US2150253A

US2150253A - Needle butt puller

Info

Publication number: US2150253A
Application number: US169852A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold M Smith
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-10-19
Filing date: 1937-10-19
Publication date: 1939-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 1956-03-14

Description

March 'l4, 1939. H. M. SMITH 2,150,253

) NEEDLE BUTT FULLER Filed Oct. 19, 1957 ZSheets-Sheet 1 ...'-'"Ha I'O1d M 93:4 fi t X i March 14, 1-939.

H. M. SMITH 2,150,253

NEEDLEBUTT FULLER Fiied on. 19, 19557 2 sheets-sheet 2 HM v. I I v 1H W mm 'IIHHII Harold M. Snail]; "dam y' g v v W Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved needle butt puller for use on knitting machines for removing the butts of broken needles without necessitating removal of the needle plate from the machine, as has been the usual and necessary custom heretofore.

It is also an object of my invention in having a novel adjustable hook end which permits of its being adjusted to operate in a minimum space and at angles that the old needle butt puller was not adapted to operate whereby much time will be saved to the operator in replacing broken needles. As most of the knitte'rs work on piece work basis, any saving of their time is, of course, to their financial advantage as well as to the advantage of the operator of the factory.

I attain the objects of my invention by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front plan view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side or edge view of same;

Fig. 3 is a side or edge view showing the method of using the implement at the outset of the operation of removing the broken needle butt;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the needle butt as it is being pushed out from its socket by the implement; and

Fig. 5 is a view of the method of extracting the needle butt after it has been partly pushed out from its seat.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a portion of the knitting machine, namely, the base I, an upright portion of needle bar 2 carrying a needle plate bolt 3. Afiixed to the portion 2 of the needle bar is the needle carrying plate 5 from which depends a strip 6 which functions as a socket for the shank or butt of the needle end. I designates the needle plate the lower end of which is adapted to seat in the recess 4 of needle bar I, the upper end of the needle plate being designated 8. Needle butt puller ID has an enlarged portion 9 at its center and at one end has a hook I2 adjustably connected by screw I I to the other end of member I0. The function of the enlarged portion 9 of the implement is to facilitate grasping and operating it. The arrows in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 indicate the direction of operation of the implement. The hook I2 has an offset end portion I3 to engage the end of the needle butt. The needle butt puller has a slightly curved split or bifurcated end I4, each leg of said bifurcated end being slightly rounded at its foot, as shown in Fig. 1.

In use the needle butt puller is inserted in the manner shown in Fig. 3 with the hook end I2 in position so that its offset end I3 can be pressed against the butt end of the needle and to force it out of the strip of metal or socket 6. A needle always breaks at the bent portion, as indicated in Fig. 3. When the needle butt has been pressed outwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, the implement may then be withdrawn and reversed and its split end I4 engaged on the needle to pull it out Very much as a tack is lifted out with a tack puller, as shown in Fig. 5.

The main object of this new type of needle butt puller is its adaptability to any angle necessary to get in behind a needle butt. The old needle butt puller which this invention supersedes is simply a hook and is large and cumbersome and requires more space for its use and is not adaptable to angles.

Knitting machines in connection with which this implement is used are put up in sections and are some fifty feet long when assembled and may have from eighteen to thirty sections. Each needle bar holds some fifty needles closely spaced in the needle bar one after the other. While good needles may be removed without the use of the needle butt puller, where the needles are broken off as they often are, it is necessary that the knitter use the needle butt puller in order to extract the broken butt and replace it with a new needle.

What I claim is:

1. A needle butt puller comprising a bar having a hook end pivotally and adjustably affixed to one end of the implement, said hook end having an offset portion to engage the projecting end of the broken needle butt.

2. A needle butt puller comprising a bar, and a hook end pivotally and adjustably affixed to the other end of the implement, said implement having a widened center portion to facilitate grasping the implement for operating it.

HAROLD M. SMITH.