US1145930A - Circular-knitting machine. - Google Patents

Description

I W. E. SMITH.

CiRCULAR KNITTING MACHlNE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1914.

Patented July 13, 1915.

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W. E. SMITH.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1914.

1,145,930. Patented July 13, 1915.

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8 WITNESSES W. E. SWHTHe CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1914.

Mu 1 v m W M\Fl@h W ,4 TTOR/VEYS Patented July 13, 1915.

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UMTE' TA Es WILLIAM E. SMITH, OF MILLTOWN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO KILBO'URlT MANUFAC- TUBING CORPORATION, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, A- CORPORATION 615 NEW JERSEY.

CIBCULAR KNITTING MACEIM.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed .l'uly 2', 131% Serial No. 848,528.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 71LLIAM E. Sarrrn,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Milltown, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Circular- Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare .the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others, skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.-

h/ly invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of my invention selected by me for purposes of illus tration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in "the following description and claims. a 1

Referring tothe said drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional view of the needle cylinder and needle actuating cams of'a circular knitting machine of the Well known Kilbourn type, having my present Fig. 2 is a bottom planviewof the inner and outer cam rings for actuating the web holders-or Fig; 3 is a detail SECtlIOIIrIl'VIGW of the said cam rings, showing the relation of the sinkers thereto, .Fig. ii is a detail view of one/of the sinkers lying adjacent to the needles knitting the front portion of the legend top of the foot of the stocking. Fig. 5 isa similar viewshowing one of the sinket'sv used adjacent-to the needles knittingthe back portion of the leg, the sole, and the heel and toe pockets. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the sinker actuating cam rings vshowing the rings partly broken away, and

illustrating a few of the sinkers in position in the grooves of the nosing. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the sinker actuating cam rings. a I

In the-operation of circular knitting machines which are provided with radially movable web holders or sinkers,.and which are coi istructed for both circular and reciplast preceding course of circular work, the

reciprocation of the sinker actuating cam ring which accompanies the reciprocating knittir g has the effect of slightly moving certain of the sinkers lying adjacent to or between the needles which have been thrown out of operation and are holding their stitches. The effect of this is to cause the said sinkers adjacent to or between the stationary needles, which are so operated, to. press upon and recede from the stitches held onthe stationary needles adjacent thereto,

with the efie'ctfof straining and weakening the yarn forming such stitches Sometimes the stitches are actually broken, but' more often they are merelyweakened so that after thestocking is knit and has gone'into the 3 market, these stitches tend to breakand in jure the stocking, and cause dissatisfaction on the part of the purchaser. This dificulty has resulted in injury to thousands of pairs of stockings knit on the class of circular knitting machines under consideration, and as the trade is-now demanding,

and manufacturers are furnishing hosiery in which the front part of the leg andtop of the foot, which is knit by the series of needles thrown out of operation during re ciprocating work, is formed of,,eXtremely line yarn 'sojasto make an almost transparent fabric, any wear on the stitches formed of this extremely fine-yarn is extremely objectionable and likely to cause serious in ury to the resulting fabric.

1The object of my present invention is to provide a construction which will positively hold stationary all of the sinkers adjacent to the needles which are thrown out of operation during reciprocating work, and

prevent any movement Whatever of such sinkers, so that the stilnhes on the station ary needles are relieved from this undue,

strain and wear. To this end I provide two separate sinker actuating camjrings, one of which operates upon the sinkers adjacent to and between the needles which are operative during reciprocating work, and the other of rocating work, it is found that during re--\wlnch operates upon tie sinker-s adjacent to ciprocating work, when the needle actuating cams are operating upon only those needles which knit therear halt of the leg, the sole,

and the heel and toe pockets while the remaining needles of the circular series re main stationary and hold the stitches of the and between those rgedles which are held stationary during re iprocatnrgwvork, and "I r provide means WheI shy at the beginning of reciprocating wort the latter sinker cam ring is moved to such position that it will not be further operated at all during reciprocating work, thus permitting it to hold its sinkers absolutely stationary during the entire time that the machine is reciprocating, and until circular work is resumed.

In the embodiment of my invention here-- in shown. which I have selected for purpose of illustration, I have shown my inv'r on applied to a circular knitting machine of the well known Kilbourn type, such, for example, as is covered by U. S. Letters Patent #1081854, dated Feb. 24, 1914, in the names of E. E. Kilbourn, \V. E. Smith, and I. IV. Kilbourn. In this typeof machine the needle cylinder is stationary and the needles are actuated by two rotary cams arranged one above the other, the needles whichknit the front part of the stocking being provided with nibs engaging the lower cam cylinder, and the needles which knit the back half of the stocking being provided with nibs whiclcam cylinder. In the accompanying drawings, I have shown so much of such a knitting machine as is necessary for an understanding of my present invention.

In Fig. 1, which illustrates a sectional view through the knitting head, 1 represents the knitting cylinder which is supported in any desired manner and provided with grooves or tricks in which the needles 2 slide vertically. I prefer to form the needles in two parts, the upper part being the needle proper, and the lower part being what I term a jack, illustrated at 2, and having a notched portion to engage a projection on the foot of the needle 2, although the needles might be made in one piece if desired. and as illustrated in the patent heretofore referred to. In this instance the jacks 2 slide vertically in the lower portion 1' of the needle cylinder, the jacks of those needles knitting the rear half of the stocking being provided with nibs 2" engaging the upper cam 3, w e the jacks of the needles knitting the .ont portion of the stocking are provided with nibs 2 which engage the lower cam cylinder 4, suitable means being provided for rotating the cam cylinders together for circular work and for reciprocating the upper cam cylinder only during reciprocating work, such mechanism being well known and forming no part of'my present invention. p f

5 represents what I term the nosing which is ])|'()\l(l0(1 with radial tricks or grooves to receive the web h ilders'or sinkers 7 and 8, the sinkers or web holders 7 being located adjacent to and between the needles knitting the real-half of the stocking and actuated by the upper cam cylinder 3 and the sinkers 8 being locatedadjacent to and between the needles knitting the front hall of the stocking and actuated by the lower cam cylinder 4.

9 and I0 represent two actuating cam rings engage the upper mounted rotatably upon the nosing 5, the cam ring 9 being concentric with and located within the cam ring 10, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and (3. 'l. he cam ring 9 is provided with an annular groove 9 having a cam portion 9, and the cam ring 10 is provided with a similar groove 10 having a cam portion 10 the, said cam portions being constructed to give the desired horizontal reciprocation to the sinkers or web holders. Each of the web holders 7 is provided with a vertically disposed nib 7* which engages the groove 1O in the outer cam ring 10 and each of the sinkers 8 is provided with a nib 8 which engages the groove 9 in the inner cam ring 9, the said nibs and grooves being so constructed that the web holders are held in proper position and are given their desired reciprocating movements. Each of the web holders is provided with the usual guiding recess 7 and 8 respectively at its inner end to engage a retaining ring (not shown), and I prefer to provide each of the sinkers with a groove (7 and 8 respectively) at its outer end, which latter grooves are engaged by an encircling yielding connection 11 preferably in the form of a very fine spiral spring eX- tending entirely around the series of web holders, and having its ends connected so that the spring, which is under slight tension, tends to hold all of the sinkers in and move them to their inner positions, said sinkers or web holders being moved outwardly only by the cam. The spring may however be dispensed with and both the inward and outward movements of the sinkers or web holders be produced by the engagement of the sinker nibs and cam portions 9" and 10 of the respective cam ring. Mechanism is provided for imparting the desired rotary motion to both of these cam rings 9 and 10 during circular work and to the cam ring 10 only during reciprocating work, which 'may he of any desired character which will accomplish this result. In the present instance I have shown the outer cam ring 10 provided with lugs 10 carrying adjustable stops 10 between which lies a bracket or arm 3 operatively connected with the upper camcylinder 3, for imparting motion to the outer sinker ring 10 from the upper cam cylinder, and I also provide the cam rings 9 and 10 with co-acting driving lugs or projections, the ring 10 being 'pros vided in this instance on its upper tacefwith a horizontal plate 12 extending over the inner ring 9, while the ring 9 is provided with a similar plate 1i) extending out\ 'ardly over the ring 10 (see Figs. 6 and 7), so that when the outer ring is moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6, the lug 12 will engage the lug 13 and the two rings will move to' getheri The arrow in Fig. 6 represents the direction in which the outer ring 10 is driven from the arm 3 during circular \vork and it will thus be seen that when the machine is operating to produce circular knitting, at which time both cams 3 and 4 are being driven in the same direction, the sinker cam rings 9 and. 10 will both be moved simultaneously and circularly in the direction of the arrow. When reciprocating work is commenced, if the ring 9 is not already in position, the first movement of the cam cylinder, if it be in the directionv of the arrow in Fig. 6, will carry the innerring 9 with the ring 10 as far as the movement of the outer sinker ring 10 extends,

and as the ring 10 is then moved in the-opring 9 and the two rings will again operate together.

It will thus be seen that during reciprocating work thesinkers or web holders 8 which have their nibs 8 engaging the inner,

ring 9 will be positively held from any movement whatever and all the strain or wear upon the threads forming the stitches of the last preceding circular course held on theneedles adjacent to said sinkers 8 is avoided, that there is no weakening of the fabric at any point in such course and the objectionable result heretofore referred to caused by the reciprocation of the sinkers eilecting a sawing action on the stitches held on the stationary needles is entirely obviated.

\Vhile I have shown my invention as applied to a machine of the Kilbourn type in which two separate'cams are employed for actuating the needles, I do not limit my in- ,vention to this type of machine, as it is equally applicable to other types of machine, in which only a single cam cylinder is employed, and it is also applicable to machines,

in which the cam cylinder or cylinders is'or are held stationary while the needle cylin der rotates.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a circular stocking knitting machine,

the combination with a-knitting cylinder, a

circular series of needles, and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of movable web holdersassociated with a por tion of the needles, a second series of web holders associated with a second portion oi the needles, actuating mechanism for engaging only the web holders of the first mentioncd series, separate actuating mechanism for engaging only the web holders, of the second mentioned series, and means for throwing one of said separate actuating mechanisms out of operation, whereby neither of said separate actuating mechanisms o ratively engages the web holders actuate mechanisms. Y

2. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of movable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders associated with the needles which are operated during reciprocating work, means operable durlng clrcular and reciprocating work for actuating the web'holders of the last men-, tioned series, separate means for actuatingthe web holders of the first mentioned series,

by the other of said actuating and means for connecting said actuating means for both series during circularwork only. i

3. In a' circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular-series of needles andstitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of movable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders as sociated with the needles which are operated during reciprocating work, the web holders of each series being provided with actuating nibs, an actuating device operable during circular work only, provided with means for engaging the nibs of the work holders of the first mentioned series, and a separate actuating device operable during circular and re-.

ciprocating wrk for engaging the nibs oi the work holders of the last mentioned series.

-'l. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of mov able web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders associated with the needles which are operated during reciprocating Work, the web holders of each series being provided with. actuating nibs, an actuating cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holders of the first men tioned series only, 'a second cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holders of the last mentioned series only, means for imparting motion to said second. cam ring during both circular and reciprocating work, and means for connecting said rings for joint rotation during circular work only.

5. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series'of .movable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series-of web holders associated with theneedles which are operated during reciprocating work, the web holders of each series being provided with actuating nibs, an actuating cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holders of the first men tioned series only, a second cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holders of the last mentioned series only, means for imparting motion to said second cam ring during. both circular and recipro-ating work, said cam rings being provided the one with a part in the path of a part secured to the other, wherew the said parts will engage and se cure the joint operation of said cam rings during circular work, and means for rotating said second cam ring during circular work, and for reciprocating said ring during reciprocating work.

G. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, ofa series of movable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders associated with the needles which are operated during reciprocating work, the web holders of each series being provided with actuating nibs, an. actuating cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holders of the first mentioned series only, a second cam ring engaging the nibs of the web holdersof the last mentioned series only, means for imparting motion to said second cam ring during both circular and reciprocating work, said second cam ring being provided with a driving lug, and the first mentioned cani ring being provided with a projection in the path of said driving lug for driving it from the second cam ring during circular work and means for rotating said second cani ring during circular work, and for reciprocating it during reciprocating work.

7. In a circular stockingknittingmachine.

the. combination with a knitting cylinder, a

circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of mmable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders associated with the needles which are operated duringreciprocating work, the web holders being eachprovided with an actuating nib the nibs of the web holders of one series beinglocated at a greater distance from the center of the needle cylinder than the nibs of the web holders of the other series, a cairi ring provided with a cam groove engaging the nibs of one series of web holders, and a second cam ring of different diameter having a groove engaging the nibs of the other series of web holders. means for securing the. opcrati .i of one of said cam rings during circular work and reciprocating work,

and inea.is for securing the operation of the other cani ring during circular work only.

8. In a circular stockingkinttingmachine, the. combination with a knitting cylinder, a

circular series of needles and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of movable web holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work, a second series of web holders assecond cam ring of different diameter lia'ving a groove engaging the nibs of the other series of web holders, means for securing the operation of one of said rings during circular work and reciprocating ,work, and coacting devices on said rings forsecuring the joint operation of said rings during circular worl 9. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylinder, a circular cam operable during circular and reciprocating work operatively engaging certain of said needles, a separate stitch cam, operable during circular work only, opcratively engaging the other needles of ,the circular 5 series, of movable web holders, each provided with an actuating nib. the nibs of the work-holders associated with the needles which remain stationary during reciprocat ing work being located at a different distance from the center of the needle cylinder r'rom the nibs of the other web holders, two separate cain rings, each having a;

' groove for engaging the nibs of one series of web holders, an actuating part on the re- '105' ciprocating cam operatively engaging one of said rings for securing its operation during circular and reciprocating. ,WOX{, and operative connections between said rings for securing their joint operation during circular work. 10. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the coinoination with a needle cyl-. inder, a circular series of" needles, a circular series of radially movable web holders, each 1,1 provided with an actuating nib, the series of web holders associated with the'needles which remain stationary during reciprocating work havingtheir nibs at a different distance from the center of the needle cyliiider from the nibs of the other series of web holders. two separate cam rings of ditl'crent dianu s. each provided with a cam groove engaging the nibs of the work holders of one series only. means for ("lriving one of said cam rings during circular and recipro eating work. and means for securing the joint operation of said rings during circalar work.

11. In a circular stocking knitting inadistance from the 75 series of needles, a -kn itting 90 chine, the combination with a knitting cylinder, a circular series of needles, and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of movable web holders, associated with a portion of the needles, a second series of web holders associated with a second portion of the needles, said web holders being each rovided with an actuating nib, the nibs of the web holders of one series being located at a difierent distance from the axis of the needle cylinder from those of the other series, separate actuating cams located at different distances from the axis of the cylinder, each constructed to engage the nibs of one series only of said web holders, and means for throwing one of said cams out of operation.

12. In a circular stocking knitting machine, the combination with a needle cylin der, a circular series of needles mounted therein, and stitch forming needle actuating means, of a series of radially movable web holders associated with a portion of the needles, and a second series of movable web the web holders of the series engaged one series of web holders being located at a different distance from the axis of the needle cylinder from those of the other series, a cam ring simultaneously engaging the nibs of one series of web holders only, a separate cam ring simultaneously engaging the nibs of the other series of web holders only, means for establishing relative rotation between the needle cylinder and cam rings, and means for permitting oneof said cam rings to remain stationary with respect to the needle cylinder, and thereby hold all and operated by it from radial movement.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. SMITH.

Witnesses CLIFFORD S. VAN VVINKLE, FRED M. THICKSTUN.

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