EP2881507B1

EP2881507B1 - Method for knitting knitted fabric

Info

Publication number: EP2881507B1
Application number: EP14195164.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Masao Okuno
Original assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Shima Seiki Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2013-12-06
Filing date: 2014-11-27
Publication date: 2016-12-21
Anticipated expiration: 2034-11-27
Also published as: KR20150066462A; EP2881507A1; CN104695122B; KR101603889B1; JP2015110849A; CN104695122A

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for knitting a knitted fabric of carrying out a bind-off process on stitches at a terminating end in a wale direction of a base portion, which is a target of the bind-off process, in a knitted fabric.

Description of the Related Art

When knitting a knitted fabric with a flat knitting machine, the bind-off process is carried out so that stitches of a final course (stitches at the terminating end in the wale direction) of the knitted fabric do not unravel. The bind-off process is a process of repeating the knitting of overlapping adjoining stitches of the stitches in a knitted fabric portion held on a needle bed, and forming a new stitch following the overlapped stitches (double stitch) from one end side toward the other end side in a knitting width direction of the knitted fabric.
A bind-off processing portion formed by a general bind-off process is hard to stretch, and yarn breakage, and the like may occur in the bind-off processing portion. Development of the method for knitting the knitted fabric capable of knitting the bind-off processing portion that can be easily stretched and in which yarn breakage is less likely to occur is desired. For example, in Patent Document 1, when carrying out the bind-off process on a tubular turtleneck portion (base portion) of a sweater (knitted fabric), stitches for two tiers (courses) are knitted following the wale direction of the stitches of the final course of the base portion and the bind-off process is carried out on the stitches of the upper tier, so that the bind-off processing portion that can be easily stretched and in which breakage is less likely to occur is formed.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT

PATENT DOCUMENT

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 3541191
Prior art document EP 2 495 361 A1 shows and describes a knitting method for a tubular knitted fabric capable of directly joining a starting end and a terminating end of a bind-off process. Stitches of a back knitted fabric portion and a front knitted fabric portion held in a tubular form on front and back needle beds are subjected to a bind-off process. First, a starting end and a connecting portion comprising pickup stitches are formed on an outer side in a knitting width direction of the back knitted fabric portion. With the starting end as a beginning point, the bind-off process of repeating the formation of a lower stage stitch row and an upper stage stitch row, which are bind-off process stitch rows, and the overlapping of one of the stitches of the upper stage stitch row with an end stitch next to the upper stage stitch row of the stitches of the back knitted fabric portion is carried out. After the process on the back knitted fabric portion is finished, a similar bind-off process is also carried out on the front knitted fabric portion.
The upper stage stitch row knitted last is then joined with the connecting portion.
Prior art document EP 2 581 479 A1 discloses a method of joining knitted fabric with which damages of a knitting yarn are less likely to occur when joining knitted fabric portions lined left and right in needle beds. A first knitted fabric portion and a second knitted fabric portion are knitted, and stitches of one part of the first knitted fabric portion and stitches of one part of the second knitted fabric portion are joined through tubular knitting using a first yarn feeder used for knitting the first knitted fabric portion; Thereafter, a step α of moving the tubular knitted portion and the first knitted fabric portion toward the second knitted fabric portion, a step β of moving only the first knitted fabric portion towards the second knitted fabric portion, and a step γ of performing tubular knitting having double stitches to formed in the step α and the step β as both ends are repeated. In the middle of the repetition, a flechage portion of the first knitted fabric portion is formed using the first yarn feeder at least once.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The bind-off processing portion obtained by the method for knitting the knitted fabric of Patent Document 1 has a possibility of being excessively stretched depending on the type of knitted fabric. For example, in a knitted fabric in which a circumferential length of a collar portion is long such as a boat neck sweater, a sweater with a large front drop, and the like, the designability of the knitted fabric is impaired if the collar portion is excessively stretched when wearing. Thus, development of a method for knitting a knitted fabric capable of knitting a bind-off processing portion having an appropriate stretchability is desired.
In recent years, a flat knitting machine of finer gauge than the prior art and a knitting yarn thinner than the prior art are being developed, and if the knitted fabric including small stitches is knitted using such thin knitting yarn, the strength of the bind-off processing portion may not be sufficiently ensured. Thus, development of a method for knitting the knitted fabric capable of enhancing the strength of the bind-off processing portion compared with the prior art is also desired.
In light of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for knitting a knitted fabric capable of knitting a bind-off processing portion having an appropriate stretchability and having a sufficient strength.
This and other objects are solved by a method for knitting a knitted fabric having the features as set forth in claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the knitting method are stated in the subclaims 2 and 3.
Thus, a method for knitting a knitted fabric according to the present invention is a method for knitting a knitted fabric by carrying out a bind-off process on a terminating end in a wale direction of a tubular base portion arranged in a knitted fabric using a flat knitting machine including a one-side needle bed and an other-side needle bed disposed opposite to each other in a front and back direction and in which stitches are transferable . In the method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention, a tubular knitting is performed using the one-side needle bed and the other-side needle bed and a first tubular stitch row is knitted, the knitting of the tubular stitch row, comprising front stitches and overlapping at least one stitch of the tubular stitch row with at least one stitch of the base portion, is repeated at least once; in the repetition, a new tubular stitch row being the n + 1^st stitch row is knitted continuing in a wale direction of an existing tubular stitch row being the n^th stitch row to join the existing tubular stitch row to the base portion (n is a natural number greater than or equal to one).
When knitting the tubular stitch row, in the tubular stitch row, a center position in a knitting width direction of a stitch row on the other-side needle bed in a direction to a side opposite of a side where a base section is held is shifted towards a direction opposite to a direction of moving the tubular stitch row to overlap with the base section, with respect to a center position in a knitting width direction of a stitch row on the one-side needle bed in a direction to the side where the base section is held.
In the method for knitting the knitted fabric according to the present invention, when transitioning from a bind-off process of an one-side base section held on the one-side needle bed in the base portion to a bind-off process of the other-side base section held on the other-side needle bed in the base portion, it is preferable to knit a tubular stitch row comprising only twisted stitches and interchange the left-right positions of the twisted stitches by rotation prior to the bind-off process of the other-side base section. The rotation of the stitch row is a known technique (see e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-9851 ).
In the method for knitting the knitted fabric according to the present invention, the tubular stitch row is preferably knitted with the number of stitches held on the one-side needle bed being the same as the number of stitches held on the other-side needle bed in the tubular stitch row.
According to the method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention, the tubular bind-off processing portion can be knitted at the terminating end in the wale direction of the tubular base portion arranged in the knitted fabric. The bind-off processing portion excels in strength by being formed to a tubular shape, and hence is less likely to break.
Furthermore, according to the method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention, the bind-off processing portion in which the direction of stitches of the bind-off processing portion is orthogonal to the direction of stitches of the base portion is formed. Due to the difference in the direction of the stitches, the bind-off processing portion appropriately suppresses the stretching of the base portion when the base portion is pulled in the knitting width direction. Thus, the tubular bind-off processing portion can give an appropriate stretchability to the vicinity of the terminating end in the wale direction of the base portion.
Moreover, in the method for knitting the knitted fabric according to the present invention, the center position of the tubular knitting in the one-side needle bed and the center position of the tubular knitting in the other-side needle bed are shifted. According to the difference in the center positions, the movement distance in the knitting width direction of the stitches can be shortened when moving the stitches of the tubular stitch row to overlap with the stitches of the base portion, as will be described in the following embodiments. If the movement distance in the knitting width direction of the stitches is short, the possibility of yarn breakage involved in the movement can be reduced.
According to the method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention of knitting a tubular stitch row comprising twisted stitches when transitioning from the bind-off process of the one-side base section to the bind-off process of the other-side base section, the bind-off processing portion at the vicinity of the boundary of the one-side base section and the other-side base section can be beautifully finished. This is because the bind-off process of the other-side base section is carried out after interchanging the left-right positions of all the twisted stitches of the tubular stitch row, so that the cross-over yarn of the tubular stitch row does not tangle with the other portions. The tubular stitch row is configured by the twisted stitches because the twisted state of the twisted stitches is resolved when the rotation is performed and the twisted stitches become non-twisted stitches.
According to the method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention of making the number of stitches of the front and back tubular stitch rows the same, yarn breakage is less likely to occur in the bind-off process, as will be described in the following embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1A is a schematic view of a boat neck sweater knitted in an embodiment, and Fig. 1B is a partial cross-sectional view of a bind-off processing portion formed at a terminating end in a wale direction of a boat neck portion of the sweater;
Fig. 2 is a knitting step diagram of the bind-off processing portion knitted in the boat neck portion; and
Fig. 3 is a knitting step diagram of when transitioning from a bind-off process of one-side base section configuring the boat neck portion to a bind-off process of the other-side base section of the boat neck portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following embodiments describe a knitting example using a four-bed flat knitting machine including a lower front needle bed (hereinafter referred to as FD) and a lower back needle bed (hereinafter referred to as BD), which are extended in a right and left direction and disposed opposite to each other in a front and back direction, and an upper front needle bed (hereinafter referred to as FU) and an upper back needle bed (hereinafter referred to as BU), which are arranged on the upper side of the FD and the BD and in which a great number of knitting needles is arranged in a line at the same pitch as the lower needle beds. In such flat knitting machine, stitches can be transferred between the front and back needle beds, and the BD and the BU arranged in the flat knitting machine are capable of racking in the right and left direction. In the existing commercially available flat knitting machine, the stitches can be transferred between the FD and the BD, between the FD and the BU, and between the BD and the FU, but cannot be transferred between the FU and the BU.

In a first embodiment, a sweater (knitted fabric) 100 including a tubular boat neck portion (base portion 9) is knitted, as shown in Fig. 1A. A terminating end in a wale direction of the base portion 9 is subjected to a bind-off process by a bind-off processing portion 6 knitted to a tubular shape, as shown in Fig. 1B. The direction (see rightward outlined arrow) of stitches configuring the bind-off processing portion 6 is orthogonal to the direction (see upward outlined arrow) of stitches configuring the base portion 9. Hereinafter, a knitting procedure of the bind-off processing portion 6 will be described based on Figs. 2 and 3.
Figs. 2 and 3 are knitting step diagrams of the bind-off processing portion 6. "Alphabet + number" in the left column in the figure indicates the number of the knitting step, the right column indicates the knitting state on the needle beds, and the operation actually carried out in each configuration is indicated with a thick line. In the right column, only a part of the needle beds is shown for the sake of convenience of explanation, and the racking operation of the BD and the BU is omitted. The upper case alphabets in the figures indicate the positions of the knitting needles in the knitting width direction. Furthermore, ○ mark in the right column indicates an old stitch held on the knitting needle, ⊚ mark indicates a double stitch, Ω mark indicates a knit stitch, and a drop mark indicates a twisted stitch.
S0 in Fig. 2 shows a state in which a one-side base section 91 of the base portion 9 is held on knitting needles G to L of the BD, and the other-side base section 99 of the base portion 9 is held on knitting needles G to L of the FD. From such state, the terminating end in the wale direction of the one-side base section 91 is first subjected to the bind-off process, and then the terminating end in the wale direction of the other-side base section 99 is subjected to the bind-off process. A knitting structure of the base portion 9 is not particularly limited, and for example, may be a plain stitch structure, a purl structure, a rib structure, and the like. In particular, if the base portion 9 has a purl structure, the boundary of the base portion 9 and the bind-off processing portion 6 does not stand out. This is because the purl structure is a thick structure, and a step difference is less likely to be formed between the tubular bind-off processing portion 6, which has thickness, and the purl structure.
In S1, a tubular stitch row 1 to become a starting end of the bind-off processing portion 6 is formed on the knitting needles D, E, F of the BD (one-side needle bed) and the knitting needles B, C, D of the FU (the other-side needle bed). The method for forming the starting end is not particularly limited. For example, a pickup stitch of a draw thread may be formed, and a stitch may be knitted continuing to the wale direction of such pickup stitch to form the starting end. Furthermore, the starting end may be formed using the stitch of the one-side base section 91.
In the tubular stitch row 1 knitted in S1, a center position in the knitting width direction of a stitch row 1y knitted with the FU, which is on a side opposite to a side where the one-side base section 91 is held, is shifted toward a side away from the one-side base section 91 with respect to a center position in the knitting width direction of a stitch row 1x knitted with the BD on the side the one-side base section 91 is held. Thus, the movement of the stitch row 1x in S2, to be described later, is facilitated.
In the tubular stitch row 1, the number of stitches of the stitch row 1x held on the BD and the number of stitches of the stitch row 1y held on the FU are not particularly limited. For example, the number of stitches of the stitch row 1x : the number of stitches of the stitch row 1y may be, other than 3 : 3 as shown in Fig. 2, 3 : 2, 2 : 2, 2 : 1, 1 : 1, and the like. In particular, if the number of stitches of both stitch rows 1x, 1y is the same, the formed states of the stitch row 1x and the stitch row 1y are matched, and hence satisfactory appearance of the tubular stitch row 1 is obtained. If the number of stitches of each of the stitch rows 1x, 1y is large, the tubular stitch row 1 becomes thick and secure, which is preferable.
In S2, the stitches of the stitch row 1x held on the knitting needles D, E, F of the BD are transferred to the knitting needles E, F, G of the FU, and in the following S3, the stitches of the stitch row 1x are further transferred to the knitting needles E, F, G of the BD. That is, the stitch row 1x is moved in the direction (right direction in the plane of drawing, hereinafter referred to as bind-off direction) toward the one-side base section 91. As a result, a stitch of the tubular stitch row 1 (stitch held on the knitting needle F of the BD in S1) is overlapped with the stitch of the one-side base section 91 at the knitting needle G of the BD. In the present example using the four-bed flat knitting machine, there are empty needles on the FU, and thus the transfer of stitches of S2 and S3 can be carried out even if the base portion 9 is knitted in a full-gauge state.
Since the center position in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1y is shifted toward a direction opposite to the bind-off direction with respect to the center position in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1x, the movement amount in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1x in S2 can be reduced. On the contrary, if the center position in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1y is aligned with the center position in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1x, or is closer to the bind-off direction, the movement amount in the knitting width direction of the stitch row 1x in S2 becomes large and a cross-over yarn connecting the stitch row 1x and the stitch row 1y may break.
In S4, a stitch row 1y, which is a part of a new tubular stitch row 11, is knitted following the wale direction of the stitch row 1y of the existing tubular stitch row 10 held on the knitting needles D, C, B of the FU.
In S5, the stitches of the stitch row 1y held on the knitting needles D, C, B of the FU are transferred to the knitting needles D, C, B of the BD, and in S6, the stitches of the stitch row 1y are further transferred to the knitting needles E, D, C of the FU.
In S7, a stitch row 1x of a new tubular stitch row 11 is knitted following the wale direction of the stitch row 1x of the existing tubular stitch row 10 held on the knitting needles E, F, G of the BD. According to the knitting of the new tubular stitch row 11 in S7, the double stitch of the knitting needle G of the BD in S6 is fixed, and the existing tubular stitch row 10 is joined to the one-side base section 91. As a result, the stitch of the one-side base section 91 held on the knitting needle G of the BD in S0 is subjected to the bind-off process.
After S7, the knitting similar to S2 to S7 is repeated, and the one-side base section 91 can be performed with the bind-off process. The tubular knitting may be further carried out for one or more times after S7 before carrying out the second S2. In this case, the stitches of the tubular stitch row 1 knitted by the last tubular knitting are joined to the one-side base section 91. For example, if the tubular knitting is carried out one more time after S7, a new stitch row 1y is knitted continuing to the wale direction of the stitch row 1y on the knitting needles E, D, C of the FU, and a new stitch row 1x is further knitted continuing the wale direction of the stitch row 1x on the knitting needles E, F, G of the BD. After the second tubular knitting, the second S2 is carried out. The number of times to carry out the tubular knitting may be changed depending on the knitting structure the base portion 9 is configured with. For example, if the base portion 9 is configured with the purl structure, the tubular knitting is sometimes preferably carried out for about two or three times so as not to excessively restrain the stretching of the base portion 9.
Next, a knitting procedure at the time of transitioning to the bind-off process of the other-side base section 99 after the bind-off process of the one-side base section 91 of the base portion 9 shown in Fig. 2 is finished will be described based on Fig. 3.
T0 in Fig. 3 shows a state in which the knitting of the one-side base section 91 (see Fig. 2) is finished, where the stitch row 1x is held on the knitting needles J, K, L of the BD and the stitch row 1y is held on the knitting needles H, I, J of the FU. The other-side base section 99 is held on the knitting needles G to L of the FD.
From the state of T0, the tubular stitch row 4 is knitted following the wale direction of the tubular stitch row 1, as shown in T1 and T2. The stitches configuring the tubular stitch row 4 are all twisted stitches 4a to 4f, and such twisted stitches 4a to 4f are arranged in a circling manner (knitted in the order of 4a→4b→4c→4d→4e-4f).
Next, the left-right positions of the twisted stitches 4a to 4f of the tubular stitch row 4 are interchanged by rotation, as shown in T3 to T5. The twisted state of the twisted stitches 4a to 4f is resolved by rotating the twisted stitches 4a to 4f, and a state in which the non-twisted stitches are held on the FD is obtained. In the middle (see T3) of rotation of the tubular stitch row 4, the twisted stitch 4c, which is at the outermost side of the tubular stitch row 4, is overlapped with the stitch of the other-side base section 99 at the position of the knitting needle L of the FD. To facilitate the understanding as to which positions the twisted stitches 4a to 4f are moved, reference numbers 4a to 4f are also denoted on the old twisted stitches, which twisted state is resolved in T3 to T5.
After the rotation of the twisted stitches 4a to 4f is finished, the bind-off process of the other-side base section 99 is carried out through a procedure similar to the bind-off process of the one-side base section 91 described with reference to Fig. 2. In this case, the bind-off process of the other-side base section 99 is carried out with the FD and the FU as the one-side needle bed and the BD and the BU as the other-side needle bed. The knitting is not carried out until the rotation of the twisted stitches 4a to 4f is finished, and hence the cross-over yarn of the tubular stitch row 4 will not entangle with the other portions.
According to the knitting steps described above, the knitted fabric 100 including the bind-off processing portion 6 shown in Fig. 1 can be knitted. The tubular bind-off processing portion 6 excels in strength and hence is less likely to break. Furthermore, the base portion 9 does not stretch excessively when the base portion 9 is pulled in the knitting width direction since the direction of the stitches of the bind-off processing portion 6 is orthogonal to the direction of the stitches of the base portion 9.

In a second embodiment, an example of carrying out a bind-off process on a collar portion of a cardigan (knitted fabric) having an opening in a front body will be described.
In the case of the cardigan, the bind-off process is started from the end on the opening side in the right front body (left front body), and the bind-off process of the back body is carried out after the bind-off process of the right front body is finished. After the bind-off process of the back body is finished, the bind-off process of the left front body (right front body) is carried out. The bind-off process of the right front body, the left front body, and the back body is carried out similar to Fig. 2. Furthermore, the transition from the bind-off process of the right front body to the bind-off process of the back body, and the transition from the bind-off process of the back body to the bind-off process of the front body are carried out similar to Fig. 3.
The method for knitting the knitted fabric of the present invention can also be implemented with the two-bed flat knitting machine. In this case, the base portion 9 is to be knitted through a half gauge knitting.

Claims

A method by knitting a knitted fabric by carrying out a bind-off process on a terminating end in a wale direction of a tubular base portion (9) arranged in a knitted fabric (100) using a flat knitting machine including a one-side needle bed (BD, BU) and an other-side needle bed (FD, FU) disposed opposite to each other in a front and back direction and in which stitches are transferable; characterized in that
a tubular knitting is performed using the one-side needle bed (BD) and the other-side needle bed (FU) and a first tubular stitch row (1) is knitted, whereby the knitting of the tubular stitch row (1), comprising front stitches , back stitches and overlapping at least one stitch of the tubular stitch row (1) with at least one stitch of the base portion (9), is repeated at least once; and whereby in the repetition, a new tubular stitch row (11) being the n + 1^st stitch row is knitted continuing in a wale direction of an existing tubular stitch row (10) being the n^th stitch row to join the existing tubular stitch row (10) to the base portion (9),
provided that, when knitting the tubular stitch row (1), in the tubular stitch row (1), a center position in a knitting width direction of a stitch row (1y) on other-side needle bed (FU) in a direction to a side opposite of a side where a base section (91) is held, is shifted towards a direction opposite to a direction of moving the tubular stitch row (1) to overlap with the base section (91), with respect to a center position in a knitting width direction of a stitch row (1x) on one-side needle bed (BD) in a direction to the side where the base section (91) is held.
The method for knitting the knitted fabric according to claim 1, wherein when transitioning from a bind-off process of an one-side base section (91) held on the one-side needle bed (BD) in the base portion (9) to a bind-off process of an other-side base section (99) held on the other-side needle bed (FD) in the base portion (9),
a tubular stitch row (4) comprising only twisted stitches (4a to 4f) is knitted, left-right positions of the twisted stitches (4a to 4f) are interchanged by rotation, and the bind-off process of the other-side base section (99) is carried out.
The method for knitting the knitted fabric according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tubular stitch row (1) is knitted with the number of stitches held on the one-side needle bed (BD (BU)) being the same as the number of stitches held on the other-side needle bed (FD (FU)) in the tubular stitch row (1).