Textiles: knitting – Independent-needle machines – Straight
Patent
1999-03-08
2000-09-12
Worrell, Danny
Textiles: knitting
Independent-needle machines
Straight
66 64, 66 76, D04B 710
Patent
active
061160571
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method of producing a three-dimensional knit. In fashioning, needles are made inactive in predetermined sections of the needle bed and reactivated after a predetermined number of loops. The non-inactivated, i.e. fully knitted, portions bulge since on reactivation of the inactivated needles they are puckered by the interlooped courses in the inactivated portions between which one or also more courses of the fully knitted portion may be arranged. This inactivation/activation may also be achieved staircased, i.e. sectionwise from one course to the other so that knits materialize in a predetermined shape which may be used e.g. as preformed seat covers.
A first method of producing three-dimensional knits consists of the widening
arrowing technique. Widening in this sense involves forming two wales from a single wale at an optional location in the knit, it thus involving a widening of the knit. In a first embodiment of the widening technique the loops at least on one side of the widening location are shifted outwards by the desired widening width. In an alternative embodiment of the technique loops are knitted separately in two needle regions and subsequently interlinked by transferring at least one region.
Whilst the known loop widening
arrowing technique in the marginal portion of a knit merely results in contouring of the knit, but not in three-dimensional shaping, in widening
arrowing in the knit in accordance with the invention additional loops are introduced into the knit or taken out of the knit, resulting in a shaping of the knit and thus in a three-dimensional shaping. The narrowing technique represents precisely the opposite procedure. In the narrowing technique at least two wales are combined into a single wale, this procedure involving transferring loops on at least one side of the knit further inwards so that the resulting gap is closed. This technique too, may be continued successively over several courses so that desired bulged portions may be generated. One possibility of bulging involves e.g. first implementing the widening and then the narrowing technique, resulting in a bulge due to an excess of material being obtained in the widening
arrowing region. Another technique first applies narrowing followed by widening to the original number of loops, as a result of which a deficient amount of material occurs in the narrowing/widening region which in turn results in a deformation of the knit as a whole and thus in three-dimensional shaping.
Transferring the loops is preferably implemented as follows: The loops are transferred from an active needle bed to an auxiliary needle bed. The auxiliary needle bed which, among other things, may also be an active needle bed is then shifted relative to the active needle bed. Subsequently the loops are transferred back at a shifted location to the auxiliary needle bed. Although this method is thus rather complicated as regards the machine action sequence, it permits production of three-dimensional knits with possibilities hitherto not available.
Another method of producing three-dimensional knits consists of making needles inactive in specific portions of the knit, whilst knitting is continued with the needles in the other portions. By later activating these inactivated needles, e.g. after one or more courses, a puckering of the knit is achieved in this inactivated portion which again may be made use of as desired in achieving specific shapes. When needles are made inactive e.g. for a knit in the marginal portions of the flat knitting machine and this inactivation repeated on a spacing of a few courses differing in width, then a spherical structure is attained having a highly homogeneous structure. In this case too, inactivating the needles should take place only over a few courses so that excessive deformations of the knit at any one location is avoided. Further, the width (number of needles) involved in inactivation may be alternatingly changed so that here too, a distribution of the deformed locations may be achieved in t
REFERENCES:
patent: 3800560 (1974-04-01), Hanney et al.
patent: 5308141 (1994-05-01), Robinson et al.
patent: 5326150 (1994-07-01), Robinson et al.
Recaro GmbH & Co.
Worrell Danny
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