A carriage which completes one course of knitting to the knitting end of a fabric is stopped. Knitting in a next course is performed when the carriage reverses its moving direction and re-starts its movement. Since the knitting yarn is not knitted to the fabric until a carrier brought by the carriage reaches a position of a knitting needle holding the stitch of the fabric at the knitting end, the knitting yarn existing in a feeding path between a yarn feeding mechanism and the carrier is excessively increased and a slack is generated. Since a distance between a yarn feeding port formed at a carrier's frontal end and the knitting needle at the fabric-knitting end is also reduced, the knitting yarn is further increased excessively. The further-excessively-increased knitting yarn is taken in by a yarn feeding means by reversing a servomotor, and further pulled in by a rewinding arm.
An object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to stably feed a yarn by suppressing the effect of inertia in a buffer mechanism provided in a yarn feeding path. In at least one embodiment, a yarn feeder of the weft knitting machine feeds a knitting yarn from either of ends of a needle bed through a yarn feeding member to a knitting needle which carries out knitting motion based on knitting data while reciprocating the yarn feeding member in a longitudinal direction of the needle bed. A buffer rod is provided in the feeding path for the knitting yarn. Before the yarn feeding member starts to feed the knitting yarn to the knitting needle. a yarn feed controller carries out control to feed out the yarn to the buffer rod beforehand in a moving direction in which the feeding path is extended and to pull back the yarn stored in the buffer rod in a moving direction in which the feeding path is reduced. Thus, since an overshoot and an undershoot by the effect of inertia is caused by the buffer rod provided in the feeding path for the knitting yarn can be suppressed, the knitting yarn can be stably fed.
