US2025462A

US2025462A - Adjustable element for knitting machines

Info

Publication number: US2025462A
Application number: US680168A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lombardi Vincent
Original assignee: LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE CO I
Current assignee: LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE CO I; LOMBARDI KNITTING MACHINE CO Inc
Priority date: 1933-07-13
Filing date: 1933-07-13
Publication date: 1935-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 1952-12-24

Description

Dec. 24, 1935. I v QMBARDI 2,025,462

ADJUSTABLE ELEMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 13, '1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 24, 1935 V, LOMBARD] 2,025,462

ADJUSTABLE ELEMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 13, 1933 5 Sheets-SheetZ fly EWM W 1935. v. LOMBARDI ADJUSTABLE ELEMENT FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 13, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet '3 .w Z 0. 0 m. r. W

i l l l I ll a 4 fi 0 w w w 7 m flml 9 4 m J H v i a w Patented eel 24, 1935 ADJUSTABLE ELEMENT 1FR KNI'ETKNG MACHIINES Application July 13, 1933, Serial No. scarce 24L Claims.

This invention relates to certain types of controlling devices such as needles, needle-jacks, sinkers, and elements similarly movable on a portion of a knitting machine, and has for an object the provision of such a device capable of a variety of uses in a knitting machine to secure a greater degree of selective operation than has heretofore been possible.

In the provision of knitting mechanism for the production of design fabrics and other fabrics where it is desirable to position the needles or other knitting elements in more than two positions,--as, for instance, when it is desirable to have different needles in position for knitting,

l5 tucking, and passing a yarn respectively, or where it is desired to have the needles in a fully advanced, a partially advanced, and an unadvanced position as for welt stitching or tucking or for the formation of a single or double interlock fabric as described in my Patent Numbers 1,541,230 and 1,728,293, for example,-it has been common to employ needles certain of which have long butts and others of which have short butts, and to utilize cam or other selective means for posimeans acting directly on the needles. Machines of this character have been subject to marked disadvantages, due to tendencies of the cam or other means to break or twist the butts of the needles, and because of the lack of selectivity of such constructions. With the foregoing and other diificulties in mind, the present invention contemplates the provision of a type of slidable control member which is adapted to be swung between a multiplicity of positions on a portion of a knitting machine and which is formed to 7 provide along its length a. plurality of camengaging surfaces, each adapted to be engaged by a single cam surface when the control member is in one of said positions, so that the extent of sliding movement of the control member is determined by which of the cam-engaging surfaces is engaged by the cam surface.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the controlling member comprises a main element such as a needle which has mounted remote from its yarn receiving end a pivoted selecting element capable of angular movement with re spect to the needle shank to occupy several positions in response to cam or pattern control. The

pivoted element and the main element are preferably not side-by-side in a slot but lie in the same plane so that a slot the width of a needle shank will receive the needle as well as the pivoted selective element. Specifically the pivoted eletioning the needles, or to utilize pattern wheel.

ment is designed to be moved and held by friction in more than two different angular positions with respect to the main element on which it is mounted, each position cooperating with cam or other control means to have the main element 5 moved longitudinally a distance determined by the particular angular setting of the pivoted element. The friction which tends to hold the pivoted element at each of its selected positions with respect to the main element is preferably 10 secured between the contacting surfaces of the main and pivoted elements and not between the element and the side walls of the slot containing the element. This insures that the main element will be freely movable in the slot. If this fric- 15 tional retarding action takes place at the pivoting point the contacting surfaces should be of greater area than for surfaces remote from the pivoting point. It is also comprehended as a part of this invention that the two or more selective 20 positions of the pivoted element may occur with either a clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the pivoted element with a corresponding movement of the main element.

This invention will be better understood by 25 reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which I Fig. 1 represents one form of this invention applied to a needle jack;

Fig. 2 shows the invention applied to a needle shank;

Fig. 3 is a modification of Fig. 2;

, Fig. 4 illustrates the invention applied to a beard needle; I 35 Fig. 5 is a modification in which the pivoted element is moved to its selected position by a force exerted upwardly;

Fig. 6 is a modification in which the pivoted element is made from shaped flattened wire;

Fig. 7 illustrates the invention applied to a sinker;

Fig. 8 is another modification showing a diflerent way a flattened steel wire may be used as a selective element for a main element; 4

Fig. 9 illustrates a form of this invention in which the pivoted member is adapted to assume only one position for needle retraction and only one position for needle advancement; I

Figs. 10a, 10b, and 100 show combined control by means of a fixed butt and a, pivoted element;

Fig. 11 illustrates actuation both by fixed butt and by pivoted element;

Fig. 12 shows the intervention of a pivoted element between a fixed butt and a cam; and

Fig. 13 shows a pivoted element with a single shoulder cooperating with a plurality of cams.

In the operation of knitting machines for knitting elaborate pattern elfects and the like it is frequently desirable to have a control member such as a needle assume not only fully retracted positionv and a fully advanced position but also I one or more positions intermediate the extreme I positions. This invention provides a simple and efficient way in which this may be accomplished;

In Fig. 1 there is disclosed a needle slot ID in a. circular needle machine containing a needle jack II for elevating the associated needle when the jack is cam actuated. The major part of continued in the form of a downwardly disposed arm I5 terminating in a disc-like end I6. The opposing main edge H, of the main element is curved about the center of disc I6 to provide a .segment of a circular runway for the similarly curved arm I8 of the selective element I3. Arm I8 fits snugly in this curved runway' so as to offer frictional opposition to any clockwise or counter clockwise movement of element I3. Toassist this retarding action the element I3 has a finger I9 which rides over small corrugations in the lowermost edge of the jack, the depression between adjacent corrugations corresponding to a desired fixed angular position of element I3. The surface having these indentations is of course curved about the disc I6 as a center. There are four of these indentations since there are four angular positions desired for element I3.

The cam surfaces on element I3 provide an efiective and certain means for assuring. that the advance of the needles or other elements will be selectively controlled in a desired manner. The upper arm of element I3 has three successively stepped

shoulders

20, 2I and, 22 any one of which is adapted to lie in the path of a downwardly directed cam 26. As shown in Fig. 1 the uppermost shoulder 20 is in the path of cam 26 so that the passage of cam 26 as illustrated has moved needle jack II to its lowermost position. If shoulder 2| had been in line the needle jack would have been lowered by cam 26 but to a lesser extent; if shoulder 22 had been in line cam 26 would have produced a still lesser downward movement of jack II; and if the element I3 had been moved counterclockwise to such an extent that all the shoulders 20 to 22 were out of line, the passage of the cam 26 would have produced no downward movement of jack II. Element I3 depending upon its angular position therefore functions to enable cam 26 to allow jack II to remain in its uppermost position, to be partially retracted, to be retracted a greater extent, and to be fully retracted. These four different positions are illustrated for the butt 30 of the needle jack where the solid line showing is for its lowermost position due to cam 26 on shoulder 20; the first dotted position above would be due to cam 26 on shoulder 2I; the second dotted position due to cam 26 on shoulder 22; and the third dotted position being due to cam 26 contacting with no shoulder.

The invention also provides for the selective advancement of the needle jack II by having the lower arm of element I3 provided with three successively stepped

shoulders

23, 24, 25 any one of ,desired time. and 2 that when shoulder 25 is positioned to re- .15

which is adapted to be aligned with a lifting cam 21. It will be apparent that the passage-of cam 21 if contacting with shoulder 25 will produce the maximum advancement of the needle jack and associated needle; if contacting with shoulder 24 5 a partial advancement; if contacting with shoulder 23 a still smaller advancement; and if the element I3 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 it will be obvious that the passage of cam 21 will allow the jack to remain in its lowermost position It 10 is of course to be understood that cams 26,..21 need not function simultaneously on the same needle but may function successively or at any It should be noted from Figures 1 ceive cam 21 the upper shoulders are entirely out of the path of cam 26; when shoulder 24 is positioned to receive cam 21, shoulder-22 is in position to receive cam 26; when shoulder 23 is effective for cam 21, shoulder 2I will be efiective for 20 cam 26; and when upper shoulder 20 is effective the lower shoulders are entirely out of the path of cam 21. The maximum clockwise movement of element I 3 is reached when finger I9 strikes the bottom of the slot, placing shoulder 26 in oper- 25 ative position,- while the maximum counterclockwise movement of element I3 is reached when the upper arm of element I3 strikes'the edge I4 placing shoulder 25 in operative condition. It is to be understood that prior to the passage of either 30

cam

26 or 21 the pivoted element I3 may be selectively moved clockwise or counter clockwise by any suitable mechanism either manual or pattern controlled. Some such actuated mechanism is shown in dotted lines in Fig. l where an'element 85 28 is capable of being advanced toany one of four positions to move the upper arm of the pivoted member I3 selectively in a counterclockwise direction, while a similar element 29 contacts with the lower arm to move the pivoted member selectively 40 in a clockwise direction.

Control members

28, 29 do not operate simultaneously but at difierent times prior to the passageof the advancing and retracting

cams

26, 21. I

In view of the above no detailed description of 45 Fig. 2 is necessary since it merely shows the pivoted member I3 in a. position difierent from I that of Fig. 1, but attached to a' needle 3I instead of a needle jack. In each of the four angular positions possible for pivoted member I3, the said memberafter movement to one of said positions is held therein because of the friction of arm I8 in the annular runway as well as the spring action due to finger I9 resisting its movement from one of the indentations on the bottom edge of the needle jack.

Fig. 3 shows a modified form of pivoted member 35 mounted on the lower end of a needle 32 lying in a needle slot 39 of a cylindrical knitting machine. The lower end of the needle shank comprises a curved arm 34 and the adjacent side of the element 35 is provided with a segment of an annular passageway into which the arm 34 snugly fits so as to resist by friction any force tending to change the angular position of element 35. The lower edge of the needle butt 33 also is curved to provide a frictional slide for the upper end of element 35. The pivoted element 35 is preferably 'of the same thickness as the needle so that the combination will readily slide up and down in Cii aoaaaee that element 35 may be in such a clockwise position that cam 38 will not contact with any one of the shoulders and hence in such a case the passage of cam 38 would not even cause a partial advancement of the needle. The two arrows pointing to element 35 are intended to represent any suitable control means adapted to cause a clockwise or counterclockwise selective setting of element 35 prior to the passage of cam 35. The lowest dotted line at the top of the figure represents the height to which the needle is raised when cam 38 contacts with shoulder ill, the second line the height for cam 38 contacting with shoulder ill, and the uppermost line the height of needle when the cam contacts with shoulder 39. It will be apparent how these various positions vary the height of the needle with respect to the usual sinker 3i. Retraction of the combined needle and pivoted element may be secured by a suitable cam operating on the needle butt 33. The system in Fig. 3 provides only for differential advancement of a needle with full retraction while in the arrangement of Fig. 1 differential retraction is also possible as has been previously explained.

In Fig. 3 the needle is of the latched type but it should be apparent that the invention is applicable to other types of needles. For example in Fig. 4 one form of the invention is shown applied to a beard needle (l5. In this figure the needle shank terminates in a disc All and the metal strip forming the pivoted element t8 is slitted to form a bearing for the disc M. The tendency of the arm 52 to return to its normal position against the main body of element ABproduces the necessary friction on disc ll to hold the pivoted element against movement. Element $8 is of course of the same thickness as the needle shank so as to allow free movement in the needle slot. Element Q8 is shown in its extreme clockwise positionwhere neither of shoulders 5-3, 5! is in the path of the usual raising cam such as cam 38 Fig. 3. A small counterclockwise movement would place shoulder 50 in operative position to produce a partial needle advancement while a further movement would place shoulder M in operative position to cause a full advancement of the needle. The subsequent refraction of the needle may be secured by a suitable cam contacting with butt 39. The arrows directed at element $8 on opposite sides of its pivot indicate any suitable means for selectively setting the element 48 prior to the passage of the elevating cam.

The arrangement in Fig. 5 is somewhat similar to that in Fig. 3 in that the needle shank 5d terminates in a curved arm 55 to form a bearing for the pivoted element 56 which has a curved arm 51 formed to frictionally hold projection 55 in a curved slot between arm 51 and the main body of element 56. The lower part of the pivoted element for the needle has two shoulders 62, 53 which cooperate as previously described with cam 59 to partially or fully advance the needle depending upon the selective settingof element 56. This selective setting prior to passage of cam 59 may be secured by suitable means acting upwardly on the lower edge of butt 58 either to allow element 56 to remain in its position shown or to be partially moved in a counterclockwise position or to be moved to its extreme counterclockwise position. The subsequent lowering 5 of the needle may be secured by a cam 6d acting on needle butt ti.

Still another alternative form of the invention is shown in Fig. 6, where the needle shank 65 is first bent outwardly to form a butt 66 then down- 10 wardly to form a restraining projection bl for the selecting element after which the shank returns to the needle slot and terminates in an incomplete annulus 6d. The selecting element lit for the needle in this figure is made of spring wire flatl5 tened if necessary so as not to exceed the width of the needle slot. One end of the wire forms a loop fitting snugly in the incomplete annulus 68 as a socket and it then has a straight position lying at times in the bottom of the needle slot I after which it is brought forwardly to form shoulders lb and l 9, its opposite end being bent-to ride underneath projection bl on the needle shank. Due to the spring action caused by the sprung end under projection hi the selective element (59) is biased to assume its outermost position away from the needle slot as shown in dotted lines where shoulder lll is in line with the raising cam 52 to cause a full advancement of the needle. It now a cam or other suitable means engages element as at the point indicated by an arrow prior to the passage of cam 712 the said means may thrust element ts towards the needle slot causing a clockwise movement to an extent suihcient to place shoulder 'ltl in the path of cam M; or if the movement is to a greater extent the selective element will be moved into the slot sufiiciently far that neither shoulder l0, it will be in the path of cam l2 thereby causing no advancement of the needle for that particular passage of cam 40 i2. Due to the spring action of element (t9 biasing it to its outermost position it will be obvious that the said thrusting means must retain its engagement with element 69 until after the passage of cam l2 as otherwise the spring action would restore element 59 to its outermost position where shoulder ll is in the path of cam 52. The subsequent passage of a retracting cam may be caused to lower the needle by contact with the upper surface of butt 66. Fig. '7 shows one form of this invention applied to a sinker to provide for its selective actuation in accordance with any predetermined manner of operation. The end of the sinker 8t remom from the yarn controlling parts has a curved arm M which fits into a curved runway between the main body of the selecting element 88 and its curved arm 86. It is apparent that'element 88 is pivoted on sinker 88 with large bearing surfaces to provide adequate frictional resistance to move- 6 ment so that the selecting element will tend to hold any position in which it is set. In the position shown the element 88 is in its extreme clockwise position resting in the bottom of the sinker slot and in such a position shoulder 85 is in line with the sinker advancing cam all so as to advance the sinker a certain amount at desired times during the progress of the knitting. However a suitable control mechanism prior to passage of cam 81 may strike shoulder 83 and pivot element 8870 to a position where shoulder 85 is in line with cam 81 so as to cause a greater advance in the sinker. Cam or other means may subsequently strike shoulder 82 and move element 88 back into its extreme clockwise position.

Still another form which this invention may possess is shown in Fig. 8 where the main element 90 in slot 98 may be a needle or needle jack or other slidable element of a knitting machine for which selective actuation is desired. The selecting element 9| comprises a spring wire held in place by one end lying against a flat edge oi. main element 90 with its other end heldfromoutward movement by being caught underneath the shoulder 96. An intermediate position of the flattened wire is ring shaped at the point 92 where it occupies a socket in the main element where it is held against sidewise movement by the sides of slot 98. Intermediate ring 92 and hook 95 are two shoulders 93, 94 either one of which by a sustained force applied at the point marked by an arrow may beheld in the path of an advancing cam 97 and the amount the main element is advanced will of course depend upon which shoulder 93, 94 is aligned for a particular passage of cam 91.

In Fig. 9 a simpler type of pivoted element I03 is mounted on a needle shank IOI at a point remote from the needle latch. The needle shank is formed into a disc portion I02 which is embraced by apartially circular opening in element I03 so that the junction of the two members is performed without requiring a width greater than the normal width of the needle shank. Thepivoted element I03 may be selectively actuated by pattern control means to secure the desired advancement or retraction of the needle. When suitable pattern control. means has actuated member I03 to throw shoulder I04 away from the needle shank a cam may cooperate with this shoulder to cause the needle retraction while when the lower shoulder I05 is thrown away from the needle shank the said shoulder may contact with a suitable cam to advance the needle a desired distance.

The selective advancement or retraction of a needle or needle jack or other slidable element of a knitting machine as above described may be utilized for a variety of purposes as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example the needle jack II of Fig. 1 is capable of placing its associated needle in any one of four positions during advancement or retraction. One use of such four positions will be apparent from my Patent No. 1,541,230 issued June 9, 1925, on a knitting machine for interlock cloth where the needles after passage of yarn to be interlocked are lowered to a lower level than when the needles are lowered after the passage of a loop forming yarn and where the needles are given a partial advancement when it is desired to catch a yarn to be interlocked. Cam 26 should therefore strike shoulder 20 when the lowermost retraction of the needle is desired after catching a yarn to be interlocked while the said cam should strike shoulder 2I when ordinary retraction is desired for a loop forming yarn. When cam 21 strikes shoulder 25 the needle will be elevated to full knitting position; when it strikes shoulder 24 it will be moved to the interlocking position; and when it strikes shoulder 23 the needle will be raised to its position of retraction which is normal after catching a loop forming yarn. Still another use would be for the normal position for catching a loop forming yarn would be the next to the uppermost position while the uppermost position would be used occasionally to catch yarns fed in such a manner that they would not be caught by any needle raised to the nextto Fig. a permits the shank IIO to have three 0 positions, that is, to be fully advanced by cam the-uppermost position. Still other uses will occur to those skilled in the art.

In Fig. 10a the selective actuation of the needle or needle jack 0 is under the controlof cams which may actuate either a fixed butt III on the needle shank or may actuate a pivoted element II2 mounted in the shank in the same manner as in Fig. 9. Pivoted member H2 is adapted to be placed in one of two positions either a maximum clockwise or a maximum counterclockwise 10 position, the former being shown in Fig. 10b and the latter in Figl 10a. The position of member II2 may be predetermined by a cam I I3 which when moved to its upper position as shown in Fig. 10a actuates the member II2 to its counterclockwise position and which when moved to its lower position (Fig. 10b) actuates it to its clockwise position. Aiter member II 2 has assumed its angular position of Fig. 10a a cam Ill may subsequently arrive and contact with the lower shoulder of member H2 to elevate shank IIO from the low position in Fig. 100 to the high position of Fig. 100. later another cam I I6 may contact with the upper shoulder or member to cause maximum retraction of the needle shank, 25 that is-,'to position shown in Fig. 10c. In some cases maximum retraction may not be desired and in such a. case an elevated shank IIO would have its pivoted member set out of the path of cam II6 so that after the passage of cam H0 (which in this case would produce no retraction) another cam H5 could be designedto contact with the fixed butt 'I II to produce a partial retraction. In other words the arrangement of III acting on shoulder of member II2, to be fully retracted by cam I I5 acting on upper shoulder oi. member H2, and to be partially retracted by cam II5 acting on the fixed butt I II. The 40 position of partial retraction is shown in Fig. 10b. In these three figures I indicates the uppermost position, Ii the intermediate position, and Ill the lowermost position. It will be apparent that by controlling cam I I3 in a suitable manner the needle or needle jack IIO may be selectively placed in any one of these three positions prior to the passage of any particular yarn carrier. Thus the advancement and retraction of shank I I0 is controlled both by actuation of a fixed butt and by actuation of the pivoted element. It is assumed that the adjustable cam I I3 is individual to jack I I0 and that the pivoted element I I2 is so dimensioned that it may be engaged by cam II 3 at its upper end or lower end in either of the positions shown in Fig. 10a or Fig. 10b.

Figure 11 shows an alternative arrangement for securing selective operation of a needle or needle jack I20 mounted in a'slot in a needle cylinder. The pivoted member I22 has an angularly disposed arm I25 which is adapted to be interposed between the fixed butt I2I and the downwardly acting cam I24. The shank I20 may be moved to its uppermost position by a cam I23 providing the member I 22 has been previously actuated to place its lower shoulder I20 in the Path of said cam and the shank is shown in its uppermost position in Fig. 11. If now the member I22 is allowed to have its arm I25 over butt I2I, as shown in the figure, the subsequent passage of downwardly directed cam I24 will cause maximum retraction of the shank, the distance between level I and level 111. Alternatively if a suitable cam actuates the lower portion of member I22 at the point indicated by the horizontal aoaaaea arrow the member i22 will be moved clockwise to remove arm lib from the space over butt 82!! so that the subsequent passage of cam its will only partially retract the shank i128 because cam 52 3 will now'contact with butt 52!! and hence the downward movement will be less, that is, the distance from level II to level m. The intervention or non-intervention of arm Q therefore increases or decreases the distance the shank i2@ is retracted by cam i2 1 so that by a suitable control of pivoted member R22 the associated shank Mil may be fully or partially retracted by the passage of the same cam iii l either prior or subsequent to the passage of a particular yarn carrier and thereby produce variations in the type of knitting produced. The clockwise or counterclockwise movement of the member B22 may be secured in any desired manner. Its clockwise position in Fig. 11 is shown in dotted lines.

Still another form of the invention is shown in Fig. 12 where the needle or needle jack 53% has a fixed butt B38 to which is suitably fastened a spring .332 which is permanently bent downwardly and which is secured'at its other end to a special cam operated member E33 at least a. portion of which is adapted to fit into the needle slot and slide up and down in the slot along with the shank lSil. The member M3 is biased by the spring 032 to the position shown in dotted lines in the figure but a special cam or other means operating on member H33 at the point indicated by the horizontal arrow may force the member m3 further into the slot to the full line position of the figure until member i133 contacts with projection ltd on shank B39. When such a special cam means is removed the spring i132 iorcesmember i333 outwardly until butt i355 on arm i336 contacts with the butt 8% on shank itd, these two butts preventing the spring from forcing mem-- ber B33 entirely out of the slot. It will be ap= parent that when member W3 is in its outer (dotted) position the advancing cam. will contact with butt its and produce only a partial advancement, a distance equal to the difference between level I and level II. However, if number 533 is in its inner (full line) position the raising cam 839 will contact with arm l3? and cause shank we to be fully advanced, a distance equal to the diiierence between level I and level m- It will be obvious that the subsequent passage of cam i lil will cause a full retraction of shank 53KB either from level II or level 111. The pivoted member i333 therefore by pattern control may be used to secure a partial advancement of needle G for one yarn feed and a full advancement for a second feed yarn.

Still another form of the invention is shown in Fig. 13 in which the needle or needle jack Hill has frictionally mounted thereon a pivoted mem-= ber Mi which is adapted to be positioned to advance shank Mill either by intermediate raising cam M2 or full advancing cam Hit. It will be noted that shank it has a long curved arm 6% which fits into a curved slot in member Hill to provide the necessary function to hold member Ml in any angular position in which it may be set by cam means acting on member idi at either side of the pivoting point as shown by the horizontal arrows. Member Ml is adapted to assume three angular positions, the full line position of the figure, the dotted line position of the figure, and an intermediate position; it being understood that suitable cam means may be provided to set this member ME in any one of these positions. When member Mi is its dotted line position the needle ild will not be advanced since neither cam M2 or 863 will be effective.

When member Mill is placed in its intermediate position the shoulder M5 lies in the path of cam M2 and hence there will be a partial advance- 5 ment of the needle, cam M3 being ineffective at this time. However when member M6 is in its full line position, shoulder it? will lie in the path of cam M3 and hence the needle will be fully advanced tofull knitting position. The subsequent. full retraction of the needle may be secured regardless of the angular position of member M5 by a suitable cam acting on a butt on shank Md as in Fig. 1011. or a selective retraction may be secured by a cam i 36 which is ef- 15' fective to contact with shoulder Mill of member Mil only when the member B ll] is in its dotted position as shown in the drawings. It will be noted that the lower position of the slot containing needle l lil is deepened to provide for the rotative 20 movement of the pivoted member.

I In the various figures of the'drawings it is understood that there is sufiicient frictional engagement between the pivoted member and its shank to enable the pivoted member to hold its 25 selected position while being acted upon by a retracting or advancing cam. In some instances as in Fig. i it may be desirable to provide notches which not only serve to hold the element in a desired position but also insure that the element 30 is in the correct position, that is insures accuracy for cam actuation. Such is specially important with a large number of selecting positions since the angular movement for each step is so small that otherwise there would be danger of the cam slipping onto the wrong shoulder. This positioning efiect in Fig. 1 is obtained by the arm is automatically dropping into the bottom of a notch in case the element it was set slightly ofi by earns 28 and 29. A farther safeguard against 40 wrong action due to slight variations in the paths of cams 26 and ii is secured by the rounding back of the points of each shoulder 2% to 25 whereby the cam is eased into position in the bottom of the cut; in Fig. 9 this is obtained by a change in the angle of the side of the out to deviate from the side or the cam.

Another point to which attention should be called, for example in Fig. 1, is the locking action for the rocker 13 obtained by the fitting of the shoulder against the two sides of the cam which is due to the oblique angle of the shoulder itself and of the edge of the cam with respect to the line of movement of the rocker. There is thus provided a confining notch embracing the cam so as to prevent lateral movement of the rocker; Note the oblique anglecformed by the sides of shoulder 23 and by the upper edge of cam 2'8. It will be apparent that the shoulders 20-42, 26, 25, ii-ltk etc. on the various rockers except in Fig. 11 are similarly formed, and that the cams 2b, 38, etc. are correspondingly formed, and that similar advantages may be obtained by the pro-, vision on a variety of types of slidable elements for use in a portion of a knitting machine of shoulders extending obliquely to the line of movement of the knitting unit and adapted to embrace a suitably formed cam.

Still another feature of importance in rocker design is the capability of having the rocker such i as rocker is designed so that it may be engaged for adjustment by

cams

28, 29 in any one' of the four positions in which the main element H may happen to be, to go to any other position. In i fil ain of the figures the main shank must be in 7' bottom position for counterclockwise adjustment of the rocker and in top position for its clockwise adjustment.

Another feature which may be of general interest in other embodiments is the relation of arm l5, Fig. 1, to the curved arm i8 whereby a spring action by arm IS on arm l8 may be made to create sufllcient pressure to produce the desired friction against rotation.

As previously stated the retraction of the main element may be due'to a cam acting on a fixedbutt as in Fig. 3 where the result would be nonselective or it may be due to a cam acting on a rocker arm shoulder such as shoulder 49 in which case the retraction would be selective, depending upon whether or not the shoulder 49 was in the path of the retracting cam.

Another function which may be of considerable utility is to employ a cam such as cam 60, Fig. 5, to act as a holding cam on butt Bl while the arm 58 is being adjusted to prevent the main element g from moving lengthwise in case where friction against the slot wall is less than its friction against the rocker arm.

It also should be pointed out that it is me necessary to have the cam which changes the angular position of the rocker arm effective longer than to produce the desired angular movement.

Thusin Fig. 6 element 69 needs to be pressed'into the slot only until it comes into engagement with cam 12 which thereuponwill prevent element 69 .from jumping out of the slot again.

While several embodiments of this invention have been described above for illustrative purposes it is to be understood that the invention may possess other widely different forms without departing in-any wise from the spirit of this inventionas defined in the appended claims.-

This application constitutes a continuation in part of my patent application Serial No. 623,752 flled July 21, 1932-on Yarn controlling members. Reference is also made to my co-pending appli- .cation, Serial No. 720,921, flied April 17,1934,

which is a continuation in part of the present case.

What is claimed is:

1. A slidable control member for insertion in a slot in a knitting machine comprising a main body portion and a selective element pivotally mounted on said main body for a limited'rotative movement, said element being adapted to assume A at different times an extreme counterclockwise position, an extreme clockwise position and at least one intermediate position, means for setting said element in.any' one of said positions, and means for subsequently sliding said member in the same direction an amount dependent upon to which one of said positions said element has been moved. l

11A slidable control member for mounting in a slot in a knitting machine comprising a main body portion having a thickness less than the width of said slot, a selective element pivotally senting a second cam engaging surface at the same definite distance, said element at still another position presenting a third cam surface at the same definite distance, all of said cam engaging surfaces lying on the same side of the pivoting point of said element.

3. A slidable control member for mounting in a slot in a knitting machine comprising a main body portion having a thickness less than the width of said slot, a selective element mounted on said member at a point intermediate the ends of said member for a limited range of rotative movement with respect to said member, said member and said element at their junction point having an'overall thickness less than the width of said slot, the contacting parts of said element and said member being in sufficient frictional engagement to require a substantial force to rotate'said element with respect to said member,

and a plurality of cam engaging surfaces on said 20 element on one side of said junction point adapted to cooperate with a cam for causing differential movements of said member.

4. A slidable control member for mounting in a slot in a knitting machine comprising a main body portion and a selective element mounted on said member and having an arm projecting at times at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said member, said arm on the side remote from said member having a plurality of cam engaging surfaces adapted to cooperate with cam means in a single relative position for causing said member to be moved in the same direction but different amounts depending upon the actua single relative position for causing a predei5 termined movement of saidneedle in one direction.

6. A knitting machine needle comprising a shank, a yarn receiving hook at one end, a cam operated member pivoted near the opposite end i of said shank with suilicient friction between said shank and said member to hold said member in its angular position to said shank, said member and said shank at their junction point having an overall width of the same order of magnitude as the width of said shank, said member having a plurality of cam engaging surfaces on one side of the pivoting point each adapted to cooperatewith a cam to cause a different movement of said needle.

'7. A knitting needle as in claim 6 in which there are at least three spaced cam-engaging surfaces on one side of the pivoting point each adapted to cooperate with a cam surface to cause a different movement of said needle.

8. A knitting machine needle as in claim 6, in which said shank terminates in a curved projection, saidn'i'ember having an arcuate slot into which said projection slidably fits.

9. A knitting machine control mechanism comprising a slidable element, a pivoted member mounted on said element at a point intermediate the ends of said member to assume various angular positions with respect to the axis of said element, said member having on one side of the apnea-ea 7 shank arranged for longitudinal movement in 10 a needle slot in a knitting machine, a pivoted member mounted on said shank at a point intermediate the ends of said shank adapted to assume various angular positions with respect to the axis of said shank, a yarn receiving hook 15 at one end of said shank, a butt on said shank between said hook and said pivoting point, said member having on that side of its pivoting point remote from said butt a plurality of cam engaging surfaces each adapted to cooperate with cam 2 means to cause said needle to be moved longitudinally a different distance, said member having an arm slidably cont-acting with a surface of said butt during a rotative movement of said member.

25 ii. A knitting machine needle in accordance with claim 10 in which the contacting surfaces of said arm and said butt are similarly curved with substantially the same radius of curvature to provide a substantial surface area of contact 30 between said am and said butt for a substantial rotative movement of said member, said arm being of such length to provide a substantial frictional contact between said surfaces whichopposes rotative movement of said member.

35 12. A slidable control member for knitting machines adapted to be received by the slot of a portion of a knitting machine and to be swung between a multiplicity of positions therein, and formed to provide along its length aplurality of 40 cam-engaging surfaces each adapted when the member is in one of said positions to be intercepted by a single cam surface, said cam-engaging surfaces being so disposed on said member that the cam surface will impart to the member =13 sliding movements of difierent extent in one direction longitudinal of the slot depending on which of the cam-engaging surfaces is intercepted by the cam surface.

13. A slidable control member for knitting ma- ;1) chines adapted to be received by the slot of a portion of a knitting machine and to be swung between amultiplicity of positions therein, and formed to provide along its length a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted. when the 53 member is in one of said positions to be intercepted by a single cam surf ace, said cam-engaging surfaces being so disposed on said member that the cam surface will impart to the member sliding movements of different extent in one direction 6 longitudinal of the slot depending on which of the cam-engaging surfaces is intercepted by the cam surface, and said cam-engaging surfaces being so disposed that all of them may be moved out of the path of such cam surface by a com- 65 plete swinging movement of the member.

14:. A slidable control member for knitting machines adapted to be received by the slot of a portion of a knitting machine and to be swung between a multiplicity of positions therein, and

70 formed to provide along its length a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted when the member is in one of said positions to be inter cepted by a single cam surface, said cam-engaging surfaces being so disposed on said member 75 that the cam surface will impart to the member a cam to prevent lateral movement of the elesliding movements of different extent in one direction longitudinal of the slot depending on which of the cam-engaging surfaces is intercepted by the cam surface, and said member being also formed to provide along its length a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted when the member is in one of said positions to be intercepted by a second cam surface, said latter cam-engaging surface being so disposed on said memberthat the second cam surface will impart to the member sliding movements of different extent in the opposite direction depending on which of said latter cam-engaging surfaces are intercepted by said second cam surface.

15. A slidable control member for knitting ma- 15 chines adapted to be received by the slot of a portion of a knitting machine and when so received to be, swung between a multiplicity of positions, and formed with a plurality of cam-receiving recesses having actuating surfaces adapted to face in one direction when in operative position, said recesses being movable successively into the plane of cam action by a swinging movement of the member in one direction.

16. A knitting machine control mechanism 2.3- comprising a slidable element, a pivoted member mounted on said element to assume various angular positions with respect to the axis of said element, said member having on one side of the pivoting point a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted to cooperate with a cam to advance said element a different distance, said member having on ,the opposite side of the pivoting point a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted to cooperate with a cam to retract said element a different distance.

17. A knitting machine needle comprising a shank arranged for longitudinal movement in a needle slot in a knitting machine, a pivoted member mounted on said shank adapted to assume various angular positions with respect to the axis of said shank, a yarn receiving hook at one end of said shank, a butt on said shank between said hook and said pivoting point, said member having on that side of its pivoting point remote from 4.5

said butt a plurality of cam-engaging surfaces each adapted to cooperate withcam means to cause said needle to be moved longitudinally a different distance, said member having an arm slidably contacting with a surface of said butt during a rotative movement of said member.

18. An element adapted to be mounted for sliding movement on a portion of a knitting machine and formed with a plurality of cam engaging shoulders each adapted to be engaged by a single cam to impart sliding movement to the element, each of said shoulders extending obliquely to the'line of sliding movement and being adapted to embrace the cam so as to prevent lateral movement of the element when engaged by the cam.

19. An element adapted to be mounted for sliding movement on a portion of a knitting machine and to be swung between a multiplicity of lateral positions, said element being formed with a plurality of cam-engaging shoulders for eifectuating the sliding movement thereof, each of said shoulders extending generally obliquely to the line of sliding movement and adapted to embrace ment when engaged by the cam, and the various shoulders being differently inclined with respect to each other so that each will have the same inclination when in cam-engaging position.

20. A rocker element arranged for sliding movement on a portion of a knitting machine and formed with a plurality of shoulders at one side of its axis of rocking movement and facing in one direction and with a plurality of shoulders at the other side of said axis and facing in generally the opposite direction, the shoulders on the two sides of the axis diverging obliquely and each shoulder being adapted to be engaged by a cam for imparting sliding movement to the rocker and to embrace the cam to prevent lateral movement of the rockerwhen engaged by the cam.

21. An element adapted to be mounted for sliding movement on the bed of a knitting machine in a direction generally perpendicular to a line of relative movement of the bed and an actuating cam and having a portion moveable toward to a line of relative movement of the bed and an actuating cam and having a portion moveabletoward and away from said needle bed, said portion being formed with a plurality of shoulders each having a sloping surface adapted to be engaged by a single actuating cam having a single actuating surface sloping away from said v bed when in position to be engaged thereby, wherebyone or. another of said shoulders may be engaged by said cam to impart sliding movement of a particular extent to said knitting unit while avoiding lateral movement of the knitting unit during such engagement.

23.- In combination, a needle adapted to be mounted in a slot in a knitting machine bed, and

a slidable control member for said needle and adapted to be swung between a multiplicity of positions relative to said slot and formed to-provide along its length a plurality of cam-engag- 10 ing surfaces each adapted when the member is in one of said positions to be intercepted by a single cam surface, said cam-engaging surfaces being so disposed on said member that the cam surface will impart to the member and to the 15 needle sliding movements of different extent in one direction longitudinal of the slot depending ion which of the cam-engaging surfaces is interbeing so disposed on said member that the cam surface will impart to the member and to the 30 sinker sliding movements of different extent in one direction longitudinal of the slot depending on which of the cam-engagi g surfaces is intercepted, by the cam surface. a

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