US1221807A - Needle mechanism for knitting-machines. - Google Patents

Description

H. w. SCOTT.

NEEDLE MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 9. 191s.

' l 'Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

3L 6.6mm

' lll'l ROBERT W. scorn-OE lBOSTON7 MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To- SCOTT & WILLIAMS, INCORPORATED, or CAMDEN, lNEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

NEEDLE MEOHANISM FOR KNITTINe-MAGHINES,

' Application filed March 9, i916. :Serial No.,`83,18.5'.

.To4 cllevhom it may concern:

- Be-itknownthat I, ROBERT W., SCOTT, a

citizen of. the UnitedStates, andresidentof Boston, in the countycof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and ,useful Improvements iny Needle `Mech-v anism' for Knitting-Machines, of which; the

following is a` specification.

. This invention relates vto that class of knitting machine needles-employing a slidv-ing member in place ofthefusual pivoted and. swinging llatchv for .fthe l purpose of closing the hook of the needle and'casting olf the old stitch .when thenew -loop .is drawn through the old stitch, one object AOf-myfinvention'being to provideia,fsimplefcheap .andeffective needle of this class and coperating devices therefor ,adapted j for ma;

chines of fine gage. y. y

The ordinary knitting. machine 4latch needle 'is objectionable forv many reasons,

among which may be mentioned the v length vof travel Of the needle ;y "the weakening of the same-by vthe latch-receivingslot and the transverse pivot-pin Openings; the ydelicacy of the latch and its pivot pin; the. wear`` upon the latter; the liability' of the latch to become. brokenor bent, thus rendering the needle inoperative; thelnecessity' for; the

use, in connection I with' the "latch, vof an.` opener therefor, in order to'insure the clear-A ing of .the hook of thel needle Afor vthe yreception ofthe ,fresh yarn the number of operations 'necessary to produce the needle, :and`

the consequent cost vof the same.

' that, in machines offsmall diameterthe-use of more than one yarn feed is generally. impracticable. 1

rlhe substitution of `a sliding-hOok-closing member 'for the swinging latch obvia'tesfthe objections above noted,v` but, 'while-"needles" having such sliding membershave heretofore beenl proposed, *they* havev notsupplanted the latchneedle because, they have .not been adapted for use in the fine gage 1 machines now employed for. knitting hosiery and underwear.

. I am awareo'f certain .attemptsthe prior art to provide a practicable needle of .Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Apr. j3, 191i 7.

` this class, for instance as'illustrated by my Letters Patent No. 1,035,752, datedAugust 13, 1912 [upon which my presentinvention is an improvement] as well asdevices shown l in Letters Patent to others, vbut the said devices were not wholly satisfactory in all 'situatio'n's. In the structure of my Said patent,

of the needle, land either required an additional groove in the camv carrier member of the knitting machine, which groove 'had to be 1n a place requiring a design of' thema- Vchine proportions desirable to avoid, or.

necessitated friction devices coperating with a. part' of. the needle groove, and means for positively actuating the frictionheld vparts at times, which latter structures necessitated'movin'g the sliding device with the needle when the needle wasv abnormally for instance, vthe'sliding'hook-closing member lay upon the -loop-bearing or front side lifted. I'was not, therefore, able to 'wholly avoid.- enlarging effect upon the withheld loop due to presence of the Sliding member in front of the needle shank and inthe loop during such'times as it was desired to withhold a loopA (as the instep loops during heel knitting) well down on the Shank of theneedie. The other patented devices with which I amfamiliar, on the other'hand do not permit such an abnormal position at all when thekfnitting is of ine gage, the sliding latch members ofsaidother devicesnot only being carried vby the, needle whenever the needle moves beyondthe freedom permitted by a shortfslot in which the head-of the hookclosing member can slide, 'but necessarily being of ay thickness preventing 'their penetration into -aknit loop only a Ilittle larger than the needle proper.

-f --My present device is particularly designed tol enabletheneedleproper 'to be made as thin and narrow as proper rigiditywill permit, while permitting the hook-closing member tobe of Suchfdimensions and so posiftioned as to permit the needle to stand at an abnormally ,high position without introducing into a loop held on its Shank anything to stretch that loop. v

By reason of the improved capacities. above mentioned, my new-needle is adapted to `be operated in a knitting machine organized to place some of the needles out of actionin an abnormally elevated position,

for instance, to placejthe insteprneedles or needles not engaged inheel-and-toe knitting 1 5 Figure 1 is a section through a needle 35,0 f the hook e -A @In the 'form illustrated inFigs. 1 and 3,`-

'Oster' aaion in a high position during re! ciprocatory knitting for heel `or toe on'the other needles.

v In thelaccompanying drawings, 'j A rier on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2, illustrating. my new needle and devices adapted to coperate'therewith;

-F g. 2 nassen@ @the uns 22 of Fig.

' 13 1y on an enlarged scale;

. Fig. 3-is a' longitudinal section of the j,needle shown in Fig. -1 on an enlarged scale showing the hook-closing device open;

Fig. iris a. similar` section showing the hook-closing deviceclosed, i I Fig. 5 isa view-similar to Fig.3 illustratin section illustrating a further modication in al' closed and in-an open position; and Fig. 8 is a diagram section illustrating the needle,

the lhook-closing tongue and a knit The needle comprises'a shank1 and op.-

l eratingbutt 2 .of any known or usual con- Y l struction, said shank ending in h'ook ."whichmay stand 1n any desiredrelation tothe front` 4'line of the shank; for instance. `as 'l shown inFig. lor as shown in Fig. 5.

`30 -The shank ispenetrated at a point beneath ythe hook by a slot which may bea saw kerf having sloping ends, asv shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5,-of which-the upper end 4'constitutes a cam face substantially directed at the point `the back of the needle is gr0oved at 5,so as to permit the bottom ofthe grooveto be line with-the slope 4.

40 Coperating. with the needle` proper a slid- Y ing'hoop-closing member 6 of spring metal is provided with 'a .spring-tongue 7 which, in -the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, is "comprised of. a normally straight,reduced portion of the member 6. The needle carrier 8v is provided with the usual needle slots 9, and

with -narrower slots 10,preferably central with respect to the needle slots as shown in Fig.vr 2in which'slots 10 the members 6 are arranged to ,slide withfriction, `for instance;

having an .impressed bend when free.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, 'the members 6 may` have operating butts 12, each adapted to take into a recess 13 formed in the needle shank 1. The butt 12.@sso situated with respect to the recess 13 as to cause the lnormal stitching movement of the needle to advance the tongue 7 substantially to`the position with respectto the needle carrier illustrated d in Fig. 1, 4so that when the needle isin a normal or middle position, the lpoint oi? the tongue 7. occupies the position relative to the needle illustrated'inl Figs.. 1 and 3.' Further downward movement of the needle will now cause the'spring tongue 7 to bedisplaced by cause butt 17 to traverse recess 13', and fur- I e 1,221,807` i thecam slope t0 penetrate the slot in the needle shank tothe position indicated in .Fig-4, at which the needle hook is closed. Further downward movement of the needle car-v will cause the upper end of the recess 13 to 70 encounter the butt 12-of the member 6, the 'parts movin together until the old loop has hugs the back thereof closely, so that when ythe needle viswlifted-to the abnormal position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the thin springtongue 8 may standina relation to the loop a then on the shank of the needle illustrated in Fig. 7, the spring tongue oca Y cupyinga triangular opening normally left Figs. -6 and f7 are respectively views partly atthe back of the'needle even Iby a loop knit sotightlya's it is possible to move freely on the shank of the needle. 85

'In some cases, asillustrated in Fig. 5, the needle need not be reduced at the back so as" to'make the cam wall of the slot in the needle shank stand'beyond the` bottom of groove, the tongue7 in this casebe'ing provided with 90 an impressed bend 14 seas to find and enter the slotin the shank.. f

As illustrated `in Figs. .6 and 7, such a hook-closing member maybeso made as to perform the Vdesired functions without causing Ait to be bent forward at each stroke of the needle, `the hook-closing element being rocked or tilted forward Voir-relative move- `ment of the parts. VAs shown, a thin springe mtal hookfclosing member 15may be re- 100 cessed at 16 to leave an "operating butt 17 adapted to work in the recess 13 ofthe shank of a needle 20, athin tongue 18 of the mem-- ber 15 lying substantially lin front` of the shank ofthe member 15 and terminating in a'hook engaging bend 19. The needle is provided with a slot 5 deep enough substantially to.inclose the tongue 18 in the open position shown in Fig. 7. The needle shank is slotted to provide a slope 4 as explained in connection with Figs. 1 to 5. y

The parts when placed in such a carrier a shown inFigs. 1 .and 2 assume the relative positions shown in Figs. 6 and 7 at opposite ends' of a stroke of the needle 20 sufficient to ther upwardmovement of a needle 20 which e. has been adjusted as inFig. 7 may take place, within the distance measured by the thintongue 18, .without introducing into a loop-held lon the shank of the `needle anyv rthing thicker than the needle shank. The

needles 1 and 20 are therefore all well adapt'- ed to be placed out of action while holdingv their loops with their butts at a relatively highilevelwith respect to the needle-carrier r 8 and the knitting cams. e It will be understood that whilethe relative dimensions of the thin tongues 7 or 18, and the vfreedom for relative motion pertive distances between the active and im' active paths for the butts 2, and that the species shown are illustrative only of the genus of my invention. l

Vhat I claim is: 1

l. rIhe combination with 'a knitting machine needle having a slotted shank grooved at the back and a hook opening on the face thereof, of a sliding hook-closing member adapted to slide on the back of said needle, said member having a long narrow tongue normally housed Within said groove and adapted to be moved forward and outward by a cam surface on said needle throughA said slot and into closing relation to said hook' upon relative movement of said needle and said member in one direction.

2.' A knitting machine needle having a shank ending in a hook opening on one face of the shank, in combination with a member having a relatively long thin hook-closing tongue movable in a groove on the other face of the needle shank, said needle having thereinv an opening having a cam end adapted to move said tongue into position to close said hook on relative movement of said mem.-

whereby the 'needle is adapted to have its f hook end moved to a much greater distance than necessary for knitting through a yarn loop on its shank without introducing into said loop parts tending to enlarge the same.

3. A knitting machine needle having a slotted shank and a hook opening on one face thereof,` and a sliding hook-closing member adapted to slide on the other or back face of -said needle, vsaid member having a spring tongue adapted to be bent by one margin of said slot into closing relation to said hook upon relative movementofend of said needle,-

said needle and said member in one direction.

4.' In a knitting machine, the combination of a hooked needle having a shank and an opening therein with a carrier having a groove for said needle, a groove at the bottom of the needle groove for frictionallyl holding a hook-closing member, and a hookclosing lmember in said latter groove'having 'f a long thin tongue adapted to pass through the opening in the needle shank into closing relation with the needle hook, and means permitting movement of said needle relatively With respect to said member respectively to effect such passage and closure, and to hold said tongue parallel with the needle shank and Withdrawn from the hook.

. 5. In a knitting machine, the combination of a needle having a hook and a shank7 having an opening therein near said hook, with a carrier having a groove for said needle, a groove at the bottom of the needle groove for frictionally holding a hook-closing member, and a hook-closing member in said latter groove having a tongue adapted to enter and pass through said opening in the needle v tion with a knitting needle having .a slot i therein and a hook thereon comprising a shank adapted to be frictionallyheld in a grooved carrier, and a normally Straight` spring tongue thereon adapted to lie closely against the back of said needle, whereby to enter said slot and close said hook durin relative movement between said member and said needle.

Signed by me at Boston, AMassachusetts, i I

this 7thV day of March, 1916.

. ROBERT SCOT'I.

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