Knitting machine

Claim 2

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needlemoving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needlemoving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, means at each knitting station for effecting said reciprocation of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station, and means for moving said selector jack radially of the knitting cylinder upon said reciprocation thereof, and each selector jack and its needlemoving jack having an interconnection enabling relative reciprocating movement therebetween and for effecting pivoting of the needle-moving jack upon radial movement of the selector jack.

Claim 3

A circular knitting machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said means at each knitting station for effecting said reciprocation of the selector jacks at each knitting station comprises a selector jack-raising cam, said selector jacks having butts thereon engageable with the raising cam to effect raising of the selector jacks, and means for selectively effecting engagement of the raising cam and said butts of said selector jacks.

Claim 4

A circular knitting machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said means at each knitting station for effecting said reciprocation of the selector jacks comprises a jack-raising cam member, and electromagnetic means comprising a plurality of electromagnetic actuators at each knitting station for moving said selector jacks so that they do not cooperate with said cam member and therefore are not raised thereby, each of said electromagnetic actuators being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks.

Claim 5

A circular knitting machine as defined in claim 3 wherein said selector jacks are arranged in a series equal in number to the number of electromagnetic actuators, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said electromagnetic actuators, and said electromagnetic actuators at a knitting station having a member engageable with said butt to effect control of the selector jack in that station.

Claim 6

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knItting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect a needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means at each knitting station defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect movement of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack out of said cam track, said knitting needle cylinder carrying said selector jacks, and means at least at one knitting station having surfaces engageable with radially inner and outer surfaces of said selector jacks and with longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks, said longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks comprising surfaces of spaced butts thereon engageable with a selector jack raising cam and a lowering cam, respectively, each of said selector jacks having a respective L-shaped butt thereon and the one leg of said L-shaped butt moves on one side of a projecting portion of said raising cam and the selector jack body moves on the other side thereof, said one leg and selector jack body having said radially inner and outer surfaces.

Claim 7

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knItting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect a needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means at each knitting station defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect movement of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack out of said cam track, said knitting needle cylinder carrying said selector jacks, and means at least at one knitting station having surfaces engageable with radially inner and outer surfaces of said selector jacks and with longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks, said longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks comprising surfaces of spaced butts thereon engageable with a selector jack raising cam and a lowering cam, respectively, each of said selector jacks having a respective L-shaped butt thereon and the one leg of said L-shaped butt moves on one side of a projecting portion of said raising cam and the selector jack body moves on the other side thereof, said one leg and selector jack body having said radially inner and outer surfaces.

Claim 8

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, actuatable means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control said movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station, said actuatable means comprising a plurality of actuator members at each knitting station, each of said actuator members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of actuator members, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator members, said selector jack being reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder and movable radially of the needle cylinder, a selector jack raising cam for effecting said reciprocating movement of said selector jack in the direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder, and each of said actuator members at a knitting station being engageable with a butt to effect radial movement in one direction of a jack in that station so as not to engage said jack raising cam, and wherein, as said raising cam raises said selector jack, means engages thE selector jack and effects radial movement thereof to effect pivoting of the needle-raising jack.

Claim 9

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, actuatable means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control said movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station, said actuatable means comprising a plurality of actuator members at each knitting station, each of said actuator members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of actuator members, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator members, said selector jack being reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder and movable radially of the needle cylinder, a selector jack raising cam for effecting said reciprocating movement of said selector jack in the direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder, and each of said actuator members at a knitting station being engageable with a butt to effect radial movement in one direction of a jack in that station so as not to engage said jack raising cam, and wherein, as said raising cam raises said selector jack, means engages thE selector jack and effects radial movement thereof to effect pivoting of the needle-raising jack.

Claim 10

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, actuatable means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control said movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station, said actuatable means comprising a plurality of actuator members at each knitting station, each of said actuator members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of actuator members, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator members, said selector jack being reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder and movable radially of the needle cylinder, a selector jack raising cam for effecting said reciprocating movement of said selector jack in the direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder, and each of said actuator members at a knitting station being engageable with a butt to effect radial movement in one direction of a jack in that station so as not to engage said jack raising cam, further including means for moving said selector jack radially in the opposite direction as a selector jack leaves a station, said means for moving said selector jack radially in the opposite direction comprising a cam surface of said raising cam.

Claim 11

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, actuatable means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control said movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station, said actuatable means comprising a plurality of actuator members at each knitting station, each of said actuator members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of actuator members, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator members, said selector jack being reciprocable in a direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder and movable radially of the needle cylinder, a selector jack raising cam for effecting said reciprocating movement of said selector jack in the direction parallel to the axis of the needle cylinder, and each of said actuator members at a knitting station being engageable with a butt to effect radial movement in one direction of a jack in that station so as not to engage said jack raising cam, further including means for moving said selector jack radially in the opposite direction as a selector jack leaves a station, said means for moving said selector jack radially in the opposite direction comprising a cam surface of said raising cam.

Claim 12

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said knitting needle cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle raising portion which operates on said butts of said needle-moving jacks to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, electromagnetic means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control the movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station so that the butts of said needle-moving jacks are mOved out of said cam track when the needle associated therewith is not to knit, said electromagnetic means comprising a plurality of electromagnetic actuators at each knitting station and an actuator cam member movable upon energization of said electromagnetic actuators, each of said electromagnetic actuators and actuator cam members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of electromagnetic actuators, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator cam members at a knitting station, a selector jack raising cam for effecting reciprocating movement of selector jacks associated with needles which are to knit, said actuator cam members at a knitting station have surfaces engageable with respective butts on said selector jacks to effect radial movement of a selector jack associated with a needle which is not to knit so that said selector jacks do not engage said raising cam, said selector jacks and said needle-actuating jacks having cooperable interconnected portions for effecting pivotal movement of said needle-actuating jack upon radial movement of said selector jacks with said pivotal movement being sufficient to remove the butt of the associated needle-moving jack out of said cam track when the associated needle is not to knit.

Claim 13

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said knitting needle cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle raising portion which operates on said butts of said needle-moving jacks to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, electromagnetic means at each knitting station selectively actuatable to control the movement of the selector jacks at each knitting station to thereby control movement of the butts of said needle-moving jacks relative to said cam track at each knitting station so that the butts of said needle-moving jacks are mOved out of said cam track when the needle associated therewith is not to knit, said electromagnetic means comprising a plurality of electromagnetic actuators at each knitting station and an actuator cam member movable upon energization of said electromagnetic actuators, each of said electromagnetic actuators and actuator cam members being operatively associated with only certain of said selector jacks, said selector jacks being arranged in a series equal in number to the number of electromagnetic actuators, each of said selector jacks in said series having a butt thereon so as to pass adjacent only one of said actuator cam members at a knitting station, a selector jack raising cam for effecting reciprocating movement of selector jacks associated with needles which are to knit, said actuator cam members at a knitting station have surfaces engageable with respective butts on said selector jacks to effect radial movement of a selector jack associated with a needle which is not to knit so that said selector jacks do not engage said raising cam, said selector jacks and said needle-actuating jacks having cooperable interconnected portions for effecting pivotal movement of said needle-actuating jack upon radial movement of said selector jacks with said pivotal movement being sufficient to remove the butt of the associated needle-moving jack out of said cam track when the associated needle is not to knit.

Claim 14

A circular knitting machine as defined in claim 8 further including means having surface portions for engaging said selector jacks while they move through a knitting station to maintain said selector jacks in the radial position to which they are moved by said actuator cam members and thereby prevent movement of the butts on the associated needle-actuating jacks from re-entering said cam track in the knitting station.

Claim 15

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, means located at a select location at each knitting station for selectively moving said selector jacks to effect pivoting of the butts of the associated needle-moving jacks, and means at each of said knitting stations having surfaces continuously engageable with longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks and with radially inner and outer surfaces of said selector jacks as said selector jacks move through said knitting stations from said select location, said longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks comprising surfaces of spaced butts thereon engageable with a selector jack raising cam and a lowering cam, respectively, said radially inner and outer surfaces including radially inner and outer surfaces located at respective opposite ends of each of said selector jacks, and said means at each knitting station having said surfaces comprising first means engageable with said radially inner and outer surfaces at each end of selector jacks which are associated with needles which are to knit and second means engageable with said radially inner and outer surfaces at the oppositE ends of selector jacks which are associated with needles which are not to knit, said second means comprising a surface portion of said knitting needle cylinder, an axially extending surface portion of a raising cam for raising said selector jacks and an axially extending surface portion of a lowering cam for lowering said selector jacks.

Claim 16

A circular knitting machine comprising a knitting needle cylinder rotatable through a plurality of knitting stations, a plurality of knitting needles carried by said cylinder, a needle-moving jack pivotally connected with each respective needle and movable in a needle-raising stroke and a needle-lowering stroke to effect needle raising and lowering, each needle-moving jack having at least one butt thereon, means defining a cam track for receiving the butts of each of said needle-moving jacks, said cam track having a needle-raising portion which operates on said butts to raise the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby raise the needle associated therewith and a needle-lowering portion which operates on said butts to lower the associated needle-moving jack as the needle-moving jack moves therethrough to thereby lower the needle associated therewith, a selector jack operatively associated with each needle-moving jack and movable to effect pivoting of the butt of its associated needle-moving jack relative to said cam track, means located at a select location at each knitting station for selectively moving said selector jacks to effect pivoting of the butts of the associated needle-moving jacks, and means at each of said knitting stations having surfaces continuously engageable with longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks and with radially inner and outer surfaces of said selector jacks as said selector jacks move through said knitting stations from said select location, said longitudinally spaced surfaces of said selector jacks comprising surfaces of spaced butts thereon engageable with a selector jack raising cam and a lowering cam, respectively, said radially inner and outer surfaces including radially inner and outer surfaces located at respective opposite ends of each of said selector jacks, and said means at each knitting station having said surfaces comprising first means engageable with said radially inner and outer surfaces at each end of selector jacks which are associated with needles which are to knit and second means engageable with said radially inner and outer surfaces at the oppositE ends of selector jacks which are associated with needles which are not to knit, said second means comprising a surface portion of said knitting needle cylinder, an axially extending surface portion of a raising cam for raising said selector jacks and an axially extending surface portion of a lowering cam for lowering said selector jacks.