AN ANALYSIS OF LOOP FORMATION PROCESS ON WEFT-KNITTING MACHINE BY MEANS OF KNITTING FORCE

The loop formed by latch needles on weft-knitting machines is affected both by the yarn elongation in the knitting zone, and by the robbing of yarn at the knitting point from the loops already formed, nalmey by Robbing Back.It is, therefore, necessary to use a physical quantity in order to analyze the loop formation process. In this paper, the knitting force is chosen as the quantity, and the its measuring method is described.Some experiments using the knitting force detector showed the following results:1) The knitting force increases in proportion to the input yarn tension, and the degree of the increase depends upon the kinds of yarn used.2) The larger the knitting force, the shorter the length of the fabric loop.3) It is possible to calculate the yarn tension at the knitting zont in terms of the knitting force.4) The coefficient of yarn friction should be treated as a function of the position in the knitting zone when the values of the yarn tension are predicted according to Amonton's law.