Patent ID: 8196743

Claim:
Needle-holding device containing a plurality of machine knitting needles with hooks at one end, with the holding device comprising: a receiving device that has a flat needle carrier section and a clamping lip opposite said needle carrier section and extending across the entire width of said needle carrier section, wherein the clamping lip bridges said one end of the plurality of needles, which are arranged adjacent one-another on said needle carrier section and clamps the individual needles against the needle carrier section and thus holds said needles in place; and wherein the receiving device comprises a needle-holding clip connected to one end of a separate carrier plate which forms said needle carrier section, and the clamping lip is configured as a part of the needle-holding clip; the needle-holding clip is formed by the clamping lip, by a limb that extends beneath said clamping lip and that is connected to one end of and holding the carrier plate, and thus the needle carrier section, and by a spring section that connects the limb and the clamping lip, that biases the clamping lip towards said limb, and that provides an inside space accommodating the hooks of the needles without touching the hooks of the needles, while biasing the clamping lip toward the carrier plate; one end of the carrier plate extends between the clamping lip and the limb into the inside space and is fastened to the inner surface of the limb, whereby the carrier plate is supported by the limb; the inner surface of said carrier section onto which the needles are clamped contains no projections that would hinder sliding of a needle along said inner surfaces for insertion into said inside space; and the clamping lip has an edge that is bent away from the needle carrier plate to form an insertion funnel to facilitate the insertion of the needle hooks into the inside space, with said edge of the clamping lip having a height from the inner surface of said carrier plate when no needle is being clamped that is greater than the height of the hook of a needle positioned with its needle back on the inner surface of the carrier plate.