US2019940A - Yarn feeding means - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 5, 1935. I w. N. '1 AGGART 2,019,940

I YARN FEEDING MEANS 7 Original Filed Feb. 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR WILLIAM N. TAGGART BY HIS ATTORNEYS MMM Nov. 5, 1935.

w. N. v TAGGART 2,019,940

YARN FEEDING MEANS Original Filed Feb. 1'7 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I INVENTOR WILLIAM N. TAGGART BY HIS ATTORNEYS Y m Mm Patented Nov. 5, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,019,940 YARN FEEDING MEANS William N. Taggart, Manoa, -Pa.,- assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Trump Broa, Machine 00., Inc., a corporation of Delaware Original application February 1'1, 1930, Serial No. 429,181. Divided and this application January 23, 1934, Serial No. 707,976

2 Claims.

' My invention relates to yam feeding and con- ;trolling' means for circular knitting machines, and more particularly for circular knitting machines having means for making ornamentation .on a' stocking or fabric by means of wrapping special yarns, or wrap yams, around selected needles. One object of my invention is to insure that the wrap yarn contacts only with the needles where the pattern is desired.

Some of the wrapping mechanism and other features shown and described in this application are claimed in my co-pending applications Serial Number 404,024, filed November 1, 1929, Serial Number 560,153, filed August 29, 1931 and Serial Number 429,181, filed February 17, 1930, of which last mentioned application this is a division.

Referring to the drawings which are made a part of this application and in which similar ref erence characters indicate similar parts,

Fig. 1 is a plan illustrating the principal parts of my invention;

Fig. 2, a front elevation;

Fig. 3, a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, viewed from the left side of the machine; and

Fig. 4, a vertical section in a different plane on line 44 of Fig. 1, showing certain parts in another position.

In the drawings, reference character I 0 indicates the latch ring bracket which is pivoted as usual at a point (not shown) to the left of the parts shown in Fig. 3, this bracket supporting the latch ring ll, yarn guides l2, l2, and I3, andcontrolling levers ll for said yarn guides. The yam-guide l2 supplies the body yarn A, the yarn guide I 2 supplies a yarn B used only on horizontal stripes or plated work, while the yarn guide l3 supplies a yarn C for the heel and toe. In Fig. l, yarn C is shown as passing to the needles while the yarn A is held out of action by a binder hereinafter described. The yarn guides are brought into operative position by elevation of that part of a lever ll which is shown in Fig. 3 and are moved to idle position by springs II, yarns A and B being conducted to the yarn guides or yarn fingers by tubes l3 and yarn C by a shorter tube I! (Fig. 2). The course of the active yarn from'th'e guide l3 through the throat of the latch ring at l3 and then to the needles I3 is indicated in Fig. 1.

when a yarn is brought into idle position it is carried around by the needles which in the embodiment of the invention hereillustrated are mounted in a revolving needle cylinder l9, so as to lie underneath a small disk 23 which serves as a yarn clamp or binder and another part of the yam nearer the fabric passes under a movable shear blade 2|. A fixed horizontal plate 22 coacts with the disk to clamp the yarn and this plate also supports a fixed shear member 23, on which the movable shear member 2| is pivoted as indicated at 24. A spring 25 coiled about pivot pin 24 biases the movable shear blade toward closed position. The plate 22 is supported by a bracket 26 mounted for radial adjustment on a block 21 fixed to the latch ring i I, as more fully explained I in my co-pending application Ser. No. 404,024, the outermost portion of bracket 26 having a radial slot engaged by a screw 28 (Fig. 3). The bracket carries a guard 29 for holding the pattern yarns above the latches of the needles following 15 the line of normal needle height (i. e., not specially elevated by the parts Ila, l2, l3, and II), at points where said yarns are taken by the needles, these points being determined by abutments 30, 3| mounted for radial adjustment on 20 blocks 32, 33 by means of screws 33 engaging radial slots in the abutment members 30, 3!. Blocks 32, 33 are secured tothe latch ring by screws 32', 33', (Fig. 2) having slots providing for circumferential adjustment of blocks and the 25 abutments .carried thereby.

The guard 29 extends around the needle circle to a point at the right of the yarn fingers, as shown in Fig. 1, and the plate 22 extends to the left somewhat beyond the end of the guard 29. At its left hand end, referring to Fig. 1, the plate is provided with an upwardly inclined fork separated from another and longer upwardly inclined fork 33 by a notch 31 into which the yarn falls when a yarn finger is put into action, 35 thereby causing the end of the yarn to be drawn from under the clamp 23 as "the needle cylinder revolves and pulls on the yarn end. At the inner edge of the fork 33 there is a substantially upright curved plate 33 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3). This 40 plate serves as a separator to keep the main yarns supplied by guides l2, l2, and I3 away from certain striping or pattern yarns hereinafter described, said yarns being intended for making vertical stripes and other ornamental or other desirable figures and structures. I

The mechanism for operating the cutting and binding devices includes a vertical slide 33 movable up and down in a guide member 40 secured to the latch ring normally pulled into lowermost position by the springs ll, only one of which is shown, the springs being attached at one end to the pin 42 on the slide and at the other end to screws 43 on the part 43; At its upper end the slide is provided with a plate 43 extending in- 35 ward over plate 22, a. yarn guide 45 being mounted above the plate and secured to the slide by a screw 46 which also serves to hold the plate in place on slide 39. The plate has a hole to receive the stem of a plunger 41' (Fig. 4) whose head is shown at 41 and which fits in the hollow connecting rod 48 pivoted at its lower end to the movable shear blade 2|. The connecting'rod 48 is connected to the plunger 41' by a pin and slot connection indicated at 49 so that the shear is opened positively near the upper end of the movement of the slide 39, the pin and slot providing a lost motion connection for operating the shear blade 2|. A lifter rod 50 is secured at its lower end to the clamp member 20 and passes at an intermediate point through an opening in an arm 5| (Figs. 1 and 3) secured to and movable up and down with the slide 39. It willbe seen that the arm 5| will engage with nuts 53 on lifter rod 50 as the slide 39 moves upward ind so will lift the binder 20 against the resistance of a spring 54 (Fig. 3) surrounding a stem 55 (Fig. 1) which is fixed to plate 22 and guides the binder 20 for up and down movement, the spring being held between said binder and a collar 56 secured to the stem 55. It will be seen also that the binder disk 20 will be lifted to release the yarn before the shear is opened and will clamp down upon it again before the shear is closed, due to the lost motion connection at 49.

For lifting the slide 39, the slide is provided at its inner side with an ear 51 and its outer face with a lug 58. The ear 51 is secured to an independent slide 58' mounted for up and down movement in the slide 39 and normally held in its upper position by a spring 59 (Fig. 2). A cam face at 60 (Fig. 3) on a slide 6| which is reciprocated horizontally by pattern controlled means (not shown) serves to lift slide 39 by engaging under lug 58. The slide 6| is normally retracted by a spring 62. When advanced it lifts the slide 39 to an elevation corresponding to the dotted line position of ear 51 in Fig. 2. Thereafter a cam face 63 on a cam 64 which is one of the revolving cam elements of the machine engages under the ear 51 and lifts it to the upper limit of movement of slide 39. The ear 51 is movably mounted with respect to the slide 39 in order that the parts may not be damaged when. the latch ring is swung up and out of action and returned. It will be noted in Figs. 2 and 3 that cam 64 is supported by the bed 66 of the sinkers 61, just below the sinker cam ring 68, but this and other features of my invention are subject to change as will be understood.

Yarn guides 69 are shown in Fig. 3 as being positioned above the latch ring. These guides are so located and operated as to wrap pattern yarns 10 about needles which have been selectively elevated adjacent one of the abutments 30 and 3| for the purpose of receiving such pattern yarns. .To selectively elevate needles, mechanism such as is shown in my'companion appli-v cation Ser. No- 404,024 is provided. This includes special cams H, one for each point where needles are to be specially elevated, these cams being mounted on stems 12 movable radially in bearings 13 by suitable patterning mechanism.

Jacks 14 are located in the needle slots under-v neath all the needles, or only below certain ones if preferred. The jacks 14, in addition to the conventional butts, also have patterning butts 14c and 14d at different levels for coacting with the special elevating cams 1| The patterning butts are of different lengths and they may vary widely in the series, so as to raise needles in varying. numbers and in varying sequences according to the positions of the special lifting cams 1| (only one of which is shown in the drawings). Each lifting cam 1| can be used 5 in association with a different abutment to provide selecting means at a plurality of points. The yarn guides 69 may be mounted for movement back and forth across the needle circle in any suitable manner, as for example in my ap- 10 plication Ser. No. 404,024, above referred to. The principal function of the separator 38 is to prevent these pattern yarns from becoming entangled with main yarns, whereby they might be carried into the cutting and binding devices 15 or their operation otherwise interfered with. It will be evident from consideration of the drawings that the pattern yarns will always be held inside the space defined by the separator and so kept away from the cutting and binding de- 20 vices, whereas the main yarns will always be kept at the other side of the separator so that they can readily be cut oil? and the ends of the yarns held in appropriate manner. To insure against any accidental movement of a pattern yarn outward beyond the free end of extension 36 and separator 38, as by reason of ballooning, a plate 1| is fixed to the latch ring bracket ID in a manner to cover the free end of extension 36 and separator 38, the extreme end of plate 1| also 30 providing an abutment to limit the inward movement of the yarn fingers l2, l2, and I3 in their idle position.

In the operation of my device the machine continues to knit until a yarn is to be changed 35 at which time one of the main yarn guides goes into action and another goes into idle position. The yarn of the guide which has just been operatively positioned is taken by the needles and knit into the fabric. As the cylinder revolves this 40 will cause a pull on the end which is held by the clamp and cutter. At the time of yarn change, however, the slide 39 has been elevated, firstto the dotted line position of .the lug 51 by member 6|, and then by the revolving cam 64 45 to the fully elevated position. In such upward movement it will first lift the clamp or binder 2|) and then open the shear by lifting the movable blade 2|. In this way the end of the yarn which has been put into action is released so 50 that it can be pulled away from the cutter and clamp by the movement of the needle cylinder. At the same time the yarn guide that has come into idle position will raise its yarn so that it will be carried between the horns 35 and 36 of 55 the plate 22 and under the clamp disk 20 and the movable shear blade 2| by the rotation of the needle cylinder. The slide 39 is now permitted to descend by retraction of the horizontally movable slide 6|, closing the clamp first to hold 60 the idled yarn and then closing the shear so as to cut it off. The pattern or lap yarns 68 are moved radially of the needle cylinder by their guides 69 so as to place them either in idle position or in position to be engaged by the needles 65 but regardless of their position they will be held away from the cutter and clamp at all times by the cooperative action of the plates 22, 44, and 1|. The striping yarns 10 pass to the needles within the space which is defined in part 7 between its guide and the needles or the cutting and binding means. Hence the main yarn is always separated from the striping yarns by the parts enumerated.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made in the device of my invention all without departing from the spirit of my invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. The combination in a circular knitting machine, of a rotary circle of independent needles, means for selectively elevating the needles, radially-movable means for laying a pattern yarn across the needle circle in front of a needle so elevated, and a guard in fixed position in the needle circle adjacent the selectively-elevated needles, the upper margin of said guard following the line of normal needle height at the point where said yarns are taken by the needles to prevent engagement of pattern yarns by needles not specially elevated.

2. The combination in a circular knitting machine of a rotary circle of independent needles, means for selectively elevating the needles at a plurality of points in the needle circle, radially movable means for laying pattern yarns across the needle circle in front of needles so 10 where said yarns are taken by the needles height 15 to prevent engagement at either of said points between the pattern yarns and needles not specially elevated.

WILLIAM N. TAGGART.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2, 019, 940. November 5, 1933.

WILLIAM N. TAGGART.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, second column, line 15, claim 2. strike out the word "height" and insert the same after "needle" in line 14; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of December, A. D. 1335.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

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