Patent ID: 7543462
Filing Date: 2009-06-09
Classification: D04B

Abstract:
1. A yarn feeder of a yarn feeding device used for a weft knitting machine, the yarn feeding device comprising: a plurality of yarn feeders which are engaged with knitting yarn guide rails so as to be able to slide thereon, the knitting yarn guide rails being arranged over a needle bed; an entraining means for entraining selectively any one of the yarn feeders; and a switching mechanism for changing over a swing of a yarn feeding port provided at a lower end of a feeder rod between a yarn feeding position and a standby position interlocking with an operation of the entraining means, wherein before the selected yarn feeder through the operation of the entraining means having been entrained from a standby position to a yarn feeding position, the switching mechanism is operated so as to swing the yarn feeding port from the standby position to the yarn feeding position while, after having completed a yarn feeding operation, the yarn feeding port being swung from one yarn feeding position to another standby position interlocking with a released selective operation of the entraining means, wherein the feeder rod is formed of at least two members, one being an upper member activated by the entraining means and another one being a lower member composed of a yarn feeding port at its lower end, both of the members being arranged to slide relative to each other in a vertical direction and provided with a push-up member forced upward respectively; and, the upper member of the feeder rod is moved downward through the action of the entraining means, and the lower member of the feeder rod is moved downward so that the yarn feeding port is set into the yarn feeding position, while the feeder rod is moved upward into the standby position by a regulation unit provided on a support member bearing the feeder rod so as to keep the lower member from rising against an action of a force caused by the push-up member, and a rise of the lower member of the feeder rod is resultantly made less than that of the upper member to limit a rise of the yarn feeding port in the standby position below a determined altitude.