A Novel Positive Yarn-feed System for Flat-bed Knitting Machines

A novel positive yarn-feed mechanism is described which is used to regulate the length of the stitches produced by a flat-bed knitting machine. The feed system comprises a servo-controlled yarn delivery drum that is used in conjunction with yarn-tension transducers in order to deliver precise lengths of yarn to the knitting zone. The length of yarn required at each stage of the knitting process is calculated by a personal computer and this information is transmitted to the feed-drum servo during the knitting process. Under a number of different operating conditions, the yarn delivery was found to vary by less than 1.2%.