US2112260A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

March f 1938., H. AGULNEK KNITTING MACHINE s Shets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1937 CIRCUMFERE/VCE INVENTOR Harry Agulnela @QP ATTORNEY March 29, 1930 H. AGULNEK KNITTING MACHINE Filed March 26, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Harry Agallwls ATTORN EY March 29, 1938. H. AG'ULNEK KNITTING MACHINE File'd March 26, 1937 ,1.- r J P i L I I 31 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 nmllmmm INVENTOR Harry Agulnel ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 29, 1933 Harry Agulnek,

Samuel Mishcon,

Brooklyn, N. Y assignor to doing business as Supreme Knitting Machine Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. Application March 26, 1937, Serial No. 133,106

8 Claims..

cular knitting machines, and to widen the-scope of variety of knitted fabrics that could be produced on such machines. The structure comprising this invention is a further development of that disclosed in my application for Knitting machines filed on January 25, 1936, Serial No. 92,533,- and it 15. also embodies certain of the features of the se;

lective mechanism described in another patent application for Knitting machines filed by me on March 23, 1937, Serial No. 132,503.

It is another object of thisinvention to enable 20 the production of fabrics containing various patterns of jersey and loop stitches, and to permit the knitting of vertical stripes of either all loop orall jersey stitches independently of the, formation ofthe patterned loop and. jersey areas-all during a continuous operation of the mechanism constituting my invention and without a stopping or retardation thereof. I

Another one of the objects of this invention is to provide automatic sinker-actuating mechanisms adapted to selectively receive a large number of operative impulses for each revolution of the machine, thereby rendering it possible to produce a fabric of considerable variation in design.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a section of a circular knitting machine containing my invention, showing the operative association of the automatically actuated selective mechanism with adjacent sinkers.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a fabric containing'areas composed of various types of stitches capable of beingknitted' by this invention.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 of Figure 1 showing the selective mechanism for producing various types of stitches in accordance with my invention.

Figure 4 is a section, in semi-diagrammatic form, taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 1. Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figure 4 with the parts in other operative positions.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary front view facing the machine showing the selective actuating mechanism constituting part of this invention.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary vertical section of Figure 1 taken substantially along line 8-8.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical section of Figure 1 taken substantially along line 9-9.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the sinker-actuating mechanism of Figure 8, taken along line Iii-i0 of Figure 3.

Figure 11 is a view of a high-butt sinker.

Figure 12 is a view of a low-butt sinker.

Figure 13 is a view of a short straight-back or all jersey sinker.

Figure 14 is a view of a long straight-back sinker.

Figure 15 is a fragmentary vertical section of a modified form of sinker actuating mechanism similar to that of Figure 8, and

Figure 16 is a fragmentary section showing the mechanism of Figure 15 in a view similar to Figure 9.

In the drawings and particularly in Figure 3 thereof, the needle cylinder 20 is adapted to cooperate with a plurality of radially disposed sinkers 2| each containing thereon a conventional nose 22 and throat 23, said cylinder being Drovided with the usual needle grooves 24 in which needles are adapted to move vertically therein to positions where the latch 25 is at various positions with respect to the sinkers. The mechanism for raising and lowering the needles is of the conventional type comprising elevating means and depressing cams for accomplishing this purpose, the drawing showing a pattern wheel 26 in cooperative engagement withthe butt of the needle for actuating it upwardly. By means of the raising and. lowering mechanisms the needles are at times elevated to a position where the latch 25 is above the sinker nose 22 in its yarn-taking or latch-clearing position, and at other times where the needle, head is below the throat level 23 of the sinkers in the cast-off position. The cylinder in the construction shown is non-rotatable and is secured to a bed plate 21 supporting the rotatable cam ring 28 which has an annular gear 29 in engagement with a bevel gear such as the gear 30 for rotating the said ring, all in accordance with conventional knitting machine structures.

Suitably supported upon the stationary cylinder 20 near the upper end thereof is a sinker supporting ring 3| having suitable radial grooves in which the sinkers are adapted to slide or move in a substantially radial direction under the influence of various mechanisms to be hereinafter described. The sinker cam ring 32 is adapted to revolve with the said ring 28 by means of a driving connection comprising a post 33 anchored on the ring 28 and the drag-link 34 secured to the posts and to the sinker cam ring 32 by the post 35. The said sinker ring 32 has secured thereto on its undersurface a plurality of cam segments 36 for engaging the sinker butts 3'! to move them outwardly when necessary. It is of course understood that the cylinder 20 may be rotatable and the sinker-actuating mechanism stationary, within the contemplation of this invention and to perform the operative functions thereof.

In the production of loop fabric, the sinkers, circumferentially positioned about the cylinder, are moved inwardly, under the influence of selective actuating means to be hereinafter described, whereby the nose 22 of each of the sinkers so projected will intercept the path of the yarn, which will be laid thereover, thereby forming a loop stitch in conventional manner. Upon a retraction of the sinker, the nose thereof will be removed out of all possible engagement with the yarn, which will therefore be laid upon the throat 23 of the sinker, to form a relatively short or jersey stitch in conventional manner. It is one of the purposes of this invention to selectively actuate the sinkers on the cylinder in accordance with a predetermined setting thereby projecting them inwardly or allowing them to be retracted selectively in accordance withthe design desired to be produced. This objective is attained without the use of a pattern wheel such as is described in my said patent application, Serial No. 92,533, thereby producing a multipleposition effect of the sinkers without the necessary limitations inherent in a pattern wheel construction,all in a manner to be hereinafter described.

The machine constituting this invention is adapted preferably to employ the high and low butt sinkers of Figures 11 and 12, although for further variation in design the sinkers shown in Figures 13 and 14 can also be employed either independently or in conjunction therewith.

To actuate the sinkers inwardly, two pivotally mounted sinker actuators 39 and 40 are employed, both being positioned and-movable in horizontal planes, the former being directly above the latter. These actuators, preferably in the form of fiat blades, are pivotally mounted at 4| in a framework 42 suitably secured to the rotatable portion of the machine such as the cam ring 33. The said actuators have their inner edges 43 and 45 abuttable with the butts of the sinkers. When one of these actuators is projected inwardly towards the machine, the blade thereof will engage an operatively adjacent butt and move its sinker inwardly to a position where the nose ther of will engage a yarn. The said actuators 39 and lfi contain thereon, projections or cams'45 and respectively, extending outwardly, these projections beingoperatively engagedby a mechanism to be hereinafter described; thereby selectively moving either or both of said actuatorsinw'ardly towards the cylinder to'produce loop stitches. Normally the said actuators are held in theirjretracted positions by the springs 48 and 39 against the stop pin 44a.

The means employed to selectively operate the actuators wand 40 are clearly shown in Figures 3, 9 and 10. The plate '50 is mounted on a suitably supported shaft 5! which has attached thereto at the outer end thereof the'pinidisc 52,

this being rotatable by certain means to be hereinafter described to cause a corresponding rotation of the plate 50. An intermediate portion 53 of the shaft 5| is of reduced cross section, consisting of four fiat surfaces at right angles to each other. A plug 54 is always held in yieldabie engagement with one of the surfaces by the spring 55 which is held in place by the plate 56. It is hence apparent that upon a 90 revolution of the shaft 5|, it will be yieldably held in position against further movement by the said plug 54.

The plate 50 contains therein two arcuate apertures 51 and 58, the former containing an extended recess 59 positioned towards the center of the plate, and the latter containing an extended recess 60 positioned towards the periphery of the plate. The said apertures are preferably of a radial width sufiicient to accommodate both of the members 39 and 40; and the said recesses 59 and 60 are of a radial width substantially equal to one-half of that of thesaid apertures, and sufficiently wide to accommodate no more than one of said members 39 and 40. It will be noted that in the position of plate 50 shown in Figure 8, the recess 59 is positioned below the center line 6| and the recess 60 intercepts and extends to the left of the lower portion of the center line 62. It will also be noted that the Wall 63 of the aperture 51 is positioned to the left of the center line 62, and the wall 64 of the aperture 58 is positioned above the center line 6|.

Assuming that the construction shown in the drawings contains a plurality of sinkers of forms shown in Figures 11 and 12 in accordance with a predetermined setting, with the position of the parts as shown in Figure 8, the projection 41 of the lower actuator 40 is positioned within the recess 60, and is hence in its retracted position under the influence of spring 49. The projection 46, however, is positioned behind the solid portion 65 of the plate 50, so that it is projected forwardly against the action ofspring 48. In this position, then, if the upper actuator 39 is operatively positioned adjacent a high-butt sinker 66, such as is shown in Figure 11 (see also Figure 3), it will engage the butt 6! of the sinker to force it inwardly and consequently cause a loop stitch to be formed. Inasmuch as the lower actuator 40 is in its retracted position, it cannot possibly engage the sinker because its operative surface is removed beyond the outermost extremity of any of the sinkers. It is apparent that with this setting, only loop cloth will be produced during the rotation of the plate 55 about the cylinder, until said plate is caused to be rotated about its axis to another position by selective mechanism to be later described. I

If, by said selective mechanism, the plate 59 is rotated through an angle of 90, in a counterclockwise direction as shown by the arrow, the recess 59 will now intercept the lower portion of the center line 52. In this position, the projection 46 of the upper actuator 39 will enter the said recess 59, being retracted therein by the said spring 48, whereas the projection 41 of the lower actuator 46 will be projected forwardly by the solid wall 68 of theplate 5!). If the sinker 66 of Figure 11 is operatively adjacent the actuator #25, it will not be efi'ective in moving the said sinker inasmuch'as it would enter the recess 53; and likewise, the upper actuator 39 would be inefiective in moving the sinker, inasmuch as it is in a retracted position. It is thus apparent that with the parts in this position only jersey stitches will be produced. If, however, the sinker 10 of Fi ure 12 were operatively positioned adjacent the said actuators, the said sinker would be moved forwardly due to the engagement of the lower actuator 40 with the butt 1 I.

If the plate were rotated so that the solid porbe formed. However, if the sinker 15 of Figure 14 i were operatively adjacent the said actuators, both of the projections thereof would engage the butt 18 of the sinker to move it forwardly and produce a loop stitch. It is also obvious that if the sinkers 86 and 10 were operatively adjacent the said actu-, ators in the last described position of plate 50, both of these sinkers would be projected forwardly inasmuch as one of the butts, either 81 or 1 I,

would be engageable with one of the actuators.

If the plate 50 were further rotated in the direction of the arrow to the position where the aperture 58 overlapped the center line 62 in its lowermost position adjacent the actuators, both of the said actuators would be in their retracted positions, and any adjacent sinkers would not be actuated thereby, thereby producing only jersey stitches.

It is of course understood that there may be either one or a plurality of discs similar to that identified by the numeral 50 at spaced intervals about the cylinder, each plate being operatively associated with the parts hereinabove described.

As these discs rotate about the cylinder they encounter certain selective means that operatively engage the pins on disc 52 to cause a rotation of the plate either through an angle of 90, 180, or 270. It thus is apparent that each plate 50 can be caused to assume one of four predetermined positions,-the original position or any of the three additional positions to which it is brought by the rotation of the plate through portions of an arc of 270. By a proper selective employment of any or all'of the sinkers 88, 10, 13 and 15, these sinkers can be actuated to form loop or jersey stitches in accordance with the impulses imparted to them by the mechanism above described, depending upon the position of each of the plates 50 at the various stations about the cylinder. The means for selectively rotating the plate 50 to accomplish this purpose will now be described.

The pin disc 52 contains thereon four pins 11, 18, 19 and 80. Each one of the discs 52 positioned around the cylinder, if there are a plurality of them, contains similar pins. The assembly of the sets of pin discs, sinker actuators and associated parts are all movable about the cylinder past a stationary structure 8 I. Slidably mounted within the framework of structure 8| is the rod 82, the inner end of which is provided with a plate 88 carrying thereon three blocks 84, 85 and 88,- block 84 being the shortest, block 86 the longest and block 85 of intermediate length. The said plate 88 is yieldably held in its retracted position by the spring 81 against the plate 88, the spring being mounted over the rod 89 suitably affixed to the said plate 83. By suitable mechanism, to be later described, the plate 83 is projected forwardly into three different positions, thereby intercepting the pins on the disc 52 to cause a rotation thereof either through an angle of 90, 180, or 270.

position shown in Figure 4, and that the plate 83 is projected far enough to permit only the block 86 to be disposed within the path of the pins, the blocks 84 and 85 being clear of said pins, the block 86 will encounter pin 11 and cause the disc 52 to rotate through an angle of 90 until said pin 11 occupies the position of pin 18, as shown by dotdash lines, at which point the pin and block will become disengaged, thereby permitting the disc 52 to continue its horizontal circular movement without any rotation about its own axis. Should the plate 83 be projected still further so that block 85 is also in the path of the pins, the disc 52 will move through an angle of 180 as shown in Figure Assuming that the disc 52 is originally in the 5. Here, after the block 86 has engaged the pin 11 to move it in the position shown in this figure, the block 85 will encounter the pin to take over the motivating action imparted to disc 52, and produce a continuous rotation of said disc until pin 80 has been revolved through an angle of 180, that is to.the position originally occupied by pin 18. At this point, the block will become disengaged from pin 80. Should it be desired to effect a rotation of disc 52 through an angle of 270, the plate 83 is projected still further until the block 84 is also in the path of the pins on disc 52. In this position all three of the blocks ,will

engage the pins successively as shown in Figure 6. Here the block 84 engages pin 19, after the blocks 85 and 88 have operatively engaged pins 80 and 11 respectively. The said block 84 will continue its that by effecting an operative engagement of the three blocks 84, as and at with the pins on disc- 52, a 270 revolution of the pin disc 52 will be obtained. It is, of course, obvious that the rotation of said pin disc 52 causes a corresponding" rotation of plate 50, thereby operating the sinker actuators in the manner above described.

In order to cause a selective projection of plate 83 towards the cylinder to operatively intercept the pins on disc 52, the sprocket chain 81 carries thereon a numberof lugs containing elevated portions thereon, the lug 88 being slightly elevated, the lug 89 having a greater elevation, and the lug 90 having the greatest elevation. During an intermittent rotary movement of the chain 81, the said lugs will successively engage at predetermined times the rod 82 causing a slidable inward movement thereof to efiect the action above described. It is, of course, understood that the extent of elevation of each of the lugs 88, 88

and 90 is made to correspond with the length of the blocks 84, 85 and 88.

The selective mechanism adapted to cause an intermittent rotary movement of chain 81 is substantially similar to that described in my said patent application, Serial No. 132,503. The bevel gear 38, suitably geared to the cam ring 28, is

eccentric pin is the arm 88 which is pivotally and slidably connected at 99 to the arm I preferably integral with the sleeve IOI. This,sleeve is rotatably mounted over shaft I02, and contains at another portion thereof the arm I03 to which the pawl I04 is pivotally attached. The spring I05 normally urges the pawl inwardly towards said arm I 03 and towards the teeth on the ratchet wheels to be hereinafter described.

The selector ratchet wheel I06 is loosely mounted over said shaft I02, and contains on certain selected teeth removable pegs I0I. Adjacent the selector ratchet wheel I06 is the primary ratchet wheel I08 suitably aflixed to shaft I02 to which the sprocket wheel I09 is also keyed. Mounted over the sprocket wheel is the endless chain 8! hereinbefore referred to and carrying the lugs 88, 89 and 90.

It will be noted that the teeth on the selector ratchet wheel I06 are slightly longer than those on the primary ratchet wheel I08 (see Figure 3), both wheels having the same number of teeth and adapted to be in substantial registry. It should here be noted that the head of the pawl I04 is suiliciently wide to simultaneously engage correspondingly positioned teeth on both of the ratchet wheels I06 and I08.

Wherever there is a peg I01 in the selector wheel I06, the head of the pawl will be prevented from engaging any of the teeth on the primary ratchet wheel I08, and will be in operative engagement only with the teeth on the selector wheel I06. Hence any reciprocal movement of the pawl I04 caused by the eccentrically actuated arm 88 will produce only an idle rotation of wheel I06. Where, however there is no peg in the selector wheel, the pawl, under the influence of the spring I05, will enter further towards the root of the ratchet wheel teeth, and also engage the corresponding teeth on the primary wheel I08. When this occurs, the shaft I02 and the sprocket wheel I08 keyed thereon, and consequently the chain 81, will also be caused to rotate, thereby causing an intermittent movement of this chain to advance the lugs 88, 88 and 80, which in turn are successively engaged with the rod 82 to ultimately cause an operation of the sinker actuating mechanism above described.

It is thus apparent that upon a predetermined selection of the pegs I0I to be attached to the selector wheel I06, and the proper positioning of the lugs 88, 89 and 90, various impulses at predetermined times can be imparted to the rod 82 to project any or all of the blocks 84, 85 and 86 within the path of the pins on disc 52. And inasmuch as the position of said blocks is a determining factor in the operation of the sinker-actuating mechanism, it is apparent that various designs can be produced on the fabric to be knitted by this arrangement. A further selectivity is of course possible with the employment of a predetermined arrangement of the sinkers 66, I0, I3 and 15.

By employing the invention above described, it is possible to obtain a fabric'such as shown in Figure 2 containing various arrangements of loop and jersey fabric not ordinarily obtainable by automatic means without an interruption of the operation of the mechanism. It will be seen that five horizontal areas are represented, those identifled by the letter J referring generally to jersey areas and those identified by the letter L referring to loop areas. In order to produce a fabric of the design of Figure 2, sinkers 66, I0, I3 and I5 are employed in a manner to be now described. At portions of the circumference of the cylinder corresponding to the linear horizontal extent of the areas J1, L1, J2, L2, J3, etc.,all in horizontal course I,-the sinker arrangement is as follows: Sinkers I0 for area Ji, sinkers 66 for area L2. The positioning of sinkers I3 and I5 to produce whale-wise areas, such as the vertical all-loop stripe'Ls and the vertical all-jersey stripe Js will be described later.

For horizontal Course I, areas J1, J2, J3, etc. will be produced when sinker I0 is in the position shown in Figure 8. Here neither the upper actuator 38 nor the lower actuator 40 can engage the adjacent sinker, inasmuch as the upper actuator 38 will enter the recess above the butt II, and the lower sinker 40 is in its retracted position. Therefore only jersey stitches will be formed. The alternate areas L1, L2, L3, etc. are formed by the inward projection of the sinkers 66, which will be actuated inwardly only by the upper actuator 39. Inasmuch as the lower actuator 40 is in its retracted position, and the upper actuator 38 is in its projected position, only loop stitches will be formed.

As to Course II, this is effected by an operative rotation of the plate 50 through an. angle of 90 in a manner hereinabove described' At this point, only the lower actuator 40 will engage the sinker I0 at the butt II, thereby causing an inward projection of the adjacent sinkers to form loop areas L4, L5, and Le. At this position, however, neither of the actuators will engage any adjacent sinkers 66, inasmuch as the actuator 30 is in its retracted position and the lower actuator 40 although in its projected position, would be within the recess 68 of sinker 66. Hence the jersey areas J4, J5, and J6 etc. would be formed.

By imparting an additional 180 revolution to the plate 50, the aperture 58 will overlap the center line 62 at its lowermost position. At this point both of the actuators will be in their retracted positions and will not engage the sinkers. Hence Course III will be all jersey.

In the formation of Course IV, an additional 270 rotation is imparted to plate 50 so as to bring the solid portion I2 to its lowermost posi-' tion where it will intercept the center line 62. At this position, the lower actuator 40 will engage the sinker I0 to form loop areas L1, L9, L11, etc.; and the upper actuator 38 will engage the sinkers 66 also to form loop areas Ls, L10 etc. Thus Course IV consists of all loop stitches.

To form Course V, the plate 50 is rotated another 180 by the means above described, bringing it back to the original position which the plate occupied for Course I, thereby producing a design similar to that of Course I.

In order to obtain a Wale-wise loop area, such as the vertical all-loop stripe Ls, the long sinker I5 is introduced at any position except that at which the aperture 58 of plate 50 intercepts the center line 62 at its lowermost point. 1.1 other words, if sinker I5 were positioned at any point where some solid portion of plate 50 intercepts the lowermost portion of center line 62, a vertical all-loop stripe Ls will be produced, inasmuch as both the actuators will engage the long sinker I5, the butt I6 of which consists of a straight back.

In order to obtain the vertical all-jersey stripe Js, the short sinkers I3 are employed at any position along the cylinder where such a stripe is desired.

Thus it appears that vertical all-jersey or allloop stripes can be obtained regardless of the design of the rest of the fabric. It is of course ;understood that instead of vertical stripes, other ture of Figure 8, except that the plate H3 is revolvable through angles of 180 rather than 90. The shaft Ill, carrying'the plate H3, contains an intermediate portion H8 of reduced cross section, similar to intermediate portion 53 of shaft 5|. However, this intermediate portion contains only two oppositely positioned flat surfaces 9 and I20 engageable by the yleldably actuated plug i2l. By means of this structure, variations in the design of the fabric can also be produced in accordance with a predetermined setting. The scope of variations, however, is less than that of the structure of Figure 8, but the cooperating mechanism is correspondingly simpler.

Note should also be taken of the hand wheel I22 which is afllxed to shaft I02. Upon an operative movement of this wheel, the sprocket wheel I09 and thechain 81 will be correspondingly rot-ated, thereby enabling an adjustable setting to be made of the lugs 88, B9 and 90.

It is of course understood that the various embodiments above described and shown in the drawings are illustrative of my invention and not employed by way of limitation, inasmuch as numerous changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a knitting machine containing circumferentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating means comprising a plurality of pivotally mounted movable members at different levels engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers for actuating them inwardly, each of said members containing a projection thereon, a rotatable plate containing an aperture therein adapted to receive said projections, yieldable means urging said members against said plate and into said aperture, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when the said projections thereon are positioned within said aperture, and in their projected positions and engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers when said projections are in engagement with the adjacent face oil. the plate, and means to operatively rotate said p a e.

2. In a knitting machine containing circumierentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating means comprising a. pl ajp. ty of movable members at difierent levels engageable with adjacent sinkers for actuating them inwardly, a rotatable plate adjacent said members and containing an aperture therein terminating in a recess of reduced width, said movable members containing portions thereof adapted to successively engage the face of the solid wall of the plate and enter the said aperture upon an operative rotation of the plate, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when they ly, a rotatableplate adjacent said members and containing an arcuate aperture therein having at opposite ends thereof recesses of less width radially than the aperture, one of said recesses being disposed towards the periphery of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of one of said movable members, the other of said recesses being disposed towards the center of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of the other of said movable members, said members being adapted to successively engage the solid portion of the plate and enter the corresponding recesses upon an operative rotation of the plate, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when they are positioned within said recesses, and in their projected positions and engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers when the members are in engagement with the solid wall of the plate, means to retract said members from their projected positions, and means to operatively rotate said plate.

4. In a knitting machine containing circumferentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating means comprising a plurality of movable members at different levels engageable with adjacent sinkers for actuating them inwardly, a rotatable plate adjacent said members and containing two spaced diametrically opposite arcuate apertures therein each having at opposite ends thereof a straight substantially radial wall and a recessed portion of less width radially than the aperture, one of said recessed portions being disposed towards the periphery of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of one of said movable members, the other of said recessed portions being disposed towards. the center of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of the other of said movable members, said members being adapted to successively engage the solid portions of the plate and enter the corresponding recessed portions upon an operative rotation of the-plate, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when they are positioned within saidrecessed portions, and in their projected positions and engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers when the members are in engagement with the solid walls of the plate, means to retract said members from their projected positions, and means to operatively rotate said plate. g

5. In aknitting machine containing circumierentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating means comprising a plurality of movable members at different levels engageable with adjacent si nkers for actuating them inwardly, a rotatable plate adjacent said members and containing two spaced diametrically opposite arcuate apertures therein each having at opposite ends thereof a straight substantially radial wall and a recessed portion of less width radially than the aperture, one of said recessed portions being disposed towards the periphery of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of one of said movable members, the other of said recessed portions being disposed towards the center of the plate and being adapted to, receive a portion of the other of said movable members, said members being adapted to successively engage the solid portions of the plate and enter the corresponding recessed portions upon an operative rotation of the plate, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when they are positioned within said recessed portions, and in their projeeted positions and engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers when the members are in engagement with the solid walls of the plate, means to retract said members from their projected positions, and means to operatively rotate said plate through an arc of 90 and multiples f thereof whereby the four terminal portions of said arcuate apertures are each brought selectively to the planes of said movable members.

6. In a knitting machine containing circumferentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating means comprising a plurality of movable members at different levels engageable with adjacent sinkers for actuating them inwardly, a rotatable plate adjacent said members and containing two spaced diametrically opposite arc'uate apertures therein each having at opposite ends thereof a straight substantially radial wall and a recessed portion of less width radially than the aperture, one of said recessed portions being disposed towards the periphery of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of one of said movable members, the other of said recessed portions being disposed towards the center of the plate and being adapted to receive a portion of the other of said movable members, said members being adapted to suecessively engage the solid portions of the plate and enter the corresponding recessed portions upon an operative rotation of the plate, said members being in their retracted positions and out of engagement with said sinkers when they 1 are positioned within said recessed portions, and in their projected positions and engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers when the members are in engagement with the solid walls of the plate, means to retract said members from their projected positions, and means to operatively rotate said plate through an arc of 90 and multiples thereof comprising a pin disc rotatably associated with said, plate and mounted on the revolvable portion of the knitting machine, four equally spaced pins on said disc, a stationary frame containing a radially movable member having thereon three spaced blocks of diflerent lengths adapted to successively intercept said pins during the movement of said pin disc past said frame, thereby causing an operative rotation of the pin disc and associated parts, and selective means to operatively engage said radially movable member.

7. In a circular knitting machine containing circumterentially disposed radially movable sinkers and two adjacent movable sinker actuators at diiferent levels, a rotatable plate adjacent said actuators and operatively engageable therewith, said plate containing a substantially arcuate aperture having a portion thereof at the level of said actuators, the radial Width of said aperture being sufficient to operatively receive adjacent portions of both of said actuators, said aper-.

ture having at one extremity thereof a recess of a radial width substantially equal to one-half of the width.of the aperture, and suflicient to accommodate no more than one of said actuators, and means to yieldably urge said actuators against the solid portion of the face of the plate and said aperture and recess during the rotation of the plate, said members being projectable inwardly for operative engagement with adjacent sinkers when said members are in abutment with the solid portions of the plate, 'and retractible into their inoperative positions when positioned within said aperture or the recess thereof.'

8. In a knitting machine containing circumferentially disposed radially movable sinkers, sinker actuating,meanscomprising a pluralityof pivotally mounted movable members at diflerent levels engageable with operatively adjacent sinkers for actuating, them inwardly, a single rotatable plate adjacent said sinker actuating means, I

tate said plate.

. HARRY AGULNEK.

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