You are on page 1of 13

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology

Development of whole garment formed on four-bed computerized flat knitting


machine
Jiajia Peng, Gaoming Jiang, Honglian Cong, Xuan Luo, Yan Zhao,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Jiajia Peng, Gaoming Jiang, Honglian Cong, Xuan Luo, Yan Zhao, (2018) "Development of whole
garment formed on four-bed computerized flat knitting machine", International Journal of Clothing
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

Science and Technology, Vol. 30 Issue: 3, pp.320-331, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-07-2017-0105


Permanent link to this document:
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCST-07-2017-0105
Downloaded on: 07 August 2018, At: 12:53 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 12 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 5 times since 2018*
Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-
srm:215423 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald
for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission
guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as
well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and
services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for
digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.


The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0955-6222.htm

IJCST
30,3 Development of whole garment
formed on four-bed computerized
flat knitting machine
320 Jiajia Peng, Gaoming Jiang, Honglian Cong, Xuan Luo and Yan Zhao
Engineering Research Center for Knitting Technology, Ministry of Education,
Received 29 July 2017
Revised 16 January 2018 Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
Accepted 26 February 2018

Abstract
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

Purpose – The whole garment technology offers a solution for the production efficiency by directly knitting a
seamless tubular garment. Due to its complexity, high requirements and few references, the technology has not
been widely applied in mass production. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to show garment technology’s
detailed design method, the technique calculation process and its merits compared than common technology.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper first analyzes the knitting principle of the four-bed
computerized flat knitting machine from its configuration. After that, the design method is putted forward as
well as the technique calculation process. To reveal the advantages of the whole garment technology, this paper
builds a comprehensive evaluation system by comparing the knitting time, labor cost and the yarn consumption.
Findings – With the evaluation system, the whole garment technology is proved to be more productive,
cost-saving and less materials-consuming. Moreover, this advantage stands more out when the machine gage
is higher.
Research limitations/implications – Due to limited research time and references, this paper only presents
the whole garment technology for knitting common and traditional styles. More complicated and fashioned
garments can be studied in the future research.
Practical implications – The design method and technology presented in this paper can be used as a
reference for both the designers in the manufacture industry and the scholars for academic research works.
Originality/value – This paper has presented the whole garment technology and a specific method for
technique calculation with consideration of garment structures. It also builds a evaluation system to show the
advantages in terms of knitting efficiency, labor cost and yarn consumption.
Keywords Comprehensive evaluation, Four-bed flat knitting machine, Technical calculation, Whole garment
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The traditional knitwear is from cut and sew production to fully fashioned knitting. Cut and
sew production requires several post-knitting processes including cutting and sewing that
cause a great waste of materials. Fully fashioned knitting reduce cutting and sewing,
however, it requires binding processes because all the parts are knitted separately.
The binding processes is highly depends on labor. Because of the substantially increased
labor cost, it becomes a research hotspot to develop environmental and efficient knitting
technology. The whole garment technology creates one entire complete product without
binding or cutting and sewing operation. This innovative technology not only eliminates
subsequent labor work but also offers knitwear consumer more comfort and better fit by
eliminating seams ( Joel et al. 2011).
Since 1995, Shima Seiki launched their patented whole garment technology at ITMA, it has
been improved continuously, but there are still few research works on whole garment knitting.
For seamless flat knitting machines, Shima Seiki and Stoll are the leaders in machine
manufacturing (Choi and Powell, 2005). Several scholars have studied the basic formation
International Journal of Clothing
Science and Technology The authors wish to acknowledge the standard and mode of intelligent manufacturing, Ministry of
Vol. 30 No. 3, 2018
pp. 320-331 Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (1064130201160660), Innovation
© Emerald Publishing Limited fund project of CIUI (Cooperation amongst Industries, Universities & Research Institutes) Jiangsu
0955-6222
DOI 10.1108/IJCST-07-2017-0105 Province (BY2016022-09) and National Science Foundation of China (61602212).
method of whole garment (Mihai et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2013; Weihong, 2004; Choi and Four-bed
Powell, 2008). And Jenny Underwood (2009) explored knitting three-dimensional preforms computerized
suitable for fiber-reinforced composite structures utilizing whole garment technology. Further, flat knitting
Choi studied its dyeing properties and mechanical properties of the three different bound-off
methods (Choi and Powell, 2008, 2014). On the other hand, Peterson Joel (2012) studied mass machine
customization of whole garment knitting technology in combination with fashion logistics.
However, there was no research about the development of whole garment. 321
This paper shows key issues for development of whole garment, which could give the
production a guide. It first analyzes the knitting principle of the four-bed computerized flat
knitting machine from its configuration of needle beds, pull-down mechanism and yarn
feeding device. After that, it puts forward a design method for whole garment knitting, and
establishes the calculation methods of neck and sleeve technique according to the special
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

knitting technique of whole garment. Finally, it gives a comprehensive evaluation to whole


garment knitting from the aspects of knitting time, labor cost and yarn consumption.

Knitting principle
In order to achieve the narrowing or widening or to knit rib, alternate needle technique is
necessary when whole garment is knitted on V-bed flat machine. However, it can be knitted
without alternate needle technique on four-bed flat machine. As shown in Figure 1(a), the
machine is configured with four separate needle beds and an additional loop presser bed.
Front lower bed and back upper bed knit the front body, and back lower bed and front
upper bed knit the back body. Loop presser can lower yarn to make it easy for the needle to
fetch the yarn. In addition, front lower and back lower beds are applied during knitting of
plain stitch, and the upper beds should be used during rib knitting or loop transfer.
The machine has three-cam knitting systems that the first and third cam systems are
utilized to transfer loops and the second one is used to knit loops. The machine adopts slide
needle composed needle bar and tongue. Specifically, the front end of tongue has two blades
which make rib transfer process is especial. As shown in Figure 2(b), in the process the two
blades can carry the loop to traverse the needle head, and the needle of stitch reception rises
to hook the loop by passing through the middle of blades. Moreover, the stroke of slide
needle is smaller than that of latch needle, so the knitting speed is faster.
In order to take down the front body and back body, respectively, pull-down device of the
front body and back body are separated in the machine. The machine adopts digital stitch
control system with intelligence and dynamic tension control for main yarns, which can
control the yarn feeding quantity more accurately and make the loop density more uniform.

Design and technological calculation methods of whole garment


Design method of whole garment
The first step is to draw the shape of all parts as shown in Figure 2(a). The width of front
body is the same with back body and the sleeves are folded in half because they are

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.
Configuration for four-
bed computerized flat
knitting
Notes: (a) Four-bed structure; (b) knitting action; (c) pull-down device
IJCST (a) (b)
30,3

322
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

(c)

B
F
Figure 2.
Design of W
whole garment
Notes: (a) Version to design; (b) compression diagram; (c) pattern design

knitted according to the cylinder shape. The second step is to add different colors in
diagram according to the knitting technology of each parts. The diagram is identified
compression diagram, as shown in Figure 2(b), which represents different knitting
methods by different colors. Then, Packages are drawn to explain the knitting ways of
various colors in the compression diagram. The third step is to draw the pattern for front
and back body. As shown in Figure 2(c), W means the whole garment, F represents the
pattern of front body and B indicates the pattern of back body. Finally, the pattern is
unfolded on the way of one line in the compression diagram changing into two lines.
The odd-numbered line indicates. The pattern of front body, and the even-numbered line
indicates the pattern of back body.

Technological calculation
Calculation of neck technique. Neck is directly knitted in the knitting process of whole
garment, which uses alternate knitting way of front and back loops to realize the effect
similar to rib neck. The V-shaped part in the front is knitted with the front body. The back
neck is knitted after body pieces knitted and connected back body according to loop
transfer. As shown in Figure 3(b), the back neck is divided into part a1 and part a2. Part a1 is
knitted to make the neck joint lean back so that the garment is more beautiful. The neck
length lt knitted separately can be determined as follows:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

w1 2 w1
lt ¼ d1  þh21  2 þd2  ; (1)
w2 w2
(a) (b) (c) Four-bed
h1
a computerized
d2 d1 flat knitting
machine
a2

323

a1

Figure 3.
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

Neck technology of
set-in sleeve sweater
Notes: (a) V-neckline set-in sleeve sweater; (b) schematic diagram of knitting ways; (c) back body

where w1 means wales per unit length, w2 indicates courses per unit length, d1 represents the
horizontal length of back neck, h1 denotes the longitudinal length of back neck, d2 signifies
the horizontal length of straight part of back neck.
The neck of whole garment with raglan sleeve knitted is not only connected to the back
body but also linked together to the sleeve. As shown in Figure 4(b), parts b1 and b2 are
connected to the sleeve part in the front, parts c1 and c2 are connected to the sleeve part in
the back and neck of back body. The length of neck lr is calculated according to the
following equations:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
w1 2 2
lb ¼ q1  þk1  2; (2)
w2

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
   
w1 2 2 w1 2 2 w1
lc ¼ q2  þk2  2 þ q3  þk3  2 þq4  ; (3)
w2 w2 w2

(a) (b) (c) (d)


k2
k1 k3
c q2 q1 q4 q3
b b
c2

b2
c1
b1

Figure 4.
Neck technology of
Notes: (a) V-neckline raglan sleeve sweater; (b) schematic diagram of knitting ways; (c) sleeve; raglan sleeve sweater
(d) back body
IJCST lr ¼ lb þ lc; (4)
30,3
where lb represents the length of two sleeves connected to the front body, lc signifies the
length of neck connected to sleeves and back body.w1 means wales per unit length, w2
indicates courses per unit length. q1 means the horizontal length of sleeves in the front, q2
represents the horizontal length of sleeves in the back, q3 denotes the horizontal length of
324 back neck, q4 is the horizontal length of back neck. k1 indicates the perpendicular length of
sleeves in the front, k2 indicates the perpendicular length of sleeves in the back, k3 signifies
the longitudinal length of back neck arc. Furthermore, this paper supposes that the
horizontal length of neck connected to sleeves in the front is equal to the horizontal length in
the back. In other words, q1 is equal to q2.
Calculation of sleeve technique. Technical calculation should consider both the sleeve
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

structure and the joint with body piece because the sleeves and body piece of whole garment
are knitted at the same time. More specifically, a separate yarn feeder is used to knitting part
A of sleeve, and sleeve top and body are knitted with the same yarn carrier. The sleeve top
height is smaller than armhole depth, so this paper divides the cap into three parts (B, C and D)
according to different knitting techniques as shown in Figure 5. Part B with fast narrowing
is connected to section Y1 of armhole and the height of section Y1 is same to that of Part B.

Y3

D
Y2

B Y1

Figure 5.
Technical partition
of sleeve
Part C with slow narrowing is connected to section Y2 of armhole and the height of section Y2 Four-bed
is greater than that of part C that realizes according to partial technology. Part D is connected computerized
to section Y3 of armhole, only body is knitted decreasing, and sleeve is narrowing. The flat knitting
following equations are obtained according to the knitting technology:
machine
y ¼ y1 þy2 þy3 ; (5)
325
i ¼ ic þib ; (6)

ic ¼ ic1 þic2 ; (7)


Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

y1 ¼ i b ; (8)

y2 ¼ ic1 þic2  n1 ; (9)

y 3 ¼ x  n2 ; (10)
i is sleeve top height, ib is height of part B, and ic is height of part C. Part C is divided into
knitting two parts, one part ic1 contains the same lines with main body, and the other part ic2 is
in proportion to main body. n1 represents knitting proportion, such as the value is 2:4.
It means that sleeve is knitted two courses, and body is knitted four courses. y indicates the
armhole depth, y1 means the height section Y1, y2 signifies the height section Y2 and y3 denotes
the height section Y3. x is the width of part D, and n2 is the knitting proportion of part D, such
as the value is 4:3. It means that body is knitted four courses and the sleeve is three-needle
narrowing.
The height of parts ic1 and ic2 can be gained according to following equations:
ic1 ¼ iib ðyx  n1 iÞ=ðn2 1Þ; (11)

ic2 ¼ yðyx  n1 iÞ=ðn2 1Þ: (12)

Experiment
The development steps of whole garment are as follows. First, the style, size, raw material
and pattern effect are determined. Second, the sample is knitted, and a proper density is
determined. Third, design the pattern as is presented in Figure 2. Fourth, yarn test and
knitting are conducted in the machine. Then prototype sample is carried out. Modification is
conducted according to the practical requirements. Then the processes of steps 3 and 4 are
repeated, till the effect is realized.
This paper adopts a whole garment computerized flat knitting machine (Shima Seiki
four-bed flat machine MACH2XS153 E12) and the corresponding CAD system. The sample
selects V-neck whole garment with raglan sleeve. The specification of it is shown in Table I.
Its basic stitch was plain stitch. The raw material is 48 Nm/2 × 2 navy blue wool yarn, and
basic stitch is plain stitch. The finished density is 60 wales and 83 courses in 100 square
centimeters. According to Formula (1), the length of collar connected to back body is
128 courses. The cap height of this whole garment is 132 courses, and armhole depth is
214 courses. It sets that n1 is 4:3, n2 is 2:4 and x is 31 wales. According to Formula 5–12, ic1
is calculated 40 courses and ic2 is 22 courses.
Six yarn carriers were adopted in the knitting process, including yarn feeders 1, 4, 6 and
8 at the left side and yarn feeders 5 and 8 at the right side. Feeder 1 at the left side has main
IJCST yarn and stretch yarn, to knit rib set-up and make the set-up more compacted. Feeders 4 and
30,3 6 at the left side and Feeder 5 at the right side are used to knit left sleeve, main body and
right sleeve. Feeder 8 at the left side and Feeder 8 at the right side are used to knit rubber
yarn and drawn thread. As for the loop length values of main body, it is 4.4 mm in lower
beds and 4.2 mm in upper beds. As for the rib loop length, it is 4.6 mm in lower beds and
4.4 mm in upper beds. In the knitting process, main body was knitted at 1.2 m/s, and the
326 machine speed was reduced properly. After knitting was completed, waste yarns were
removed, thread residues were processed manually. It can be appareled after inspection,
washing and pressing. Plate 1 presents the whole garment.
This paper designed a contrast experiment to compare the knitting time and raw
material consumption of fully fashioned knitting and whole garment knitting. The neck of
whole garment was knitted with a special method, so a comparison was made on the
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

knitting time of whole garment with neck and whole garment without neck. The specimens
were knitted on E12 and E18. The speed of fully fashioned knitting is 1.0 m/s that is adopted
in factory production. The speed of whole garment knitting is 1.2 m/s because the stroke of
slide needle is smaller and knitting speed is faster.

Results and discussion


Analysis on the knitting efficiency of whole garment
Knitting time for multiple styles of whole garment and fully fashioned knitwear are shown
in Table II. Whole garment with set-in sleeve involves the joining shoulder seam technique
that takes a substantial amount of time in the knitting process. And knitting process does
not contain seam joining technique in the whole garment with raglan sleeve, so the same size
whole garment with raglan sleeve needs less knitting time. In fully fashioned knitting, as for
the same size, the sleeve length of set-in sleeve knitwear is less than that of raglan sleeve
knitwear, so fully fashioned raglan sleeve knitwear of the same size needs longer knitting
time. The following formula is used to calculate the increase of knitting efficiency e:
e ¼ ðt 1 t 2 Þ=t 1 ; (13)
where t1 represents the knitting time of fully fashioned knitwear, and t2 denotes the knitting
time of whole garment.
The increased knitting efficiency of different styles whole garment is shown in Figure 6
that all values are calculated according Table II. The knitting efficiency increase on E18 is
greater than that on E12 because lines on E18 are more than on E12 of the same style and
size knitwear. The efficiency increase of whole garment with raglan sleeve is greater than
the efficiency increase of whole garment with set-in sleeve for the reason that the time of the
joining shoulder seam technique is more than the raglan sleeve knitting time minus set-in
sleeve knitting time. The efficiency increase of V-neckline whole garment with collar is
greater than that of without collar, because the collar is knitted by the ways in Figures 3 and
4 and the knitting time is longer than the time of knitting neck separately for fully fashioned
sweater. Due to reducing half of the carriage turned back, the ways of flake plain stitch is

Part Length (cm)

Clothing long 72
Chest 56
Shoulder width 42
Neck drop 19
Table I. Sleeve length 65
Size of whole garment Sleeve width 21
Four-bed
computerized
flat knitting
machine

327
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

Plate1.
Whole garment

faster than tubular plain stitch for same size and the binding-off processes in the end of
round collar need more time. So the efficiency increase of round neckline whole garment
with collar is greater than that of without collar.

Analysis on labor hours of whole garment


According to the overall labor hours of sweaters, compared with whole garment, fully
fashioned sweater has to consider the time taken by linking process. In linking process,
careful alignment is required, and overlapping or drop-stitch are not allowed. Therefore, the
accuracy requirement is high and the workload is heavy. A skilled laborer often spends
about 12 min in linking pieces of fully fashioned knitwear knitted on E12, and 20 min in
linking pieces in E18 (Chunyan, 2007). The percentage p of labor reduction is calculated with
the following formula:

p ¼ ðt 1 t 2 þt s Þ=ðt 1 þt s Þ; (14)

where t1 represents the knitting time of fully fashioned knitwear, t2 denotes the knitting time
of whole garment and ts signifies the linking time. Figure 7 shows the percentage of labor
IJCST Knitting time of Knitting time of fully Knitting time of Knitting time of
30,3 whole garment fashioned knitwear whole garment fully fashioned
Style (E18) (E18) (E12) knitwear (E12)

V-neckline raglan sleeve


sweater with collar 46'14'' 59'18'' 31'29'' 36'23''
V-neckline raglan sleeve
328 sweater without collar 40'58'' 57'31'' 28'18'' 35'3''
V-neckline set-in sleeve
sweater with collar 47'49'' 54'27'' 32'34'' 33'42
V-neckline set-in sleeve
sweater without collar 44'15'' 52'38'' 29'41'' 32'29''
Round neckline raglan
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

sleeve sweater with collar 47'4'' 59'48'' 32'36'' 37'13''


Round neckline raglan
sleeve sweater without collar 41'33'' 57'57'' 28'39'' 36
Table II. Round neckline set-in sleeve
Knitting time of whole sweater with collar 49'56'' 55'25 33'14'' 33'48''
garment and fully Round neckline set-in sleeve
fashioned knitwear sweater without collar 44'39'' 53'3'' 32'58'' 32'27''

25.0
25 22.6 22.3
Increased knitting efficiency (%)

20 17.3 17.0
15.8
14.1 13.4
15

10 8.5
7.3
5.8

5 3.0

0
Figure 6. V-neck V-neck Round Round Raglan Set-in sleeve
Increased sweater with sweater neckline neckline sleeve sweater
knitting efficiency of neek without neek sweater with sweater with sweater
whole garment neck neck
E18 E12

reduction for multiple styles of whole garment of various styles that are gained according to
the knitting time and linking time. Higher machine gage means more labor hour reduction.
V-neckline whole garment with raglan sleeve can save the most labor hours, and raglan
sleeve whole garment can save more labor hours than set-in sleeve whole garment. During
recent years, there is a shortage of workers, and the labor cost increases, so whole garment
possesses obvious advantages.

Analysis on raw material consumption


According to Table III, compared with fully fashioned knitwear, whole garment reduces the
raw material consumption of main yarn on E18 by 1.9 percent, and decreases the consumption
during production on E12 by 4.5 percent; therefore, lower gage can save more raw materials.
Besides, fully fashioned will also consume suture lines in seaming. Hence, whole garment
reduces the consumption of not only knitting yearns but also suture lines.
45.0 41.5 41.0
39.5
Four-bed
38.8
40.0
34.6 35.8
33.8
37.5
34.0 34.8
computerized
33.5
flat knitting
Labor hour reduction (%)

35.0 31.9 31.4


28.7 28.2
30.0 27.6
machine
25.0

20.0
15.0
329
10.0
5.0
0.0
V-neckline V-neckline Round Round V-neck Round Raglan Set-in
raglan set-in sleeve neckline neckline sweater neckline sleeve sleeve
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

sleeve sweater raglan set-in sleeve sweater sweater sweater Figure 7.


sweater sleeve sweater Labor hour reduction
sweater of whole garment
E18 E12

Yarn Yarn
consumption of Yarn consumption consumption of Yarn consumption
whole garment of fully fashioned whole garment of fully fashioned
Style (g, E18) knitwear (g, E18) (g, E12) knitwear (g, E12)

V-neckline raglan sleeve


sweater with collar 142.42 145.68 197.474 202.93
V-neckline raglan sleeve
sweater without collar 140.04 144 195.22 201.03
V-neckline set-in sleeve
sweater with collar 138.945 140.98 188.284 196.575
V-neckline set-in sleeve
sweater without collar 135.942 136.852 186.143 194.841
Round neckline raglan
sleeve sweater with collar 144.493 146.368 194.165 204.986
Round neckline raglan
sleeve sweater without collar 142.157 145.065 191.161 201.635 Table III.
Round neckline set-in sleeve Yarn consumption of
sweater with collar 139.512 143.003 188.025 198.774 whole garment and
Round neckline set-in sleeve fully fashioned
sweater without collar 137.079 140.753 184.638 195.97 knitwear

Comprehensive assessment
The knitting method of whole garment has improved the production efficiency, reduced the
labor hours, shortened the work flow and reduced the raw material cost, but it still has
problems in many aspects. For instance, the cost of four-bed computerized flat knitting
machine is high, several times higher than that of a V-bed computerized flat knitting
machine. Besides, it is hard to maintain the machine the blades of tongue would be damaged
easily if dust or yarn hairiness enters the needle groove. The machine needs to be cleaned
every 8 h. Moreover, the needle is expensive and damaged easily. Nowadays, the price of
slide needle is six to eight times higher than that of tongue needles. Additionally, the
technology of whole garment is more difficult than the technology of fully fashioned
knitting, and the requirement for technologists is higher. At present, there are few people
skilled at technological design of whole garment, and few designers know how to design
whole garment. Therefore, it is hard to develop new styles.
IJCST The four-bed computerized flat knitting machine adopted by this paper has no problem in
30,3 the knitting of common knitwear and constructing patterns, but it cannot knit multiple-layer
fabric and double-faced jacquard which alternate knitting way is adopted, so the rib is looser
than that of traditional knitwear. When the knitting ways in Figures 3 and 4 are used to knit
the neck, the neck is thinner than that of fully fashioned knitwear. In view of the above
advantages and disadvantages of whole garment, we should select the optimum processing
330 method by weighing the advantages and disadvantages in practical production.

Conclusions
The four-bed flat knitting machine is greatly different from V-bed flat knitting machine in
the principle. This paper makes an analysis on bed configuration, knitting action of
needle, pull-down device and yarn feeding device, to explain why full-stitch knitting and
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

special-shape knitting of fully fashioned knitwear can be realized and why its knitting speed
is high and product quality is good.
The V-neckline whole garment needs to be knitted separately. In this paper, the
calculation method is given according to different segments of the main body. Moreover, it
tries to conduct calculation by dividing the set-in sleeve into different areas.
In this paper, product development is carried out for whole garment of multiple styles on
four-bed flat knitting E12, E18 machines and common flat knitting E12, E18 machines.
The knitting efficiency, labor hours and yarn consumption are analyzed, to gain the
following conclusions.
Whole garment has increased the knitting efficiency. The higher the flat knitting
machine gage is, the higher the knitting efficiency increase will be. The efficiency increase of
raglan sleeve whole garment is greater than the efficiency increase of set-in sleeve whole
garment, and the efficiency increase of knitwear with collar is lower than the efficiency
increase of knitwear without collar. The work flow of whole garment has reduced plentiful
labor hours. Flat knitting machine of higher gage can save more labor hours. Knitwear with
raglan sleeve can save more labor hours than knitwear with set-in sleeve. Whole garment
has reduced raw material consumption and suture lines, and lower gage can decrease more
raw material consumptions.
With limitations in the aspects of product style, development difficulty and talent
cultivation, whole garment cannot completely replace the processing method of fully
fashioning knitting. Therefore, it still has a long way to go in the future. Under the general
trend that the overall labor cost increases around the world; however, the processing mode
of whole garment is a development direction.

References
Choi, W. and Powell, N. (2005), “Three dimensional seamless garment knitting on V-bed flat knitting
machines”, Journal of Textile & Apparel Technology & Management, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 1-33.
Choi, W. and Powell, N. (2008), “The development of specialized knitted structures in the creation of
resist-dyed fabrics and garments”, Journal of the Textile Institute, Vol. 99 No. 3, pp. 253-264.
Choi, W., Kim, Y. and Powell, N. (2014), “An investigation of seam strength and elongation of
knitted-neck edges on complete garments by binding-off processes”, Journal of the Textile
Institute, Vol. 106 No. 3, pp. 334-341.
Chunyan, M. (2007), “Research and formulation of standard working hours for knitted sweater based
on industrial engineering”, Tianjin Polytechnic University, MD, pp. 65-79.
Joel, P. (2012), “Customisation of fashion products using complete garment technology”, Tampere
University of Technology, DD, pp. 19-27.
Joel, P., Jonas, L., Mujanovic, M. and Heikki, M. (2011), “Mass customisation of flat knitting Four-bed
fashion products: simulation of the co-design process”, Autex Research Journal, Vol. 11 No. 1, computerized
pp. 6-11.
Lee, I., Cho, K. and Kim, J. (2013), “The production process of whole garments and the development
flat knitting
case of knitwear- focused on the SWG-X machine”, Journal of Fashion Business, Vol. 17 No. 1, machine
pp. 81-93.
Mihai, P., Mirela, B. and Ramona, C. (2010), “Principle of creating 3d effects on knitted fabrics
developed on electronic flat knitting machines”, American Journal of Veterinary Research,
331
Vol. 66 No. 4, pp. 17-21.
Underwood, J. (2009), “The design of 3D Shape Knitted Preforms”, Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology University, DD, pp. 3-8.
Weihong, Z. (2004), “Theory and process of the whole knitted wear on the computer computerized flat
Downloaded by Swinburne University of Technology At 12:53 07 August 2018 (PT)

knitting machine”, Knitting Industries, No. 5, pp. 48-50.

Further reading
Lin, H., Guangli, S. and Haibin, G. (2015), “An analysis on fully-fashioned garment knitting process of
domestic computerized flat knitting machine”, Knitting Industries, No. 9, pp. 12-16.
Yang, S. and Love, T. (2008), “Integrated system for fashion design using computerized wholegarment
knitwear production.

Corresponding author
Gaoming Jiang can be contacted at: jgm@jiangnan.edu.cn

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

You might also like