US2442411A - Circular knitting machine with wrap thread mechanism - Google Patents

Description

June 1, 1948. H. H. HOLMES 2,442,411

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE WITH WRAP THREAfi MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 1, 1948.

H. H. 'HOLME S CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE WITH WRAP THREAD MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 6, 1945 Patented June 1, 1948 CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE WITH WRAP THREAD MECHANISM Henry Harold Holmes, Leicester, England, assignor to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Application October 6, 1945, Serial No. 620,701 In Great Britain October 9, 1944 7 Claims. (01. 66135) This invention relates to circular knitting machines with an embroidery head, by which is meant wrap thread mechanism of the type comprising one or more operable thread guides which or each of which is adapted, when actuated, to wrap a Wale thread from a, bobbin, pirn, spool or the like round a needle or needles for the purpose of producing striping, and a variety of other design effects, by embroidery plating on the face of knitted fabric.

For the purpose of producing clear stitches and consequently well defined pattern or ornamental effects it is found desirable to measure off the wale thread or threads for each cycle of operation of the wrap thread mechanism, and the present invention comprises an improvement the object of which is to enable this desideratum to be achieved.

The invention is intended for application primarily to a circular knitting machine of the rotary needle cylinder type with a rotary embroidery head arranged concentrically with respect to the cylinder component, and including a circular series of thread guides adapted to be actuated so as to perform single needle or multi needle wrapping.

In order that the principle of the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into practical effect, a, particular illustrative embodiment of the invention whereby the aforesaid object is attained is hereinafter disclosed as applied to a circular knitting machine of the double axially opposed needle cylinder type furnished with a vertical embroidery head, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of the said machine as is necessary to illustrate the application thereto of one form of embroidery thread measuring means, including an eccentrically mounted Wale thread guide,

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of the said means taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a detail vertical sectional view showing in diagrammatic fashion the manner in which the eccentric thread guide functions to measure off the wale threads.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

The circular knitting machine illustrated in Figure 1 is of the type comprising a bottom or plain needle cylinder l, a superimposed top or rib needle cylinder 2, double-ended needles such as 3 for operation in said cylinders, and sliders 4 in the cylinders for operating the needles and transferring same from one cylinder to the other.

according to knitting requirements. The machine is furnished with a vertical embroidery head of the general form shown and described in the specification of United Kingdom Letters Patent No. 455,801to which the reader is referred for details. Broadly considered, this head comprises an inner cylinder 5 which is mounted concentrically with respect to the needle cylinders l and 2 and grooved to accommodate a circular series of Wrap thread guides such as 6 adapted to supply Wale threads to and co-operate with the needles in the production of embroidery stitches. The cylinder 5 surrounds a fixed sleeve 1 depending from the top plate 8 of themachine. The head also includes a bobbin bracket or rack 9 which is mounted on posts l0 fixed in a bracket l'l attached to a gear l2 by means of which latter the upper part of the head is driven from an appropriate part of the machine. The gear I2 is mounted to rotate on a bearing l3 located within a hollow' central boss l4 formed on the upper side of the top plate 8. The gear l2 also carries a plate l5 fitted with a nest of tubes Hi to guide the threads from the bobbins I1 down to the thread guides 6. The said nest of tubes therefore rotates, together with the bobbin bracketand within the fixed enclosing sleeve 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided between the top cylinder component 2 and a circular concentric thread guide l8 fixed adjacent to the bobbin bracket 9, a perforated annular disc l9 which is mounted horizontally in a carrier C attached to the boss l4 so that the said disc is disposed eccentrically to the embroidery head and the axially opposed needle cylinders. As shown in Figure 1, the carrier C consists of a base plate 20 adjustably mounted on a plate 2| attached to the aforesaid boss l4, angularly spaced posts 22 fixed in the base plate 20 and flanged rollers 23 on the said posts by which the eccentrically disposed annular disc I9 is carried rotatably. The annular disc I9 is formed with a slot 24 (see more particularly Figure 2) for the reception of one of the posts H! of the bobbin bracket 9 whereby the annular disc is driven when the embroidery head is rotated. Where the bobbin bracket 9 is supported by other posts l6 clearance holes 25 (Figure 2) are provided in p the disc 19 to permit the eccentric motion. For adjustment the base plate 20 is conveniently mounted pivotally on the plate 2| which carries it, by means of a fulcrum screw 26 inserted into extensions 20a and 2m of the base plate and the carrier plate respectively and is fixed in position, after adjustment, by means of a locking screw 21 inserted into another extension 2% of the base plate through a slot 28 in an extension Zlb of the carrier plate, as shown more clearly in Figure 2. There are as many perforations 29 as thread guides 6 in the annular discs I 9 and the threads i from the bobbins I! are threaded through the perforations, from which they pass down through the tubes I 6 to the thread guides. By virtue of the eccentricity of the disc i9 and its disposition in relation to the knocking over location KO (Figure 2), when the disc is rotated the threads are successively bent or deflected from their normal path, as shown at the left-hand side of Figure 3, until the extermity of the throw of the disc is reached, e. g.

at a point P 180 removed from the knocking over location KO, whereby the requisite amount of thread is drawn oil the bobbins, whereas 'in the region of the knocking over location the threads straighten but run slacker, as depicted at the right-hand side of Figure '3, so as to provide the surplus whereby the desideratum hereinbelore referred to is achieved.

The carrier plate 2! covers the teeth of the gear 12 and as will beunderstoodfrom the foregoing description, all of the posts I [3 pass through the eccentrically disposed disc IS.

The invention may also be applied to circular knitting machines of the single cylinder type.

The invention has the advantage that a sumcient measure of a thread or threads is provided to enable a desired needle or needles to make an embroidery stitch, or stitches, in a stitch forming action during embroidery plating, without the said needle or needles drawing thread off the bobbin or bobbins or the like, with the result that the stitch or stitches will appear prominently on the face of the ground fabric.

What I claim then is:

1. In a circular knitting machine in combina tion, a rotary needle cylinder component, needles for operation in said component an embroidery head arranged concentrically with respect to said cylinder component, said head comprising means for supporting bobbins, and a circular series of embroidery thread guides adapted to wrap wale threads from the bobbins round desided needles for the purpose of producing design efi'ects by embroidery plating, and a disc with a series of thread guiding holes corresponding .innumberand arrangement with the embroidery thread guides, said disc being rotatably arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of the cylinder component and adapted to be driven to" gether with the latter and the embroidery head so that it will function by virtue ofits eccentric motion to measure off thread from the bobbins for embroidery plating suchwise as to enable the corresponding needles to draw upon the threads so measured off in the formation of embroidery stitches.

2. A combination according to claim .1, where- -in the disc is so arranged in relation to the cylinder component that its maximum measuring ofi action occurs at a location removed some degrees angularly from the knitting location.

3. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a rotary needle cylinder component,

needles for operation in said component an emroidery head arranged concentrically withre- .specttosaid cylinder component, said head comprising m ans for supporting bobbins, and a circular series of embroidery thread guides adapted to wrap wale threads from the bobbins round desired needles for the purpose of producing design eiiects by embroidery plating, a disc with a series of thread guiding holes corresponding in number and arrangement with the embroidery thread guides, said disc being rotatably arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of the cylinder component and adapted to be driven together with the latter and the embroidery head so that it will function by virtue 'of its eccentric motion to measure oif wale enabling the said-disc to be adjusted to vary its throw according to requirements.

l. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a vertical rotary needle cylinder component, needles for operation in said component, a vertical "embroidery head arranged concentrically with respect to said cylinder component said head comprising a rotary bracket for supporting a circularseries of bobbins, and a corresponding circular series of embroidery thread guides adapted to wrap wale threads from said bobbins round desired needles for the purpose of producing design effects by embroidery plating, a circular concentric thread guide fixed adjacent .to and adapted to revolve with the bobbin bracket, a horizontally disposed disc with a series of thread guiding holes corresponding in number and arrangement with the embroidery thread guides, and a carrier for the said disc, said carrier being attached to the head of the cylinder component so that thedisc is located between the latter and the aforesaid circular concentric thread guide and the said disc being rotatably arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of the cylinder component and adapted to be driventogether with the embroidery head so that it will function by virtue of its eccentric motion to measure oil wale threads from the bobbins for embroidery plating suchwise as to enable the corresponding needles to draw upon the threads so measured on in the formation of embroidery stitches.

5. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a vertical rotary needle cylinder component, needles for operation in said component, a vertical embroidery .head arranged concentrically with respect to said cylinder component said head comprising a rotary bracket for supporting a circular series of bobbins, and a corresponding circular series of embroidery thread guides adapted to wrap wale threads from said bobbins round desired needles for the purpose of producing design effects by embroidery plating, a circular concentric thread guide fixed adjacent to and adapted to revolve with the bobbin bracket, a horizontally disposed disc with a series of thread guidin holes corresponding in number and arrangement with the embroidery thread guides, and ;a carrier for the said disc, said carrier comprising 'a base plate adjustably mountedon a further plate attached to the head of the cylindercomponent, angularly spaced posts supported by said base plate, and flanged rollers on the said'posts by which the disc is carried rotatably, the disc beinglocated between the cylinder component and the aforesaid circular concentric thread guide and being arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of the cylinder component and adapted to be driven together with the embroidery head so thatit will function by virtue of its eccentric motion to measure off wale threads from the bobbins suchwise as to enable the corresponding needles to draw upon the threads so measured off in the formation of embroidery stitches.

6. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a rotary needle cylinder component, needles for operation in said component an embroidery head arranged concentrically with respect to said cylinder component, said head comprising a rotary bobbin bracket, posts for supporting said bracket, and a circular series of embroidery thread guides adapted to wrap Wale threads from bobbins on the bracket round desired needles for the purpose of producing design effects by embroidery plating, and a disc which is arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of the cylinder component and formed with a slot for reception of one of the supporting posts of the bobbin bracket whereby said disc is driven when the embroidery head is rotated, said disc being formed with a series of thread guiding holes corresponding in number and arrangement with 20 the embroidery thread guides so that it will function by virtue of its eccentric motion to measure REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,853,020 Page Apr. 5, 1932 2,065,469 Kent Dec. 22, 1936 2,110,? 67 Holmes et a1 Mar. 8, 1938 2,258,569 Holmes et a1 Oct. 7, 1941 2,387,253 Getaz Oct. 23, 1943

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