US1560229A - Machine for making knitted pile fabrics - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3 1925.

A. A. GRUNDY MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED PILE FABRICS Filed Sept. 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l UBIJUUUUUIJUULIUUUU UUGUUUUUUUUUUUUU AWE/ho /4//rea7 f Gr mm? m T/VESS:

Nov. 3, 1925- 1,560,229

A. A. GRUNDY MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED PILE FABRICS Filed Sept. 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

. UNITED STATES 1,560,229- PATENT OFFICE.

- ALFRED A. GRUNDY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGnoH or ONE-THIRD r HIMSELF, ONE-THIRD 'ro GEORGE GRUSHLAW, AND ONE-THIRD. TO JOHN sIoHEL, ALL or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR MAKING KNITTED PILE FABRICS.

Application filed September 18,1924. Serial No. 738,332.

To all whom itmmy concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED A. GnuNDY, a 1 citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for a knit pile fabric.

' quire the use of two machines, involve delay and expense; and, moreover, the cutting knives speedily-lose their cutting edges and must be frequently "replaced.

The machlne embodying the present invention is adapted to the manufacture of pile fabric on one machine. This machine is preferably a circular machine of the rib knitting type, differing from a machine of ordinary construction in respect to the special means employed for producing the'spe oial pile-forming loops, and in respect to the peculiar means provided for cuttin the loops, which means not only operate d uring the knitting operation but are of such a character that they are virtually immune against wear.

The knitting mechanism comprises a bank of needles extending and reciprocating inone direction (say vertically) and operating simultaneously on two threads; a bank of f dummy needles, or bars, extending and reclprocating in another direction (say horizontally or radially) and adapted to engage one thread and two yarn feeds, one on one side say above) the plane of the radial bars and t e other on the other side (say below) the plane of the radial bars. If the needles be assumed to be the vertical needles of a rib knitting machine and if the radial bars be assumed to be substituted for the dial or radial needles of a rib knitting machine, and

'if these needles and bars be operated the regular way, one thread will be looped over" the bars and the other under the bars, forming thus normal interconnected loops that do not engage the bars and long floating loops that are looped over the bars. The tension devices which pull down the fabric as it is knit act to elongate the bar-engaging or floating loops to the desired length.

The cutting mechanism comprises essentially a bite roller which rolls over and presses, down on'the yoke portions of the loops while they are stretched over the bars, thereby severing them and forming the upstanding pile. It is found that this roller action is perfectly and reliably effective to sever all the loops, and in the absence of any cuttingedge, the factor'of abrasion is substantially eliminated and the rollers have itflong and perhaps practically unlimited While I have referred to but one pair of thread carriers, it will be understood that there may be a plurality of pairs of thread carrierssay two to eight-the number varying with the dia-meter'of the machine. Where the machine is used to make piece goods and is therefore of substantial diameter, it is desirable to provide more than one pair of thread carriers. Four pairs of thread carriers are practicable on the ordinary circular machine intended for the production of these goods. The mechanism, ncluding the cams for actuating the needles and the loop-forming bars, and the loopsevering roller, is duplicated for each pair of thread carriers.

The machine shown in the accompanying drawin s, which shows a preferred embodiment 0 my invention, comprises ..four sets of'knitting and pile fornfing mechanism.

Fig.1 is a plan view of the dial cam plate, its cams, and the loop-cutting rollers. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view'of a part of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

1 F'g. 3 is a front view of part of Fig. 2.-

Fig. 4; is a radial cross-section through the cylinder, the dialand the loop-cutting mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a front View of a few of the cylinder needles and dial bars and a pair of thread guides.-

' Fig- 6 is a diagram of the fabric.

a, a are the vertical cylinder needles of a rib knitting machine and are vertically reoiprocable 1n the usual way by canis (not shown). I), b are bars correspondingto the radial or dial needles of such a machine and are similarly associated with the cylinder needles and are reciprocable radially by cams d, c and f. g and]; (see Fig. 5) represent yarn guides located opposite cam e. One of these guides delivers yarn m from above the plane of the dial bars and the other delivers yarn y from below the plane of the dial bars.

With needles, bars and yarn guides arranged as described, and operating the needles and bars in the usual way, the vertical needles 0 will engage both threads :0 and y simultaneously and form plain loops; but in the projection of the-dial bars Z), the

, thread a: delivered from above the plane of the dial bars will be laid over these bars and therefore their yoke portions will not engage the necks of the adjacent course of loops and will not unite adjacent courses ofknitting.

The machine shown is one in which the needle-actuating cams and bar-actuating cams are stationary and the needles and bars rotate (although a reverse arrangement will be understood to be the full equivalent). As the newly formed loops advance, the tension imposed on the fabric already knit tends to tighten the adjacent interlocked courses of newly formed loops of yarn 3 but the effect upon the loops of the yarn a; is to still further elongate them preparatory to cutting them'to form the pile.

As the needles and bars travel toward the point of yarn severance, the bars are extended beyond the edge of the dial i and the loops formed by the yarn 00 are nearly in alignment with the outer edge of the dial, while the knitting fabric extends down between the periphery of the dial i and the inside of the needle cylinder j. At the point of severance, the stationary overlying dial cam plate is is cut away to accommodate a roller m turnable, in roller bearings, on a shaft carried on a member at slidable in a frame 0 secured to the dial cam plate is. A coil spring p is confined between the chamber a and a disc 0' adjustable by means of a screw 8. 1

As the dial bars I) rotate in the direction of the arrows, Figs. 2 and 3, the roller m rolls over their upper surfaces with a degree of pressure that is adjustable by means of the screw 8 and spring p. The pressure may be made sufficiently great to bite the yarn between the roller and the underrunning dial bars I) and sever all the loops successively.

It is not necessary that the pressure applied by the roller m shall be a. yielding one; but this is desirable in case any of the dial bars are not precisely in the common plane of the other bars. Thus, if any one of the dial bars are below the level of the other bars, the spring-pressed roller will over the other bars and will sever theyarn looped thereover with the same degree of certainty that it severs the yarn of the other loops. A rigid. roller is workable, but in case of the depression of one of the dial bars slightly below the level of the others, th roller may fail to sever the corresponding loops and leave a stripe effect in the finished fabric which may somewhat mar its appearance.

The considerable pressure imposed by the roller m on the dial bars I) is close to the overhanging ends thereof and is likely, after long continued operation of the machine, to impose a severe strain on them. To af ford a support for the overhanging end of the dial bars, 'I secure to the fixed .part of .the machine, directly underneath the roller m, a bracket u (see Fig. 4) on which is mounted a roller '0, whose periphery extends underneath the outer ends of the dial bars b and affords a supporting surface over which each bar rolls as it is being subjected to the downward pressure of the bite roller m.

In Fig. 6 is shown a diagram of a small section of fabric including several wales and several courses. The last knit course of loops formed by the yarn w is shown pulled taut over dial bars 5 before they are cut by the bite roller m. The previously knit courses of loops formed by the yarn w are shown as cut to form a pile effect on the fabric; the body of the fabric. being composed of normal loops formed by the yarn y.

Havin now fully described my invention, what I c aim and. desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a knitting machine, the combination with traveling needles and yarn-holding bars adapted to cooperate to form elongated loops engaging the bars, of a bite-roller stationary relative to the bars and ositioned, in the travel of the latter, to r0 1 over the bars and press the'yarn between it and the bars and thus effect the severance of the yarn.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination with mechanism adapted to form courses'of loops of one yarn and courses of loops of another yarn extending through loops of the other course and elongated to form a plush-like surface, said mechanism including bars over which said elongated loops extend, and a bite roller adapted to roll over said bars and bite and sever the yarn of i said loops.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with mechanism adapted to form a series of 100 s of one yarn interengaging to form a plain knitted web and a series of loops of another yarn extending through the loops of the first series and elongated to form a plush-like surface, said mechanism including bars over whichsaid elongated loops exhea set) tend, and a member presenting a rolling surface adapted to roll over said liars and loite and sever the yarn of said loops.

4. In a knitting machine, the combina tion with a series of vertically extending reciprocahle traveling needles, of a series of horizontal extending traveling bars, a yarn feed adapted to deliver yarn under the bars to, said needles whereby the latter knit plain web loops, a yarn feed adapted to deliver yarn over said bars to said needles to form pile-formingloops, and a roller stationary relative to the bars and positioned, in the travel ofthe latter, to roll over the bars and press the yarn of the loops between it and the bars and thereby sever the yarn.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of vertically extending and re-= ciprocable traveling needles, of a series of radially extending and reciprocahle traveling hare, and yarn feeds one of which is adapted to deliver yarn direct to needles and the other of which is adapted to deliver yarn over said here to needles, said hers adapted to elongate the loops formed thereon and hold the yolre portions of the loops of a .oourse lrom engaging the necks of an adjacent course of loops, and a bite roller adapted to roll over said bars and bite and sever the yarn out the'elongated loops.

6, ln a knitting machine, the combination of a yarn feed and a series of reciprocahle needles adapted to engage yarn from said teed mid knit it into a plain welna second yarn feed adapted to deliver yarn to said needles, a series of bars adapted to engage eratin formed by yarn fed from the second feed and elongate the loops formed thereby, said needles op: to draw both yarns through loops the first yarn but being restrained by said bars from drawing yarn through loops formed by the second yarn, and a biteroller adapted to roll over he yarn looped over bars and by its pressing action sever the yarn and form apile.

7. In a knitting machine, the combination with knitting mechanism and yarn-holding hare adapted to cooperate to term elongated loopsengaging the bars, of a biteroller adapted to rollover the hars and the yarn looped thereon, and a s ring adapted to impme a strong but yiel ing pressure on the roller-and thereby insure its operation notwithstanding a variation in the level Oil the loop-holding liars. v 8. In a knitting machine, the combination with travelling needles and yarn-holding bars adapted to cooperate to form elongated loops engaging the bars, of two rollers stationary relative to the bars, one roller, adapted to roll over the bars and press the yarn of the loops between it and the bars to sever the yarn, and the other roller adapted to roll under the free ends of the bars and afiord a support therefor while the other roller is pressing down upon the bars lln testimony of which invention, 1 have ALFRED A, GRUNDYQ this 17th day Of P m'

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