US2463751A - Wrap striping or patterning mechanism in knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

March 8, 1949. DEANS ET AL 2,463,751

WRAP STRIPING 0R PATTERNING MECHANISM IN KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 339 /N VEN Tow 6 gpLQwd, KW M may,

BY 1 W W March 8, 1949. F. E. DEANS ET AL 2.463.751

WRAP STRIPING OR PATTERNING MECHANISM IN KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTOR$ H 5) zfwwkw March 8, 1949. E s ET AL 2,463,751

"WRAP STRIPING OR PATTERNING MECHANISM IN KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I/VVENTOE 6 March 8, 1949. F. E. DEANS ET AL 2,463,751

WRAP STRIPING OR PATTERNING MECHANISM IN KNITTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 4, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I iQfQ--\ :DC@

W VEN TO/QS FIGS Patented Mar. 8, 1949 2,463,751 WRAP STRIPING on PATTERNING MECHA- NISM m KNITTING MACHINES Frederick Edward Deans and Carlyle Herbert Wainwright, Leicester, England, assignors to The Bentley Engineering Company Limited,

Leicester, England Application September 4,1946, Serial No. 694,730 In Great Britain September 12, 1945 18 Claims. 1

This invention relates to knitting machines and is concerned with mechanism therein for the production of patterns in fabric by wrapping addi-. tional threads round selected needles; such mechanism is hereinafter referred to as wrap striping or patterning mechanism. It will be understood that these wrapped threads are addi-. tional to the ground thread of which the fabric is in the main knitted and, being incorporated with the ground thread in selected needle loops, impart a patterned appearance to the fabric.

The invention provides in a knitting machine having a relatively displaceable needle bed and needle cams or equivalent needle-operating means, wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising at least one wrap finger having a relative wrapping travel past a group of needles capable of selection to take the wrap thread fed thereby, means for advancing the finger at the. plain side of the group of needles, means for projecting it outwards across the needle line to. the hook side thereof, an abutment for engaging the projected finger and for locating it with respect to the needle-operating means while its relative travel at the hook side of said group is efiected at the same speed as the aforesaid relative displacement, and means for moving the finger back across the needle line after it has been carriedpast the said group. By the statement that the, finger is advanced at the plain side of the needles it is to be understood that the finger is caused; to move relatively to the needles and to the needle-operating means in such direction that the speed of relative displacement between it and said;

means is increased; that is to say in the case of; a rotating needle cylinder machine the finger is caused to move in the direction of rotation towards the knitting point at a speed greater than that of the needles, while in the case of a stationary needle cylinder machine wherein the needleoperating means rotates the finger is caused to move in the opposite direction to said rotation. It may here be mentioned that the invention is particularly applicable to rotating needle cylin-v der machines although it is applicable to circular knitting machines in general; the mechanism herein described has primarily been devised for use in machines of the superimposed needle cylinder type.

While it is within the scope of the invention to provide for the positive movement of the finger. both at the back and at the hook side of the line of needles yet it is preferred that its advance at the back of the line of needles shall be against the action of a spring bias, which will facilitate its wrapping travel at the hook side of the needles.

For the purposes of permitting two different. wrap threads to be fed to the same or different, needles of the aforesaid group the mechanism may incorporate two a ja e fin rs advan ed simultaneously, means for projecting them outwards across the needle line and for retracting them inwards across it one after another, and two spaced abutments for engaging the respective projected fingers whereby said fingers travel one after another past the same group of needles.

The foregoing and other features of the invention set out in the appended claims are incorpoF rated in the mechanism, primarily suitable for a circular knitting machine of the superimposed needle cylinder type wherein the cylinders rotate (such as that sold under the registered trademark Komet) which is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of the relevant parts of the machine, showing wrap fingers, wrap finger carrier, and associated parts, but with the upper needle cylinder and cam box omitted;

Figures 2 and 2A are a sectional elevation, taken on a substantially radial plane, through the upper needle cylinder and cam box;

Figure 3 is a sectional plan taken on the line A-A in Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a stop plate;

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating a detail in elevation;

Figure 6 shows the cams of the bottom cam box.

It is to be remarked that since knitting machines of the type referred to are themselves well known, the appended drawings show only so much of the knitting machine as will permit it to be identified and as is necessary to make clear, to

one well acquainted with the construction of this type of machine, the application of the present mechanism thereto. Thus, the top and bottom cylinders are shown at I and 2, the top cam box at 3, the double-ended needles at 4, and the top sliders at 5. The method on which said mechanism operates consists in advancing, at a wrapping zone, a wrap thread guide or finger 6 (which rotates with the needle cylinders and is provided at each location in the circle whereat it is desired to supply a wrap thread) at the inside of the needle circle towards the knitting point, so that in effect it overtakes a group of needles, projecting it outwards across the needle circle, holding it stationary so that it lags behind said group of needles and the latter overtake it with the result that such needles thereof as may have been selectively raised (or maintained in a relatively raised position) receive this thread, and then moving it inwards across the needle circle.

In the present construction the wrap thread guide or finger 6 is a long blade-like member mounted inside the upper or rib-needle cylinder l and having a thread guiding portion or toe l at or near the lower end. It is carried, at the required location in the needle circle, in a groove in a cylindrical carrier 8 (inside and rotating 3 with needle cylinder I) and is shaped so that it can rock at the wrapping zone in the groove, whereby it receives a radial movement which takes the thread guiding end 1 across the needle circle. The fulcrum point 9 is intermediate the 4 its own springiness to the stop 23. The extent of the deflection is determined by the movement given to the deflecting piece 20 and is preferably a little more than enough to advance the finger ends and the upper end is arranged (e. g. with butt It!) so that it can be acted upon by cams or the equivalent I I at said zone to move the thread guiding end 1 across the needle circle. The cams ll may act in both directions or in one direction only and the finger returned by a spring l2, being stopped from excessive movement by a at the leading end of the group needles for prostop [3 on the bobbin carrier I4 on which a sup-' ply bobbin l5 for each wrap finger may be mounted.

The wrap finger 6 is housed in the groove in the carrier 8 for preferably only the upper portion of its length, the carrier 8 extending from level l6 near the upper end of the finger to level ll a little below the fulcrum point 9. The lower part is then free to be deflected laterally to provide the movement, circumferentially of the needle circle, which causes it to overtake the needles of the group with which it co-operates and to be positioned at the leading end of the group (the leading end being that end which arrives first at the knitting point) this overtaking movement is hereinbefore referred to as the advance of the finger. Thus, the direction of rotation of the needle cylinders l and 2 and of carrier 8 being anti-clockwise in Figure 3, the finger moves to the right hand end of the group of needles shown in Figures 1 and 3. The flexing of this finger 6 to give this movement is preferably restricted to a comparatively short length of the finger say about one inch, immediately below the carrier 8, in order to give a more definite and uniform movement to the thread guiding end I, with the vertical component of the movement a minimum. This restriction of the flexing may be achieved by making the finger in a stiffer section in the part which is not required to flex either by the formation of the finger itself or by attaching a stiffening piece l8. In the latter case, the stiffening piece may incorporate a projection [9 to be engaged to deflect the finger. One method by which the deflection of the finger 6 may be carried out consists of mounting a deflecting piece 20 in a groove in the carrier 8, spaced a short distance from the groove housing the finger 6 and parallel to that groove. The lower end of the deflecting piece 20 engages the projection [9 on the finger and is operated to slide in its groove, for instance by a projecting butt 2| engaging cams 22, 22a at or near its upper end, to bring about the deflection. The engagement between the deflecting piece 29 and the projection IS] on the finger 6 may be a hinged connection so that the finger is deflected in both directions and controlled throughout its movement by the deflecting piece or the engagement may be merely contact so that the finger is deflected in one direction only by the deflecting piece and returned by other means. In the illustrated construction the latter method is adopted, and the finger 6 is made of springy material and set so that when free it tends to lie a little beyond the rear extremity of its intended starting or rest position at the trailing (or left hand) end of the group of needles (Fig. 3) with which it co-operates (the trailing end of the group being that end which arrives last at the knitting point). A rear stop 23 holds the finger 6 up to its starting position and when the finger is deflected by the deflecting piece 20 and released it will return by jection as the deflecting piece is withdrawn. The spring stop 24 may consist in merely a spring blade, the rear end of which is anchored at 25 in a position clear of the finger 6 and the front end of which lies in the path of the finger and is shaped so that it is brushed aside (e. g. pressed down) as the finger advances towards its position for projection. The outer edge 24' of front stop 24 is so placed that as the finger 6 is projected outwards across the needle circle the heel 26 of the finger remains in contact with the stop 24 until the yarn guiding portion or toe 1 of the finger is safely outside the needle circle. At this stage, the back edge 26 of the heel 26 has passed outwards beyond the edge 24 of stop 24 and the cleft or instep 21 between heel and toe spans the needle line (see Fig. 2); therefore the finger 6 tends to spring immediately to the fixed stop 23 at the other end of its movement. This movement however, is delayed by the presence of a stationary abutment 28 placed outside the needle circle in such a position that the toe I of the finger 6 rests on it as soon as the finger becomes free from the spring stop 24. The object of the abutment 28 is to prevent the sudden snap of the finger 6 to its rear stop 23 with the consequent tendency to break the yarn. The finger 6 is therefore held stationary while the needles travel rotationally past it, with the result that the speed of the travel of the finger in relation to the group of needles towards the trailing end of said group is equal to that of the needles past the feeder 29 for the ground yarn. This is the wrapping traverse of the finger 6. It takes place before the needles of the group have cleared their old loops and during it selected needles are held in a raised position, which is less than the clearing height, so that the thread fed by the finger is laid on said needles above the old loops and above the spoons of the open latches. When the finger arrives at the trailing end of the group it is retracted within the needle circle by spring I2 and continues to rotate with the needle cylinder I. The needles that have just been wrapped are subsequently lowered to join the remainder.

Preferably the abutment 28 is mounted to yield in the direction of rotation (in the case of a re- "tating cylinder machine) so that if the finger 6 is projected outwards a little before its correct time the abutment will be brushed aside and no part of the machine will be damaged. Therefore the abutment 28 is carried by a lever 30 which is normally stationary and is freely mounted on pin 3| and is urged by spring 32 against a positioning stop 33.

In order to make patterns in the fabric having two colours in the same panel and in the same course of knitting it has been proposed to lay the two yarns simultaneously on needles at difierent levels, and to select the needles to be taken to three different levels, a low level in which neither yarn is taken an intermediate level in which the low yarnis taken and the high yarn passes over the head of the needle, and a high level in which the high yarn is taken and the low yarn lies below the latch so that it is thrown over the head of the needle at the knitting point and does not appear on the face of the fabric.

The illustrated mechanism is constructed and arranged for the introduction of two colours, in the same panel or the group and in one and the same course of knitting, in two successive stages instead of the single stage of the above mentioned prior proposal. Thus instead of feeding both wrap threads through two guide holes in one of the same finger, two separate fingers 6 and 6a are employed. The wrap fingers 5, 6a make their wrapping traverse one after another so that the wrapping is eifected in two stages; both stages occur before the needles have cleared their old loops, and the selected needles are raised to a height less than clearing height. The needles that at the first stage receive the first wrap thread (from finger l3) above the spoons of their open latches and above the uncleared old loops, are lowered to rejoin the remaining needles of the group before the second stage; at the second stage other selected needles are raised to the wrap-ping height to receive the second wrap thread from finger ta. Thereafter all needles of the group continue round to the knitting point whereat they all receive the ground yarn, and the loops of this ground yarn, together with the wrap thread loops on the selected needles, are drawn through the old loops and the latter are cast oil. It will be appreciated that in these operations if one of the wrap threads floats (as in any instances it will), past a non-wrap needle between two wrapped needles, this float length is passed to the back of the non-wrap needle and does not appear at the outer face of the fabric.

It may here be pointed out that this sequence of operations necessarily involves a movement of the wrapping fingers 5a, substantially circumferentially above the heads of the needles and the fact that wrapping takes place prior to clearing overcomes the difficulties that have been experienced in effecting such a movement in a machine of the superimposed needle cylinder type wherein there is little space between the two cylinders and between the rib and plain needles.

The subject matter of the U. S. patent applications Serial Nos. 694,731 and 694,732, filed September 4, 1946, is disclosed in the present application.

It is important to separate sufiiciently the old main or ground loop and the wrap yarn or otherwise the wrap yarn will clear the latch at the same time as the main loop and will not then appear on the face of the fabric. This separation is not readily achieved without special means particularly when the first needle to be wrapped in one course is the last needle or very near the last needle wrapped in the previous course. The means employed for this purpose comprise a member as which lies immediately behind the needles and above the fabric and extends from the beginning of the wrapping zone to a point a little beyond that where the loops clear the latches. As an additional safety precaution, it is preferable to lower the needles slightly immediately after clearing so that it is impossible for the wrap yarns to get below the latches. The member for separating the yarns as just described may conveniently be formed from a piece of round wire attached at the beginning of the wrapping zone to a non-rotatable tube located inside the top needle cylinder I so that the tube and wire remain stationary while the needles 4 revolve around them. The main loops are always below this member EM and the wrap fingers 6, 6a pass above it to cross the needle circle and consequently lay the wrap yarns over the top of it. The wrap yarns slide along it until they slip off the free end just beyond the clearing point. The tube 35 is cut away, at the wrapping zone, at 36 so as to permit of the finger movements.

The two fingers 6, 6a are mounted either in the same groove in the carrier 8 or one in each of two closely adjacent grooves, preferably the latter. It is convenient to identify them as being the first and second fingers, the first finger 6 being that which makes the first movement outside the needle circle, but being actually the finger which is the rear-most of the two. Only this first finger B, which is the nearest to the deflecting piece 28 is provided with a projector 19 to be engaged by the latter but the second finger 6a (with a stiffener ma) is simultaneously deflected by contact with the first one, so that both fingers make a simultaneous advance and have their position at a leading end of the group of needles determined by the spring stop 24 abovementioned which engages the first finger 6. As soon as the first finger 8 is projected across the needle circle and thereby vacates its position at the spring stop 24, the second finger 6a springs against said stop so that it is ready in the same position for projection when its turn comes. The projected first finger 5, having been engaged by its fixed abutment 28, is held stationary so that the needles move on past it and the trailing end of the group eventually moves opposite it, at which stage the rear stop 23 catches up with it and causes it to travel ahead with the group of needles, away from its abutment 28; it is also swung inwards across the needle circle by its spring 22. This rear stop 23 is formed with either astop or an incline 3'! so that as soon as the first finger B is inside the needle circle a further slight inward movement of said finger causes its heel 26' to spring down the step or incline, thus leaving the stop vacant for the second finger 6a to be retracted (by its spring l2) at exactly the same point in the needle circle as was the first finger. The second finger 8a is of course projected outwards across the needle circle by cams ll at a later stage than the first finger and engages a second yielding abutment 28a which is spaced circumferentially from the first abutment 28 (nearer to the knitting point) which second abutment holds it stationary until the trailing end of the group of needles arrives opposite it and the rear stop 23 engages it. It will therefore be appreciated that the fingers 6, to make their wrapping movement outside the needles one after the other.

Abutment 28a is mounted on lever 39a pivoted at 3Ia and urged by spring 32a against stop 3311. As the stops 23, 24 need to be placed with some precision so that the fingers are projected and retracted between two chosen needles, they are provided with means for adjustment so that they can be accurately set. For this purpose they are carried by or formed on a sector shaped plate 38 which is positioned on the upper surface of a dial 39 inside the needle circle and has near its outer edge a curved rim 40' slidably engaged in an annular groove M in the dial. The inner edge of this plate 38 is slidably received in a groove 42 formed between the upper surface of the dial and a member 43 attached to the dial boss 44, which member 43 also houses a wire or other ring 45 (preferably of circular cross section) which rests on the upper face of the buried end of the plate 38. A locking screw 46 is inserted radially in a suitably threaded hole in the member 43 and has a conical end which bears on the ring 45; thus by tightening the screw 46 the ring 45 is pressed down locally to grip the associated stop-carrying plate 38 and the position of the stops 23, 24 may readily be adjusted by slackening off the screw.

It has previously been mentioned that tube 35 remains stationary while the fingers 6, 6a rotate inside, and the cylinder l rotates outside it. To permit of this, the carrier 8 is driven by gear 53 (to which it is clamped by plate 52 and which has a bearing in stationary plate 54), the cylinder I is driven by gear 6| at a lower level, while the tube 35 is supported at an intermediate level by stationary casing 51. Tube 35 is locked by nut 56 to a ring 55 which is keyed to said casing, and in order that the height of the lower edge of the tube, and of the separating wire 34, may be adjusted the edge 58 of ring 55 is of cam-form and rests on a ring 59 having its co-operating upper edge also of cam-form so that by adjusting the cam ring 59 circumferentially within housing 51 by means of the protruding pin 60 the tube 35 may be raised and lowered.

Figure 6 is a development of the cams for the lower needle cylinder and also shows the needles 4, bottom sliders and jacks H. During circular knitting (e. g. during the knitting of the leg and foot of a seamless half hose or the like) the knitting butts 89 of the sliders 5 descend the knitting cam 8| a and, bolt cams 61 and 68 being withdrawn, travel from right to left along the path indicated by the dotted line 66. Bolt cam 69 is operative and acts on the butts 10 of jacks H to raise all needles so that the knitting butts 89 engage clearing cam 14. When Wrap striping is required, selected needles are raised to a nonclearing height, to take the wrap yarn supplied by finger 6, by means of cam 12 so that the knitting butts follow path 13; after taking the wrap thread they are lowered by cam 11. If a second wrap thread is to be supplied by finger 6a, a second selection is made at the second stage and the selected needles are raised to a non-clearing height by cam 15 to take the wrap thread fed by finger 6a, the knitting butts following path 16. After taking this second thread the raised needles are not lowered but are cleared by cam 74, together with all unwrapped needles as well as those which took the first wrap thread: the butts of the cleared needles pass on over cam 8| and the needles take the main thread at feeder 29 and are lowered by cam flla so that they all knit. Any appropriate selecting mechanism may be employed to select needles to be raised by cams l2 and 15.

In oscillatory knitting, when knitting the heel, it is desirable to direct the idle instep needles into a low non-knitting track instead of into the usual high non-knitting track so that the wrap thread can be laid on the needles before their loops are cleared in the first rotary course following the heel. For this purpose, bolt cam 6'! is inserted sufliciently to engage the long butts 89 associated with the instep needles and to direct them into the low track 18 but to miss the short butts 89 associated with the heel needles which short butts therefore follow track 19, bolt cam 68 being inserted to engage them. Bolt cam 69 is withdrawn to permit the idle instep needles to remain in the low non-knitting track throughout the heel. Cam stands away from the cylindei sufficiently to miss the short knitting butts 89 but is close enough to engage the long knitting butts Thus, in a swing from left to right during the knitting of the heel, after the heel needles all knit by reason of their short butts 89 descending the full stitch cam 8| they are raised by cam 81 and are cleared by cam 83 but the long butts associated with the instep needles are directed by cam 80 into the low non-knitting track shown by a chain dotted line beneath cam 83. Picking is done in the usual manner. That is to say, the needles which knit the heel are gradually reduced in number by the end needle in each swing being raised to the high inactive loop-holding level 84, said needles being subsequently picked down again to the knitting track. A draw thread of the type described in British patent specification 400,623 may be knitted by cams 68 and 85 being inserted sufiiciently to direct the butts 89 down track 86. 87 is the draw thread stitch cam and when a draw thread is to be knitted it is lowered together with its guard cam 88 to a stitch-drawing position.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not restricted to the provision of a pair of wrap fingers 6, 6a, and that if desired a single wrap finger 6 may be provided at that location in the needle circle whereat it is desired to provide a single wrap thread. Furthermore, if it is desired to supply a wrap thread or threads at more than one location, the appropriate finger 6 is or fingers 6, 6a, are provided at each such location to operate as they arrive at the wrapping zone illustrated in the drawings.

We claim:

1. In a knitting machine having a relatively displaceable needle bed and needle-operating means, and needles in said bed including a group capable of selection to take a wrap thread; Wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising at least one wrap finger having relative wrapping travel past said group, means for advancing the finger at the plain side of the group, means for moving it outwards across the needle line to the hook side thereof, an abutment for engaging the projected finger and for locating it with respect to the needle-operating means while its relative travel at the hook side of said group is effected at the same speed as the aforesaid relative displacement, and means for moving the finger back across the needle line after it has been carried past the said group.

2. A machine according to claim 1 being a circular knitting machine.

3. In a knitting machine of the superimposed needle cylinder type having relatively rotatable needle cylinders and needle-operating means, said cylinders being equipped with needles including at least one group capable of selection to take a wrap thread; wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising at least one wrap finger having a relative Wrapping travel circumferentially past said group, means for advancing the finger circumferentially at the interior of the needle circle past said group, means for moving it outwards across the needle circle, an abutment for engaging the projected finger and for locating it with respect to the needle-operating means while its relative circumferential travel at the outside of the said group of needles is effected at the same speed as the aforesaid relative displacement, and means for moving the finger inwards across the needle line after it has been carried past said group.

4. A machine according to claim 3, having the finger suspended inside the top cylinder.

5. A circular knitting machine according to claim 1, having the abutment located outside the needle circle.

6. In a knitting machine having a relatively displaceable needle bed and needle-operating means, said bed being equipped with needles including at least one group capable of selection to take a wrap thread; wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising a flexible wrap finger having a relative wrapping travel past said group, means for flexing said finger to advance it at the plain side of the group of needles, means for projecting it outwards across the needle line to the hook side thereof, an abutment for engaging the projected finger and for locating it against its resilience with respect to the needle-operating means while its relative travel at the hook side of said group is effected the same speed as the aforesaid relative displacement, and means for moving the finger back across the needle line after it has been carried past said group.

7. A machine according to claim 6, having means for flexing the finger comprising a slidably mounted deflecting member, co-operating surfaces on said member and finger, and means for moving said deflecting member.

8. In a circular knitting machine of the type having super-imposed needle cylinders and relatively rotatable needle-operating means, said cylinders being equipped with needles including a group thereof capable of selection to take a wrap thread; wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising a finger carrier inside the top cylinder, a flexible wrap finger carried thereby, a groove in the carrier, a deflecting member slidably mounted in the groove, co-operating surfaces on said deflecting member and finger for flexing the latter circumferentially of the needle circle upon sliding movement of the said member, means for moving the deflecting member to flex the finger and thereby to advance it along the inside of said group of needles, means for projecting the flexed finger outwards across the needle line at the leading end of said group, an abutment having a stationary location with respect to said needle-operating means at the outside of the needle circle for engaging the projected finger and for locating it while it makes a relative traverse under its flexibility at the outside of the group of needles at the same speed as the aforesaid relative displacement, and means for moving the finger back across the needle circle after it has been carried past said group.

9. A machine according to claim 8, having the finger pivotally mounted for movement across the needle circle.

10. A machine according to claim 8, having a fulcrum for the finger about which it rocks in the carrier for movement across the needle circle.

11. A machine according to claim 6, having a spring stop for positioning the finger, after its advance at the plain side of the needles, ready for movement across the needle line, which stop is brushed aside by the finger in said advance.

12. A machine according to claim 6, having in combination a spring stop for positioning the finger at the leading end of the group of needles ready for movement across the needle line, which stop is flexible to be brushed aside by the finger in its advance at the plain side of the needles, and a rear stop located at the plain side of the needles for engaging the finger While the latter is still engaged by the abutment and for thereby positioning said finger for retraction.

13. A machine according to claim 1, having two adjacent wrap fingers, means for advancing them simultaneously, means for projecting them outwards across the needle line and for retracting them inwards across it one after another, and two spaced abutments for engaging the respective pivoted fingers whereby said fingers travel one after another past the same group of needles.

14. A machine according to claim 1 having two adjacent wrap fingers, means mounting them side by side, means for advancing them simultaneously at the plain side of the needles, means for projecting them one after another, the rearmost finger first, across the needle line to the hook side thereof, abutments for engaging the projected fingers one after another and for locating them to make their relative traverse one after another, and means for retracting the fingers across the needle line one after another.

15. A machine according to claim 1, having a separator extending along the needle line at the plain side of the needles for maintaining the wrap loops separate from the main loops.

16. A circular knitting machine of the superimposed rotating needle cylinder type, having wrap striping or patterning mechanism comprising a pair of flexible wrap fingers suspended side by side within the upper cylinder for rotation therewith and having thread-guiding lower extremities and fulcrums about which the latter rock across the needle circle, means for flexing the fingers to advance the extremities inside the circle past a group of the needles, 2. front stop for locating the fingers at the leading end of said group, means for rocking the fingers to swing the extremities one after another, from the front stop, to the outside of the circle, a pair of circumferentially spaced abutments having stationary locations outside the circle for engaging the projected fingers and for producing a relative wrapping traverse by holding the extremities stationary while the greoup of needles travels past them, a rear stop in the needle circle at the rear end of said group for causing the projected fingers again to travel with the needles away from the abutments, and means for rocking the fingers to retract the extremities to the inside of the needle circle.

17. A machine according to claim 16 wherein each finger has a toe with a thread guide, a heel for engagement by the stops, and an arch or instep between heel and toe to clear the heads of needles in the lower cylinder.

18. A machine according to claim 16, having a stationary tube located between the revolving upper cylinder and the revolving fingers, which tube has a cut-out opposite the abutments for permitting the fingers to be projected and to make their wrapping traverse outside the needle circle.

FREDERICK EDWARD DEANS. CARLYLE HERBERT WAINWRIGHT.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,117,920 Taggart May 17, 1938 2,204,417 Lawson June 11, 1940 2,302,946 Holmes Nov. 24, 1942 2,313,642 Holmes et a1 1. Mar. 9, 1943

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