Warp knitting machine with pile instrument bar

A warp knitting machine has several guide bars (15), which are suspended over the needles (1) from a bridge-like cross-beam (26) and has pile forming instruments (11) on a pile instrument bar (12). The latter is offset from the beam (26) and arranged below the guide bar operating zone. In this way the fabric can be knitted with pile loops according to a pattern.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to warp knitting machines for knitting pile fabric 
and in particular to such machines having, apart from several guide bars, 
also a pile instrument bar with pile forming instruments. The guide bars 
may be mounted on a bridge-like crossbeam. 
DE-AS No. 2435312 discloses a warp knitting machine having two rows of 
guides with guide openings at their extremity and a pile instrument bar. 
Both guide bars and the pile instrument bar are arranged above the 
remainder of the knitting elements. Such a warp knitting machine is shown 
schematically from the side in the RACOP-POL brochure of 
LIBA-Textilmaschinen GmbH with three guide bars and one pile instrument 
bar. These bars are mounted by a transverse beam formed by a rectangular 
hollow member, extending parallel to and above the needle array 
transversely across the machine frame. This results in a solid mounting of 
the guide bars which are depend from a so-called lapping bar shaft, to 
which they are connected to perform the lapping movement. The lapping bar 
shaft is connected at the lower end of the beam. 
The warp knitting machines were equipped with a relatively small number of 
guide bars, for example, three as in the above-mentioned brochure. The 
pile instrument bar limits the space available for the guide bars and 
their arcuate movement and hinders incorporation of additional guide bars 
next to the pile instrument bar. Additional guide bars can be incorporated 
only using a correspondingly large extension in cross-section of the pile 
instrument bar with resulting increases in weight and mass. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is amongst the objects of the invention to provide an improved warp 
knitting machine capable of incorporating a larger number of guide bars. 
It is amongst the objects of the invention to arrange the pile instrument 
bar so that a relatively compact pile instrument bar can be used. 
The invention hence provides a warp knitting machine having a plurality of 
guide bars and a pile instrument bar characterized in that the pile 
instrument bar is off-set from the guide bar mounting below the 
operational zone of the guide bars. Suitably the pile instrument bar is 
movable lengthwise of the needle array. Preferably a sinker bar extends 
between a needle bar and completed fabric and has sinkers interdigitated 
with and extending rearwards of the needles for knock over. Advantageously 
the pile instruments are arranged above the sinkers and have a free end 
extending forward of the needles and, optionally, alongside the sinker 
bar. Preferably, the pile instruments extend individually in an arc 
upwards, alongside the needles and then downwards toward their free ends 
and the sinkers are short and lie substantially centrally of the pile 
instrument arc when seen in cross-section. 
The pile instrument bar can be designed, using the location of the 
invention, to be of relatively limited cross-section and compactly shaped. 
In addition, space is made available for the provision and arcuate 
movement of a greater number of guide rows. For example, eight guide bars 
may be provided. A further advantage is that the guide instruments can be 
accessed from both sides of the needle array, permitting servicing and 
exchange of the guides from front or rear of the machine. The increased 
number of guide bars makes it possible to provide a wide pattern range of 
the pile loops.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The warp knitting machine has needles 1 with hooks arranged between 
knockover sinkers 3 mounted on a sinker bar 31 and closable in a known way 
by tongues or sliders 2 to provide compound needles mounted and actuated 
by bars 32 and 33. It is also possible to use self-operating latch needles 
instead of the separately actuated hooks and tongues of the compound 
needles. Eight guide bars 15 (of which only two are shown) with their 
guides 4, 5 and 8 are located above the knockover sinkers 3. The guides 4 
and 5 in this example control warp yarn or threads 6 and 7 for a ground 
fabric 16 and the other guides 8 control pile yarns or threads 9 and 10 
over pile instruments which are fixed to a pile instrument bar 12. 
To form the pile loops, the guides 8 are lapped sideways across the pile 
instruments 11 in between being knitted into the ground fabric. The 
instruments 11 can be moved to control and vary the pile loop formation. 
The guides 4 and 5 merely cause the ground yarns to be lapped relative to 
the needles 1 to form ground fabric of tight stitches, knocked over by the 
sinkers 3 on lowering of the needles 1 in a closed condition. 
The distribution of the warp yarns for the ground fabric and of the pile 
yarns can be varied as required. Pile loops 13 are anchored in known 
manner in the ground fabric 16. The pile instrument bar 12 is arranged 
below the uppermost working level of heads 14 of the needle hooks shown in 
dot-dash line 30 in the FIGURE that is to say below the zone in which the 
guides 4, 5 and 8 move arcuately about shaft 23 and transversely along 
axes of pins 28. The pile instrument bar 12 therefore lies in an area of 
the warp knitting machine which is devoid of guides 4, 5 and 8 so that a 
large number of guide bars, in this case eight, can be provided 
unproblematically. 
The pile instrument bar 12 is secured to a pile instrument carrier 17, 
which is mounted slidably on pins 19 by means of cylindrical, linear ball 
bearings 18. The pins 19 are secured on a support 20, resting on a frame 
part 21 and no swinging movement is performed. The guide bars 15 are 
mounted by guide bar hangers 22 clamped in position in a known manner with 
respect to a swinging shaft 23 by a clamp 24. The shaft 23 is journalled 
in a bearing block 25 which is, in turn, secured under the transverse beam 
26. The guide bars 15 are mounted slidable lengthwise in known manner by 
mens of pins 28 and cylindrical ball berings 27. For reasons of 
simplification, the mounting of the guide bars 15 is shown reduced and 
simplified with respect to the underlying part of the FIGURE, with guide 
clamps 29 shown interrupted in broken lines above and below.