US20854A - Knitting-machine - Google Patents

Description

N. P. AIKEN. STOP MOTION FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

No. 20,854. Patented July 13,1858

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIC.

N. P. AIKEN, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,854, dated July 13, 1858; Reissued May 3, 18 59, No. 709.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, N. P. AIKEN, of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Stop-Motion for Rotary Knitting- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure l is an elevation of the principal portion of a r0tary knitting machine, with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

' This invention consists in a certain mode of combining the sinker wheel or any toothed wheel gearing into and deriving motion from the needles with a movable stop which is applied to the belt-shipper to lock it in a position to hold the driving belt on the driving pulley of the machine so long as the knitting progresses properly, whereby as soon as the thread breaks or any of the loops miss, the shipper is caused to be unlocked and allowed to be moved by a spring or its equivalent applied for the purpose, to a position to ship the belt on to a loose pulley and thus to stop the machine.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

a, a, are the needles attached to a horizontal bevel gear A, which derives a rotary motion on an upright shaft Z), from a bevel gear B, on the horizontal driving shaft C.

D, is the driving pulley fast on the driving shaft C; and E, is the loose pulley on the same shaft.

F, is the driving belt.

G, is the belt-shipper, sliding horizontally in two guides 0, c, and having a spiral spring (Z, applied to it in such a manner as to exert a tendency to ship the belt on to the loose pulley E.

H, is a lever arranged at right angles to the belt-shipper on a fulcrum e, which is secured in a post I. One arm of this lever, which is longer and heavier that the other one, stands over the belt-shipper; and when the belt is on the fast pulley D, the said arm drops into a notch in the top of the belt-shipper and thus acts as a stop to lock the shipper.

J, is the sinker wheel, arranged in the usual position, but, instead of having its axis fixed, being fixed to turn on a pin f, which is secured to one end of a horizontal bar K, that is fitted to slide longitudinally in a standard L, but prevented turning therein by a screw pin 5 whose point enters a small groove in the said bar. The position of the bar K, is radial or nearly so to the circle of needles. At the opposite end of the bar K, to the sinker wheel, there is a screw-thread h, cut on the said bar; and to this screw-thread is fitted a nut Z, which acts as a stop to the bar to prevent the sinkers m, m, being caused to enter too deeply between the needles by the pressure of a spring a, which is applied to the end of the bar K, to force it toward the circle of needles. The pressure of the spring 91, is intended to be sufficient to keep the sinkers to their work while the knitting proceeds. It is graduated by a screw and nut 0, p, the former of which is secured firmly to the standard L.

M, is a lever whose fulcrum is a pin g, in a fixed arm L, of the standard L. The upper end of this lever is connected by a pin 1*, with the sliding bar K, and the lower end is beveled or rounded to fit a beveled surface at the end of the shorter arm of the lever H.

The operation of the stop motion is as follows: While the knitting is proceeding in a proper manner, the spring n, holds the bar K securely with the nut Z, against the standard L, and keeps the wheel to its operative position; but as soon as a stitch is dropped, the thread accumulates under the needles and, pressing against the sinker wheel, forces it and the sliding bar K, outward, and moves the lever M, to such an extent as to make its beveled lower end move upon the beveled end of lever H, and thus depress the shorter arm of the said lever, and raise the other arm from the notch in the beltshipper, thereby liberating it and leaving it under the influence of the spring G, and moving it toward the loose pulley and shifting the belt on to that pulley, and consequently stopping the machine. When the damage has been repaired the shipper is drawn back by the knob G, at one of its ends to shift the belt on to the driving pulley again, and the stop lever H, dropping again into the notch in the shipper,

locks it till a stitch is again dropped, and the sinker Wheel moved out again.

One or more sinker Wheels may be applied in the same machine to operate in the same manner. Or any Wheel applied in the same manner to press against the threads and to gear with and derive motion from the needles Will produce the same effect and be equivalent to the sinker Wheel. Instead of making the lever H, with a beveled end, the end of the lever M, may be made to operate in the same manner in a notch on the former lever.

I am aware that it is not new to use a belt-shippin apparatus in a knitting machine, to move the belt from the driving to the loose pulley When the yarn breaks or gives out; and therefore I do not claim broadly this as my invention, but

W'hat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

The arrangement of the shipper or beltshifter G, in the manner substantially as described, and in combination With the movable stop H, lever M, and sliding bar K, When controlled by a sinker Wheel or by any wheel gearing with and moved by the needles, for the purpose set forth.

NELSON P. AIKEN.

Witnesses WILL FARLAND, C. DUTCHER.

[Fms'r PRINTED 1911.]

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