Glove Knitting Machine

Overview

A glove knitting machine is a specialized circular knitting machine that produces complete five-finger gloves with integrated thumb and cuff, all on a single machine cycle. Unlike garment knitting machines, glove machines use a unique circular dial design with eight identical needle beds arranged radially. While the dial rotates, programmed cam-follower bars raise and lower sequentially, controlling which needle beds are active. This creates five distinct knitting zones per glove: thumb, four fingers, and palm/cuff.

The machine produces finished gloves ready for linking (seaming) and finishing. A typical cycle produces eight complete gloves every 3–10 minutes depending on glove size and pattern complexity.

How It Works

The machine's core is a rotating circular dial 800–1200 mm in diameter, with eight identical needle bed units positioned radially at 45-degree intervals. Each needle bed holds 36–48 latch needles, a sinker ring, and guides for yarn feed.

As the dial rotates slowly (1–3 rpm), each of eight glove-knitting stations passes through five distinct knitting phases, controlled by programmed cam-follower bars:

1. Thumb knitting: A separate thumb bar raises and lowers to activate only thumb needles. Yarn from the feeder feeds thumb needles while other zones are inactive.

2. Index finger knitting: The index finger bar raises, activating index finger needles. Yarn from feeder knits the index finger section.

3. Middle finger knitting: Separate bar for middle finger.

4. Ring and pinky knitting: Combined or separate bars depending on machine design.

5. Palm and cuff knitting: The palm bar controls the widest needle bed, knitting the palm area and cuff together.

The program cam disk is the master controller. Rotating once per dial revolution, its engraved pattern determines bar timing. Selector fingers ride the disk's slots and engage solenoids or mechanical linkages, raising and lowering follower bars in precise sequence.

Yarn from the creel (up to four colors for stripes or cuffs) feeds all needles continuously, but only active needles actually knit. Inactive needles hold stitches from the previous knitting phase. This allows five fingers and a palm to be knitted from a single continuous yarn path without breaking yarn between fingers.

When each glove reaches its designated removal station, a mechanical arm oscillates to strip the finished glove from the needle bed using a tube or mandrel, and the glove falls into a collection hopper or onto a peg board for staging.

Needle Bed and Stitch Formation

Each needle bed unit is a precision-cast iron block with:

• Needle slots: Machined grooves guiding needle stems (vertically mounted).
• Sinker wires: Low-friction wires guiding yarn into needles during stitch formation.
• Guides: Precision surfaces controlling yarn wrap angle.

The sinker ring is a precision ring with sinker pegs that move to open needles, allowing new yarn to enter and old loops to exit. As the dial rotates and needles rise and fall mechanically, the sinker ring moves in a circular path controlled by cams, orchestrating classic stitch formation.

Yarn Feeding and Color Control

The yarn feed creel holds up to four yarn cones. Yarn tension disks maintain constant tension (typically 0.5–2 kg per yarn). For multi-color gloves (e.g., white cuff, colored body), solenoids switch yarn paths: when thumb knitting, the feeder routes yarn through thumb nozzle; when palm knitting, yarn routes to palm zone.

The control drum (or microcontroller on digital machines) sequences yarn path switches synchronized with cam bar timing.

Machine Control

Mechanical machines use a program cam disk with engraved patterns determining bar sequence. Changing glove design requires physically swapping the cam disk, a process taking 30–60 minutes. This limits mechanical machines to fixed designs.

Digital glove machines use an embedded controller and stepper motors to control follower bar heights electronically. Design changes require only software reprogramming, enabling quick design switching.

Most machines feature stitch sensors detecting dropped stitches or yarn breaks. Upon detection, an alarm sounds and the machine stops to prevent defective gloves.

Glove Removal and Output

As each knitted glove reaches the removal station, the removal arm pushes or pulls a tube underneath the glove, lifting it off the needle bed. The tube or mandrel allows the glove to continue rotating briefly before the arm strips the glove onto a chute or peg board.

Eight gloves per revolution means a 1 rpm dial produces 8 gloves per revolution. If one complete cycle (all five fingers + cuff) takes 3 minutes, output is 160 gloves/hour. A 2 rpm machine doubles this to 320 gloves/hour.

Glove Design Variations

Different program disks produce different glove styles:

• Work gloves: Thick yarn, simple texture, reinforced palm.
• Dress gloves: Fine yarn, light weight, decorative cuff.
• Sport gloves: Elastic cuff, contoured fingers, anti-slip palm.
• Striped gloves: Multi-color yarn feeding creates horizontal stripes.

Finishing Operations

Gloves emerge from the machine with open cuffs and finger tips. Finishing includes:

1. Linking: Sewing the open finger tips or seams.
2. Cuff folding: Folding cuff down and hemming.
3. Pressing: Heat and pressure setting the final shape.
4. Inspection: Checking for defects, sizing, and pairing.

Large-scale glove factories integrate knitting, linking, and pressing in-line with high-speed machines producing 1000+ pairs/hour.