US1003562A - Knitting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

H. H. WILDT.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1909" Patented Sept. 19,'1911.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1. 7 5

H. H. WILDT.

KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1909.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

2-SHEETSSHEET 2.

' Britain, residing at Leicester,in the county UNITED sTATEs HERMAN HUBERT WILDT,

or LEICESTER, ENGLAND.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN HUBERT VVILDT, a subject of the King of Great of Leicester, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to knitting machines and has reference to machines of the latch needle type either of circular or straight bar construction,

The object of the present invention is to provide such knitting machines with improved mechanism for producin stripes, spots or similar eifects in the fabric by means of additional colored threads which are inserted and produce patterns in like mangle!- to the well known method of platmg.

The invention will be described in application to a circular knitting machine of known construction.

The invention is carried into effect by the provision of a plurality of thread feeders or layers predisposed with relation to certain needles of the machine which are to produce the stripes, spots or pattern, and with which pattern thread feeders a cam cooperates to cause the predetermined patterning or striping needles to receive the colored thread in addition to the ordinary ground or fabric .thread and afterward knit in the ordinary way. Combined with this actuation of the pattern needles, the pattern thread feeders are constructed, arranged and operated in such a manner that they positively carry or wrap their threads around the needles, and means are provided by which the needle actuating cam and the pat tern thread feeders may be thrown into and out of action either automatically or by hand.

According to a convenient arrangement of mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention, the before mentioned plurality of pattern thread feeders are located in a' dial or plate located adjacent to the needles in the needle cylinder. The said dial is suitably tricked or grooved to receive the thread feeders and is held by suitable means (such for example as a rod vertically slidable within a supporting bracket) so that it may be lowered into operative Specification of Iietter Patent. Patented Application filed May 7, 1909. Serial No. 494,630.

Sept. 19, 1911.

- be lifted upward away from the needle cylbobbins, cops, or the like to the thread feeders. When lowered into its operative position'the tricked dial carryin the pattern thread feeders occupies a fix relationship to the needles, that is to say, assuming that the needles are stationary while the cam box of the machine rotates, then the dial is held stationary so that its thread feeders bear a constant relation to their respective pattern forming needles. If, however, the needle cylinder of the machine rotates, then the dial will rotate in unison therewith but in the mechanism being described the needle cylinder is fixed and is furnished with a rotatable cam box.

The needles which are to receive the colored threads from the thread feeders for patterning, striping or like purposes are predisposed around the needle cylinder and occupy positions therein which correspond to the positions of the pattern thread feeders in the tricked dial. These needles, hereinafter termed pattern needles, are furnished with elongated butts or with additional butts so that they may be engaged by the actuating cam before referred to the action of which is to raise the pattern needles above the nonpattern or ordinary needles so that they are brought nearer to the thread feeders at the required times to receive the colored threads. This actuating or needle raising cam is preferably moved into and out of action automatically by the engagement of a star wheel with a stop or stops said star wheel being in operable connection with the cam and said stop or stops being moved into and out of the path of the star wheel at the equired times by suitable intermediate mechanism controlled and actuated from a pattern chain or drum.

The pattern thread feeders in the dial or plate are arranged to have two different motions in order that they may lay or wrap their threads around the pattern needles 'when the latter are raised close up to said feeders to receive the threads. These motions consist of a radial sliding movement and an oscillating or swinging movement the combined effect of such movement being that the thread feeders pass completely position close down to the needle cylinder or around the needles and thus lay their conduct the colored patterning threads from v threads around the needles below the hooks so'that the threads are engaged thereby.

Normally the thread feeders are located at the backor rear of the needles and toward one side thereof. A forward or out- K from the front past the op osite sidesto the back of the needles, and nally a swinging movement in 'the'opposite direction carries the thread around the back of the needles thus passing completely around the needles and returning to the normal position preparatory to repeating the operation after the needles have formed the colored threads they have received intostitches. These movements are imparted to the pattern thread feeders by means of a cam which is mounted on the dialand rotates in llIllSOIl with the cam box of the machine said cam beingdrivenby an arm projecting from the cam box and engaging or making contact .with a stop or pin on the cam. The said ..arm may be moved out of engagement with .the stop or pin on the cam either automatically or by hand to stop the cam and throw the pattern thread feeders out of action.

It will be obvious that if the needles and dial rotate instead of the cam box, then the feeder operating cam will remain stationary with the cam box and an arm or similar projection on the needle cylinder may be'employed to rotate the dial in unison therewith.

In order that the invention may be clearly and readily understood,.the construction, arrangement and operation of the improved mechanism will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to theaccompanyingdrawings, in which:-

FigureL, isan elevation of the. upper part of a circular knitting machine provided with the improved mechanism according to this invention. Figs. 2 and 3., are respectively, side and (interior) front views of the pattern. needle actuating cam and the mechanism on the cam box for moving the same. Fig. 4., is a half sectional elevation ofthe feeder dial'or plate and its cam. Fig. 4 shows a modified construction of thread feeder hereinafter referred to. Fig. 5., i s a front view showing two thread feeders rocked to carry their threads across the front of the needles. Fig. 6., shows in plan, a portion of the tricked feeder dial or' plate the cam being removed. Fig. 7., is an underside view of the cam for actuating the thread feeders in the dial. and 111', are perspective views illustrating Figs. 8, 9, 1O

consecutively the movements of one of the feeders to carry or wrap the atternthread are drawn to} figures firmly mounted on the bed or table 4 of the e samev machine. The said rod 2 is arranged to;

slide within its supporting bearing 3 so that the feeder dial 1 may be raised andlowered out of and into itsworking position respectively'. Any suitable means, such for exam ple as a set screw 3, may be provided in the bearing 3 to maintain the rod 2 in its raised position and a feather or key in the said hearing, or on the rod, may be furnished and adapted to prevent rotation of the rod and dial "as well as to insure that the latter always a'ssumes its correct relative position to the needles when lowered into the working position.

- Gruideplates 5 and 6 are provided with a series of holes therein through which the plurality of colored or pattern threads 7 are passed, the plate 6 being fixed on the rod 2 and the plate 5 being attached either to the bearing 3, or to the rod 2 so as to move in company therewith when the rod is raised in its bearing. Any suitable arrangement of thread carriers and'guidesmay be rovided to hold the various pattern threa s 7 and conduct them to the guide plate 5.

The feeder dial 1 is tucked or grooved both on its upper surface and on its periphery for the reception of the plurality of pattern thread feeders 8. In the upper face of the dialthe tricks or grooves 9 are disposed radially as shown in ,Fig. 6, and in the pcripheral edge of said dial angular tricks or recesses 10 are formed as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 8 to 11. The peripheral tricks or recesses 10 are disposed in such a manner as to join or aline themselves with the radial 'tricks 9 and-thus form continuous grooves which extend across'the upper face and peripheral edge-of the dial and longitudina ly are of right-angular formation.

, The tricks or grooves 9 in the u per face of the dial are preferably rounded or semicircular in cross section at the bottom and the thread feeders 8 have rounded shanks or rods 11 preferably integrally formed with their depending legs 12 (on which the feeders proper are formed) said shanks being located along the partly rounded tricks 9 while the legs 12 are (normally) located in the recesses 10 as shown in Figs. .1- and 6.

As previously stated, the thread feeders are arran ed to have two distinct motions in the dia said motions comprising a slidare attained by shanks 11 within their grooves 9. The first of these movements is brought about by moving the shanks 11 longitu ina-lly or sliding them along within the radial tricks or oves 9 such movement causing the legs 12 of the feeders to move forward out of the recesses 10 as shown in Fig. 9. The second movement above mentioned is attained by partly rotating the shanks 11 in the grooves 9 thus causing the legs 12 to swing or rock in the manner shown in Figs. '5 andv 10 the rounded shanks 11 forming the fulcrum or pivot on which the feeders move.

The outward and inward sliding movement of the feeders as well as the swing or rocking motion in one direction is positively imparted by means of the cam 13 whose groove 14 engages upstanding butts 15 on the -shanks 11. These butts are preferably integrall formed with the feeder shanks l1 and, as s own in Figs. 4 and 5, extend above said shanks into the groove 14 of the cam 13.

In Fig. 7 the eccentric side portions 16 of the cam groove '14 slide the shanks of the feeders along the grooves 9 to move the feeders in and out of the dial as previously described, and at the shaded part 17 of the groove 14 the latter is made shallower so that the bottom thereof will depress or move the shank butts 15 laterally, asshown in Fig. 5, to rotate or turn the shanks 11 "n the grooves 9 and rock the feeders 8.

The cam 13 is located on the upper face of the dial 1 and is rotatably mounted on the boss 18 thereof a collar 19 being provided on said boss to keep the cam in place see Fig. 4. The cam 13 is rotated on the dial 1 from the cam box 20 of the machine. 'through the medium of a bracket 21 attached to said cam box and provided at its upper end with an arm 22 pivoted thereto (Fig. 1). This arm 22 is adapted to be turned on its pivot into and out of contact with a pin or set screw 23 carried in a small bracket 24 attached to the cam. When the cam box rotates in the usual way the contact of the arm 22 with the pin 23 on the cam 13 drives the latter and, by turning the pivoted arm 22 up or down out of contact with said pin 23, the cam 13 may be rendered inoperative and stop the feeding of the'colored threads to the needles. The said arm 22'may be turned to disengage it from the cam 13 by hand, or a suitable cam, stop or equivalent (not shown) may be moved into and outof its rotary path, automatically or otherwise, to operate said arm in the manner just described to bring it into and out of driving contact with the cam 13.

For the purpose of returning the feeders 8 to their normal position i. e. for rocking them in the opposite I direction after they certain actua ions of the have been rocked by the part 17 of the cam 13 and are released therefrom springs 25 which bear against-the sides 0 the legs 12 are furnished on -the underside of the dial as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. These springs '25 act in an opposite direction to that 1nwhich the feeders are rocked by the cam 13 and operate to normally hold the feeders in an approximately vertical position against one side of the angular recesses 10 and also to return the feeders to this normal position immediately they are released by the part 17 of the cam 13 after having been rocked as previously described. i

The angularity of the recesses 10 allows for the rocking or oscillating movement of the legs 12 to take place this being clearly demonstrated by comparison between Figs. 4 and 5, and 8 and 11. The sides of the angular recesses 10 against which the legs 12 of the feeders are normally pressed by the springs 25 are extended beyond the periphery of the dial by the provision of studs or pegs 26 which, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, project from the edge of the dial and are '90.

the outward sliding movement of the shanks f 11, the projecting studs 26 will provide a bearing surface for the legs 12 and prevent them, under the action of their springs 25, rocking beyond their. normal positions.

The upper surface of the dial 1 may have an annular recess 27 (Figs. 4 and 6) of sufficient width to embrace the length of the sliding movements of the butts 15 the object of said recess being to reduce the sides of the tricks or grooves 9 in depth at that part to permit of the rotation or rocking of the butts 15 in the said grooves.

The. boss 18 of the dial 1 is furnished with a series of holes 28 there-through for the passage of the pattern forming threads 7 from the guide plate 6 to the feeders and the legs 12 of said feeders have 'holes 29 passing through so that the threads '7 may be conducted down into and through the feeders 8 in the manner shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 8 to 11.

Before the thread feeders 8 can carry or Wrap their threads around the pattern needles, it is necessary that the latter should be raised into close proximity to the feeders so that they may occupy a'convenient position relatively to said feeders to receive the threads. The needles which are to receive additional threads for producing stripes or pattern effects in the fabric, 2'. e. the pattern needles 30, are each furnished, preferably, with an additional butt 31 conveniently formed on the lower end or tail of the needle as represented by dotted lines in- Fig. 2.- For the purpose of raising these pattern needles 30 above ordinary needles, a cam is position. This cam is formed in two parts 32, 33 the part 32 being. fixed and the part 33 being movable 'onthe interior of the usual cam box 20. 'The movable part- 33 of the cam is adapted to move from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3" to that indicated by dot and dash lines 'above it.

When in the lower of the two positions just mentioned, the part 33 of the cam allows the needle. butts 31 to ride thereover and to take a path along the underside of the fixed part 32 in which case the needles are not raised higher than the ordinary needles and consequently do not receive additional threads for patterning purposes.

a When moved to the higher position however, the part 33 of the cam conducts the needle butts 31 up tothe inclined end34 of the fixed part 32 so that the said butts ride up the inclined end 34 and take a path over the top [of the said fixed part .and therebyraise the needles to the thread re'-' ceivlng position. After the needles have receivedthe threads from the feeders, in a manner which will be described later, the

- butts 31 of said'n'eedles pass oil the opposite end of the fixed part 32 of the cam, and the ordinarybutts 35 of the needles are then actuated by the usual cams to, cause the needles to form the threads they have received into stitches.

The movable part'33 of the cam just described is mounted or formed on the lower end of a slide 36 which is arranged on the exterior of the cam box 20 and. located in a slide-Way or groove 37in a bracket 38 fixed to the cambox. "The side of cam box 20 is cut away at 39 for the reception and movement of the part 33 of the cam therein and the upper end of the slide 36 is provided with a projection 40' which rides on the periphery of a rotating cam 41mounted on a short spindle 42 rotatable within the bracket 38. The rotation of the cam 41 raises the slide 36 in its, groove or slideway 37 and consequently raises'the part 33 of the needle raising cam on the interior of the cam box 20. When the projections of the cam 41. pass from. under the projection 40 of the slide 36the latter falls to lower the cam part 33 under the action of aspring 43 which bears against the upper end of said slide 36, as shown in Fig. 2. v

The spindle 42 is intermittently rotated to raise and lower the cam part 33 by mechanism comprising a star wheel 44 mounted on the outward end of the spindle the-arms or ribs of said star wheel being engaged,

. as the cam box rotates,by stops 45 slidable within fixed blocks 46 mounted on the bed or table 4 of the'machiney The engagement of the star wheel44 with the stops .45 causes a part rotation of the said wheel and consequently also of the cam 41 which part rotation is sufficient to either raise the cam' part 33 or allow it to fall as the casemay be.

A spring 47 is preferably arranged on the spindle 42 and adapted to exert pressure part of the spindle 42 and cam 41 until the star-wheel 44 is again positively rotated by its contact with one of the pins or stops 45. The stops 45 are actuated in their blocks 46, that is, they are slid to and fro therein so as to move into and out of the path of the star wheel 44 by any suitable means, not

shown.

The 1 operation of the hereinbefore disclosed mechanism will now be described.

The pattern needles 30 are pre-disposed around the needle cylinder according to the desired position of the stripes, spots or pattern in thefabric and' occu y positions in the said cylinder which will correspond to the positions of the respective feeders in the dial 1 from which the pattern needles are to receive the colored threads to produce the stripes or similar plated pattern.

The feeder dial 1 is lowered into its working position just above the needle cylinder,'as shown in Fig. 1, and the pivoted arm 22 is moved into engagement with the pin 23 on the dial cam 13 so as to rotate the latter when the cam box 20 revolves. The movable cam part 33 is raised into action e. to the, osition indicated by dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, to engage the additional butts 31 of the pattern-needles and 50 that they are raised by the fixed cam part 32 to the position in which they are ready ,to-receive their respective )attern threads 7.

The manner in-which t e needles 30 receive their additional colored or pattern forming threads will be more clearly un derstood upon reference to Figs. 8 to 11 where one needle is shown as receiving an additional thread 7 from one of the feeders 8 in the dial.

The feeder 8 carrying the thread 7 normallyoccupies a position in the dial as shown in Fig Sand hereinbefore fully described. WVhile the feeder is in this normal position the needle 30 in the cylinder corresponding in position to the said feeder 8 is'raised,by the cam part 32 so that its hook comes up underneath and a little toward one side of the lower end of the feeder as shown in Fig. 8. The position of the raised needles'relatively to the feeders 8 is more clearly shown however in Fig. 5 where the dot and dash lines indicate the normal position of the feeders.

After the needle 30 has been raised, the

influence of its spring 25.

the position shown in Fig. and this-movement carries the thread past the front of the needle. While held in this rocked position by the shallow portion 17 of the cam groove 14 the feeder 8 is withdrawn or moved. inward in the dial by the eccentric sides 16 of the cam groove 14 this movement bringing the leg 12 of the feeder again within the angular recess 10 of the dial and carrying the thread 7 rearward past the opposite side of the needle as shown in Fig. These three movements just described wrap or carry the thread 7 around the needle on three sidesthereof, and after the completion of thelast mentioned movement the said needle is drawn downward by the passage of its additional butt 31 from ofi' the fixed cam part 32 and its ordinary butt 35 coming under the action of the ordinary knitting cams. When drawn downward the hook of the needle 30 engages the thread 7 which has been wrapped around the needles as described and the said thread is then drawn down and knitted in company with the ordinary thread previously or subsequently taken by the needle in the usual way.

The action of the shallow portion 17 of the cam groove 14 upon the feeder 8 is preferably arranged to cease after the needle 30 commences to be drawn downward so that just about the time that the downward movement of the needle terminates, the feeder 8 rocks in the opposite direction and returns to its normal position under the It may be arranged however, that the feeder 8 shall complete the whole of its movements and return again to the normal position shown in Fig. 8 before the needle 30 commences to be drawn down, in which case the thread will be more completely wrapped around the needle than in the previous instance Where theneedle is drawn down before the final return rocking movement of the feeder. In Figs. 8 to 11 a single feeder 8 is illustrated as laying a single thread 7 around one needle buta plurality of thread feeders may be formed on a single leg 12 illustrated at-5O in Fig 4*, so as to embrace a number of needles and feed threads simultaneously to such needles when the leg 12 is actuated in the manner before described.

By means of a plurality of thread feeders on asingle leg as just described, pattern forming threads may be fed to adjacent needles whose pitch or arrangement in the needle cylinder would not conveniently permit of the provision of independent feeders for each of said needles.

Any convenient number of needles may be embraced by a plurality of feeders on a single leg and threads may be fed to any or all of such needles embraced by the said feeders.

The stripes, spots or. other plated pattern may be produced all or partly around the tube of fabric produced by the knitting machine by pre arranging the pattern needles around the. cylinder accordingly. This location of the pattern around the fabric may however be varied throughout the length of the tubular fabric while the-disposition" of the pattern needles remains the same, that is to shy, the striping or pattern may be formed all around the fabric at one part, or v for a portion of its length and then be produced only partly around the said fabric for another-portion of its length this change being effected automatically without making any change in the disposition of the needles within the cylinder.

As an example, a stocking may be formed having a stripe or pattern formed all around the leg portion but when knitting the foot, the pattern may be produced on one half only viz., the instep, the remaining half of the fabric which is to form the foot bottom being left plain. This change is effected by the throwing of the movable cam part 33 into and out of action during each rotation of the cam box the result being, that at each revolution, only a certain portion of thepattern needles 30 are raised to receive the pattern thread 7 In the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1

one of the stops 45 may rotate the star wheel 44 to place the cam part 33 into action while the next stop may rotate said star wheel still further to lower said. cam part out of action thus causing a portion only of the needles 30 to be raised to take the thread.

When the cam part 33 remains in constant action a continuous stripe is formed by each pattern needle 30 down the fabric and if only one of the stops 45 engages the star wheel 44 at each revolution then the cam part 33 will be moved into and out of action successively and so cause the needles 30 to form colored stitches in, alternative courses and thus produce spots in the fabric.

It will be understood therefore that'by employing stops such as 45 located in various positions around the path of the star wheel, and by moving such steps into and out of the path of the star wheel at various times as required, the pattern formed by, or

location of, theplating threads in the fabric may be changed as desired and the movements of the stops 45 to effect this result may be mamas actuated by an convenient arrangementpf mechanism from sto s or cam- 13vrotatesjbut' this is immaterial as far as the change of pattern isconcerned inasmuch as it is only those needles 30 which are raised by the cam in the camvbox which take scribed a dial, a'plurality of tricks threads from their respective feeders and v thus the whole of the desired changes in the v patternmay be effected by the actuation of the one cam part 33 in the manner previously described.

What I claim then is 1. In a knitting machine of the type detherein, a pluralityof pattern thread feeders located in said tricks of the dial, shanks on said feeders slidable and partly rotatable within the tricks, butts on said shanks, a cam r0- tatable on said dial, and a groove in said cam which by engagement with the butts on the shanks of the feeders imparts both a sliding and rocking or swinging movement to said: feeders, substantially in the manner as and for the purpose described.

slide so that said feeders may be'moved into and out of the working position-above the needles, and means comprising a bracket on the cam box, a pivoted arm-thereon, and a pin carried by the feeder actuating cam with which pin said arm makes contact to rotate a the cam when in the working position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERMAN HUBERT WILDT.

Witnesses E. V. Lawrs, WALTER W. BALL.

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