US2316823A - Circular knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

April 0, 1943. P. L. THURSTON v 2,316,823

QIRCULAR'KNITTING MACi-HNE rina F 15.- v19.1942 -9' Sheets-Sheet 1 April 20, 1943. p THURSTQN I 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE FiledvFeb. 19, 1942 9 Sheets-Sheet I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY April 20, 1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1942 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 o ATTCRNEY April 20, "1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 194-2 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 20, 1943. I TQN 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 194 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 NVENTOR ATTORNEY April 20, 1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE ATTORNEY P. L. THURSTON QIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE April 20, 1943.

Fi ed Feb. 19, 1942 9 S1uetS-Sheet 7 Jwnwrak A ril 26, 1943 P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

' CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Patented Apr. 20, 1943 CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Paul L. Thurston, Martinsburg, W. Va., assignor to Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, N. J., a. corporation of New Jersey Application February 19, 1942, Serial No. 431,519

9 Claims.

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

My invention relates to circular knitting machines having coaxial superposed needle cylinders with selector mechanism for transferring selected needles from one cylinder to the other and pertains particularly to improvements in circular knitting machines of the kind described and claimed in co-pending application Serial No. 374,334, filed January 14, 1941.

In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, the needles are actuated by sliders located in the needle slots of the upper and lower cylinders and provided with knitting butts acted upon by cams for actuating the needles to draw stitches and transfer butts acted upon by cams to effect the transfer of needles from one cylinder to the other. In order to carry out the desired operations, it is customary to provide butts of different lengths. For example, in an opposed cylinder machine for knitting men's hose. the sliders on one side of the lower-cylinder corresponding to the needles producing the heel and toe pockets, are provided with short knitting butts and the sliders on the opposite side of the lower cylinder are provided with long knitting butts. sliders corresponding to the short knitting butt lower cylinder sliders hav long transfer butts and the upper cylinder sliders corresponding to long The upper cylinder knitting butt lower cylinder sliders have short transfer butts. To produce an article of hosiery having the usual 1 x 1 rib knit top portion or having an anti-ravel edge requiring alternate needles in the upper cylinder, it has been customary to provide alternate lower cylinder sliders with long transfer butts and the intermediate lower cylinder sliders with short transfer butts in order that alternate needles may be transferred to the upper cylinder by a cam engaging the long transfer butts but not engaging the short transfer butts.

In accordance with the above mentioned application, Serial No. 374,334, provision is made for selectively transferring needles from one cylinder to the other by means of a plurality of separately controlled sets of selector levers acting on selectors associated with the needles and for by-passing selected lowercylinder needles at at least one feed of a multi-feed machine to produce fabrics and articles of novel design. The selective bypassing of lower cylinder needles is effected by cams acting on the transfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders; the said butts being made of different lengths'to provide the desired selection. This use of the'transfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders to by-pass selected needles to obtain a decorative design precludes their use for transferring alternate needles or groups of needles to the upper'cylinder for the purpose of producing an anti-ravel edge or 1 x lor other rib knit fabric. It is hence necessary to control the selective transfer of needles from one cylinder to the other by means of the selector levers, one set of levers beingused for each type of rib fabric or other patterns desired and separate control mechanism being provided for individually controlling each set of levers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved knitting machine of simpler construction and operation. In accordance with my invention one set of selector levers is employed to obtain a plurality of different patterns or types of fabric. For example, in making a sock having a tubular welt or other anti-ravel structure requiring alternate needles in the upper cylinder, rib knit tops other than 1 x 1 rib, for example, a top formed of 2 x 2 rib fabric requiring a needle selection different from that required for the anti-revel edge, and a Links-Links float-thread leg portion, one set of selector levers is employed to produce the Links-Links leg portion and a single set of selector levers is employed to obtain both thel x 1 selection for the anti-rave] edge and the 2 x 2 or other selections required for the rib knit top portion. By thus making it possible to obtain with a single set of selector levers a plurality of different needle selections, 'each of which is maintained for a protracted period of time as for example, in producing a tubular welt or a rib knit top portion, the construction and operation of the machine is greatly simplified, making the machine less expensive to build and easier to keep in proper running order. As machines of the opposed cylinder type are at best rather complicated, the simplification achieved by the present invention represents a distinct advance in the art.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from thefollowing description of an embodiment thereof shown by way of example in the in which i Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a knitaccompanying drawings,

ting machine in accordance with the invention,

certain details being clearness.

Fig. 2 is a schematic elevational view showing omitted for the sake of mechanism for operating shunt cams in the upper Fig. 6 is a detailed perspective view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front elevational view showing a portion of the mechanism operating and controlling the selector pattern drum appearing near the top of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 88 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of the machine with portions broken away.

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 are horizontal sectional views taken on the lines llil0, l|-- -Il, 2--|2 and l3-i3 in Fig. 7.

, Fig. 14 is avertical sectional view on the'line i4-i4 in Fig. 9. r i

Fig. 15 is. an inside view of the cam blocks spread out in a plane showing alternate needles in the upper cylinder and includingat the right fer butts 32 of the sliders in the upper cylinder are ordinarily of different lengths, short transfer butts being provided over the long knitting butts in the lower cylinder and long transfer butts being provided in the upper cylinder over the short knitting butts in the lower cylinder.

Theneedles indicated at 40 are each provided with the usual hooks 4i and latch at each end.

A -When the needles are in the lower'cylinder, their hand side of Fig. 15 a diagrammatic side view of the needles, sliders and selectors. Figs. 15a and 15b are fragmentary views showing alternative cam arrangements.

Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 15 showing.

alternate pairs of needles in the upper cylinder for producing 2 x 2 rib fabric.-

Fig. 17 is a view similar to the upper part of Fig. 15 showing an arrangement of selector butts for producing the article of hosiery illustrated in Fig. 19. V I

Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig.. 15 showing the production of Links-Links float thread fabric.

produced in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 20 shows diagrammatically a-section of the leg portion of the sock shown in Fig. 19.

In Figs. 1 to 18 of the drawings, there is shown so much of a knitting machine as is necessary to illustrate the present invention. With reference particularly to Figs. 1 and 15, the numeral 20 represents the lower knitting cylinder provided with vertically movable sliders 2!, located in the grooves thereof, and having transfer butts '22 and knitting butts 23 for engaging suitable cams on the cam ring indicated at 24, each of the sliders 2i being provided at its upper end witha terminal portion comprising a needle .-engaging hook 25 and alatch engaging extension sliders constituting approximating one-half the circular series hereof will have. short knitting butts for operating the needles during reciprocating work'in knitting the heel and toe pockets, while the remaining sliders'will have long knitting butts. A greater number of different lengths V of knitting butts may be provided if desired.

The upper needle cylinder is provided with a series of sliders 3| engaging the grooves thereof and having transfer butts 32 and knitting butts 33 for engaging cams in the upper cam ring 34. The sliders of the upper cylinder are eachprovided at their lower ends with a terminal portion comprising a needle engaging hook 35, and a latch engaging extension 36 for engaging the upper ends of the needles when they are transferred to the upper cylinder. The trans- .Fig. 19 is a side view of an article ofhosiery the fabric.

lower hooks will engage the hooks 25 of the corresponding sliders 2i and the extensions 26 will engage the lower latches so that the needles will be operated by and with the sliders 2|. When all of the needles 40 are in the lower cylinder, the machine produces plain knitting. For the production of rib knitting, certainof the needles will be transferred to the upper cylindenwhereupon their upper hooks will engage with the hooks 35 of the upper cylinder sliders 3| sothat the needles will be actuated by the upper sliders. If the rib knit fabric is to have continuous vertical ribs, the same needles will be operated in the upper cylinder throughout the knitting of If it is desired to produce Links- Links fabric, the needlesare transferred back and forth from one cylinder to the other in predetermined sequence, so that certain needles operate at times in the upper cylinder and at the other times in the lower cylinder. This results in the wales produced by these needles being composed partly of inwardly facing stitches produced by operation ofthe needles in the upper cylinder, and partly of outwardly facing stitches produced by operation of. the needles in the lower cylinder. In certain of the operationsflhereinafter described, thedesired distribution of needles transfer of needles from'one cylinder to another,

the expression designates the net result ofthe transferring operation unless otherwise appears from the context. r

Theupper needle cylinder is provided with an extension 42 having vertically movable selectors '26 for connecting the sliders with such needles 43 located in grooves which form continuations of the grooves in the upper needle cylinder (Figs. 1 and 15). Each of the selectors II has a leveling butt 43a for bringing all of the selectors to the same level andone or more selector butts 43b. The selector butts 431) are disposed at different levels, certainselectors havingbutts at one or more levels and other selectors having butts at other levels. In the arrangement illustrated in the drawings (Fig. 15) there are twelve selector-butts positioned, numbered 1 to 12 respectively. stood that none of the selectors 43 will ordinarily have selector butts at all twelve levels, but

- at corresponding levels as described more fully below to depress the selected ones of the selectors, and through engagement of the'lower end of the selectors with the upper end of the sliders depress corresponding sliders to effect the transfer of corresponding needles from the upper to the lower cylinder.

The machine in accordance with the invention isprovided with a plurality of thread feeding stations, two such stations being illustrated in the drawings. At each of the feeding stations there It will be undera,s1e,eaa are provided suitable thread guides for feeding the thread to the needles, andsuitable tension devices for applying tension to the thread. There will ordinarily be a plurality of thread guides and a corresponding number of tension devices at each feeding station, but for the sake of simplicity each station is represented in the drawings by a single thread guide indicated by a dot in Figs. 15, 16 and 18, one of the feeding stations hereinafter referred to as the main feeding station being represented by a thread guide 44 and a second feeding station being represented by a threadguide 46. Suitable mechanism is provided for moving the feed fingers into and out of feeding position. I

At the main feeding station the needles in the lower cylinder are manipulated by a center cam 48 and a main stitch cam 49 adapted to engage the knittingbutts 23 of the sliders 2|. The

stitch cam 49 is movable in a vertical direction to regulate the length of stitch drawn by the needle. A similar stitch cam 5i is provided for knitting in a reverse direction when the needle cylinder is reciprocated, as in the formation of the heel, and toe pocket. The direction of movement of the needles relative to the cam blocks in continuous circular knitting is indicated by the arrow at the top of Fig. 15. Following the main feeding station there is provided a station ary clearing cam 52 by-passed by a race-way 53.

- The passage of the knitting butts 23 of the sliders 1 2| through the race-way 53 is controlled by a shunt cam 54 movable into and out of operative position. When the shunt cam 54 is in operative position, the knitting butts 23 ride up the. cam and up the space of cam 52, thereby raising the needles to clearing position, i. e., a position in which the previously drawn stitch is placed below thezlatch of the needle so that it will be cast of! when the needle is again drawn down. When the shunt cam 54 is in inoperative position, the knitting butts 23 are by-passed through the raceway 53, so that the needles are not raised to clearing position, and the previously drawn stitches are retained on or above the latches of the needles.- 1

The movement of the shunt cam 54 into and out of operative position is controlled by a twostep cam 55 on cam drum 56 on the main pattern shaft 51 by the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the arrangement illustrated, the shunt cam 54 is provided with a rearwardly extending projection 54a which is pivotally connected to a short arm 58, pivoted at its lower end to a bracket 59, provided on the lower cam ring 24. The upper end of the arm 58 is suit- I ably connected, for example, by a Bowden cable 50, to a cam follower 6i adapted to engage the ccntrol'cam 55. A compression spring 62 acting on the upper end of the pivoted arm 58 tends to move the shunt cam 54 radially inwardly to its operative position. When. the cam follower 6| rides up on cam 55' of cam drum 56, the upper end of the pivoted arm 58 is pulled outwardly against the action of spring 62 to withdraw the shunt cam 54 to inoperative position.

The by-passing of knitting butts 23 of sliders 2| through the race-way 53 (Fig. is further controlled by a selecting cam 63 which in the arrangement shown, is located approximately below the shunt cam 54 and is adapted to engage the transfer butts 22 of the sliders. In order to obtain a needle selection, the transfer butts 22 of sliders 2| are of different lengths so that the selecting cam 53 will engage the transfer butts positionto another is controlled from 3 of certainaliders only-L The transferbutts that engage selecting cam 52 will ride up theface of the cam, thereby raising the'sliderssufflciently to. bring the knitting butts 2301? those, sliders above the race-way 53 and into engagement with the clearing cam 52 whereby the needles will be raised to clearing position. Assuming that the shunt cam 54 is in inoperative position, the remaining sliders which are not engaged by selecting cam 63 will not be raised and their knitting butts will be by-passed through. race-way 53. To obtain different" needle selections or to obtain a needle selection around one portion only of the needle cylinder as for example in knitting the foot of a sock where it is desired toave a needle selection for the instep but not for the sole, the transfer butts 22 aremade-of at le'ast tioned to engage both the'long and the medium transfer butts. 1

In thearrangement shown in the drawings, the radial movement of selecting cam- 63 from one pattern shaft by the mechanism illustrated in Figs. land 3. The .selecting'ca'm 53 is carried by a radially movable plunger 63a exten'ding'out through the cam ring 24 and having a transverse pin 53b which is acted upon by -a spring 64 tending to move the cam 83 to" its outer position. Means/for moving the:selecting cam 63 to its inner position against the comprises a cam follower 65 support rt 65a and having a cam engaging portion 55b.adapted to engage, a two-step cam 55 on cam drum 56. The cam'follower 65 is connected for example by a' link 61, a crank 58, a shaft 59, a. crank 10 and a link 1 l with a bell crank lever 12 pivoted at 12a to "a suitable support on the frame of the machine. 12b of the bell cranklever i2 bea sagainst the outer end of plunger 63a which carries'selecting cam 63. When the cam engaging portion 65b of the cam follower portion 66 on cam drum 56, the free end of the bell crank lever 12 is moved inwardly (to the, I

right in Fig. 3) pushing the cam 63 to its inner position. When the cam engaging portion of the cam follower rides off of cam 86, the selecting the selecting cam 53 is being used, the shunt Q cam 54 will ordinarily be maintained inincperative position so thatthe knitting butts of the. sliders not raised by the selecting cam 53 will be by-passed through raceway. When" it is desired to by-pass all of the knitt ng butts 23, the shunt cam'54 is maintained in inoperative posi tion and the selecting cam 83 is disconnected so that it will not engage any of the transfer butts.

When the shunt cam 54 is, in its, operative po-.

sition, all of the knitting butts will'be caused to ride up the face of the clearing cam 52, and the position of selecting cam 63 is hence immaterial. If desired, the selecting cam 63 my be made to move inwardly to engage all of the transfer butts so as to cause all of the knittihgbutts to ride up clearing cam 52, whereby the shunt cam 54 is rendered unnecessary. i

At the second feeding station represented by the main 'actionof spring 64 pivoted to a suitable ;The free 'end 65 rides-up on the high cam the feed guide as (Fig. 15), there are provided a draw down cam 13 and a stitch cam I4. The draw down cam I3 is movable radially into and out of operative position. Thestitchcam ll remains in operative position, but is adjustable vertically to regulate the-length of the stitches drawn by the needles in the'lower cylinder at the second feed. When the draw down. cam 13 isgin operative-position,-the knitting butts 23 of the sliders 2| which have been raised by clearing cam 52 ride down the face of cam. 13 and continue downand under stitch cam 14 causin the needles to draw a stitch'of the thread receivediat the second feedingstation (Fig. 15). Knitting butts which are by-passedthrough the race -way 53 will be drawn down slightly by stitch earn 1! and passunderneath this card (Fig. 18).

lt will be notedythat when the knitting butts of the sliders arecaused to ride up over clearing cam 52 either .by reason 'ofthe engagement of the knitting butts, withshunt cam 54, or engagementof the transfer butts with selecting cam 63, the corresponding needles in the lower cylinder are raised high enough to receive the thread fed at. thesecond feeding station and will draw stitches of this thread when drawn down by cam Bland stitch cam. H. When the knitting butts are by-passedthroughthe race-way '53,, the corresponding needles-are kept so low thatthey do not receivethread fed at the second feeding station;(Fig. l8) and retainthe stitches of thread drawn at the rnain feeding station.

cam thereisprovided a secondary clearing (cam lfor raising all of the needles to clearing positionpreparatory to receiving the thread fed at the mainfeeding station. The lower cam'ring 2411 also provided with atransfer cam 18 adapted to'engage transfer butts 22,.of sliders 2 l.for transferring all or certain of the needles to the uppercylindernasis usual 'inthe coaxialtype of knitting machine. "As the mechanism for operatg the transfer cam may be of usual form, it will I not be'further described-a I g. b there is shown an alternative arrangement in which the single lower transfer cam Y of Fig. i5 is replaced by a transfer cam 16aand an associated swivel cam 16b. The transfer cam lower cylinder sliders will ordinarily pass below it unless the sliders are raised byengagement of the knitting butts with the swivelcam 18b. To transfer needles to the upper cylinden'the lower transfer cam 16a is placed in operative positionqand the swivel cam 16b is thenmoved injagainst theshort knitting butts so as to engage the firstof the long knitting but-ts, where.-

upon the'cam is moved further inwardly to, en-

gage the short knitting butts when again presented. The swivel. cam raises the. sliders insufficiently to effect transfer of the needles, but high enough for the-transfer butts to be engaged by transfer cam lfiaso that those needles havin a associated therewithtransferbutts of suflicient I :length to be engaged by transfer-cam 16a will be transferred to the'upper cylinder. Where referenceis made in .the following description to the'lower transfer cam, it will be understood that this may be either thesingle cam 16 of Fig. 15

" or the, transfer cam 16a and associated. swivel cam ,Ilib of Fig. 152),

The upper cam ring 34 is provided adjacent the main feeding station 44 with a positioning cam 80 adapted to engage the knitting butts of the sliders in the upper cylinder to position the upand the stitch per cylinder needles to receive thread fed at the main knitting station and a main stitch cam 81 adapted to engage the knitting butts of the sliders to cause the upper cylinder needles to draw stitches ofthe thread received. "Following the feedingstation. Following the descending'cam 82 there is provided afsecondpositioning.cam I3" for. raising the needles'to proper position-to re- Y 16a is located so that. the transfer butts of the ceive thread fed at the'seoond feeding station 46. By-passing the descending cam 82 there is provided an upper race-way 84 for the knitting butts of the upper cylinder sliders; The Passage of the knitting butts through race-wayflis controlled by an upper shunt cam 85 which is adapted to engage the knitting butts of the slidersand I is movable radially into and out of operative position. When the shunt .cam 85 is in operative position, it blocks offthe race-way 8| causing.

the knitting butts 33 to ride down the face of descendingcam 82. .When the shunt cam 88 is in inoperative position, the knitting butts pass through race-way 84. It" will be'seentiFig; 16)

that whenshunt cam 85 is in operativeposition to cause the knitting butts: to ride down the face of descending cam 82 and up cam", the needles are properly positioned to receive the thread fed :at the second feeding station 46. When the upper shunt cam 85 is withdrawn, a1- lowing the knitting butts to be by-passed through race-way 84,. the needles are kept at a higher level so that they will not take the thread fed at the second feedingrstation, and will retain the stitches drawn at the main feeding station (Fig. l

Suitable mechanism is provided for moving the upper shunt cam 85 into and out of operative position, one arrangement of such mechanism I being shown by way of example in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the arrangement shown, the upper shunt cam 85 1s carriedon the inner end of a radiallymow able plunger 85a, which extends through abushing 88 and has at'its outer end a transverse pin" 15b. A spring 85c tends to move the shuntcam inwardly to operative position. The outer end of, the plunger 85a is straddled by a bifurcated cam a block 81 carried by a. vertically movable spindle 81a, and having inclined cam surfaces'engaging the transverse pin 851). 'A' spring 81b tends to move the camblock and spindle upwardly. One

endof a rocking lever 88 pivoted at 88a, bears on-- the upper end of spindle 81a while the other end I of the lever bears .ontheupper end of averti cally movable lifter rod 89, the lower end of which is adapted to engage a cam on cam drum 9| carried by the mainpattern shaft 51. When the lifter rod 89 ridesup'on the cam 90, the cam' block 81. carried by, spindle am will be 'moved downwardly and the inclined surfaces of .canr

block 81 .will engage the transverse pin 85b to move upper shunt cam 85 radially outwardly to inoperative position. 7

Instead of operating on the knitting butts 33 of the upper sliders 3|, the upper shunt cam may act on the transfer butts 32 as illustrated in the alternative arrangement shown in Fig. a. The shunt cam in this figure is indicated by the numeral 85'. The action and operation of the cam may be the same as heretofore described.

At the second feeding station the upper cam ring 34 is provided with a stitch cam 92 adapted to engage the knitting butts of the sliders to draw the upper cylinder needles upwardly, thereby drawing loops of thread received at the second feed. It will be understood that loops are drawn by the needles only when the latter have been moved downwardly by descending cam 82 to position them at a sufliciently low level to take the thread fed at the second feeding station. When the knitting butts of the sliders are by-passed through upper race-way 84, the needles will not take the second thread and will retain previously drawn stitches of thread received at the main feeding station. The stitch cam 92 is preferably vertically adjustable to regulate the amount of thread drawn by the needles at the second feed.

Beyond the stitch cam 92, there is provided a welt or clearing cam 93. I

The upper cam ring is also provided with a transfer cam 94, adapted to engage transfer butts of upper cylinder sliders to transfer needles from the upper to the lower cylinder. The upper transfer cam 94 is located slightly beyond the lower transfer cam 16 in the direction of travel of the needles in order that all or certain of the needles transferred to the upper cylinder by cam 16 may be retransferred to the lower cylinder before reaching the main feeding station. Cam 94 is at such height that the transfer butts of the upper cylinder sliders will pass above it as illustrated in Fig. 15, unless the sliders are slightly depressed before reaching the transfer cam. It is the function of the selectors 43 to depress selected ones of the upper cylinder sliders to cause corresponding needles to be transferredv to the lower cylinder by transfer cam 94 while other needles remain in the upper cylinder. In some instances there may be provided an auxiliary transfer cam 95 (Fig. 15) which is radially movable into and out of operative position and is adapted to engage the transfer butts of all or certain of the sliders to depress them sufliciently to be engaged by transfer cam 94. Suitable mechanism is provided for moving the auxilliary transfer cam into and out of operative position.

Mechanism for actuating the selectors 43 is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4 to 18. At each of the levels corresponding to the levels of selector butts 43 there is provided a selector lever I00 having a cam incline Hlfla (Figs. 4 and 5) adapted to engage selector butts disposed at a corresponding level to move associated selectors downwardly. A leveling cam IOI (Fig. 15) located slightly in advance of the selector levers I00 engages leveling butts 43a to position all of the selectors at the proper level for engagement of the selector levers with the selector butts. Each of the selector levers I00 is pivoted on a vertical shaft I02 and'the end of the selector lever opposite the cam incline IBM is bifurcated to provide a heel portion M1017 and a toe portion lllflc. A leaf spring I03 engages the heel portion [00b of each selector lever and tends to swing the lever into operative position to engage selector butts of the selectors. Movement of the selector levers [00 to inoperative position is effected by a pattern drum H14 having projections lMa adapted to engage the toe portion I000 of the selector levers to swing the cam inclines of the levers out of the paths of the selector butts. The projections 3411 are prising a ratchet wheel I06 mounted on the shaft and a pawl I01 carried by'a pivoted arm I08 adapted to be engaged by a projection 42a carried on the extension 42 of the upper needle cylinder. The pattern drum is moved forward one step each revolution of the cylinder. When the toe portion I000 of a selector lever rides'up on one of the projections Ill4a on the pattern drum, the

selector lever is swung to inoperative position.

Where there isno projection "34a, the selector lever I00 drops into operativeposition and engages any selector butts disposed at a correspending level moving the selectors downwardly to bring the transfer butts 32 of sliders 3| into engagement with transfer cam 94 and thereby effecting the transfer of corresponding needles to the lower cylinder. The needles associated with selectors which haveno selector butts disposed at any of the levels corresponding to the levels of selector levers in operative position will remain in the upper cylinder.

A feature of the present invention is the control of the pattern drum in conjunction with the independent control of separate sets of selector levers to maintain one set of levers. inoperative, while levers of another set are moved into and out of operative position through successive cycles of operation. It will be understood that a pattern set up on the pattern drum will be repeated eachrevolution of the drum. For example if every other selector is provided with a selector butt at number one level to transfer alternate needles to the lower cylinder when the. number one selector lever is in operative position and if the corresponding row of projections on the pattern drum has one projection missing so as to allow the number one selector lever to drop into operation for one course, then the machine will produce one course of 1 x 1 rib knitting at that point in each revolution of the pattern drum where there is no projection in the number one level. As a result of this repetition of the pattern, the difficulty has been encountered that if it were at- .tempted, for example, to use one or more of the I selector levers to obtain a particular needle seinvention by providing means for controlling the pattern drum and independently controlling separate sets of the selector levers. Speaking of sets of selector levers, it will be understood that the division of the levers into sets may be made in any way desired. For example, where there are twelve selector levers, one lever may constitute one set and the other eleven levers the other set, or the division may be two and ten, three and nine, etc. In the arrangement illustrated by way of example in the drawings, the levers are shown as being divided into two separate sets.

, pattern drum into two or more the pattern drum as a tern shaft in a clockwise direction as However, itwill be understood that there may be three or more sets if desired.

The independent control of separate sets of selector levers may be effected by dividing the sections so that one section of the drum may be rotated while another section is held stationary. However, it has been found to be more convenient to rotate unit and obtain the independent control by blocking out the levers of one or another set so that they will not be operated by the projections on the pattern drum. In the arrangement shown in the drawings (Figs. 1, 4, and 6) there is provided a bar I09 for blocking one set of selector levers to maintainthem in inoperative position and a separate bar IIO for blocking another set of selector levers to maintain them in inoperative position. The upper bar I09 is pivoted to swing about a vertical shaft III and is connected by a link H2 to an arm H3 on a vertical shaft Ill. At the, lower end of the shaft I ll there is provided an arm Hi, the outer end of which is adapted to engage a cam IIS on the end face of a drum III on the main pat- 51 (Figs, 1 and'4). When the arm 0, the shaft Ill is rotated V viewed in Fig. ipand through link 2, the upper blocking bar I09 being likewise swung in a clockwise direction about its pivot shaft I I I,'causing the bar to press III rides up on cam is controlled solely bythe selector levers of the upper; set. It is thus possible to produce one section of fabric of a particular structure by using/ the selector levers of one set and to produce a subsequent section of fabric of different structure by using the selector levers of theother set while maintaining the first set inoperative.

Cooperatingwith the independent control of separate selector levers there is provided in acagainst the heel portions I00b of certain selector levers I00, thereby swinging the selector levers to inoperative position against the action of spring I03. I r

The lower blocking bar IIO (Figs. 5 and 6) is likewise pivoted about vertical shaft I II and has a projecting arm vI I0awhich is engaged by one end-ofa bell crank lever H8 pivoted to a suitable support at II. The other end of bell crank lever H9 is connected to'a lifter rod II9, the lower end of which the elbow of a bell crank which is pivoted to a bracket I2I and the other is adapted to engage a cam I22 on cam'drum 56. Whenthe end of bell crank lever'l20 rides up on a high portion of cam I22, the lifter rod H9 will be raised, thereby raising the outer endoi bell crank lever H8 and rocking the inner end downwardly and outwardly against the arm IIOa projecting from bar I I0. This will swing the bar H0 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5 against the heel portions 10% of certain of the selector levers I00, thereby maintaining the selector levers in inoperative position. In the particular arrangement illustrated in Figs. 4 to I09 controls the ten u p r selower bar IIO controls the However, the number 6 the upper bar lector levers while the two lower selectorlevers.

is pivotally connected to lever I20, one end of cordance with my invention means forcontrolling individual selector. levers ofa set so that a :plurality of sections of fabric of ture may be produced by selector levers of a single set. This makes it possible to increase the kinds of fabric structure that can be produced by the machine without increasing the number p of separately controlled sets of selector levers required. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the control of individual levers of a single set to produce successive sections'of different fabric structure is jeifected by controlling the pattern drum I04 actuating the selector levers. Re-

ferring to Figs. 1, '7 and 8, it will be seen that the' driving mechanism for the selector pattern-driun comprises the ratchet wheel I00 mounted on the shaft I05 of the drum and actuated by pawl I01,

pivotally carried by arm I08 which is freely 'rotatable on shaft"! and engages a projection 42d on the extension 42 of the needle cylinder so that the selector pattern drum is moved one step for-' ward-each revolution of the needle cylinder." To control the operation of the selector pattern drum I04, there is provided a disc I30 mounted on shaft I05 so as to rotate therewith, the disc being preierably located adjacent the ratchet wheel I06.

" The disc in is provided with a plurality of abut ments or recesses shown in the form of two notches N and N2 formed in the periphery of the disc and adapted to receive the nose lllb of indexing lever I3I freely rotatable on the shaft I which. controls one set of the selector levers as described above, (Figs. 4 and 6).' When the lever I3I drops into any of I30, the disc and hence the selector pattern drum are held against rotation. The notch N is 'so located that when it is engaged by lever III the pattern drum is in proper position for starting each of successive articles produced by. the ma chine. Other notches such as N2 are positioned to stop the pattern drum at predeterminedpoints; as described more fully below. I

In order to interrupt the driving mechanism of the selectorpattem drum when the drumv is held against rotation by lever I'3I, means is provided for stopping the operation of the pawl I01 and ratchet I00. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings (Figs; 7, a and 11) this comprises a blockinglever I32 freely rotatable on shaft I of levers controlled by each bar can be varied at will by varying the relative lengths of the two bars. If it is desired to divide the selector levers into three or more separately controlled sets, a

corresponding number of blocking bars may be provided.

When the upper set of selector levers is maintained in inoperative position by the bar I09, the operation of the selectors and hence the transfer of needles from the upper to the lower cylinder is controlled solely by the selector levers of the lower set which may be moved into and out of operative position by arrangement of the projec tions on pattern drum I04 to give the fabric structure desired. Conversely, when the lower set of selector levers is maintained in inoperative position by bar I I0, the operation of the selectors and adapted to engage pawl I01 and hold the pawl at the end of its stroke (solid line Fig. 111 against the action of spring I00a thereby holding arm I08 out away from. the cylinder extension 41 and preventing its actuation by the projection 42a. The lever I3I has'an abutment which is preferably adjustable and is shown in the four of a set screw I3,I'a which abuts blocking level I32 so that counterclockwise movement of leve-1 -I3I is transmitted to lever I32 and conversely clockwise movement of lever I32 is transmittec to indexing lever I3l. A spring I32d extendini between blocking lever I32 and a stationary pos I33 tends to swing lever I32 and hence also leve I3l. When the indexing lever I3I drops into an: of the notches in disc I30 under the action 0 the spring, the blocking lever I32 is swung: int

different structhe notches in a position (solid line Fig. 11) to block the action of the pawl and ratchet. When lever I3I is swung in a counterclockwise direction to release it from the notch, lever I32 is swung in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11, permitting the pawl and ratchet to operate to rotate the pattern drum. It will be understood that after the pattern drum has been released, lever I3I will ride along the periphery of disc I and will drop into the first notch presented, stopping the rotation of the drum at a predetermined point determined by the position of the notch. The mechanism for interrupting the rotation of the drum I04 is thus controlled by the rotation of the drum itself. The pattern drum is held in indexed position until released by the withdrawal of indexing lever I3I and blocking lever I32.

The release of the selector pattern drum I04 is controlled by the main pattern mechanism of the machine and also by the means for independently controlling separate sets of selector levers (Figs. 4 and 6). In the embodiment illustrated a bell crank lever I34 (Figs. 9 and 14) pivotally mounted at I340 on a stationary bracket I has one arm I34a positioned to engage the indexing lever I3I (Fig. 8). The other arm I34b is connected by a link I36 to the elbow of a bell crank lever I3'I (Figs. 1 and 9), one end of which is pivoted to bracket I2I and the other end is adapted to engage a cam I38 on the cam drum 56 mounted on the main pattern shaft 51. When the elbow lever I3! rides up on cam I38, the link I38 is raised swinging bell crank lever I34 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 14) and thereby swinging indexing lever I3I in a-counterclockwise direction (Fig. 8) to release it from anotch in disc I30. It will be understood that through the abutment of set screw I3Ia the blocking lever I32 is likewise swung in a counterclockwise direction to release pawl I01. The cam I38 need release lever I 3| from the notch only a sufficient time to permit the drum to be moved one step by the pawl and ratchet as the lever will then ride on the periphery of disc I30 and will hold lever I32 out of the path of the pawl.

In addition to being controlled by the main pattern drum the release of the selector pattern drum I04 is also controlled by the means controlling independent sets of selector levers. An arm I mounted on shaftl I4 and rotatable there'- with (Fig. 8 and Fig. 13) has an abutment I40a adapted to engage lever I3I and may also have an abutment shown in the form of a set screw I40b adapted 'to engage lever I32. When shaft II 4 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as occurs when the set of levers controlled by bar I II (Fig. 6) is released for operation, the arm I40 swings levers I3I and I32 in a counterclockwise direction to the positions shown in dotted lines in Figs. 11 and 12 thereby releasing the selector pattern drum and initiating the racking of the drum by the pawl and ratchet mechanism. The timing of the mechanism controlling the pattern drum will be described below in conjunction with the operation or the machine.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is further provided with means controlled by the main pattern drum for interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum and means controlled by the pattern chain for independently interrupting movement of the selector pattern diiiIIi. A lever I4I (Figs. '7, 8 and 10) freely rotatable on shaft II4 is adapted to engage the pawl I0'I to hold the pawl and ratchet mechanism out of operation but is normally held out of the path of the pawl by a spring I42. The tail portion I4Ia of lever MI is slotted (Fig. '7) to receive the hooked ends of two Bowden wires I43 and I44. Itwill be seen that with the arrangement shown either Bowden wire acting independently can pull the lever I4I into operative position to block the pawl I01 without interference by the other Bowden wire. One Bowden wire I43 is connect -ed to a lifter rod I45 (Fig. 1) adapted to engage and be raised by a cam I46 on the main pattern drum 9|. When the lifter rod I45 drops off of cam I46 it pulls Bowden wire I43 and swings lever I4I into a position to block the action of pawl I01 (solid lines Fig. 10), thereby interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum I04. It will be understood that if lever MI is swung into blocking position at any time other than when the pawl is at the end of its stroke (Fig. 11) the spring I0Ia of pawl I01 permits the pawl to move past lever I4I to the end of its stroke whereupon the tail of the pawl will swing out and engage lever I4I.

The lever I4I. for interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum is independently actuated by the Bowden wire I44 which is connected to one end of a pivoted lever I41 (Fig. 1) the other end of which is adapted to be engaged by lateral projections on-special links of the pattern chain I48. When the lever I4! rides up on a projecting link, one of which is shown at I48a, it pulls the Bowden wire I44 and swings lever I4I into a position to block pawl I01 and stop the pattern drum. The timing of the operation of blocking lever I4I under control of the main pattern drum and the pattern chain will be described below.

The characteristics and capabilities of the machine in accordance with my invention will be more fully understood from the following description of its operation and the fabric structures produced. A characteristic of my machine is that it is capable of producing successive sections of different fabric structures not onlyby independent control of separate sets of selector levers whereby one set can be employed in producing one section of fabric and another set employed to produce a section of entirely difierent fabric structure, but also by controlling individual selector levers of a set whereby successive sections of different fabric structure can be pro duced by levers of the same set. As it will be understood that by reason of its versatility the machine in accordance with my invention is capable of making an infinite number of difierent patterns or combinations of fabric structure it would be undesirable to attempt to illustrate all of them. However, to assist in describing the operation of the machine, I have shown in Figs. 19 and 20 an article of hosiery exemplifying the combinations of fabric structure that can be produced. The article is shown as having an antiravel edge A, a top portion T, a leg portion L, a heel pocket H, a foot F, and a toe packet P. The production of the anti-ravel edge A shown in the form of a tubular welt, requires a 1 x 1 needle distribution, 1. e., alternate needles in the upper cylinder and intervening needles in the lower cylinder. The top portion '1 is formed of rib knit fabric with wider ribs than 1 x 1 rib knitting and hence requires a needle distribution different from that required for, the anti-ravel edge. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 19, the top portion is composed of 2 x 2 rib fabric requiring alternate pairs of needles in the upper cylthe feeds.

. i. e., courses -tervening courses, 1. e.,

.the areas D and red design.

iader. The top portion '1 is shown as having an elastic thread E extending coursewise of the fabric, preferably in spaced courses to increase its elasticity and recoverability. The leg portion L formed of'Links-Links fabric, i. e., fabric in which individual wales are formed in partof inwardly facing stitches and in part of outwardly facing stitches requiring needles to be transferred from one cylinder to the other in predetermined sequence during the production of successive courses. Moreover, the Links-Links leg portion is provided with a solid color pattern such as diamond D and interrupted vertical stripes formed by prominent solid color stitches V produced by employing a multi-feed machine and by-passing selected needles at at least one of A section of the fabric of the leg portion is shown in Fig. 20 which represents an enlarged'diagrammatic view of the outside of the fabric. In the example shown, alternate courses 0!, 05, etc., are formed of a thread t represented by a heavier line and inare formed of a thread t2, represented. by a lighter lines. The two threads may be alike, in which case the fabric will have a decorative embossed effect with no color design, or they may differ from one another in material, color, weight or other characteristics. It will be noted that the area D at the left hand side of Fig. 20 is formed of elongated, i. e. double length stitches of thread t only, the other thread t2 being floated behind such stitches, while the adjacent area B of the fabric is composed of alternate courses of thread t and thread t2. In a third area at the right hand side of Fig. 20, there are interrupted rows of elongated stitches V of thread t with thread it floated behind them. Assuming for example, that thread t is red and thread t2 blue, the background area B, together with wales I0, I2 and I4 will be formed of alternate courses of red and blue thread, giving a mixed color effect, while the elongated stitches V will be thread only, providing a solid color Moreover, the background area is formed of inwardly facing stitches, while the design portions D and V are formed of elongated outwardly facing stitches, giving an embossed effect, heightening the design. In order to produce a Links-Links float thread design of the'kind shown in Fig.

knit of red control of separate sets of selector levers in conjunction with the control of individual levers of a set in accordance with my invention makes it possible to achieve this result.

In the example shown in the drawings, the upper ten selector levers constitute one set and are employed to produce the Links-Links float thread fabric of the leg portion L. As illustrated in Fig. 17, levers I to 8 cooperate with selector butts arranged to make the design areas levers 9 and I0 cooperate with selector butts at corresponding levels to produce the elongated stitches V. Selector levers II and I2 constitute courses c2,'c4, cl, etc., I

20, tnetransfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders'are employed levers and D, while v another set and are employed to produce'both the anti-revel edge A andthe 2 x 2 rib top T. At a level corresponding to selector lever II, alternate selectors are provided with butts so that when number 11 lever is in operative position, alternate needlesare transferred to the lower cylinder and intervening needles remain in the upper cylinder.

At a level corresponding to selector lever I2,

alternate pairs of selectors are provided with butts so that when number I; lever is in operative position, the needles are positioned for producing 2x2ribknitting. V

The articles of hosiery illustrated in finished form. in Fig. 19 are preferably produced by string work, by which is meant that the articles are produced as a continuous string of socks which are thereafter severed from one another and the lever during the knitting of a plurality of courses of 1 each article. The projections short section of and completed by closing the toe pocket. .Between successive articles on the 'string there is'a fabric termed a loopers edge which facilitates placingthe article on a looping machine to close the toe pocket and is subsequently cut or raveled off. The loopers edge is ordinarily produced by feeding thread at the main knitting station N with all the lower cylinder warm plain knit fabric. During the knitting of the looper's edge, the selector pattern drum I04 ls racked idly around until the indexing lever III (Fig. 8). drops into notch N in disc I30. Thisorients the, selector pattern drum toproper position for starting each of successive articles produced by the machine I3I holds the drum in this position Illla (Figs. 4 and 5) on the pattern drum are so arranged that with thedrum in its, starting position, selector lever transfer all of theneedles number II is permitted to drop into operative position, while selector lever number I2 is held out by a projection on the pattern drum. However, all selector levers are still held out by blocking bars "Band III! (Figs. 4 to 6). 7 On the first move of the main pattern drum SI, (Fig. 1) the lower transfer cam I6 (Fig. ismoved in to to the upper cylinder, and blocking bar I I0 (Figs. 5 and 6) is withdrawn to permit the operation of the set of selector levers composed of levers II and I2. As lever number I2 is held out by a projection'on selector pattern drum I04, only lever II- drops into operative position and acts on the selector butts at number I I level (Fig. 15) to retransfer every other needle to the lower cylinder. This results in positioning alternate needles in the upper cylinder and intermediate needles in the lower cylinder. The feeding of thread at the main knitting station is continued so that as soon as the first of the transferred needles reaches the main feeding station, the needles in the upper and lower cylinders will coact to produce 1 x l rib knitting. Cam 5| is in operative position, causing the knitting butts of the lowersliders to ride up over the clearing cam 52, while shunt cam is in inoperative position, allowing the knitting butts of tilt upper sliders to be by-passed through racewa: 8!, these cams having been moved to'their respec tive positions during the knitting of the precedin; sock. At any time after the first of the trans ferred needles reaches the second feeding statior cam 13 is moved in against the ends of the shor knitting butts of the lower sliders and picks u the first of the long knitting butts whereupon th cam completes its movementinto operative posi tion. The knitting butts of the lower sliders wi now ride down'the face of cam 13 and undl of the needles in completion of the welt.

stitch cam 14. As the first of the knitting butts engage draw down cam I3, a draw thread feed finger is moved into operative position at the second feeding station. By referring to Fig. 15 it will be seen that whereas the thread at the main feeding station is fed to and knit by the needles of both cylinders, the draw thread fed at the second knitting station is received and knit by lower cylinder needles only, the upper cylinder needles being by-passed at a higher level, so that they did not take the draw thread, but retained, the stitches drawn at; the main feeding station. This results in the draw thread being knit at alternate needles only of the fabric. Any desired number of draw thread courses may be produced, but one and a half courses will ordinaril be sufficient. Thereupon the draw thread feed finger is withdrawn. At about the same time the lower transfer cam I6 is also withdrawn.

On the next move of the main pattern drum, the welt or clearing cam-93 is withdrawn and the leveling cam IUI is raised up so that the knitting butts of the upper sliders pass through raceways 84' and 84, carrying the upper cylinder needles high so that they do not knit but hold their stitches. The thread fed at the main feeding station is thus taken and knit by the lower cylinder needles only to produce a. plurality of welt courses. After a sufficient number of such courses have been knit, the welt cam 93 is moved to operative position and the leveling cam I III is brought down, causing the upper cylinder needles to again knit, thereby tying in the previously held stitches and completing the tubular welt.

Several courses before the welt is completed, the main pattern drum is moved to cause lever I31 (Fig. 1) to ride up on cam I38 actuating lever I34 to swing indexing lever I3I out of the notch N and at the same time swinging blockinglever I32 out of engagement with the pawl I01. The selector pattern drum I 04 is thereby released and again starts racking. The selector'pattern drum will continue to rack one step forward each revolution of the needle cylinders until the notch N2 in disc I30 is brought into registry with lever I3I which dropped into the notch and thereby stopped the drum. The timing is such that lever I3I reaches the notch N2 at, or shortly after the The projections IMa in the selector pattern drum are arranged to hold selector lever I2 out of operation and lever II in operation while the drum'is stationary at notch N and during all but the last of the moves between notches N and N2. On the last move, as the notch N2 reaches lever Bi, 9. projection IMa on the selector pattern drum I04 withdraws lever I Iand lever I 2 is permitted to drop into operative position.

At approximately the same time that the selector pattern drum reaches and is stopped at the point determined by lever I3I dropping into notch N2, the lower transfer cam I6 is again moved to operative position. This transfers all of the needles to the upper cylinder and everyother pair is retransferred by selector lever I2 resulting in positioning alternate pairs of needles in the upper cylinder with intermediate needles in the lower cylinder (Fig. 16) for the production of the 2 x 2 rib top portion T. It will be understood that by different arrangement of the selector butts 431) at number I2 level, any other rib fabric such as 1 x 2 or 2 x 3 rib could be produced. After downwardly by the elastic thread on to the web formed that alternate pairs, of stitches of fabric thread 9 selector pattern drum IN is held stationary by indexing lever I3I, the 2 x 2 or other needle distribution set up by selector lever I2 will be maintained throughout the knitting of the top. Thus, by reason of the action of indexing lever I3I in holding the selector pattern drum at its initial position during the knitting of a plurality of courses before releasing it, and again stopping, thepattern drum at the point determined by the position of notch'N2, the pattern drum maintains first selector lever l I and later selector lever I2 in operative position to maintain the same needle selection during theknitting of a number of courses greater than the number of steps, the pattern drum is moved.

The 2 x 2 rib knit top portion may be produced by either single feed or. multi-feed knitting and elastic thread may be incorporated in successive or spaced qourse's. As illustrated in Fig. .16, fabric thread is fedat the main feeding station .44 to both upperandlower cylinder needles,-while elastic thread is fed-to upper cylinder needles only at the second feeding station 46, the lower cylinder needles being by-passed at the second feeding station by the withdrawal 'of shunt cam 54 so that the knitting butts .of the lower cylinder sliders f pass through race-way 53. With the arrangement shown the descending cam 82 in the upper cam block is so positioned'that the upper cylinder needles are not lowered to clearing position after drawing'stitches at the main feeding station.

Hence, the stitches of fabric threadformed at the main feeding station will be retained in the hooks of the upper cylinder needles and will not be cast off when the needles are drawn up by stitch cam 92 to form loops of the elastic thread thereby drawing off a measured amount of elastic thread from the feed finger 46. After passing the second feeding station, the are moved downwardly to clearing position by cam 93, placing the elastic thread received at the second feeding station and the fabric thread received at the main feeding'station behind, i. e., above the, latches of the needles. When the needles again reach the main feeding station, they draw new loops-of the fabric thread casting off the previously drawn loops and dumping the by the fact are drawn upwardly by the upper cylinder needles while intervening pairs of stitches are drawn lower cylinder needles. Thus, the elastic thread after being measured by being drawn into loops by the upper cylinder needles at the second feeding station is incorporated in the fabric by being laid in between the inwardly facing stitches of fabric thread formed by the upper cylinder needles and the outwardly facing stitches formed by the lower cylinder needles.

If it is desired to produce the top T'by multie feed knitting, fabric thread is fed at both feeding stations and shunt cams 54 and 85 are both in operative position so that both the upper and lower cylinder needlesreceive and knit the second thread. It will be understood that with this elastic feed, the elastic-threadwill automatically at least one revolution of the needle cylinder, the 7 be incorporated in spaced, i. e., alternate courses of the fabric.

Upon completion of the top portion T, the set of upper cylinder needles vaccomplished by rotation of shaft H4 in a counterclockwise direction. This rotation of shaft 4 swings arm I40 (Fig. 8) in a counterclockwise direction, withdrawing indexing lever I3I from the notch N2 of disc I30 and also withdrawing blocking lever- I32 outof the path of pawl I01 as explained above. The selector pattern drum I04 is thereby released and resumes its step'by step movement under the action of pawl I01 and ratchet I06. The projections I04a on pattern drum I04at levels corresponding-to selector levers I to were arranged to move these levers into and out of operative position in predetermined sequence topr oduce the desiredlinks-links fabric of the leg portion L. For'example, in Fig. 20 courses c and c2 (producedsimultaneously in two feed work) are knit with" selector levers I and 9 in operative position, while courses c3 and 04 are knit with selector levers 2 and Min operas tive position. Any desired pattern may be set up by suitable arrangement of the selector butts.

43b and the projections I 04a on the pattern drum. To produce the leg portion of the sock shown in Figs. 19 and 20 the'upper shunt cam 05 is in operative position and the cam82 is positioned to lower the needles to clearing position so that the upper cylinder needles will take and separately knit threads fed at the respective feeding stations. Shunt cam 54 is withdrawn permitting the knitting butts of the lower cylinder sliders to pass through race-way 53. However, the pas sage of knitting butts through this race-way is controlled by selecting cam 63 which is in operative position and is adapted to engage long trans-' fer butts provided on selected ones of the lower 7 'cylindensliders-to raise said sliders sufficiently that their knitting butts will ride up the face of clearing cam 52, thereby raising the respective needles to clearing position. Other sliders having shorter transfer-butts will not be raised by selector cam 53 and their knitting butts will pass through race-way 53. The 'needles that are raised by selecting cam 63 and clearingcam 52 to clearing position will take the thread fed at the second feeding station while the needles corresponding to sliders, the knitting butts of which are by-passed through race-way 53' past thefeeding station at too low a level to receive the second thread and retain their stitches of the thread received and knit at the main feeding station.

It will be observed that draw down cam 1.3 isdn being controlled 'by the lengths of thelower transfer butts and the position of selecting cam 53. i Where it is desired to knit Links-Links fabric on one side of the needle cylinder and plain knit fabric on the opposite side, as for example in knitting the soles (Fig. 19) or a plain knit portion'Hf above the heel, the transfer butts may be made of three different lengths, long and medium butts being provided on one side of the cylinder, i. e., the sole side and long and short butts being provided on the other side of the cylinder, 1. e., the instep side.

To produce the plain knit portionfi' at the top of the heel, commonly referred to as a high splice, auxiliary transfer cam 95 (Fig. 18) is moved in part way to transfer allof the needles on one. side only of the needle cylinder to the lower cylinder and selecting cam 83 is moved in far enough to engage the long and the medium transfer butts. Thus, on one side of the needle cylinder all of the needles are in the lower cylinder and are raised by cam 60 so as to produce two feed plain knitting, while on .the othervside of the cylinder the needles continue to produce Links-Links fabric, at least certain of the lower 7 cylinder needles, namely those having extra short butts being by-passed at the second feed.

At the beginning of the heel pocket H produced by reciprocation of the needle cylinder, the lifter rod I45 drops off of cam I40 (Fig. 1) pulling on Bowden wire I43 and swinging lever I4I into a' position to block pawl I01 (FigL'lO) The selector pattern drum I04 is thereby stopped. Upon completion of the heel pocket, the rod I45 rides up on another section of cam I46,'causing lever I4I to swing to a position (Fig. 8) to release the pawl so that the step by step movement of the pattern drum is resumed. The sole portion- S is produced inthe same manner as the high splice H, the sole being formed of plain knitting and theinstep I continuin the'Links-Links pattern. If, on completion of t e instep I it is, desired to produce a plain knit toe band Pf, the auxiliary transfer cam '00 (Fig. 18) is moved in all the. way i I to transfer all of the needles to the lower cylinder and shunt cam 54 is moved to operative po- I sition so thatall of the needles will knit-at both operation by blocking bar H0. The toe pocket 'P is produced in the same manner as the heel operative position so that theneedles that have I been raised by earns 63 and 52 will be drawn down by cam 13 and switch cam 14 to draw stitches of the second thread and cast on the .previously drawn stitches of the thread knit at I the main feeding station. Thus, the thread fed needles, the'selective by-passing of the needles pocket H and is followed by a loopers edge produced in a manner similar to the toe band P. During the knitting of the toe band and the loopers edge, the selector pattern drum I04 is racked idly, i. e., without operation of the se-' lector levers since all ofthe levers are held out of operation by blocking bars I09 and H0 until the indexing lever I3I drops into notch N' of disc I30. .This orients the selector pattern drum to proper starting position for the next sock, I

As the selector pattern drum has only a limited number of moves and will hence repeat the pattern after a corresponding number of courses, it is sometimes desirable to stop the drum momentarily where twoor more courses in a pattern are alike in order to lengthen the to swing the blockinglever I4I into a position v to engage pawl I01 and interrupt the movement of the selector pattern drum. As the pattern chain is customarily moved one-half link each revolution of the needle cylinder, the required number of special links can be inserted in the chain to obtain the results desired.

While reference has been made to a specific article to explain the operation of my machine, it will be understood that by reason of its novel structure and operation the machine iscapable of producing an infinite number of difierent combinations of fabric structure and is in no way limited to the production of the particular article illustrated in the drawings.

What I claim and desire to secure'by Letters the selector levers nto and out of operative position in predetermined order, means for independently controlling separate sets of selector sition during the knitting of a plurality of courses at the beginning of each article and thereupon releasing the pattern' drum, and means for interrupting the rotation of the pattern drum after knitting a predetermined'number of courses. l

4. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other and select'ors associated with the needles and .having selector butts at difierent levels, the combination of a plurality of sets of selector levers movable into'operative position to act on selector butts of said selectors to transfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operative position, one set of selector levers being actuated to produce Links-Links fabric and another set comprising a lever for position ing alternate needles in the upper cylinder and a lever for positioning selected needles in the upper cylinder to produce rib knitting other than 1 ,x 1 rib, means for independently controlling said separate sets of selector leve-rsto maintain levers to maintain one set of levers inoperative while levers of another set are moved into and out of operative position, driving mechanism for the pattern drum, means for orienting the pattern drum to the proper position for starting each.of successive articles produced on the machine and means for stopping the patern drum at predetermined points during the knitting of each article to maintain the same needle selection for a plurality of courses.

2. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to theother and selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts at different levels, the combination of selector levers movable into operative position to act on selector butts of said selectors to transfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operative position in predetermined order, means for independently controlling separate sets of selector levers to maintain one set of levers inoperative while levers of another set are'moved into operative position, driving mechanism for the pattern drum, means for orienting the pattern drum to proper posione set of levers inoperative While levers of another set are moved into operative position and means for interrupting movement of the pattern drum to hold an-individual selector lever in operative position during the knitting of a pluralityof courses. I

5. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other and contrbl mechanism comprising a main pattern drum' and a pattern chain, the combination of selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts at different levels, selector levers movable into operative position to act on selector butts of said selectors to transfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operative position, driving mechanism for said tion for starting each of successive articles produced and means for holding the pattern drum in said position during the knitting of a plurality cl courses at the beginning of each article and thereupon releasing the pattern drum.

3. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other and selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts at different levels, the combination of selector levers arranged at corresponding levels and movable ,into operative position to act on the selector butts of said selectors, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operative position in predetermined order, means for independently controlling separate sets of selector levers to maintain one set of levers inoperative while levers of another set are moved into operative-position, driving mechanism for the pattern drum, means for orienting the pattern drum to proper position for-starting each of successive articles produced by the machine and holding the pattern drum in said poselector pattern drum, means controlled by the main pattern dr um for interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum and means controlled by the pattern chain for independently interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum.

6. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other and pattern mechanism controlling operation oithe machine, the combination of selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts at differentlevels,- selector levers movable into operative position to act on selector butts of said selectors to transfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operative position, driving mechanism for said selector pattern drum, means for stopping the selector pattern drum in predetermined positions, means for independently holding separate sets of said selector levers out of operative position, means for releasing the selector pattern drum and one set of selector levers and means controlled by the main pattern mechanism for independently v releasing the selector pattern drum.

7. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needle cylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other and pattern mechanism controlling operation of the machine, the combination of selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts at different levels, selector levers movable into op-

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