US2092347A

US2092347A - Circular knitting machine

Info

Publication number: US2092347A
Application number: US25148A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arthur A Caudle; Jr James P Grey
Original assignee: GREY HOSIERY MILLS
Current assignee: GREY HOSIERY MILLS
Priority date: 1935-06-05
Filing date: 1935-06-05
Publication date: 1937-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 1954-09-07

Description

Sept. 7, 1937. A.`A. C AUDLE er AL 2,092,347

I CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Sept. 7, 193 7.

A. A. CAUDLE ET AL CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 5. 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept.`.7, 1937. A. A. CAUDLE Er'AL V 2,092,347

V CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1935 '7 Sheets-Shweet 4 l rifl. alla@ 000 Sept 7, 1937o A. A. cAUbLE ET AL CIRCULAR `KNITTING MACHIN Filed June 5, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 ucr lf/ y Filed June 5, 1935 T Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Sept. 7, 1937 NITED STATES 'l amarti CIRCULAR Km'r'rmo Arthur A. Candle and .lames P. Grey, Jir., Hendersonville, N. C

., assignors to Grey Hosiery Mills, Hendersonville, hl. iD., a cti-partnership composed of .lames P. Grey, Charles lL. Grey,

and lames P. Grey, .lir

l anmutenden nine 5, niet, sei-iai ne. carta l2 Cial.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in circular knitting machines for knitting stockings and is adapted to be applied to a machine of the Scott and Williams type, in 5 which a single main yarn is employed in knitting the leg and foot portions, an additional yarn for reinforcing the foot portion and portionahove the heel, and separate yarns for knitting the toe and heel portionsi In the application of Arthur A. Candle for improvements in Circular knitting machines, Serial No. 756,692, led December 8, 1934, means are provided for feeding two extra natural silk yarns to the needles during the rotation of the needlecarrying cylinder to thereby eliminate formation of rings and also greatly increase the speed of knitting the leg and foot portions of a stocking, and consequently increase the production of the machine.

three main yarns to Ve needles while knitting the leg and foot portions of the stocking and in addition to feed three vauxiliary reinforcing yarns to the needles while knitting the foot portion and a small part of the leg portion, whereby stockings having reinforced soles and so-called high-spliced heels will he knitted, and the machine output will be` increased materially over the Scott and Wil- 1iam s machine referred to above.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of a circular knitting machine embodying our invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the machine;

Figure `3 is an elevation of the left side of the machine; f

Figure t is a top plan view of the machine, certain of the parts being omitted and other parts being shown insection tobetter illustrate our invention; C l Y Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the three main yarn fingers, the three auxiliary yarn nngers, and the mechanism for actuating the same;

Figure 6 isa detail View of the means employed y for actuating'one of the auxiliary yarn fingers;

Figure 7 is a plan view, partly in section,` of the means shown in Figure 6;

ure 8 is an enlarged cross-section taken on the lne tof Figure 7; 50 Figure 9 is a plan view of the head, certain of the parts being omitted; l j

Figure l0 is an enlarged detail elevation of the stitch cams;

Figure 1l is a bottom plan view of the sinker ring; I

The main object of o ur invention is to feed shown (iUll. dii-t9) Figure l2 is a vertical cross-section taken through said ring; and

Figure i3 is an enlarged end view of an aux iliary stitch cam.

Our invention is adapted to he applied to the well known Scott and Williams circular knitting machine employed for knitting tubular stockings having a reinforced sole and high-spliced heel, and, therefore, We have shown in the accompany-v ing drawings only those parts of such a machine as will enable any one skilled in the art to under- Y B which is edv to a cam ring ll mounted on the head and receiving the needle butts it, as in Figure l0. Cooperating with the needles to form stitches are the usual sinkerswhich are actuated by ans of a stationary sinker ring it mounted mythe head at the upper 2 end of the cylinder. The linker ring is provided with a horizontally extendi g c groove it for receiving the sinker butts. Bivoted as at it to the head d above the cylinder is` the usual 'frame il which carries the usual dial. A main yarn nnger it for the main yam a'is pivoted on a horizontal shaft til mounted on the dial frame ll and functions to guide the main yarn a to the needles it at the main stitch cam B during the rotatiorr of the cylinder when the leg and foot portions of the stocking are being knitted.

y The main yarn finger it is normally held against upward movement by a coil spring 2l. The iinger l@ is raised out of cooperative relation with the needles when the end of the leg and foot portions are reached, by a thrust bar 22 which is` mounted in upper and lower guide plates td, 2t and is actuated by a peripheral cam 25 mounted on a pattern drum tt driven Afrom the main shaft 2l.

Fixed to the cylinder t is a. drivengear td which is rotated by a driving gear 29 fixed en vthe drive shaft 2l for rotating the cylinder in an anti-clockwise direction when knitting the leg and foot portions 4of a stocking and for oscillating 'the cylinder when knitting the heel and toe portions of a stocking. As soon as the leg and foot portions have been respectively completed, a thread change-over is made in the usual manner, the lcylinder is oscillated, and the heel and toe are thereby knitted. i

Pivoted on the shaft 28 alongside the madri yarn nger i8 is an auxiliary yarn finger 35i for directing an auxiliary or reinforcing yarn b to the main stitch cam B when the cylinder is being oscillated to knit the heel and toe portions of the stocking.` A coil spring 3l tends to hold the auxiliary yarn nger 38 against upward movement. Supported on the front of the

standards

6, 6, of the frame is a horizontal shaft 32, and journalled on said shaft is the lower end of vertical lever 33. Fixed to the main shaft 21 and disposed in alignment with the lever is a peripheral cam 34 for actuating said lever. This lever 33 is yieldably held in contact with the cam by a coil spring 35. Also pivoted on the shaft 32 is a crank arm 36, and pivotally connected to the upper end of this arm is the iront end of a horizontal bar 31, the rear end thereof` having a slotted connection as at 38 with a concentric pin 4l carried by a cam 46. The bar 31 is reciprocated endwise by means of the cam Gil through the medium of a cam pin 39 carried by said bar. A lever 42 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a horizontal pin 43 carried by the bar 81. A cam 44 is fixed'to the vertical lever and is disposed directly below the forward end of the lever 42 whereby when the lever 33 is moved under the influence of the cam 3ft, the lever l2 will be rocked, as shown in Figure 6. By reference to this figure, it, will be observed that when the vertical lever 33 is moved forwardly, the adjacent end of the lever 42 will be raised and consequently the rear end of said lever wil be lowered. Disposed under the rear end of the lever 42 is a horizontal lever 45 which is fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a bearing 46 carried by the lower guide plate 2d. The fulcrum 46 of the lever 45 and the fulcrum d3 of the lever 42 are disposed in planes at right angles t'o each other. One end of the lever 455 is disposed directly under the lever 42 and the opposite end of said lever is disposed under an abutment 41 carried by a thrust bar 48. This thrust bar is mounted for vertical movements in the upper and

lower guide plates

23, 24 and has its upper end directly disposed below and in engagement with the auxiliary yarn finger 38 and its lower end in cooperative relation with a. peripheral cam 49 on the pattern drum 26. Thus, by means of the mechanism above described, the auxiliary yarn finger 38 is held in its upper positon and out of cooperative relation with the needles when the leg with the exception of' high-spliced heel portion, heel, and toe portions of the stocking are being knitted, and is automatically lowered into cooperative relation with the needles when the high-spliced heel portion and foot portion of the stocking. is being knitted. Thus, during the knitting of the high-Y spliced heel portion and the foot portion, both the main yarn a and the auxiliary yarn b are directed to the needles, and the auxiliary yarn finger 30 is intermittently actuated by the mechanism above described to reinforce the stocking above the heel and also the sole of said foot portion in any shape which might be desired.

The above mechanism is embodied in the well known Scott and Williams machine for knitting circular stockings and further description of its operation is believed to be unnecessary.

In applying our invention to the above described Scott and Williams machine, we provide two additional yarn nngers 50, 5I which are piv-` otally mounted on horizontal bearing pins 52, 53 fixed on brackets 54, 55 mounted on the dial frame l1 at spaced points in advance of the main stitch cam B. The two additional main yarn ngers 5l), 5l serve to lead two additional main yarns c, d to the needles when knitting the leg and foot portions of the stocking. These fingers are normally held down in cooperative relation with the needles by

coil springs

56, 51. These fingers are provided with outwardly extending

lever arms

58, 59 which are adapted to be engaged successively by a lever 66 pivoted as at 6l on the latch ring when the heel and toe portions of the stocking are being knitted to thereby successively raise said ngers out of cooperative relation with the needles. This lever 60 is operated from the pattern drum 26 by a vertical thrust bar 62 which is slidably supported in the upper and lower guide plates 23, 2K5. All three main yarn fingers i8, 50, 5i are raised by the pattern drum and are respectively lowered by the

springs

2i, 56, and 51.

Cooperative with the needle butts I2 and located in cooperative relation with the additional main yarn fingers 58, 5l are spaced auxiliary stitch cams C and D. These two cams are movable horizontally into and out of engagement with the needle butts, and when these cams are in operative position they cooperate with stationary cam plates 63, 64 fixed to the cam ring l i to thereby form between the stitch cam C and the cam plate 63, and between the stitch cam D and the cam plate 68 downwardly inclined grooves for receiving the needle butts as shown in Figure 10. These stitch cams C and D are supported on the head 8 for horizontal recipro- I cations, and their movements are controlled by 1i, 12, and disposed between said posts and the

heads

65, 66`are coil springs 13, 14 which function to yieldably urge the stitch cams C and D inwardly. Also removably attached to the inner ends of the

heads

65, 66 are stitch shedding cams 15, 16. Thus, by means of the springs 13, 14, the stitch cams C and D and also the stitch shedding cams 15, 18 are yieldably and normally held in cooperation with the needles. In order to periodically retract the stitch cams C and D, as well as the stitch shedding cams 15, 16 upon completion of the leg and foot portions of the stockings, we have provided the following mechanism: y Vertically disposed levers 11, 18 are fulcrume intermediate their ends to the periphery of the head 8 and the upper ends of these levers are pin and slot connected as at 19, to the outer ends of the slide bars 61, 68. The lower ends of the levers 11, 18 are connected by links 8|, 82 to the lower ends of depending

rock arms

83, 84 fixed to

horizontal rock shafts

85, 86 journalled in

brackets

81, 88 secured to the under side of'y ciated stitch shedding cams 15, 16 will be moved outwardly and out of cooperative relation with the needles. Fixed to the shaft 85 is an inwardly extending rock arm 92 which is engageable by an abutment- 93 fixed to a thrust bar 94 movably supported in the upper 'and

lower guide plates

23, 24 for vertical movements by a peripheral cam 95 on thepattern drum 26.

When the needles are drawn down bythe stitch cams C and D, it is necessary to shift the associated sinkers I3 in order to form stitches as will be readily understood.` We have, therefore, provided two spaced sinker cams 06, 91, as

shown in Figures lland 12, and these two cams are disposed in cooperative relation to said stitch cams C and D. The sinker ring Mhas itsinner face cut-away as at 98, 90 to receive the sinker cams 90, 91 which are rigidly mounted on an arm llilll pivoted at oneend as at iti to a post |02 xed to the sinker ring l0, the arm being located above the ring. The arm is urged up` wardly against a stop arm i103 on the post i102 by a spring lill. Normally the arm iis in a horizontal position, as shown in Figure 1, wherein the sinker cams 06, 91 are normally disposed in cooperative relation with the sinkers. When, however, the two additional yarn lingers 50, 5l are elevated upon the completion of the 'leg and foot portions of the stocking, the sinker cams @il-i, 91 are likewise elevated so as to throw out the two additional main yarns c, d, and the cylinder 9 is then oscillated to knit the heel and toe portions oi the stocking. To this end the arm it@ is normally held in its horizontal position against upward movement by the spring Mit by means of a lever arm m5 which is fulcrumed at one end on a horizontal shaft illili mounted in a bracket |01 on the head t.- The free end of the lever arm ith is disposed above the cam-carrying arm |00 and is yieldably held thereagainst by a spring a thrust bar i09 which is slidably mounted fon vertical movements in the upper and lower guide plates i3, M and isactuated by a peripheral cam H0 on the pattern drum 2b.

Cooperating with the auxiliary stitch cams C and D for reinforcing or splicing the sole and that portion directly above the heel are two auxlliary yarn fingers lli, il? which are fulcrurned on the bearing pins 5 2, 53 which support the additional rnain yarn lingers 50, El. Springs H3, iid are connected to these auxiliary yarn fingers l l il, H2 for normally holding them against upward movement. -These auxiliary yarn fingers ill, H2, like the auxiliary yarn ringer 30, are held in their upper positions and out of cooperative relation with the needles when the leg except that portion above the heel, heel, and toe `portions of the stocking lare being knitted, and are automatically lowered into cooperative relation with the needles when the high-spliced heel portion of leg and .'foot portion of the stocking is being knitted to direct auxiliary yarns e, f, to the needles. These auxiliary yarn ngers Iii, H2 are operated in succession by trains of mechani'sm similar to that train which operates the auxiliary yarn ringer 30. To this end, vertical levers 33a, 33h are fulcrumed on the shaft 32, and fixed to the main shaft 21 and engaging and actuating said levers are peripheral cams 34a, 34h. The levers 33a, 33b'are yieldably held in contact with said cams by coil springs 35a, 35h. Levers 42a, 42h are fulcrumed intermediatetheir ends on the horizontal pin 43 which is carried by the bar 31. Cams 44a, Mb are fixed to the vertical the front ends of the levers 42a, 42h, whereby, when the levers 33a, 33h are moved under the levers 33a, 33h and are disposeddirectly below influence ofthe cams 34a, 34D, the levers 42a.,

consequently the rear ends of said levers will be lowered. Disposed under the rear ends of the levers tta, 42h are horizontal levers lita, ilb which'are fulcrumed intermediate their ends on the bearing t0. One end of the lever 05a is disposed directly under the lever d20. and the opposite end of said lever .tta is disposed under an abutment i115 carried by a thrust bar llt. One end of the lever t5?) is disposed directly under the lever Mb and the opposite endlof said lever dbh is disposed under an abutment ill carried by a thrust bar llt. The thrust bars H0, ll are slidably mounted for vertical movements in lthe upper and lower guide plates 23, Ml, and the lower ends of said thrust bars normally engage peripheral cams llt, im located -on the pattern drum 2t. Fulcrumed on the pivot shaft 20 which supports the main yarn finger i@ and the auxiliary yarn linger iii, are levers mi, 022 which are normally held against upward movement by springs H23, itil. These levers i2, it? are disposed directly above the upper ends of the thrust bars iid, il@ and lie in contact therewith, and extend forwardly under the auxiliary yarn ngers lill, im. The horizontal levers t5, iba and d5?) are always in motion due to theirconnections with the cams til, tta and 3th, and while the leg portion of the stocking with exception vof high-spliced heel portion is being knitted the thrust bars iid, lit and iid are held up out of contact with said levers by the peripheral cams till, il@ and it@ on the pattern drum. Just as soon, however, as the reinforcing of high-spliced heel portion and of the foot portion is to start, the cams td, il@ and l2@ on the pattern drum permit the associated thrust bars to drop into engagement with said horizontal levers and thereby permit the auxiliary fingers 30, lli and M2 to be lowered to direct the auxiliary or splicing yarns b, e and f into cooperative relation with the needles. Thus, during the knitting of the high-spliced heel andfoot portions, the three main yarns a., c and d and the auxiliary or splicing yarns h, e and f are directed to the needles at `the stitch cams B, C and D, and consequently three courses of two yarns each are knitted simultaneously.

In the operation of our machine, the auxiliary stitch cams C and D, as well as the auxiliary stitch shedding cams 15, 16, are located in cooperative relation with the needle; the main yarn fingers 09,50, Ii are held by their associated springs in cooperative relation with the needles, and the auxiliary cams 96, 91 are likewise held in cooperative relation with the sinkers. The cylinder 9 is rotated and the three main yarns a, c and d are fed to the needles and formed simultaneously into three courses of stitches. This knitting is continued until the` beginning of the high-spliced heel is reached at which time the pattern drum 26 eiects a lowering of the auxiliary yarn fingers 30, I I I and i l2 into cooperative relation with the needles, thereby to reinforce the lower portion of the leg immediately above the heel portion. The pattern drum ti then functions through the medium of the thrust bars 22 and 62 to raise the main yarn fingers i9, 59, 5i and the auxiliary yarn fingers tt, lil, 5 and H2 out of cooperative relation with the needles; to withdraw the auxiliary stitch cams C and D, as well as the stitch shedding cams l5, l, from cooperation with the needles through the medium of the thrust; bar 94, and to elevate the sinker cams 96, el from cooperation with the sinkers through the medium of the thrust bar tilt. A mercerized yarn is then thrown in by the usual mechanism, the cylinder is oscillated, and the heel is thereby knitted. The mercerized yarn is then thrown out and the cylinder is rotated. At this time, the main yarn ngers i9, 5d, 5l and the auxiliary yarn fingers 30, l l i, i l2 are lowered into cooperative relation with the needles, and the auxiliary stitch cams C and D, as well as the auxiliary stitch shedding cams l5, il@ and the auxiliary sinker cams 96, 9i, are moved into cooperative :relation with the needles and sinkers. By this means the foot portion is knitted by the three main yarns a, c, and d, and the sole is reinforced by the auxiliary or splicing yarns b, e, and f. After the foot has been knitted, the l auxiliary stitch cams C and D, the auxiliary stitch shedding cams l5, lli, the auxiliary sinker Cams llii, Q6, the main yarn fingers i9, 5u, di, and the auxiliary yarn fingers 3U, ill, M2 are all thrown out of cooperative relation with the needles and sinkers.y A mercerized yarn is then thrown in, the cylinder is again oscillated, and the toe portion of the stocking is thereby knitted. It will be understood that various changes may be made in the specific construction and relative l arrangement of the parts without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

We claim:

1.'In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including means for directing a plurality of yarns to the needles at angularly spaced points for knitting a plurality of courses simultaneously in the leg and foot portions, and including means for directing a corresponding number of splicing yarns to the needles at the same points when knitting the foot portion.

2. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder,

and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including a plurality of angularly spaced stitch cams cooperating with the needles, `a plurality of main yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams; a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, and a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the foot portion of the stocking.

3. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalies for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including a main stitch cam and a plurality of auxiliary stitch cams, said cams being angularly spaced acens-fi? and disposed in cooperative relation to the needles, a plurality of main yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams, a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a plurality of auxiliary yarn iingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the foot portion of the stocking, means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary stitch cams and the main yarn fingers from cooperation with the needles when the end of the leg and foot portions are reached, and means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary yarn fingers from cooperation with the needles when the end of the foot portion is reached.

4. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including a main stitch cam and a plurality of auxiliary stitch cams, said cams being angularly spaced and disposed in cooperative relation to the needles, a plurality of main yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams, a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the foot portion of the stocking, means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary stitch cams and the main yarn iingers from cooperation with the needles when the end of the leg and foot portions are reached, means for automatically returning the auxiliary stitch cams and the main yarn fingers into cooperative relation with the needles at the beginning of the foot portion, and meansfor automatically withdrawing the auxiliary yarn fingers from cooperation with the needles when the end of the foot portion is reached.

5. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of a stationary head,

' an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder mounted in said head, a latch ring supported on the head above the cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during the rotation of the cylinder including a main stitch cam and a plurality of auxiliary stitch cams mounted on the head and disposed in angularly spaced relation, a main yarn ringer and a plurality of additional main yarn ngers mounted on the latch ring in cooperative relation with the stitch cams, a plurality of auxiliary yarn ngers mounted on the latch ring in cooperative relation with the main yarn fingers and the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the foot portion of the stocking.

6. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinlder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and foot portions and for splicing the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including means for directing a plurality of yarns to the needles at angularlyspaced points for knitting a plurality of courses simultaneously in the leg and foot portions, and including means for directing a corresponding number of splicing yarns to the needles at the same points when knitting the high-spliced heel portion and the foot portion.

7. In a circular knitting machine for tting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knit- 5 ting the legand the foot portions and for splicing the so-called high-spliced heel and foot portions during rotation of the cylinder including a plurality of angularly spaced stitch cams cooperating With the. needles, a plurality of main lo yarn lingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams, a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, and a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the l5 needles only during the knittingof the highspliced heel portion and the foot portion of the stocking.

8. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately ro- 20 tary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg andthe foot portions and for splicing the so-called high-spliced heel and the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including a 25 main stitch cam and a plurality of auxiliary stitch cams, said cams being angularly spaced and disposed in cooperative relation to` the needles, a plurality of main yarn ngers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams,

30 a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the high-spliced heel por- 35 tion and the foot portion of the stocking, means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary stitch cams and the main yarn and splicing yarn fingers from cooperation with the needles when the end of the leg and foot portions are reached,

L 9. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder,

and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing g the portion above and adjacent to the heel, and the foot portion during rotation of the cylinder including a main stitch cam and a plurality of auxiliary stitch cams, said cams being angularly spaced and disposed in cooperative relation to the 0 needles, a plurality of main yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams, a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams `5 for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the high spliced heel and the foot portion of the stocking, means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary stitch cams and the main yarn andspliclng yarn fingers 'from 0 cooperation with the needles when the end of the leg and foot portions are reached, means for automatically returning the auxiliary stitch cams and the main and splicing yarn ngers into cooperative relation with the needles at the beginning of the foot portion, and means for automatically withdrawing the auxiliary yarn fingers from cooperation With the needles When the end of the foot portion is reached.

l0. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of a stationary head, an alternately rotary and oscillatory needlecarrying cylinder mounted in said head, a latch ring supported on the head above the cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing the portion above and adjacent to the heel and the foot portion during the rotation of the cylinder including a main stitch cam anda plu.- rality of auxiliary stitch cams mounted on the head and disposed in angularly spaced relation, a main yarn finger and a plurality of additional main yarn :lingers mounted on the latch ring in cooperative relation with the stitch cams, a plurality of auxiliary yarn fingers mounted on the latch ring in cooperative relation With the main yarn fingers and the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the high-spliced heel portion and the foot portion of the stocking.

l1. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and foot portions and for splicing portions of the stocking during rotation of the cylinder including means for directing a plurality of yarns to the needles at angularly spaced points for knitting a plurality of courses simultaneously in the leg and foot portions and including means for directing a corresponding number of splicing yarns vto the needles at the same points when knitting'the spliced portions.

12. In a circular knitting machine for knitting stockings, the combination of an alternately rotary and oscillatory needle-carrying cylinder, and a set of knitting instrumentalities for knitting the leg and the foot portions and for splicing portions of the stocking during rotation of the cylinder including a plurality of angularly spaced stitch cams cooperating with the needles, a plurality of `main yarn fingers disposed in cooperative relation with said stitch cams, a plurality of sinkers cooperating with the needles, and a plurality of auxiliary yarn ngers disposed in cooperative relation with the stitch cams for directing splicing yarns to the needles only during the knitting of the spliced portions of the stocking.

ARTHUR A. CAUDLE. JAMES P. GREY, JR.