The invention relates to a crochet galloon machine needle, i.e., a floating stitch needle, that is specifically intended for use in a crochet galloon machine.
Crochet galloon machines are special machines for the production of textile webs such as, for example, bands or ribbons for belts, mattress bands, zipper bands, bands or ribbons for straps of, e.g., brassieres, elastic bandages, gauze bandages or the like.
A crochet galloon machine for the production of textile webs has been known, for example, from publications DE 44 17 692 A1 and DE 29 30 824 A1. The machine comprises a group of needles that are moved in synchrony back and forth in longitudinal direction, the end of each of said needles bearing a hook with resilient legs. The needles produce knitted or crocheted goods that consist, e.g., of small stitch wales or stitch loops that are also referred to as “closed fringe”. To accomplish this, a group of guide needles that are moved in synchrony first place at least one ground thread and, optionally, also an additional elastic thread. In addition, a thread guide is provided, said thread guide feeding an underlying so-called weft thread transversely with respect to the thread forming the stitch chain or inserting said weft thread in a back-and-forth moving manner. This weft thread binds itself in the stitch chains.
Such a crochet galloon machine requires high take-off forces in order to operate properly. The take-off forces pull the textile web away from the needles and thus stretch the half-stitches, that are still hanging in the needles, in order to provide enough room for the reliable insertion of the weft thread and in order to ensure that the newly formed stitches will not be thrown off. As the density of the good increases, the material take-off tension must be reduced in order to produce the small stitches that are necessary for high material density. Considering flat textiles displaying high material density, the distance of the stitch head of a produced stitch from the stitch ground of the half stitch in the needle hook is very small and, in some instances, almost equal to zero. This makes a reliable underlayment of the weft thread between the stitch head of the produced stitch and the stitch ground of the half stitch difficult. Depending on the pattern of the textile web that is to be produced, a weft thread may connect all the stitch chains or only a part of the stitch chains of a web. In the latter case, the weft thread is referred to as a partial weft thread.
Considering this, it is the object of the invention to provide improved systems components that enable the manufacture of textile webs with high material density in a reliable and consistent manner.