Patent Description:
In general, a flat-knitting machine or the like knitting machine is employed to manufacture clothing. The flat-knitting machine knits cloth with a programmed pattern while a carriage feeds a plurality of needles arranged in a needle unit with threads by reciprocating left and right above the needle unit. Al principle of actuating a conventional flat-knitting machine is as follows. The needle of the needle unit is formed with a protrusion, and the carriage is formed with a track corresponding to the butt on the rear thereof, so that the protrusion can move along the track while the carriage reciprocates. With this structure, the needles move forward or backward as a whole, thereby performing knitting. Such general things about the flat-knitting machine have been disclosed in <CIT>, etc..

Document <CIT> discloses a knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder, needles mounted in said cylinder having butts extending into the interior of the cylinder through slots in the cylinder wall, and a cam element within the cylinder and angularly stationary relative thereto for engaging said needle butts to reciprocate the needles.

Document <CIT> discloses an apparatus for knitting a covering on a strand, comprising a knitting needle, a carrier for said needle, and electromagnetically actuated means supported on said carrier for reciprocating said needle. Furthermore, it may be provided a thread supply, a knitting needle, a carrier for said needle, electromagnetically actuated means supported on said carrier for reciprocating said needle, a current supply, and means associated with said electromagnetically actuated means for intermittently connecting said electromagnetically actuated means to said current supply to reciprocate said needle.

Document <CIT> discloses a method for knitting a flat knitted fabric, wherein all knitting needles of the flat knitting machine are individually connected to an actuator, and each actuator of the corresponding knitting needle is activated in accordance with the predetermined knitting plan, and a flat knitting machine for implementing the above-mentioned knitting method.

However, a conventional knitting machine has had a problem that the carriage needs to reciprocate between both ends of the arranged needle unit.

Further, a forward and backward moving distance of the needle unit is varied depending on the track formed in the carriage, and therefore there has been a problem of difficulty in freely adjusting the forward and backward moving distance of the needle unit.

An aspect of the disclosure is to solve such conventional problems, and provide a knitting machine with a new actuating system.

Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine in which forward and backward movement of a needle unit is freely adjustable.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a flat-knitting machine , comprising: a needle unit comprising a needle hook formed in an end portion and a protrusion formed in a middle region; a connector comprising a screw thread formed to mesh with the protrusion of the needle unit; and an actuator configured to actuate the connector to rotate, wherein the needle unit meshing with the screw thread is moved forward or backward as the connector is rotated by the actuator.

Here, the connector is movable closer to or far away from the needle unit in a direction intersecting with a lengthwise direction of the needle unit, thereby selectively transmitting or releasing an actuation force.

The needle units are provided in plural, the connector are provided in plural, the connectors are fewer than the needle units, and the connector selectively meshes with the butt of the needle unit while moving in parallel with a direction where the plurality of needle units are arranged.

The actuator is rotatable forward and backward to generate a forward and backward actuation force for the needle unit, and the actuator further comprises an encoder to adjust the number of rotations of the connector.

According to the disclosure, there is provided a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine with a new actuating system.

Further, there is provided a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine in which forward and backward movement of a needle unit is freely adjustable.

Below, a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to a first embodiment of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating a main configuration of a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to a first embodiment of the disclosure, and <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an actuation mechanism of a needle unit and a connector. As shown therein, the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the disclosure includes a needle unit <NUM>, a connector <NUM>, an actuator <NUM>, a supporting plate <NUM> and a solenoid valve <NUM>.

The needle unit <NUM> includes a main body <NUM> formed long in a lengthwise direction, a needle hook <NUM> formed at one end of the main body <NUM> and hooking a thread, a protrusion <NUM> formed in a certain region of the main body <NUM>. The needle hook <NUM> has a structure by which a thread positioned in front thereof is hooked as the needle unit <NUM> is moved forward, and the hooked thread is pulled backward as the needle unit <NUM> is moved backward. The protrusion <NUM> protrudes outward from the certain region of the main body <NUM> and meshes with the connector <NUM>. The protrusion <NUM> in the drawings is formed by bending the main body <NUM> twice, but the protrusion may have any structure without being bent twice as long as it protrudes from the main body <NUM>.

The connector <NUM> transmits a rotational force generated by the actuator <NUM> to the needle unit <NUM> so that the needle unit <NUM> can move forward and backward, and has a body formed with a screw thread <NUM> with which the protrusion <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM> meshes. A width of a groove of the screw thread <NUM> may be the same as or a little wider than the width of the protrusion <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM>, so that the protrusion <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM> can be inserted in the groove. Therefore, as shown in <FIG>, when the connector <NUM> rotates, the protrusion <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM> inserted in the groove of the screw thread <NUM> moves forward or backward along the screw thread <NUM> while interlocking with the rotation of the connector <NUM>. The forward or backward moving distance of the needle unit <NUM> is varied depending on the number of rotations of the connector <NUM>.

The actuator <NUM> is embodied by a motor <NUM> that can rotate the connector <NUM>. In this embodiment, the motor is described by way of example. However, any actuator may be used as long as it can rotate the connector <NUM>. Further, the actuator <NUM> may include an encoder <NUM> to sense the number of rotations of the connector <NUM> and control the forward and backward moving distance of the needle unit <NUM>.

The connectors <NUM> may be provided fewer than the needle units <NUM>, and be selectively in contact with the needle units <NUM> while the connector <NUM> moves left and right on the plurality of needle units <NUM> arranged side by side in a row, thereby transmitting an actuation force to the needle unit <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view showing a needle unit, a connector and an actuator of the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the first embodiment of the disclosure, and <FIG> is a perspective view showing a supporting plate of the clothing-manufacturing 3D printer according to the first embodiment of the disclosure. As shown therein, the supporting plate <NUM> is provided to support the connector <NUM> and the actuator <NUM>. The supporting plate <NUM> includes a first plate <NUM> and a second plate <NUM>, and the first plate <NUM> is mounted to a rail <NUM> and movable in left and right directions intersecting with a lengthwise direction of the needle unit <NUM>. The second plate <NUM> is mounted to the first plate <NUM> and movable up and down, and provided with as many as the number of connectors <NUM> and the number of actuators <NUM> to support the connector <NUM> and the actuator <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates actuation of a solenoid valve of the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the first embodiment of the disclosure. As shown therein, the solenoid valves <NUM> are respectively connected to the second plates <NUM>, so that the second plates <NUM> can move up and down. Therefore, the solenoid valve <NUM> actuates the second plate <NUM> to independently move up and down, so that the connector <NUM> and the needle unit <NUM> can mesh with or be released from each other for linking or unlinking.

From now on, the actuation of the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the first embodiment will be described.

First, the supporting plate <NUM> supporting the connector <NUM> and the actuator <NUM> is moved left and right along a rail <NUM>, and placed at a position corresponding to the needle unit <NUM> to be actuated. Then, the solenoid valve <NUM> actuates the second plate <NUM> of the supporting plate <NUM> to move upward. As the second plate <NUM> moves upward, the connector <NUM> supported on the second plate <NUM> also moves upward, and therefore the protrusion <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM> is inserted in the groove of the screw thread <NUM> of the connector <NUM>.

Next, the actuator <NUM> actuates the connector <NUM> to rotate, and the rotation of the connector <NUM> causes the protrusion <NUM> meshing with the screw thread <NUM> to move forward, thereby moving the needle unit <NUM> forward. At this time, the number of rotations of the connector <NUM> is sensed by the encoder <NUM>, and the forward moving distance of the needle unit <NUM> is adjusted based on the number of rotations of the connector <NUM>.

When the needle unit <NUM> moves forward up to a given position, the thread is hooked by the needle hook <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM>. Then the actuator <NUM> is reversely rotated to move the needle unit <NUM> backward, and therefore the thread hooked by the needle hook <NUM> is also moved backward. With such an actuation mechanism, the needle unit <NUM> moves forward and backward to perform knitting, and the supporting plate <NUM> reciprocates to manufacture clothing having a desired size or a desired shape.

Below, a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to a second embodiment of the disclosure will be described. In the following description, descriptions about elements like those of the first embodiment will be omitted. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating an actuation mechanism of a clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to a second embodiment of the disclosure, and <FIG> illustrates actuation of the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the second embodiment of the disclosure. As shown therein, in the clothing-manufacturing knitting machine according to the second embodiment of the disclosure, the screw thread <NUM> formed in the connector <NUM> is provided as a self-reversing screw. The self-reversing screw refers to a screw of which screw threads are not formed only in one direction but formed to intersect so that an object moving along the screw can move in a reverse direction to a previous moving direction when the object reaches a certain position.

When the thread is hooked by the needle hook <NUM> of the needle unit <NUM> as the needle unit <NUM> moves forward up to the given position, the protrusion of the needle unit <NUM> is placed at a position where direction switching of the self-reversing screw is possible, and the needle unit <NUM> is moved backward even though the actuator <NUM> rotates in the same direction. At this time, the thread hooked by the needle hook <NUM> is also moved backward. With such an actuation mechanism, the needle unit <NUM> moves forward and backward to perform knitting, and the supporting plate <NUM> reciprocates to manufacture clothing having a desired size or a desired shape.

The scope of the disclosure is not limited to the foregoing embodiments, but may be embodied in various forms within the scope of the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A knitting machine, comprising:
a needle unit (<NUM>) comprising a needle hook (<NUM>) formed in an end portion and a protrusion (<NUM>) formed in a middle region;
a connector (<NUM>) formed to mesh with the protrusion (<NUM>) of the needle unit (<NUM>); and
an actuator (<NUM>) configured to actuate the connector (<NUM>) to rotate, wherein the needle unit (<NUM>) meshing with the connector (<NUM>) is moved forward or backward as the connector (<NUM>) is rotated by the actuator (<NUM>);
characterized in that the connector (<NUM>) comprises a screw thread (<NUM>) formed to mesh with the protrusion (<NUM>) of the needle unit (<NUM>).