Patent ID: 7437894

Claim:
A circular knitting machine, comprising: a circular knitting unit operable to knit fabric in the form of a fabric tube that descends from the circular knitting unit and rotates about a vertical machine axis defined by the knitting unit; a fixed support shaft generally aligned with the machine axis and extending downward through an interior of the knitting unit and through an interior of the fabric tube; a fabric scanner disposed against an inner surface of the fabric tube for detecting defects in the fabric; a mounting arm, the fabric scanner being supported on one end of the mounting arm; and a break-away mount mounted on the support shaft and connected to the mounting arm, the break-away mount being structured and arranged to hold the scanner in a fixed location during normal operation, and to break away to allow the mounting arm to rotate about a generally vertical axis when a force exerted on the mounting arm exceeds a threshold level such that the scanner can move with the rotating fabric tube.