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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 Schch 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 / Schch

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 /Schch. 3., ed. Bamberg : Meisenbach, 2004
Dt. Ausg. u.d.T.: Iyer, Chandrasekhar: Rundstricken
ISBN 3-87525-066-4
NE: Mammel, Bernd; Schch, 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

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

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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