Warp Knitting :

1. Warp knitting is defined as a loop forming process in which yarn is fed into

knitting zone , parallel to fabric selvedge .

2. In warp knitting , fabric is made by forming loops from yarns coming in parallel

sheet form run in the direction of fabric formation . ( warp beam like in

weaving )

3. So that warping process is essential for warp knitting .

4. Every needle is fed by a separate yarn for loop formation . In order to connect

the loops into a fabric , the yarns are shifted between the needles .

5. All the yarns will be knitted in course simultaneously.

6. For the purpose of shifting yarn , guide will be used.

Warp knitting machines are flat and comparatively more complicated than weft
knitting machines.

Basic Warp Knit Structure :

Knitting Elements:

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Needles and needle bar :

1. In a warp knitting , all the loops in a course are made simultaneously . (vice

versa to weft knitting )

 2. So that instead of giving motion to individual needles , all the are connected to

bar is called needle bar .

3. It will be lifted up and lowered down by means of a cam fitted outside the

machine.

4. Mostly in the warp knitting machines bearded and latch needles will be used.

Pressure Bar :
1. Its essential when the warp knitting machine using bearded needles for

closing the hook of the needle.

2. When the hook is closing , the old loop will be cast-off from the needle.

Sinker and Sinker Bar :

1. The sinker is thin plate of metal which is placed in between two needles .

2. The sinkers are almost have forward and backward direction through the

sinker bar .

3. The sinkers were driven by crank or eccentric arrangement .

4. The throat of the sinker will be used to holding the fabric while the needles

lifted up

Guide and Guide Bar :

 1. Guides are the metal plates drilled with a hole in their lower end.

2. The guides are held together at the upper end in a metal is called guide bar.

The guides are placed in between two adjacent needles .

3. Guides are evenly spaced , similar to the gauge of the machine.

Knitting Terms :
Over lap :
       Loop formed by the yarn is called overlap.
Under lap:
        Length of yarn connecting the loops is called underlap. Otherwise two
successive over lap connected by the yarn , that length of yarn is called underlap.
Open lap :
      Its formed when the over lap and next under lap is formed in the same direction.

Closed lap :
     It is formed when the over lap and the following under lap is formed in the
opposite direction .

GUIDE BAR MOVEMENTS  :

    1 . In order to feed the yarn to the needle for loop formation as well as to connect
the adjacent wales , the guides of a guide bar are required to execute a compound
lapping movement .
    2 . There two two movements of guide bar in a knitting machine.
         Swinging movement
         Shogging movement
    3 . The swinging and shogging motion act at right angle to each other in order to
form overlap and underlap .
    4 . The swinging motion of guides takes place either from front of the needles to
back or back of the needles to front . it is in arc and it occur between adjacent
needles .

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    5 . The motion will be derived from the main cam shaft and it passes motion to
guide bar via levers , pivots and linkages .
    6 . The one end of the guide bar arm is lifted up and lowered down , the other end
of the same connected to the rocking shaft causes angular movement on the rocking
shaft .
     7 . Due to the angular movement of the rocking shaft , the guide bar arm also
move front and back and vice versa .Ultimately the swinging motion of guide bar will
be achieved .

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    8 . The shogging movement of guide bar is the lateral movement of guides which
is parallel to the needle bar. The shogging motion of guides either left to right or right
to left.
    9 . The extent of shog may vary from cycle to cycle .
   10 . The occurrence , direction , timing and extent of each shog is separately
controlled for each guide bar by using pattern chain links or pattern wheels . ( such
as similar to pattern cylinder in dobby loom )
    11 . We can use more than one guide bar .
    12 . When using more than guide bar , it gives new option for designing .
     13 . Underlap will be decided by the guide bar movement .
     14 . The guide bar motion is expressed in terms of needles . ( one needle
movement , two needle movement )
     15 . When two guide bars have different motion during the knitting cycle the let
off mechanism for both will be different . because yarn consumption will be vary.

 Applications:

Composite reinforcements (Sandwich-constructions)

Container
Tanks
Boats
Aircraft
Sport shoes
Medical textiles and Mattress

Geotextiles Application

Geotextiles are permeable textile materials which are designed for use in

civil engineering applications such as erosion control, soil reinforcement,

separation, filtration and drainage etc. Geotextiles are forecast to be the

fastest growing sector within the market for technical textiles. At least

70% of all geotextile fabrics fall into the category of nonwoven

geotextiles and at least 25% are woven both warp knitted and weft knitted

structures are used in the manufacture of geotextiles.

Warp knitting is well established in this area and an extremely wide range

of structures spanning from nets and grids to monoaxial, biaxial, triaxial,

multiaxial as well as composite and three-dimensional spacer materials

are all used as geotextiles. Grid shape structures grip the soil more

effectively than plain smooth fabrics. Also, for extremely high

performance and critical applications � such as land reclamation,

construction of high walls and water reservoir embankments � high

strength (up to 1000 k N m-1) biaxial raschel structures are more suitable.

These fabrics have high strength, low extensibility, and high modulus,

above all, high tear strength.

A new and novel technology has been developed and commercialised at

Bolton Institute, which enables the manufacture of monoaxial and biaxial

specialist natural fibre geotextile structures for soil reinforcement. The

technology is based on flat knitting, in which high strength coarse and

hairy natural fibre yarns such as sisal, coir etc can be inlaid in the machine

or cross, or both directions and incorporated within a knitted structure

made from jute, flax and other natural fibre yarns, such as cotton, viscose,

Tencal, wool etc.

Warp Knitted Fabric is used for many types of sectors and applications.
Such as:

 Inner wears (brassieres, panties, camisoles, girdles, sleepwear, hook &

eye tape.)
 Apparel (sportswear lining, track suits, leisure wear and safety reflective
vests.)
 Household (mattress stitch-in fabrics, furnishing, laundry bags,
mosquito nets, fish nets.)
 Shoes (inner lining and inner sole lining in sports shoes and industrial
safety shoes.)
 Automotive (car cushion, head rest lining, sun shades and lining for
motorbike helmets.)
 Industrial (pvc/pu backing, production masks, caps and gloves (for the
electronic industry.)

Warp Knitting
Warp Knitting Manufacture

Warp knitting is the least common form of knitting. Instead of the

stitches running horizontally across the knitted piece of fabric, like in weft
knitting, they run vertically down the fabric. They are knitted in
continuous widths, meaning that long pieces of fabric are made and then
the garments are cut out, much like it would be done with a woven piece
of fabric. It is the most complex form of knitting; this is why it is seldom
used. Warp knitting requires the use of a machine, it cannot be done by
hand.

Warp knitting is generally used for knitting fibres such as Aramid, Carbon
and glass as it puts less pressure on them and uses more careful handling
than weft knitting. It is the fastest method of producing fabrics from
yarns as one of the main differences from weft knitting is that each
needle has its own yarn which produces a zig zag chain, these chains are
then all interlinked to produce a fabric, bu this does mean that the width
of the fabric cannot be increased or decreased like it can with weft
knitting. Warp knitting is useful because it can process many different
yarns that regular knitting machines cannot such as staple, filament,
combed and carded. Warp knitting machines can also be used to make
pile fabrics.

Warp knits include Raschel knit and Tricot.

Properties of Warp Knitting

 Less elastic than weft knitting
 More run resistant than weft knitting
 Denser than weft knitting
 Less likes to become misshapen that weft knitting
 Type and weight of yarn dictates the type of fabric that is
produced
 Warm to wear
 Comfortable
 Usually soft and drapey
 Curls at the edges
 Easy to sew

End Uses of Warp Knitting

 Historically used for blouses, lingerie and gloves
 Tricot is often used for underwear
 Often used as an unlined material for jackets, coats and skirts
and dresses
 Lace fabric and trimmings
 Warp knitted fabrics have several industrial uses, including producing
mosquito netting, tulle fabrics, sports wear, shoe fabric, fabrics for printing
and advertising, coating substrates and laminating backgrounds. [13]
 Research is also being conducted into the use of warp knitted fabrics for
industrial applications (for example, to reinforce concrete), and for the
production of biotextiles.
 The warp knitting process is also being used to create biotextiles. For
example, a warp knitted polyester cardiac support device has been created to
attempt to limit the growth of diseased hearts by being installed tightly around the
diseased heart. Current research on animals "have confirmed that … the
implantation of the device reverses the disease state, which makes this an
alternative innovative therapy for patients who have side effects from traditional
drug remedies".

1The compoundneedle warp knitting
machine
Last Updated on Wed, 16 Dec 2020 | Practical Guide

After its introduction in 1946, the two guide bar British-built FNF tricot machine with its tubular
compound needles (Section 3.16) became, for 10 years, the pacemaker of the industry, with its
speed of 1000 courses per minute being more than twice that of contemporary bearded needle
machines. It also incorporated many new features such as double eccentric element drive,
positive warp let-off, light spring warp tension rails, and carefully-balanced machine parts.
However, it required precise setting-up, its pattern scope was limited, and needles and other parts
were expensive.

In 1965 the FNF Company ceased production, having failed to improve their machine in the face
of increasing competition from high-speed bearded needle tricots with single eccentric drives
built by the West German companies of Liba and Karl Mayer. The East German Kokett concern,
however, continued its production of compound needle tricot machines.

In 1967 Liba, in a bid to increase production speeds, introduced a new design open-stem
compound needle into both raschel and tricot machinery and by the mid 1970s Karl Mayer was
pursuing a similar policy.

Now, the compound needle is employed in most high-speed warp knitting machines, excluding
double needle bar raschels. Its short, simple action enables 3300 cpm to be achieved without the
problems of metal fatigue and loop distortion associated with latch and bearded needles.

The open stem needle is simpler, cheaper and more adaptable than the FNF tube needle, having
individually replaceable hook members and a wider open hook.

The designs of the other elements are similar to those in conventional machines except that the
tricot sinkers have flat bellies because the compound needle does not require assistance in
landing the old overlap.

The hook members are individually mounted in their bar whilst the tongues are set in leads that
are mounted in the tongue bar.

24.4.1 The knitting action of the compound needle warp knitting machine

Figure 24.7 illustrates the knitting action of a compound needle warp knitting machine:
1 Needle rise and guide bar swing. With the sinkers forward holding down the fabric, the hooks
and tongues rise, with the hook rising faster, until the head of

Fig. 24.7 Knitting action of a compound needle tricot machine.

the latter is level with the guide holes and is open. The guides then swing through to the back of
the machine.

2 The overlap and return swing. The guides shog for the overlap and swing to the front of the
machine; immediately, the hooks and the tongues start to descend with the tongues descending
more slowly, thus closing the hooks.

3 Landing and knock-over. The sinkers start to withdraw as the needles descend so that the old
loop is landed onto the closed hook and then knocked-over as it descends below the sinker belly.
At this point the underlap occurs before the needles begin their upward rise and the sinkers move
forward to hold down the fabric.

The Karl Mayer tricot model HKS 2-3 E is designed to knit elastic fabrics and has a maximum
speed of 3300cpm with reduced noise levels and energy consumption. The vertical staggered
arrangement of the guide bars enables the stroke to be reduced. The bars are hollow section
which reduces their weight and expansion due to heat.

Experiment Name: - Study on the Tricot warp knitting

machine. 

Introduction:

The warp knitting machine is a knitting m/c where the loops are formed in course wise
direction and the fabric produced is in open width form. In Tricot warp knitting m/c
compound needles are used. The warp yarns are feed to the needles through guide
bars using shogging and swinging motion.
 Objectives:

      To identify with tricot Warp knitting machine.

      To know the machine specification.
      To learn the feature of this machine.
      To know the different parts of this machine.
      To know the machine mechanism.
      To learn the knitting actions of this machine.

M/C specification:

Brand: LIBA
Origin: W. Germany
Manufacturing Company: MASCHINEN FABRIK, NAILA.
Manufacturing Year: 1991
Width: 84 inch/ 213 cm
Type: COP 2K
Gauge: 28

Features of tricot machine:

1)    Tricot machines have a gauge expressed in needle per inch.

2)    Chain link numbering 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 …………etc.
3)    Generally with three links per course.
4)    Their sinker are joined to each other at the front and back, never move clear of the
needles as they combine the functions of holding down, knocking over, and supporting
the fabric loops.
5)    The fabric is drawn-away towards the batching roller almost at right angles to the needle
bar.
6)    The warp beams are accommodated in an inclined arc toward the back of the machine,
with the top beam supplying the front guide bar and the bottom beam supplying the
back guide bar.
7)    The warp sheets pass over the top of the guide rocker shaft to their tension rails
situated at the front of the machine.
8)    The machines have a simple construction and a short yarn path from the beams.
9)    Mechanical attention to the knitting elements is carried out at the front of the machine as
the warp beams prevent access to the back.
10) The entire warp sheets are drawn over the rocker shaft to the front of the machine it is
easier to thread up the guide bars connecting with the back bar; otherwise the front
warp will obscure this operation.
11) The guide bars are therefore numbered from the back towards the front of the machine
because of this threading sequence.
12) The conventional tricot beam arrangement generally restricts the maximum number of
beam and guide bars to four, but this is not of major importance as the majority of tricot
machines employ only two guide bars.
13) The small angle of fabric take away and the type of knitting action produce a gentle and
low tension on the structure being knitted.
14) This is ideal for high speed production.
15) It is a simple, fine gauge (28-44), close knitted, p[lain and patterned structures,
particularity for lingerie and apparel, specially using two guide bar structures with both
bar over lapping and under lapping.
16) In the past, the two guide bar tricot or lock knit machine proved most particular in E28
and E32 gauge, with knitting widths of 84 and 168 inches (213 and 426 cm) using 40
denier nylon.
17) It is possible to knit from 10 denier nylon up to 1/20’s cotton count. Machine gauges can
range from E10 for coarse staple fiber yarn to E20-E24 for textured yarn fabrics and
E36-E44 gauge for fine fabrics, in knitting widths up to 260 inches (660 cm).
18) The needles, like the sinkers and guides, may be cast in leads or they may be
individually cranked to fit into the needle bar.

Fig: Tricot warp knitting machine.

Knitting Action:

1. The rest position: The needles have risen to 2/3 of their full height from knock-over
and have their hooks towards the back of the m/c. The latch bar is in downward position
and the guides are at the front of the m/c with the sinkers forward, holding the old
overlaps in their throats so that they are maintained in the correct height on the needle
stems.

2. Needle rise and guide bar swing: With the sinkers forward holding down the fabric,
the hooks and tongues rise, with the hook rising faster, until the head of the latter is
level with the guide holes and is open. The guides then swing through to the back of the
m/c.

3. The overlap and return swing: The guide’s shog for the overlap and swing to the
front of the m/c immediately. The hooks and the tongues start to descend with the
tongues descending more slowly, thus closing the hook.

4. Hook closing: The hooks and the tongues start to descend with the tongues
descending more slowly, thus closing the hook

5. Landing: The sinkers start to withdraw as the needles descend so that the old loop is
landed onto the closed hook. Thus the landing is occurred.

6. Knock-over and under lap: The sinkers start to withdraw as the needles descend so
that the old loop is landed onto the closed hook and then knocked over as it descends
below the sinker belly. At this point the under lap occurs before the needles begin their
upward rise and sinker move forward to hold down the fabric.

7. Go to rest position: The sinkers now move forward to hold down the fabric loops
and push them away from the ascending needles, which are rising to the rest position.

Conclusion:

The knitting action of the Tricot warp knitting m/c is done by the needles, its sliding
latches and the guide bars. The main work of feeding the thread around the needle is
done by guides with their shogging and swinging motions. By this experiment we
learned about the knitting action of a tricot warp knitting machine. This experience will
help us in our future career.

Structural modifications commonly used in

weft and warp knitting
Last Updated on Fri, 18 Dec 2020 | Practical Guide

Certain techniques are possible during the knitting action that can radically change the physical
appearance and properties of a knitted construction without seriously affecting the cohesive
nature of the loop structure. These techniques may be broadly divided into four groups - laying-
in, plating, open-work and plush/pile. Although these techniques can be achieved on most
knitting machines, slight modifications are often necessary and the more sophisticated versions
of these techniques may require specially-designed knitting machines.

6.8.1 Laying-in

Inlaid (or laid-in) fabric consists of a ground structure of knitted or overlapped (warp knitted)
threads that hold in position other non-knitted threads which were incorporated (laid-in) into the
structure during the same knitting cycle.

An inlaid yarn is never formed into a knitted loop, although in weft knitting, when using only
one bed of needles, it is necessary to form the inlay yarn into occasional tuck stitches in order to
hold it in the technical back of the structure.

When weft knitting with two sets of needles, or when overlapping on the front guide bar of a
warp knitting machine, it is possible to introduce the inlaid yarn into the structure merely by
supplying the yarn across the backs of the needles (the front of the machine) in order to trap the
yarn in the fabric.

Inlaid yarns are trapped inside double needle bed fabrics by the loops or overlaps; and towards
the back of single needle bed fabrics by the sinker loops or underlaps.

Dependent upon the fabric construction and the types of yarns employed, laying-in may be used
to modify one or more of the following properties of a knitted structure: stability, elastic stretch
and recovery, handle, weight, surface 'interest', and visual appearance.

Laying-in offers the possibility of introducing fancy, unusual, and/or inferior or superior yarns
whose physical properties such as thickness (linear density, count), low strength, irregular
surface or cross-sectional area, elasticity or lack of elasticity render them difficult to knit into
intermeshed loops. An inlay yarn may have a yarn count that is 6-8 times heavier than the
optimum count for that machine type and gauge when operating under normal knitting
conditions.

Laying-in yarn carriers or feeder guides may be of the conventional type or they may be
specially designed for their function and the type of yarn; the ground yarn is knitted normally as
for any structure. An inlay yarn normally assumes a relatively straight configuration, with hardly
any reserve of yarn to distort or flow towards an area of the fabric under tension. It therefore
requires less yarn than for knitted loops and tends to confer stability unless an elastomeric yarn is
used, in which case the elastic stretch and recovery properties of the fabric will be improved.

6.8.2 Weft insertion

Weft insertion is a special type of laying-in where the yarn is laid onto special elements that, in
turn, introduce it to the needles at the correct moment during the knitting cycle, instead of the
yarn guide laying the yarn directly into the needles.
Although the possibility exists for introducing both weft and warp threads into either weft knitted
or warp knitted fabrics during knitting, many attempts at this technique have failed to produce
viable alternative structures as regards cost, design or end-use properties to effectively compete
against woven structures [2-5].

In warp knitting, laying-in is achieved even on single needle bar machines by omitting the
overlap movement and merely underlapping on the inlay guide bar. Provided the inlay guide bar
is always behind a guide bar that is overlapping the front guide bar, overlaps and underlaps will
trap the inlay underlaps into the technical back of the structure (Fig. 27.1).

When weft knitting with one set of needles, it is not possible to lay-in a yarn by merely
traversing a yarn carrier across the backs of the needles because the yarn will not be trapped by
the sinker loops of the knitted loops. The inlaid yarn must occasionally pass across the hooks of a
needle to form a tuck stitch and thus hold itself into the structure.

6.8.3 Plating

A plated structure contains loops composed of two (or more) yarns, usually with differing
physical properties. Each has been separately supplied through its own guide or guide hole to the
needle hook, in order to influence its respective position relative to the surface (technical face
and technical back of the fabric).

Plating (as an all-over effect or on selected stitches) may be used to produce surface interest,
coloured patterns, open-work lace or to modify the wearing properties of the structure.

Perfect plating, so that the underneath yarn does not show or 'flash' onto the surface, is difficult
to achieve with yarns that have a circular cross-section and variable physical properties. It is
essential to control yarn tension, angle of feed and the already-formed loops throughout the
whole knitting cycle. If the two yarns are of similar count, they should be approximately half the
normal yarn count for that gauge of machine.

As the yarns slide along the underside of a normally-curved needle hook, they may roll over each
other and thus destroy their plating relationship; for this reason, needles with specially shaped
hooks for plating are often employed.

The basic rule of plating is that the yarn positioned nearest to the needle head shows on the
reverse side of the needle loop and therefore shows on the surface of the technical back (Fig.
6.9). The second yarn is in a lower position and tends to show on the face stitches of weft- and
warp-knitted structures (Figures 6.10 and 6.11). The second yarn will be prominent on the
surface of face loops on both sides of rib fabrics unless it is tucked ('tuck plated') by the second
set of needles. In purl fabrics, face stitches will show the second yarn and reverse stitches the
first yarn.

In single jersey plating, the yarn for the technical back is fed at a low angle across the open
latches from a hole drilled vertically in the feeder guide. The face yarn is fed at a sharp angle
above it into the open hooks from a hole drilled horizontally into the side of the guide. As the
latches close, the back yarn is lifted into the hook above the face yarn, thus ensuring the correct
plating relationship in the fabric.

In tricot warp knitting, many fabrics are knitted where two guide bars simultaneously overlap the
same needle in opposite directions and thus produce a plated structure. The front guide bar
threads strike the needle stems first and at a lower

Technical back

Technical back

Fig. 6.9 The plating relationship of two yarns.

Fig. 6.10 Plating in weft knitting.

Fig. 6.11 Plating in warp knitting.

level during the return swing after the overlap, so they tend to plate on top on the technical face.

This relationship may, however, be upset if the two guide bars overlap in the same direction,
because the back guide bar threads then tend to slide over the front bar threads and thus assume a
lower position on the needle.

Normally the front guide threads also show on the technical back, as well as the front, because,
as the underlaps emerge from out of the head of the previous loop, they are laid on top of the
new overlaps in turn and the front bar underlap (black) is laid down last (Fig. 6.11).

6.8.4 Open-work structures

Knitting is noted for its production of open-work as well as close structures.

A close structure is one where the stitches provide a uniform cover across the fabric and hold the
wales securely together. An open-work structure has normal securely-intermeshed loops but it
contains areas where certain adjacent wales are not as directly joined to each other by underlaps
or sinker loops as they are to the wales on their other side. The unbalanced tension causes them
to move apart, producing apertures at these points. The arrows in Fig. 6.12 indicate the
movement of adjacent wales towards each other at points where they are most securely joined
together, thus producing an aperture on the other side of the wale.

Semi-transparent structures are produced in a similar manner but, instead of having apertures,
there is less yarn crossing between the wales than elsewhere and this provides less cover at these
points ('float plating', Section 9.5).

Semi-breakthrough or honeycomb structures have certain yarns that produce an open-work effect
whilst others produce an all-over close structure, so that the aperture is closed on one side of the
fabric.

Open-work apertures may be a number of courses in depth and, as a result of tension distortion
within the structure, they may cause adjacent wales to be considerably further apart than the
actual distance between two adjacent needles during knitting.

Fig. 6.12 The movement of loops to form open work.

In weft knitting only, open-work structures may be produced by the introduction of empty
needles and/or by using special elements to produce loop displacement. An alternative technique
is by selective press-off of fabric loops.

Open-work structures are used for fancy laces and nets for dresswear, underwear (Fig. 6.13),
nightwear, lingerie, sportswear, linings, blouses and shirts, drapes and curtains, and industrial
fabrics.

6.8.5 Plush and pile constructions

Although the terms 'plush' and 'pile' originally referred to specific woven structures, they are
often used synonymously today in referring to a very wide range of weft and warp knitted
constructions.

The essential difference between a plush and pile structure is that the pile is normally composed
of a different type of yarn and should stand out almost at right angles from the knitted ground
surface whereas the plush has neither of these characteristics. Both plush and pile surfaces may
consist of either cut or uncut loops of yarn and, in the case of high pile, slivers of fibres instead
of yarns are used. Generally, the production of pile fabrics tends to be a very specialized
technique for both knitting and finishing. One or more of the following techniques is normally
involved in the production of the two types of fabric - special points or other elements in the
knitting machine, excess feeding of the pile yarn, and raising or brushing of the pile surface
during finishing.

Although a certain amount of double-faced pile fabric is produced, the majority of plush and pile
fabric has its surface effect on the technical back of single-faced constructions, with the sinker
loops or underlaps being used to produce the effect. A variation of this technique is to use a
double needle bar machine, pressing off on the second set of needles to produce the pile surface.
Yet another method is to employ a double needle bar raschel to knit two separate ground
constructions, one on each needle bar, each with its own yarns, and to supply a pile yarn across
between the needle bars. The pile is later cut to separate the two ground fabrics and thus produce
two single-sided cut pile fabrics.
 Fig. 6.13 Bra and briefs made from elastic raschel lace fabric. Note also the scalloped, elasticated
edge trimmings [Dupont 'Lycra'].

Continue reading here: Introduction