A circular hosiery knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder which can be actuated with a rotary motion about its own axis, arranged vertically, and on the skirt of which there is a plurality of axial grooves, each accommodating a needle, a tubular body being arranged internally and coaxially to the needle cylinder and being adapted to receive the manufactured item during its forming; the tubular body is supported so that it can slide along an axial direction within the needle cylinder; and actuation means which act on command on the tubular body in order to actuate its axial movement with respect to the needle cylinder, the actuation means being associated with means for controlling the speed of the tubular body.

The method provides for arranging a pick-up member for the tubular knitted article (M) coaxially with the needle cylinder, when knitting has been completed. The pick-up member (23) is provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks (25A, 25B) arranged according to a circular ring subdivided into two circular half-rings that can be overturned over each other. The tubular article is engaged by the pick-up hooks while the stitches of the last course of the knitted article are still held by the needles (5) of the knitting machine. The stitches of the last curse are then removed from the needles and the tubular article is removed from the needle cylinder (3) by means of the pick-up member (23). The two half-rings of pick-up hooks are overturned one onto the other, putting one of two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular article onto the other. The two edges are then sewn or linked.

The method provides for arranging a pick-up member for the tubular knitted article (M) coaxially with the needle cylinder, when knitting has been completed. The pick-up member (23) is provided with a plurality of pick-up hooks (25A, 25B) arranged according to a circular ring subdivided into two circular half-rings that can be overturned over each other. The tubular article is engaged by the pick-up hooks while the stitches of the last course of the knitted article are still held by the needles (5) of the knitting machine. The stitches of the last curse are then removed from the needles and the tubular article is removed from the needle cylinder (3) by means of the pick-up member (23). The two half-rings of pick-up hooks are overturned one onto the other, putting one of two opposite edges of the toe of the tubular article onto the other. The two edges are then sewn or linked.

A removal device for removing a tubular knitted manufacture from a circular knitting machine for hosiery or the like, comprising an annular removal body which supports a plurality of removal members arranged around the axis of the removal body, which is arrangeable coaxially around the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine; the removal members are supported by first and second annular portions, which can move by rotation with respect to each other about an oscillation axis in order to pass between a removal condition and a sewing condition, in which the annular portions are arranged so as to face each other, the removal members forming a respective removal head which can move on command along a removal trajectory which has a component that is parallel to the axis of the removal body and at least one radial component away from the axis.

A removal device for removing a tubular knitted manufacture from a circular knitting machine for hosiery or the like, comprising an annular removal body which supports a plurality of removal members arranged around the axis of the removal body, which is arrangeable coaxially around the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine; the removal members are supported by first and second annular portions, which can move by rotation with respect to each other about an oscillation axis in order to pass between a removal condition and a sewing condition, in which the annular portions are arranged so as to face each other, the removal members forming a respective removal head which can move on command along a removal trajectory which has a component that is parallel to the axis of the removal body and at least one radial component away from the axis.