l Preface l Contents l Readme
(formerly Knitting Technology)
The Authors Chandrasekhar Iyer graduated in textile technology from the University of Bombay, did an M.Sc. post-graduate study at the University of Manchester and obtained his doctorate from the University of Stuttgart. After gaining experience with spinning machinery makers, the man-made fibre industry and in scientific research, he was a Reader and tenured Professor from 1972 in the Department of Textiles and Clothing at the Reutlingen University, from where he retired in 2002. He read on industrial processing engineering and technology in the field of knitting, the planning and organisation of knitting mills as well as filament production and processing. He also instructed in a course for Industrial Master Fitters at Reutlingen. He still gives lectures on a part-time basis, is responsible for staple and filament yarn technology as well as industrial textiles in short courses for the industry and does occassional consultancy work. He has published a number of articles – not only on knitting technology – in German, Indian and several European technical journals. As Officer of International Relations in Reutlingen he was particularly interested in fostering the exchange of students and lecturers with foreign educational institutions and gave short-term lectures and papers at several of these universities. In addition to his contribution to this book he is also responsible for its English version.
Bernd Mammel was a lecturer from 1963 to 1999 in Reutlingen at the "Tech" (Technical College), which is officially known as the Otto Johannsen Technikum. It has an associated organisation with the Reutlingen University and is in the same campus area. He was responsible for industrial process engineering and technology in the field of knitting. He also gave part-time lectures in machine drawing in the Department of Textiles and Clothing at the Reutlingen University. From 1992 until his retirement he was Head of the Technical College. Bernd Mammel has strived since years for the further education of specialists. Apart from his teaching and consultancy work he is, in this connection, also the author of a number of technical publications and was the chairman of the examination committee of the Reutlingen Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the course for Industrial Master Fitters in Textiles. In addition was for 17 years the Head of the VDI (Association of German Engineers) work group on Textiles and Clothing at the Reutlingen Centre for textile education, which is one of the largest in Germany.
Wolfgang Schäch has worked in various knitting mills and in textile scientific research after completing his post-graduate study in mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart. As a Reader at the Reutlingen University since 1965 he read on industrial processing engineering, technology and product designing in the field of knitting in the Department of Textiles, which he also headed until he retired in 2002. As a long-time secretary of the German National Section of the International Federation of Knitting Technologists and as International General Secretary of this institution, he still stands up for the maintenance of contacts and for the exchange of information between experts on a national as well as an international level.
Iyer / Mammel / Schäch
Circular Knitting Technology Process Structures Yarns Quality
Reprint second edition
bei Meisenbach Bamberg
Circular Knitting is translated from German by co-author Chandrasekhar Iyer. The German original edition entitled Rundstricken. Theorie und Praxis der Maschentechnik (ISBN 3-87525-052-4) has likewise been published by the publishing house Meisenbach GmbH in Bamberg in 1992, 1995 and 2004.
Third edition. © 1992, 1995 and 2004, Meisenbach GmbH, Franz-Ludwig-Strasse 7a, D-96047 Bamberg (Germany)
Die Deutsche Bibliothek – CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Iyer, Chandrasekhar: Circular knitting : technology, process, structures, yarns, quality / Iyer/Mammel /Schäch. – 3., ed. – Bamberg : Meisenbach, 2004 Dt. Ausg. u.d.T.: Iyer, Chandrasekhar: Rundstricken ISBN 3-87525-066-4 NE: Mammel, Bernd; Schäch, Wolfgang
The velours upholstery fabric pictured on the cover in original size has been knitted on a MCPE machine by Mayer & Cie., diameter 30“, gauge E20. Ground yarn: PES dtex 167f 32/1, plush yarn: polyacrylic Nm 50/2
Contents
01
Knitting Technique ... 1
01.1
Fundamentals of stitch formation ... 1
01.1.1 01.1.2 01.1.3 01.1.4
400 years of mechanical stitch formation ... 1 An outline of knitting machines ... 6 Stitch formation with latch needles ... 9 Structural elements in knitted fabrics ... 10 01.1.4.1 01.1.4.2 01.1.4.3 01.1.4,4 01.1.4.5 01.1.4.6
01.1.5
Loop … 10 Stitch … 10 / Plain stitch / Purl stitch/ Needle loop / Sinker loop Tuck loop … 10 Floatstitch … 10 Weft … 10 Filler … 10
Basic knitted structures ... 12 01.1.5.1 01.1.5.2 01.1.5.3
01.1.5.4
Arrangement of structural elements … 12 Plain knitted fabrics ... 12 Double knit fabrics (rib fabrics) … 12 Double knit rib fabrics / Double knit interlock fabrics Double knit purl fabrics ... 12
01 .2
Processes for large circular knitting machines … 14
01.2.1
Plain (single face) technique with latch needles … 14 01.2.1.1 01.2.1.2 01.2.1.3 01.2.1.4 01.2.1.5 01.2.1.6
01.2.2 01.2.3
Single face relative technology with latch needles ... 18 Compound needle technique ... 20 01 .2.3.1 01 .2.3.2
01.2.4
Plain technique with compound needles ... 20 Plain relative technique with compound needles … 24
Rib technique ... 27 01.2.4.1
01.2.4.2
01 2.5
Rest or ground position, Pos. 1 ... 16 Tucking-in position, Pos. 2 ... 16 Clearing position, Pos. 3 ... 16 Yarn presenting position, Pos. 4 … 16 Cast-on position, Pos. 5 ... 17 Knock-over position, Pos. 6 ... 17
Coordination between cylinder and dial grooves … 27 Rib setting of cylinder and dial / Interlock setting of cylinder and dial / Conversion from rib to interlock setting Coordination between cylinder and dial cams ... 29 Synchronised timing between cylinder and dial cams Delayed timing between cylinder and dial cams / Conditions for the use of delayed timing for dial and cylinder cams
Purl technique ... 38 01.2.5.1 01.2.5.2
Rib stitch formation ... 38 Purl stitch formation and needle transfer ... 38
Contents
V
01.3 01.3.1
Characteristics of circular knitting machines ... 44 Machine pitch and machine gauge ... 44 01.3.1.1 01.3.1.2 01 3.1.3
01.3.1.4 01.3.1.5
Machine pitch ... 44 English machine gauge ... 44 Pitch values for circular knitting machines with special pattern devices and for small circular knitting machines ... 44 Relation between machine pitch, English gauge, machine nominal diameter and number of needles ... 44 Effective machine pitches (machine gauges) ... 44
01.3.2 01.3.3 01.3.4 01.3.5
Machine nominal diameter ... 45 Number of feeders / feeder density ... 45 Production speed, number of machine revolutions ... 45 Efficiency value / speed factor ... 46
01.4
Machine elements ... 46
01.4.1 01.4.2
Frame ... 46 Machine drive ... 48 01.4.2.1 01.4.2.2 01.4.2.3 01.4.2.4
01.4.3
Knitting elements ... 52 01.4.3.1 01.4.3.2 01.4.3.3
01.4.4 01.4.5
Fabric Fabric Fabric Fabric
spreader ... 72 tensioning and winding devices ... 72 tensioning and winding devices with mechanical drive / tensioning and winding devices with electrical drive
Yarn supply ... 79 01.4.7.1 01.4.7.2
01.4.8
Sliding cams .. 65 Flexible cams ... 66 Changeable cams ... 67 Alteration of course density through couliering ... 68 Vertical couliering / Diagonal couliering / Central couliering / Vertical adjustment of needle dial
Fabric take-down ... 72 01.4.6.1 01.4.6.2
01.4.7
Needles ... 53 Holding-down / Knocking-over sinkers ... 58 Needle beds on circular knitting machines ... 60
Yarn feeder and its correct setting ... 61 Needle and sinker control units (cams) ... 63 01.4.5.1 01.4.5.2 01.4.5,3 01.4.5.4
01.4.6
Motor ... 48 Number of revolutions of the machine ... 49 Brake ... 51 Drive arrangement ... 52
Cone carrier device ... 79 Yarn delivery devices (Yarn metering and storage devices on circular knitting machines) ... 84 Yarn delivery devices for constant yarn delivery, yarn metering devices / Devices with constant yarn delivery per unit time, Yarn metering devices with yarn reserve (Positive yarn feeders) / Devices with variable yarn delivery per unit time and yarn reserve (Storage yarn feeders)
Monitoring and maintenance systems ... 94 Yarn monitoring / Needle monitoring / Fabric monitoring / Lubricating and oiling systems / Cleaning systems
VI
Contents
02
Needle Control and its Equipment ... 97
02.1
Direct needle control ... 97
02.1.1 02.1.2
Control through cam parts ... 97 Control through pattern wheel ... 98
02.2
Indirect needle control ... 101
02.2.1
Indirect needle control with fixed control sinker arrangement ... 101 Indirect needle control through pattern drum ... 103
02.2.2 02.3
Electronically controlled needle selection on circular knitting machines ... 106
02.3.1 02.3.2 02.3.3
Needle control through film tape ... 106 Needle control through machine memory ... 108 Pattern design and production preparation ... 111
03
Additional Equipment Patterning ... 113
03.1
Equipment for fleecy fabrics ... 113
03.1.1 03.1.2
Simple fleecy ... 113 Three-thread fleecy ... 113
03.2
Equipment for plush fabrics ... 118 Quality demands on plush
03.2.1 03.2.2
Unpatterned plush ... 118 Jacquard plush ... 122 The construction of the presentation technique
03.3
Yarn changer devices / stripers ... 126
03.3.1 03.3.2
Yarn changer device with mechanical control ... 126 Yarn changer device with electronical control ... 128
03.4
Wrap finger technique ... 132
04
Circular Knitting Machines for Garment Length Fabrics ... 135
04.1
Rib and purl techniques ... 136
04.1.1 04.1.2 04.1.3
Fibres and yarns ... 136 Stitch density and quality ... 136 Performance ... 136
04.2
Purl pullover circular knitting machine ... 137
04.2.1 04.2.2
Double selection at the lower cylinder ... 137 Selection at the upper cylinder ... 138
04.3
Rib pullover circular knitting machine ... 140
04.3.1 04.3.2 04.3.3
Free individual needle selection in the knitting feeders ... 141 Means of free selection in the transfer feeders ... 141 Principle of selection ... 142
Contents
VII
05
Maehines for High-Pile Fabrics ... 144
06
Other Machines ... 146
06.1
Methods for loop transfer ... 146
06.1.1 06.1.2
Transferring of sinker loops ... 146 Transferring of needle loops ... 146
06.2
Machines for the production of transfer patterns ... 147 Cylinder transfer feeder, control sinker cam range / Cylinder transfer feeder, needle cam range ... 150
07
Knitted and Fabric Structures ... 152
07.1
Pattern analysis of weft knits ... 152
07.1.1 07.1.2 07.1.3
Tools and technical aids ... 152 Methodical pattern analysis ... 152 Representation of weft knitted fabrics ... 154 07.1.3.1 07.1.3.2 07.1.3.3 07.1.3.4
07.2
Representation through mesh structure ... 154 Representation through technical notation (yarn path) ... 154 Symbols used for representation of needles ... 154 Representation of structural elements ... 155
Basic structures ... 156
07.3
Patterned structures ... 156
07.3.1 07.3.2
Patterned structures with one needle type ... 156 Patterned structures with two needle types ... 157 Plain structures / Rib patterned structures / Rib patterned interlock structures
07.3.3
Patterned structures with four needle types ... 161
07.4
Plated structures... 162
07.5
Speciality structures... 162 Fleecy/Three-thread fleecy / Interlock fleecy / Plush
07.6
Jacquard structures ... 163
07.6.1
Colour jacquard structures ... 163 Single jersey colour jacquard / Single jersey colour jacquard with binding-in of floating yarns (three-way technique) / Rib colour jacquard / Horizontal striper backing / Vertical striper backing / Twill backing
07.6.2
Rib relief jacquard structures ... 166 Single relief rib jacquards / Double relief rib jacquard
VIII
Contents
07.6.3 07.6.4 07.6.5
Rib tuck jacquard ... 170 Rib lock jacquard ... 170 Rib transfer jacquard ... 170
07.7
Symbolic adjointment between structure and process ... 171 Plain circular knitting machines ... 172 Rib circular knitting machines ... 178
07.8
Transposition of jacquard patterns onto a jacquard circular knitting machine with mechanical indirect needle control ... 182
08
Yarns for Circular Knitting...
08.1
Fibre materials ... 188
08.2
Count ... 190
08.2.1 08.2.2
Direct system and its units ... 190 Indirect system and its units ... 191
188
Metric number (Nm) / English number (Ne)
08.2.3
Count calculation and denotion for plies ... 191 08.2.3.1
08.2.3.2
08.3 08.3.1
Staple fibre yarns... 195 Spinning systems... 08.3.1.1 08.3.1.2 08.3.1.3 08.3.1.4
08.3.2
195
Cotton spinning system ... 196 Carded yarn / Combed yarn Worsted spinning system ... 197 Semi-worsted spinning system ... 197 Woollen spinning system .. 198
Spinning techniques for staple fibre yarns ... 198 08.3.2.1 08.3.2.2
08.3.3
Ply with yarns of the same count ... 194 Calculation of count on the direct system / Denotion based on the direct system / Calculation of count on the indirect system / Denotion based on the indirect system Ply with yarns of differing counts ... 194 Calculation of count on the direct system / Denotion based on the direct system / Calculation of count based on the indirect system / Denotion based on the indirect system
Ring spinning ... 198 Unconventional spinning techniques ... 199 OE rotor spinning / Other spinning techniques: Friction spinning / Air jet spinning / Cover spinning / Yarns with ply resemblance / Self-twist spinning / Ply spinning
Comparison between ring and rotor yarns ... 201 08.3.3.1 08.3.3.2
Process-based properties ... 202 Fibre-based properties ... 202
08.4
Filament yarns ... 203
08.4.1 08.4.2
The most important raw materials ... 203 Filament yarn types ... 203 08.4.2.1 08.4.2.2 08.4.2.3 08,4.2.4 08.4.2.5
Monofilament yarn ... 203 Multifilament yarns ... 203 Minifil yarns ... 203 Comingled yarn ... 204 Microfilament yarn ... 204
Contents
IX
08.4.3
Flat and textured filament yarns ... 204 08.4.3.1 08.4.3.2 08.4.3.3 08.4.3.4 08.4.3.5 08.4,3.6
08.5
Fibre blending in yarns and fabrics ... 209
08.5.1
Types of blend ... 210 08.5.1.1 08.5.1.2
08.5.1.3 08.5.1.4 08.5.1.5
Yarn count and machine gauge ... 212
08.7
Knitting demands on yarns ... 216
08.7.1 08.7.2 08.7.3
Tenacity and breaking extension ... 216 Elasticity ... 218 Friction ... 218 Waxing of staple fibre yarns ... 219 Finishing of filarment yarns ... 220 Surface of yarn and abradant ... 220
08.7.4 08.7.5 08.7.6
Yarn evenness ... 221 Yarn count deviation ... 222 Take-off behaviour of yarns ... 223
08.8
Yarn supply for circular knitting machines ... 224
08.8.1 08.8.2 08.8.3
Draw twist bobbin ... 224 Draw winder bobbin ... 224 Cross-wound bobbin ... 224 08.8.3.1 08.8.3.2
08.8.4
Package size ... 225 Package shape ... 225 Cylindrical shape / Biconical shape / Conical shape
Winding methods for cross-wound bobbins ... 226 08.8.4.1 08.8.4.2 08.8.4.3
Contents
Intimate blending ... 210 Core-sheath structures ... 210 Covering / Bicomponent yarns / Air textured yarns / Open end yarns The real ply ... 211 Comingled yarns ... 211 Feeder blending ... 211
08.6
08.7.3.1 08.7.3.2 08.7.3.3
X
False twist process ... 204 Bicomponent process ... 206 Knit-de-knit process ... 206 Air texturing process ... 207 Single yarn / Parallel yarn / Core-sheath yarn Other texturing processes ... 208 Properties of textured yarns ... 208 Primary properties: Extension and elasticity / Volume / Secondary properties: Weight / Dyeing behaviour / Handle / Perspiration / Air textured yarn
Random winding ... 226 Precision winding ... 226 Digital winding ... 227
08.8.5 08.8.6 08.8.7 08.8.8 08.8.9 08.8.10
Wind-on speed ... 227 Package hardness ... 228 Take-off yarn tension ... 228 Friction between yarn and cross-wound package ... 229 Negative yarn withdrawal ... 229 Positive yarn withdrawal ... 229
08.9
Literature to chapter 08...
230
09
Quality and Production Monitoring ... 231
09.1
Faults and its causes in circular knitting ... 231
09.1.1
Pre-requisites for faultless knitwear production ... 231 09.1.1.1 09.1.1.2
09.1.1.3
09.1.2
Pre-requisites on the circular knitting machine ... 231 General production conditions for knitting ... 232 Selection of proper yarn count I Relation between knitted structures and processing problems / Setting of the knitting machine / Yarn storage / Air conditioning of the knitting plant / Cleaning of knitting machines Yarn pre-requisites ... 234 Influence of dyeing processes / Influence of spinning processes / Influence of the winding process / Factors affecting yarn production / Relationship between yarn properties and knitted fabric qualities
Frequent faults in knitted fabrics, their definition, cause and elimination ... 237 09.1.2.1 09.1.2.2
Definition of faults ... 237 Causes of faults and their avoidance ... 238 Cracks or holes / Drop stitches / Cloth fall-out / Snags / Tuck and double stitches / Bunching-up / Vertical stripes / Horizontal stripes / Soil stripes / Colour fly / Distorted stitches
09.1.3
Literature ... 248
09.2
Operational data acquisition ... 248
09.3
Production calculations ... 250
10
Appendage for Tables ... 252
10.1
Machine pitch and machine gauge ... 252
10.2
Nominal machine diameters ... 254
10.3
Number of feeders ... 256
10.4
Yarn counts ... 258
11
Fluff Blower Devices ... 262
12
Index ... 265
Contents
XI
01 Knitting Technique
Individual needle motion
12
Knitting Machines
V-bed machines
Circular knitting machines
rectilinear
radial
Collective needle motion
Straight bar machines
Loop wheel machines
Warp knitting machines
rectilinear
radial
rectilinear
Positions
Positions
Dial cam
Cylinder cam
Dial cam
Cylinder cam
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110
Latch needles for single Jersey and ribbed fabric circular knitting machines
112
Double hook latch needles (Groz-Beckert) for Links/Links circular knitting machines
edge
ring
02 Needle Control and its Equipment
208
sinker
sinkers
clearing
clearing
N2,
03 Additional Patterning Equipment
04 Circular Knitting Machines for Garment Length Fabrics
05 Machines for High-Pile Fabrics
06 Other Machines
07 Knitted and Fabric Structures
08 Yarns for Circular Knitting
09 Quality and Production Monitoring
10 Appendage for Tables
11 Fluff Blower Devices
12
Index
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