US2161868A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

June 13, 1939. F, J. KIENEI. ET Al.

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 gLyEN-roRS 26 ATTORNEY June- 13, 1939. F, .1. KIENEL ET Al. 2,161,868,

' KNITTING MACHINEv Filed May 17, 1958 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 P74 fa Ha 72 7 67 y Je @s vwg` -M y@ 766 @f ATTORNEY June 13, 1939. lA .lA KIENEL x-:T Al.

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS ATTORNEY June 13, 1939. ,F, J. KlENl-:L ET Al.

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY June 13, 1939.

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1938 Lef# l I/ @Jy-j a2 Sheets-Sheet 6 d -v v INVENTORS l ATTORNEY 'June 13, 1939. -F. .LKH-:NEL ET AL KNlfITlNG MACHINE Filed May 17, 193B 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 ww l I LA l l MAM :es TF2 ATTORNEY June 13, 1939. F, 1 KlENEL E1- AL 2,161,868

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 1'7, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 g INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT ol-Fi-CE nNrr'rrNG MAcmNE Frederick J. Kienel and Thurston R, Fonts', Acworth, Ga.

Application May 17, 1938, Serial No. 208,338

16 Claims.

Our invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the same, selected by us for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

The object of our invention is to provide a circular knitting machine for knitting a tubular plain knit fabric having incorporated therein,

lpreferably at spaced courses of the fabric, an

-elastic thread of the well known Lastex, or rubber united to the fabric, at selected spaced wales in the courses containing the elastic thread, and floated on the inner face of the fabric between said selected wales, the elastic thread being fed under tension sufficient to draw in the fabric in the elastic bearing courses and the intervening courses to form vertically disposed rib-like ridges simulating rib work, and the floated portions of the elastic thread forming horizontally extending beads projecting from the inner face of the fabric for slightly indenting the skin of the wearer and thus enabling the elastic thread to provide both form-fitting and self-supporting functions. The elastic incorporated tubular plain knit fabric finds its greatest utility in the top of a. sock, anklet or stocking, and our invention also provides for the knitting` at the upper end of such tubular fabric, that is to say at the commencement thereof, of a plurality of courses containing the elastic thread, in such manner as to constitute an ant-ravel or selvage.

Our invention also includes certain constructions and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the Fig. 2b is a similar view showing the select-4 ing wheel moved all the way in so as to engage the butts of all the needles.

Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly broken away,

o showing portions of the mechanism for operating the pattern control chain for knitting the elastic incorporated selvage and top `of a sock or anklet. Fig. 4 is a similar and more complete view of the same parts showing in addition thereto por- 55 tions of the needle controlling apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a view, similar to Fig. 4, showing the same parts in a diierent position.

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view of the knitting cylinder, on line 6 6 of Fig. 2, showing parts of the needle selecting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a partial section of the needle cylinder, showing the feed inger for the elastic thread.

Fig. 8 is a partial plan view of the pattern drum and its ratchet, illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional View on the line 10 9--9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view representing the needles and cam ring severed and spread out into a plane and showing the exterior of the needle cylinder and the needle selecting mechanism 15 operative. for the formation of the selvage.

Fig. 10a is a detail view of one of the needles of the needle cylinder provided with the short butt, the long butt being indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 11 is a similar View showing the needle.20 selection for knitting the courses of the tubular fabric or top.

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing alternate needles raised to receive the elastic thread in the formation of the selvag. 25

Fig. 13 is a similar view showing the needles brought to a uniform level with the intermediate needles forward of the elasticthread.

Fig. 14 is a similar view showing the movement of the needles by the drawdown and shed- .30 ding grades of the main knitting cam.

Fig. 15 is a view similar to Fig. 12 showing the following round in which the alternate needles are again raised and again receive the elastic thread.

Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 13, showing the second round of elastic thread in the alternate needles and behind intermediate needles.

Fig. 17 is a view similar to Fig.'14 showing the action of the needles with respect to the second course of elastic thread.

Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig. 17, showing the introduction of a. body thread to the hooks of all the needles. I

Fig. 19 is a view Similar to Fig. 1s, showing the 45 introduction of the body thread alone to the hooks of all the needles at the main knitting wave and the formation of the selvage.

Fig. 20 is a view similar to Fig. 12, showing a second needle selection and the feeding of the elastic thread to selected raised spaced needles of the needles holding the previously formed stitches of the last course of the selvage indicated in Fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is a view similar to Fig. 13, showing the needles brought to a uniform level.

Fig. 22 shows the feeding of the body thread to all the needles at the main knitting wave and the formation of stitches containing both elastic thread and body thread by the selected needles and stitches of body thread only formed by the intermediate needles- Fig. 23 is a diagrammatic view, greatly enlarged, showing the inner face of the selvage and adjacent courses of the tubular fabric after the tension of the elastic thread has caused it to take a substantially straight line in the fabric.

Fig. 24 is a side elevation of an anklet provided with a selvage and top as formed on our improved v machine.

Fig. 25 represents an enlarged view, partly in section, of the sprocket wheel carrying the pattern chain and adjacent parts shown in Figs. 4 and 5, taken from the opposite side of that illustrated in those figures.

Fig. 26 is a plan view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 25. l

In the accompanying drawings we have shown our invention embodied in a circular knitting machine of the well known Banner type manufactured by the Hemphill Company of Pawtucket, R. I., and we have illustrated so much of that machine as is necessary to' an understanding of our present invention. In the drawings, I, represents the knitting cylinder containing a single circular series of needles 2, one of which is shown in Fig. 10a', half of which are provided with a short butt 2a cooperating not only with the knitting cam, but also with the pickers .for narrowing and widening in the formation of the heel and toe, the remaining half of the needles being provided 'with a longer butt, indicated at 2b. It will be understood that the needle cylinder is rotated or reciprocated in the usual or well known manner for the formation of tubular work, and narrowed and widened toe pockets respectively. 'I'he stationary cam ring 3 is provided with the usual knitting cams indicated at 4, 5, 6, 1 and 8, and the usual instep cam indicated at 9 as is customary in the Banner machine, and the usual narrowing and widening mechanism indicated at I and II, Fig. 2, is also provided. The picker mechanism will not be further illustrated or described as it has no bearing on our present invention.

e The machine is provided at the throat with a plurality of thread feeding fingers, indicated at I2, 12a, |2b, |2c and |211, movable into and out of operative position in the usual manner and Vsupplied by suitable thread spools and guides,

not shown. I3 is the latch ring, I4 the sinkerv ring, and I the sinker cap, all of usual and well known construction.

In connection with the needle cylinder we provide, preferably a plurality of needle selecting means. vIn this instance wefhave shown 'one needle selecting means for selecting the needles to be raised to. receive the elastic thread durbrought into and removed from operation in connection therewith, as hereinafter described.

I6 is the selecting wheel, see Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 10, which as best shown in Fig. 10, is provided with recesses Ilia extending radially into the body of thewheel and separated by solid portions I 6b, the width of theserecesses and the width of the solid portions at the periphery of the wheel corresponding with the separation between adjacent needle butts, so that the recesses will receive the butts of alternate needles, while the remaining needles will engage the peripheral portions; indicated :at |60, and be raised to a higher position in the cylinder. The selecting wheel I 6 is loosely mounted on a reduced -portion I'|a of a longitudinally movable shaft I'|,

mounted in a guide block I8, supported on the bed plate of the machine, and provided at its outer end with a-cap or collar I9, a retracting spring b eing interposed between the guideblock I8 and the cap or collar I9, normally holding the selecting wheel out of operativey rela.- tion with the butts of all the needles and in contact with the inner face of the guide block I8,

which in this instance acts as a stop to limit its outward movement.

Means are provided for moving the selecting wheel I 6 inwardly in two steps, first into position to engage the long butt needles and sec,-

. ond into iinal position to engage the butts of all the needles. The selecting wheel is not driven, and it would be diilicult to operate it in exact synchronism with the needle cylinder without shaft I1 at a time when the short butt needles are passing the wheel, as indicated in Fig. 2a,

suiiicient to bring the wheel into the path of the long butts without bringing it into contact with the shorter butts. As the revolution of the cylinder brings the iirst long butts into operative relation with the selecting wheel, the rst long butt will enter one of the recesses Ilia 'and start the revolution of the wheel, the second long butt will engage the adjacent peripheral portion I6b, the third long butt will engage the next adjacent recess ISa, and so on, thus bringing the recesses and peripheral portions of the selecting wheel into mesh with the projecting long butts of the needle cylinder, after which the selecting wheel is given a further movementtoward the cylinder, as indicated in Fig. 2b, into position to engage the short butt needles in timed relation when they reach the selecting wheel, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2a and 2b.

The mechanism for imparting these longitudinal movements to the shaft is indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. 2| represents a vertically disposed lever provided at'its upper end'with a projection 22 for engaging the cap `I9 on the shaft I'I, the lower end of the lever 2| being bent inwardly, as indicated at 2|a. The inwardly bent end of the lever 2| is connected by a pull rod 23 with a horizontally disposed lever 24 pivoted between its ends at 25 to the frame of the machine, and having a projection 26 at the opposite side of the pivot from the rod 23 adapted to engage a cam block 21 having two dwells 21a. and 21b and located on the cam wheel 28 on a shaft 28 operated by the pattern mechanism of the machine. wheel 28 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 4 and 5, the projection 26 will rst engage the cam block 21 and will be raised to the rst dwell 21a, thereby -drawing down the rod 23 and operating the lever 2 to move the selecting wheel I6 inwardly a distance suiiicient to bring it into the path of the long butts, but to hold it out of engagement with the short butts. As the cam Wheel 28 is further rotated the projection 26 will pass up upon the higher dwell 21b, which operation takes place after the long butt needles have come into proper mesh with and are rotating the selecting wheel in synchronized relation with the cylinder, thereby further pulling `down the rod 23 and operating the lever 2| to force the selecting wheel into its innermost position, which will enable it to engage the short butts of the needles,` and consequently select and raise every alternate needle so long as it is in operation. Obviously when the movement of the cam wheel 28 carries the cam block 21 out of engagement with the projection 26, the lever 24 will be released and will be returned to its normal position under the action of a retracting spring 30, see Figs. 4 and 5, thereby raising the rod 23, throwing the lever 2|. to its outermost,y position, shown in full lines in Fig. 6 and-permitting the spring A2|) to restore the selecting wheel 'I6 to its normal inoperative position.

Adjacent to the selecting lWheel |6 we have shown a second selecting wheel 3| mounted to revolve freely on a reduced end portion of a longitudinally movable shaft 32 supported in a guide block 3 3, mounted on the base plate of the machine, and provided at its outer end with a cap or collar 34, a retracting spring 35 being interposed between the guide block 33 and cap '34 and holdthe elastic threadduring, the knitting of the top portion of the sock after the completion of the selvage.

A It will be understood that by varying the relative Widths of the recesses and the peripheral portions of the intervening projections of these selecting wheels, any desired needle selection, as lx1, 1x2, 1x3, 1x4, 2xl,`2x4, or other combinations as may be desirable. Furthermore a plurality of these selecting wheels can be arranged side by side and thrown into operation in the manner 'previously described, or if desired in certain classes of work, the selecting wheels can be removed and replacedl by others having a diierent relation of recesses and peripheral portions.

Means are provided to move the selecting wheel 3| intooperativ position in two steps, in exactly the same manner as previously described with reference to the selecting wheel I6, comprising, as best-shown in Fig. 1, the vertically disposed lever 36 having a projection 31 to engage the cap or collar 34, the lower end of the lever '36 being bent horizontally, as indicated at 36a and connected by pull rod 38 with a lever39-mounted on the pin 25, and extending substantially parallel As the cam to the flonger lever 2 4 previously described, which operates the selecting wheel |6. 'I'his lever 39 is provided with a projection 48 in position to engage a second cam block 4I on the cam wheel 28, and provided with the two dwells 4|a and 4|b at different distances from the axis of rotation from the wheel 28, so that when the projection 48 engages the cam block 4| and passes upon the first d well 4Ia it will move the selecting wheel 3| inwardly during the passage of short butt needles far enough to engage the long butts of the long butt needles, and when properly intermeshed therewith, the further movement of the cam wheel 28 will raise the projection 48 to the second dwell 4Ib and move the selecting wheel 3| into operative relation with all the butts of all the needles to eilect the raising of every fourth needle to receive the elastic thread.

The elastic thread is fed to the raised needles both in the formation of the selvage, or anti-ravel, and duri/ng certain courses of the top, by means of a special thread feeding inger 58 adjustably secured to the outer end of a pivoted lever by means of which it may be thrown into and out of operative relation with the needles under the control of suitable pattern mechanism. In the drawings we have shown a special form of pattern mechanism for this purpose which comprises a pattern chain indicated at,52 having at suitable intervals certain links indicated at 53 which project outwardly beyond the by three ordinary links, for the purpose of eiecting a feed off` the elastic thread during every fourth revoluti `of the needle cylinder in the knitting of the top of the sock. Obviously any other arrangement of the projecting links,. as 1x3,1x5, etc., could be made if desired. The sprocket chain 52 engagesa sprocket wheel 54 at its upper end, and we prefer to have the lower end of the chain engage an idle sprocket or grooved roller 55, Supported by a shaft 56 on an arm 51 pivoted to the frame of the machine, the weight of the arm 51 and sprocket or roller 55 holding the chain taut.

Adjacent to the sprocket wheel 54 is an operating lever 58 pivoted at 59 to a stationary pivot and provided with a downwardly extending projection 68, adjustably secured to the lever 58 and maintained in the path of the projecting sprocket links 53 so that each of said projections 53 will engage the projection 60 and raise the lever/ 58. The free end of lever 58 is connected by a vertically disposed link 6| with the lever 5| carrying the feed finger for the elastic thread. We prefer to provide the lever 5| with a hook shaped portion 5Ia which is engaged by a pin 6|a at the upper end of the link 6| and to further provide the link-6| with a retracting spring 62. We also provide the lever 5| with a retracting spring 63 on the opposite side of its pivot from the pin 6|a so that in this instance when one of the projecting links 53 engages the projection 60 of the lever 58 it will raise the link 6| against the action of its retracti'ng spring 62 and ,permit the spring 63 to draw down the lever 5| which is normally in its raised position, as shown in Fig. 1,4 so as to carry the feed finger -58 for the elastic `thread into proper relation to feed the elastic thread to the raised needles.

Obviously the auxiliary feed nger 5|) is so located as to feed the elastic thread, indicated at a,

in Figs. 10 and 11 for example, in advance of the throat and main knitting cam, and preferably it is located adjacent to the selecting wheels hereinbefore described, and in advance of the ordinary instep cam 9, as will be clearly indicated in Figs. 10 and 11.

'Ihe pattern mechanism for the control of the auxiliary feed finger 50 is operated from one of the shafts of the machine in such manner that it may be brought into operation during the knitting of the selvage and the top of the sock or stocking, and may be thrown out of operation during the knittingof the leg and foot of the stocking. In this instance we have shown the main drive shaft 64 v(see Figs. 4 and 5 for example) of the machine provided with an eccentric 65 engaging an eccentric strap 66 on the end of an eccentric rod 61 which is operatively connected with a pawl 68 engaging a ratchet wheel 69 connected to rotate simultaneously with the sprocket wheel 54. In order to allow the pawl 68 to be thrown into and out of operative position, we prefer to connect the eccentric rod 61 pivotally with the upper end of a supporting link 10, which is in turn connected by an adjustable link 1I pivotally secured thereto and carrying the pawl 68.' The pawl can therefore be readily disconnected from the ratchet wheel 69 by simply lifting the outer end of the adjustable link 1I and the relative position of the pawl with respect to the teeth of the ratchet wheel 69 can be accurately adjusted. When the pattern mechanism controlling the auxiliary feed finger is in operation, the eccentric will operate the pawl 68 so as to rotate the sprocket wheel 54, one tooth for each revolution of the driving shaft, which corresponds to one revolution of the needle cylinder, and will advance the sprocket chain one link for each tooth of the sprocket wheel.

When the top of the stocking has been completed, it is of course desirable to throw the' auxiliary feed finger 50 out of operation and maintain it in inoperative position during the knitting of l the foot of the stocking, and until it is desired to start another stocking. To effect this, the sprocket chain is provided at the proper point with a projection 12 preferably in the form of an anti-friction roller, which will engage the free end of a trip lever'13 pivoted at 14 to one arm 15 of a bellerank lever, which is pivotally supported on the stationary pin 59 before referred to, or other stationary pivotal support, as preferred. Theother arm 16 of the bellcrank lever is connected b'y link 11 with an extension of the lever 24, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 for example. The trip lever 13 is arranged to lift the pawl 68 out of operative relation with the ratchet wheel 69. In this instance the link 1I, is provided with a projection 11a which extends over the trip lever 13 and rests upon it. When, therefore, the pattern chain has moved far enough to bring the projection or anti-friction roller 12into engagement with the trip lever 13, the trip 13 will be raised, as indicated in Fig. 4 for example, thereby lifting the pawl 68 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 69. This occurs at a time when the projection 60 on the levery 58 is not in engagementwith one of the link projections 53 of the sprocket chain and therefore when the pattern mechanism controlling the auxiliary feed finger 50 is thrown outof operation, the feed finger 50 is in the inoperative raised position, as

indicated in Fig. 1, at which time also the projection 26 of the lever 24 will be dropped ofi of the cam block 21.

After the completion of the leg and foot of the stocking, the cam wheel 28 will have been brought again into the position n which it is shown in Figs. 1 and 4, at which time the` projection 26 of the lever 24 will engage the cam block 21 and be raised to therst'dwell 21a to effect the first movement of the selecting wheel I6 into operative position to engage the long butts of the needles. As the lever 24 moves, its opposite end will be depressed, and by connecting link 11, will operate the bellcrank lever 15 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5. This will disengage said lever 13 from the projection or anti-friction roll 12 on the pattern chain and permit the pawl 68, which is continuously reciprocated, to engage the ratchet wheel 69 and advance it one tooth at every revolution of the needle cylinder.

Assuming that the machine is in operation and that the elastic thread, indicated at a in Figs. 10 and l1, is fed to the auxiliary finger 50 from a suitable supply spool under tension, provided by any suitable tension device, indicated diagrammatically at 18, and that a body thread b is supplied to one of the throat feed fingers, as I2a for example, the operation of the machine will be as follows. The 1x1 selecting-wheel I6 is thrown into operation by the cam block 21, as previously described, and simultaneously the pattern mechanism controlling the auxiliary feed finger 50 is brought into operation by the lowering of the pawl 68, into operative relation with the ratchet wheel, 69, thus starting the movement of the pattern chain 52, Adjacent to the anti-friction roller 12 carried by the pattern chain, adjacent links of the chain are provided with projections 53a and 53h which immediately engage the projection 60, see Figs. 1 and 3, and move the auxil- Il iary thread feed finger 50 into operative position `to feed the elastic thread a to the hooks of the raised alternate needles, in the manner indicated in Fig. 10, the intermediate needles not taking the elastic thread. This is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 12. As the needle cylinder rotates away from the selecting mechanism, the butts of the raised needles engage the instep cam 9 which lowers the raised needles carrying the elastic thread to the same level as the intermediate needles. The effect of this is to draw down the elastic thread a, back of the intermediate needles as indicated in Fig. 13'. The needles will pass to the regular knitting cam mechanism, at which point the needles are first raised by the cam 5 and then drawn down to form the vordinary knitting wave by the cams 4 and 6, in the usual manner, but without taking the body thread b, the feed finger 12a of which is out of operative position and in the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. This draws the rubber thread down to the sinkers which hold it while all the needles are raised at the shedding cam 8, as indicated lin Fig, 14. As the needles again approach the selecting wheel I6 the alternate needles are again raised, leaving the first course of elastic thread in the control of the sinkers, as indicated by the dotted line a' in Fig. 10, and the raised needles receive a second course of the elas- Atic thread, indicated at a2 in Figs. 10 and 15. The

to the hooks of all the needles, as clearly shown in Fig. 18. During this time the lever 58 has been held in its raised position by the link projections 53a and 53h, and as the projection 53h of the pattern chain passes from under the projection 60 of the link 58, the thread feed for the elastic thread is raised out of operative position, and at the same time the. projection 26 of lever 24 will slip off of the raised dwell 21h of the cam block 2'l, releasing the rod 23 and lever 2l, permitting the latter to return to the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 6 and the 1x1 selecting wheel I6 is returned to its inoperative position by its spring 20. At the same time the projection on the lever 39 engages the cam block 4| on the cam wheel 28 and moves the 4x1 selecting wheel 3| inward, first into operative relation with the long butts and then into operative relation with the short butts, as previously described. As the needle cylinder continues to revolve the needles on the third revolution of the machine do not take the elastic thread at all, but receive the body thread b at the throat, draw stitches and shed in the usual manner, as clearly indicated in Fig. 19, in which b represents the first course of body thread and b2 the second course of body thread, and b3 the loops formed by the body thread b2 interlocked with the elastic thread courses a.1 and a2, and forming the selvage. On the next revolution of the machine, the 4x1 selecting wheel 3l being in operative position, as indicated in Fig. 11, every fourth needle will be raised and the next link projection, indicated at 53e in Fig. 1, will engage the projection 68 on the lever 58 and throw the auxiliary feed finger 50 into operative position so that the selected fourth needles will receive the elastic thread, as shown in Fig. 20, this course of elastic thread being indicated at a3, and all the needles being shown holding the stitches b3, indicated in- Fig. 19. As the needles pass the instep cam 9 the raised fourth needles will be drawn down to the same level as the intermediate groups of three needles, thereby drawing the portions of the elastic thread between the selected needles on the inner side of the intervening needles, as shown in Fig. 21, and at the throat all the needles will receive the body thread in their hooks and draw stitches b through the stitches b3, as shown in Fig. 22, this course of body thread being indicated at b4 in that figure, it being understood that the selected needles will draw a stitch composed of both the elastic thread and body thread, while the non-selected needles will only draw a stitch of the body thread, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 22. In this course, therefore, the elastic thread is united to the fabric at every fourth needle Wale and floated on the inner face of the fabric between said wales.

At the conclusion of this revolution of the needle cylinder the link projection 53e will pass from under the projection 60 of the lever 58, thus effecting the withdrawal of the feed finger 50 for the elastic thread, and as the next succeeding three links of the pattern chain 52 are not provided with these projections, the selected raised needles will not receive the elastic thread during the next three courses, while all of the needles will receive the body thread and knit intervening courses of stitches in the usual manner. When the next link projection, indicated at 53d, in Fig. 1, engages the projection 60 of thelever 58 the auxiliary thread guide will be again thrown into operation and a course of stitches will be formed by the body thread in which the elastic thread will be knit with the body thread by the selected needles and united to the fabric at every fourth needle wale. This operation isv repeated throughout the formation of the top of the stocking, that is to say, the elastic thread is introduced for one course and withdrawn while three courses not containing elastic thread are formed throughout the top. f-

In some instances it may be desirable 'to knit more or less than three plain courses without elastic thread between the courses which contain it during the knitting of the entire top or during the knitting of a single top. This can be readily provided for by the make-up ofthe pattern chain 52, by properly spacing the link projections 53 thereof, but ordinarily we prefer to knit the entire top, after the formation of the selvage, with the elastic incorporated courses spaced apart by three intervening: courses not containing the elastic thread. We may, however, in some instances find it desirable in knitting the top to have the coursescontaining the elastic thread spaced more closely in certainvportions of the top and less closely at other portions, to accommodatevariations in the size of the leg of the wearer, and this can be readily accomplished.

When the top of the stocking has been completed the projection or anti-friction roller 12 will have been brought again into engagement with the lever- 13 to raise it and lift the continuously operating pawl 68 out of engagement with its ratchet, at which time the main pattern mechanism of the machine will move the cam wheel 28 so as to permit the lever 39 to pass off of the cam block 4i and permit the selecting'wheelSl to be withdrawn by its spring 35, after which the leg of the stocking, the heel, the foot and the toe can be formed in the usual manner.

It will be understood that in the formation of the top of the stocking wherever the 'elasticV the fabric will form substantially continuous horizontal beads projecting from the inner face of the fabric, which slightly indent the skin of the wearer, and being distributed over such a large area, these beads will support the stocking upon the leg with a minimum of pressure. As a matter of fact, thewearer will not only not be inconvenienced by this self-supporting action, but will be unconscious of it.

It will also be understood that the tension of the elastic thread will be sufficient to cause it to straighten out wherever it is formed into a loop by the selected needles. 'I'his is clearly illustrated in Fig. 23, which shows diagrammatically a. portion of the inner face of the top adjacent to its upper edge with the stitches greatly magnied. In this figure the courses of elastic thread, indicated at a and a2, are those which in combination with the loops b and b3. of the body thread form the selvage or anti-ravel, and a3 represents the elastic thread in the rst course following the selvage. It will be noted at the points marked rv, for example, 4which indicate the stitches drawn by the selected needlescontaining both the elastic thread and body thread, that the slight as to be unnoticed unless the fabric is examined under a high power magnifying glass,`

but it will be noticed that the oat portions of the elastic thread, indicated for example at ax, ax in Fig. 23, form a substantially horizontal bead on the inner face of the fabric in each course in which the elastic thread is introduced in the body fabric of the top.

In Fig. 24 we have illustrated an anklet provided with a top A having a selvage S knit on the machine herein described and in the manner hereinbefore set forth and having the leg portion L knit continuously onto the last course of the top and provided with the heel portion H, the foot portion F, and the toe portion T, all of which are knit in the usual or any preferred manner, thus forming an integral fabric. It will be understood that the toe pocket T will be united to the upper courses of the foot F by the usual toe joining, indicated at t. g

We desire it to be understood ,that slight varia- .tions'in the details of the machine hereinbefore described may be mde in accordance with the ideas of diiferent manufacturers without departing from the spirit of our invention, and our invention is not limited in its application to the particular knitting machine of the Banner type herenbeforereferred to, as our invention may be embodied in other types of circular knitting machines.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In 'a circular knitting machine,- the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally outof operative relation with all needles, means formoving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts only and further moving said wheel into position to engage the short butts after intermeshingl with the longv butts.

2. In a circular knitting machine, the com'- bination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative rela-` tion with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timri relation with the cylinder for moving said Wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into positionr to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to engage, the short butts after said Wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, and means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position.

3. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said'wheel havinglneedle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raisingl said selected needles, means operating inv timed relation with the cylinder for moving said Wheel during the passage of the wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position, and means for feeding a thread to the-raised needles.

4. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to engage the short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position, means for feedingA an inelastic body thread to all of the needles, and means for feeding an elastic thread to said'raised needles.

' 5. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts, and

further moving said wheel into position to enfeeding an elastic thread to said raised needles in advance of the throat.

6. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, a group of consecutive long butt needles, a. group of consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising selected needles, a cam for operating said wheel provided with dwells at different levels, operative connections between said cam and said wheel for imparting motion thereto in two steps, and means for bringing said cam into operation during the passage of the short butt needles with respect to said wheel.

'7. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, a group of consecutive long butt needles, a group of consecutive short butt needles, pattern mechanism, and

lecting wheel for moving it in a direction toward the cylinder, connections between said camV wheel and the pattern mechanismffor bringing said cam into operation during the passage of the short butt needles with respect to said Wheel, and yielding retracting means for withdrawing said selecting Wheel to inoperative position.

8. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, a circular series of needles including consecutive long butt andconsecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a plurality of freely rotatable selecting wheels normally out of operative relation with the needle butts and each having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising selected needles, the ratio of v said recesses and peripheral portions being different in each of said wheels, independently operable means for each of said wheels for operating them singly and in timed relation with the cylinder, each of said independent means being constructed to move the selecting wheel operated thereby during the passage of the short butt needles with respect to said wheel into position to engage and intermesh with the long butts, and to further move said wheel after such intermeshing engagement into position to engage the butts of all the needles, `thread feeding means for feeding a thread to all of the needles, and an auxiliary thread feed for feeding a separate thread to the-needles raised by one or other of said Wheels.

9. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions' for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to `engagethe short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position, means for feeding a body thread to all of the needles, an independent thread feed finger for feeding an auxiliary thread to the raised needles in advance of the body thread feed, and pattern control mechanism for throwing said auxiliary thread feed finger into and out of operative position.

10. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive -short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel 'normally out of operative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into tposition to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to engage the short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said Wheel to inoperative position, means for feeding a body thread ,to all of the needles, an independent thread feed nger for feeding an auxiliary thread to the raised needles in advance of the body thread feed, pattern control mechanism for moving said auxiliary thread feed finger into operative position for a single course and holding it out of operative position for a succeeding course or courses throughout a predetermined length of circular plain knitting.

1l. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles Aand consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said Wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said Wheel during the passage of the short but/t needles into position to engage the long butts, and furtherx moving said Wheel into position to engage the short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position, means for feeding a body thread to all of the needles, an independent thread feed finger for feeding an auxiliary thread to the raised needles in advance of the body thread feed, pattern control mechanism including a pattern chain provided with links carrying projections, andconnecting devices operated .by

said link projections for moving the auxiliary feed finger into operative position fora single course, driving means for said pattern chain, and means carried by the pattern chain for disconnecting the driving means therefrom.

12. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally o ut ofroperative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position toengage the long butts, and further moving said Wheel into position to engage the short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said Wheel to inoperative position, means for feeding a body thread to all of the needles, an independent thread feed linger forl feeding an auxiliary thread to the raised needles in advance of the body thread feed, and pattern control mechanism for throwing said auxiliary thread feed finger into and out of operative position, means for driving said pattern control mechanism, and means operable by said pattern control mechanism for disconnecting it from its driving means 13. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said Wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to engage the short butts after said Wheel has come into intermeshing relation with the long butts,

means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative nism and the operating mechanism therefor.

14. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, consecutive long butt needles and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a freely rotatable selecting wheel normally out of operative relation with all needles, said wheel having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising said selected needles, means operating in timed relation with the cylinder for moving said wheel during the passage of the short butt needles into position to engage the long butts, and further moving said wheel into position to engage the short butts after said wheel has come into intermeshing'relation with the long butts, means for withdrawing said wheel to inoperative position, means for feeding a body thread to all of the needles, an independent thread feed finger for feeding an auxiliary thread to the raised needles in advance of the body thread feed,pattern control mechanism including a pattern chain provided with links carrying projections, and connecting devices operated by said link projections for moving the auxiliary feed finger into operative position for a single course, a ratchet wheel for operating said pattern chain, a constantly moving pawl for said ratchet wheel, a pin carried by said chain for engaging said pawl and disconnecting it from the ratchet wheel and connections from said selecting wheel operating mechanism to said pawl for withdrawing it from operative relation with saidv pin and reconnecting it with said ratchet wheel.

15. In a circular knitting machine, the combiprovided with dwells at different distances from the axis of rotation of said wheel, an actuating lever having a part for engaging said cam, connections from said lever to said selecting Wheel for moving it in a direction toward the cylinder,

auxiliary thread to the raised needles only,` pattern control mechanism for moving the auxiliary finger into and out of operative position, driving mechanism for said pattern control mechanism, means .operated by the patternv control mechanism for disconnecting said driving mechanism therefrom, and connections between the actuating lever for the needle selecting wheel and Athe driving mechanism' for said pattern control 'mechanism for reestablishing connection between -`the latter and the pattern control mechanism.

16. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a rotatable cylinder, a circular series of needles including consecutive long butt and consecutive short butt needles, and knitting cams, of a plurality of freely rotatable selecting Wheels normally out of operative relation with the needle butts and each having needle butt receiving recesses spaced by peripheral portions for raising selected needles, the ratio of said recesses and peripheral portions `being different in each of said wheels, independently operable means for each of said Wheels for operating them singly and in timed relation with the cylinder, each of said independent means being constructed to move the selecting Wheel operated thereby during the passage of the short butt needles with respect to said Wheel into position to engage and intermesh with the long butts, and to further move said wheel after such intermeshing engagement into position to engage the butts of all the needles, thread feeding means for feeding a thread to all of the needles, and an auxiliary thread feed for feeding a separate thread to the needles raised by one or. other of said Wheels, pattern control mechanism including a sprocket chain having link projections and parts operatively connected with said auxiliary thread feed for moving it into and out of operative position, driving means for said pattern control mechanism including a ratchet wheel and constantly moving pawl, a

pivoted lifting lever for raising said pawl out of v operative relation witli the ratchet wheel, a part on the sprocket chain for engaging said lifting lever for throwing the pattern control mechanism out of operation, and connections between the independent means for operating one of 'said selecting wheels and said lifting lever for disen; gaging it from the said part carried by the sprocket chain, to permit reengagement of said pawl and ratchet wheel.

FREDERICK J. KIENEL., THURSTON R. FOUTS.l

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