Textiles: knitting – Feeding – With clamp or cutter
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-05
2001-04-03
Worrell, Danny (Department: 3741)
Textiles: knitting
Feeding
With clamp or cutter
C066S146000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209361
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved yarn-holding apparatus for a circular knitting machine and, more particularly, to an airflow directing device that will direct a plurality of air streams into an airflow passage to engage and maintain a plurality of yarn ends awaiting selection by the yarn feeds of a circular knitting machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional multi-feed circular knitting machines need the capability of introducing a number of different yarns at each yarn feed. The yarns are usually presented for engagement at a location within an air stream which holds the yarn ends in a stationary condition as they are selectively engaged by the yarn feeds for knitting. The most commonly used air stream is a conduit or tube into which air is generally injected along the longitudinal axis of the tube. This general flow of air throughout the tube has a tendency to cause the various yarn ends suspended therein to become tangled with each other sometimes resulting in yarn breakage. Broken yarn segments can accumulate within the tube and ultimately affect the air flow thereby causing the machine to cease operation. This results in lost production because of the downtime in cleaning the machine and implementing restart procedures.
This activity will often reoccur in the same machine within a few days or even more often—perhaps more than once during a single shift. With all knitting machines in a plant equipped with this type of yarn-holding mechanism, the entire output of the plant can be adversely impacted by the downtime involved.
Thus it is desirable to improve the yarn-holding mechanism currently in use and provide a more reliable and efficient version that will eliminate costly downtime and increase production. It is to these desirable features that the present invention is directed.
OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general purpose and objective of the present invention is to provide an improved yarn-holding apparatus for a circular knitting machine which has all, and more, of the advantages of prior art devices and none of the disadvantages.
It is another feature and objective of the present invention to provide a yarn-holding apparatus for a circular knitting machine that will drastically reduce and perhaps totally eliminate downtime associated with machine termination when yarn faults occur.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an improvement of the type described that is easily adaptable to conventional knitting machines without costly machine modifications and extensive installation time.
Yet still a further objective of the present invention is to provide an improvement of the type described that will use the existing air source currently available in conventional machines without any change in the equipment providing that air source.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide an improvement of the type described that will more positively control the flow of yarn fed to the knitting machines.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide an improvement of the type described that will reduce the amount of manpower necessary to keep a knitting facility in continuous operation.
From the foregoing objectives, it can be seen that the present invention is an improvement in the yarn-holding apparatus for a circular knitting machine of the type in which a plurality of yarns are held by air flow for selective engagement by the yarn feeds and movement of the yarns to the needles of the knitting machine. The improvement is an air input station which receives air from an airflow source and directs it into an airflow passage. The station contains an encircling manifold from which extends a plurality of air ports into the airflow passage. The airflow ports connected to the manifold direct a plurality of airflow streams in a manner that causes the streams to intersect proximate the center of the airflow passage and maintain the held yarns in a stationary and tangle-free condition prior to being engaged by the yarn feeds and fed to the knitting machine needles. This directed plural air stream flow has a positive effect on the plurality of yarns held. The airflow ports direct the air stream into the airflow passage at an angle of about 45 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the passage. The airflow ports are positioned around the circumference of the airflow passage engaging member, and a satisfactory range for the number of ports to be utilized is from 4 to 10. In practice, one air input station can service two separate yarn feed stations.
The objectives and summary focus on the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description which follows may be better understood and that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction and to the arrangement of components set forth in the following description and illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.
It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting in any respect. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of this development. It is also to be understood that the abstract is neither intended to define the invention of application, which is measured by its claims, nor to limit its scope in any way.
This summary and these objects of the invention, along with the various features which characterize the invention, are noted with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific results obtained by its use, reference should be made to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3077097 (1963-02-01), Butler
patent: 3079779 (1963-03-01), Butler
patent: 3222892 (1965-12-01), Moyer
patent: 3760608 (1973-09-01), Lonati
patent: 3861177 (1975-01-01), Mazzi
patent: 3881327 (1975-05-01), Mahler
patent: 5031422 (1991-07-01), Plath
patent: 111384 (1964-07-01), None
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