US1905138A - Thread printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

April 25, 1933.-

o. B. BONNER THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Wk INVENTOR WW6? dm r A'ITQRNEYS April 25, 1933. I BONNER 1,905,138

THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 19 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS April 25, D. B. BONNER 1,905,138

THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet.3

I ATTORNEYS April 25, 1933. BQNNER 1,905,138

THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Ml ATTORNEYS THREAD PRINT-1N6 APPARATUS Filed Jan. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheqt, 5

INgNTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 25, 1933 DANIEL BUTLER BONNER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYLVANI THREAD PRINTING APPARATUS Application filed. January 19, 1931. Serial 110. 509,648.

This invention relates to improvements in thread printing apparatus of the type inwhich transverse stripes of color are printed The invention is an improvement of the thread printing apparatus of my copending applications Serial No. 393,5l4, filed September 18, 1929, now Patent 1,852,641 and Serial No. 425,093, filed February .1, 1930, now Patent 1,854,366 and relates particularly to improvements in driving mechanisms and selector or control devicesfor apparatus of the ,1 type exemplified in said applications.

One of the primary objects of my invention resides in the simplification of driving mechanism for rotating thread carrying drums to prescribed different printing positions.

Another object of my invention is the. provision of a simplified selector device for apparatus of the class described. 7

A further object resides in the provision of a selector device for apparatus of the character described adapted to operate with extreme accuracy.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of mechanism for rotating large diametered thread carrying drums in relatively short steps with extreme accuracy.

Among the more specific objects of my invention are the provision of a driving mechanism for imparting step by step rotation to a large diametered thread carrying drum which employs a relatively small diametered drive wheel rotating faster than the drum, and a selectordevice for controlling therotation of the drum which employs a relatively small diametered selectorwheel rotating faster than the drum. 7

. Another object of the invention is the pro visionin thread printingapparatus of the class described of compact driving and se lector mechanisms which are inexpensive to manufacture and extremely accurate in ope oration.

-How the. foregoing, together with such other objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear, or are incident to my invention, arerealized, is illustrated in preferred form in theaccompanying drawings, wherein-- Fig. 1 is a, front elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, with certain parts which appear fully in otherviews omitted or shown diagram matically.

Fig.2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 2- 2 of Fig.- 1.

Fig, 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially'on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig.4 is a detailed faceview'of one of the selector rings which I employ. Y 7 p Figs. 5 6 and 7 are -jfragmentary face views of other selector-rings. j

Fig. 8 is'an enlarged fragmentary view of control and trip mechanism employed in the apparatus. 7 y I Fig. 9 is aIfragmenta-ry plan section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig.8. n

Fig, 10 is a fragmentary view showing a modified form of actuator for the trip mechanism of the apparatus.

'My improved thread comprises in general a drum A on whichthe printing apparatus 7 thread iswound'in a single layer composed of a number-of threadsextending for the Y Width of the drum; a printing carriage B adapted to travel back and forth in the axial direction of the drum and having a printin roll 11 contacting with. the -layer of three on thedrum to'print transverse stripes of color thereon; drivingmechanism C for operating the carriage in its back and forth travel; driving mechanism D for; rotating the drum whenthe rinting mechanism is out of operation; an driving mechanism E for rotating the drum in steps when printing is being effected. The driving mechanism D may be referred to "as askipping mechanism or amechanism for imparting rotative movement" to the drum of great er amplitude than the step movement imparted to the drum by the driving mechanism E. The drum A is rigidly secured to a shaft 12 and this shaft also has rigidly secured thereto a gear 13.

In order to wind thread on to the drum the gear13 may be driven by any suitable form of driving mechanism adapted to be thrown into and out of operation. It is pointed out that when thread is being wound on to the drum, the other mechanisms of the apparatus above referred to remain idle. This is accomplished by moving a pinion 14, to be hereinafter more fully described, out of engagement with the gear 13. This pinion 14 is splined to its shaft 15 and may be moved along the shaft by means of a suitable control bar 16.

The various mechanisms for accomplishing the printing of transverse stripes of various colors in proper order across the layer of thread on the drum will now be described. Referring, first, to the driving mechanism E for rotating the drum in uniform steps, i. e.,

in a plurality of intermittent rotative movements, it will be seenthat such movement is imparted through the medium of a pawl and ratchet device F. The device F comprises a ratchet wheel 17 rigidly secured to the shaft 15 on which the pinion 14 is splined, the shaft being mounted in suitable bearings 18 secured to the framework of the ma-- chine and being positioned in parallel relation with the drum shaft 12. The ratchet wheel 17 is provided with evenly spaced ratchet teeth-19, in this particular 1nstance one hundred and eight teeth being provided. A pawl 20. is adapted to engage the-teeth ofthe ratchet ring and is operated to engage a't'ooth of the ring, rotate it with the drum through the medium of the pinion 14 meshing with the gear 13 a distance equal to the spacing of the teeth, then ratchet back to engage the next tooth, then advance the wheel and drum another notch, and so on. The pawl 20 is operated from a cam 21 which actuates the pawl through suitable lever mechanism, in this instance comprising a lever 22 pivoted at 23'to the'framework of the machine and having a cam roller 24 at one end contactingwith the cam face and connected adjacent its other end to an arm 25 by means of a linkj26. The arm'25 is secured to'a' rock shaft 25a 'mounted in a bracket 27. The rock shaft 25a carries a second upwardly extending arm 28 so that in effect, the arms 25, 28 and rock shaft 25a constitutea bell crank lever. The pawl 20 is pivotally mounted on an arm 29'mounted on the ratchet wheel shaft 15 for oscillation. The pawl carrying arm 29 is connected to the arm"28.by means of a link 30. The cam lever 22 is maintained in engagement with the cam by meansof a spring 31 secured at one end to the lever and at the other endto the frame of the machine. Two oppositely disposed depressions 32 are provided in the cam surface so that the pawl is operated twice for each revolution of the cam. Adjustment may be provided between the parts just described by means of a slot 33 in the lever 22, a slot 34 in the arm 28 and a plurality of holes 35' in the pawl carrying arm 29. A tension spring 29a is connected at one end to the lever 29 and at its other end to a fixed member 29?) carried by the frame of the machine. 3

The cam 21 is driven from a drive shaft 36 having a pinion 37 idly mounted thereon and meshing with a gear 38 secured on the cam shaft 39. A clutch G controls the pinion 37 for a purpose hereinafter appearing. The drive shaft 36 may be driven in any suitable manner as by means of a drive belt 40 and drive pulley 41. A clutch device H is provided for connecting and disconnecting the drive pulley 41 with the drive shaft 36.

The driving mechanism C for operating the printing carriage, and the structure of the carriage, and its supports, are as follows: The printing carriage B is provided with wheels adapted to run on rails 42 supported from the frame of the machine below the drum and extending in the axial direction of the drum. The printing carriage comprises a frame structure 43 adapted to support a well 44 for the coloring liquid, the well resting 011 a pair of supports 45. The printing roll 11 is supported in open top bearings 46. provided on a pivoted supporting arm 47 adapted to be spring pressed in an upward directionby means of a spring 48. The supporting arm 47 is so located that the roll 11 dips into the liquid in the well 44.

Back and forth movement of the carriage B is effected by means of an oscillating gear sector 49 engaging a pinion 50 secured on a shaft 51. The shaft 51 carries a drum 52 around which a ropeor cable 53 is wound for several turns, the cable being secured at its end 54 to one end of the carriage frame and at its other end 55 to the other end of the carriage frame, the cable, however, first passing over a pulley 56 mounted in a fixed support such as a bracket 57 secured to the rails,

The gear sector 49 is oscillated by means of a crank 58 and connecting rod 59, the crank in this instance being carried by the cam shaft 39. Thus it will be seen that when the cam shaft'rotates, the printing carriage with its printing roll traverses the face of the large drum A so that stripes of color are deposited by the printing roll which is in spring pressed contact with the thread. The printing roll 11 is positively rotated as by. means of a cable 60 passing around a pulley 61 having driving connection with the roll. The cable 60 is fastened at both ends to a fixed part of the machine. It is-pointed out'that the cam 21, the crank 58 and the length of the travel of the carriage relative to the width of the drum A are so calculated that the rotation of-the drum by the mechanism E does not start until the roll 11 is out of contact with the thread and is completed before the roll again contacts with the thread.

The apparatus as thus far described would only take care of printing a multiplicity of transverse stripes across the layer o'f'threads, the spacing of which would correspond to'the spacing of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17, and with close spacing of the teeth would result in substantially solid coloring of the layer of thread. However, since I propose to print stripes of different colors on the layer of thread in various arrangements according to the requirements for producing a desired design in the material into which the thread is ultimately to be fabricated, I have provided mechanisms cooperating with the above to make this possible. For example, it may be desired to employ four different colors-brown, green, old rose, and black-and the ultimate design to be produced may require that the layer of thread be printed with three stripes of brown, followed by three stripes of green, two stripes of old rose, three stripes of brown, two stripes of black, three stripes of green, two stripes of black, three stripes of brown, two stripes of old rose, three stripes of green, three stripes of brown, and so on. a

In order to accomplish this I print all of the stripes of one color in their proper spacing for the entire circumference of the drum. This, of course, means that spaces must be left between the stripes of the particular color being printed to accommodate the remaining colors. The means for selecting the points where stripes are to be printed and for causing skipping where spaces are to be left, will be described presently. After having printed one color I lift out the removable well 44 and its printing roll, and insert a roll and well containing the coloring liquid of the next color to be printed, and then resume printing stripes of this color in proper spacing relative to the first stripes which were printed, and so on until all of the colors have been printed.

The selector or control mechanism just above referred to may comprise a ring 62 adapted to be detachably secured to the ratchet wheel 17 as by means of clips 63. A plurality of dowels 64 may beprovided on the wheel for positioning the ring 62, which ring is provided with recesses 64a fitting the dowels. The dowels are preferably unevenly spaced so as to ensure the ringg62 being positioned on the wheel in' one position only. Thering 62 is provided with a multiplicity of radial holes 65 for receiving selector mem bers or pins 66. These holes may be located from the-ratchet teeth I9 of the ratchet wheel 17, therebeing-- onehole for each tooth; The

pins may be retainedin the holes in any suitable manner, as, for example, by a force-lift.

Assuming, now, that it is desired to print the thread in four colors in accordance with the example given above,the operator will set the selector or control mechanism for the printing of the first color, which may .be brown, for example. According to the preferred-form of my invention, I employ a se arate ring 65 for each color to be printed. 11 Fig. 4 I have illustrated a complete ring with pins set therein for the printing of the brown stripes, and in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 I have illus-- trated fragments of the rings to be employed for the other colors, the ring of Fig- 5 being set for printin green stripes, Fig. 6 for old rose stripes, an Fig. 7 for black stripes.

Referring to Fig. 4 and starting fromthe point markedX and reading toward the left, it will be seen that the first three holes carry pins, that the next five holes are left blank, that the next three holes carry pins, that the next seven holes are left blank, that the next three carry pins, that the next five.

holes are'left blank, and that the next three carry pins. The operator may be provided with a chart for convenience in locating the pins in their proper holes according to the design to be produced. 7

After the ring of Fig. 4. has been secured on the wheel 17, and, of course, a brown inkwell and roll" placed in the printing carriage B, the operator starts the machine by moving an operating bar 67 (see Fig. 2) to cause engagement of the clutchmember 68 of the clutch device H, which is splined onthe drive shaft 36with the clutch teeth 69 of the driving pulley 41. This effects drive from the pulley to the shaft through the clutch device H. As has been mentioned above,.the shaft 36 also carries the loose pinion 37 adapted to be drivingly connected to the shaft by means of a clutch device G and this pinion meshes with the gear 38 securedto the cam shaft 39. The drive shaft 36 carries asecond loose pinion 37 a meshing with a gear 38a mounted to freely rotate on the cam shaft 39. A sprocket wheel 70 is secured to the gear 38a and drive is transmitted from the gear 38a to a shaft 71 located therebelow by means of the sprocket wheel 70, chain 72 and sprocket wheel 73. The shaft 71 has a bevel gear 74 rigidly secured thereon which meshes with a bevel 7 gear 7 5 rigidly secured to the ratchet wheel shaft 15. A clutch device J comprising a toothed clutch member 7 6 splined on the shaft 36 and a toothed clutch member 77 secured to the gear 37a isprovided forthe purpose of drivingly connecting the pinion 37a to the shaft 36. I

It will thus be seen that when the clutches H and J are engaged, drive is transmitted: from the shaft 36' to the drum A through the medium of the pinion 37a, gear 38a, sprocket wheel 70, chain 72, sprocket wheel 73,. bevel gears '74 and 7 5, pinion14 and drum gear 13, it being pointed out that the pinion 14 is moved into mesh with the gear 13 when printing" operations are to take place. The clutches G and J above mentioned, are controlled by the selector or control ring 62 as will now appear. Referring now more par ticularly to Fig. 2, the selector ring 62 is shown in a position so that blank holes are presented to a lever 78 pivoted on a bracket 79 at 80 and carrying a roller 81 at its lower end, which roller contacts with the periphery of the ring 62. lVith the lever 78 in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the clutch J will be engaged and the clutch G disengaged because of the following provisions.- A link 82 is connected to the upper end of the lever 78 at one end and at its other end to a lever 83 mounted to pivot on a rock shaft 84 carried by a bracket 85. The rock shaft 84 also has a clutch operating yoke 86 secured thereon, which yoke is provided with pins 87- operating in an annular groove of the movable member 88 of the clutch G.

The lever 83 is provided with an inclined slot 89 at its upper end adapted to receive a roller 90 mounted on a pin 91, in turn secured to a movable bar 92. The bar 92 is mounted to be reciprocated in a lever arm 93, which lever arm is secured to the rock shaft 84 to rock therewith. .A vertical slot 94 is provided in the lever arm 93 through which the pin 91 passes. The movable member 88 of the clutch G is connected to the movable member 76 of the clutch J by means of a strap-like member 95 secured to the member 88 by means of screws 96 and tothe member 76 by means of a yoke-like portion 97 having pins therein engaging an annular groove in the clutch member 76. Suitable tension springs 78a and 93a are employed in association with the mechanism ust described to hold. certain parts in proper tension.

Following through the mechanism just described and assuming that the selector ring 62 is rotating in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 2, it will be seen that when the pin 66a located in the hole 666 of the ring 62 engages the roller 81 of the lever 7 8, the lever is rocked in a direction to pull the lever 83 to the left. This causes the upper end of the lever to move to the right so that the roll er 90, pin 91 and bar 92 are moved down: wardly. When this bar moves downwardly it clears a. pair of cams 98 carried by the cam shaft gear 38. As soon as the clearance afforded by the slot 94 in the lever arm 93 is taken up by the downward movement of the bar 92, the pin 91 rotates the lever arm 93 to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, thus causing the rock shaft 84 and clutch yoke 86 to move in the same direction and thereby cause the clutch G to become engaged. Upon engagement of the clutch G the pinion 37 is clutched to th e shaft 36 to receive drive theremovement takes place at a time.

from. The pinion then rotates the gear 38 and the paWl and ratchet device F is operated in the manner hereinbefore described.

At the same time the clutch G is thus engaged, the clutch J is disengaged because of the connecting member 95. The ratchet operation of the drum continues as long as selector or controlling pins are presented to the lever 78, and in the case of only one pin being presented at a time only one ratchet On the other hand, if pins are located in successive holes, successive ratchet movements take place, that is to say, the drum isthen rotated step by step until the roller81 of the lever 78 leaves the last ofsuch pins. With the clutch J disengaged and the clutch G engaged, the printing device B is operated to travel back and forth and the drum is rotated by ratchet or step by step movement, all as above described, it being noted that the drive shaft 36 is common to both devices B and E. 7

As soon as the pin 66a passes the roller 81, the lever 78 is spring-returned to the position shown in Fig. 2, which causes the bar 92 r to moveupwardly under the influence of a spring 99, and in which position the bar will be in the path of the, cams 98. As soon as the cam surface 100 of 'the nearest cam comes around (see Figs. 8 and 9), it engages the bar 92 and positively rocks the iever arm 7 r 93, lever 83 and clutchfyoke 86 and their associated parts in a direction to disengage the clutch G and engage clutch J. The cams 98 are also provided with stop shoulderslOl adapted to engage the block to stop the wheel 38 and then rotation of the drum is caused by the pinion 14 and drum gear 13, the pinion 14 receiving its drive from the shaft 36 through the medium of the transmission I above described.

lVith the stopping of the wheel 38 the back and forth motion of the printing carriage is stopped, as is also the intermittent or step by step movement of the drum A, and the drum rotates in continuous movement until another selector pin is presented to the roller 81 ofthe lever 78. Thus it will be seen that the drum is rotated relatively fast from one position of print to the next by means of the skipping mechanism just described. By referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that there are considerable blank holes where no prints are to take place, and, therefore, the time required to apply all the prints to the drum is materially shortened over the time itfwould take if ratchet movement were employed throughout the operation. 3 After one color has been printed for a complete revolution the selector ring just used is replaced by, a selectorring for the next selector ring: for .each color, it is to be understood I also contemplate employing selector pins or members which may be readily removed from and attached to the control ring so that only one ring need be employed, and in which case the pins would be rearranged in the proper order as the various colors are printed. 7

Among the advantages of employing separate rings is the fact that while the machine is operating on one ring the pins may be set in place in the other rings, thus enabling careful checking of the selections without holding up the machine.

Although I have given an example in which four colors are employed and printed in a certain order, it is to be understood that a greater or less number of colors may be employed and printed in any order desired to produce any particular arrangement of color stripes on the thread. Reverting now to the ratchet wheel 17 it is pointed out that this wheel is of considerably smaller diameter than the diameter of the drum and that it is geared to the drum gear 13 by a ratio of gearing, causing it to rotate faster than the drum. In this particular instance, the ratio of the gearing is such that the ratchet wheel 17 makes six revolutions to one revolution of the drum, and, therefore, if the ratchet wheel is provided with one hundred and eight teeth as above mentioned, the drum A will be moved to six hundred and forty-eight different printing positions.

It is also to gears is such that the distance from one tooth to the next of the ratchet wheel is substantially equal to the distance from one printing position to the next at the periphery of the drum. Therefore, although the ratchet wheel is considerably smaller in diameter than the diameter of the drum, the teeth are relatively coarse. Since the selector ring 62 is of the same diameter as the ratchet Wheel, the above also applies to the spacing of the selector pins 66 and selector pin receiving holes 65. Through the practice of my invention extreme accuracy 1n applying color stripes to the thread carried by the drum is afforded.-

In Fig. 10 I have illustrated a modified selector actuated mechanism for controlling the devices D and E. In this form the selector pins 66 ofthe ring 62 engage a roller 102 carried by a reciprocating bar 103 which is held against the periphery of the r ng 62 by means of a spring 104. The bar 103 s provided with a cam 105 having an inclined surface which engages a roller 106 carriedat one end of a lever'107. The lever 107 is p1voted on a fixed support at 108. A link 109 c'onnects'theend portion 110 of the lever 107 to a pin 111 carried by'a reciprocating bar 112,'which bar corresponds to the bar 92 be'noted that the ratio of the row the pin 66 engages the roller 102 andmoves it and the bar 103 to the right. 1 This causes, the roller 106 to rideon the cam 105 in a manner to rock the lever 107 in adirection to cause a downward pull on the link 109.

During the first portion ofdownward' movement of the link 109, the slack is taken up in the slot 115 and the bar is moved out of the path of the cams 98 in the manner above described in connection with the other figures. After this slack has been taken out of the slot 115, the link 109 moves still farther down and causes the lever-arm 113 to rock with its rock shaft 114. This moves the clutch operating yoke 86, which is also secured to the rock Shae-.114, to the right, causing the clutch J to become disengaged and the clutch Gr to become engaged, this clutch actuation being the same as that .de-

scribed in connectionwith the other figures.

Thelink. 109 is kept under tension by means of a spring 115. When the pin 66 passes the roller 102, the bar 103 moves to the left, so that the'roller engages the periphery of the ring 62, thus causingthe parts to return to the position shown in Fig. .10, i. e., the clutch- G is disengaged, the wheel 38 isstopped, and the clutch J is engaged so that drive transfers from step by step drive to continuous drive. t

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that if it is desired at any time to entirely stop the machine, the operating bar 67 is moved to the left to disengage the clutch member 68 of the clutch H from the clutch teeth 69, thus causing the wheel 41 to run idle.

In order that the machine may be automatically stopped when all prints for one color have been completed,'i. e., after the drum has made one complete revolution, I

employ a stop member orzpin 67a on the gear 13 which is adapted to engage alug 67 I) carried on the extension 670 of theoperating rod'67 by means of'a resilient member 67d.

When the pin 67a engages the lug 67b, the

operating bar is pulled to the left, thus disengaging the clutch H. When the device is again put into operation the lug 67b.may be released from the pin 67a by raising it out of the path of the pin.

'1. Thread printing apparatus comprising a rotatable thread carrying drum adapted to be rotated in steps of predetermined amplitude and in continuous rotation-through distances of greater amplitude than such step movement; drive means for imparting such continuous rotation to the drum; drive means for imparting such step by step rotation to the drum including ratio changing I ll) means; and means forefi'ecting rotation of the drum through themedium of either of changing means drivingly connecting the ratchet wheel to the drum, and power means for driving said ratchet wheel in step movementand means for effecting rotation of the drum through the medium of either of said drive means.v

. 3. Thread printingapparatus comprising a thread carrying drum, a shaft on which said drum is mounted, a drive shaft geared to said drum shaft, a selector wheel carried by said drive shaft, means for rotating said drive-shaft in steps of predetermined amplitude, means for rotating said drive shaft in continuous movement of greater amplitude than step movement, and means operatively associated withsaid selector wheel for controlling both said drive'shaft rotating means.

4. Thread printing apparatus comprising a rotatable thread carryingdrum' adapted to be rotated to a multiplicity of printing positions; drive means for imparting rotation to the drum in the steps of predetermined am plitude; drive means for imparting rotation to the drum in continuous movement of greater amplitude than step movement; said first mentioned drive means including a rotatable member, means for rotating said member in steps of substantially the same amplitude as the steps of predetermined amplitude of the drum, said member being of considerably smaller diameter than the diameter of the drum, and ratio changing means drivingly connecting said member to, the drum; andmeans for effecting" drive to the drum through the medium of either of said drive means.

5. Thread printing apparatus comprising in combination a thread carrying drum adapted to be rotated to a multiplicity of printing positions, a driving gear for said drum, a driven pinion-meshing with said driving gear, drive means for driving said pinion in steps of predetermined amplitude including a pawl and ratchet device connected'to the pinion, other drive means for drivingsaid pinion in steps of greater amplitude than the step movement imparted by the pawl. and ratchet device, and means for selecting either of said drive means for drive.

6.-Thread printing apparatus comprising in combination a thread carrying drum adapted to be rotated to a multiplicity of printing positions, a shaft on which Said drum is mounted, a gear secured to said drum shaft, a pinion meshing with said drum gear,

movement to the pinion, a pawl device en.-

gaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel, means for reciprocating said pawl device to rotate the ratchet wheel tooth by tooth, means for rotating said pinion and its shaft inamounts greater than the aforesaid step movement, a source of power, and means for drivingly connecting either of said last two means to the source of power. V

7. Thread printing apparatuscomprisiiig in combination a thread carrying drum adapted to be rotated to a multiplicity of equally spaced printing positions, means for selectively imparting rotative movement to the drum in steps corresponding to the spacing of said printing positions including a ratchet Wheel geared to the drum to rotate faster than the drum, said wheel being of smaller diameter thanthedrum and having ratchet teeth spaced apart; distances substantially equal to the spacing of said printing positions, a reciprocating pawl for ro tating said ratchet wheel tooth by tooth, and drive means for reciprocating said pawl; means for imparting rotative movement to the drum in continuous movement through distances greater than one of the aforesaid step movements, including gear drive means;

a source of power; means for connecting the first mentioned drive means to the source of power; means for connecting the second mentioned drive means to the source of power; and means for selectively actuating said connecting means including selector means circularly arranged on said ratchet wheel, actuating means for said connecting means, and means engageable with said selector means for operating said actuating means. 7 '7 8. In thread printing apparatus, the combination with a thread carrying drum, drive -1neans forrotating the drum in steps of predetermined amplitude, and drive means for rotating the drum in continuous movement of greater amplitude than step movement of means for selecting either of said drive means for drive including a selector ring of small diameter relative to the diameter of the drum,

means connecting said ring to, the drum to rotate faster than the drum, selector members circularly arranged on said ring, means for moving each of the drive means from driving to non-driving position, and actuating means for said moving means operable by said selector members. I

9. In thread printing apparatus including a drum carrying a layerof threadto be printed with transverse stripes of I color, means for rotating the drum in steps corresponding in number to the number of stripes to be printed, the combination of power means for rotating the drum in continuous movement through distances greater than the distance between step movements, and selective means operating to select either step by step or continuous movement for the drum, including a Wheel of small diameter relative to the diameter of the drum and in geared connection with the drum to rotate faster than the drum, and spaced selector members circularly arranged on said Wheel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

DANIEL BUTLER BONNER.

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