US1191937A

US1191937A - Sinker-wheel mechanism.

Info

Publication number: US1191937A
Application number: US81186914A
Authority: US
Inventors: William T Barratt
Original assignee: ALEXANDER J COOPER; ELIZABETH COOPER STODDARD
Current assignee: ALEXANDER J COOPER; ELIZABETH COOPER STODDARD
Priority date: 1914-01-13
Filing date: 1914-01-13
Publication date: 1916-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1933-07-25

Description

W. T.. BARRATT.

SINKER WHEEL MEQHANISM.

APPLLCATION FILED, IAN- 13.1914.

1,191,937. Patented July 25,1916.

2 SHEETS-LSHEET 1.

onrrngn srnras PATENT curios;

WILLIAM T. BARRATT, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT, ASSIGNOB, BY DIRECT AND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, OFONE-THIRD TO ALEXANDER J. COOPER, TWO-THIRDS TO ELIZABETH COOPER S'I'ODDARD, BOTH OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

SINKER-WHEEL MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. BARRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing ,at Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sinker-Wheel Mechanism, of which the following is a specification I This invention relates to an improved sinker wheel mechanism and embodies a sinker wheel mechanism which is set forth in a companion application filed by me Oc tober 19, 1912, Serial No. 726,668, together withvimproved yarn guiding means.

The object of the invention is to provid a sinker wheel mechanism which will pick up the loose end of a yarn leading from a yarn guide and feed the same to the needles of a knitting machine.

The device of this invention is particularly adapted to be used in machines in.

of picking up the loose free ends of the yarns from the yarn guides without its being necessary to hold-said free ends, and this is accomplished by moving the yarn guide downwardly across the outer ends of the sinkers, so that said yarn will lie diagonally across the periphery of the sinkerwheel and ends of the sinkers from the top to the bottom of said wheel. The sinkers are preferably made with the projections on the 11ppor ends of some of saidsinkers longer than the projections on the sinkers adjacent thereto in accordance with my invention set forth in said application for Letters Patent and more specifically set forth and claimed in a divisional application of said case filed byrme January 2, 1914, Serial No. 809,897. The yarn guides are alternately moved so that the free ends of the yarns will be gathered in by said projections on said sinkers and carried into alinement with the remainder of the sinkers, whereupon said free ends of the yarns will be fed to the needles of the machine. In order, however to be absolutely certain that the yarn shall be picked up in the manner described by said Patented July 25, 19516.

sinkers and-fed. to the needles, it is desirable that. the-free end of the yarn guide which is in operation should first be moved down- -wardly below the lower edges of the sinkers in order vthat the yarnmay lie diagonally across the periphery of the sinker wheel and its sinkers and thus render it absolutely sure that the yarn shall be taken by the sinkers and fed to the needles, but in thus positioning thevyarn guide to secure the result set forth there is a possibility, in the operation of the machine, that the yarn having a loose free end may get underneath the lower edges of the advancing sinkers and thus cause trouble, and to prevent this accident happening is the particular object of this inv,en-

In order to prevent such an accident I combine with the sinker wheel and the movable yarn guides a stationary yarn guide which is located beneath said movable vyarn guides and has its outer end curved upwardly between said sinkers and the outer ends of said movable yarn guides, when said yarn guides are depressed, the upper end of said stationary yarn guide being also located between the sinkers and the needles adjacent f to the sinker wheel, so that when one of the movable yarn guides is depressed, said stationary yarn guide prevents the yarn which at that time is led from said depressed mov- V able yarn guide to the upper edges of the sinkers diagonally across the periphery of the sinker wheel, from accidentally becoming displaced and dropping beneath the sinkers.

The invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof, said invention referring specifically, however, to

the stationaryyarn guide and its relative position tothe yarn guides and sinkers.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a circular knitting machine with my improved stationary yarn guide and movable yarn guides shown in connection-therewith,the sinkers of the sinker wheel which project between the needlesbeing shownin section. Figs. 2 and 3 are sectionalelevations illustrating the movable yarn guides in different positions relatively to the sinkers. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a circular knitting machine with my improved sinker wheel mechanism and sta tionary yarn guide attached thereto. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan of the sinker wheel with the yarn guides and a portion of a needle cylinder shown in connection therewith, together with the cutters which are also shown in section. Fig. 6 is a detail section of my improved stationary yarn guide showing the same in position with relation to a sinker and with relation to the yarn which is being guided to said sinker. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of one form of sinker. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of another form of sinker.

Like numerals refer to like views throughout the several views of the drawings.

Inthe drawings, 10 and 11 are the needle cylinders and 12 and 13 the needles thereon. Said needles are operated to slide in grooves in the needle cylinders in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

The sinker wheel 14 is substantially the same in construction and operation as that set forth in Patent No. 864,354 issued to me August 27, 1907, to which reference may be had. Said sinker wheel is rotated by means of a gear 15 which meshes into the needles 12 and is driven thereby. The

sinkers

16 and 17 are moved in the grooves of the sinker wheel by the rotation of said sinker wheel and by a cam 18 which is fastened to a stud 19 supported upon a stand 20, this stand being fastened to a bracket 21 which, in turn, is fastened to the frame 22 of the machine.

The particular construction and arrangement of the

sinkers

16 and 17 whereby the loose end of the yarn is carried by the sinkers 17 into the path of the other sinkers 16 and in between the needles is particularly set forth in said application for Letters Patent.

In this embodiment of my invention the movable yarn guides are two in number, 23

and 24, the yarn guide 23 consisting of a thin strip of metal fastened by a screw 25 to a hub 26. Said yarn guide is fastened as a whole to a rock-shaft 27 adapted to rock in suitable bearings in a" bracket 28 which is, in turn, fastened to the frame of the machine. A rocking motion is imparted to the rock-shaft 27 by suitable mechanism (not shown in the drawings) but fully described and illustrated in said application for Letters Patent No. 726,668, and by rocking the shaft 27 a vertical rocking movement may be imparted to the yarn guide 23. The yarn guide 24 consists, also, of a thin strip of metal which is fastened by a screw 30 to a rocking movement is imparted by suitable mechanism (not shown in the drawings but also shown in said application for Letters Patent No. 726,668.)

A suitable tension device 34 is fastened to the bracket 28 intermediate the yarn guides and the bobbins from which the supply of yarn is obtained. This tension device serves the purpose of preventing the yarn from feeding too freely to the yarn guides, and also after the yarn has been out by the severing device hereinbefore referred to it prevents the weight of the yarn from the bobbin pulling said yarn out of position to be operated upon when it is desired to again feed the same to the needles.

It will be understood that when one of the yarn guides carries its respective yarn out of operative position relatively to the needles, said yarn is cut off, and this cutting operation is performed by a cutting mechanism consisting of a stationary blade 36 and a movable blade 37. The movable blade is operated by suitable mechanism, not shown in the drawings but fully illustrated in said application Serial No. 726,668.

In order to prevent the free end of the yarn after it has been severed by the cutting mechanism from springing upwardly and being thrown over one of the

yarn guides

23 or 24, the yarn guard 38 is provided which is fastened to a needle support 39 which, in turn, is fast-to a bracket 40. When the yarn is cut by the mechanism hereinbefore described, the free end of said yarn will drop downwardly into substantially the position illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5 and the yarn thus cut off is held out of the path of the sinkers by the raised position of its respective yarn guide.

In order to insure the yarn being fed to the needles when a movable yarn guide is lowered and in proper position therefor a certain number of the sinkers, namely, the sinkers 17 are constructed with a projection 41 thereon. This projection 41 is provided on each of the sinkers 17 and extends beyond the outer ends of the sinkers 16 adjacent thereto. Preferably every fourth sinker is made with the projection 41 in accordance with the construction illustrated in Fig. 8, while the other sinkers are made in the usual manner and as illustrated in Fig. 7. Thus a plurality of sinkers on the sinker wheel 14 have a projection on their outer ends adjacent to the upper edge thereof, which projection is longer than the projections on the sinkers adjacent thereto and preferably each of the sinkers is provided w1th two projections, 41 and 42 on the

sinkers

17 and 43 and 44 on the sinkers 16 with a notch 45 between the ro'ections 41 t i l l2 hub 31 which, in turn, is fastened to a rock-I p 1 inc L shaft 32 adapted to rock in bearings provided in the bracket 28 and to which shaft a" .and a notch 46 between the

projections

43 and 44, the upper projection on the sinkers 17 bemg longer than the lower projection and longer than the upper projection on the ends of the sinkers 16.

A stationary yarn guide 47, which constitutes the specific embodiment of this invention, is fastened to a bracket 48, which bracket is fastened to a cam bracket 49 to which the cam 50 for the primary needles is fastened. The stationary yarn guide 47 is located, therefore, beneath the

yarn guides

23 and 24 and projects upwardly, terminat ing in a free end 51 which is located between the outer ends of the sinkers and the needles and constructed and arranged to bridge the space between said sinkers and the adjacent needles in said cylinder in close proximity to the intermeshing point of said sinkers and said needles, or more particularly the needles which are about to cooperate with said sinkers to receive the yarn from said sinkers, said free end being also located between the sinkers and the outer ends of the

yarn guides

23 and 24, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6.

The yarn guides 23 and 24 during the diflerent movements of the knitting machine occupy four positions indicated as (Z, 6, f and g in Figs. 2 and 3. During the operation of the machine when one of the movable yarn guides is in operative position and the other tion 6 is out of operative position and the yarn is hanging down with its free end lying along the tops of the sinkers. When the change in the position of the yarn guides hereinbefore described occurs, the yarn guide occupying the position is carried upwardly to the position d, thus carrying the yarn between the cutters ready to be cut. Immediately after arriving at the position (Z the yarn guide will drop to the position 6 and at this time the severing of the yarn will take place. While this operation is taking place with one of the yarn guides, the other yarn guide will move from the position 6 to the position 9 and this carries the free end of the yarn down into the position illustrated in Fig. 2, so that it will extend di-' agonally across the periphery of the sinker Wheel and across the ends of the sinkers thereon. It will also engage the upper free end 51 of the stationary yarn guide 47 and will thus be kept from passing beneath the lower edges of the sinkers, while at the same time, as the sinker wheel rotates, the sinkers will be brought around until the projection 41 on the sinker 17 will engage the yarn and carry it forward in the path of the sinkers which follow adjacent thereto. As soon as the yarn has been engaged by said projection 41 and carried into the path of the sinkers the yarn guide will rise from the position 9 to the position f and the yarn will 7 lower edges of the

sinkers

16 and 17 pass through this notch while the yarn 53 will bear against the upper edge 51 of the sta tionary yarn guide 47 when the

movable yarn guide

23 or 24, as the case may be, is in the position 9 (Fig. 2).

The different positions of the yarn guides are obtained by means of suitable cams em bodied in the mechanism whereby the movable yarn guides are. operated, and in said operation the movable yarn guide is first raised to the position d and then dropped to the position a, the purpose of this throw being to insure the yarn being lifted out of the path of the needles while said yarn is out of operation and the returning slight movement of the yarn guide to the position 6 is for the purpose of giving said yarn slack while it is being cut by the

cutters

36 and 37.

It will be understood that after the yarn has been severed the loose end thereof will fall approximately into the position illustrated in Fig. 3, the free end of the yarn falling over the ends of the sinkers and along their upperedges. After the yarn has been severed, as hereinbefore set forth, if the free end should fly upwardly instead of falling downwardly, then said free end would strike the yarn guard 38, which would keep said free end from being thrown over the yarn guides 23 or 24, as the case may be, and subsequently the free end of the yarn would drop down into the position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and along the upper edges of the sinkers. Each time that the yarn guides change position one yarn is cut oil by the cutters.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. A circular knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therefor, a sinker wheel, a plurality of sinkers adapted to slide in grooves thereon, a cam adapted to move said sinkers in and out between said needles, a movable yarn guide adapted to guide yarn having a loose end extending therefrom into line with the ends of said sinkers, mechanism adapted to move said movable yarn guide into and out of alinement with said ends of said sinkers and a stationary yarn guide interposed between the outer end of said movable yarn guide and said sinkers, said stationary yarn guide being constructed and arranged to bridge the space between said sinkers and the nearer of said needles and immediately adjacent to and in advance of the sinker which is about to be advanced, whereby said loose end may be guided to said sinkers and by said sinkers fed to said needles.

2. A circular knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therefor, a sinker wheel, a plurality of sinkers adapted to slide in grooves thereon, a cam adapted to move said sinkers in and out between said needles, a movable yarn guide adapted to guide yarn having a loose end extending therefrom into line with the ends of said sinkers, mechanism adapted to move said movable yarn guide into and out of alinement with said ends of said sinkers and a stationary yarn guide lo cated beneath said movable yarn guide and having a free end projecting upwardly and terminating between the outer end of said movable yarn guide and said sinkers, and between said sinkers and the needles adjacent said sinkers and in close proximity to the intermeshing point of said sinkers with said needles, whereby said loose end may be guided to said sinkers and by said sinkers fed to said needles.

3. A circular knitting machine having, in

combination, a needle cylinder, a set of needles therefor, a sinker wheel, a plurality of sinkers adapted to slide in grooves thereon, a cam adapted to move said sinkers in and out between said needles, a movable yarn guide adapted to guide yarn having a loose end extending therefrom into line with the ends of said sinkers, mechanism adapted to move said movable yarn guide into and out of alinement with said ends of said sinkers and a stationary yarn guide terminating in a free end located between the outer ends of said movable yarn guide and said sinkers and between the outer ends of said sinkers and said needles, and constructed and arranged to bridge the space between said sinkers and said needles, whereby said loose end may be guided to said sinkers and by said sinkers fed to said needles.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM T. BARRATT. Witnesses:

CHARLES S. Knnon, ANNA V. MURPHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Batents,

Washington, D. C.