US2910847A - Circular knitting machine of the superimposed needle cylinder type - Google Patents

Description

1 9 F. E. DEANS ErAL 2,910,847

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE SUPERIMPOSED NEEDLE CYLINDER TYPE Filed Oct. 6, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/GQl.

l2 I m QER m L I m /9 I2 I t I Aftorney Nov. 3, 1959 F. E. DEANS ETA!- CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE SUPERIMPOSED NEEDLE CYLINDER TYPE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 0m. 6. 195a Nov. 3, 1959 F. E. DEANS ET CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE SUPERIMPOSED NEEDLE CYLINDER TYPE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 6, 1953 F/GS.

Inuefitors A Home y Nov. 3, 1959 F. E. DEAN-S ETA!- 2,910,847

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE SUPERIMPOSED I NEEDLE CYLINDER TYPE Filed Oct. 6, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m F/G.7..

M WWW Attorney United States PatentO CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE OF THE SUPER- INIPOSED NEEDLE CYLINDER TYPE Frederick Edward Deans and Carlyle Herbert Wainwright, Leicester, England, assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Bentley Engineering Company Limited, Leicester, England Application October 6, 1953, Serial No. 384,448

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 10, 1952 4 Claims. (CI. 6614) This invention is concerned with circular knitting machines of the type having superimposed co-axial needle cylinders arranged to rotate, and equipped with doubleended needles, and sliders in each cylinder for operating said needles for knitting and for transferring needles between the two cylinders to alter the character of the fabric (e.g. from rib to plain or from one kind of rib fabric to another), and having stationary cam boxes, one for each cylinder, for actuating the sliders in their knitting and transferring motions; Such knitting machines (of which those sold under the registered trademark Komet are a well known example) are commonly employed for knitting hose and half hose, in which case the cylinders are rotatable and oscillatable.

An object of the present invention is to effect such improvements in machines of the type specified as will render' various parts of them more accessible and will facilitate the maintenance of such machines by hosiery machine mechanics.

In machines of the type specified it is often desired to make more elaborate changes in the character of the fabric than a merechange over between plain and rib fabric or a mere alteration in the type of rib fabric. Therefore it is known to provide the top cylinder of such machines with an extension, above the length required merely for the knitting and transferring movements of the top sliders, and to equip this extension with jacks or other patterning instruments which act on the sliders under the dictates of a patterning mechanism operable on the instrument and so give the sliders movements which are not provided for by the normal knitting and transferring cams in the top cam box. In such an arrangement it is customary to fix the top cam box to the underside of an intermediate plate which is supported by pillars from the frame of the machine, and to support the top cylinder from a top plate by a hearing at the upper end of the said extension, which plate is itself supported by pillars from the intermediate plate. It will be appreciated that the extension above referred to (which may or may not be integral with the lower part of the cylinder) is located between the two plates, and the patterning mechanism for use in conjunction therewith is also located between two plates. The patterning mechanism serves to bring the patterning instruments or jacks into or out of range of additional'cams which are supported on the top surface of the said intermediate plate, and 'these additional cams impart additional movement to the patterning instruments which, in turn, impart movements to the sliders in order to produce patterns. Such additional cams must be correctly located but must be removable, for, which purpose they are doweled to the intermediate plate. For convenience, moreover, the top cam box must be built in sections any one of which is separately removable and, in machines of this character as heretofore constructed, removal of the additional cams and/or cam box sections has been a matter of some difficulty. Various other parts of the machine have, in general, been comparatively inacces:

- cam box;

sible because of the arrangements just described, thus also leading to difficulty in maintenance. Moreover, the provision of the said intermediate plate itself involves an otherwise unnecessary elongation of the top cylinder and an increase in the cost of manufacture of the machine, as Well as further interfering with the accessibility of various parts.

The present invention provides a circular knitting ma chine of the type specified, wherein the top cylinder is extended above the length required for the knitting and transferring movements of the top sliders and is equipped within said extended part with additional instruments for actuating the sliders under the dictates of patterning mechanism operable on the instruments, the top cylinder being rotatably supported from a stationary support by a hearing at the upper end of such extension so as to hang from the latter, and the top cam box also being supported from said stationary support in such manner as to permit the patterning mechanism to act on the instruments. It will thus be appreciated that the intermediate plate hitherto employed is now eliminated, with a consequent increase in accessibility of the various parts of the machine, and a reduction in the over-all height of the machine parts.

While the top-cam box may be supported from' the top cylinder itself yet, preferably, there is cam box suspension means extending down exteriorly of the cylinder extension, directly from the said support to the cam box, and this suspension means has at least one gap or aperture permitting the patterning mechanism to act on the instruments. In this manner the cam box is'suspended directly from the top support.

While the suspension means may take the form of a sleeve hanging down from the support, and cut away at appropriate locations to provide one or more windows for the purpose referred to, it preferably consists of a plurality of separate suspension members spaced apart around the extension so as to leave gaps between them.

These suspension members may be in the form of bars,

straps or rods and it will thus be appreciated that the extension is substantially unenclosed.

If the aforesaid separate suspension members are employed it is preferred to provide anchoring means, in addition to them, for preventing rotation or partial rotation of the cam box. Whatever the construction of the suspension means, it is further preferred to provide centering means additional to the suspension means, for centering the cam box with respect to the axis of the bottom cylinder. This centering means may be identical with the anchoring means above mentioned.

According to another feature of this invention the top cam box is constructed in sections at least one of which is removable and this top cam box has at least one instrument-actuating cam in it for actuating the instruments in accordance with the dictates of the patterning mechanism.

The foregoing and other features of the invention are incorporated in the knitting machine of the type specified which will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the'upper part of the said machine;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the machine taken on the line IIII in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a detail view, partly in section, illustrating the connection of one of the suspension straps to the top Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the connecting plates employed for connecting the sections of the cam box together;

Figure 5 is a part-sectional view of an alternative means for suspending the topcam box from the. topplateg.

Figure 6 is an elevation of the lower part of the arrangement shown in Figure Figure 7 is a part-sectional elevation; and

Figure 8 is a sectional plan of. means for adjusting the axial alignment of the top cam box; and

Figure 9 shows in perspective a means for adjusting the stitch cam.

In Figure 1 sufiicient of the knitting machine is shown to permit of its being identified as a machine of the type specified. Attention is directed to the top and bottom needle cylinders 1, 2, their respective cam boxes 3, 4 and the bed 5 of the machine (on which the bottom cylinder 2 is rotatably supported and on which the bottom cam box 4 is stationary). The bottom cam box 4 contains various knitting and transferring cams such as are indicated generally at 6, and it may have associated with it a conventional picker mechanism 7 for use in making heels and toes of hose and half hose. The top cam box 3 contains conventional knitting and transferring cams such as are indicated generally at 8.

The top cylinder 1 has a tricked upward extension 1a extending beyond the length necessary merely to accommodate the top sliders and to provide for their knitting and transferring movements, this extension 1a being equipped with slidable patterning jacks of a kind themselves well known. These jacks are adapted to be acted upon by any known form of patterning mechanism, one form of which is indicated generally at 9, this being shown in an inoperative position in full lines and in an operative position in broken lines. The patterning mechanism, when operated, slides the jacks and brings them into and out of the range of patterning cams disposed within the top part of the cam .box 3. The patterning cams impart additional movements to the jacks so that the latter in turn impart, to the sliders, movements which difier from those imparted to the latter by the normal knitting and transferring cams. One of the patterning cams is indicated generally at 10.

The top cylinder 1 is rotatably supported or suspended fromv a bearing 11 at the upper end of the extension 1a, such bearing being in or on stationary top support plate 12, so that the top cylinder hangs from it. This plate 12 is fixedly mounted on upright pillars 13, 14, 15 standing up from the bed 5, and holds the bearing 11 in axial alignment with the bottom cylinder 1. The cam box 3 is suspended from the underside of the top plate 12 by three suspension straps 16 which are equally spaced around the periphery of the extension In.

These suspension straps shown in Figs. 1 and 3 serve merely to support the cam box 3 and have no part in preventing the latter from rotating. They are pivotally suspended from a top plate 12 at their top ends and are pivotally connected at their bottom ends to the cam box inappropriate manner, as for example by universal joints, that is to say joints permitting simultaneous movements in two mutually transverse directions. Specifically each strap 16 is pivoted at its upper end to a head 17 by a radial. pivot 171 and each head is pivoted by a tangential pivot 18 to a bracket 19 secured to a mounting on the under side of plate 12. At its lower end each strap 16 is provided with a ball 20 which is received in a radial hole 21 in the shell of the cam box 3, being there retained by a spring loaded ball 22 see Fig. 3) for the purpose hereinafter mentioned.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a modified construction wherein the suspension members for the cam box 3 are in the form of rods 116 each pivotally suspended from a pivot block. 117 screwed into a downward extension 112 of the top plate 12 and locked. in position by a nut 118. Each pivot block 117 has a slit in which fits the upper end of a suspension rod 116, the pivot of which is indicated at 216. Each suspension rod 116 at its lower end is provided with a ball headed pin 119 having a head 120 which is received in a radial. hole 121 in the shell of the cam box 3, being releasabl retained therein by a spring plate 122 pivotally mounted at 123 for the purpose hereinafter mentioned. The plate 122 is bowed when relaxed so as to bear frictionally on the side of the cam box when fixed in position. This prevents any accidental movement to the open position.

Since the suspension members 16 or 116 do not com pletely prevent rotation or partial rotation of the cam box 3 it is necessary to provide anchoring means for doing so. This anchoring means is best shown in Figs. 2, 7 and 8 and in the construction illustrated it also serves to centre the cam box 3 in axial alignment with the parts 1, 2 and 4. In this latter connection is may be mentioned that while it is possible to permit the cam box 3 to centre itself on the cylinder 1, or on its extension 1a yet, in certain eventualities (for example in transferring a considerable number of needles) loads may be thrown on the cylinder 1 tending to force its tricks out of alignment with the tricks in the cylinder 2 and so it is desirable to centre the came box 3 independently of the cylinder 1 and to so arrange matters that when such loads occur the cam box 3 acts as a steady or hearing for the cylinder 1.

In the illustrated construction there are three torque rods 23, 24, 25, all of which extend tangentially with respect to the axis of the machine and, at one end, they are each connected to the cam box 3 whilst at the other to stationary supports. As shown, rods 23, 24 are mounted on pillar 13 and rod 25 is mounted on pillar 15. The joints 26, 27, 28 at which the respective torque rods are connected to the cam box 3 are equidistant around the cam box and it will readily be appreciated that the construction illustrated not only prevents rotational movement of the cam box 3 but also prevents any lateral movement of it.

Means is provided for the rotational adjustment of cam box 3 and/or for its lateral adjustment. To this end, the rods 23, 24, 25 are mounted on eccentric bosses 29 on collars 30 carried by the respective pillars, the collars 30 being rotatable except when held in place by the clamping screws 31. Locating collars 32 are provided above the rods, these being held in place by their clamping screws 33. By suitable rotation of one or more of the collars 30, the eccentric bosses can determine the po' sition of the axis of the cam box relatively to the general axis of the machine and also its rotational adjustment.

The cam box 3 is constructed in three sections numbered 3a, 3b and 3c in Figure 2, all of which sections are separately removable, each section being detachably secured to the next by a key plate 34 secured in place by bolts 35. Each key plate 34 fits as a key into a tangential keyward cut across the adjacent ends of the two sections of the cam box, so as to prevent relative axial movement of these two sections, and it is provided also with an axially extending arm or key 36 which fits between the adjacent end faces of the two sections concerned so that tlliose sections are held in their correct angular relations 1p.

Each torque rod is detachable from its associated cam box section in the manner illustrated in broken lines in Figure 2 in relation to the rod 24. The end of each rod is received in the cleft of an eye bolt 37 attached to the cam box section and a clamping bolt 38 extends through the two checks of this eye bolt and through a slot 39 in the end of the torque rod. Thus when a clamping bolt 38 is relaxed the corresponding rod 23, 24 or 25 may be swung outwards about its support.

Each suspension member 16 or 116 may also be detached from the associated cam box section by pulling the member outwards so that the ball head 20 or 120 moves out of the hole 21 or 121, the retaining plate 122 of Fig. 6 having been first moved to the left as shown in that figure. In this movement the member 16 or 116 pivots about the pivot 18 or 216 in the pivot block 17. Other retaining means, such as a spring-pressed detent Early be used to retain the head 20 or 120 in the hole 21 or This arrangement permits any cam box section to be withdrawn radially from the cylinder after appropriate key plates 34 have been removed.

The patterning mechanism shown is pivotally mounted for movement about the pillar 14 between operative and inoperative positions. anism is provided, each of them may be mounted in a like manner.

It is desirable to provide means for regulating the stitch length by adjusting the stitch cam, or each stitch cam, associated with the top cam box 3. For this purpose instead of each stitch cam being rigidly fixed to one of the cam box sections 3a, 3b and 3c it is mounted therein for vertical sliding movement. Fig. 2 shows a stitch cam 140 carried by a vertical rod 40 extending downwards from the top plate 12. The top end of this rod 40 is provided with a tappet screw 41 (Fig. 9) which bears on a cam 42 provided on a cam ring 43 rotatably supported on the top of the plate 12, and adjustable (manually or automatically or both) about the cylinder axis. Thus by rotating this cam ring the stitch cam may be raised or lowered, and two stitch cams may be adjusted equally by providing the cam ring with two cams. In the form shown in Figure 9, the cam ring has ratchet teeth on its top face and is advanced when required by the pawl 44 carried at the end of the two-armed lever 45, which lever, mounted on post 46, is operated by the adjustable tappet rods 47.

What we claim is:

1. A knitting machine comprising a top cylinder equipped with sliders for knitting and transferring movements, a part therefor extending above the length required for the knitting and transferring movements of the top sliders, instrument means within said extending part for If more than one patterning mechactuating said sliders, a patterning mechanism controlling said means, a support in which said top cylinder is rotatably mounted, a bearing on said extending part by which said extending part is hung from said support, a top cam box supported from said support, suspension means in the form of depending straps extending exteriorly down the said extending part directly from the support to the cam box and providing spaces permitting the patterning mechanism to act on said instrument means, anchoring means, in addition to said suspension means, for preventing rotation of the cam box and means for centering the cam box relative to the top cylinder, said anchoring means constituting at least a part of said centering means.

2, A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the anchoring means includes tangential rods which are connected at one end to the cam box, and stationary supports on which the other ends of the rods are mounted.

3. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1, in which means is provided for the rotational adjustment of the cam box.

4. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1, in which means is provided for the lateral adjustment of the cam box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 867,764 Stoll Oct. 8, 1907 1,713,736 Bentley May 21, 1929 1,716,691 Grieve June 11, 1929 2,440,333 Fregeolle Apr. 27, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 426,276 Great Britain Apr. 1, 1935

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