US2417135A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

Mrch 11, 1947. SHQRTLAND 2,417,135

KNIT'IING MACHINE Filed Marc 22, 1943 f 4 sheets-sheet 1f MNHN 1 f2 March 11, 1947. A, SHORTLAND- 2,417,135 j KNITTING MACHINE IFiled March 22, 1943 41l Sheets-Sheet 2 In venor rthur 'zortlan d, i

A. sHoRTLAND v2,41, 7,135 KNITTING MAcHNE March l1, 1947.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 22, 1943 v,"Attor ey March 11, 1947. A. sHoRTLAND 2,417,135 v KNITTING-MACHINE v Filed March 22, 1943 4 sheets-sheet 4 Inventor l Patented Mar. 11, 1947 KNETTNG MACHINE Arthur Shortland, Leicester, England, assigner to lideilor Bromley and Co. Limited, Leicester, England Appiication March 22, 1943, Serial No. 480,073 lin Great Britain December 31, 1941 3 Claims.

This invention comprises improvements in rotary or straight bar knitting machines, having a line of needles and a line of sinkers movable one after the other between the needles. In such machines (of which the Cottons Patent is the modern example) as at present constructed two kinds of sinkers are employed, jack sinkers that are projected, one in every second needle space, through the medium of pivoted jacks engaged by a slurcock which travels along the machine and engages the jacks one after another, and dividers that are subsequently advanced in unison, one in every other needle space, by a catch bar which at a still later stage serves to retract all the sinkers.

According to the present invention there is provided, in a rotary or straight bar knitting machine, sinker advancing mechanism comprising a helical cam arranged with its longitudinal axis lengthwise of the line of the needles, which cam is rotatable about said axis to advance the sinkers serially. It will be appreciated that as the cam rotates, successive portions in the length thereof operate directly or indirectly on successive sinlers to advance the sinkers seriatim, and it is preferred that the cam shall be located at the back of the sinker head with its axis of rotation horizontal. It may operate directly on parts (e. g. the rear ends) of the sinlrers, which are preferably reinforced or thickened to provide adequate wearing surface, or a suitable motiontransmitting member may be interposed between the cam each sinker to be projected thereby. For example, said members may be rocking jacks (similar to the conventional jacks in Cottons r.

Patent machines) or thrust blades or sliding jacks.

The cam, the axial length of which is preferably at least great as that of the line of sinkpreferably extends through less than one complete turn, so that in one position of rotation it is entirely inoperative. During this inoperative phase other knitting motions may take place, for exam ule, the retraction of the sinkers oy a catch bar. serial projection of the sinkers to take place rst in one direction along the line starting at one end thereof and then. for the next course, in the reverse direction from the other end. In order to meet this desideraturn, the direction ci movement of the cam is reversed at each end of the draw The foregoing and other features of :the invention set out in the appended claims are incorporated in the constructions which will now bede- It is necessary, however, for the scribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagram showing the operation of a helical cam according to this invention on sinkers or-sinker-moving instruments;

Figures 2. 3 and l are diagrams respectively indicating the facts that said cam may either operate direct on the sinkers, or on the jacks, or on thrust members or sliders interposed between it and the sinkers; v

Figure 5 is a cross section showing the relevant parts of a Cottons Patent or other straight bar or rotary knitting machine incorporating the invention;

Figure 6 is an elevation, and Figure 7 a cross section through one construction of cam;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another cam, and Figure 9 is a detail thereof;

Figures 10 and 11 show another construction of carn; and

Figure 12 shows a still further construction.

Referring'primarily to Fig. 1 on a drum IE] supported by a shaft II for movement of-at least partial rotation about the shaft axis, there is a helical. cam I2 which extends for less than one complete turn, and it will be appreciated that as this cam is angularly displaced about the axis of the shaft it causes instruments I3 with which it engages. to be projected serially. As shown in Fig. 2 the said cam may engage directly with the sinkers I4, said sinkers conveniently having their rear ends reinforced as at I5. Alternatively as shown in Fig. 3 it may engage with jacks I6 interposed between it and jack sink-ers I4, or in the third alternative shown in Fig. 5 the cam may engage with sliders or thrust blades I'I interposed between it end the sinkers M. the said members I'I being slidable in a bed I8. It will therefore be understood that the members I3 in Fig. 1 may be taken as representing either the sinkers I4 oi Fig. 2 or the jacks I5 of Fig. 3 or the blades Ill of Fig. 4.

As seen in a section normal to the axis of oscillation it is necessary for that flank of the cam which iirst meets the sinkers I4 or the motiontransmitting members (e. g. the flank I2a in Fig. 3) to be suitably shaped or inclined to impart the desired movement to the sinkers. This shape is desirably such that the sinker movements resemble as closely as possible those imparted by the usual slurcock. In the case of a cam which reverses its rotation both flanks should be shaped in this manner as are the flanks I2a and I2b in Fig. 3. The cam may also have a concentric portion or dwell I2C at its crest whereby a plurality of sinkers is held in position of maximum advance for a short period.

Turning now to Fig. 5, this illustrates the application of the invention to a rotary or straight bar knitting machine. primarily a Cottons Patent machine. and in this figure only those parts which are essential to an understanding of the invention are shown. since the remaining parts are well understood in the art and need no illustration or description herein. The sinkers Id are mounted in a sinker head I9 which is supported on a head rail extending between the cross frames 2! said frames being further connected by template rail 22, front rail 23 and back rail 24, The head rail 2U further carries the bed IS in which the thrust blades I1 are supported. and also carries bearings 25 on which the helical cam I2 is mounted for oscillation about the axis II so that as it oscillates the jack sinkers f4 are projected serially first from one end of the division and then from the other. These sinker motions are similar to those imparted bv tbe usual slurccck during the draw. The dividing sinkers are projeeted towgvds the needles 5| in unison bv Irhe catch bar 2G and all the sinkers are retracted in unison by said catch bar. these catch bar movements occurring while the helical cam is inoperative.

The mechanism for oscillatingr the helical cam I2 about its axis II is here shown bv wav ol' example as consisting of a draw lever 27 pivot-ed at 28 and having a truck 29 engaging a cam track 3Q formed on a cam .'iI which is mounted. on the cam shaft 32 to rotate at the appropriate speed. The free end of this draw lever is connected to an upright rack 33 guided at 34 and engaging a pinion 35 associated with cam I2 so that as the draw lever 21 is oscillated the cam I2 is oscillated also. The cam I2 may have its axis of rotation adiustable laterally for adjustment of stitch quality. and the bearings-25 may be constructed to provide this adiustment. one adjustment means being diagrammatically indicated at 52.

In a multi-section machine. sinker-advancing mechanism according to this invention will be provided for each section.

The cam I2, or each of them, may be formed as a serpentine rib on the periphery of a drum or cylinder or may be formed as a helical member supported from a shaft by radiating arms. In either case the cam may be solid throughout its length or may be built up from a plurality of camelements located one after another in serpentine form. Such elements are preferably interchangeable. In one construction (Figs. 6 and 7) incorporating a drum or cylinder I0, the latter is provided in its periphery with spaced annular grooves 39 (so that between successive grooves there are annular lands 4U); each groove 39 receives a key portion H2 formed on the back of a cam element I I2a which extends obliquely to the length of the key portion so as to overlie the adjacent land or lands 4G and to line up with a like element. having its key I I2' in the next groove 39, whereby a succession of such elements are disposed in the required helical formation. The elements Illia may be secured in position by screws, e. g. in the case of a hollow drum [Il a screw 4I may extend outwards from the interior thereof into each element, there being a hole I2 through the peripheral wall of the drum lll diametrically opposite the screw 4I to afford access to the screw head. Alternatively, cam elements may be located in or on a helical groove or other track, which may be provided on the periphery of a cylinder or on a frame or member itself of helical form and supported from a shaft by radial arms or their equivalent. In one construction, Figs. 8 and 9, a cylindrical drum i0 has a helical groove 43 cut in its periphery, said groove being of dove-tailed or undercut form in section. Plate-like cam elements II2b are slid into this groove 43 from one end thereof, said elements being arranged side by side and being retained by an end plate or other closure 1M for one end of the groove d3. A like arrangement may be employed when the groove 43 is formed in a helical member d5 (Figs. 10 and 11), which may be die-cast. In a modication, one longitudinal edge or boundary of the groove 43 in a helical member aforesaid may be constituted by a detachable boundary strip 46 (which may or may not be undercut) serving to clamp the elements IIZb against the boundary of the groove.

It is desirable to provide the radial arms 41 supporting a frame or helical member 45 aforesaid with means for adjusting the radius o'f the groove t3, so that the cam elements II2b may be set to operate correctly. For this purpose each arm il may receive an eccentric bush it through which the sha-it II extends, Which bush '38 is rotatably adjustable. The said bush may be tapered externally and split as at 5Fl, to permit it to be locked in the desired position of rotational adjustment within the arm, by a lock nut B9 at one end of it which nut pulls the arm up on to the taper.

In a `further construction illustrated in Fig. 12 the cam l2 is built up from a plurality of lobelike cam elements H20 threaded on the shaft II and positioned in the appropriate spiral formation by the engagement of a projecting pin 36 in each element with the hole 3l in the next elenent, the spacing of the pin 3 and hole 3l in each element being such as to give the desired pitch to the successive elements. The helical stack of elements Il2c is preferably clamped by` screw means such as the nut 33.

I claim:

i. In a knitting machine having a li-ne of jack and dividing sinkers, and a catch bar for advancing the dividers and retracting all the sinkers; a helical cam mounted adjacent the sinker line for projecting the jack sinkers serially, which cam, is of a length at least equal to that of the sinker line, extends through less than one complete turn whereby it is provided with an ineffective portion and comprises a cam drum provided with a series of circumferential grooves and a series of cam elements disposed side by side in said groove in helical form; and means for circumferentially moving said cam as a whole about its longitudinal axis, first in one direction to project the jack sinkers serially from one end of the line and then to become inoperative, and then in the reverse direction to project the jack sinkers serially from the other end of the line and to become inoperative again, whereby the catch bar subsequent to the advance of the sinkers may retract all the sinkers during each inoperative phase of the cam.

2. In a knitting machine having a line of jack and dividing sinkers, and a catch bar for advancing the dividers and retracting all the sinkers; a helical cam mounted adjacent the sink- .er line for projecting the jack sinkers serially,

which cam is of a length at least equal to that of the sinker line, and extends through less than one complete turn whereby it is provided with an. ineiiective portion, which cam comprises a shaft, cam elements threaded on said shaft in spiral form, and interengaging means on Successive elements for positioning them in that form; and means for circumferentially moving said cam as a whole about its longitudinal axis, rst in one direction to project the jack sinkers serially from one end of the line and then to become inoperative, andvthen in the reverse direction to project the jack'` sinkers serially from the other end of the line and to become inoperative again, whereby the catch bar subsequent to the advance of the sinkers may retract all the sinkers during each inoperative phase of the cam.

3. In` a knitting machine having a line of jack and dividing sinkers, and a catch bar for advancing the dividers and retracting all the sinkers; a helical cam mounted adjacent the sinker line for projecting the jack sinkers serially, which cam is of a length at least equal to that of the sinker line, extends through less than one complete turn whereby it is provided With an ineffective portion, and is provided with means for adjusting the radius of parts thereof; and means for circumferentially moving said cam as a Whole about its longitudinal axis, rst in one direction to project the jack sinkers serially from one end of the line and then to become inoperative, and then in the reverse direction to project the jack sinkers serially from the other end of the line and to become inoperative again, whereby the catch bar subsequent to the advance of the sinkers may retract all the sinkers during each inoperative phase of the cam.

' ARTHUR SHOR'ILAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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