US3834186A

US3834186A - Knit contour unit for a knitting machine

Info

Publication number: US3834186A
Application number: US00414557A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Rogers; H Schaeflern
Original assignee: Singer Co
Current assignee: Retail Holding NV
Priority date: 1973-11-09
Filing date: 1973-11-09
Publication date: 1974-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 1991-09-10
Also published as: FR2250843A1; BR7404498A; FR2250843B3

Abstract

A knit contour unit for a knitting machine in which an input member, drivable by reciprocation of the carriage of the machine, is operatively connected to pattern advancing means through engagement with a drive plate which imparts movement to an input member. The extent of the incremental movement transmitted by the output member to the pattern advancing means is controlled by the selective positioning of the output member on the drive plate. A dial selector is rotatably and depressably mounted in the frame of the unit and automatically effectuates disengagement of the drive plate from the output member when repositioning of the output member is to be effected.

Description

ilnited States Patent [191 Rogers et al.

[ KNIT CONTOUR UNIT FOR A KNITTING MACHINE [75] Inventors: Howard D.-Rogers, Westfield;

Henry Schaeflern, Pittstown, both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: The Singer Company, New York,

[22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 414,557

[52] US. Cl. 66/1-R, 66/154 R, 66/60 [51] Int. Cl. D04b 35/00, D04b 37/00 [58] Field of Search 66/1, 60, 64, 76, 154

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,206,518 7/1940 Strzalkowski 66/1 3,099,192 7/1963 Mishcon 66/1 3,293,760 12/1966 Weller 66/1 3,690,123 9/1972 Delair et al. 66/1 3,790,761 2/1974 Crabtree 66/1 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 66/1 [111 3,834,186 [451 Sept. 10, 1974 44-15,584 1969 Japan 66/1 Primary ExaminerRonald Feldbaum Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Marshall J. Breen; Chester A. Williams, Jr.; Joel Halpern ABSTRACT A knit contour unit for a knitting machine in which an input member, drivable by reciprocation of the carthe drive plate from the output member when repositioning of the output member is to be efi'ected.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEPWIW 3834.186

SHEEI 1 0f 2 l llillllllllllllllllllllll 4 6| 6057 56 38 35 4| Fig?) PATENTEDSEPI 01914 SHEEI 2 0F 2 Fig. 7

Fig. 6

KNIT GONTOUR UNIT FOR A KNITTING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to knit contour units for knitting machines, particularly home knitting machines. As is well known, in knitting a garment having a contoured configuration such as the body of a sweater or jumper when the knitting has proceeded, for example, to the area of the armhole it is necessary to vary the number of stitches per row in order to produce the desired contour. This requires that the operator count the number of rows of stitching already completed and then either estimate the number of increased or decreased stitches per row needed or actually measure the intended wearer to determine such variation. The introduction of patterns from which the variation in the number of stitches per row may be readily obtained was an advance in the art; however, it was nevertheless necessary to count the rows of completed stitches on the garment to establish the variation row by row. In recent years there have been made available to knitting machine operators various types of attachments to assist in keeping track of the point of knitting at all times and to enable the operator to keep accurate count of the number of rows knitted and for retention of a graph of the stitch pattern in an easily observed-position. US. Pat. No. 2,722,814 granted Nov. 8, 1955 to Anthony P. Ferriazzo may be referred to for details of such an attachment. I

More recently, devices generally designated as knit contour units or stitch and row counters have been made available whereby a pattern, representative on a reduced scale of the actual garment to be knitted, is advanced incrementally on a row by row basis by pattern advancing means such as a roller. The pattern is aligned with a stitch scale such thatas the carriage of the knitting machine is reciprocated to produce a row of stitches, a ratio regulating mechanism effectuates actuation of the pattern advancing means in response to such reciprocation of the carriage so that the operator may concurrently and easily note visually, without having to count the rows of stitches already completed, the required stitch variation row by row as the knitting proceeds. Japanese Pat. No. 587,607 granted to Silver Seiko discloses a unit of this character, Broadly, units of this type include a rotatable output member which is operatively connectable to the pattern advancing mechanism and to an input member drivable by means actuable through reciprocation of the carriage. A ratio regulating mechanism enables the operator to vary the ratio of the movement between the input and output members depending upon the particular stitch scale employed. However, one deficiency of such units has been the scoring or frictional wear sustained by intermediate elements in the drive train between the input member and the pattern advancing means. Such scoring or undesirable wear frequently necessitates repair or replacement of the ratio regulating mechanism or of elements thereof. Prior art structures were also somewhat susceptible to being inadvertently jolted out of a selected position to thereby introduce inaccuracies in ratio control.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing it is one object of the present 2 invention to provide a knit contour unit in which operation of the selector dial for establishing the desired ratio control automatically disengages the output element of the ratio control mechanism to thereby reduce wear on elements of such mechanismand increase service life thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a knit contour unit in which certain elements of the ratio selecting train are in permanent engagement whereby accurate and positive ratio selection is assured.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a knit contour unit in which the pattern advancing means is actuated by each reciprocation of the carriage so as to provide an accurate and current stitch and row count.

'Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent upon a reading of the detailed description of the invention.

According to the present invention there is provided a knit contour unit for a knitting machine, comprising a frame, pattern carrying means movably mounted in said frame drivable in response to and in predetermined relationship relative to the movement of the carriage of said machine, said pattern carrying means being adapted to advance a pattern in a row to row direction, a drive plate operably connectable to said pattern carrying means and carried by a shaft mounted rotatably in said frame, scale means for indicating the number of stitches per row of pattern advance, and ratio regulating-means for establishing said predetermined relationship between movement of said carriage and movement of said pattern carrying means, said ratio regulating means including a dial member rotatablymounted in said frame and depressable axially with respect to said frame, an input member drivable in response to'movement of said carriage and adapted to effect rotation of said drive plate, and an output member rotatable by said drive plate and operatively connected to said pattern carrying means to drive same, said output member being positionable at selected radial locations on said drive plate to establish the desired ratio between the rotation of said input and output members, said dial member carrying means thereon cooperable with racking means connected 'to said output member whereby depression of said dial member serves to disengage the drive plate from said output member and rotation of said dial member and means carried thereon displaces said racking means and locates said output member at a selected radial location on said drive plate to thereby establish the desired ratio of rotation between said input and output members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be more readily comprehended it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a home knitting machine with a knit contour unit according to the invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2is an elevational front view of the knit contour unit shown in F IG. 1 with'the cover broken away;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational sectional view of the ratio control mechanism of the invention taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 2;

FIG.I6 is a bottom plan view of the bell crank and actuating lever arrangement for indexed rotation of the ratchet input wheelpartly in section and taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and I FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the roller and tape reel assemblies taken along line 77 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown a home knitting machine 10 having aneedle bed ll'and a carriage 12 adapted to be reciprocated laterally along the needle bed. As is well known,the carriage may be manipulated manually or it may be driven by an electric motor (not shown). Secured to the knitting machine at a convenient location is the knit contour unit 13. Such unit should be so positioned with respect to the carriage of the machine that reciprocation of the carriage along the bed in either direction results in the engagement of the carriage, or an element carried thereby, with an element of the knit contour unit such as actuating lever 14. As will be described hereinafter in greater detail, each such engagement initiates movement of a series or train of elements within the knit contour unit which culminates in the incremental advance of a pattern carrying or advancing means such as roller 15.

The knit contour unit comprises a console or frame 16 preferably molded from an impact resistant plastic material. The housing is provided with a hinged lid or cover 17 to provide access to the roller adjusting knob and other operational elements of the unit. The cover is shown in phantom in FIG. 7 pivoted to a partly open position. Pivotal movement of the lid thus exposes the roller assembly for insertion of a pattern, generally made of paper; The pattern is representative of the garment to be produced by the knitting machine. Such a pattern 18 is shown in phantom. Positionedeither directly above or below the point at which the pattern is introduced there is shown a scale 19 which is preferably one of a plurality-of scales carried on a continuous tape 20. Reference to FIGS. 2 and 7 of the drawings will reveal that the tape is mounted on a pair of spools or reels 21 which are rotatably supported within the console. To permit registration of any selected scale of the tape with the particular pattern used a pair of reel or scale adjusting knobs 22 are provided. A preferred construction, as may be seen most clearly from FIG. 7, involves the provision of a pair of

miter gears

24, 25 carried respectively bythe reel shaft 26 and by a stub 1 shaft 27 at the other end of which one of knobs 22 is affixed. The knobs are located within the console so that access is gained thereto by lifting of cover 17.

The knit contour unit is shownas having a dial selector 28 mounted rotatably on the housing so as to be an- .gularly adjustable throughout a predetermined range of rotation. As may be observed. dial selector 28 comprises a handle 29 carried at the upper end of a stem 4 of the dial selector in the selected position the console is given a first annular disc-shaped member 33 having a circumferentially downwardly facing toothed or serrated edge surface 34. This member is situated so as to be concentrically arranged about the stem of the dial selector. A second like annular member 35 is affixed to the stem 30 and is normally urged him meshed relationship with member 33 under the influence of spring 36 to be hereinafter described. I

The dial selector is urged upwardly under the influence of spring 36 so as to effectuate meshing of the said serrated surfaces on

members

33, 35. Depression of the selector against the influence of spring 36 causes a disengagement of

discs

33, 35 and thus enables the operator to rotate the dial to a different angular position. As

'will be described hereinafter, the rotation of the dial to a new position serves to establish a different rate of incremental advance for the roller 15.

Reference is made to FIGS. 2 and 3 from which it will be seen that a drive plate or a disc 37 is mounted atop a vertical shaft 38 which is rotatably journaled in the frame of the unit as will be hereinafter described. The

. means, described below, in order to retain the drive plate in the rotationally indexed position. The shaft 38 is so mounted within the frame that itis also capable of limited axial movement. Compression spring 36 is positioned about shaft 38 constrained between the lower surface of the drive plate and the bottom plate 41 of the frame. A disengaging lever 42 is positioned within the console and is provided with a flange portion 43 having an aperture therethrough for reception of a pin or shaft member 44 which-serves to support the lever in the frame and act as a fulcrum therefor. The lever is pivotably mounted on shaft 44 such that the free end thereof extends over the drive plate preferably the midpoint thereof. The lower surface of the lever is provided with a pin member or protuberance 45 substantially coaxial with shaft 38 whichis normally in engagement with the central portion of the drive plate. Spring 36 urges the drive plate into engagement with the protuberance on thelever 42 so as to urge the lever upwardly about its fulcrum and thereby transmit a like biasing force to the dial selector assembly through pinion 31 which is provided with an end section engageable with the lever.

An input member 46, in the form of a ratchet wheel,

is positioned immediately below the drive plate and is concentrically arranged with respect thereto and rotatable therewith on shaft 38. A presently preferred embodiment of the invention is to provide the drive plate and ratchet wheel as an integral unit mounted onshaft 38.

Journaledat both ends within the frame is output shaft 47. The shaft is formed with a non-circular crosssection, preferably with a square configuration. Carried slidably on the output shaft is a sleeve member 48. The sleeve member comprises an elongated portion 49 which is formed as a circular rack on its exterior surface and an output wheel or disc portion 50 which is dimensioned to ride in engagement with the upper surface of drive plate 37. The output disc portionis provided with a bore having-the configuration of shaft 47 sothat sleeve member 48is not only capable of axial movement along the shaft but is capable of rotational movement with the shaft regardless of its axial position thereon. The circular rack portion 'of the sleeve member isformed with a bore of sufficient diameter to avoid binding with the shaft during axial movement of the sleeve therealong. Thus, the bore of the circular rack segment of sleeve 48 is given an internal diameter larger than the widest dimension of the shaft. Further, it has been found desirable to form the circular rack and output disc separately and to'press-fit the disc onto a reduced end portion of the rack.

One end of output shaft 47jis provided with a pinion 51 which is positioned thereon so as to be cooperable with a pinion 52 on roller shaft 53 to be later described.

As may be observed most clearly from FIG. 3, spring 36 serves to bias drive plate 37in an upwardly direction into engagement with output disc 50. Thus, in normal operation rotation of the ratchet wheel 46 effects rotation of the drive plate 37 and, because of the facing of frictional material thereon, of output disc 50. This results in rotation of the output shaft 47 and of pinion 51 carried at the end thereof.

As may be seen from FIG. 2,- output shaft 47 is journaled at one end thereof in wall 54 formed within the console or frame of the knit contour unit. Output shaft 47 is coupled through

pinions

51 and 52 to the pattern advancing roller to transmit rotational drive thereto. Pinion 52 is carried by the roller shaft adjacent the end thereof at a location such that it is in permanent engagement with pinion 51 on the output shaft. Generally, the pinion 52 is larger than pinion 51 so as to effeet a step-down in rotational speed. The exact ratio between the pinions is not critical since it depends upon various factors such as space limitations for the drive plate and ratchet wheel and the desired rate of incremental advance for roller 15. Knob 55 is secured to roller shaft 53 at a convenient location so as to afford manual adjustment of roller 15. As with reel adjusted knobs 22, it is necessary to lift the cover 17 to obtain access thereto for manual manipulation.

The circular rack segment of sleeve member 48and the pinion 31 are so dimensioned and located that these two members are always in engagement; the teeth of the pinion being in meshed relationship with the grooves of the circular rack. Thus, it will be seen that depression of the dial selector 28 against the bias of spring 36 effects a separation of disc-

like members

33, 35, the lower end of stem 30 engaging the upper surface of disengaging lever 42 so as to cause the lever to pivot about its fulcrum or shaft 44. As the lever pivots downwardly, pin member or protuberance 45 is caused to press against the drive plate and oppose the force of spring 36 so as to disengage the drive plate from output wheel 50. Rotation of the dial selector 28 and of pinion 31 carried thereby effectuates axial movement of the sleeve member 48 along output shaft 47 due to the coaction between the pinion and circular rack. As the sleeve member moves axially along output shaft 47 it carries the output wheel therewith to a new radial location with respect to drive plate 37. Once the dial selector has been positioned in the desired angular setting and it is released, it is urged back into locked relationship by virtue of the force of spring 36 and the cooperating serrated surfaces on the

disc members

33, 35. It will be appreciated that by varying the radial position of output wheel 50 the ratio of rotational movement between ratchet wheel 46 and the output wheel may be regulated as desired in order to establish the magnitude of the incremental advance of roller 15. Further, the

gear ratio between

pinions

51 and 52 determines the final speed reduction and establishes the rate of incremental advance by the roller 15. The pattern 18 fed to the roller is thereby caused to advance through its engagement with roller 15.

As may be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 6 of the drawings base plate 41 of the knit contour unit is provided with an upstanding bushing 56, within which shaft 38 is joumaled. Carried pivotably by the base of the bushing is a bell crank 57 having a pair of

arms

58, 59. Arm 58 is furnished adjacent the end thereof witha cam follower 60 in the form of a roller. The base plate of the console is also provided with a relatively short standard or stand-off 61 which is offset and spaced from bushing 56. Mounted pivotably on standard 61 is an actuating lever 14 which is of sufficient length to extend beyond the face of the console such that when the console is affixed to the knitting machine the protruding portion 63 of the lever is in the path of the reciprocating car- .riage or striking means carried thereon (not shown).

The end of the lever which is carried by standard 61 is provided with a cam head 64 having cam surface 65 engageable by cam follower 60 on the bell crank 57. The

lever is formed with a recessed portion that is dimensioned to accept roller 60 in the event of an overrun by the roller of the cam surface. This affords a measure of safety against damage to the bell crank, pawl or other elements in the event the roller is caused to move beyond the extremity of cam surface 65. Spring means 66 is secured between an internal wall of the console and a radially extending lug 67 formed on the cam head opposite cam surface 65. Spring 66 serves to urge the return of the actuating lever to a neutral position when displaced by reciprocation of the carriage as described above.

Arm 59 of the bell crank extends in a substantially radial direction and is provided adjacent the end thereof with an aperture therethrough adapted to receive a pin or rivet member 68 which mounts a pawl 69. The pin or rivet isheaded at both ends so as to retain the pawl on arm 59. Pawl 69 is conveniently formed in the configuration of a bell crank, one arm 70 of which is generally arcuate and conforms somewhat to the curvature of the contiguous ratchet wheel. The terminal portion of arm 70 is provided with a tooth element 71 adapted to engage with the teeth of the ratchet vwheel to effectuate rotation of such wheel upon clockwise rotation of bell crank 57. The other arm 70' of the pawl extends in the same generally radial direction as does arm 59 of hell crank 57 and is given a notch 72 or other suitable spring retaining means. A spring 73 is anchored at one end thereof to such spring retaining means on the pawl arm 70' and at its other end to suitable retaining means provided on the interior of the console. Spring 73 serves to bias the pawl in a direction such that tooth element 71 is urged into engagement with the adjacent tooth on the ratchet wheel. It will be understood, of course, that pin or rivet member 68 may be rotatable within the aperture in arm 59 or the pawl may be rotatably mounted on the pin or rivet. However, the pawl must be rotatable with respect to arm 59.

It is within the scope of the invention to substitute for the aforementioned ratchet wheel and actuating lever arrangement a motor which is energized selectively by virtue of the generation of electrical impulses upon predetermined movements of the carriage. Drive plate 37 maybe thus caused to rotate to transmit incremental rotation to roller 15.

As is well known, mechanisms are readily available in the typewriter field, which include a spring loaded guide tray 74, for receiving a sheet material, such as a pattern 18, so that it may be pressed into engagement with a roller for advance therewith. Similarly, such mechanism is capable of permitting the release of the sheet material whenever desired. Inasmuch as the pattern locking the release mechanism may be any such conventional and heretofore known assembly it is deemed unnecessary to encumberthe present specification with a detailed description in this respect.

A spring and ball assembly 75- is shown asbeing mounted on base plate41 beneath the drive plate'at a location such that the ball,- or alternatively a pin member, is biased against the undersurface of the drive plate and urged into one of the detent notches on the drive plate as the plateis rotationally indexed.

From the foregoing it will soon be seen that a knit contour unit has been provided whereby ratio regulating or control means are employed which permit disengagement of the drive plate from the rotatable driven output elements during ratio selection so as to increase the longevity of such elements. Also, the unique arrangement of a pinion and circular rack insures positive and accurate establishment of the desired ratio and minimizes the risk of accidental changes in the selected setting. I

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of the invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is: I

l. A knitcontour unit for a knitting machine, comprising a frame, pattern carrying means movably mounted in said frame drivable in response to and in predetermined relationship relative to the movement of the carriage of said machine, said pattern carrying means being adapted to advance a pattern in a row to row direction, a drive plate operably connectable to said pattern carrying means and carried by a shaft mounted rotatably in said frame, scale means for indicating the number of stitches per row of pattern advance, and ratio regulating means for establishing said predetermined relationship between movement of said the desired ratio between the rotation of said input and output members, said dial member carrying means thereon cooperable with racking means connected to said output member whereby depression of said dial member serves to disengage the drive plate from-said output member and rotation of said dial member and means carried thereon displaces said racking means and locates said output member at a selected radial location on said drive plate to thereby establish the desired ratio of rotation between said input and output members.

2. A knit contour unit according to claim 1-, wherein said pattern carrying means is aroller mounted on a shaft which is in turn rotatably carried by the frame of the machine, said outputmember being a wheel integral with said racking means, said wheel and racking means comprising a sleeve mounted slidably on an output shaft and rotatable therewith, means being carried by said roller-mounting shaft and outut shaft cooperable'to effect driving of said roller-mounting shaft by said output shaft.

3. A knit contour unit according to claim 1, wherein said dial member surmounts a stem to member end of which a pinion is secured, said racking means being a member whereby depression of said dial member effeccarriage and movement of said pattern carrying means,

said ratio regulating means including-a dial member rotatably mounted in said frame and depressable axially with respect to said frame, an input member drivable in response to movement of said carriage and adapted to effect rotation of said drive plate, and an output member rotatable by said drive plate and operatively connected to said pattern carrying means to drive same, said output member being positionable at selected radial locations on said drive plate to establish tuates pivotal movement of said lever and disengagement of said drive plate from said output member.

5. A knit contour unit according to claim 4, wherein said input member comprises a ratchet wheel secured to the said shaft which carries said drive plate.

6. A knit contour unit according to claim 5, wherein a bell crank is pivotably mounted on thebase plate of the frame beneath said ratchet wheel, one arm of said bell crank being actuable by a lever pivotably mounted on said base plate engageable upon reciprocation of said carriage by means thereon, the other arm of said bell crank being provided with a pawl which is adapted to index said ratchet wheel upon actuation of said one arm whereby reciprocation of said carriage effectuates movement of said lever with consequent indexed rotation of said ratchet wheel.

7. A knit contour unit according to claim 6, wherein the undersurface of said drive plate is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced detent notches, a spring loaded detent assembly being mounted on said frame beneath said drive plate and positioned so that the spring of said detent assembly urges detent means into one of said notches each time said ratchet wheel is rotated whereby said drive plate is rotationally indexed and maintained in the position to which it is rotated.

8. A knit contour unit according to claim 3, wherein a first annular member having a circumferential downwardly facing serrated edge surface is secured to an member, said stem being provided with a second conin a selected setting, said annular members being norcentric like annular member the serrated edge surface mally urged into meshed relationship and separable by of which is adapted to mesh with the serrated surface depression of said dial member.

of said first annular member to lock the dial member

Claims

1. A knit contour unit for a knitting machine, comprising a frame, pattern carrying means movably mounted in said frame drivable in response to and in predetermined relationship relative to the movement of the carriage of said machine, said pattern carrying means being adapted to advance a pattern in a row to row direction, a drive plate operably connectable to said pattern carrying means and carried by a shaft mounted rotatably in said frame, scale means for indicating the number of stitches per row of pattern advance, and ratio regulating means for establishing said predetermined relationship between movement of said carriage and movement of said pattern carrying means, said ratio regulating means including a dial member rotatably mounted in said frame and depressable axially with respect to said frame, an input member drivable in response to movement of said carriage and adapted to effect rotation of said drive plate, and an output member rotatable by said drive plate and operatively connected to said pattern carrying means to drive same, said output member being positionable at selected radial locations on said drive plate to establish the desired ratio between the rotation of said input and output members, said dial member carrying means thereon cooperable with racking means connected to said output member whereby depression of said dial member serves to disengage the drive plate from said output member and rotation of said dial member and means carried thereon displaces said racking means and locates said output member at a selected radial location on said drive plate to thereby establish the desired ratio of rotation between said input and output members.

2. A knit contour unit according to claim 1, wherein said pattern carrying means is a roller mounted on a shaft which is in turn rotatably carried by the frame of the machine, said output member being a wheel integral with said racking means, said wheel and racking means comprising a sleeve mounted slidably on an output shaft and rotatable therewith, means being carried by said roller-mounting shaft and outut shaft cooperable to effect driving of said roller-mounting shaft by said output shaft.

3. A knit contour unit according to claim 1, wherein said dial member surmounts a stem to the other end of which a pinion is secured, said racking means being a circular rack integral with said output member and cooperable with said pinion, said rack and pinion being dimensioned so as to maintain engagement therebetween in all movable positions of said dial member.

4. A knit contour unit according to claim 3, wherein a lever member is pivotably mounted within the frame thereof positioned above said drive plate, the lower surface of said lever being provided with a protuberance engageable with said drive plate at approximately the mid-point thereof, said drive plate being spring-biased upwardly into frictional engagement with said output member whereby depression of said dial member effectuates pivotal movement of said lever and disengagement of said drive plate from said output member.

6. A knit contour unit according to claim 5, wherein a bell crank is pivotably mounted on the base plate of the frame beneath said ratchet wheel, one arm of said bell crank being actuable by a lever pivotably mounted on said base plate engageable upon reciprocation of said carriage by means thereon, the other arm of said bell crank being provided with a pawl which is adapted to index said ratchet wheel upon actuation of said one arm whereby reciprocation of said carriage effectuates movement of said lever with consequent indexed rotation of said ratchet wheel.

8. A knit contour unit according to claim 3, wherein a first annular member having a circumferential downwardly facing serrated edge surface is secured to an inner surface of said frame, said annular member being concentrically arranged about the stem of said dial member, said stem being provided with a second concentric like annular member the serrated edge surface of which is adapted to mesh with the serrated surface of said first annular member to lock the dial member in a selected setting, said annular members being normally urged into meshed relationship and separable by depression of said dial member.