US1082881A - Knitting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

OLAROOHE M. L. N. TUCKER.

KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY25,1911.

Patented Dec. 30, 1913 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Lamm..

LII

0. LAROCHE & M. L. N. TUCKER.

KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2s.. 1911.

1,082,881, 8 Patented1m30,1913.

i s SHEETS-SHEET 2,

0. LARGCHE M. L. N. TUCKER.. KNITTING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED 11u25, 1911.

1,682,883... Patented 1190.311191;

3 SHBETSSHEET 3,

of so much of a knitting machine as is neces- To dll 'whom it may concern ASetjes of the Kin-gef omai Britain, ein

venti'on, such 'as will enable others skilled 'needle lknitting machines, .and cialzlyy t' mechanism for knitting open mesh ticalsectional detail showing the stitch transy presser-disk out of.. operation; and Figs. l

murine-MACHINE.

Patenten Dec. 3o, rei-3. Aserial No. eaaas'i.

Specct'ion of Letters Patent. i

weasel. y

Application ined may a5, 1911'.

In the drawings the invention .is illustrated as embodied in a' spring needle machine such as is used for knitting tubular fabric from which underwear is4 manufactured. This machine is the same in construction and mode o'` operation as Welk known machines in vcommon use, lexcept so far as the construction is modified by the embodiment 'of the present improvements therein. The machine is provided with the usualplurality' of feeds and stitch forn'iingand cast-oli' devices, which are not shown in the drawings. ried in the usual cylinder 2 which is continuously rotatedy during' the operation of the machine, through theusual driving mechamsm.

forming devices of the usual construction, the machine is provided with a novel form of stitch tran'sferring'mechanism for transferring stitches from certain needles to the next adjacent needles, and is also provided with a novel construction of stitch forming devices for the feed immediately preceding e' it known that we, Omvmn Lnnocnn a. MARTIN L. TUcnEl-i', a citizen of the United Statesi'residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and vState of Massachusetts, have' invented certain new amd useful Improvements in KnittingfMachines; and We dor herebyde'clare the following to be a fullLclea-r, and. exact description of the inin the art to which it appertains to'make and use the same.

he invention reiates to circular. spring more espefabric on this type' of machine.

The' object of the invention is to provide anovel and im roved construction of stitch forming and 'stitch transferring mechanism whereby stitches 'kay bel transferred' Vfrom one needle to', anoher with certainty, and wit a mstrain upon the fabric and needles, rand wherebyfa novel 'and vi'r'nproved fabric is ptidiijded.

o t ese ,eiids'the invention consists in the features of construction and combinations of tei described and set forth Ain the stitch transferring mechanism.

The stitch transferringrmechanism oomprises a needle gathering and alining wheel 3 provided with teeth spaced to receive two needles between EachA tooth com- The variousjfa'tuies of the invention will be readily under'sto'd'fijln an inspection of the accompanying drawings, and the followdetailed description of the mechanism ing slot 5' adapted to receive two adjacent needles and bring them into alinernent one back of the other. VThe ends of the spurs are beveled at 6 to form a Haring mouth at the end of the slot whichdirects the needles into the slot. The wheel is driven by the engagement of the needles Withfthe teeth, and as it rotates the teeth divide the mg illustrated ther'em. V

In the drawings, Figure 1 .is a plan view sary' to illustrate theapplication of the present improvements thereto; Fig. 2 is a verferring devices; Figs-3, and 5 are sectional details illustrating the construction of the irected into the slot back of the needle a,

gathering and alining wheel and the coperating` presser disk Fi`g. 8 isa' verticalV sectional view showing the devices -for throwing one of the presser disks out of operation; Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation' showing the one back othepther, the stitch 'on the needle a is forced `4down over the needle b by a push-,down plate 7 which engages the fabric and forcesit down along the needles, as indicated in Fig.' ,2,fso that the stitch on the' needle a passes: down overboth the needles'tz-and in ordcr that the needles hay vlie lose'l together `ind litl-are detail .views showing parts ofthe eto'l'o'"Inechanisi'n'l 'f The spring needles 1 are carover the needle l1. that the proper el'igagenient of the stitch with the needle may be insured.y a presser is provided for engaging the back of the rear needle b and holdfng it against the pullof the fabric. inthe construction shown thisy presser consists'of a disk Sinounted to turn freely about its pivot. and arranged to engage the needle to which the stitch is to be trai'isferred at the point where the push-down plate 7 acts to force the stitch l'on the needle a down over the top of'the needle b. After the needles pass/from engagement with the teeth of the Wheel 3, the stitch which was on needle a, is on both the needle a and the needle (b. During the continued rotation of the needle cylinder this stitch is cast off of the needle a and thus its transfer from the needle a to the needle is completed. The means for castingolf the stitch consists of a presser disk 9 provided with teeth 'l0 arranged to engage and close the beards of thc-needles a, and a collperating landing wheel ll which slides the stitch up over the beard and casts` it oil'.

The needle e from which the stitch is transferred is in advance of the needle l) to which the stitch is to be transferred, and the stitch leading from the needle a tends to occupy a position which is inclined for- Ward away from tho needle l). In order to draw the fabric back and bring the stitch on the needle (L into proper Vposition above the needle a rctarding device in the form of a fixed plate l2 is arranged to bear upon the inside of the fabric to the rear of the point of translbr. rlhis retarder puts a drag upon the fabric, and draws it back at the point of transfer sufficiently to insure -the proper engagement of 'the needle with the stitch carried by the needle a when the stitch is forced down over the needles. lt is also preferred to provide a' tension wheel 13 arranged to engage the outer side of the. fabric above the point of transfer, which will act to put an increased tension on the fabric and thus insure the drawing taut of the loops at the pointof transfer.

In order that the loo-p or stitch may be transferred from one needle to the other Without putting undue strain upon the yarn, it is desirable that the loop which is transferred be a comparatively long loop. To provide a loop of this character, and also to further minimize the strain upon the loop, the stitch forming mechanism for the feedimmediately preceding tl'ie' stitch. transferringl mechanism is so constructed that it does not forma loop upon the needle from Which the stitch-is to be transferred, and does not cast olf from this needle the loop 'or stitch from the preceding feed. The resuit is that the needles from which the stitches are to be transferred carryY loops in the course of stitches preceding he course Lesesaal of stitches carried by the needles to which the stitchts are .to be transferred. In the construction shown, the stitch forming mechanism for the feed next preceding the stitch transferring mechanism comprises a stitch Wheel lll provided between every third and fourth blade with a beard engaging surface l5 which engage andclose the beards of the needles a from which the stitch is to be transferred. The yarn acted upon by the stitch wheel is therefore carried up by the wheel over the beards of these needles. inf stead of beingfcarried up under the beards.

No yarn is therefore a by the stitch Wheel. The yarn delivered by the stitch Wheel to the other needles is measured and distributed between the neediesA by a dividing Wheel 16 of usual construction. The stitch Wheel and dividing Wheel are so constructed that the loops formed are somewhat longer than the loops formed by the stitch Wheels for the other feeds. The presser disk 17 which closes the beards of theneedlcs and cooperates With the landing Wheel 18 in casting 0H the loops carried by the needles is provided With a series of recesses 19I adapted to register with the needles a so that the beards of these needles are not closed and the loops on the needles are not cast olf. Thus the stitch forming devices immediately preceding the stitehtransferring mechanism are v constructed to skip the needles from Which the stitches are to be transferred so that new :loops are `not formed on these needles, and the needles retain the loops formed by the stitch forming devices of the next preceding feed. These loops are transferred to the needles b by the stitch transferring mechanism, so that each needle b after the needles have passed the stitch transferring mechanism carries a stitch the stitch forming mechanism of the 4vfeed next preceding the stitch anism, and a stitch of the course formed by the stitch forming devices of the next preceding fced, as indicated in Figff;

The stitch Wheel 14 and theprc'sser disk 'i7 are rotated by their engagement with the needles, and they must rotate in pro er timed relation with each other in order t iat the loops on the needles 'which are skipped by the stitch wheel may not be cast off.4 If they should get out stitches on these needles would be cast olf, thus droppinev holes in the. fa ric. The presence.of bunches or inequalities in the size of yarn may someof timed relation, thek delivered to the needles of the course formed by transferring mechthe stitches and forming times cause the stitch Wheel 14 to jump away timed relation machine may be automatically stopped-in such cases,

linger 20. This finger 1s `arranged to ride on the fabric` close to the needles, and vwill drop through any holes lformed by dropped stitches. The nager is pivoted in a sleeve '21 secured to the end of an arm 22 which projects radially from a rock shaft -The nger is held in normal position\in the sleeve by a spring pressed latch in 24. yThe rock shaft is forced in a direct on to press the linger 20 against the fabric by a spring 25 secured to an arm 2li-projecting from th'e shaft. The rock shaft. also carries a depend-` ing arm 27 arranged to. engage and operate the latch 28 of the stop mechanism. The latch 28 is provided at its forward end with a hook 29 which engages the vertical arm of a bell crank lever 30. The other arm of the'bell crank lever is pivotally connected to the rear end of a leverl, the front end of which carries a lug 32 arranged to engage and hold down a spring pressed pin 33. The lower end of the pin 33 is arranged to engage o-ne side of the lclutch shifting lever 84 and hold the driving clutch in enn gagement against the tension of the spring 35. Av spring 36 engages the latch 28 and holds it normally in position to engage the bell crank leverv d0. If a hole is formed in the fabric by the dropping of stitches or otherwise, the linger 20 enters the hole and is moved toward the left in Fig. l1 by the forward movement of the fabric. This swings the finger about its pivot, and allows the sha-ft 23 to rock in a direction to disengage the latch' 28 from the bell crank lever 3 The spring pin 33 immediately rises and releases the clutch shifting lever so thatthe driving mechanismV is thrown out of operation.

When vthe 'driving mechanism is thrown out of operation, the momentum ofthe parts may cause the needle cylinder to travel forward `until the imperfect fabric passes the presser disk 9. 1f this should occur, the presser disk and landing wheel ll will act to cast off additional loops, and since the stitch forming devices precedingthe stitch transferring mechanism were out of time, this will cause the dropping of additional stitches. The dropping of the v additional stitches is liable to so weaken the fabric that it will tear away from the needles, with a resulting increase in the waste of fabric. To avoid this, means is provided for throwing the presser'disk 9 out of action when-the controller finger 2O detects an imperfection in the fabric. As shown, this means combrises a lever 37, one end of which underlies the disk 9, and thc other end of which is supported upon the end of a slide 38. A Aspring 39 is connected with the lever 37, and tends .to swing it in a 'direction to lift the a stopjmechanisni is' 'provided which is controlled loy a fai-bric engagingvl that the spring 39 pull of the fabric,

'is provided with a notch 40, and the slide 1s forced in a direction vto bring the. notch -40 under the end of the lever 37 by a spring 4l. The slide is held in position against the tension of the spring 4 1 by engagement with the bell crank lever 30, as indicated in Figs. l and 9. When the bell crank lever 30 is released, as bythe rocking of the controller shaft 23, the spring 41 moves the slide 38 toward the right in Fig. 10, bringing the notch 40 under the end of the lever 37,'so acts -to rock the lever and lift the presser disk 9 out of active position. f

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, this construction and varrangement is not essential except so', far as specified in the claims, and may be varied and modified ywithout departing from the invention.

Having explained the nature and obiect of the invention, and specifically described one form of mechanism in which it may be embodied, what we claim is i l'. A knitting `machine, having, in combination, -a needle cylinder provided with l needles, a wheel outside the needles provided with slotted teeth arranged to pass between the needles and to direct two ad- 'jacentneedles into the slot one back of the other, 'means for forcing the stitch on the front needle down over both needles, and a presser for holding the needles against the substantially as described.

2. A knitting machine, having, in combination, a needle cylinder provlded with needles, a wheel outside the needles pro# vided with slotted teeth arranged to pass between the needles and 'to direct two adjacent needles into theslot one back of the forcing the stitch on the other, means for front needle down over both needles, and a presser engaging the back of the rear needle, substantially as described. Y

3. A knitting machine, having, in combination, a needle cylinder provided with needles, a wheel outside vthe needles4 pro' vided with slotted teeth arranged to pass between the 'needles and to direct two adjacent needles into the-slot one back of the other, Ameans for forcing the stitch on the front needle down over both needles, and a rotary presser disk engaging the rear needle to press the needles together in the slot, sub- .stantially as described.

4. `A knitting machine, bination, a needle cylinder provided with needles, a wheel outside the needles provided with slotted teeth arranged to passbetween the needles and to direct two adjacent needles into the slot one back of the other, means for forcing the stitch on the front needle down over both needles, and a having, in conii I retarder engaging the fabric to the rear of binati0n, -the point of transfer, substantially as described.

5. A knitting machine` having, in 00mbinatien, a needle cylinder provided with.

needles, a Wheel outside tbe needles provided with slotted teetlisarranged to pass between the needles and t0 direct t-Wo adjacent needles into the slet one back of the other, means for forcing the stitch on the. front needle down over both needles, a presser engagingl the becker the rear; needle, end i` retarder engaging the fabric-to the rear of the point of transfer, substantially as de- L scribed.

6. A knitting,` machine, having, in comneedles,

a needle Cylinder provided with a Wheel ontside the needles provided with between the needles andy t0 direct two adjacent needles into the slot one back of the other, means for forcing ithe'stiteh ou the front needle down over both needles, a presser engaging the back of the rear needle, and a tension wheel engaging the outside of the fabric fLbQve the point of. transfer, substantially as described. y

@LIVIER LAROCHE.

., MARTIN L. N. TUCKER.

Witnesses: ANDREW G. SWAP?,

BENJAMIN W. CLnMnN'rs.

slotted teeth arranged to pass

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