US1885097A

US1885097A - Spring knitting needle

Info

Publication number: US1885097A
Application number: US554442A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hertan Bernard
Original assignee: FRED E HERTAN
Current assignee: FRED E HERTAN
Priority date: 1931-08-01
Filing date: 1931-08-01
Publication date: 1932-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 1949-10-25

Description

Oct, 25, 1932. B. H'ERTAN 1,885,097

SPRING KNITTING NEEDLE Filed Aug. 1, 1931 INVENTOR fierlzardfii rialz ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITE STATES, PATENT oFFicE.

BERNARD HERTAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T FRED E. HERTAN, OFv

' KEW GARDENS, NEW YORK SPRING KNITTING NEEDLE This invention relates to spring knitting needles, particularly of the class used on cy-' lindrical knitting machines,one of the objects being to prevent the formation of nonuniform stitches and to enable the constant,

and continuous production of a smooth cloth with even courses.

Another object of my invention is to provide against the abrading and breaking of the thread during the process of knitting.

A further object of my invention is to prolong the useful life of spring needles used on knitting machines, and to enable them to maintain their normal shapes and forms.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawing and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of tuting my invention, showing the burr-wheel about to bring the thread up into the beard. Figure 2 shows the thread at the top of the needle, and the lander about to carry the cloth with its completed loops upwardly; thedotted circle representing a possible position of the thread after disengagement from the burr-wheel.

Figure 3 shows a loop of the cloth over' the beard of the needle, the presser in engagement with the needle, and the cast-01f in engagement withthe thread at the topof the needle.

Figure 1 is a sectional plan of Figure 3 along the line t4:, showing the contacting position of presser and needle.

Figure 5 shows a loop being carried upwardly over the needle after the presser is disengaged.

Figure 6 illustrates the format-ion of a new stitch at the top of the needle, and shows the completed loop sliding downwardly over the stem of the needle.

In the drawing, the needle consists of the stem 10 and the beard 11 coextensive with said stem'and joined thereto at the juncture or top bend 12. The stem contains the groove 13 facing the beard and adapted to receive the extremity 14 thereof when the beard is yieldably moved the needle constiinwardly by the action of. the presser 15. The beard is of undulating contour, having two convexly curved portions or arcuate bulges 16 and 17.

The presser" is actuated by external mechanism so as to be intermittently brought into engagement with the recessed portion 18 positioned between thetwo said bulges 16 and 17, thereby producing, against the springac-- tion of the needle, a closing of the opening 19 by the contacting of the extremity 14 with the inner wall of the groove 13. When this occurs, the inside surface 20 of the saidlrecessed portion 18 contacts with the stem 10,

and the inwardly projecting portion 21 of the beard is in close proximity to said stem.

The burr-wheel 22, rotatable on an inclined axis, carries the thread 23 upwardly through opening 19, into the beard and up to the top of the needle. At this point the cast-off 24, with blades positioned between asection of adjacent needles around the cylinder, pulls the portions of thread between each needle upwardly, to equalize the amount of thread therebetween. The loop 25, which had been completed during the previous step'and which now forms a part of the cloth, is carried upwardly by the lander 26, the presser 15 closing I the opening 19 to permit the said loop to pass upwardly over the beard, and then move ing out of engagement with the beard to per? mit the loop 25 to continue upwardly (see Figure 5) until it engages the thread 23 at the top of the needle (see Figure 6) to form a new stitch. Thereafter, the cloth with the new stitch 23A is forced down to the bottom level of the needle, to permit the beginning of anew cycle. I Y a There is generally an up and down play of the cylinder due to the upward tension of the cloth and the counter effect of gravity. This condition, together with the fact that the presser is itself subject to a slight play, produces, in the old form of needle having a beard with a single convex bulge thereon, a contacting at a number of points on the beard, resulting in the formation of numerous dents therein, and a consequent roughening of the surface of the beard. As the thread passes over this dented and roughened surface, it becomes abraded, roughened and weakened, and is frequently caused to break, particularly in view of the fact that the thread is in tension when passing over the crest which is the remotest part of the beard with respect to the stem. Even if the thread does not actually break, the resulting cloth is rough in texture. This condition is aggravated due to the fact that the dents that are formed are fro-- quently relatively heavy, because the presser always engages the convex portion of the board, resulting in sharp line contact of presser and needle.

In my invention, however, this situation cannot exist, as the recesses 18 of adjacent needles form a trough which serves as a guide in setting the presser, holds it in a constant and unvarying position with respect to the needles, andprevents contactingat any point other than at the recess 18 of each needle.

Hence any dents that may be formed will be within said recess, and are relatively small,

as theconcave contacting surface of the beard at 18- is not sharply cut by a presser with rounded edges. As the thread moves upwardly over the. heard, it is not in tension -:while passing over the recess 18, due to the relative nearness of the said recess to the stem,.so that noharm will be done to the thread by a dented surface within recess 18,- as a" result of which the cloth produced will be of smooth and even texture.

beard" and; stem at the top of the needle be comes: correspondingly increased; sot-hat in order toeflect a complete-closing of the beard, there is'a relatively great. bending movement at the pivotal point of said. juncture. Con- 'tinuous use causes this large movement to affect the resiliency of the needle, impair'its spring action, and cause what is generally known as a sleepy needle. Besides, this relatively great bending movement often causes the needle to break at said juncture.

In my design, there is less movementat the juncture 12 than at the corresponding j'unctureof the oldform of needle referred to, due to the fact that after point 20 contacts with the stem, it'becomes the pivotal point of the beard, there being no movement whatso- 7 ever 'above-this-point. Hence, with less bend: ing at'the ]uncture 12, the active life of the needle is correspondingly increased;

There is also a loss of resiliency in the said old form of needle due to the fact that the continuousaction of the presser against the beard, together with the relatively great movement at the juncture of beard and stem causesa heating upof this point; whereas in the needle constituting my invention, this heating eifect is considerably reduced by the comparatively smaller bending movement, and by the short circuiting of the heat of friction to the stem through point 20.

In order to prevent a dropping downof the thread, in the old form of needle, after it is released by the burr-wheel, considerable pressure must frequently be exerted against the beardto keep the thread inspace betweenthe upper part of the beard and the stem. Such excessive pressure flattens the beard at its point' of contact with the presser, perinanently impairing its effectiveness. This does not occur in the new needle herein described, asthe point 20 contacts with the stem under slight pressure, and when in its contacting position, prevents the thread from falling down beyond this point without the application of any more pressure. Besides, as the pressure is applied in the concave portion of the recess 18, there can be no possibility whatsoever of flattening the beard.

It will be noticed that the upper portion of the beard recedes inwardly from the juncture 12- downwardly to the point 21 which is generallysufliciently close to the stem to prevent the thread from falling down to create a drop stitch. Should the thread drop beyond 21, it cannot possibly go below point 20 which is always in contact with the stem when actuated by the presser. Even when the presser is not contacting with the beard and there is a space between point 20and-the stem, the thread 23 is frequently held in place,.by centrifugal force, against the inner surface of the beard above point 20 (see Figure 2), and thereby prevented from dropping down until the'cast-oif begins to pull it upwardly. Inthe old form of needle, there is no impediment to continued downward movement-of the thread, so that not only are drop stitches formed, but due to the different degrees of drop of the thread, resulting from variations of pressure of presser against beard, there will be formed different lengths of thread for successive stitches, resulting in uneven courses. This condition is aggravated by the fact that in the old'form of needle herein referred to, the presser contacts with the heard I at different. points, increasing the chance of getting unevenly spaced courses. The uniin the old form of needle, before the cast-oif H begins to act thereupon, results in an inequallty of the thread between each needle, there being a shortage of thread in oneplace, and

asurplusage of thread in the other place. The

cast-off 24, which pulls upwardly with a tendency to equalize the loops, will pull the thread slidingly through the open needles, so that if there is a knot on the thread, it may be caused to break. This condition is overcome in my design of needle, where the variation in the drop of the thread is reduced to a min-. imum by the means employed to limit the drop to a given point in the needle.

It will be further noted that the needle is so designed that the upwardly moving loop 2-5, after loosely passing over recess 18, is stretched back into shape and to its full length upon passing over the crest of bulge 17 ,and as the remaining distance of travel is relatively short, it maintains its shape untilit engages the thread 23 to forma new stitch. This results in the production of a fabric of uniformly spaced stitches with a smooth texture.

As previously explained, the opening 19 should be made as great as possible so as to permit the entry of the thread therethrough and allow slugs to pass upwardly without catching at the end of the beard. In the old form of needle, in order to provide a large opening, the entire beard must be moved out wardly, as the pivotal point is at the top, thereby creating the opportunity for the formation of drop stitches, as already explained. In my form of needle, however, the pivotal point is at 20, so that the portion of the beard below this point can be moved outwardly a sufficient amount to permit the extremity 14c to clear any upwardly moving thread, without in any way impairing the effectiveness of the needle in keeping the thread from slipping down.

It frequently happens that when the presser engages the needle, there is a tendency to force the heard over to one side, so that the extremity thereof does not engage the stem to close the opening between stem and beard, but slips past the stem. to leave an opening 4 into which the upwardly moving loop is carried, creating a tuck stitch. This is particularly true in the old form of needle, where the distance of the contacting portion of the beard from the stem is relatively great, so that a side thrust of the presser can easily cause a twisting of the beard and the failure of the beard to close. However, with the contacting portion at the recess 18, which is comparatively near to the stem, the tendency of the beard to twist over to one side is materially reduced, thereby always insuring a positive engagement of extremity 14 with groove 13, and eliminating one of the causes of tuck stitches.

It is also a common occurence for the pressor to slip upwardly on the convex surface of the beard, due to the play generally present in the presser and its holding means, so that the beard fails to close completely when actuated by the presser, thereby causing a 1. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a. beard connected therewith, said beard having a recessed portion adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser.

2. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard being of undulating contour and having arecessed portion thereon adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser. Y

. 3. In a, spring knitting needle of the class described, a-stem and a beard joined therewith and substantially parallel thereto, the upper portion of said beard receding downwardly aridinwardly from the juncture of said stem and beard in such manner that the innermost point of said portion is sufficiently close to said stem to hold a thread positioned between the stem-and beard against downward movement.

4. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith, said beard having a recessed portion adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser, the innermost surface of said recessed portion being normallyout of engagement with said stem, and in contact therewith when the beard is actuated by the presser.

5. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith 1 and substantially parallel thereto, said beard having there-on two arcuate-bulges and a recessed portion therebetween adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser.

6. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard having thereon two inwardly projecting portions, the upper of said portions being sufficiently close to said stem to form a space of a width less than a thread of predetermined diameter, and the lower of said portions being normally out of engagement with said stem and in' contact therewith when the heard is actuated by a suitably positioned presser. v

7. A spring knitting needle of the class described comprising a stem anda beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard having a plurality of undulations thereon the inwardly projectme I (XOI

ingi'portions of which are adapted to hold athread' positioned between said stem and heard against downward movement, the outwardly projecting portions of which are adaoted for en a ement with the 100 of an upwardly traveling stitch, and one of the recesses of which is adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned pr-esser, the extremity of said beard being adapted to contact with the stem when the beard is actuated by said presser.

8. In a spring knitting needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard having thereon'means to hold a thread positioned between said stem and heard against downward movement, and a recessed portion relatively close to said stem and adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser.

9. In a spring knitting'needle of the class described, a stem and a beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard containing an outwardly projecting portion below the juncture of said stem and beard, and sufiiciently removed from the stem to hold the loop of an upwardly traveling stitch in tension.

10. A spring knitting needle of the class described, comprising a stem and a beard joined therewith and substantially parallel thereto, said beard being of undulating contour and having thereon two convexly curved portions, a recessed portion therebetween, an inwardly projecting portion between the juncture of the stem andbeard and the upper of said curved portions, said beard having a free extremity adaptablefor contactingwith said stem.

11'. A. spring knitting needle of the class described, comprising a stem, a beardjoined' thereto at the top of said stem and substantially parallel thereto; said beard containing two arcuate bulges, a recessed portion therebetween the innermost surface of which is adapted to contact with said stem when the heard is actuated by a suitably positioned presser, the outermost point of the up er of said bulges being spaced from the stem a distance substantially equal to the predetermined length of an upwardly moving stitch; said beard having a free extremity adaptable for contacting with said stem when actuated by said presser.

12. 'A spring knitting needle of the class described, comprising a stem and a beard coextensive therewith and substantially parallel thereto; said beard being adapted for operative engagement with a suitably positioned presser; and guiding means on said heard for effecting longitudinal adjustment of said presser with respect to said needle.

13'; A spring knitting needle adapted for engagement with a suitably positioned presser, comprising a stem and a beard connected therewith; said beard containing an indented portion for guiding the: positioning of said presser with respectto said needle and for receiving the. contacting portion of said presser.

14. A spring knittingneedle of the class described, comprising a stem and a beard In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

BERNARD HERTANQ