US222327A

US222327A - Improvement in tubular knit fabrics

Info

Publication number: US222327A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1879-12-02
Anticipated expiration: 1896-12-02

Description

4 Sheets-4611601; 4. B. L. STOWE.

Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

li l'lnesses In venlor 1 a? fiMMOFJA- K522" I N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHDGPAPHER. WASHINGTON D C 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

B. L. STOWE. Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

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B. L. STOWE.

Tubular-Knit Fabric. No. 222,327. Patented Dec. 2,1879.

W K yfm N. PETERS, FHOT0-UTHOGRAPHER. wAsHmsToN a c mrnnsmres PATENT QFFlGE.

BENJAMIN nisrow'n, on NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAND. REED,

OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT-IN TUBULAR KNIT FABRICS. I

Specificationforming part ofLetters Patent No- 222327, dated December 2, 1879 application filed September 12, 187 9.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN L. STOWE,

of the city, county, am d-State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im pro vefollowing is a specification.

My invention is directed to a tubular knit fabric, designed particularly for fire or hydraulic hose, but also adapted for other uses.

ments in Tubular Knit Fabrics, of which the My object is to obtain a fabric which, while equally as strong as, or even stronger than, ordinary fabrics of this kind or-class, shall containless weight of material.

The fabric is characterized by thecombination, with longitudinal strands and the ordinary knitting thread or warp, ofa spirallywound weft laid between the said strands and knittin g-warp, and an independentwarp which binds together the longitudinal strands and the knitting-warp upon the intermediate weft. By knitting-warp I intend the thread or threads suchas are taken by the vertical needlesin ordinary knittingmachines.

' The independentbinding-warp referred to consists of one or more warpthreads independent ofthe knitting-warp, and. taken and operated on bya set of needles independent of that set which operates on the knitting- ,thread,in such manner thatthe loops shall extend from the inside ,to', the outside, of the fabric v I .prefer to use fforythe binding-warp two I threads, one of which is, deliveredto its needles at a point withinthe circle of longitudinal strands, and the other at. a pointbetween the longitudinal inner strands of the fabric and the :outer knitting-warp.

To enable otherstounderstand and use my invention, I shall describe the machinery whichI prefer to employ for the manufacture of my improved fabricfland will tlien describe the method of making, and the structure of, said fab'ric. p n r l :1 would, hfwe'ver, that date -herewith.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional end view of the fabric on an enlarged scale. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a part of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of so much of a knitting-machine as is needed to illustrate my invention. Fig. 4 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 5 is a plan of the same with the longitudinal {strand-guides removed.

B is the upright needle-oylin'deron bed A, provided with ordinarylatch-needles a, attached to blanks 'a.

G is the upright cam-ring, receivingmotion from driving-shaft l) through bevel-gears 0 0 all of which, being similar to the corresponding parts in ordinary upright circularknittingmachines, require no furtherdescription.

Attached to the upper end of the upright needle-cylinder is a horizontal needle-plate, E, having in its upper face radial grooves, in which horizontal needles d and their-blanks d slide to and from the center of the machine,

each horizontal needle (I passing midway be tween the two contiguous vertical needles.

F is the horizontal cam-plate which operates the horizontal needles, andwhich is attached to and receives its rotary motion from the upright cam-ring O, by means ofarms F. The stitches may be lengthened or shortened by the usual appliances.

From the bed A rises aerra m A, which carries two large annular plates, G H, each perforated with a number of .holes. Below these plates and carried by the'lowerone, H,

is a third and smaller annulus, I, formed either with a series of perforations or with notches in itsinner edge. Usually the number of perforations or notches will-equal" the number of vertical needles,and{theperforations or notches of the lower platefl, are so placed as to lie in a circle of. thesamediameter as, or a little smaller manager, thecir- ;.jcle formed by the vertical insFig. 4..

needles,as shown The devices just describedY'are intended to guide the longitudinal strands or cords5 to proper position. These strands are carried in any convenient manner from the spoolsupon which they are wound to a pointover the machine, whence they are brought down through the perforations in plates G H I, passing from the latter plate down into the fabric vertically that is to say, in a line parallel, or nearly so, with the axis of the machine.

Knitting-warp 2 is supplied to the vertical needles from one or more bobbins, 1', through hook j and eye It in arm k, the said bobbins i, hook j, and arm 76 being carried by and moving with the horizontal cam-plate F.

The binding-warp, which in this instance consists of two threads, 1 4, is supplied to the horizontal needles through guides g and 1', each of which at its end has an eye through which the thread is delivered.

The guide g, which delivers the warp-thread 1, is mounted on and moves with the vertical shaft J, which is hung in proper hearings in frame A in the prolongation of the vertical axis of the machine, and derives rotary motion from the main driving-shaft through shafts J J and bevel-gearing, as indicated in Fig. 3. The shaft rotates at a speed uniform with that of the cam-rings. It carries on an arm, 6, the bobbin f, on which the thread 1 is wound. It also carries on the same arm to which the guide 9 is attached a toothed wheel, h.

The warp-thread 1 is delivered by the guide at a point inside the circle of longitudinal strands. The warp-thread 4 is supplied through a suitable guide or guides, as indicated at a", from a bobbin, m, carried by the horizontal cam-ring F. The guide 1" delivers this warp at a point just outside the circle of longitudinal strands, or between the longitudinal strands and the loops of the knitting-thread of the vertical needles.

The two guides deliver their respective threads in such position that both will be taken by each horizontal needle. The toothed wheel h is used to insure that the inner warp-thread, 1, shall be so laid as to be caught by the hook of the needle. Its teeth work in the spaces between the horizontal needles as they would work in a rack.

The weft 3, which lies in a spiral coil between the longitudinal strands 5 within and the knitting-thread 2 without, and has each of its courses bound in place by the loops of the binding-warp, is supplied from a bobbin, 1, carried by cam ring or plate F. It passes through the tension n, or its equivalent, and then to the guide 0, by which it is deposited. This guide consists of an arm attached to camring F, extending inwardly until it nearly touches the longitudinal strands as they pass to the working-point, and then downwardly at nearly a right angle until its point from which the weft is delivered is just below the level of the horizontal needles.

Sufficient of the machine has been described toindicate one way in which my improved tubular fabric can practically be produced.

The mode of operation is briefly as follows, the parts moving in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, and it being supposed that some knitting has already been done in the machine: The guide 0 deposits the weft 3 at a point below the level of the horizontal needles. The latter, moved properly by their cam, take the binding-warps l 4 as they are delivered by the guides r and g, which follow guide 0, and form the loops which extend from the inside to the outside of the fabric, binding together the longitudinal strands 5 and the knitting-warp 2. The latter, delivered to the vertical-needles guide k, which follows guide 1", is knitted by said needles in the usual way.

The fabric thus formed is shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the different threads being indicated by their appropriate reference letters or figures.

The fabric is somewhat similar in external appearance to the fabric produced by other machinery of this class, but has less of a groove running longitudinally between the stitches. There are, however, as will be perceived by examination of the figures referred to, radical (inferences between this fabric and other knit fabrics heretofore made-di fferen ces which result in great advantages in respect to strength and durability.

Every stitch or loop has immediately behind it a cord entirely independent of it, and these cords continuously overlap one another, thereby giving increased strength as, for instance, each stitch of the knitting-warp 2 has behind it the cords of the binding-warp 1 4, as indicated at as, and each stitch 'of the bindingwarp has behind it the cords of the knittingwarp 2, as indicated at y.

In the structure shown in the drawings, the part of the one warp which backs the stitch of the other warp runs parallel with the weft 3 for some distance, thereby very materially assisting the weft in strengthening the fabric.

Again, in a fabric knit only upon one set of needles, the same cords must enter into every stitch of the same course about the tube, and if a single stitch become out the stitches upon either side of it are immediately loosened, and the whole of the looped fabric at that point is destroyed; whereas byknitting upon two sets of needles, as described, in combination with the longitudinal strands or cords and the weft 3, in the event of "any single stitch being out there is still behind it another warp, which not only holds the stitches upon either side of it, but prevents the fabric from gaping open at that point.

The additional strength thus obtained, and the improved surface procured in consequence of one longitudinal row of stitches being placed in what would otherwise be a. groove between the stitches of the adjoining rows on each side, enables me with lessweight of material to make a fabric equally as strong as, or even 'sgronger than, ordinary knit fabrics of this 0 ass.

I remark, in conclusion, that while I prefer The warp 1, which extends from the inside to the outside of the fabric, may alone be em- I ll.

ployed, the prime object bein g to bind together the knittin g-warp and the longitudinal strands upon the intermediate Weft.

The warp 4, however, deposited'as shown,

gives increased strength and durability to the fabric, and can be advantageously used in connection with warp 1.

For some purposesthe weft maybe deposited outside of the circle of vertical needles instead 'of within, so as to be heldin position by the knitting-warp and binding-warp, either with or without the use of the longitudinal strands; but it is not generally desirable to do so.

Having described my improved tubular knit fabric and one way in which it can practically be produced, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. i In. a tubular knit fabric, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of longitudinal strands, knitting-warp, and intermediate weft with an independent warp which is knit into loops independent of and alternatin g with those of the knitting thread or'warp, and binds the said longitudinal strands and knitting-Warp together upon the intervening weft. I 2. A tubular knit fabric composed of longitudinal strands, knitting-warp, and intermediate weft, in combination with an independent binding-warp whose loops are composed of two cords, or sets of cords, extending to the exterior of the fabric, the one from the interior of the fabric and the other from a point intermediate between the knitting-warp and the longitudinal strands, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

. In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand. a

BENJAMIN L. STOWE. Witnesses: U

ALMET REED, NATHAN STOWE.