US2111477A - Stitch transfer needle for knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

March 15, 1938. H. MCADAMS 2,111,477

STITCH TRANSFER NEEDLE FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed July 17, 1936 2 Sheets-Shem- 1 INVENTOR Har'r M Adams 50 I, x 45 W QZL Q E) I ATTORNEYS.

H. MCADAMS STITCH TRANSFER NEEDLE FOR KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 17, 1936 March 15, 1938.

x Z4 INVENTOR.

H M Adams BY & ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 15, 1938 STITCH TRANSFER NEEDLE, FOB-KNITTING v MACHINES Harry McAdams, Reading, Pa., assignor to The Nolde and Horst Company, Reading, Pa., a. colporation Application July. 17,1936, Serial No. 91,182

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in knitting machines, and has particular reference to an improved dial needle for use upon rib knitting machines which are capable of trans ferring stitch loops from cylinder needles to dial needles, and vice versa. The needle is generally of the type set forth in my application Serial No. 68,526, and is an improvement thereon in that a groove or slot is provided in a side wall of the needle for slidably receiving the point of the spring bit arm, so as to permit the stitch loop to slide thereover into transferring position with respect to another needle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompany g drawings, forming a part 'of this specification, and wherein similar-reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a vertical sectional view' taken through a cylinder and dial construction of the improved knitting machine, showing the associated features thereof.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the dial bed of the machine, enlarged to approximately twice normal size, and having the improved dial needle associated therewith: the dot and dash lines designating the normal butt directing grooves in the dial cap.

Flgure3 is an inverted plan view of .the dial cap, showing the needle directing butt grooves and movable cam arrangement.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively views showing in top plan, side elevation, and opposed side elevation the improved dial needle.

Figure this an enlarged cross sectional view taken through the needle substantially on the line 5 5"- of Figure 5, and more particularly showing the manner in which the point end of the needle is buried in a groove or slot in the sidewall of the needle in order to permit the free slipping of the stitch loop thereover.

Figures '7, 8 and 9 designate a typical dial and cylinder needle in a series of steps to effect the transfer of stitch loops from the dial needle to the cylinder needle. 1

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the improved dial needle with a resilient loop expanding arm associated as an integral part thereof cut away to, show the grooved construction of the loop expanding eye provided in the body of the needle,

and to more clearly designate the groove in which the point end of the bit slides.

Figure 11 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line Il ll of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is a modified form of the improved dial needle. 7

Figure 13 is aperspective view of the modified form of the improved dlal'needle with the resilient loop expanding arm removed to show the detailed construction of the other parts of the dial needle.

Figures, 14 and 15 are respectively views of cylinder needles with transfer bit spring arms and grooved arrangements similar to the preferred and modified forms of the dial needle shown in Figures 5 and 12respectively.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention,'the letter A may generally designate a knitting machine, which may include a rotating cylinder B and a rotatable dial bed C. The cylinder B may have an associated set of cylinder needles D and the usual and appropriate means for actuating the same, which may in clude suitable cams E and E, and jacks F if desired.

A set of dialneedles are provided for use in the grooved dial bed C; These dial needles may be appropriately designated by the numeral 21]. As part of the dial a stationary grooved cap G is used. Suitable yarn feed fingers H are provided for feeding various yarns to the dial and cylinder needles. The other associated parts of a knitting machine may be used, such as a latch ring K and web holder and sinker construction L.

, The general featuresof the knitting machine may be those of the Banner typ as shown in U. S. Patent No. 933,443, or if desired the knitting machine may be of a stationary cylinder I type with a revoluble cam set. Preferably the knitting machine is of the type disclosed in my U. S. application, Serial No. 755,621, filed December l, 1934 or of the character set forth in my more recently developed machine for automatis cally knitting continuous strings of stockings with interchange of stitches between cylinder and dial needles and vice versa, U. S. application Serial No. 86,420, filed June 20, 1936.

The present application shows a dial needle of the nature set forth in myapplication Serial No. 68,526, filed March 12, 1936 in that the spring arm bit construction is an integral part of the needle itself and is not separately slidable in the dial with respect-to the needle with which it is associated.

The dlalbedCasshowninFigure to: the

drawings, may be keyed as at 25 to the dial drive shaft 26. The upper surface of the dial bed C may be grooved as in usual manner with dial needle receiving grooves 21. These grooves are of normal thickness so that a large number of needles may be used in the dial for the knitting of fine gauge work. These grooves 21 are radially disposed and each for their major length are of the same width. They enlarge at their fore ends 28, as is usual.

The dial cap G is shown inverted in Figure 3 of the drawings, and the groove and cam arrangement is shown in dot and dash lines in normal relation to the dial bed and needle butt arrangement in Figure 2 of the drawings. Thus, the dial cap G may have a groove 30 wherein the butts of the dial needles travel in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings. Stationary stitch knitting and stitch transfer cams 3i and 32 respectively are provided for directing the dial needles into stitch forming and stitch transfer relation along grooved paths 33 and 34. Compressible plunger earns 36 and 31 are provided on the cap G for deflecting the butts of the dial needles into grooves 33 and 34 respectively against the stationary cams 3i and 32. These plunger cams 36 and 31 are actuated by plunger mechanism, such as shown, at 3B in Figure l of the drawings, and has been more specifically described in my co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 558,798, filed August 22, 1931, and 755,621, filed December 1, 1934.

The improved dial needle 20 includes a body 40 of normal needle thickness and height, having a reduced forward end ll provided with the loop receiving hook 42. Preferably the needle is of the latch type and has a latch 44. Intermediate its ends the body 40 has preferably an upstanding butt which may be either long, short, or medium, as desired. The lower section of the body 40 at one side is provided with a resilient and yieldable loop expanding arm 50, in height preferably one-half of the height of the body 40, and in thickness preferably one-half of the thickness of the body. It may be formed by. splitting the body 40, or by grooving the body 40 and soldering the rear end of the arm in place at 5|. It extends forwardly along the side of the body, relatively disconnected therefrom, so that it may be resiliently flexed against the body to provide with the body a thickness which is no more than the normal thickness of the body 40 and no more than the normal thickness of a conventional dial needle.

The body 40 at the side thereof facing the arm 50 near the reduced portion 4| is concavely recessed, as shown at 60 in the drawings, from the extreme lower edge thereof preferably to the top edge of the body 40. This recess, due to the thickness of the body at this location, is preferably less than one-half of the normal thickness of the body 40 in order that the dial needle may be disposed substantially opposite a complementary cylinder needle which is to be inserted through the eye of which the recess 60 is a part, without the necessity of relative lateral shift of the cylinder or dial needles,'although such shift may be accomplished if desired in accordance with the arrangement which I have developed and set forth in my application Serial 110,136,420, filed June 20, 1936.

The front end of the loop expanding arm 50 is normally bowed outwardly at 65, in facing relation with the recess 60, to provide therewith the loop opening or expanding eye through which the cylinder needle D is extended, as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, to receive the stitch loop 10. The fore end of the body 40 is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly sloping stitch loop engaging and expanding shoulder 1| at a. location which is rearwardly of the tip end of the latch end of the needle when the latch is fully opened, and the extreme free end of the resilient arm 50 is likewise sloped in the same plane with this shoulder H and flush therewith.

In the preferred dial needle 20 there is provided in the side wall thereof, preferably forwardly of the shoulder I l a groove or indentation 80 which may be elongated and which lies between the top and bottom edges of this part of the needle, and which is adapted to receive the pointed end 8| of the bit arm 50; the latter being tapered at its upper and lower edges to a point so that this end of the spring arm may lie flush with the outer side wall of the dial needle when the spring arm is pressed flush against the dial needle. With this arrangement the stitch loop may eflectively slip over the bit arm 50 into properly expanded and extended position upon the eye and against the shoulder of the needle for definite and certain transfer position with respect to the complementary cylinder needle. A portion of the wall of the body of the dial needle facing the bowed end 65 of the resilient arm 50 may be removed at 84, shown in Figures 6 and 11 of the drawings, although not for as great a height as that of the arm portion 55. This facilitates stitch application over the eye and facile insertion and withdrawal of the cylinder needle.

In the modified form of .needle 2i! shown in Figures 12 and 13 of the drawings the slot or groove 80' is located in the side wall of the needle but opens at the bottom edge thereof, and the pointed end of the bit arm 50 is likewise shaped so that it will lie in this slot or groove 80 to perniit proper stitch transfer.

The normal position of the loop expanding arm 50 relative to the body of the needle is shown in Figure 4, 5 and 5 of the drawings.- Sliding in the groove of the dial bed the loop receiving eye opening is only expanded sufilciently to receive the cylinder needle when the dial needle is projected by the cams 31 and 32 to the positions shown in the left hand portion of Figure 2 of the drawings. In retractedposition the bowed portion 65 of the resilient arm 50 is compressed flat against the recessed wall of the body of the dial needle so that'the maximum width of the dial needle at this loop expanding eye ,is then no greater than the maximum width of the body 40 of the dial needle, as can readily be understood in the retracted positions of the dial needles shown in the grooves of the dial bed in Figure 2 of the drawings.

Solid black butts shown in Figure 2 of the drawings are the long butts, and the blank butts are the short butts. The cam 31 is depressed partway and first moves the long butt dial needles into the transfer position shown in the left hand portion of Figure 2. The plunger cam 32 projects the dial needles so that their loop expanding eyes are extended beyond the periphery of thedial, and in superposed relation over the complementary cylinder needles. The needles are elevated by appropriate cam means lii' after the manner substantially described in cylinder my co-pending above mentioned application Serial No. 755,621, filed December 1, 1934, to receive the stitch loops 70. As shown in Figure 8 of the drawings the stitch loop 10 is expanded by the eye of the dial needle and rests against the shoulder I I. Note that no part of the stitch loop is interfered with by the arm 5001 by the body of the dial needle as to impede its effective extension and expansion for proper reception with respectto the cylinder needle which is to receive it. After insertion of the cylinder needle into the eye of the dial needle the loop slips with facility onto the cylinder needle, and upon retraction of the dial needle the stitch will entirely clear without catching on any part of the dial needle, as can well be understood from Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings. I

, As shownin Figure 2 of the drawings the cylinder needles are preferably provided in number twice the amount of the dial needles. The arrangement is substantially the same and for the same purposes as set forth in my above mentioned co-pending application Serial No. 755,621, filed December 1, 1934. However, the dial-needles are preferably almost directly opposite alternating cylinder needles and these cylinder needles are the ones which are inactive duringone and one rib knitting. They are only active during plain knitting when for the most part the knitting is done on the'cylinder needles, and it is to these cylinder needles that stitches of the dial needles are to be transferred when transferring from rib knitting to plain knitting. The fact that dial needles maybe placed substantially opposite the cylinder needles which are to receive stitches therefrom is made possible by reason of the improved loop expanding eye construction of the dial needle.

It is of course to be understood that I contemplate to make a cylinder needle having a loop expanding eye and shoulder arrangement'similar to the above described for the dial needle, and such cylinder needles have been shown in Figures 14 and 15 of the drawings. cylinder needles are substantially identically the same as the similar 'parts of the preferred and modified forms of the dial needles, and similar reference characters have been applied thereto except that the exponents b and "c have been added to designate parts similar to the needles shown in Figures 5 and 1-2 respectively. The transfer of stitch loops from cylinder needles to dial needles has been effectively described in my above identified co-pending application Serial No. 755,621, filed December 1, 1934, and the-same arrangement may be used with the modified cylinder needles of the present application.

From the foregoing it can be seen that an improved dial needle has been'provided which differs over the dial needle of my application Serial No. 68,526, in that the free,end of the spring arm lies within a slot, groove or indentation disposed in the side wall of the dial needle.

The parts of these Various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be made to the forms of invention herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim: a

1. As an article of manufacture a knitting machine needie having a body portion provided with a stitch drawing hook thereon, said body portion being reduced in height rearwardly of the hook to provide a stitch loop engaging shoulder directly facing the open hook of the needle, the body portion of the needle rearwardly'of said shoulder 'being appreciably recessed in. a side wall thereof,

a spring arm secured to the body portion of the needle at a point rearwardly of said recess without increasing the normal thickness of the said body portion of the needle, said spring arm having a forwardly extended resilient portion directly facing said recess to provide therewith. a needle entering eye, said'spring arm at its free end extending to a point beyond the said shoulder, the side wall of the needle forwardly of said shoulder being longitudinally grooved to receive the free end of said arm in a sliding relation therewith, the resilient portion of said spring .arm being collapsible within said recess when the needle is in a needle bed groove so as not to increase the aforesaid normal thickness of the needle body portion.'

2. As an article of manufacture a knitting machine needie having a body portion provided with a stitch drawing hook thereon, said body portion being reduced in height rearwardly of the hook to provide a stitch loop eng ing shoulder directly facing the open hook of the needle, the body portion of the needle rearwardly of said shoulder being appreciably recessed in a side wall thereof, a spring-arm secured to ,the body portion of the needle at a point reawardly of said recess without increasing the normal thickness of the said body portion of, the needle, said spring arm having a forwardly extended resilient portion directly facing said recess to provide therewith a needle ,entering eye, said spring arm at its free end exsaid body portion of the needle along its needle bed facing edge being notched thru the entire thickness thereof directly at the needle entering recess, said resilient portion of the spring arm directly facing said notch.

HARRY McADAMS.

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