Abstract:
A needle support assembly including a needle support member, such as a needle bar, a row of knitting needles arranged against the support member, and a spacer between each two successive needles. The spacers are independent of the needles and support member, and are of precisely equal thicknesses, so that each two successive needles in the row are spaced apart the same predetermined distance. As a result, the usual series of parallel slots in the needle bar, or other support member for the needles, can be eliminated. The needle support member may have a groove for accommodating a butt projecting laterally from each needle and spacer, or the support member may have a ridge or ridges over which a notch or notches in each needle and spacer fits. Thin plates extend across the groove or ridges at regularly spaced apart locations, and a predetermined number of needles and spacers fit between each two plates, the spacers abutting the plates being slightly thinner than the other spacers. Alternatively, the needle support member may be flat, i. e.