US10998A - Island - Google Patents

Description

N PETERS. PKOTQLITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D4 C4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BROVN S. VOOD, OF BURRILLVILLE, RHODE ISLAND.

iMPROVElVIENT iN KNlTTlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,998, dated June 1854.

T0 all whom it 71mg/ concern,.-

Be it known that I, BROWN S. \VooD, of Burrillville, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this spcciiication,in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same, with the frame which carries the slur, jacks, and thread-carrier removed to show the arrangement of the needles and the manner of forming the loops. Fig. 4 is a plan of the frame which carries the'slur, jacks, and thread-carrier. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the above frame taken through the curve in the slur and passing through the thread-carrier. Figs. 6 and 7 are two transverse sections of the needle-bars, showing different positions occupied by the needles relatively to each other during the operation of the machine. Fig. S is a plan View showing the manner in which the loops are formed by the sinkers before being taken hold of by the needles. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the slur, intended to show its operation.

Fig. 10 is a front view of the frontneedle-bar and the frame in which it works. Figs. Il and 12 are side views of the sinkers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

The improvements which constitute my present invention have all for their object the knitting of ribbed goods by power.

My first improvement consists in a certain arrangement of wide and narrow jacks for the purpose of forming a row ot long and short loops, which they lay in proper positions to he caught by the needles, the long loops by the set of Aneedles generally known as the rib-needles, and the short loops by the other set of needles, and drawn through similar loops previously formed in the same manner.

My second improvement consists in operating the jacks by means of a double slur, Vto

which the heads of the jacks are so itted` that the narrow jacks are operated upon in advance of their regular turn, in order to prevent the wide jacks in advance of them from taking up the thread necessary to form the narrow loops, and thus preventing the proper formation of the loops and breakage of the thread.

My third improvement relates to the relative arrangement and movements of the two sets of needles for the purpose of forming and seizing the loops and drawing each row through the preceding one.

My fourth improvement relates to the arrangement of the rib-needles. in combination with a creased presser, by the pressure of which they require to be sprung into the proper position to enter the loops formed by the jacks to receive them, the said arrangement of the needles being such that after they have entered the loops and the pressure of the presser is removed they will spring back and draw the loop tight around them, so that on their descent or retiringmotion from the loops the latter will not fail to pass under their points and into their hooks.

My fifth improvement consists in supporting the head which carries the jacks, the slur,

and the thread-carrier in a frame which is capable of being swung out of its operative position to allow the quarter to be run on the machine and the needles to be adjusted conveniently7 the said capability of swinging also serving for the adjustment of the jacks for regulating the depth of the loops.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A A are two standards united by struts B B to form the main framing of the machine.

C C G is an upright frame composed of two upright side pieces and a cross-piece and having the side pieces C C bolted firmly to the inner sides of the standards. This frame is for the purpose of carrying the upright clothplate E and the needle-bar D, which carries the set of needles c c, which, to distinguish them from the other set known as rib-needies, are sometimes called the frame-needles. The needle-bar D is of the form repmotion of the needle-bar.

dles e c. boxes a a, working on guide-rods Zi b, and is e idees are of the usual construction,and are secured to the needlebar in the usual manner, standing nearly close to and in a row parallel with the cloth-plate E.

C' C G is another frame precisely similar to C C G,but instead of being, like the latter, secured rigidly to the standards A A has its side pieces pivoted to the standards at their lower ends,'so that the upper part is capable of swinging to a certain extent. One of the pivots on which it swings is represented by a dotted circle d in Fig. l. This frame C C' G carries the other cloth-plate E and also the other needle-bar D', which carries the rib-nee- This needle-bar is furnished with otherwise similar to the other needle-bar D, and the needles c c are similar to c c. The cloth-plate E and the row of needles c c are parallel longitudinally with the other clothplate and row of needles. The frame C C Gr occupies a nearly vertical position, from which it deviates but slightly, as the swinging movement which the needles and clothplate are required to make is a very slight one. It is connected by aspring F (shown in Fig. l) with one of the standards A. The effect of this spring is to pull the cloth-plate E and needles c" c as near to the other clothplate and needles as is allowed by the two stop-pieces c e, placed between the two clothplates. I

Between the fixed frame C C G and the swinging frame C' C G is placed a horizontal shaft J, which extends the whole length of the machine, being supported in bearings attached to the standards A A. This shaft J has an a'frm 7c attached to it near one end and resting upon a cam v7' on the end of the slurshaft K, and once during every ,revolution of the slur-shafts-that is to say, when the prominent portion of the cam passes it-this arm is raised so as to turn the shaft .l a little way and bring two studs i, which are fast'upon it, into contact with the side pieces c c of the frame C C G', and thus force back the said frame to increase the distance between the two cloth-plates and sets of needles; but after the prominent part of the cam passes it the arm la falls by its own weight and removes the studsi' from contact with-the frame, which is then returned by the spring F. The object of this swinging movement of the clothplate E 'and needles c c will be understood when the operation of knitting' is described. The two needle-bars have movements upward and-downward, produced by two cams on the main shaft H. One of these cams only is shown in the drawings, (see I, Fig. 2,)--viz., that one which operates the front needle-bar E-and I have not thought it necessary todescribe the form of either, as when the operation of the machine s'nallhave been hereinafter described and the necessary movements explained the cams may be constructed by any mechanic of ordinary skill. The cams support the needle-bars and act each upon its respective needle-bar through a friction-roller fon a stud at one side of an arm g, attached to an upright rod 72 which forms a part of or is secured to the needle-bar. The rod 7L also serves as a guide for the correct motion of the needle-bars by working in a hole in the lower part of the main framing.

L is the head which carries the jacks, .the slur, and the thread-carrier, which lis not inaterially different from the corresponding head in other knitting-machines, excepting that instead of being rigidly attached to the main framing, as :is usual, it is attached to a frame M, which is supported in the slur-shaft K, so as to be capable of swinging freely thereon to be thrown back, as shown in red outline in Fig. l, for the purpose of leaving the needles exposed for adjustment and for affording facility to run on the quarter or repair any damage to the web. When the head L is in posi- .tion for operation, it is supported onlyin part by the frame M, two front supporters N N being provided, attached one to each standard A. The head is thus always firm when in operation. Vhen the head is swung back to the position shown in red outline, it is arrested bya chain O, attached to one of the standards in such a position that it can be readily returned to its operative position. lt will be readily understood that if the position of the front supports N N be' changed to 'one a little more backward or forward the head will be prevented coming so far or be allowed to come farther forward, and thus the jacks may be set back or forward to increase or diminish the length of the loops. The moving of the jacks back or forward for this purpose is commonly practiced, and is only described here to show that placing the head L in a swinging frame affords proper facility for this adjustment. Thejacks P P all swing upon the same pin m, which extends right through the'head L. Their form is shown in Figs. l, 2, and 5, where it will be found that all are not alike, for that party which operates upon the thread and which may be termed the tongue, is made narrow in some and wide in others. that they may sink a series of long and short loops, such as is represented in red color in Fig. 8, between the needles c c.

The arrangement of needles and the order of succession of the long and short jacks will require to vary accord-ing to the pattern of the ribbing to be produced. The arrangement of needles and jacks shown is to -produce a web in which two loops are visible on one side and one on the other side regularly all across, and for that pattern the needles c c and c c are arranged, the former in pairs,

with the distance between the pairs equal to twice the distance between the two needles of each pair, and the latter singly opposite the centers of the spaces between the pairs-of the former, as shown in Figs. 3 and 8. This arrangement of needles requires two wideton gued jacks to fall between two pairs of The object of this is logies e needles c c, and one narrow-tongued one between the two needles ot each pair. This is illustrated in Fig. S, where sections of the tongues of the several jacks are represented each by'a strong black line and the thread is represented in red color. The jacks form two short loops round every pair ofthe needles c c, and carry one long loop between every two pairs to be caught at the proper time by the needles c o; The long loop which is carried back is held open by reason of its being extended round two jacks, and thusis, ready to receive the needle c Vwhen the latter is sprung forward at the proper time. The jacksall have their heads, or the part which is operated upon by the slur, of similar form, except that the wide-tongued jacks P P have a recess n. made in their back edges extending from the top about half-way "down, This is done in order that they may receive a motion somewhat diiferent to that of the narrowtongued ones P P.

In order to produce the necessary difference in the motions of the wide and narrow tongued jacks, the back of the slur is made in two distinct parts, the lower of which ois formed in the bar itself, and the upper lconsists of a loose piece o bolted to the bar. The upper part 0 of the back of the slurl extending as low down as the recesses n in the jacks is shorter than the lower part o. This is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 9, where the lower part is shown in dotted outline and is supposed to be visible through the upper part, which is shown in bold the line. Thefront of the slur is ofthe same form both in the upper and lower parts, only being so much beveled off at the bottom as is necessary to allow of the swinging of the jacks. When the slur moves in either direction, the heads of the jacks are thrown back and the tongues forward by the .front part Q of the slur, and afterward the heads are returned forward and the tongues backward `to depress the loops between the needles c c by the back part Q. lVhichever way the slurV is moving the upper part o of the operative side of the slur is in advance of the lower part. This may be understood by reference to Fig. 9, where the slur is supposed to be moving in the direction of the arrow and the side 2 is in operation on the jacks, throwing the heads forwardmand the tongues back.` Now if the backs of the heads of the jacks were all like those of the jacks P P it is obvious that the upper part o of theslur would alone operate upon them; but as the jacks P P have recesses 'n at that part where the upper part o of the slur would come in contact, that part can only operate upon the jacks P P and the jacks P P are not operated upon till the lower part o of the slur comes in contact with them. By this means the jacks P P,.with the narrow tongues, are made to operate to form theirloops before theirturn would have arrived if the whole row operated in regular succession.

This lead or advance which is given to the` narrow jacks in order to prevent the widetongued jacks from taking up the thread which is necessary to form the short loops, which they would otherwise do in consequence of their greater width,bringin g them rst in contact with the thread, and then the narrowjacks, instead of forming loops behind them, would break the thread. actuated in the saine manner as in other knitting-machines by chains from a wheel R on an upright shaft S, which receives ,an intermittent alternate circular motion at regular intervals by means of bevel-toothed gearing from the slur-shaft K. A

w is the thread-carrier, which is attached to the slur and moves with it in the usual way. It is of well-known form and only differs from other thread-carriers in having an opening at :n (see Fig. 5) to deliver the thread opposite or perpendicularly to the needles, which prevents its rolling or kinking. The pressers 13 14 belonging to the two sets of needles are similarly arranged, oscillating on two rock-shafts T T, which work in bearings attached to the standards A A, and areactuated at the proper time to act upon the needles by cams U U', (shown dotted in Figs. l and 2,) acting on treadles' V V', connected by rods p p with arms q q attached to them,`

and are thrown back after the pressing operation by springs yr r.

The creased presser W, which is provided for the purpose of springing the needles c c forward to bring their points within the long loops, reseniblesin a great measure the other pressers, but has a broader face, in which are a number of creases ss, so arranged that each will receive a needle and form a guide for its upward motion while sprung forward. attached to a horizontal rockeshaft X, working in bearings attached to the standardsA A. This rock-shaft receives the necessary motion to bring the presser into operation on the needles through the action of a cam Y on one end of the main shaft outside the framingon a treadle Z, which is connected by a rod t with an arm it on the rock-shaft, and it is thrown back immediately after operation by a spring @connected with the arm u.

The operation of knitting is performed in the following manner: After the formation of every row of loops both sets of needles are depressed to their lowest position, as shown in Fig. 6. The first movementin forming anew row is the elevation of the needle-bar D and needles c c by the cam 1 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 7, in which position they remain during by far the greater portieri of the time occupied in working the next row of loops. As soon as the needles c c have risen, the slur and thread-carrier traverse and the thread is laid in front of and depressed between the needles in the form represented in red color in Fig. S. After this the needles e c commence to rise, and simultaneously with the rising of these needles the creased presser XV moves forward to meet them, which it does The slur is Itis when they arrive at the position shown in Fig. 2, and then springs them forward until theylreach such a position that they will pass between the pairs of wide jacks and into the long loops formed round them, which they would not do if not thus sprung back. The upward motion of these needles continues with the presser in contact till the needles c c' have moved to about the height represented in black outline in Fig. 7, when the presser recedes. The needles are kept from moving laterally when sprung by the creases s s in the presser, which serve as guides to them. After the presserleaves them they spring forward to such a position as to tighten the loops so much that on the descent of thev needles they will not slip over them. The needles continue rising until they arrive in a position corresponding with the front needles c c, when both sets of needles suddenly and simultaneously commence their descent, the pressers 13 and 14 coming simultaneously into operation upon them and closing their barbs. The descent of the needles draws the loops through the row which is supposed to have been previously formed and to have been at the bottom of the needles, the needles c c drawing the short loops in twos through similar loops on the front, and the needles c c drawing the long loops singly through similar loops at the back between the front loops. As soon as the needles have descended to the position shown in Fig. 6 and drawn the loops through the previous row, the needles c c again commence to form another row. motions given to the two sets of needles are simple. The ascent ofthe front needles c c is effected quickly, and they then remain stationary in their upward position until the proper time for their descent, when they descend quickly. The ascent of the back needles is also effected quickly, and is followed immediately by their rapid descent, after which they remain stationary in their lowest position until after the operation of the jacks. Just before the needles c c have reached their greatest elevation the cam j comes into operation and turns the rock-shaft J so as to throw the studs t' against the frame C C Gr and force it back to separate the ncedles farther from each other and pull the loops together. This cam keeps the needles forced away from each other during the whole of their descent, so that the loops are kept tight and prevented slipping over the points of the needles.

By different arrangement of needles different patterns of ribbing may be made. For instance, by arranging the needles c c in Thev threes instead of in twos and employing two narrow jacks, three loops will be formed on one side and one ou the other alternately.

Other variations in the pattern may also be made which it is not necessary to describe, but which would suggest themselves to any person practically acquainted with knitting.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire frame-needles, substantially as herein de-v scribed.

2. The method of givin g a lead or advanced motion to the narrow jacks P P by means of the double slur O O', having one part wider than the other, and the recess n made in the heads of the wide jacks to prevent their being operated upon until the wide part of the slur comes in contact with them and allow only the narrow jacks to be operated upon by the narrow part, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The movements of the two sets of needles relatively to each other, as described-that is to say, the front needles c c, rising irst and then remaining stationary to receive the loops upon and between them, the rib-needles being in the meantime stationary, but rising after the loops are formed and entering the loops intended for them, and then both sets of needles descending together to carry the loops through those previously formed.

4. Arranging the rib-needles c o at such a distance from the front needles c c that their upward motion will not carry them through the loops, and springing their ends forward to the requisite position for that purpose by means of a presser W, constructed, arranged, and operated substantially as herein 'described, for the purpose set forth.

5. Attaching thehead Q, which carries the jacks, the slur, vand the thread-carrier, to a frame M, which is capable of swinging back, substantially as described, to expose the needles and afford greater facility for their adjustment for the running on of the quarter and for the repair of any damage to the machine or to the web.

BROWN S. WOOD. Vitnesses:

WHIPPLE WALLING, JOHN WALLING, Jr.

Images