Abstract: Apparatus for picking up and moving tubular articles such as knitted stockings, comprising:--pneumatic means for picking up at least one article from a heap or container;--pneumatic means for moving the thus picked-up article(s);--means positioned in a first stopping station for holding the most forward portion of at least one article;--optical means for detecting the article portion which results further away from said first stopping station and associated buffer means to operate the retention thereof at a second station located intermediate between the station for picking up the articles and the stopping station;--mechanical means for holding the article in correspondence of a portion thereof at a preset distance from the end thereof being retained in said second station;--means for assessing the thickness of the article end being retained in said second station. (FIG. 1A).

Abstract: A modified needle with associated actuation elements or knitting the heel in circular stocking machines, comprising a first conventional selection heel and an elastic extension having a second heel that can be selected for forming the sock and stocking toe and heel, the respective actuation elements being distributed independently of one another along two corresponding annular bands of the cylinder arranged at different levels.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating knitted tubular articles having both ends open, wherein steps are provided for individually loading each article on a corresponding support hose in a toe-sewing machine, overturning said article on the relevant support hose and positioning it in a toe-sewing arrangement, sewing the toe along a line oriented according to a predetermined arrangement and unloading the article with the toe thus sewn, and wherein provision is made for carrying out--on the article supported by a respective hose and starting from the end opposite to the toe--a cut of predetermined length in a direction parallel to its longitudinal axis, upstream of the article-unloading station, in the same machine.

Abstract: A modified sub-needle with associated actuation elements for circular stocking machines, which is constituted by a lower sub-needle provided with a selection heel and by an intermediate sub-needle provided with an upper heel and a lower heel; the top of the lower sub-needle has a lower external region and an upper internal region for the resting of the base of the intermediate sub-needle; there is provided a first bolt cam for lifting the lower heel of the intermediate sub-needle which is adapted to selectively move the oscillating base of the intermediate sub-needle so that it rests in the lower external region or in the upper internal region of the lower sub-needle; and there is provided a second bolt cam for lowering the upper heel of the intermediate sub-needle; the selections and longitudinal movements performed by the intermediate sub-needle being suitable to reduce the longitudinal strokes required of the sub-needles and the angular extent of the bolt cams and of the selection cams.

Abstract: A single-cylinder circular knitting machine, including a needle cylinder and a circular plate that is arranged above the needle cylinder and coaxially thereto. The circular plate is constituted by two portions, one of which can rotate with respect to the other about a diametrical axis of the circular plate. An actuation device is also provided which acts on command on the portion of the circular plate that can rotate with respect to the other one, in order to move it from a first position, in which it is co-planar with respect to the other portion, to a second position, in which it is arranged so as to face the other portion from below, or vice versa.

Abstract: In a first step of the method for manufacturing socks with a single-cylinder circular knitting machine a needle cylinder is oscillated about its own axis with an oscillation angle of about 180.degree. to move half of the needle cylinder that faces a half-platen such that it passes in front of a feed of the machine. During these oscillations, engagement elements are extracted radially from the half-platen towards the needles of the machine, at least one thread dispensed at the feed, and lifting to the knitting position, at each oscillation, 1/n uniformly spaced needles of the mentioned half of the needle cylinder, varying the needles that are moved into the knitting position in the subsequent oscillation or oscillations, and lowering the needles after engaging the thread or threads, which rests on the engagement elements. A second step is then performed, during which the engagement elements are retracted towards the half-platen, retaining the thread or threads that rest thereon.

Abstract: Double-cylinder circular knitting machine for hosiery or the like. The machine comprises a lower needle cylinder having a substantially vertical axis and an upper needle cylinder that is arranged above and coaxially with respect to the lower needle cylinder. A plurality of axial grooves is formed in the skirt of the needle cylinders and each groove accommodates a double-beak needle that can move axially along the corresponding groove. In each one of the grooves there is a lower pusher, which is arranged below the needle and faces the lower head of the needle with its upper end, and an upper pusher, which is arranged above the needle and faces the upper head of the needle with its lower end.

Abstract: The magnetic selection ring has a ferromagnetic body defining a flange provided with recesses. Slots filled with diamagnetic material are provided in the recesses to form heads each accommodating the core of a respective release electromagnet. The selection ring is usable with selectors of the type provided with a shaped elastic portion, a lower heel, which is outwardly flexible for being affected by a lifting cam or inwardly retainable to avoid interference with the cam, and an upper heel, actuated by a lowering cam formed on the lower surface of a complementary ring for retaining the elastic portions of the selectors. The selectors have a lowermost tapering tab, which can be moved by a retraction cam into contact with the magnetic ring. When the tab is retained by the permanent magnets, the heel assumes the configuration for not interfering with the cam. The electromagnets are activatable for selectively releasing the selectors.

Abstract: The selector has a lower extension for retention by a fixed magnetic selection ring associated with a needle cylinder, and an upper shaped elastic portion for returning the lower portion of the selector towards the outside of a needle cylinder. A flat or inclined profile is defined uppermost on the selector for engagement with a correspondingly flat or inclined base of a sub-needle. A guide portion, having a longitudinal extension lying substantially parallel to the shaped elastic portion, is connected to the shaped elastic portion and is engageable with helical springs used for retaining selectors in needle cylinder grooves. The selector has an upper heel protruding therefrom at an opposite side with respect to said guide portion, and a lower heel extending parallel to the upper heel for engagement with a lifting cam.

Abstract: The thread cutting and aspiration unit has a vertical cutter supporting post which is shifted towards the axis of a toothed thread trimming disk. A cutting blade associated with each cutter is mounted at the end of a lower L-shaped portion of a corresponding supporting post. The L-shaped portion allows thread to pass beyond the cutter and to be cut by a following blade, so that a considerable length of thread can be aspirated by an aspiration port.

Abstract: A unit is disclosed for transmitting motion to the hosiery suction tube in a circular knitting machine of the type having a fixed supporting plate to which a cylinder support with a vertical axis, an internal hosiery passage tube that is coaxial to the cylinder support, and an underlying perforated tube are rotatably coupled. The unit has respective flanges rigidly coupled below the cylinder support and above the perforated tube and supporting respective pluralities of permanent magnets that are distributed in an annular fashion and constitute a magnetic coupling between the flanges for the rotary actuation of the perforated tube. A collar of a material that has high magnetic reluctance is arranged in the air gap formed between the rings of facing magnets and has a device for rotary coupling to the hosiery passage and a device for selective coupling to said flanges or to said fixed supporting plate for causing or stopping the rotation of the hosiery passage tube.

Abstract: A device for positioning thread guides in selectable points in a circular knitting machine, which has a unit for moving the thread guide closer or further away from the cylinder. The unit is a rod-and-crank system in which an intermediate region of the rod is slides guided with respect to a fixed slider. The end of the rod that supports the thread guide is adapted to move, as the crank is actuated, along a curved path from a spaced inactive position to an advanced thread delivery position. The unit is provided with elements for articulation to a fixed frame along an axis that is substantially parallel to the axis of the crank. An elastic return spring and an angular spacing piston are arranged between the unit and the frame and can be actuated selectively to move the thread position to different locations.

Abstract: A selection device for an elastic selector for needles in a circular knitting machine which includes, in an upward region, an elastic portion that is adapted to move the lower portion towards the outside of the cylinder and has a lower heel that is adapted to move outward into a position for engagement on the part of a lifting cam; the selector continues, in a downward region, with a tab that is adapted to be attracted and retained by a fixed annular permanent magnet which is arranged towards the inside of a cylinder and at which one or more electromagnets are mounted; the activation of the electromagnets is adapted to selectively release the selectors which are otherwise retained by the permanent magnet during the rotation of the cylinder.

Abstract: An impact protection device for a rod for positioning thread guides in a circular knitting machine. The thread guide has an approach and spacing unit formed of a rod and crank system. The end of the rod carries the thread guide and an intermediate region of the rod has a longitudinal slot which is slidably guided on a stud that is rigidly coupled to a fixed arm. The device has a compression spring mounted on the stud which presses the rod against the arm. Elastic elements mounted on a rod articulation pivot pus the rod against the crank. The spring and elastic elements allow small movements of the rod from the plane of arrangement of the path of the rod in case of impact with, or scraping against, another rod.