Knitting machine and knitting method

Abstract

A knitting mechanism 7 of a knitting machine 1 knits a knitted product by overlaying a knitted fabric in a plurality of layers. When knitting the knitted product, the knitting mechanism 7 retains a loop formed when knitting an (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric (N being an integer of 2 or more) even after completion of the knitting the (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric, and when knitting stitches in an Nth-layer knitted fabric, retains loops already formed in the Nth layer, knits the stitches by passing a new thread through both the loops already formed and retained in the Nth layer and, of the loops retained in the (N−1)th layer, loops at corresponding positions to the loops already formed in the Nth layer, and releases the retention of the loops at the corresponding positions in accordance with the knitting of the stitches, while continuing to retain the loops already formed in the Nth layer even after completion of the knitting of the Nth layer knitted fabric. As a result, the knitting mechanism 7 knits the knitted product formed of the plurality of layers of knitted fabric in which two layers of knitted fabric that are adjacent in the top-bottom direction are joined by connecting loops at mutually corresponding positions.

1 . A knitting machine comprising a knitting mechanism configured to knit a knitted product by overlaying a knitted fabric in a plurality of layers, wherein
 the knitting mechanism:   retains loops formed when knitting an (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric (N being an integer of 2 or more) even after completion of the knitting of the (N−1)th layer knitted fabric, and   when knitting stitches in an Nth-layer knitted fabric, retains loops already formed in the Nth layer, knits the stitches by passing a new thread through both the loops already formed and retained in the Nth layer and, of the loops retained in the (N−1)th layer, loops at corresponding positions to the loops already formed in the Nth layer, and releases retention of the loops at the corresponding positions in accordance with the knitting of the stitches while continuing to retain the loops already formed in the Nth layer even after completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric.   
     
     
         2 . The knitting machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the knitting mechanism includes a plurality of holders arranged on a plurality of rows in a column direction, and a needle capable of retaining a loop,   each of the plurality of holders has two holding parts independently provided that are capable of holding a loop and releasing the holding of the loop,   the holding parts of holders are capable of receiving the loop retained on the needle, and   in the knitting mechanism,   one holding part in each of the plurality of holders holds each of a plurality of stitch loops arranged on the plurality of rows in the column direction in the (N−1)th layer even after the completion of the knitting of the (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric,   when knitting stitches on a predetermined row in the Nth-layer knitted fabric, other holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row holds a loop formed on a row immediately preceding the predetermined row in the Nth layer, the stitches are knitted by passing the needle retaining a thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held and a loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the one holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, the one holding part releases the loop in the (N−1)th layer held after knitting the stitches while the other holding part of each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row continues to hold the loop in the Nth layer even after the completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric, and the other holding part in each of the plurality of holders for a row next to the predetermined row receives and holds a loop retained on the needle.   
     
     
         3 . The knitting machine according to  claim 2 , wherein
 when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism knits stitches stepwise in the column direction by repeating an operation of:   knitting stitches by passing the needle retaining the thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held by the other holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row and the loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the one holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, receiving and holding the loop retained on the needle by the other holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row, and knitting stitches by passing the needle retaining the thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held by the other holding part in each of the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row and the loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the one holding part.   
     
     
         4 . The knitting machine according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the needle is capable of moving in a horizontal direction intersecting a top-bottom direction while retaining a position in the top-bottom direction that is a direction to overlay a layer of the knitted fabric,   each of the plurality of holders is capable of moving in the top-bottom direction across a position of the needle in the top-bottom direction, and   when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism:   elevates the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, including the other holding part holding the loop in the Nth layer and the one holding part holding the loop in the (N−1)th layer, to a position above the position of the needle in the top-bottom direction, and knits the stitches by horizontally moving the needle retaining the thread such that the needle passes through two loops elevated by the plurality of holders for the predetermined row.   
     
     
         5 . The knitting machine according to  claim 4 , wherein
 when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism:   elevates the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, including the other holding part holding the loop in the Nth layer and the one holding part holding the loop in the (N−1)th layer, to a position above the position of the needle in the top-bottom direction,   knits the stitches by horizontally moving the needle retaining the thread such that the needle passes through the two loops elevated by the plurality of holders for the predetermined row and a portion of the needle retaining a loop is located at a position above the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row, and   receives the loop retained on the needle by the other holding part by elevating the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row.   
     
     
         6 . The knitting machine according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the holding part receives the loop from the needle by gripping the loop retained on the needle,   the needle has a pair of hooks in a forked manner for retaining the loop, the loop being retained across the pair of hooks and the pair of hooks being capable of shifting to a gap state in which a gap is formed between the pair of hooks to allow a portion for gripping the loop of the holding part to enter, and   in the knitting mechanism,   when the holding part of each of the plurality of holders receives the loop retained on the needle,   the holding part grips the loop by shifting the needle to the gap state, elevating the plurality of holders, and allowing the portion of the holding part for gripping the loop to enter the gap formed between the pair of hooks of the needle.   
     
     
         7 . The knitting machine according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein   the two holding parts of each of the plurality of holders are arranged at positions symmetrical about a symmetric point, and each of the plurality of holders is revolvable about the symmetric point while the two holding parts are retained at the positions symmetrical about the symmetric point, and   in the knitting mechanism,   a holding part on a lower side of the symmetric point of the two holding parts in each of the plurality of holders holds each of the plurality of stitch loops arranged on the plurality of rows in the column direction in the (N−1)th layer even after the completion of the knitting of the (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric, and   when knitting stitches on the predetermined row in the Nth-layer knitted fabric, a holding part on an upper side of the symmetric point of the two holding parts in each of the plurality of holders holds the loop formed on the row immediately preceding the predetermined row in the Nth layer, the stitches are knitted by passing the thread through the loop in the Nth layer held and the loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the holding part on the lower side of the symmetric point in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, the holding part on the lower side releases the loop in the (N−1)th layer held after knitting the stitches, and the plurality of holders is made to revolve about the symmetric point while the holding part on the upper side continues to hold the loop in the Nth layer, so that the holding part holding the loop in the Nth layer comes to the lower side of the symmetric point.   
     
     
         8 . The knitting machine according to  claim 7 , wherein
 when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism knits stitches stepwise in the column direction by repeating an operation of:   knitting stitches by passing the needle retaining the thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held by the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row and the loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the holding part on the lower side of the symmetric point in each of the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, receiving and holding the loop retained on the needle by the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point in each of the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row, and knitting stitches by passing the needle retaining the thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held by the holding part on the upper side in each of the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row and the loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the holding part on the lower side.   
     
     
         9 . The knitting machine according to  claim 8 , wherein
 the needle is capable of moving in a horizontal direction intersecting a top-bottom direction while retaining a position in the top-bottom direction that is a direction to overlay a layer of the knitted fabric,   each of the plurality of holders is capable of moving in the top-bottom direction across a position of the needle in the top-bottom direction, and   when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism:   elevates the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, including the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point holding the loop in the Nth layer and the holding part on the lower side of the symmetric point holding the loop in the (N−1)th layer, to a position above the position of the needle in the top-bottom direction, and   knits the stitches by horizontally moving the needle retaining the thread such that the needle passes through two loops elevated by the plurality of holders for the predetermined row.   
     
     
         10 . The knitting machine according to  claim 9 , wherein
 when knitting the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the knitting mechanism:   elevates the plurality of holders for the predetermined row, including the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point holding the loop in the Nth layer and the holding part on the lower side of the symmetric point holding the loop in the (N−1)th layer, to the position above the position of the needle in the top-bottom direction,   knits the stitches by horizontally moving the needle retaining the thread such that the needle passes through the two loops elevated by the plurality of holders for the predetermined row and a portion of the needle retaining the loop is located at a position above the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row, and   receives the loop retained on the needle by the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point by elevating the plurality of holders for the row next to the predetermined row.   
     
     
         11 . The knitting machine according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the holding part receives the loop from the needle by gripping the loop retained on the needle,   the needle has a pair of hooks in a forked manner for retaining the loop, the loop being retained across the pair of hooks and the pair of hooks being capable of shifting to a gap state in which a gap is formed between the pair of hooks to allow a portion of the holding part for gripping the loop to enter, and   in the knitting mechanism,   when the holding part on the upper side of the symmetric point of each of the plurality of holders receives the loop retained on the needle,   the holding part grips the loop by shifting the needle to the gap state, and allowing the portion for gripping the loop of the holding part on the upper side to enter the gap formed between the pair of hooks of the needle.   
     
     
         12 . The knitting machine according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the knitting mechanism includes two holder forming members having a plurality of holding parts that can hold a plurality of loops formed in a column direction in one layer,   in the knitting mechanism,   the plurality of holding parts in one holder forming member of the two holder forming members hold the loops formed when knitting the (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric even after completion of the knitting of the (N−1)th layer,   when knitting stitches in the Nth-layer knitted fabric, one holding part of the plurality of holding parts in other holder forming member of the two holder forming members holds a loop already formed in the Nth layer, the stitches are knitted by passing a thread through both the loop in the Nth layer held by the one holding part of the other holder forming member and, of the loops in the (N−1)th layer held by the holding parts of the one holder forming member, a loop retained by one holding part of the plurality of holding parts of the one holder forming member at a corresponding position to the loop in the Nth layer held by the one holding part of the other holder forming member, and the one holding part of the other holder forming member continues to hold the loop in the Nth layer even after the completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric while the one holding part of the one holder forming member releases the loop retained in the (N−1)th layer.   
     
     
         13 . The knitting machine according to  claim 12 , wherein
 in the knitting mechanism, the other holding part of the other holder forming member holds a new loop formed by knitting a stitch in the loop in the Nth layer and the loop in the (N−1)th layer, and the other holding part of the other holder forming member continues to hold the new loop even after the completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric.   
     
     
         14 . The knitting machine according to  claim 12 , wherein
 the two holder forming members are configured such that any of the holding parts in one of the two holder forming members and any of the holding parts in other of the two holder forming members can face each other by changing mutual orientations,   the holding parts are capable of retaining loops in a state whose inside is enlarged, and   in the knitting mechanism,   when knitting stitches in the Nth-layer knitted fabric, the one holding part in the other holder forming member and the one holding part in the one holder forming member face each other to make the loops retained by the holding parts face each other, and stitches are knitted by moving a needle retaining a thread such that the thread passes inside the loops retained by the holding parts.   
     
     
         15 . The knitting machine according to  claim 14 , wherein the knitting mechanism transfers a new loop formed according to the knitting of stitches by movement of a needle to other holding part of the other holder forming member, and continues to hold the new loop by the other holding part of the other holder forming member even after the completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric. 
     
     
         16 . The knitting machine of  claim 14 , wherein
 the two holder forming members are configured such that any of the holding parts in one of the two holder forming members and any of the holding parts in other of the two holder forming members can face each other in a first direction by changing mutual orientations,   the needle is configured to be movable in a tip direction toward a tip side and a base direction toward a base side in the first direction, and includes a needle base part on which a pushing surface is formed, a needle tip part having a hook capable of retaining the thread, and a latch that opens and closes an inlet of the hook,   when a loop retained on the hook relatively advances to the base side with respect to the needle, an open state of the latch is retained in a condition that the latch is open and the loop pushes the latch to open in a condition that the latch is in a closed state,   when the loop is relatively further moved to the base side, the loop moves beyond the latch toward the base side, abuts on the pushing surface of the needle base part, and is pushed by the pushing surface,   when the loop relatively moves to the tip side with respect to the needle in a condition that the loop is located at the base side from the latch in the open state, the loop abuts on an outer side of the latch and the loop pushes the latch to the closed state as the loop further relatively moves to the tip side, slides on the outer side of the latch without entering the hook via the inlet, and moves beyond the tip side of the hook as the loop further relatively moves to the tip, and   in the knitting mechanism,   when stitches are knitted in the Nth-layer knitted fabric in a condition that the other holder forming member is disposed on the tip side with respect to the one holder forming member,   the one holding part of the other holder forming member faces the one holding part of the one holder forming member, the hook of the needle hooks a loop in the (N−1)th layer held by the one holding part of the one holder forming member, then the needle moves to the base side to retain a loop in the (N−1)th layer onto the hook, the needle moves to the tip side so as to pass the needle through inside the loop in the Nth layer retained by the one holding part of the other holder forming member, the loop in the (N−1)th layer retained by the hook is relatively moved to the base side with respect to the needle so that the loop in the (N−1)th layer abuts on the pushing surface, the hook retains the thread toward the tip side from the loop in the Nth layer retained by the one holding part of the other holder forming member, the needle moves to the base side so that the thread retained by the hook passes inside the loop in the Nth layer retained by the one holding part of the other holder forming member, the loop in the (N−1)th layer abutting on the pushing surface is relatively moved to the tip side with respect to the needle, the loop in the (N−1)th layer slides on an outer side of the latch to shift the latch to the closed state, the loop in the (N−1)th layer moves beyond the hook on the tip side, and stitches are knitted by passing the thread retained on the hook through both the loop in the (N−1)th layer and the loop in the Nth layer.   
     
     
         17 . The knitting machine according to  claim 16 , wherein
 in the knitting mechanism,   after a new loop is formed by passing the thread retained by the hook through both the loops in the (N−1)th layer and the Nth layer, an orientation of the other holder forming member is changed so that the needle faces the other holding part of the other holder forming member, the needle moves toward the tip side until the pushing surface of the needle is located beyond the other holding part of the other holder forming member toward the tip side, the new loop abuts on the pushing surface in line with the movement, the needle moves toward the base side, the loop abuts on the outer side of the latch to shift the latch to the closed state in line with the movement, the loop rides on the latch shifting to the closed state, and the loop on the latch is transferred to the other holding part of the other holder forming member.   
     
     
         18 . A knitting method for a knitting mechanism that knits a knitted product by overlaying a knitted fabric in a plurality of layers, comprising:
 retaining loops formed when knitting an (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric even after completion of the knitting of the (N−1)th-layer knitted fabric; and   when knitting stitches in an Nth-layer knitted fabric with the knitting mechanism, retaining loops already formed in the Nth layer, knitting the stitches by passing loops through both the loops already formed and retained in the Nth layer and, of the loops retained in the (N−1)th layer, loops at corresponding positions to the loops already formed in the Nth layer, and continuing to retain the loops already formed in the Nth layer even after completion of the knitting of the Nth-layer knitted fabric while releasing the retention of the loops at the corresponding positions in accordance with the knitting of the stitches.