Latch Needle:
The needle is the most important and essential part of a knitting machine. The needle which have a right hook and easily around the axis is called latch needle. Pierre Jeandeau patented the first latch needle (also known as the tumbler needle) in 1806 but there is no evidence of its practical use. There is also no evidence that the pivoting of a broken pocket knife blade led to the development of the latch spoon. Generally, machine manufacturers prefer to use the latch needle for their machines. The latch needle is self-actuating and no auxiliary part is required.
A latch needle (Figure 1) is made up of the hook, the latch, the stem, and the butt. The hook is designed to catch feed yarn from a supply package and pull it close to the wale line supported by the needle and subsequently pull it through, either from the back or from the front of the wale line. The latch is a freely fulcrummed body, which can swing up and down about a rivet mounted suitably on the needle. The rivet passes through the base of the latch, which is slotted in a groove on the needle body. The free end of a latch ends in a spoon-like object that is designed to securely enclose the outer surface of the tip of the needle hook when the latch is located at its uppermost position.
Spring Bearded Needle:
The flexible hooked loop holder which is capable of enclosing the newly formed loop in order to draw it through the previously formed is called bearded needle. As mentioned previously, the bearded or spring needle was the first type of needle to be produced. It was invented by William Lee in England in 1589. It is the cheapest and simplest type to manufacture as it is made from a single piece of metal, in machine gauges as fine as 60 needles per inch, with the needles being pliered to ensure accurate needle spacing. The needle has a long terminal hook or beard capable of being closed during casting off by a device known as a presser. The hook returns to its original position when the pressure is removed. Spring bearded needle is used in the production of very fine fabrics.
Difference between Latch Needle and Spring Bearded Needle:
| Latch needle | Spring bearded needle |
| 1. It contains a hook portion at the top and a latch reverted at certain distance from the needle head. | 1. This needle consists of a top hook curved downwards with a finished tip. |
| 2. The main element of knitting is latch. | 2. The downward continuation is called beard. |
| 3. The latch needles are self-acting. | 3. The spring bearded needles are not self-acting type. |
| 4. Do not need outside agency to close the hook. | 4. It requires pressure to close the needle. |
| 5. Machine gauge is coarser then spring bearded needle. | 5. Machine gauge is finer then latch needle. |
| 6. This one is not simple type needle. | 6. Simple type of needle. |
| 7. It has reduced stroke. | 7. It has more stroke than latch needle. |
| 8. Most widely used in weft knitting. | 8. More widely used in circular single knitting. |
| 9. Complicated operating system. | 9. Easy operating system. |
| 10. The latch needle is more expensive and intricate needle. | 10. The spring bearded needle is less expensive than latch needle. |
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Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
