US499138A - Half to thomas herbert - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. MORLEY. STOP MOTION DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES. No. 499,138. Patented June 6,1893.

INVENTOR ewe (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. MORLEY. STOP MOTION DEVICE FOR KNITTING MACHINES. No. 499,138. Patented June 6, 1893.

INVENTOR m: NORRIS PETERS cu, PHOTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON, 11c.

U'NiT Ep STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT MORLEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO THOMAS HERBERT, OF SAME PLACE.

STOP-MOTION DEVICE FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,138, dated June 6, 1893.

Application filed December 19, 1892. Serial No. 455,554. (No model.)

.To all whom 232? may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT MORLEY, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stop-Motion Devices for Knitting-Machines, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings Figure 1 represents a general view, in elevation, of aknitting machine to which my improvements are applied. Fig. 2 is a detail view, in perspective, and upon an enlarged scale, of the stop-motion devices, and Fig. 3 is a detail view, on a still larger scale,.of the cam by which the stop-motion detent is directly actuated.

My invention is intended to apply to that class of knitting machines wherein the web descends from the knitting mechanism to a take-up roller mounted in a downwardly depending frame which rotates in conformity with thQlllOVBmGHl? of the rotating member of the knitting mechanism proper, and as the construction of such knitting machinery is well understood, I shall not describe it in detail, but merely indicate the prominent parts thereof.

Referring to the general view of Fig. 1, A represents the stand or table of the machine, upon the top of which are mounted the cam cylinder and knitting cylinder, indicated at B. The downwardly depending rotating frame is represented at O. Said frame carries, near its lower end, the take-up roller, 0', upon which the fabric descending from the knitting mechanism is wound. Beneath said frame 0 a stationary circular rack, a, concentric with the axis of rotation of the frame, is mounted upon the bottom of the stand A. A vertical shaft, (1, is journaled in suitable brackets, (1 projecting from one side of the frame O, said shaft having at it lower end a pinion, a, which engages with the rack, a, and having at its upper end a screw or worm, d, which engages with the worm gear, 6, rigidly mounted upon one end of the shaft of a transverse roller, E, which extends across from side to side of the frame 0, and is suitably journaled therein. A pulley, H, is mounted upon the other end of the shaft of said roller E, and is provided with a belt, 72, which engages with a large pulley, H", rigidly mounted upon the shaft of the take-up roller 0. Thus the roller E and take-up roller 0 are both positively actuated by the rotation of the frame.

A short distance below the bearings of the roller, E, vertical slots, 0, are formed through the sides of the frame O, which slots receive, and form bearings for, the shaft, g, of a roller, G, corresponding substantially in size to the roller E, and arranged immediately below the same. The ends of the shaft, g, extend a considerable distance outward beyond the sides of the frame, as indicated.

The fabric in its descent from the machine is led first beneath the roller G, then up between it and the roller E, then over said roller E, and down to the take-up roller O. Thus the roller G, whose axis is free to move vertically in the slots 0, is supported by means of the fabric and the tension is such as to maintain said roller in substantially its uppermost position during normal operation.

A vertical rock-shaft, J is mounted in suitable brackets, K, upon one side of the frame and is secured against upward motion by means of a collar j. Said shaft J is provided with a laterally projecting finger, I, which extends inward toward the rotating frame O, terminating at a point within the periphery of the circle which is described by the ends of the roller shaft g, as they rotate, but arranged in a plane which is below the plane of said roller shaft in normal operation, said finger being substantially at the same level as the bottoms of the slots 0. A horizontal cam disk, L, having a cam incline, Z, (see Fig. 3) upon its lower face is rigidly mounted upon the top of the shaft J. A detent lever, M, pivoted at M, upon the stand of the machine is held by means of a spring, on, in close contact with the under surface of the cam disk L. When the end of said lever which is adjacent to the cam disk-L, is in its uppermost position, 5

roo

mounted upon the driving shaft, S. Said driving shaft is provided with a groove, R,

- engaging with'the sliding clutch member, and

is also provided with a driving pulley, T, as shown. A spring, N, is connected with the shifting rod, N, and bears against the side of the stand with a pressure normally tending to throw the shifting rod and,by means of it, the shifting lever, 0, in the direction proper for uncoupling the pulley, T, from the driving shaft S.

The operation of the device is as follows: The coupling being connected, the detent lever, M, is brought into engagement with the notch, n, to hold the shifting rod against the tension of the spring, N, thus permitting the coupling, P, to remain in engagement. The position of the cam disk, L, issuch that the end of the lever, M, bears against the under side thereof at a. point just adjacentto the incline; Z, as shown in Fig. 3, the finger,.I, in this position of the shaft, J, extending in toward the frame 0. The web of the fabric, F, being brought down from the knitting mechanism and carried'about the rollers G and E, and thence down to the take-up roller 0, in the manner above described, supports said roller G, during normal operation, at or near the tops of the slots 0, and the projecting ends of the shaft g, of said roller, in rotating, clear the finger I. The take-up mechanism is actuated in the usual manner by the devices described, the rotation of the shaft, d, by means of the pinion, a, actuating the worm and gear, 6, and thus positively rotating the roller, E, whose pulley, H, in turn actuates the pulley, H, of the take-up roller, 0, by means of the belt, h. So long as the tension of the fabric remains normal the positions of the parts continue as just described, but if by the breaking of a yarn, or the missing of loops, the fabric sags or drops from above, the roller, G, is permitted to descend, so that the downwardly projecting end of the shaft, g, in rotation, will strike against the finger, I, and turn the latter so as to rock the shaft, J, and rotate the cam disk, L, in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 3. This rotation of the cam disk forces the'lever, M, to ride down upon the incline, Z, and as soon as it reaches the bottom of the incline (by which time the end of the shaft g has rotated out of contact with the finger I) said detent lever has cleared the notch, 72, upon the shifting rod, N. The spring, N, thereupon throws said rod in a longitudinal direction and shifts the lever, O, which in turn shifts the coupling, P, out of therefor.

engagement with the pulley, T, thus stopping the machine.

In the foregoing description I have specified a sliding clutch coupling as the member of the apparatus which directly controls the motion of the machine,but it must be understood that I do not limit myself to. the use of such coupling, since an ordinary belt-shifter combined with fast andloose pulleys, or any other equivalent device, can be substituted Nor is it essential that the exact structure shown should be followed inthe group of devices which directly actuate the shifting member of the combination, since any well known substitutefor the rod N and its spring, and for the detent whereby said rod is normally retained against the tension of said spring may be employed. Hence in claiming my invention hereinafter I use the term devices between the cam and driving shaft as indicative generally of those parts of the group which are normally restrained from operation, but to which movement is to be imparted when the stop-motion devices proper operate; thus intending to comprehend, in combination with such stop-motion devices proper, any equivalent forms of mechanism intermediate between the stop motion devices proper and the driving shaft.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- In a knitting machine comprising a downwardly depending rotating frame and take-up I mechanism mounted therein, the combination with said frame, of a roller adapted to be supported by the fabric; a shaft for said roller having ends which extend outward beyond .the sides of. said frame; vertically slotted bearings for said shaft; a rock-shaft provided with a finger extending within the periphery described by the outer ends of said roller shaft, but at a lower, level than the normal level of said shaft; a cam mounted upon said rock-shaft; the driving shaft and devices be,- tween the cam and the shaft, substantially as described, through which the movement of the cam throws the driving shaft out of position, whereby in normal operation of the machine said roller shaft is supported to rotate out of range of said finger, but upon the abnormal descent of the web said rollerishaft engages with said finger.

ROBERT MORLEY.

Witnesses:

H. MASON OLAPP, E. REESE.

Images