US3151474A - Machine for producing knitted fabric - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 6, 1964 A. H. WIDDOWSON ET AL 3,151,474

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March l0. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 F/GJ.

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MACHINE FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 10. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 2 FIG. 4

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Oct. 6, 1964 MACHINE FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 10; 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGS.

A. H. WIDDOWSON ET AL 3,151,474

Oct. 6, 1964 A. H. WIDDOWSON'IET AL 3, 5 ,47

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 10. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 6, 1964 A. H. WIDDOWSON ETAL 3,151,474

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRIC Filed March 10. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,151,474 MAIIHINE FDR PRODUCING I JITTED FABRIC Albert H. Widdowson, Alfred iercy Saunders, Thomas Adams, Dennis Wright, and John Clarke, all of Leicester, England, assignors to Wildt Melle-r Brantley Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Filed Mar. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 14,100 Claims priority, application Great Britain Apr. 2, 1959 1 Claim. (6i. 6614) This invention appertains to a method of producing circularly knitted fabric on circular knitting machines of the superimposed needle cylinder type furnished with a wrap striping mechanism of the general form comprising individually movable Wrap instruments for wrapping or lapping Wale or embroidery threads drawn from individual supplies around predetermined needles, such threads being additional to the main yarn or yarns ordinarily supplied, and means for producing relative movement between the wrap instruments and the needles for the purpose of producing wrap striping design effects by embroidery plating on one face of the knitted fabric.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a method of producing, in such circularly knitted fabric, novel composite stitch effects which, judiciously incorporated in predetermined courses and wales, is capable of producing a variety of wrap plating design effects.

Another object is to provide, at a plurality of feeders in a superimposed needle cylinder knitting machine equipped with wrap striping mechanism as aforesaid, a particularly simple arrangement or layout of conventional mechanism designed to produce, economically, a fairly extensive range of wrap patterns, such arrangement or layout readily permitting of an increase in production by multiplication of feeders, as will be hereinafter described.

The machine with which the present invention is concerned is of the basic type comprising superimposed bottom or plain and top or rib needle cylinders, a single set of double-ended latch needles for operating in said cylinders, sliders in each of the said cylinders for actuating the needles and transferring the same from one cyinder to the other and vice versa, according to knitting requirements. The machine may be of the links-links type equipped with patterning mechanism for selective transference of needles.

The circularly knitted fabric to be produced by the method and machine of this invention is characterised by the incorporation, in a plain knit portion or portions of the fabric, of composite float-wrap stitches each comprising a float or miss stitch effect in one course combined with a knitted loop having associated therewith a Wrap striping effect in an adjacent course.

To produce such fabric, a superimposed needle cylinder machine furnished with a wrap striping mechanism of the form herein referred to and having at least two feeders and hence two knitting stations is necessary. In accord ance with this invention such a machine is provided, in advance of one of the said two knitting stations, with a needle selecting mechanism adapted, through the medium of the needle-actuating sliders, to cause selected needles to non-knit and thus produce floats or miss stitches, and at the other of the two knitting stations, there are provided knitting cams so arranged as to cause all of the needles to knit, and Wrap instruments of which those corresponding with the needles selected to non-knit at the relevant station, are adapted to be selected for lapping or wrapping embroidery threads around the same needles.

Thus, in this machine, selections of wrap instruments at the one knitting station must essentially coincide with the selection of the needles to non-knit effected in advance of the other knitting station.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into practical effect,.a specific example of the improved circularly knitted fabric, a half hose incorporating such fabric, and a machine for and method of producing the latter will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

FIGURE 1 is a diagram, drawn to a greatly magnified scale, of the back face of a fragmentary portion of plain knit fabric incorporating composite float-wrap stitches produced in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a rib knitted half hose patterned by float and float-wrap effects combined with links-links designs.

FIGURE 3 is a detail face View of a portion of the leg fabric of such half hose,

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line IV-IV of FIGURE 5, of a circular hose knitting machine of the links-links type furnished with a wrap striping mechanism and suitable for producing the half hose illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3,

FIGURE S'is a development of the complete cam systems of the said machine and shows wrap instruments wrapping needles at a Wrap station and needles selected to non-knit at a float station,

FIGURE 6 represents the central portion of FIGURE 5 drawn to a larger scale,

FIGURE 7 is a detail side elevation depicting the relative arrangement, in the machine, of a double-ended needle, the associated needle actuating sliders and the cor responding wrap instrument selected to wrap the needle,

FIGURE 8 is a detail view-showing a bottom slider and the corresponding selector jack selected to cause the associated needle to knit, and

FIGURE 9 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the method of producing the composite float-wrap stitches.

In FIGURE 1, successive courses of plain knitted loops are designated ai, while the needle wales and the sinker wales of the fabric are indicated at k -k and l -l respectively. The plain knit portion of fabric illustrated incorporates, in the needle Wale k three successive composite float-wrap stitches m m and m The float-Wrap stitch m comprises a float or miss stitch effect 11- in course 2 combined with a knitted loop 0 of a main or ground yarn Y having associated therewith a wrap striping effect p in the immediately preceding course d. The effect p is, of course, produced by wrapping or lapping the needle which forms the knitted loops of the Wale k with a wrap striping or embroidery thread p and knocking over the wrapped or lapped portion of the latter together with the loop 0 of the main or ground yarn Y in the'course d. Similarly, the float-wrap stitch m comprises a float or miss stitch effect 21 in course 3 combined with a knitted loop 0 having associated with it a Wrap striping effect p of the same thread p in course 1, the eifect p being knocked over together with the loop a in the last mentioned course. Again, the float-wrap stitch m comprises a float or miss stitch effect 11 in course i combined with a knitted loop 0 and an associated wrap striping effect p knocked over together in course h.

Thus, the composite float-wrap stitch 111 extends wale- Wise over the two courses d and e, and the knitted loop 0 is, therefore, elongated and plated on the front face of the fabric with the relevant wrapped portion p of the embroidery thread p, the straight unknitted float n of the main or ground yarn Y extending straight across the back of the loop 0 and through the wrap striping effect p The float-wrap stitch m similarly extends over the two courses 1 and g, the elongated knitted loop 0 being plated by the wrap striping effect p 'through which the straight unknitted float it extends. Similar remarks apply to the float-wrap stitch m which extends walewise over the two courses h and i.

In the fragmentary plain knit portion of fabric shown in joining needle wales.

A l r-D FIGURE 1 there are two further short float or miss stitches g and q in the courses g and 1' respectively, each of such floats or miss stitches extending across the back of a single elongated knitted loop r in the wale k Additionally, there is also a longer float or miss stitch s in course 2 extending across the backs of two knitted loops t and u in the wales k and k respectively. Moreover, the patterned area of the fabric illustrated inFIGURE 1 comprises alternate shaded courses e, g and 1' composed of knitted loops such as v interspersed with the floats or miss stitches already mentioned in the wales k k and k and intervening un-shaded courses d, f and h each composed wholly of knitted loops and having wrap striping embroidery efiects (p 13 and p in the Wale k incorporating the lloat or miss stitches n n and u A typical half hose patterned by composite float-wrap stitches such as those illustrated in FIGURE 1 will now be described with reference to FIGURE 2. As will be seen, the half hose comprises a welt W, a l x 1 rib top RT,

a ribbed leg L and instep I each having spaced ribs R of three Wales width and intervening broad plain knit panels P, e.g. of nine wales width, a plain foot bottom FB, a heel H and a toe T. In each of predetermined ones of the panels P in the leg L and the instep I are t -formations of composite float-wrap stitches m interspersed with similar but opposite hand V-formations of float or miss stitch effects n-nearly all extending, coursewise, over two ad- In' each of other selected ones of the panels P there are incorporated links-links diamond designs such as D produced by the selective transference of needles from the bottom or plain needle cylinder to the top or rib needle cylinder of a circular hose machine of the links-links type.

For the sake of greater clarity, a small portion of the patterned leg fabric just described with reference to FIG- URE 2 is shown to a greatly magnified scale in FIGURE 3, the same reference letters being used in the two figures.

A circular hose knitting machine capable of producing, say, half hose such as. that illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 will now be described with reference to FlGURES 48. As will be seen in FIGURE the said machine comprises a bottom or plain rotary needle cylinder 1, a superimposed top or rib rotary needle cylinder 2, a single set of double ended latch needles 3 for operating in these cylinders, and bottom and top sliders 4 and 5 in the cylinders 1 and 2 respectively for actuating the needles 3 and transferring the same from one cylinder to the other, and vice versa, according to knitting requirements. At 6 in FIGURE 4 is indicated a web holding-down sinker. The top cylinder driving gear is represented at 7.

The bottom and top stationary camboxes of the machine are shown at 3 and 9.

The illustrated machine, shown merely by way of example, has two feeds only, viz. a main feed at F and a second feed at P In this regard, there are provided at F in the bottom cam b x 3 a main feeder 10, a forward stitch cam 11, a reverse stitch cam 12 used during the production of a heel or a toe pouch by reciprocatory knitting, a center feed cam 13 and a guard cam 14, while at this same feed in the top cam box 9 there are a top stitch cam 15, an associated guard cam 16, a conventional late knocking-over cam 1'7 and its guard cam H5. In advance of the top stitch cam 15 there are a top feed cam E, a rib cam 21 and two run cams 21 and 22 arranged to provide between them a non-knitting track 23 to receive the knitting butts 5a of relevant top sliders 5.

In the bottom cam box 8 at the second feed F there is a stitch cam 24 and an associated guard cam 25, while in the top cam box 9 at this second feed there is a top stitch cam 26 and a companion guard cam 27. At 28 is indicated a top late knocking-over cam having associated with it a guard cam 29. A conventional welt cam in the top cam box is represented at 30.

The illustrated machine, moreover, is of the 7 linkst links type equipped with patterning mechanism for selective transference of needles 3 from the bottom cylinder 1 to the top cylinder 2. This patterning mechanism includes independent selector jacks 31 which are provided for selectively operating the bottom needle-actuating sliders 4, a jack raising cam 32 incorporated in a jack cam system housed within a jack cam box 33 (see FIGURE 4), a rotary patterning drum at 34 furnished with prearranged pegs, pins or the like (not shown) and a bank of individually'movable selector members 35 arranged to be selectively actuated by the said pegs, pins or the like for influencing the selector jacks. Each selector jack 31 is a swing jack of a known form, being arranged to pivot about a fulcrum point 36 at its upper end and having at its lower end a stepped butt 31a, 31b to be acted upon by the jack raising cam 32. On the outer edge of each selector jack 31 there is provided a patterning butt 316 to be acted upon at pro-determined times by the relevant one of the bank of superimposed selector members 35. Initially, each jack 31 is furnished with a full complement of superimposed butts 31c all but one, or most, of which are broken away to leave on the jack a butt or butts at the requisite height or heights. Thus, whenever a selector member 35 is pushed inwardly by a peg, pin or the like on the rotary patterning drum 34, the corresponding selector jack 31 (with a butt 310 at the same height as the said selector member) will be caused to turn inwards about its fulcrum 36. When a jack 31 is left unselected in its outwardly swung position, it is the portion 31b of its stepped lower butt which engages the jack raising cam 32. On the other hand, whenever a jack 31 is selected, by virtue of being pressed inwards into its trick by an operative selector member 35, it is the slightly lower portion 31a of its stepped lower butt which engages the cam 32. Consequently, as both unselected and selected jacks 31 pass the cam 32 they will all be raised. On the inner edge of each jack 31 are formed two steps 31d and 31e, one above the other, for engagement selectively, as occasion demands, with the lower extremity 4d of a downwardly directed tail portion 40 of the corresponding bottom slider 4.

Accordingly, whenever a needle 3 is to be transferred from the bottom cylinder 1 to the top cylinder 2 during the production of a links-links pattern, the bottom slider d with which the said needle is engaged will approach the links-links selector station, in advance of the main feed F, at the height shown both at the left-hand side of FIGURE 5 and in FIGURE 7i.e. with its knitting butt 4b running round on the horizontal ledge 37. At this height, the lower extremity 4d of the tail portion 4c of the bottom slider will be disposed just above the upper step 31a on the inner edge of the corresponding selector jack 31. Thus, when the relevant selector member 35 is pushed in by'apin or the like on the drum 34 toswing the last mentionedselector jack 31 inwards about its fulcrum point 36, the upper step 31:! on the jack will be moved into alignment with the lower extremity 4d of the said bottom slider. Consequently, as the selector jack is raised, by engagement of the portion 31a of its stepped lower butt with the jack raising cam 32, the step 31d will act on 4d and raise the bottom slider to such a height as to land its transfer butt 4a on to a bottom transfer cam 33 (see right-hand side of FIGURE 5). As a result, the needle 3, clutched to the said slider, is transferred upwardly, and the corresponding top slider-'5 receives the needle in the usual way, the raised bottom slider being then de-clutched from the needle and returned to its original level by engagement of its knitting butt 4b first with a cam 39 and then a cam 40.

As will be understood, if a selector jack 31 remains tin-selected, then it will be merely raised idly by engage ment of the portion 31b of its stepped lower butt with the cam 32, and its step 31d will miss the lower extremity 4d of the corresponding bottom slider. All of the selector jacks are restored to their original level, after having been raised by the cam 32, by the action of a cam 32 upon the upper extremities of the said jacks.

The selector jacks 31 are accommodated and work within tricked or grooved lower portions of a downward extension 1a of the bottom needle cylinder 1.

Incidentally, for transferring needles down from the top cylinder to the bottom cylinder, there is provided in the top cam box 9, a top transfer cam 41 for engagement with transfer butts 5b of the top sliders 5; bottom sliders 4 are positioned to receive downwardly transferred needles by means of a top transfer receive cam 42.

The machine is also equipped with wrap striping mechanism of the now well known kind wherein wrap instruments 43 consist of blade-like elements each provided with a lower thread guiding extremity 43a, which instruments are arranged so as to extend in an axial direction or substantially so with respect to the needle cylinders 1 and 2 and are adapted for movement radially for the purpose of carrying their Wale threads across the needle circle, from the inside to the outside and vice versa, by virtue of which movement and conjoint relative lateral movement between the thread guiding extremities 43a and the adjacent hooked ends 3a of the needles 3 which are to receive the threads, the latter are wrapped or lapped around desired needles. A typical example of such a wrap striping mechanism is disclosed in the specification of United States Patent No. 2,065,469 wherein, as shown in FIGURE 4 of the present application, each of the wrap instruments 43 is provided with a thread guiding extremity 43a a portion of which extends at an angle, for example at right angles, from the main portion of the blade, and the said instruments are mounted in a longitudinally tricked cylindrical bed 44, located concentrically with the top cylinder 2 of the machine, for individual movement radially conjointly with the aforementioned relative lateral deflection between the instruments and the corresponding needles for wrapping purposes. The cylindrical bed 44 has attached to its upper end a driving gear 45 by which the said bed is driven in unison with the needle cylinders, e.g. from the top cylinder driving gear 7 through the medium of any suitable gearing (not shown). Each wrap instrument 43 is provided on its outer edge with a patterning butt 4312, these butts being pre-arranged at different heights on respectively different instruments to correspond with the heights of the operative ends of a bank of superimposed individually movable selector members 46 located at a wrap instrument selector station W immediately in advance of the main feed F. The selector members 46 are selectively actuated by pre-arranged pins or the like on a rotary wrap patterning drum (not shown).

Also provided on the outer edge of each instrument 43 is an outwardly directed operating butt 430 from which there extends, at right angles thereto, an upwardly extending upper end portion 43d of the stem of the instrument. As the wrap instruments approach the selector station W they are successively depressed by the action of a depressed cam 47 upon their operating butts 43c. The cam 47, secured in a wrap instrument cam box 48, thus depresses the thread guiding extremities 43a of all the wrap instuments to a common wrapping level WL at which level the said extremities are maintained at the wrap station W (see FIGURE 6) by the entrance of the butt 43c into a horizontal track 49a formed in a levelling cam 49 also mounted in the cam box 48. Now each wrap instrument 43 is provided on its rear edge with a fulcrum point 43e about which the instrument is arranged to rock within its longitudinal trick or groove 44:: in the cylindrical bed 44. A wrap instrument 43 which is selected at the selector station W has its pat terning butt 43b pressed inwards by a selectively actuated selected member 46, as a consequence of which the instrument is rocked suchwise as to project its thread guiding extremity 43a radially outwards from the inside of the needle circle (FIGURE 4) to the outside of this circle (FIGURE 7.) This movement, conjointly with relative lateral deflection between the instrument and the adjoining needle, causes the instrument to wrap its Wale thread around the said needle. Immediately after being projected radially outwards as described, the thread guiding extremity 43a is retracted radially inwards to its original position by reason of the back of the upper end portion 43d of the stem of the instrument being acted upon and pushed outwardly by a cam provided at about the position marked 50 at the top right-hand corner of FIGURE 5. Non-selected wrap instruments are not rocked as they pass by the bank of selector members 46 as a consequence of which their thread guiding extremities remain idle on the inside of the needle circle. To enable the upper hooked ends 3a of appropriate needles in the plain needle cylinder 1 to be selectively wrapped in the manner just described, these ends must be brought down to the common wrapping level WL. This levelling of the needles is effected by causing the knitting butts 4b of the corresponding bottom sliders 4 to engage and ride down a second leveling cam 51 which immediately follows a first levelling cam 52. Whilst the cam 52 is fixed, the cam 51 is of the withdrawable bolt type and is projected into its operative position only at predetermined times under suitable control. A group of plain needles in position to be wrapped by selected wrap instruments is shown more clearly in 3 in FIGURE 6.

In advance of the second feed F there is provided at X a selector station at which predetermined plain needles are selected to clear, take yarn at an auxiliary feeder 53 and knit, the remaining un-selected needles remaining down with their upper hooked ends 3a coincident with the sinker line SL. Accordingly, these unselected needles fail to take yarn at the feeder 53 and so non-knit to produce floats or miss stitches. The patterning mechanism for determining which needles shall knit and which shall non-knit at the second feed F or float station comprises a further rotary patterning drum at 54 furnished with prearranged pins or the like (not shown), a bank of superimposed individually movable selector members 55 for operation selectively upon the patterning butts 310 of the selector jacks 31, and a further jack raising cam 5-5. When a relevant selector member 55 is pushed in by a pin or the like on the drum 54 to swing the corresponding jack 31 inwards about its fulcrum point 36, the lower step 312 on the jack will be moved into alignment with the lower extremity 4d of the associated bottom slider 4. The reason why the lower step 31c on a jack selected at X is swung inwards into alignment with 4d is that in approaching the selector station X the relevant bottom slider 4 (in common with all the other bottom sliders) is disposed at the height depicted in FIGURE 8 by virtue of its knitting butt 4b having just been acted upon and depressed by the forward stitch cam 11 at the main feed F. As a consequence of having been swung inwards at X as just described, a selected jack 31 is raised, by engagement of the portion 31:; of its stepped lower butt with the jack raising cam 55, so as to elevate the corresponding bottom slider 4 (acted on at 4d by step 312) to such a height as to land its knitting butt 4b on to a fixed dividing cam 57 by means of which this butt is raised and then immediately landed on to a raising cam 58. The last mentioned cam, by action on butts 4b, raises the upper hooked ends 3a of selected plain needles to clearing height so that these needles knit at the second feed F by virtue of taking yarn at the feeder 53 and being retracted to knockover by engagement of the said knitting butts 4b with the stitch cam 24. Butts 41) passing over the raising cam 58 are partially retracted and fed to the stitch cam 24 as a consequence of the bottom butts 4a of the selector sliders 4 being acted upon by the feed cam 59.

Each of the selector jacks 31 which is not selected at X, i.e. is permitted to remain in an outwardly swung position, is also raised (by engagement of the portion 31b of its stepped butt with the cam 56) but idly and to a 8' slightly less height than the selected jacks. Thus, the lower steps 31e on the unselected jacks miss the lower extremities 4d of the corresponding bottom sliders 4 which latter remain at the height previously determined by the forward stitch cam 11. As a result, the knitting butts 4b of the unselected bottom sliders 4, instead of being landed on to the cam 57, pass below this cam and through a straight non-knitting track d provided between the underside of the raising cam 58 and the upper edge of an opposed guard cam 61. The track 6%) is located below the stitch level of the stitch cam 24. The cor responding unselected needles accordingly remain retracted with their upper hooked ends approximately coincident with the sinker line SL (see the two needles corresponding to the slider butts 4b passing through the non-knitting track 60 in FIGURE 6). All of the selected and non-selected selector jacks 31, after having been raised by the cam 56, are thereupon depressed and restored to their original level, determined by the run shelf 62 by the action of the cam 63 upon the upper extremities of the said jacks. Moreover, immediately after having been raised, the selected jacks 31 are swung outwards again by the engagement of their tails 317' with a face cam 64.

If desired, all of the plain needles may be caused to knit at the second feed F at appropriate times, by projecting into position, under control, a withdrawable bolt cam 65 arranged for action on the transfer butts do of the bottom sliders 4.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing description, the requirements necessary to produce the improved knitted fabric can readily be made available in a 2-feed half hose knitting machine.

It is, however, possible to produce the fabric on much larger, i.e. body, machines having any appropriate even number of feeders.

Briefly stated, the method of producing composite fioat wrap stitches in fabric knitted on a machine such as that herein described having a minimum of two knitting stations accordingly consists in causing unselected needles to non knit and selected needles to knit at one station, and thereafter causing all of the needles to knit at the other station and also selectively wrappingat the latter only unselected needles which non-knit at the non-wrapping station.

For increased production on a machine having a plurality of feeders a multiple of two, this same simple cycle is repeated thus: ABABABAB, and so on.

Thus, distinguishing the knitting stations concerned by calling them wrap and float stations, then a single composite float-wrap stitch may conveniently be regarded as being produced by the following three-stage sequence:

(a) A selected wrap instrument 45 is first caused at a wrap station W to wrap an embroidery thread p around a needle 3 to which latter ground yarn Y is fed and by which such ground yarn is drawn into a loop at said station,

(b) next the said Wrapped needle is caused to remain unselected to non-knit at an adjacent fioat station, and

(c) either at the same or at another wrap station, the same wrapped needle is finally retracted to knocking-over position as a consequence of which the drawn loop, interengaged with the embroidery thread, is cast off the needle and the laterally extending unltnitted float is caught under the embroidery thread (see the float-wrap stitches 121 m and m in FIGURE 1).

In carrying the invention into edect in the two-feed machine herein described with reference to the drawings, wrap instruments &3 are provided only at W and not at F and whereas the machine is so laid out that all needles knit at W only some of the needles are selected to knit and the remainder remain unselected to non-knit at P those needles which non-knit at F being wrapped at W by selection of the appropriate wrap instruments 43 thereat. This will be seen more clearly in FIGURE 9 wherein at the float station or second feed F most of the needles?) are shown knitting main or ground yarn Y, the two tin-selected non-knitting needles 3 at this station, however, being shown with wrap striping threads p wrapped around them. At the wrap station W a selected wrap instrument 43 is depicted wrapping a selected needle 3", where as to the left of W there is indicated a wrapped needle 3 which is just about to be knocked-over to form a stitch incorporating a wrap-striping efiect. The fragmentary portion of knitted fabric shown passing by the wrapstation W incorporates floatwrap stitches extending walewise over two courses; as will be seen the wrap striping thread is over the float. In FIGURE 9 web-holding sinkers are indicated at 6.

We claim:

A circular knitting machine comprising, in combination, a bottom needle cylinder; a superimposed top needle cylinder; a circular series of double-ended latch needles operating in said cylinders; top needle actuating sliders located in said top cylinder; bottom needle-actuating sliders located in said bottom cylinder and having downwardly directed tail portions; selector jacks for selectively operating the bottom needle actuating sliders, the jacks being of the swing type and being arranged to pivot about fulcrum points at their upper ends and having frontalselector butts and at their lower ends stepped butts to be acted upon by jack raising cams, each such selector jack having on the inner edge thereof two steps, one above the other, for engagement selectively with the lower extremity of the downwardly directed tail portion of the corresponding bot-tom slider; annular bottom and top camboxes surrounding the bottom and top needle cylinders respectively, provision being made for relative rotation between said needle cylinders and their associated cam boxes; at least two circumferentially spaced feeders for feeding a ground yarn to needles at each of at least two feeding stations (a) and (b) respectively; in association with said feeders groups of knitting cams in both the bottom and top cam boxes for operating the sliders and so causing needles to knit at the corresponding knitting stations, (at) and (b); patterning mechanism for action upon one ofthe two steps of each selector jack for selectively transferring needles from-the bottom needle cylinder to the top needle cylinder; selecting mechanism in ad Vance of the knitting station (a for action upon the other step of each of relevant ones of the selector jacks for selectively dividing needles so that some are selected to knit and the remainder are unselected to non-knit at the said station (a); a wrap instrument bed mounted concentrically within the top needle cylinder; wrap instruments in said bed, means in advance of knitting station (b) for selecting wrap instruments to wrap desired needles with embroidery threads at that station; and means at the latter for causing said selected wrap instruments to wrap corresponding needles at said station (b), the said wrap instrument selecting means and the aforesaid means for selectively dividing needles being so related that only those needles which non-knit at knitting station (a) are wrapped with embroidery threads at station (1)).

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS Lawson t als.-.-. e 1957

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