Knitting Technology – I

Lesson 02

By
Nazmul Islam
Lecturer, NUB
[email protected]
[email protected]
 Cam
A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in
transforming rotary motion into linear motion. Cam is of two types:
1. Knitting cam: The angular knitting cam acts directly onto the butts of needles
or other elements to produce individual or serial movement in the tricks of
latch needle of weft knitting m/c. Two arrangements are exist there:
1. Revolving Cylinder M/c: The needle butt pass through the stationary cam
system and the fabric hanging from the needles revolves with them.
2. Reciprocating Cam carriage flat M/c: The cams with the yarn feed pass
across stationary needle beds.
2. Engineering Cam: Engineering cam are circular in shape and usually rivetted
in a shaft. Used widely in all the mechanical machine and looms. Usually one
complete 360° rotation of the engineering cam is equal to the full rotation of
the knitting cam. In warp knitting, four types of cam drive have been
employed:-
a) Single acting cams
b) Cam and counter cams
c) Box/ Enclosed cams
d) Counter cams
 Knitting Cam
For designing the knit fabric there are three types of At each of the cams there are at least a raising cam, a
cams are found: stitch cam and an up throw cam whose combined
effect is required. There are four function of cams as
1. Knit cam: Knit cam is used for the knit loop
for naming them as-
formation. And the stitch formed by these cams are
known as knit stitch. i. Raising cam: The raising cam causes the needle to
be lifted to either tuck, clearing loop transfer or
2. Tuck cam: Tuck cam is used for the tuck loop
needle transfer depending upon machine design.
formation. The stitch formed by these cams are
known as tuck stitch. ii. Stitch cam: The stitch cam controls the depth to
which the needle descends thus controlling the
3. Miss cam: Miss cam is used for the miss loop
amount of yarn drawn in to the needle loop. It al
formation. The stitch formed by these cams are
so a knock-over cam.
known as miss stitch.
iii. Up throw or counter cam: The up throw or
Knitting cams are attached either individually or in unit
counter cam takes the needles back to the rest
form to a cam plate and depending upon the machine
position and allows the formed loops to relax.
design, are fixed exchangeable or adjustable.
iv. Guard cam: The guard cam is often placed on the
Function of Cam: The functions of cam are as follows
butts and to prevent needles from falling out of
• To produce motion to needles. track.
• To drive the needles. Individual of these found in v-bed flat knitting machine.
• Formation of loops.
Knitting Cam
 3. Sinker
Sinker is the another primary knitting element. It is a
thin metal plate with action at right angle to and fro
between adjoining needles. It performs the following
functions:
1. Loop formation
2. Holding down
Operation of sinker
1) The held loop is positioned in the throat of the
sinker when the sinker moves forward and the
needle moves upward for clearing.
2) The sinker remains at its forward position when 1=Butt 7=Throat angle,
the needle attains its clearing position. 2=Butt breadth 8=Sinker platform height,
3) Needle catches yarn and sinker starts to go 3=Height of shank, 9=Breadth of lower shank,
backward. 4=Buldge, 10=Clearance,
5=Neb, 11=Throat
4) Loop pulling occurs
6=Length of neb,
5) Before the needle ascends the sinker moves
forward to push the knitted fabric a little and hold
the old loop.
3. Sinker

Operation of sinker
 Basics of a Loop
Kink of yarn: A length of yarn that has been bent into a Legs or side limbs: The lateral parts of the knitted loop
shape appropriate for its transformation into a weft that connect the top arc to the bottom half-arcs.
knitted loop.
Needle loop: The needle loop is the simplest unit of
Knitted loop: A kink of yarn that is intermeshed at its knitted structure. Needle loop formed by the top arc
base i.e. when intermeshed two kink of yarn is called and the two legs of the weft knitted loop
loop.
Needle loop = Top arc + Two legs
Knitted stitch: Stitch is a kink of yarn that is
Purl: Purl is the second most common stitch. Whereas in
intermeshed at its base and at its top. The knitted
a knit stitch you put the right needle through the stitch
stitch is the basic unit of intermeshing and usually
from behind, in the purl stitch you place the right
consists of three or more intermeshed loops, the
needle into the front of the left needle stitch.
center loop having been drawn through the head of
the lower loop which had in turn been intermeshed Sinker loop: The yarn portion that connects two
through its head by the loop which appears above it. adjacent needle loops belonging in the same knitted
course. Bottom arc also called sinker loop.
Top arc: The upper curved portion of the knitted loop
is called top arc. Open loop: A knitted loop of which a thread enters and
leaves at the opposite sides without crossing over itself.
Bottom half-arc: The lower curved portion that
constitutes in a weft knitted loop, half of the Closed loop: A knitted loop of which a thread enters and
connection to the adjacent loop in the same course. leaves at the opposite sides with crossing over itself. It is
made by special needle.
Basics of a Loop(contd.)
 Knit Stitch
Knit loop is the loop produced by the knit cam. If one knit loop intermeshed with its adjacent loops, and thus knit
stitch is formed.
The knit stitch is the basic stitch. It is also called the plain stitch. Knit stitch is formed when the needle carries out
a complete stroke, reaching the maximum height on the looping plane
Features of Knit stitch
• When the needle is raised sufficiently high by the camming action to obtain the yarn in the hooked portion of
the needle and the old loop is below the latch [ i.e. the old loop is cleared], a knit stitch will be formed as the
needle descends.
• A knitted loop stitch is produced when a needle receives a new loop and knocks over the old loop that it held
from the previous knitting cycle.
 Tuck Stitch
A tuck stitch is formed when a knitting needle holds its old loop and then receives a new yarn. Two loops then
collect in the needle hook. The previously formed knitted loop is called the held loop and the loop which joins it is a
tuck loop.
Features of tuck stitch
• A tuck stitch is composed of a held loop, one or more tuck loops and knitted loops.
• It is produced when a needle holding its loop (T) also receives the new loop, which becomes a tuck loop because
it is not intermeshed through the old loop.
• The tuck loop thus assumes an inverted V or U-shaped configuration.
• The head of the tuck is visible on the reverse of the stitch.
• The side limbs of tuck loops thus tend to show through onto the face between adjacent wales.
• Tuck stitch structures show a faint diagonal line effect on their surface.
• In analysis, a tuck stitch is identified by the fact that its head is released as a hump shape immediately the needle
loop above it is withdrawn.
• A knitted loop would be required to be separately withdrawn.
Tuck Stitch(contd.)
 Float stitch
Features of float stitch
• A float stitch or welt stitch is composed of a held loop, one or more float loops and knitted loops.
• It is produced when a needle (M) holding its old loop fails to receive the new yarn that passes, as a float loop
to the back of the needle.
• The float stitch shows the missed yarn floating freely on the reverse side of the held loop.
• The float extends from the base of one knitted or tucked loop to the next, and is notated by an empty square.
• The held loop extends into the courses above until a knitted loop is indicated in that wale.
• A single float stitch has the appearance of a U-shape on the reverse of the stitch.
• Float stitch fabrics are narrower than equivalent all-knit fabrics.
• As the wales are drawn closer together by the floats, thus reducing width-wise elasticity and improving fabric
stability.
• The maximum number of successive floats on one needle is four.
• Six adjacent needles are usually the maximum number for a continuous float.
• A floating thread is useful for hiding an unwanted colored yarn behind the face loop of a selected color.
• The miss stitch can occur accidentally as a fault due to incorrectly set yarn feeders.
Float stitch
Different stitches and needle position
Circular weft knitting machine S/J