US2214372A - Yarn carrier with replaceable yarn guide means - Google Patents

Description

p 10, 1940- J. HELD 2,214,372

YARN CARRIER WITH REPLAOEABLE YARN GUIDE MEANS Filed March 8, 1 939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F.LE--l- Z5 .36 i M 5 5 g 2 EE A Z mmvrom 2- Jase h Held/ BY WWW Sept. 10, 1940. J, D 2,214,372

YARN CARRIER WITH HEPLACEABLE YARN GUIDE MEANS Filed March 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FJLE- ll.

A IN V EN TORI Js ah field,

g a I ATTORN I mass. "10, 1940 YARN cnnama wrrn BEPLACEABLE YARN GUIDE MEANS Joseph Held, Welt Beading, Pm, minor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, Pm, a corporat tion of Pennsylvania,

- Application March 8, 1939, Serlal No. 280,480

3 Claims. (Cl. 66-126) My invention relates to yarn carriers for knitting machines having separate yarn guide members therein.

It is well known that the yarn guide members g or tubes of such carriers wear and need to be replaced from time to time. The majority of tubes or guides are soldered in place, but this causes delay in replacing them. It has been proposed to provide means for releasably holding the tubes in place, but such arrangements have not been altogether satisfactory. In addition to the difflculty of obtaining an arrangement providing for convenient removal and insertion of tubes by the operatives, certain proposed arrangements for this purpose increase the cost of manufacture of the carrier considerably. 'If the arrangement is such that the tube turns in use, it distributes the wear and extends the life of the tube. This has also been proposed, but arrangements permitting l turning may in time become loose enough to permit a tube to escape from the carrier. is desirable to have the ends of the tubes as low as possible to ensure that all the sinkers shall catch the yarn and turning a tube having a'beveled end hinders placing the free end thereof as low as is otherwise practical. Furthermore, certain latch means which have been used for holding a yarn guide or tube in place in the carrier have given trouble by projecting from the outline of the carrier arm into the way of certain objects and by becoming bent out of place when such latch means accidentally strike against the objects. Such arrangements therefore have not been popular with the operatives.

One object of my invention is to overcome the recited and other detrimental features in yarn carriers for knitting machines, having sep-' arate yarn guide members.

Another object of my invention is to provide 40 an arrangement whereby the separate tube or guide member of a yarn carrier may be held firmly against longitudinal or angular movement but may be readily released when desired.

Another object of my invention is to provide releasable holding means for tubular yarn guides adapted to hold the tube in a given angular position to facilitate bringing the end of the tube as close as practicable to the edges of the sinkers. Another object is to provide a bevel ended tubular guide and releasable holding means therefor adapted to effect a limited turning of the tube to bring. it to the angular position in which the bevelled end is parallel to the top edges of the sinkers.

v Still another object is to provide a satisfactory "economical manufacture.

Also, it,

arrangement for a yarn carrier with releasable guide which is adapted for convenient, rapid and With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, my invention resides in the novel elements, features of construction and arrangement of parts in cooperative relationship as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims. A yarn carrier within my invention comprises an arm adapted to be attached to a yarn carrier bar of a knitting machine or other means for moving the arm. Said arm hasa socket therein open at both ends and adapted to permit a cylindrical tube to pass freely from one end to the other but to afford support to such tube throughout the entire length of the socket. A yarn guide in the form of a tube is held releasably in said socket, the tube being formed from a piece of plain cylindrical tubing and the tube or guide as used in the arm socket departing from the plain cylindrical outline of the original tubing solely in having a transverse out in its wall forming a flat for facilitating placing the tube in a desired predetermined angular relation to the arm and forming shoulders adapted to cooperate with latching means for holding the tube or guide releasably in the cocket. By making the wall of the socket to fit a given cylindrical surface throughout the extent of the socket, the manufacture of the carrier is greatly facilitated in that the socket can be made by a single boring operation and the guide out from ,alength of tubing with a minimum cost of both time and material. The means for latching the guide in the socket which has been employed by me comprises a flat metal strap or band extending in the direction circumferentially of the arm of the yarn carrier and held in a groove running entirely across one face of the arm and intersecting said socket, and running also partly across .theother face of the arm where it is deepened to afford anchorages for the ends of the metal strap. The cut in the guide is so positioned therein and the guide is so placed in. the socket that it registers with the groove for said strap and the strap therefore lies in the cut in the guide when the guide is in use. .The metal strap may be sprung by transverse pressure so that it clears the outline of the guide and the guide can then be inserted into or removed from the arm very conveniently, but is held firmly in place when in use. Owing to the flat bottom of the cut in the guide tube, the metal strap retaining member holds the guide in a fixed angular as well as longitudinal relation to the arm. Further, if the guide happens to be turned somewhat from the given angular relation to the arm when first inserted, the pressure of the metal strap against an edge of the flat on the guide will turn the guide to the given angular position in which the flat on the tube and the strap are parallel.

Owing to the facility with which the guide can thereby be brought to a given angular position in the arm, I have made the guide so as to-have a minimum average clearance over the dividers of a straight knitting machine. This is done by bevelling the delivery end of the guide and setting the guide with the minimum safe clearance above the dividers. The bevel at the delivery end of the guide is made so that said delivery end is in the desired position parallel to the sinkers when the fiat face of the cut in the guide is in parallel contact with the flat metal strap.

Owing to the fact that the metal strap for latching the guide in position for use does not project at all from the groove or recess in which it lies, it cannot interfere with the yarn or other object outside the arm and cannot become bent so as to interfere with its designed action.

Owing to the character of the specific latching means described, it cannot be released by the fingers and a tool of some kind must be used to release the guide from the arm of the carrier. For this purpose, one or more recesses can be readily milled in a face of the arm of the carrier to receive a tool for springing the metal latching strap to permit insertion and removal of a yarn guide.

While the specific latching means disclosed has a number of advantages as set forth, I do not limit myself to it in all cases.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of portions of the yarn carrier bars, needle bars, needle bank and sinker bed of a full fashioned knitting ma chine with a yarn carrier in accordance with my invention attached to one of the yarn carrier bars;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken from the left of and at right angles to Fig. 1;

' Fig. 3 is a front view of the yarn carrier shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is'a cross section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the same line as Fig. .6, the parts showing different relative posi- .tion;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the same line as Figs. 6 and '7 but including a. greater length of the yarn carrier arm and showing the parts in still another relative position;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 is a front view of the yarn tube shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 11 is a side view in Fig. 10.

In the drawings and description, only those parts necessary'to a complete understanding of the invention have been set forth; further information as to the construction and operation of other elements not herein specifically pointed out, but which are usual and well known, being lower end of the of the yarn tube shown bevelled delivery end 33 (Fig. 11).

chine to one of which a yarn carrier l6 according to my invention has been attached. The bars l5 are shown in Fig. 2 as usually arranged in brackets of a full fashioned Cotton type knitting machine, one such bracket being shown at l1. The bars l5 are so held that yarn carriers secured thereto may lay yarn to be kinked about the needles l8 arranged in a bed IS inthe usual manner. Sinkers 22 and dividers 23 are shown arranged in the usual way for use in kinking yarn laid by a yam carrier about the needles preliminary to its being knit.

The yarn carrier l6 comprises an arm 24 secured to yarn carrier bar l5. As shown, arm 24 is adjustably mounted on a plate 25, Fig. 1, which is secured in turn to the bar l5. This feature, however, forms no part of the present invention. It will be understood that each .bar

I I5 has a yarn carrier attached thereto for each bank of needles in the knitting machine. At the end remote from bar l5, arm 24 has a socket 26 therein in which is releasably mounted a yarn guide or tube 21 and a. thread 28 from a yarn cone or package is led to each yarn carrier in use and delivered through preliminary guide means 32 on plate 25 and the guide proper 21 to a position where the yarn may be caught by the throats of sinkers 22 and dividers 23 and drawn down onto their nibs or noses 29. In accordance with my invention, the tube or guide 21 is formed from a piece of plain cylindrical tubing cut to the desired length and having a The guide 21 has a transverse cut 34 therein conveniently placed relatively near its intake end; said out having a fiat bottom 35, Fig. 10, and pronounced shoulders, 36, 36 at opposite ends thereof, the uses of which will presently appear. The flat 35 is placed at a certain definite angle to the bevelled end 33 such that when the cut 34 and its fiat 35 are in the desired position in use, the end 33 is then parallel to the plane along the top edges of the sinkers and the guide can be set the minimum average distance from the dividers without danger of interference. .As is clear from the drawings, the central axial plane of flat 35 coincides with the longest element of the cylindrical surface of guide 21. In other words, the central axial plane of the flat 35 is at right angles to the plane of end 33 and includes the major axis of the ellipse at such end.

As is clear from Figs. 3 and 5, the socket 26 is of cylindrical contour but intersects one face of the arm 24, the upper face of the arm in the carrier illustrated. Also, the same face of the arm 24 has a transverse groove 31 therein whose in Figs. 6, '7 and 8. Assuming a tube 21 is in the socket 26 and the strap therefore-acts as a resilient latch means for holding the guide in place.

Further, if the guide 21 is not in the correct angular position at the instant the tension on strap 38 is released, the pressure of the strap on guide 21 eiTects a limited turning movement of the guide to move the latter to its correct angular position in which flat 35 is parallel to strap 38.

The strap 38 is of substantially the same thickness as the depth of the groove 31 so that the surface of the carrier arm 24 in the region of the guide 21 is almost perfectly smooth. The strap 38 extends around the edge of the arm 24 as is plain from Fig. 4 and lies in grooves on the other face of arm 24, the ends of the strap being pressed into indentations 4|, 4i on the rear face of the arm so as to anchor the ends and connect the strap firmly to the arm. The other face of arm 24 is therefore nearlyas smooth as the first, one edge only of strap 38 lying outside the outline of arm 24 because of a slight reduction in width of the arm beginning just at point 42 at the upper edge of groove 31 and extending downward therefrom.

The strap 38 by extending across the open side, around the edges and to the other face of.

the arm 24, also functions to prevent spreading or distortion of the walls of the socket 26, thereby preventing the tube from becoming loose in the socket.

As is clear from Fig. 3, the socket 26 is open along one face of arm 24 and at its upper por-- tion the socket is wider than at its lower portion. By this arrangement, the tube 21 may readily be inserted into the upper end of the socket, while the more nearly closed end holds the tube securely against any but axial movement so long as the tube occupies the entire length of the socket.

In order that strap 38 may be flexed conveniently, two recesses 43, 43 are provided in the face of arm 24, Figs. 3, 4 and 9, into which a tool may be inserted for flexing the strap or band 38 and it will be seen that without flexing the band, accidental turning or removal of the tube is entirely prevented.

The socket 26 is enlarged at its upper end into a groove 44 into which the guide 21 is passed on its way into and on its way out of socket 26. Owing to having the socket 26 to open on one face of arm 24, there is no need of cutting an aperture through the arm to facilitate putting the guide into and taking it out of the socket. The arrangement shown is therefore adapted not only to a straight arm 24 as illustrated, but to yarn carrier arms having angles therein.

The operation of inserting a guide or tube 21 into or removing it from socket 26 is illustrated socket 26 as shown in Fig. 6, to remove the tube 21, strap 38 is first sprung out of the cut 34 of the tube to the position shown in dot-and-dash outline in Fig. 4 andthe tube pushed or drawn up into the position shown in Fig. 7 by any suitable tool. Tube 21 can then readily be drawn up free of strap 38 after which it can be removed from groove 44 and a new'tube 21 inserted by the reverse process.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown v and described by which I obtain the above results, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

I claim as my invention. I i

1. In a straight knitting machine having sinkers, a yarn carrier comprising in combination an arm having a socket therein whose wall coincides with the surface of a cylinder throughout its entire extent, a yarn guide tube in said socket free of projections extending beyond the surface of said cylinder but having a flat faced transverse cut therein, said tube also bevelled at its delivery endparallel to the tops of the sinkare and said arm having a transverse groove therein with which said out is adapted to register, and a flat metal strap having its ends secured to said .arm and lying in said groove and cut but adapted to be sprung laterally of the arm to permit removal and insertion of said tube, said bevel and out being so'related angularly that the pressure of said strap on the cut in the tube ensures that the bevel will be parallel to the sin'kers.

2. The combination in a yarn carrier of an arm having a socket opening on one face thereof and extending to the tip of the arm,'said socket having a wider opening at one end than the other, a tube in said socket, and a latch means on said arm extending transversely of said socket within the portion having the wider opening and adapted to hold said tube releasably in said socket.

3. A yarn carrier for-straight knitting machines comprising in combination an arm having a socket therein whose wall coincides with the surface of a cylinder throughout its entire extent, a yarn guide tube in said socket free of projections extending beyond the surface of said cylinder but having a transverse cut therein, said tube also beveled at its delivery end and said arm having a transverse recess therein with which said out is adapted to register, and a fastener device secured to said arm and having a portion lying in said recess and cut, but adapted to be sprung laterally of the arm to permit removal and insertion of said tube, said bevel and out being so related angularly that the pressure of said device on the cut in the tube insures that the bevel willbe held in a definite position.

JOSEPH HELD.

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