Cast on method for knitting and knitted fabric formed by the same

Abstract: A cast-on method of making the first row of knitting stitches with the use of a transverse knitting machine which has at least a pair of front and rear knitting needle beds, a carriage for left- and rightward movement along the needle beds, and a cam system containing two groups of cams disposed in the same phase for forming and transferring knitting stitches respectively. The steps of knitting plain stitches with knitting needles of either the front or rear needle bed, lifting up the knitting needles carrying the stitches formed at the preceding course to a stitch transfer position, transferring the stitches to corresponding knitting needles of the other needle bed, and simultaneously, feeding a thread of yarn on to the knitting needles at the transferred side, and knitting a given size of fabric with the same knitting needles. With this method the cast-on position of a rib or stocking stitch fabric is knitted tightly and particularly, a foundation row of stocking stitches is so closely knitted as not to be visibly distinguished from the following rows. A knitted fabric is formed by this cast-on method.

Description: The present invention relates to a cast-on method for knitting and a knitted fabric formed by the same. A known prior art method of making a cast-on strand is known in which a thread of yarn is fed on to knitting needles of the front and rear needle beds alternately forming a zigzag pattern, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. However, the prior art method allows a thread of yarn to be threaded over the front and rear knitting needle alternately thus causing the yarn to pass redundant across a cast-on course. The resulting stitches of the yarn are often large or unfitted. Such loose stitches appear unattractive resulting in a reduction in the quality of a finished knit product. More specifically, loose stitches form cuffs or hems of cone shape which are easily enlarged or deformed. If a particular knitted fabric, e.g. a gusset portion of garment, where no differentiation between the face and the back is needed, is formed by the prior art method, resultant stitches become loose and will appear untidy. A variation of this is shown in Japanese patent laid open publication No. 2-26966 "A Cast-on Method for Rib Knit Fabric'. This discloses a method utilising a machine in which first and second opposed needle beds are spaced more closely together, reducing the amount of needle retraction and so reducing the amount of redundancy of yarn. However, the redundancy cannot be completely avoided and the appearance of the finished produce is still marred. For solving the foregoing drawback, another method has been developed in which the number of stitches is adjusted for interlooping. This may however cause a thread to snap and provide no good result. A primary object of the present invention is to provide a cast-on method for knitting in which the cast-on portion of a rib or stocking stitch fabric is knitted tightly. Particularly, a foundation row of stocking stitches is so closely knitted as not to be visibly distinguishable from the following rows. Also, the invention seeks to provide a knitted fabric formed by the method. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a cast-on method for making the first row of knitting stitches on a flat knitting machine which has at least a pair of front and rear knitting needle beds, a carriage for left- and rightward movement along the needle beds, and a cam system containing two groups of cams disposed in the same phase for forming and transferring knitting stitches respectively, comprising the steps of: knitting plain stitches with knitting needles of a first needle bed either the front or the rear needle bed lifting up the knitting needles of a first needle bed carrying the stitches formed at the preceding course to a stitch transfer position; characterised by transferring said stitches to the knitting needles of the opposed second needle bed; and simultaneously feeding a thread of yarn on to the knitting needles of the bed from which the transfer took place at the stitch transferring side; interlooping said thread of yarn through the loops in the knitting needles of the needle bed to which the transfer last took place; and knitting a length of fabric with the knitting needles of the first and second needle beds. Preferably the method is further characterised in that after transferring said stitches to the corresponding needles of the opposed second needle bed there is the additional intermediate step of retransferring the said stitches back to the needles of the first needle bed. Using the cast-on method of the present invention, a knitted texture is fabricated comprising a cast-on portion of a rib or stocking stitch fabric characterised by a foundation row of stocking stiches uniform in size and shape with the rows of loops interconnected by said foundation row. The invention may be executed as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 2, using a flat knitting machine having a specific arrangement disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 62-52063 (1987). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a first explanatory view showing a cast-on procedure of one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a second explanatory view showing the same; Fig. 3 is an explanatory view showing a series of courses for knitting a gusset portion by the method of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing a stocking stitch pattern formed by the method of the present invention; Fig. 5 is an explanatory view showing a prior art cast-on method; and Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing a stocking stitch pattern formed by the prior art method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A cast-on method according to the present invention will be described along with a knitted texture fabricated by the method . The method may be performed on a flat knitting machine as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 62-52063 (1987), referring to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 3 illustrates a knitted fabric arranged in tubular form for producing a pair of tights by the method of the present invention, which thus requires no further procedure of e.g. sewing. More particularly, it shows a gusset region of knitted fabric which is knitted by the method of the present invention forming a crotch portion of the tights. As shown, the area A forms a left leg segment, the area B represents a gusset segment, and the area C a right leg segment of the tights. Referring to Fig. 3, a knitting procedure from Course 1 to 21 for forming the gusset region will now be explained. From Course 1 to 4, loop knitting of yarn is carried out with the front and rear knitting needles to fabricate two, left and right, tubular forms of a given length extending up to the crotch. At Course 5, the carrier which remains in the area B after completion of forming the area C is then removed out from the area B for performing the following steps. From Course 6 to 13, a series of procedures for casting on and knitting are performed by a known manner over a group of the knitting needles carrying no stitches of yarn using a preparatory yarn carrier. If a knitting machine is used having a texture pull-down device provided beneath the needle bed for pulling down a knitting texture, those procedures are repeated until the knitting texture extends up to the texture pull-down device. After the end of Course 13, the loops of preparatory yarn stay hooked on the knitting needles of the front needle bed forming a plain knitted fabric. At Course 14, knitting in the areas A and B is carried out with the carrier used for knitting the area C. The loops of the area B carried on the knitting needles of the front or second needle bed are then transferred on to the corresponding knitting needles of the rear or first needle bed together with the end loops of the A and C areas. After loops of a thread are formed at Course 15 by threading yarn on the rear knitting needles of the area A, the carrier is moved at Course 16. At Course 17, the loops on the rear needles of the area B transferred from the front needles at Course 14 are lifted up to the stitch transfer position and transferred on to corresponding knitting needles of the other, i.e. second, needle bed. Simultaneously, a thread of yarn is fed on to the knitting needles at the stitch transferring side. At Course 18, the carrier used at Course 17 is moved to the area C and at Course 19, actuated for forming loops of yarn on the rear needles. Then, a tubular form of waist segment is knitted by alternately threading on the front and rear knitting needles at Courses 20 and 21. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a stocking stitch fabric knitted by the cast-on method of the present invention. As apparent, a chain of loops forming a course "a" which constitutes a cast-on strand of the gusset in this embodiment is joined uniform in size and shape with interconnected rows of loops arranged by the front and rear knitting needles, as compared with a chain of enlarged loops formed by the prior art cast-on method which is in detail illustrated in Fig. 6. It is understood that the cast-on method of the present invention is not limited to knitting of a gusset region of the crotch of tights but can be successfully utilized for cast-on procedure in common knitting such as rib stitch or stocking stitch with the use of two, front and rear, sets of knitting needles.

Claims: A cast-on method for making the first row of knitting stitches on a flat knitting machine which has at least a pair of front and rear knitting needle beds, a carriage for left- and rightward movement along the needle beds, and a cam system containing two groups of cams disposed in the same phase for forming and transferring knitting stitches respectively, comprising the steps of: knitting plain stitches with knitting needles of a first needle bed either the front or the rear needle bed (14, Fig.3); lifting up the knitting needles of a first needle bed carrying the stitches formed at the preceding course to a stitch transfer position; characterised by transferring said stitches to corresponding needles of the opposed second needle bed and simultaneously feeding (17,Fig.3) a thread of yarn on to the knitting needles of the bed from which the transfer took place at the stitch transferring side; interlooping (17, Fig.3) said thread of yarn through the loops in the knitting needles of the needle bed to which the transfer last took place; and knitting a length of fabric with the knitting needles of the first and second needle beds (20,21; Fig.3). A cast-on method for making the first row of stitches on a flat knitting machine as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that before transferring said stitches to the corresponding needles of the opposed second needle bed there is the additional intermediate step of transferring the said stitches to the needles of the first needle bed. A knitted texture comprising a cast-on portion of a rib or stocking stitch fabric characterised by a foundation row of stocking stiches uniform in size and shape with the rows of loops interconnected by said foundation row.

Inventors: MITSUMOTO SHIGENOBU, MITSUMOTO, SHIGENOBU
Applicants: SHIMA SEIKI MFG, SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: D04B7
IPC codes: D04B1, D04B7