knitting machines having a circle of needles and plural sliver feeding means, each said sliver feeding means including a doffer, which system includes: a. a hood disposed within the needle circle and having means for concentrating suction adjacent each sliver feeding means in the area between the doffer and the point where the needles reach cast-off level, b. means for creating suction within the hood, c. a fiber distributor, d. a conduit for conducting loose sliver fibers from the hood to the distributor and e. plural return conduits extending from the distributor for conducting loose sliver fibers from the distributor to the plural sliver feeding means, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a sliver feeding means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
118 words
A pneumatic fiber recovery system for high pile fabric knitting machines having a circle of needles and plural sliver feeding means, which includes: a. means for creating suction within the needle circle, b. a fiber distributor remote from the needle circle, c. conduit means for conducting loose sliver fibers from within the needle circle to the fiber distributor, d. plural return conduits extending from the distributor for conducting loose fibers from the fiber distributor to the plural sliver feeding means, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a sliver feeding means, e. a sliver entry means connecting the terminal of each return conduit and the sliver feeding means adjacent which said conduit terminates, each said sliver entry means including:
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
118 words
A pneumatic fiber recovery system for high pile fabric knitting machines having a circle of needles and plural sliver feeding means, which includes: a. means for creating suction within the needle circle, b. a fiber distributor remote from the needle circle, c. conduit means for conducting loose sliver fibers from within the needle circle to the fiber distributor, d. plural return conduits extending from the distributor for conducting loose fibers from the fiber distributor to the plural sliver feeding means, each said return conduit terminating adjacent a sliver feeding means, e. a sliver entry means connecting the terminal of each return conduit and the sliver feeding means adjacent which said conduit terminates, each said sliver entry means including:
Claim 20
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of knitting sliver high pile fabric on a knitting machine having a circle of needles and plural sliver and yarn feeding stations, which includes the steps of: a. feeding sliver and yarn to the needles, b. advancing the needles relative to the sliver and yarn feeding stations to needle cast-off level to form the sliver and yarn into fabric, c. creating suction within the needle circle adjacent the needles at spaced intervals about the needle circle, each interval being in advance of where the needles reach cast-off level, to retain sliver fibers fed to the needles under uniform tension generally normal of the needles as the neeDles approach cast-off level, d. removing loose sliver fibers by said suction from the region of the needles to a location remote from the needles, e. dividing the loose sliver fibers and f. conveying pneumatically the divided loose sliver fibers from said location to the sliver and yarn feeding stations to be re-fed to the needles with the sliver.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of knitting sliver high pile fabric on a knitting machine having a circle of needles and plural sliver and yarn feeding stations, which includes the steps of: a. feeding sliver and yarn to the needles, b. advancing the needles relative to the sliver and yarn feeding stations to needle cast-off level to form the sliver and yarn into fabric, c. creating suction within the needle circle adjacent the needles at spaced intervals about the needle circle, each interval being in advance of where the needles reach cast-off level, to retain sliver fibers fed to the needles under uniform tension generally normal of the needles as the neeDles approach cast-off level, d. removing loose sliver fibers by said suction from the region of the needles to a location remote from the needles, e. dividing the loose sliver fibers and f. conveying pneumatically the divided loose sliver fibers from said location to the sliver and yarn feeding stations to be re-fed to the needles with the sliver.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
73 words
The method of claim 10 wherein: a. the loose sliver fibers are removed from the region of the needles to a manifold, b. the loose sliver fibers are divided in the manifold substantially uniformly into separate groups of fibers, said groups being equal in number to the number of sliver and yarn feeding stations and c. each group of divided fibers is conveyed from the manifold to a sliver and yarn feeding station.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 9 wherein: a. the suction is created by a blower, and b. the fibers are conveyed to the manifold and from the manifold to the sliver feeding stations by air pressure from the blower.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 12 further including the step of reducing the air pressure as the fibers are conveyed to the manifold.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 10 further including the step of retaining sliver fibers on the needles generally normal of the needles as the needles descend to cast-off level.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 10 further including the step of retaining sliver fibers on the needles generally radially inward of the needle circle as the needles descend to cast-off level.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US26015A
Cited
US1348885A
Cited
GB195802A
Cited
US1667177A
Cited
US1871853A
Cited
US2280535A
Cited
US2457104A
Cited
US2564683A
Cited
US2725735A
Cited
US3014355A
Cited
US2953002A
Cited
US3010297A
Cited
US2993351A
Cited
US3265442A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-04-23 | 1976-10-23 | 1977-04-24 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-04-23 | 1980-10-23 | 1981-04-24 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-04-23 | 1984-10-23 | 1985-04-24 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |