Specially it is very helpful for Textile and Clothing related subject to know the principle of knitting technology

1. Principles of knitting Technology
 Basic elements of knitting:
There are three basic elements of knitting
 Needle
 Cam and
 Sinker
 The Needle:
The main element for intermeshing of loops is ‘the needle’. There are three types of
needles namely:
 Spring bearded needle
 Latch needle and
 Compound needle.

2.  Spring bearded needle:
The spring bearded needle made of steel wire consist of the
following parts:
 The Stem: The stem around which the needle loop is
formed.
 The Head: Where the stem is turned into a hook to draw
the new loop through the old loop.
 The Beard: Which is the curved downwards continuation
of the hook that is used to separate the trapped new
loop inside from the old loop as it slides off the needle
beard.
 The Eye or groove: Cut in the stem to receive the
pointed tip of the beard when it is pressed, thus
enclosing the new loop.
 The Shank or Butt: The butt serving to attach the needle
in the needle bar.

3.  Latch needle:
The latch needle contain the following parts:
 The Hook: The hook which draws and returns the new loop.
 The Latch: Freely rotating around the axle.
The Latch blade- This latch blade locates the latch
in the needle.
The Latch spoon- The latch spoon is an extension of
blade and bridges the gap between the hook and
stem.
 The stem: The stem of latch needle carries the loop in the
clearing or rest position.
 The Butt: Butt of latch needle enables the needle to be
reciprocated.
 The Tail: The tail is an extension below the butt giving
additional support to the needle and keeping the needle in its
trick.

4.  The Compound Needle:
The compound needle consists of two separate parts
 Stem
 Sliding latch

5.  The Cam:
Cam is the second primary knitting element. The cams are the mechanical
devices which convert the rotary machine drive into a suitable reciprocating
action for the needles.
The cams are of two types
 Engineering cam and
 Knitting cam
 Knitting cam: The knitting cams are divided in to three groups, such as
a) Knit cam
b) Tuck cam
c) Miss cam

6. Fig: Knit,Tuck & Miss Cam
At each yarn feed position there is a set of cams (mainly knit cam) consisting of at least a raising
or clearing cam, a stitch or lowering cam, guard cam and an up throw cam whose combined
effect is to cause a needle to carry out a knitting cycle if required.

8.  The Raising Cam/Clearing Cam:
The upward movement of the needle is obtained by that cam. The rising cam places the
needle at a certain level as it approaches the yarn area.
 The Stitch Cam:
Cams controlling the downward movement of the needles are called stitch cam. The stitch
cam draws the needle down below the knitting level, thereby drawing a new loop through the
old loop.
 The Guard Cam:
Guard cam keep the needle butts in their race-way.
 The Up throw Cam:
The up throw cam takes the needles back to the rest position and allows the formed loops to
relax.

9.  The sinker:
The sinker is the third primary knitting element. It is a thin metal plate with an
individual or a collective action operating approximately at right angles from the hook
side of the needle bed, between adjacent needles.
 Functions:
It may perform one or more of the following functions, dependent upon the
machine’s knitting action and consequent sinker shape and movement:
 Loop formation
 Holding-down
 Knocking-over

10.  Different important parts of the sinker:

11. Different types of Sinker

12.  Loop forming sequence of latch needle:

13.  Run–in: In the running position, the held old loop rests on the top of the
open latch.
 Clearing: Clearing occurs as the held loop slips of the latch and on the
stem as the needle moves upwards.
 Yarn feeding: A downwards movement enables the needle hook to engage
a new piece of yarn. This is known as feeding.
 Knock-over: As the needles continue downwards the latch is forced to
close under the influence of the held loop. Knock over occurs as the held
loop disengages from the needle.
 Loop pulling: Following knock over, the loop pulling occurs and a new knit
loop is formed. The needle must return now to the running position to
complete the cycle.
Control of the held loop is usually achieved by the use of sinkers.

14.  Loop forming sequence of spring bearded needle:

15. 1. The needle is in the (so-called) rest position, with the previously formed
loop (a) held on its stem and covered by the hook.
2. The loop is cleared from the needle hook to a lower position on the
needle stem.
3. The new yarn (b) is fed to the needle hook at a higher position on the
needle stem than the position of the previous (old) loop.
4. The yarn is formed into a ‘new’ loop.
5. The hook is closed by a auxiliary element known as presser, enclosing the
new loop and excluding and landing the old loop onto the outside of the
closed hook.
6. The new loop (b) is drawn through the head of the old loop (a).
Simultaneously the old loop slides off the closed hook of the needle and is
cast-off or knocked-over.
7. The old loop now hangs from the feet of the fully formed new loop and
the knitting cycle starts again.

16.  Sinkers Operation:

17. 1. The held loop is positioned in the throat of the sinker when the sinker
moves forward and the needle moves upward for clearing. The held loop is
held by the throat and hence its movement along the needle is restricted.
2. The sinker remains at its forward position when the needle attains its
clearing position.
3. The sinker retracts when the needle comes down after feeding. At this
stage, due to sinkers retraction, fabric or held loop is eased out. Also the
sinker belly supported the fabric or held loop and hence its movements
along the needle is prevented.
4. Sinker remains in backward position and the needle descends to its lowest
position drawing the new loop through the old one.
5. Before the needle ascends, the sinker moves forward to push the knitted
fabric a little and to hold the old loop away from the head of the needle
and to be in a position to control the fabric.

18.  Methods of Yarn Feeding:
There are two methods of yarn feeding:
 Moving the yarn past the needles
 Moving the needles past a stationary yarn feed position
When the yarn moves past the needles, the fabric will be stationary because
the loops hang from the needles. This arrangement exists on all warp
knitting machines.