Method for manufacturing closed end tubular items, in particular hosiery, on a circular knitting machine

Abstract

The method consists in forming a tubular item on a circular machine by means of the needles of the needle cylinder, starting from the opposite axial end of the item with respect to the axial end to be closed and retaining on the needles of the needle cylinder the last formed row of knitting. The loops of the last row of knitting are then transferred individually to an auxiliary element provided with supporting elements for individually supporting the loops, and the supporting elements of at least one first half-row of the last row are suitable to receive two loops and to pass one of the two loops in the other loop. The item is furthermore reversed before and after the transfer. In a subsequent step, the loops of the second half-row are transferred from the corresponding supporting elements to the supporting elements engaged with the loops of the first half-row, and the loops of the second half-row are knitted in with the loops of the first half-row by passing the loops of the second half-row through the loops of the first half-row, thus closing the axial end of the item. Finally, an additional operation is performed in order to stabilize the closure of the item.