US3057177A - Method for finishing knitted wear - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 9, 1962 G. c. A. ALRIC METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1960 C)( @Q wwwww GUST/1V1. CHARLES AUGUSTE ALRIC A T RNEYS G. C. A. ALRIC METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR Oct. 9, 1962 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 2, 1960 GUSTAV/f CHARLES/JUGUSCJTVENALRIC ATTORNEYS G. C. A. ALRIC METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR Oct. 9, 1962 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 2, 1960 Q hmwwwwww mm Q a I .A m 8 wmvfl. WWWW A Q Q T Q G M .Mw O

, Imam-0 GUSTAV-E CHARLES AUG STE ALRIG By w EN RH Oct. 9, 1962 G. c. A. ALRlC 3,057,177

METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR Filed Feb. 2, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 n (A) 7/ 7 $68 N67 F 7 7? III W W 0 69 67 @QQCI m um I I l [74 75 GUS TAV CHARLES AUGUSTE ALRIC I 016%: Mm

AT TTTT EYS Oct. 9, 1962 G. c. A. ALRlC 3,057,177

METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR Filed Feb. 2, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR GUST/WE CHARLES AUGUSTE ALRKJ y MVM ATTORNEYS 1962 G. c. A. ALRIC 3,057,177

METHOD FOR FINISHING KNITTED WEAR Filed Feb. 2, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,057,177 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,957,177 METHOD FOR FINllSHlNG KNITTED WEAR Gustave Charles Auguste Alric, 17 Rue Benoit Malon, Sainte-Savine, France Filed Feb. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 6,131 Claims priority, application France Apr. 2, 1955 7 Claims. (Cl. 66-89) The present invention, which is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 576,254, filed March 30, 1956 which has now become abandoned, has for its object the finishing of knitted fabrics on straight bar knitting machines and it will be more particularly described hereinafter with reference, by way of example, to a stocking. But, obviously, it is applicable equally well to any knitted wear. Said invention has for its object in particular the termination of a knitted fabric, in a manner such that the ends of said fabric cannot ravel.

Said invention has consequently for its object a methed for producing a positive locking of the last loop or loops of a fabric and it has also for its object, by way of novel articles of manufacture, any knitted wear or article of hosiery finished through said method.

For sake of simplicity, the expression stocking" will be used hereinafter for designating such a fabric.

Similarly, the expression terminal loops will be used for designating the loops which are obtained as a consequence of the normal narrowing steps executed for finishing the stocking or as aconsequence of the knitting of one or two supplementary rows as executed for purposes to be defined hereinafter with a view to producing the final locking of the fabric.

An object of the invention is to provide such a finishing of the stocking by resorting solely to the mechanisms provided normally on straight bar knitting machines.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a finishing of the stocking through the agency of a thread passing through the terminal loop or loops of said stocking, in a manner such that said loops cannot ladder and the locking remains operative even when said thread is drawn outwardly.

Another object of the invention consists in providing a positive locking of the terminal loops of the stocking under conditions such that the tip of the stocking shows no extra thickness.

A still further object of the invention consist in providing such a positive locking of the terminal loops forming the tip of the stocking in a manner such that said stocking may be dyed, sized or treated in any other manner before it is sewn, and without any risk of said terminal loops being any longer locked and thereby liable to ladder.

To accomplish these various objects, the invention covers a method according to which the terminal loops of the fabric are distributed into as many groups of loops as there are locking threads, each group of loops being carried by a needle, and a locking thread is caused to pass through each group of loops, said operation being executed by resorting to the normal mechanisms provided on the knitting machine.

According to another aspect of the invention, the method is chiefly characterized by the fact that, after the usual narrowing in steps have been executed for the formation of the tip of the stocking until a reduced number of loops has been obtained, said loops are superposed over the same needle or over as many needles as there are locking threads, through the agency of the normal mechanisms of the knitting machine providing for the transfer of the loops, each of the loop carrying needles is caused to sink one of the locking threads and the knocking over is proceeded with, so that each of said locking threads passes through the corresponding group of loops, the locking thread is cut between the corresponding feeder and the needles and the fabric is drawn out perpendicularly to the needles, while the last loop is still on the corresponding needle.

By reason of the last loop remaining still on the needle, the thread slides over said needle and its free end passes through the loops and the thread remains thus positioned across the loops so as to lock them.

More particularly, when the stocking is knitted with a single thread, the narrowings are continued until four loops at the utmost are obtained, which loops are superposed over a single needle and the knitting thread is used for forming the locking thread which is sunk by the needle carrying the four loops.

It i usual for very fine stockings to have a reinforced tip, as provided by knitting it with two threads: a ground thread and a reinforcing thread. More particularly in this case, applicants method consists in subdividing the terminal loops into two groups including each at the utmost four loops, in superposing the loops of each group over a single needle and in sinking the ground thread by one loop-carrying needle and sinking the reinforcing thread by the other loop-carrying needle.

The industrial execution of applicants method shows that the positive locking of the terminal loops by a locking thread or threads is thus obtained in an entirely reliable manner. However, it may occur that certain disturbances arise, following which the thread which should normally pass through the terminal loops of the stocking is completely drawn out of said loops when the stocking is drawn out perpendicularly to the needles after the thread has been cut off at the output of the feeder.

Consequently, the invention has for a still further obr ject to eliminate the normal or fortuitous causes producing this drawback and each of the means proposed for this purpose constitutes therefore a practical and important feature of the invention, since it allows cutting out completely all scrap and waste.

It is an important matter, in fact, for the locking thread to pass readily through the superposed loops carried by a single needle, during a final sinking and knocking over executed with the needle carrying said loops; in the case, in particular, where the terminal loops are knitted with a ground thread and a reinforcing thread and are consequently double, an important feature of the invention consists in executing at least one row of loops with a single thread, in a manner such that it is no longer necessary to superpose a number of double loops on a single needle.

A further drawback which may be met consists in that the thread is sunk during the last sinking step, both by the needle carrying the loops and by another needle located to either side of said loop-carrying needle.

It is easy to ascertain, as a matter of fact, as explained hereinafter, that the engagement of the thread by another needle in addition to that carrying the loop, has for its result to remove completely the locking thread but of the terminal loop so that the result sought for cannot be obtained.

According to the location of the needle carrying the loops with reference to the sinker adjacent said needle, the presence of said supplementary loop to be termed hereinafter a parasitic loop may be indifferent or troublesome. It does not prevent the locking action when said parasitic loop is formed between the needle carrying the superposed loops and the feeding means when the latter are in their final position at the moment of the cutting of the thread. However, this parasitic loop prevents completely the desired locking action if it is located on the opposite side with reference to the needle carrying the loops.

FIG. 3.

Some of these undesired loops are formed automatically through the fact that the thread is fed by the sinkers simultaneously to two needles at a time.

A further category of undesired loops is formed fortuitously because the frames are bestowed of necessity with a certain lack of accuracy, chiefly as concerns the position in which the feeding means are stopped, the more or less important mechanical rebounding of the feeding means against their stop, the swaying of the threads, etc.

The diiferent steps provided by the invention which allow cutting out the formation of such undesired loops will be disclosed hereinafter with further detail and defined in the accompanying claims and, obviously, they form a substantial part of the method claimed.

The diiferent means provided for the execution of the invention are disclosed hereinafter in full detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating the main features of the invention.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 6a and 7 illustrate the different finishing steps of a fabric as obtained in accordance with my invention.

FIGS. 8 to 12 show the different stages of the finishing of a fabric knitted with two threads.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate diagrammatically a locking method executed on two groups of two simple loops, the fabric being knitted with a reinforcing thread.

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate diagrammatically a modification of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 17 to 20 illustrate an embodiment according to which the position of the feeder is controlled during the looping.

FIGS. 21 to 24 illustrate a modification of this positioning during the loop sinking procedure.

FIGS. 25 and 26 illustrate a method for removing parasitic loops.

FIGS. 27 to 31 illustrate an embodiment according to which the locking is performed on a single loop.

FIG. 32 illustrates diagrammatically a further modification.

FIG. 33 illustrates a modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 27 to 31.

FIG. 34 illustrates an embodiment resorting to a transfer point when executing dissymmetric final transfers.

FIGS. 35 to 39 illustrate a further embodiment according to which the final transfers are symmetrical.

FIGS. 35a to 35c illustrate a manner of shifting transfer points.

Turning to FIG. 1, which shows a chain-switch 1, the last loop 2 of which has just been knitted and is still carried on the needle 3, the thread fed by the feeder 6 is cut at 4 (FIG. 2) and the chain stitch 1 is drawn in the direction of the arrow F, the thread forming the loop 2 will move at 7 out of the preceding loop so that the chain stitch assumes the appearance illustrated in Obviously the loops of said chain stitch cannot unravel since the thread 4 looks the loop 8 as if it was a key. If the thread 4 is taken up, this closes the loop 8 and forms a sort of knot.

In the practical embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 7, the fabric 9 has been knitted with a single thread and has been narrowed so as to present only four loops 10, 11, 12 and 13 on the corresponding needles 14, 15, 16, and 17. This reduction to four of the number of loops is obtained through the normal operation of the knitting machine and chiefly of the transfer points and feeders.

The four loops 10, 11, 12 and 13 are transferred through transferring hooks onto the needle 14 and the feeder is transferred towards the right hand side to feed the thread 18 in a manner such that the latter may be taken up by the needle 14 and form a single loop 19 as shown in FIG. 6. The thread 18 is then cut as in the case of FIG. 2 and the fabric is drawn in the direction of the arrow F. As illustrated in FIG. 7. the thread 18 passes through the loops 10, 11, 12 and 13 and locks them in a manner similar to the locking of the loop 8 through the thread 4 as shown in FIG. 3. When transferring the loops onto the needle 14 as illustrated in FIG. 5, it is possible obviously to transfer these loops in any desired sequence: for instance, first the loop 12 and then the loop 11 and lastly the loop 13. It is also possible to transfer the loop 11 onto the needle 14 and the loop 13 onto the loop 16 and then the loops 12 and 13 together onto the needle 14. This produces a passage of the thread in a different sequence through the loops but the locking remains the same as precedingly.

If the thread 18 is accidentally taken up by the needle 14a (FIG. 6a) located at the left of the needle 14, it is apparent that the thread 18, used as a locking thread, will slip round said needle 14a and will consequently be drawn out of loops 1043, which are no longer locked. It is thus important to positively avoid the formation of parasitic loops such as the loop accidentally formed round the needle 14a.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12 relates to the case where the fabric 20 is knitted by means of two threads 21 and 22 which are fed respectively by the feeders 23 and 24. Through any suitable conventional reduction operation, the number of loops of the fabric is reduced to four, to the loops 25, 26, 27 and 28 carried respectively by the needles 29, 3t), 31 and 32. The two feeders are both on the left hand side of the needle 29.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the feeder 24 is shifted at the moment of the knocking over so as to be drawn between the needles 31 and 32 and consequently, when the needles rise again, the thread 22 passes behind the needles 29 and 3% and cannot be caught by said needle at the moment of the following looping. At this moment, the loop 26 is transferred onto the needle 29 and the loop 28 onto the needle 31, as shown in FIG. 10.

The two feeders 2'3 and 24 are then shifted each through the interval between two needles and the looping is performed in a manner such that, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the thread 21 from the feeder 23 is taken up by the needle 29 and the thread 22 from the feeder 24 is taken up by the needle 31. It is sutiicient at such moments to cut the threads 2122 of the exit of the feeders and then to draw the fabric in the direction of the arrow F to obtain, as illustrated in FIG. 12, a locking of the loops 25 and 26 through the thread 21 and of the loops 27 and 28 by the thread 22.

In the embodiments disclosed hereinabove, chiefly in the case of FIGS. *8 to 12, it is possible to finish the fabric through a different number of loops and to transfer the loops in a different manner. Thus, in the case of four final loops, it is possible to transfer equally well three loops onto one needle, the second needle retaining only the loop carried by it; thus for instance it is possible to transfer the loop 2 6 and the loop 28 onto the needle 31. It is also possible to finish the knitted fabric by a different number of loops, say 6 or 8, and to transfer two loops onto the first needle, three loops onto the second or three loops onto the first and three loops onto the second, all which combinations may be executed as easily.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12, the four last loops are obtained with threads fed by the two feeders 23 and 24 in accordance with the conventional symmetrical narrowing method. Thereafter, through transfer with the so-called transfer plate with one transfer hook for two needles or through two transfers with one plate with one transfer hook for four needles, the transfer is executed in the direction of the feeder onto two needles 29 and 31 separated by a free needle 30; these needles carrying the loops are near the sinkers which are on the side of the feeder at the moment at which the formation of the four loops is ended (FIGS. 8 to 11).

The feeder 24 is shifted during the knocking over of the last row so that the corresponding thread passes behind the needles 29 and 39 and is engaged at the following looping only by the needles 31 and 32. The feeder 23 is stopped between the needles 31 and 32 by its suitably positioned stop and its thread is engaged only by the needles 29 and 30. Each of the loop carrying needles sinks thus only one thread (FIG. 11) and the latter after its cutting is drawn by said needles through two double loops during the last knocking over and it locks them as shown in FIG. 12.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, the fabric is executed normally up to the row 39 over the needles 40, 41, 42. and 43. Each loop of the row 39 is a double loop obtained through the threads 44 and 45 fed respectively by the feeders 46 and 47.

In accordance with my invention, the feeder 46 is left on the left hand selvedge and the rows 48 and 49 are knitted with the thread 45 from the feeder 47.

In the position illustrated in FIG. 13, there have been knitted two rows and, upon knocking over of the second row or course, the feeder 47 has been shifted as mentioned hereinabove into the position 47a.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the loop 51 is transferred onto the needle 40 and the loop 53 onto the needle 42 so that the needle 40 carries two simple loops 50 and 51 while the needle 42. carries two simple loops 5% and 53. The feeders 46 and 47 being brought by the last looping into the position 46b and 47b illustrated in FIG. 14, (the feeder 46 being stopped first by a suitably located stop), the thread 44 is caught by the needle 40 and the thread 45 by the needle 42, so that each thread is drawn through the loops carried precedingly by the needles 40 and 42.

Once the terminal knocking over has been performed, the conditions are those illustrated in FIG. 14 and it is possible to finish the operation by cutting the threads as disclosed for the preceding embodiments, the sliding of the threads being all the easier since the needles 40 and 42 carry only a single loop each. In this embodiment, it is possible to resort indifferently to the feeder 46 or to the feeder 47 for knitting the two last courses of single loop.

It will be observed that, in the embodiment of FIGS. 13, 14, it is necessary to knit two rows of simple loops in order that the feeder be in its initial position, on the left side of the fabric, in order to avoid formation of a parasitic loop such as the loop shown on the needle 14a in FIG. 6a.

This manner of finishing is obviously applicable to all the possible modifications in the method and the strength of the fabric is not modified since the courses or rows of single loops 48 and 49 are engaged in the seam of the finished stocking; by reason of the presence of these last rows of single loops not only the sliding of the loops on the needle is improved but, in certain cases, the same is the case for the knocking over.

In the embodiment which has just been described, two rows of single loops 48 and 49 have been knitted.

In the embodiment of FIGS. and 16, the fabric is executed normally up to the row 54 of four double loops obtained with the threads 55 from the feeder 56, and 57 from the feeder 58.

The feeder 56 is left in alignment with the right hand selvedge and a further row of single loops 59, 6t), 61 and 62 is knitted on the needles 63, 64, 65- and 66. The feeder 58 is then in register with the left hand selvedge. The feeder 56 being returned into the position 56a, the loop 61 is transferred onto the needle 66 and the loop 59 onto the needle 64. The final looping is then performed in the conventional manner, the feeder 58 entering the position 582) which is distant by two needle intervals from the selvedge position and the feeder 56 entering the position 56b which forms the selvedge position.

This leads to the obtention of the diagram illustrated in FIG. 16 and it is then possible to finish by cutting the threads, as disclosed in the preceding examples. The ad vantage of this latter modification consists in that only one supplementary knitting course with simple loops is obtained. In this embodiment, the part played by the feeders cannot be interchanged and it is possible to obtain a parasitic loop in the case of FIGS. 13 and 15 only in the needle located to the left hand side of the needle 66 and, in the case of FIGS. 14 and 16, not only on the needle on the left hand side of the needle 66 but also on the needle 65.

In the preceding examples, the shifting of one of the feeders is performed at the moment of the knocking over while the sinkers have receded into the frame so as to allow such a shifting since the feeder is normally engaged inside the bulk of the sinkers.

When the needles have risen again, the thread suitably carried along through the usual movement of the sinkers passes behind predetermined needles.

In certain knitting machines, the sinkers do not collapse completely within the frame at the moment of the knocking over. The shifting of the feeder is thus impossible at such a moment and may be performed during the transfer of the loops, i.e. when the sinkers have of necessity receded transiently. The end of the movement produces the desired result since the movement of the needles and of the sinkers is substantially identical with their movement after the knocking over.

This shifting during the transfer has the advantage of positioning the threads at the last moment and of preventing any abnormal shifting thereof through the transfer movement.

The shifting of the feeder above referred to, performed during the knocking over or during the transfer, is provided while the driving members of the feeder bars are inoperative.

Said shifting is therefore produced through auxiliary means for instance a shim of a suitable thickness inserted between the stop of the selvedge carriage and the projection of the feeder bar. Said movement may be provided by hand after stopping the machine or automatically through special means provided to this end.

A further feature of my invention consists in positioning the feeder during its looping movement while it is being moved through conventional means, simply by inserting automatically, through the usual devices provided on most extant machines, a suitable stop limiting the travel of the feeder.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 17 to 20, the positioning of the feeders which provides that each thread may be engaged only by the proper needle is performed automatically during the looping by limiting its travel at the desired moment. The feeder for the thread 71 is stopped during the looping two needles before the needle 74. Thus, the loops 67 and 68 are double loops and the loops 69 and 70 are simple loops, the two former being obtained both with the ground thread 71 and with the reinforcing thread 72, the two latter loops being obtained solely through the thread 72.

As illustrated in FIG. '18, the loop 67 is transferred onto the needle 73 which carries the loop 68 and the loop 69 is transferred onto the needle 74 carrying the loop 70.

The last looping is then performed as illustrated in FIG. 19, said looping being bounded by suitable stops for the feeders so that each thread may be collected by one needle only, the thread 71 passing through two loops 67 and 68 and the thread 72 through two loops 69 and 7t and the procedure is finished in the manner disclosed hereinabove so as to obtain a locking of the loops as illustrated in FIG. 20.

FIGS. 21 to 24 illustrate an embodiment which is substantially identical but provides for all the terminal loops being simple loops which are less subject to give parasitic loops. According to said embodiment, a supplementary row or course is knitted, each feeder providing for looping only on two needles in said course so that all the terminal loops (FIG. \21) are simple loops and form two groups separated in the middle; the procedure de- 7 scribed with reference to FIGS. 17 to 20 is adhered so as to obtain a similar looking as illustrated in FIG. 24.

At the moment of the final transfer executed as described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 22, the thread may in certain knitting machines engage the wrong side of the needles 92 and 94 (FIG. so that, during the following looping, a loop is caught by the needles 92 and 94 (FIG. 26)

It is easy to ascertain that if the threads 101 and 103 are cut and if the fabric is taken up outwardly, there is no locking obtained in such a case since the needle 92 will cause the thread 101 to move out of the loops 97 and 98. Similarly, the needle 94 will cause the thread to leave the loops 99 and 180'.

In other words, each time a needle carries a loop of thread ahead of the terminal operative needle, the fact of cutting the thread and taking up the fabric prevents the locking of the loops to be obtained so that an unravelling becomes possible.

The knitting of a further course causes said loops to drop since the thread 1M is not caught by the needle 92 during its rearward movement and similarly the thread 103 is not caught by the needle 94- by reason of the stationary positions assumed by the feeders just beyond the sinker located between the needles 92 and 93 and the sinker located between the needles 94 and 35.

It should be remarked that, in the case illustrated of the shifting movement eifected during the knocking over or in the case of FIG. 13, the parasitic loop is formed solely on the outer needle, but not on the free needle in the middle.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 25 and during the looping of the loop 104, the thread M1 is engaged under the tip of the needle 94 together with said loop. During the next looping which provides for the dropping of both loops, the thread 101 moves towards the needle 93 and releases the needle 94, but it is possible for the parasitic loop 1% to remain floating without remaining engaged underneath the tip of the needle 94. The thread 1%]. is then caused to pass through said loop and there is formed, as shown in FIG. 26, a loop illustrated in dotted lines and said loop can no longer be dropped. As a matter of fact, loops would continue forming over it since it is located between two sinkers beyond which the feeder projects in both directions.

In the position illustrated in FIG. 25, the parasitic loop formed on the needle 94 can be eliminated by being taken up by a transferring hook, without being transferred onto a needle.

This drawback does not arise when the feeder is shifted during the knocking over .at the end of the transfer except in the case of FIG. 15.

When the shifting is performed during the looping or in the manner disclosed in FIG. 15, it is possible to avoid the above described drawback when the arrangement is such that there is no middle needle forming the loop and catching the thread, which can be performed by providing for the ending either on a single needle or else on two sulficiently spaced needles, say on two needles separated from each other by three needles free of loops.

FIGS. 27 to 31 show the finishing of the fabric on a single needle. In said embodiment, the fabric is finished in a manner identical with that referred to on the needles 7576-77 and 78. The object of the transfer executed thenafter is to collect the loops carried by said needles on two needles, say the needles 77 and '78 which are located between two sin-kers. It is convenient to provide said transfer through the above mentioned transfer plate which provides for the transfer by one needle, said transfer plate carrying a transfer hook for four needles at the desired location.

Through this transfer plate it is possible to transfer the loop 79 from the needle 75 onto the needle 76 on which is already located the loop 80 (FIG. 27) and then the loops 79 and 80 onto the needle 77 carrying already the loop 8 1 (:FIG. 28). The looping is then operated for which the feeder is positioned at 83, said looping being performed on the two needles 7'7 and 78; the feeder is shifted outside the two sinkers, the stop having been automatically positioned in a suitable location. During the transfer, the thread may have surrounded the needle 78a preceding the needle 78 (FIG. 29). In order to remove the parasitic loop 79a thus formed, I knit a further row of loops on the needles 77 and 78, the feeder entering then the position $5. m. The thread is not caught by the needle 7 8a and consequently the loop 7% is automatically eliminated (FIG. 30).

The following operation consists in transferring onto the needle 78 the loop shown in FIG. 30 as carried by the needle 77. The same stops serve again for the looping and the locking is brought to an end by stopping one of said feeders before these final rows or courses; the locking is obtained through a single thread which is preferable since the sliding of the thread for the final operation is thus furthered; when the loop is transferred from the needle 77 onto the needle 75; and a further looping is performed, the thread may again this time surround the needle 78a (FIG. 31) and produce a further parasitic loop 77a.

As illustrated in FIG. 31, the knitting of the further loop 77b is sufi'lcient for the loop "77:: to drop in the manner already disclosed for the loop 79a.

It will be remarked that if the parasitic loop, say 77a is objectionable for the actual locking operation and it is desired to make it disappear, it is useful for the knitting of the final loop on a single needle since the interval between it and the main loop provides for the knocking over of the latter 'tlliOU.lf1 a bearing on the knocking over plates. Consequently, it is useful to retain said parasitic loop until the final loop is knitted and to drop it only at the last moment because said loop 77:: associated with the normal loop on the needle 77 produces an interval between the loops which is favorable for the behaviour of the fabric while ensuring a correct execution of the terminal loop illustrated as carried on the needle 78 in FIG. 3-1. Of course, the above described operation as executed on four operative needles 7-5 to '78 may be executed exactly in the same manner on eight needles (FIG. 32) without this leading to the drawbacks referred to with reference to FIG. 26 since the final loops remain sufliciently spaced and no loop may be sunk by the needles located between the loop-carrying needle.

As illustrated in said FIG. 32, I transfer in a first operation the loops carried by the needles 34 and onto the needle 86 and the loops carried by the needles 88 and 8% onto the needle 9t). The conditions obtained are then similar to those illustrated in FIG. 26. A row is then knitted so as to obtain conditions similar to those of FIG. 27 in which only the needles 86, 87, 90 and 91 carry each a simple loop. A last transfer is then executed from the needle $6 onto the needle 37 and from the needle 9% onto the needle 91 so that the final looping looks through one thread the two loops carried by the needle 87 and through the other thread the two loops carried by the needle 91. Of course, it is possible to knit a further simple loop on the needles 87 and 91 before executing the final locking.

As illustrated in FIG. 33 which shows a modification of FIGS. 27 and 31, it is possible to perform the operations illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 30* by leaving the two feeders in their operative condition so as to obtain double loops up to the final loop 77b which, as explained with reference to FIG. 31, has been knitted so as to remove the parasitic loop 77a. Said embodiment has appeared in practice as particularly suitable.

According to a further embodiment of my invention it it possible to execute the terminal transfer in a dissymmetric manner as in the case of a file plate by resorting to one of the transfer points; this is allowed by the fact that such transfer points may move with reference to their driving worm and consequently it is possible for the final transfer to release one of the transfer points so as to allow the other to move beyond the middle of the set of knitting needles. The end of the normal transfers is performed through two needles with a return movement by one but if after the execution of the four last loops the return movement is cut out and the transfer is provided for one loop or needle Without any return, the result obtained is the same as that described as obtained with a file plate or bar.

It is also possible to proceed with a first transfer by two needles and a last transfer by one which cuts out a dipping and leads to the diagram of FIG. 34.

In said FIG. 34, the fabric is engaged on the needles 116, 117, 118 and 119 with the loops 121i, 121, 122 and 123. One of the transfer points being prevented from moving, the loop 121) is transferred onto the needle 118 carrying the loop 122 and the loop 121 is transferred onto the needle 119 carrying the loop i123. The loops 124, 125 are then knitted on said needles 11$ and 119 as also the loops 1% and 127. The loop 126 is then transferred onto the needle 1 19 while keeping the same transfer point stationary and the locking is brought to an end in the manner already disclosed.

During these transfers, and during the knitting of the corresponding rows, parasitic loops 128 and 129 may be formed and they are eliminated in the known manner.

In the embodiment which has just been described, one of the transfer points is released so as to allow the other transfer point to produce the desired transfer.

To provide for this transfer, the transfer point on the left hand side should project by twice the needle interval beyond the middle of the needles at which location the transfer points are normally in jointing relationship.

Since the two transfer points retain a symmetrical movement, it is necessary to shift the last transfer point which is to become inoperative at least by four needle intervals towards the right hand side so that the transfer point which is actually operative may move by two further needle intervals towards the right hand side.

The arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 35a to 35c show how it is possible to release simply the transfer point which is not in use.

FIG. 35a shows a conventional drive for the transfer point; the shifting of said bar or transfer point is obtained through a rotation of the threaded spindle 116 over which is screwed the nut 117 carrying the projection 118. The transfer point bar 119 carries a projection 12% rigid with the threaded rod 121 over which the sleeve 122 is screwed and, as illustrated, the projections 118 and 120 are urged towards each other by the spring 123.

According to my invention, the sleeve 122 is cut at 124 for engagement by the tail end 125 of a strap 126, said tail end being secured in the cut by the pressure screw 127. Inside the strap is revo-lubly mounted a lever 123 the end or" which cooperating with the strap is provided with two flat surfaces 123 and 13% forming an angle with each other. It is found that, according to the position of the lever, either surface 129 or 130 will bear against the projection 118 so as to modify thus the relative position of the transfer point bar with reference to its driving nut.

The flat surfaces 129 and 139 are at predetermined distances from the axis of rotation of the lever and the passage from one surface to the other may thus shift the feeder by four or six needle intervals as may be required.

It is sufficient to operate said lever at the moment at which the stage of special transfers according to my invention is reached, i.e. particularly when four loops have been obtained on four needles.

In many knitting machines there exists a system preventing the clamping so that the device does not dip when one transfer point engages the other. In order that such a system may not prevent the shifting of the transfer point which has been described, it is sufficient to select as a 1% transfer point bar to be shifted that transfer point bar which carries the part controlling said anti-clamping systern.

Thus, safety is always ensured when the transfer points engage each other at the moment of the last normal transfer. After shifting the inoperative transfer point, this safety is no longer present but the clamping is no longer to be feared, provided this shifting of the transfer point is more important than is actually necessary, say by 6 or 8 needle intervals.

In the embodiments described, the transfers according to my invention are executed in a dissymmetrical manner, for instance through the so-called file plate or else by operating only on one transfer point. These transfers may also be executed in a symmetrical manner by using up to the end the narrowing transfer hooks as illustrated in FIGS. 35 to 39.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the needles 105, 106, 107, 1118 carry each a double loop 109, 110, 111, 112 and the two feeders 113, 114 are on the left hand side selvedge. Turning now to FIG. 36, the loop 199 is transferred onto the needle 1% and the loop 112 onto the needle 107.

The feeder 113 is brought, as shown in FIG. 37, into position during the transfer, so as to feed thread to the needle 1W7 only, the feeder 114 remaining in its selvedge position. As illustrated in FIGS. 37 and 38, there is formed a loop on each of the needles 106 and 107, fol lowing the shifting of the feeder 113 by two needle intervals and of the feeder 114 by fou needle intervals.

In this embodiment, th needle is necessarily active during the transfer since it is separated from the feeder only by a sinker as provided by the symmetrical transfer and this leads to the production of a parasitic loop (FIG. 39). To remove said parasitic loop or any other which may be formed, I take up said loop with a transfer hook and I leave said loop escaping from the hook without being transferred onto a needle.

It will be remarked in this embodiment of FIGS. 35 to 39 that the two needles to be considered at the end of the procedure are symmetrical with reference to the central sinker.

lt also possible to resort to this final symmetrical transfer system by leaving free needles at the center. To this end, when one has reached the terminal stage on four needles, I first make an enlarging transfer of loops which leaves the two central needles 106 and 107 free of any loops. The feeders 113 and 114 are of course left in selvedge position on the left hand side as mentioned but they are obviously located two needles further.

The difierent stages of execution of my method are those referred to with reference to FIGS. 36 to 39 and the parasitic loops which may be formed are eliminated in the manner disclosed with reference to the loop 115.

Lastly, my invention covers also, and more particularly in the case of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 35 to 39, the execution of a crossed looping, the two feeders being positioned so that the threads ass between the two loops-carrying needles, the looping being performed after these feeders have been shifted by two needles in opposite directions.

Whatever embodiment of my invention is adopted, the final step consists in having a simple loop on one needle or two simple loops each on one needle.

To finish the article of hosiery and after having set aside the feeder bars, it is possible to cut the thread or threads at the exit of the sinkers and to take out the fabric perpendicularly to the needle; the threads slide round the needles considered and provide for the locking of the corresponding loop or loops; it may also be suflicient to take up slightly the fabric without cutting the thread, the taken up threads drop underneath the knocking over plates and it is possible to begin a further article immediately, for instance another stocking. The thread is then cut and the stocking is removed at the desired moment, which provides for the locking and this modus operandi cuts out the lost time required for cutting the thread and during which the knitting machine is inoperative.

What I claim is:

1. In a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine, the step of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until a small number of terminal loops are obtained on the same number of needles, pro viding as locking threads the same threads with which the last courses have been knitted, superposing said terminal loops onto as many of said needles as there are locking threads, allowing each of said needles to pick up one of said locking threads, knocking over said terminal loops with said locking threads traversing said terminal loops and forming loops on their respective needles, cutting said locking threads and removing the fabric from the machine in a direction perpendicular to said needles while the locking thread loops so obtained are still around their respective needles.

2. In a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine and in which the last courses of loops are knitted with a ground thread and a reinforcing thread, the steps of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until four terminal loops are obtained on four needles, transferring to place two of said terminal loops onto a first needle of said needles and the two other terminal loops onto a second needle of said needles, allowing one of said first and second needles to pick up the ground thread forming a loop thereon and the other needle to pick up the reinforcing thread forming a loop, knocking over said terminal loops, cutting said threads and removing from the machine in a direction perpendicular to said needles, the fabric while said ground thread and reinforcing thread loops are still around said first and second nedles in such manner that each of said two threads is passed through each group of two of said four terminal loops and forms a locking thread.

3. In .a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine, the step of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until four terminal loops are obtained on four needles, transferring to place said terminal loops onto at least one of said needles and simul taneously placing a feeder adapted to furnish a locking thread so that the feeder is separated from said needle carrying the terminal loops by a forming sinker, permitting said needle to pick up said locking thread by displacement of said feeder, knocking over said terminal loops with said locking thread traversing said terminal loops and forming a loop on said one of said needles, cutting said locking thread and removing the fabric from the machine in a direction perpendicular to said needles while the last formed locking thread loop is still around said needle.

4. In .a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine and in which the last courses of loops are knitted with a ground thread furnished by a feeder and a reinforcing thread furnished by a second feeder, the steps of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until four terminal loops are obtained on four needles,

positioning one of said feeders over a sinker located between the third and fourth needles of said needles, simultaneously transferring to place the second of said terminal loops onto the first of said needles carrying the first loop of said terminal loops and the fourth of said terminal loops onto said third needle carrying the third loop of said terminal loops, displacing said two feeders by two needles, knocking over said first and second terminal loops, cutting said threads and removing the fabric from the machine in a direction perpendicular to said needles while said second and fourth loops are still around said first and third needles in such manner that each of said two threads constitutes a locking means for a group of two of said four terminal loops.

5. In a process according to claim 1, in which a parasitic loop has been formed adjacent one of the terminal loops, the steps of taking out said parasitic loop from the corresponding needle with a transfer hook, and allowing said loop to lapse.

6. In .a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine in which the last courses of loops are knitted with a ground thread fed from a feeder and a reinforcing thread fed from another feeder, the steps of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until eight terminal loops are obtained on eight needles, transferring to place the first two of said terminal loops on the third needle of said needles and the fifth and sixth of said terminal loops on the seventh needle of said needles, knitting a course, transferring to place the left hand side terminal loop on the fourth needle of said needles, form ing a last loop around said fourth needle with one of said two threads, and a second last loop around said eighth needle with the other thread, knocking over said terminal loops, cutting said threads and removing the fabric from the machine in a direction perpendicular to said needles while said last loops so obtained are around their respective needles.

7. In a process for finishing a fabric knitted on a straight bar knitting machine, the steps of narrowing said fabric by loop transfer until four loops are obtained on four needles, transferring to place the first loop of said loops on the third needle of said needles and the second loop of said loops on the fourth needle of said needles by means of a transfer point, knitting a course, transferring to place the left hand side loop of said loops on said fourth needle, knitting two courses, cutting the thread and removing the fabric from the machine while the last loop of said two courses so obtained is still around its corresponding needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,480,894 Alric Sept. 6, 1949 2,506,745 Schuessler May 9, 1950 2,507,530 Mack May 16, 1950 2,507,532 Mack May 16, 1950 2,648,210 Skole et al. Aug. 11, 1953 2,800,006 Richter July 23, 1957

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