US2183575A

US2183575A - Knitting machine

Info

Publication number: US2183575A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1939-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 1956-12-19

Description

Dec. 19, 1939. K. R. LIEBERKNECHT KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1938 Fig.1 72 66 54 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor m/ 25:1 7M AMM! 1.939- K. R. LIEBERKNECHT 2,183,575

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 zap jg 154 Invemm M11 zalzM/ MAJ) Witness 142 6 74/ Z M LINE 6A7 fwd]? Patented Dec. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE KNITTING MACHINE Application May 26, 1938, Serial No. 210,193 In Germany May 29, 1937 16 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in knitting machines, and is herein disclosed as embodied in a fiat full-fashioned knitting machine of the general type having a narrowing '5 machine frame and loop lifting implements supported thereon, together with a welt mechanism which is mechanically operable to turn the welt.

The invention as herein disclosed, is embodied in a multiple section, fiat full-fashioned knitting machine fitted with automatic welt mechanism of the general type which comprises a series of welt hooks for taking an initial or setting up course of welt fabric loops from the needles, and for subsequently returning said loops to the needles to close the welt, in which said welt hooks are carried on a swing support mounted on a vertically adjustable pivot rod located directly above the needle series, and in which actuating mechanism is provided for imparting vertical and forward and back swinging movements to said support to take an initial setting up course of welt fabric from the needles to turn the welt. In order to avoid interference between the welt instrumentalities and other operating parts of the machine, particularly the narrowing machine, during the setting-up and subsequent welt turning operations, it is contemplated that the narrowing machine and associated parts will be moved to a high inoperative position in which this mechanism is located out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities. During the knitting the welt fabric, it is the usual practice to bring the narrowing machine into active operation for the knitting of one or picot courses, 35 in order to form a decorative design at the top edge of the finished stocking. When such narrowing machine operations are carried out during the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric,

the narrowing machine and loop lifting points 40 supported thereby must then be returned to the high or clear position as above described, in order to prevent interference and consequent damage to the machine and to the fabric being knitted thereon.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in a machine of this general type having a mechanically operating welt mechanism, a safety device which will operate automatically in the event that the narrowing machine has not been 50 moved to its high or clear position, to prevent operation of the welt mechanism which would otherwise result in interference and consequent damage to the machine parts as the welt instrumentalities are moved into operating relation to the needles.

It is more generally an object of the invention to provide in a full-fashioned type knitting machine having knitting devices including a needle series and a plurality of operating instrumentalities arranged to be moved alternatively into operating relationship with the needles for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, a safety device which is well adapted to prevent operation of the machine in such a manner as to bring one such instrumentality into interfering engagement with another while positioned in operating relation to the needles.

With these and other objects in view, as may hereinafter appear, one feature of the invention lsists in the provision of a safety device constructed and arranged to be controlled by the position of the narrowing machine including the loop lifting points thereon, and to be rendered operative only at that point in the machine operation at which the welt instrumentalities are to be rendered operative for movement into operative relation to the needles.

Another feature of the invention consists in the provision of a safety device which comprises a control element arranged to be actuated by movement of the narrowing machine from its inoperative or clear position, and connections controlled thereby and arranged to be actuated by the welt mechanism to prevent movement of the welt instrumentalities into operative relationship to the needle series.

The several features of the invention consist also in the devices, combinations and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, which together with the advantages to be obtained thereby will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a flat full-fashioned knitting machine looking from the left, only so much of the machine having been shown as is believed necessary to illustrate the connection of the present invention therewith; Fig. 2 is a detail view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and illustrating particularly the bell-crank trip lever for the safety device; Fig. 3 is a somewhat fragmentary detail view on enlarged scale of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 1 illustrating particularly the manner in which the safety device is moved into operating position when the narrowing machine and picot point bar have been moved downwardly from their high inoperative position; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail View in front elevation, illustrating particularly the connections for driving the welt mechanism from the main cam shaft and a pattern control for the same; and Fig. 5 is a diagram of certain electrical connections for the main driving motor of the machine including particularly the motor start and stop switch, and a motor slow-down switch.

The drawings disclose a multiple section flat full-fashioned knitting machine which may be of ordinary description, comprising for each knitting section a series of spring beard needles H) carried on a needle bar 12 supported for movement with relation to a fixed press edge l4, and cooperating knockover bits 15, and sinkers IS. The supporting structure for the machine comprises the usual cross frames 25] located at spaced intervals along the length of the machine, and secured together by lengthwise extending supports including the sinker rail 22, lower rear rail 24 and lower front rail 26.

The narrowing machine as generally shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, comprises a lengthwise extending supporting rod 28 mounted on lever arms 35 for movement about a pivot shaft 32 to move the narrowing machine toward and away from the needles. The usual narrowing points for performing fashioning operations are generally indicated at 34 and are supported on narrowing rods 36 slidably supported in depending bracket 38 secured to the supporting rod 28. The narrowing machine also has supported thereon the usual lace tackle including lace point rods 40, and picot point rod 4! which is slidably supported on extensions of the brackets 38, and carries thereon a picot bar 42 which is arranged to be swung downwardly from the raised inoperative position of Fig. 1 into position for the working of the usual picot markings into the fabric. The mechanism for raising and lowering the narrowing machine for the performance of loop transfer operations comprises a link 43 connected at its upper end to the supporting rod 28, and at its lower end to a rearwardly extending cam lever 44 supported to turn on pivot shaft 45. In order that the narrowing machine may be moved to a high inoperative position out of the path of operation of the welt mechanism hereinafter described, additional manually operable connections are provided which include a hand lever 46 supported on the pivot shaft 45, and connected by a link 4'5 to one arm of a double lever 48, the other arm of which carries a roller 49 which is adapted to engage with and lift the cam lever 44 and narrowing machine connected thereto, to the high inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The present machine is also provided with automatic mechanism for setting up an initial course of welt fabric and for turning the welt, which is in many respects similar to that illustrated and described in applicants copending application Serial No. 76,180 filed April 24, 1936. Certain features of this mechanism including the driving connections hereinafter described form the subject matter of another application shortly to be filed. The welt mechanism comprises a welt bar 5i associated with each knitting section having supported thereon a series of welt hooks 55 which are adapted to remove alternate needle Wale kinks of the setting-up course from alternate needles, and subsequently to return these loops to the needles to turn the welt. The hooks 5i! and welt bar 5i for each section of the machine, are supported for vertical and forward and back motions on a hanging frame or pendant 52 comprising upwardly extending arms secured at their upper ends to a rock shaft 54 which extends through the machine length, and is in turn supported for vertical movements on forwardly extending supporting arms or levers 55 provided at spaced intervals along the machine length. The supporting levers 56 are secured at their rear ends to a rock shaft 58 which is supported to turn in stationary bearings formed on upwardly extending bracket 65 which may be conveniently secured to the usual cross frames 20 of the machine. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the desired vertical and forward and back movements are imparted to the pendants "52 and welt hooks 50 in timed relation to the main cam shaft 46 through mechanism which comprises a subsidiary cam shaft 62 extending the length of the machine, and supported in bearings formed in the brackets 60. For imparting vertical movements to the pendants 52 and hooks 5|], identical vertical motion cams 64 are secured at spaced intervals to the subsidiary cam shaft 62, and are arranged for engagement with rollers 66 mounted on certain of the forwardly extending supporting lever arms 56. Forward and back movements are imparted to the pendants 52 and hooks 55 by means of identical forward and back motion cams 68 secured at spaced intervals to the subsidiary cam shaft 62, and arranged for engagement with cam rollers Til mounted on rearwardly extending cam levers l2 rigidly secured at their forward ends to the hubs of the hanging frames 52. Tension springs '24 connected to the rear ends of the cam lever 72, act to rock the pendants 52 and hooks 5i] yieldingly away from the needles, and to maintain the cam rollers iii in engagement with the forward and back motion cams 68.

In the illustrated construction, the subsidiary cam shaft 62 is arranged to be driven through one-half revolution only during each of the setting-up and subsequent welt turning operations in timed relation to the main cam shaft of the machine designated at 75. The mechanism through which the subsidiary cam shaft 62 is driven from the main cam shaft comprises a bevel driving gear 76 loosely mounted on the main cam shaft 15 which meshes with a bevel pinion 18 on a connecting drive shaft 80, which in turn drives a second connecting drive shaft 82 through bevel gear connections generally indicated at 84. The drive shaft 82 adjacent its upper end carries a bevel pinion 86 adapted to mesh with a bevel gear 88 rigidly secured to the supplemental cam shaft 62. The construction and arrangement of these driving connections is such that the supplemental cam shaft 62 will be driven in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. In the illustrated construction, the bevel driving gear '16 is driven from the main cam shaft l5 through connections which comprise a single tooth clutch member 98 which is supported to turn with the driving gear 76 and to slide axially with relation thereto, by means of two pins 92 secured to the clutch member Eli], and extending axially through bores formed in the hub of the gear 56. The clutch member is arranged for engagement with a cooperating driving clutch member 94 rigidly secured to the main cam shaft 15. A stationary guide member 96 secured to the machine frame, is arranged for engagement with an annular groove 98 formed in the hub portion of the drive gear 76 to prevent axial movement of the gear, and to mainiii) tain a constant meshing relationship of the gear with pinion 18.

The driving clutch member 99 is moved into and out of operative engagement with the driving clutch member 94 to start and stop the rotation of the subsidiary cam shaft 62 by means of connections which comprise clutch shifting levers lilil and H32 secured to a vertically extending rock shaft iii-i, and provided at their forward ends with follower rolls Hi5 arranged to engage in an annular groove B538 formed in the periphery of the slidable clutch member as. A tension spring Hi] connected to a laterally extending arm M2 on the lower end of the vertical rock shaft Mi t, tends to move the single tooth clutch member 99 into operating engagement with the driving clutch member M. The clutch member Si is, however, held normally in a retracted inoperative position by the engagement of a vertically ext nding detent lever H4. carried on a fixed pivot H6 with a rearwardly extending arm H8 secured to the upper end of the vertical rock shaft Hi l. Upon movement of the detent lever EM rearwardly out of engagement with the cooperating arm H8, the clutch member 95 will so moved under the pressure of its spring llil into operative engagement with the driving clutch member 94. After the main cam shaft has rotated through somewhat less than one revolution, when the subsidiary cam shaft 52 has turned through substantially one-half revolution, the clutch member 9!] is again moved to its inoperative position to disconnect the drive to the subsidiary cam shaft by the engagement of a roller HIE! supported on the upper clutch shifting lever iil l with a throw-out earn 222 on the face of a disk l24 forming part of the driving clutch member 94. The subsequent movement of the detent lever lid into locking position in engagement with the arm l 48, serves to lock tr e parts in the inoperative position shown, for example, in Figs. 1 and 4.

With the construction shown, the operation of the welt mechanism as above described, is automatically controlled from the usual pattern chain of the machine generally indicated at 26. Connections through which this control is effected, comprise a forwardly extending link 529 secured at its rear end to the detent lever Md, and at its forward end to one end of a bellcrank 530, the other arm of which is connected by means of a link 53?, to an upwardly extending arm I34 of a pattern chain lever E35. A ten' sion spring Q33 attached to the 34 tends to maintain these parts in the position shown in Figs. 1 and i to maintain the detent lever H4 normally in looking position.

Following the usual practice in machines of this type, the main cam shaft '15 of the machine is driven from an electric motor enerally designated at MS in the diagrammatic view Fig. 5. This motor as indicated in the diagram referred to, is constructed and arranged to be driven at a plurality of speeds, and i provided with a starting and stopping switch M2, and a slow-down switch hi4 which connected through pattern con rols from the pattern chain 126 to cause the machine to be automatically slowed during the operation of the'welt mechanism to take an initial setting-up course of loops from the needles, and subsequently to return these loops to the needles to turn the welt. Inasmuch as the driving connections from the motor Mil, and the construction of pattern controls for the switches illustrated, are well known in the prior art, and form specifically no part of the invention, illustration of these parts in detail has been omitted.

In accordance with the present invention, a safety device is provided which will act to prevent possible interference of the automatically operated welt mechanism above described, with parts of ti rrowing machine, in the event that the na or h machine has not been moved into its high inoperative or clear position prior to the time when the welt hooks 5-6 are moved rearwardly into ope :ig relationship to the needles to transfer the loops held thereon back to the needles, thereby to turn the welt. As best shown in e comprises connections which arranged operated the welt mechanism, and rendered operative to stop the se connections comprise specifiseci ed to the subsidiary cam arranged to engage with a rated lever 55! connected and ally passes downwardly through formed in one arm. of a 558, and at en carries a adjustable nuts 1% which are ar te al ernatively with two steps and formed in the under sic of the belldownwardly extending arm of is connected by means of a H3 3 to the starting and stopin a counposition shown t suit-ch stop A the nzachne. The reciproca- .-t inrarted to vertically exfrom the cam l lfi, is limited to to engage with and rock the l-cran" only when the link E54 is located step 555 as shown in Fig. 3. he link 55 i laterally about its n with the lever l5fl is conto stop the machine, by 1 element in the form of a shdeahy supported in two lugs lid and Fill mounts in stati .iary part of the machine frame. A nsion spring 214 connected at one end to the lug 5'12 and at its other end to a collar EYE on the control rod 568, tends to move the ink E63 forwardly to an operative position in which the nuts 5% are located be neath the lower step A collar ill on the link P58 is arranged to engage against the lug H2 to limit L315 forward movement of tie linl:

under the pressure of its spring lie.

The control rod 65% upon by is arranged to be acted narrowing machine frame when gh inoperative or clear position to rol rod i333 rearwardly or to the left as shown in Fig. to render the safety dea e. To t "s end 2. lug H3 is mounted on the poet rod and is arranged when the picot bar is swung upwardly to the inoperative or full line p on shown in Fig. l, and when the narrowing machine has been. moved to its high position to engage wit move the control rod to the left inst the pressure of the spring i'f l. The log H8 is provided with cam-shaped surface for engagement with the control rod 363, so that if the picot bars 42 the are swung to inoperative position prior to the movement of the narrowing machine frame to its high clear position, this movement of the narrowing machine will operate automatically to shift the control rod I68 rearwardly to render the safety device inoperative as above described.

The operation of the safety device to prevent operation of the welt mechanism to return the initial course of welt fabric to the needles until the narrowing machine has been moved to its high inoperative position, may be described as follows: Prior to the starting of a new set on the machine, the welt hooks 58 are located directly above the needles Hi, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the narrowing machine frame 23 being at this time supported in its high inoperative position and with the picot point bar t2 raised. For this position of the parts, the safety device is supported in its inoperative position through the engagement of the control rod I68 with the cam surface I80. During the subsequent operation of the machine to set up and knit the welt fabric, the welt hooks are moved forwardly in the line of take-up away from the needles, so that the narrowing machine may be moved downwardly from its high position, and the picot bar &2 placed in its operating position, as shown in Fig. 3. As previously pointed out, either the downward movement of the narrowing machine frame or the movement of the picot bar :52 from its inoperative position, will operate to shift the link E54 forwardly into its active locking position in which the stop nuts E are located against the lower stepped surface Iii-t of the bell-crank trip lever I58. The safety device does not, however, at this time become operative, due to the fact that the auxiliary cam shaft 62 is stationary. If for any reason the operator neglects to return the narrowing machine and picot point bar 22 to their high inoperative positions shown in Fig. 1, prior to the operation of the welt mechanism to return the fabric loops to the needles, the start of the rotation of the auxiliary cam shaft 52 through its second half revolution, will cause the connections controlled by cam 1% including lever I50, link I56, and. bell-crank 58, to shift the start and stop switch M2 to stop position, thus stopping the machine. Inasmuch as the machine during the operation of the welt mechanism is operated at half speed through the operation of the slow-down switch M4, as above described the shutting off of the motor Hit will operate instantly to stop the machine prior to the rearward movement of the welt hooks Ell into interfering engagement with the narrowing machine.

While applicants safety device is herein disclosed in a preferred form as applied to prevent movement of the welt hooks 56 into interfering engagement with parts supported on the narrowing machine frame 28, it will be understood that the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown, but may be equally well applied for the control of other than welt mechanism instrumentalities performing machine operations auxiliary to knitting, which might be brought into interfering engagement with other such instrumentalities which may or may not be directly supported on the narrowing machine frame.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. In a flat knitting machine have knitting devices including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrumentalities constructed and arranged to cooperate with the needles for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including instrumentalities for turning a welt, actuating means for said welt instrumentalities, and other instrumentalities for the performance of other of said auxiliary operations, means for supporting said other instrumentalities adapted for positioning the same in an inoperative position out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities, and a safety device controlled by said other instrumentalities to prevent movement of said welt instrumentalities into interfering engagement therewith.

2. In a flat knitting machine having knitting devices including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrumentalities constructed and ar ranged to cooperate with the needles for the performance of diverse operations auxiliary to knitting, including a narrowing machine, means for moving said narrowing machine to a high inoperative position, actuating means for moving other of said instrumentalities into cooperative relation to the needles for the performance of other of said auxiliary operations, and a safety device controlled by the narrowing machine to prevent movement of other of said instrumentalities into interfering engagement therewith.

3. In a hat knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrumentalities for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including a welt mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism to turn the welt, a narrowing machine, and a support on which the narrowing machine is movable to an inoperative position out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities, and a safety device controlled by the narrowing machine to prevent movement of the welt mechanism into interfering engagement therewith.

LIn a flat knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrumentalities for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including a welt mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism to turn the welt, a narrowing machine, and a support on which the narrowing machine is movable to an inoperative position out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities, and a safety device controlled by the narrowing machine and arranged to act on said actuating means to prevent movement of the welt mechanism into interfering engagement therewith.

5. In a flat knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrumentalities for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including a welt mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism to turn the welt, a narrowing machine, and a support on which the narrowing machine is movable to an inoperative position out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities, and a safety device comprising connections constructed and arranged to be rendered operative by movement of the narrowing machine from said inoperative position to arrest the operation of said actuating means.

6. In a flat knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities including a needle series, a plurality of operating instrimientalities for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including a welt mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism to turn the welt, a narrowing machine, and a support on m chine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing machine and loop lifting points supported thereby movable into and out of operating position, a welt mechanism mechanically operable to turn the welt, and

15 a safety device constructed and arranged to prevent operation of said welt mechanism with the loop lifting points in operative position.

8. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices in- 20 cluding a needle series, a narrowing frame having loop lifting points to cooperate with the needles movable to and from a high inoperative position with relation to the needle series, a welt mechanism comprising welt instrumentalities 25 movable into operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric, and subsequently to turn the wait, actuating means for said Welt instrumentalities, and means rendered operative by movement of the loop lift- 30 ing instrumentalities from inoperative position to prevent movement of the welt instrumentalities into operative relation with the needles.

9. In a flat knitting machine having knitting instrumentalities including a needle series, a

5 plurality of operating instrumentalities for the performance of diverse machine operations auxiliary to knitting, including a welt mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism to turn the welt, a narrowing machine, and a support on which the narrowing machine is movable to an inoperative position out of the path of movement of the welt instrumentalities, and a safety device comprising connections constructed and arranged to be rendered operative by movement of the loop lifting instrumentalities from inoperative position to prevent movement of the welt instrumentalities into operative relation with the needles.

10. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing frame and loop lifting points supported thereby, movable to and from a high inoperative position with relation to the needle series, a welt mechanism comprising welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric, and subsequently to turn the welt, actuating means for said welt instrumentalities and a safety device comprising a control element actuated by movement of the loop lifting points from inoperative position, and connections controlled thereby and arranged to be actuated by said Welt mechanism to prevent movement of said welt instrumentalities into operative relationship to the needle series.

11. In a fiat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing frame movable into and out of operating position with relation to the needle series, narrowing points supported thereby, additional loop transfer points suitable for producing pattern effects adiustably supported on said narrowing frame for movement into and out of operative position thereon, a welt mechanism comprising welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric and subsequently to turn the welt, actuating means for said welt instrumentalities, and a safety device comprising connections arranged to be actuated by the welt mechanism to prevent movement of the welt instrumentalities into operative relationship to the needle series, and a control element for controlling the operation of said connections and constructed and arran ed to render said connections inoperative only when the narrowing frame is raised and with the latter loop lifting points swung to inoperative position.

12. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a na rowing frame and loop lifting points supported thereby, movable to and from a high inoperative position with relation to the needle series, a welt comprising Welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric, and subsequently to turn the welt, actuating means for said Welt instrumentaiities including means for driving the machine at a relatively slow rate for the performance of said loop taking and welt turning operations, and a safety device comprising a control element actuated by movement of the loop lifting points from inoperative position, and connections controlled thereby and arranged to be actuated by said welt mechanism to stop the machine from slow speed operation, whereby said welt instrumentali s are prevented from moving into operative relationship to the needle series.

13. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narr wing frame movable into and out of operating position with relation to the needle series, and loop lifting points supported thereby, welt mechanism comprising a series of welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric, and subsequently to turn the welt, actuating means for said welt instrumentalities including a supplemental cam shaft, means for driving the supplemental cam shaft through successive increments of rotation for the performance of the loop taking and subsequent welt turning operations, and a safety device comprising a control element actuated by movement of the loop lifting points from inoperative position, and connections controlled thereby and arranged to be actuated by rotation of said supplemental cam shaft to stop the rotation thereof whereby said welt instrumentalities are prevented from moving into operative relationship to the needle series.

14. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing frame, means for moving the narrowing frame to a high inoperative position with relation to the needle series, and loop lifting points supper ed thereby, welt mechanism comprising a series of welt instrumentalities, a pendant support on which said welt instrumentalities are movable into and out of operating relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric and subsequently to turn the welt, actuatin means for said pendant support including a supplemental earn shaft, cam means on, said supplemental shaft for imparting vertical and swinging movement to said pendant support, means for driving the supplemental shaft through successive increments of rotation for the performance of the loop taking and welt turning operations, and a safety device comprising a control element actuated by movement of the loop lifting points from inoperative position, and connections controlled thereby including a cam on said cam shaft and a follower arranged to be actuated by said cam upon rotation of said supplemental cam shaft to arrest rotation of the cam shaft whereby said welt instrumentalities are prevented from moving into operative relationship to the needle series.

15. In a flat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing frame and loop lifting points supported thereby means for moving the narrowing frame to a high inoperative position with relation to the needle series, a welt mechanism comprising welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of Welt fabric, and subsequently to turn the welt, actuating means for said welt instrumentalities acting when rendered operative for moving said instrumentalities to take effect the taking of the initial welt course and the subsequent closing of the welt, and a safety device comprising a member continuously actuated during operation of said actuating means, a machine stop control arranged to be actuated thereby,

and a control element actuable by movement of the loop lifting points from inoperative position for operatively connecting said reciprocatory member with the stop control to stop the machine whereby said welt instrumentalities are prevented from moving into operating relationship to the needle series.

16. In a fiat full-fashioned type knitting machine, the combination of knitting devices including a needle series, a narrowing frame and loop lifting points supported thereby movable into and out of operating position with relation to the needle series, a welt mechanism comprising welt instrumentalities movable into and out of operative relationship to the needle series to receive an initial course of welt fabric, and subacting to move said reciprocating member into operative relation to said stop control, and an abutment supported on said narrowing frame arranged for the inoperative position of the loop lifting points to act on said control element to maintain said reciprocating member out of engagement with said stop control.

KARL RICHARD LIEBERKNECHT.