US1496860A - Transfer mechanism for knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

June 10 1924.

M. C. MILLER TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Shes t 1 June 10 1924.

I M. c. MILLER TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed April 5. I92] 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 16, T9240 UNHTE ST-ES ntense r aea,

MAX 0. MILLER, or cor/manners]: HILL, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR To annexes KNITTING MACHINE COMPANY, or rAwrUcKE'r, :aHonn ISLAND, A oonronarron F RHODE ISLAND.

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR KNITTING- MACHINES.

Original application filed April 5, 1921, Serial No. 458,640. Divided and this application filed May 27,

1922. Serial No. 564,208.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, MAX C. MILLER, a citizen of Germany, residing at Cumberland Hill, in the county of Cumberland and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transfer Mechanism for 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.

The invention relates to circular knitting machines such as are utilized in the manufacture of seamless hosiery and more particularly to the-mechanism utilized in knitting half hose.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient mechanism which will automatically level the needles preparatory to transferring a knit top thereto, and which will automatically restore the parts to knitting relation upon starting the machine after the top has been transferred. To this end the invention comprises the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and referred to in the claims.

The present application is a division of application No. 458,640, filed A. ril 5, 1921, which shows a machine in w ich a preferred form of the invention has been incorporated. In'the drawings Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation showing so much of the above machine as is,necessary' to illustrate the application of fth'e present invention thereto, Fi 2 is a diagrammatic view showing a evelopment of the cams and devices operating on the needle butts, Fig. 3 is to a sectional plan view showing the mode of operation of the needle leveling m'echanism, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4, Fig. 3.

The machine shown in the drawings is provided with a rotary needle cylinder-2 in which needles 4 are mounted in the usual manner. The needle cylinder is carried on and connected to rotate with a gear 6 which is mounted to rotate within a supporting ring 8'. The supporting ring is rovided with three spiral or worm ribs 10 w ich rest upon rolls 12 carried by vertically adjust-4 able supports'14 and are held firmly upon the supporting rolls by the rolls 16. By rotation of the worm ring the needle cylinder vmay be raised and lowered to vary the length and tightness of the stitch or to change the relation of the needles and web holders in transfer work. The ring is forced in a direction to lower the needle cylinder by a spring indicated at 18 and is moved in the opposite direction through a horizontal rod 20, the forward end of which engages an arm 22 depending from the ring, and the rear endof which is engaged by an adjustable screw 24 carried on the lower end of a lever 26. The lever is mounted on a stud 28 and its upper. end is provided with contact pieces 30-32 adapted to engage cams carried on the pattern cam shaft 34. These cams by engagement with one or the other of the contact pieces determine the height of the nee dle cylinder at various parts of the stocking or during the levelin and transfer operations. The needle cy inder is rotated and reciprocated through a gear 36 which engages the gear 6 and is secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 38, the lower end of which is connected to a suitably constructed motion changing mechanism.

The needle operating cams and pickers are mounted upon a supporting plate 40 which is provided with a central cylinder 42 surrounding the needle cylinder, The upper edge of the cylinder forms a ledge 44 for underlying the needle butts and supporting the needles at the tuck level. The knitting cams comprise the stitch cams 46 and 48, the needle elevating or side cams 50 and 52, the lower center cam 54 and the upper center cam 56, which is formed on a guard plate 58 overlying the stitch and side cams. The narrowing and widening devices comprise the double acting needle depressing picker 60 and the two single actingneed-le lifting pickers 62. The instep cam for raising the long butt needles into the inactive series at the beginning of the heel or toe and for returning the inactive needles to the active series at the completion of the heel or toe is indicated at 64.

In knitting half hose the needles are automatically leveled substantially at the knock-over level after the completed stocking has been run off the needles and before the machine is automatically stopped. For

this purpose the cylinder 42 is provided with a groove 66 for the butts of the leveled needles and the side cam 50 is so mounted that it may be moved radially out of thepath of the needle butts to permit the needles to be leveled by the stitch cam 4:8 which is active during rotary knitting. A su plernental leveling cam 68 is also provi ed which is moved radially inward to depress those needles which are passing up the cam 50 when it is withdrawn. The support 70 which overlies the needle butts as they approach the picker 62 on reverse stroke in reciprocatory knitting is also 1 mounted to move radially to allow the passage of any needle butts which are on the cam 50 when it is withdrawn. The side cam 50 is secured .on theforward end of a radially movable slide 72 and is automatically withdrawn when the needles are to be leveled by a lever 74:; one end of which engages a pin on the slide and the other end of which is engaged by the forward end of a rod 76. The rear end of the rod is en-igaged by aleve27'78 which is in turn engaged and actuated by a cam carried by the pattern shaft. The slide 72 is forced forwardby a spring 80. The cam 68 is carried on the end of a lever 82 and is forced yieldingly forward by a spring 84 connected to the lever. The cam is retracted when the side cam moves forward into activeposition by a pin 86 on the slide 72 which engages the end of the lever 82. The sup- 35.port 70 is formed on the end of a lever 88 and is held yieldingly in active position by a spring 90 connected to the lever. The side cam 52 is normally in position across the leveling groove 66 and is mounted so to yield radially to permit the assage'of the needle butts traveling along t e groove, For this purpose the cam is mounted on the end of a lever 92 pivoted at 94c and held yieldingly in forward position by a spring pressed plunger 96.

When the needles are to be leveled the completed stocking is run of? and the latch ring 98 is raised sufficiently to clear the latches on the needles. The latch ring is thus raised by the advance movement of the pattern shaft which raises the active yarn finger to withdraw the knitting yarn and which throws into operation a yarn severing and clamping mechanism (not shown) mounted on the latch ring. Means for lifting the latch ring'cornprises a lever 100 pivoted on the stud 102 on which the latch ring is pivoted and provided atits forward end with a lateral projection underlying to the latch ring carrier. The lower end of the lever is acted on by a cam carried by the pattern shaft. After the latch ring is raised the pattern shaft is again advanced and retracts the side cam 50 at the point in the on rotation of the needle cylinder when the first of the series of long butt needles are passing up the cam as indicated in Fig. 3. The withdrawal of the side cam permits the cam 68 to move forward so that it rests against the ends of the short butts and is in position to deflect and engage the long butts which were passing up the cam 50 and to direct thesef needles down onto the incline 104 which completes their movement into the leveling groove 66. The remaining long butt needles and all of the short butt needles are directed down into the leveling groove by the stitch cam 48 so that at the completion of a revolution of the needle cylinder all of the needles will have been brought to the knock-over levels with their upper ends below the tops of the 7 web holders'106. The needles having been leveled the machine is automatically stopped by the action of" a cam on the pattern shaft in any suitable or well known manner. The

operator then swings the latch ring up out of the way and applies the quill cup to the web holders. Then the needles are projected into the quills by lowering the needle cylinder. To permit the'abnormal rotation of the worm ring 8 requisite for projecting the needles u into the quills the cam w ich engages tliecontact piece 30 on the end of the lever 26 is provided with a deep depression 108 which registers with the contact piece when the machine is stopped. To permit the contact piece to enter this recess, the cams which-register with the contact piece 32 at this point in the rotation of the pattern shaft when knitting fashioned stockings, are removed when knitting half hose. The ,irotation of the worm ring in a direction to lower the needle cylinder is at this time limited by a latch 110 mounted on the outside of the casing 112 and providedwith a'shoulder 114C adapted to engage an arm 116 which projects from the worm ring through a slot 118 in the casing. The latch is held in engagement with the under side of the arm by a spring 120. After the quill cup has been applied to the web holders the latch 110 is depressed by the operator, thus freeing the wormring sothat it is moved by its spring in a direction to lower the cylinder until the arm 22 brings up against the stop screw 23. This projects the needles up above the web holders and into position to receive the loops carried by the transfer quill cup. After the loops have been transferred the latch ring is swung down into position and the machine is started, The pattern shaft is i nmediately advanced and the cam 122 on the pater-n shaft acts on the contactpiece 86 s of the lever 26 and; turns the worm ring tolift the needle cylinder into such position that the web holders are slightly above the tops of the needles. The worm ring rests here during one or two revolutions 'llOd Licence of the needle cylinder so that the stitches carried by'the needles are brought under the nibs of the web holders by the Withdrawal and advance of the Web holders by their actuating cams during such revolutions. The continued movement of the at tern shaft then causes the cam 1% to urther rotate the worm ring and lift the needle cylinder to knitting position. in order that the position of the web holders with relation to the tops of the leveled needles may be varied in accordance with the character of the yarn used and work being done thecam 122 is mounted for radial adjustment to vary its lifting efiect on the needle cylinder as indicated in Fig. 1,

After the needle cylinder has been raised to knittingposition the pattern shaft is given another advanced movement to release the side cam slide 72 and also drop into active position one of the yarn carrier fingers 126.. The side cam slide is released when the short butt needles are passing the cam so v that i forced inward by the spring and rides against the short butt needles. This movement of'theieam slide also withdraws the cam 68. Since the side cam rides against the ends of the short butt it is in position to engage and raise the long butts to the tuck level. After the short butts have passed the cam moves forward into idl position where it will act on both the long and short butts. As the needles approach the side cam 50 they are pressed back in the needle groove so that none of the short butts will project far enough to ride up the cam by a spring pressed finger 128 which is mounted to swing radially and is pressed inward by a spring 136, The needles are thus returned to the active level and pass through the knitting cams, the needles at the forward end of the long butt series being the first to be raised and the first to pass through the knitting cams, will. therefore, begin on the first long butt needle.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described in embodying the invention inthe machine shown and described in the application above reterredto it will be understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential to the broader features of the invention and may be varied or modified as found desirable or best suited to the construction and mode of operation of the machine to which it is to be applied.

What is claimed is:

l. A knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, web holders, knitting cams, means acting to automatically level the needles, manually controlled means 'for lowering the web holders to project theleveled needles upward with relation to the The knitting fore the machinestops to level the needlesbelow their normal level, manually controlled means for projecting the level nee dles upward with relation to the web, hold- 1 ers, means acting automatically upon start-v ing the machine to position the web holders approximately at the level'of thetops of the needles for at least one revolution to bring the stitches under the nibs of the web holders, and means for thereafter restoring to knitting relation the needles, web holders,v

and knitting cams.

3. A knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, web holders, knitting cams, means for leveling the needles at substantially the knock-over level, means for thereafter lowering the cylinder and web holders to project the needles up above the web holders. means for raising the cylinder and web holders to an intermediate position for one or more revolutions to bring the stitches under the nibs of the web holders and then completing their upward movement, and means for thereafter returning the needles and knitting cams to knitting relation.

4 A. knitting machinedaaving, in combi-- nation, a needle cylinder, web holders, imittin cams means actin antomaticall to v position and after a short interval during which the stitches are brought under the nibs of the Web holders complete its return movement, and means for automatically restoring the needles and knitting cam to knitting relation after the needle cylinder has been returned to lmitting position 5. A knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, stitch and side cams, means for withdrawing a side cam to level the needles by a stitch cam, and a snplemental leveling cam for actinTg on to needles which register with the side cam when it is withdrawn, 1

6. A knitting, machine having, in combination, avneedle cylinder, stitch earns, a radially movable side cam, a radially movable supplemental leveling cam, means for retracting the side cam and advanc'zig: the

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supplemental cam to level the needles helow the stitch cam.

7. A knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, stitch and side cams, a cam cylinder having a leveling groove belovv the stitch cam, means for Withdrawing the side cam which is active during rotary knitting to cause the needles to be directed into the leveling groove by the corresponding stitch can], a supplemental leveling cain moved into the needle path upon the Withdrawal of the side cam to direct the needles registering With the side cam down into the leveling groove.

8. A knitting machine having, in cornloination, a needle cylinder, stitch and side cams, pickers, a radially yielding support underlying one oi the lifting pickers, means for Withdrawing the adjacent side cam to cause the needles to he leveled by the cooperating stitch cam, and a supplemental levelingcarn for leveling the needles registering with the side cam When it is Withdrawn.

9., A knitting machine having, in cornloi-ination, a needle cylinder stitch and side cams means for radially Withdrawing a side cam to permit the needles to he leveled loy a stitch earn, and a supplemental leveling cam "for depressing to the leveling level the needles which register with the side cam when it is withdrawn.

10. A knitting machine having, in combination, needle cylinder stitch and side asse s-so cams, a. cam cylinder having a leveling groove below the stitch cam, means for radially Withdrawing the side earn which is active during rotary knitting to cause the needles to he directed into the leveling groove loy the corresponding stitch cam, and a su pleinental leveling earn moved into the nee e path upon the Withdrawal of the side cam to direct the needles registering with the side cam down into the leveling groove,

ll. A knitting machine having, in cornloination a needle cylinder, stitch and side cams, means "for radially Withdrawing the side cam which is active during rotary knitting to cause the needles to he leveled hy the corresponding stitch cam, and means for supporting the other side cam to yield dially to permit the passage of the leveled needles,

12. A knitting machine having, in combination, a needle cylinder, long and short hutt needles carried thereloy stitch and side cams, means for radially Withdrawing the side cain "which is active during rotary knitting to cause the needles to he leveled by the corresponding stitch cam, means for pressing the side cani radially inward when the short lontt needles of the leveled needles re passing, and a radially roova-hle sp pressed finger tor pressing the needles L. into the cylinder as they approach the o Mitten.

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