US638096A

US638096A - Knitting-machine.

Info

Publication number: US638096A
Application number: US71439199A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry Clarke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1899-04-25
Filing date: 1899-04-25
Publication date: 1899-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 1916-11-28

Description

No. 638,096. Patented Nov. 28''; I899.

H. CLARKE. KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 25, 1699.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

Wfl LCS'SQ'! Invenior:

YN: npnms PEYERS cu. PHOTO'LITHQ, vusnmn'rou, o, c.

No. 638,096. Patented Nov. 28, I899. H. CLARKE.

KNITTING MACHINE.

- (Application fild Apr. 25, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Witness es Eur e nfo r' No. 638,096. Pat ented Nov. 28, I399. H. CLARKE.

KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 26, 1s99.j

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shut 3.

W i a gill/11111111:

NITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

HENRY CLARKE, OF NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND.

KNITTING- MACHINE.

SIPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,096, dated November 28, 1899.

Application filed April 25, 1899.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY CLARKE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Nottingham, in the county of Nottingham, England, have invented a new and 'useful Knitting-Machine, (for which I have applied for a patent in Great Britain, No. 16, bearing date January 2, 1899,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention, which relates to improvements in circular-knitting machines, has for its object the production of a circular-knitting machine upon which selvaged articles may be produced and the provision of means whereby ,such articles may be widened or narrowed at either side or at both sides simultaneously, or widened at one side and narrowed at the other, thereby enabling a fashioned selvaged article'to be produced at less cost than heretofore.

In the drawings which accompany this specification, Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, showing the cam-cylinder-driving mechanism with the cover over the gearwheels removed. Fig. 3 is a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the thread-carriers, showing their relative position to the needles. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the thread-carrier arrangement. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the knitting-threadcarrier cam. Fig. 7 is an elevation of the splicing-thread-carrier cam. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the thread take-up device and connected parts. Fig. 9 is a plan of the mechanism shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the knitting-cam, and Fig. 11 is a part plan of the ratchet mechanism and bluff for the knitting-thread-carrier-cam ring.

According to this invention a stationary needle-cylinder is used and the knitting-cam is reciprocated instead of being revolved around the same. The thread-carrier is reciprocated with the knitting-cam and is moved into and out of its feeding position by cams which are carried by two rings and are auto matically moved to vary the number of needles fed by the thread, whereby the article is made with selvaged edges, each of which may be fashioned independently of the other. The machine is also provided with splicing mechanism, take-up devices, pattern mech- Serial No. 714,391. (No model.)

anism, and other means for the efiicient working of the machine.

The needle-cylinder a is attached to a sleeve a and is supported in a tube b on the baseplate 1), so that it cannot turn, but may be.

raised and lowered relatively to the knittingcam for varying the tension of the work pro duced. The outer surface of the cylinder at is cut to receive the needles a except the part between the needles a or this portion of the cylinder may be out, but is without any needles to allow of the movable parts of the knitting-cam changing their position when the direction of motion of the knittingcam ring 0 is reversed. This ring is fitted to reciprocate in a chamber or recess formed in the base-plateb and carries the knitting-cams, which comprise a fixed upthrow-cam c, fixed knockingover cams 0 a horizontally-sliding downthrow-cam c and two vertically-sliding switch-cams 0 which lift-the needles into position to receive the thread alternately. These cams are fitted up in the usual manner andvthe position of the movable parts is changed automatically by the needles when the direction of motion is reversed. The outside of the cam-ring is cut to form a gearwheel which meshes with a wheel which is fastened to a pinion c and fitted to revolve on a fixed axle c Gearing into the pinion c is a wheel 0 fastened to a vertical shaft 0 which has bearings in a bracket c bolted to the under side of the base-plate b, and carries the rack-pinion c. The rack 0 which gears into the pinion o is fitted to slide in a bracket and is actuated from the crank-wheel d through a link 61, lever 61 and link (1 At both ends of the bracket 0 there are buffersprings 0 against which the rack abuts at the termination of its traverse in either direction, the said spring minimizing the effect of the inertia of the moving parts when the direction of motion is reversed. The crankwheel d has a short bearing in a bracket on the standard (1 and is driven by a pinion on the shaft (1 which is fitted at one end with fast and loose pulleys and at the other end with a fiy-Wheel d.

The machine is fitted with sinkers e, which slide in tricks in a ring 6' and are actuated by a cam e on a ring 6 which has a bearing on a ring 6, fixed t0 the needle-cylinder and is driven from the cam-ring c by a bracket 6 fixed thereto, and lugs c screwed to the ring 6 i The bracket carries the thread-carrier bracket f, upon which the knitting-thread carrierf is pivoted at f and the splicingthread carrier f at f Both carriers have an outwardly-projecting arm, and these are fitted with cam-trucks f The carrier f is provided with a friction-washer or its equivalent, so that it will remain in or out of its feeding position, as hereinafter explained, while the carrier f is normally held in its feeding position by a spring The bracket falso carries the necessary thread-guides and the latch-guard f which is slotted, as shown in Fig. 5, to permit of the carriers being raised out of their feeding position.

For automatically operating the splicingcarrierf the machine is fitted with a fixed cam f which is carried by brackets f from the base b. In the arrangement shown the cam f is designed to throw the carrier f out of action at the central portion of its traverse, and thereby splice the outer edges of the fabric; but by varying the size and position of the cam the article maybe spliced at any port-ion, and by removing the cam altogether the article may be spliced throughout.

The cams g and g for throwing the knitting-thread carrier into and out of its feeding position are carried by brackets from

rings

9 and 9 which are fitted to move independently of each other in a recess formed in the base-plate and are provided with teeth on their outer circumferences. Gearing into these rings there are pinions g and 9 which are fixed to axles having a bearing on a bracket g and fitted with ratchet-wheels 9 Under the ratchet-wheels and fastened thereto there are cut-wheels 9 working in conjunction with springs g, which serve to indicate the amount of movement given to the rings g and g and to correct the amount of such movement, the ratchet mechanism being so arranged that a movement of one tooth on one wheel represents an increase or decrease of one needle at one edge of the fabric. Above the wheels g there are bluffs 9 which are actuated from the pattern-chain through links g and pattern-levers g. For rotating the ratchet-wheels the bracket 9 is fitted with a slide 9, which is actuated at the termination of each reciprocation of the knitting-cam by a cam g on the crank-wheel shaft through a bent lever g, which is fulcrumed at on an axle fixed to the standard, the lower end of the lever being T-shaped and fitted with two cam-trucks, while the cam Q13 is designed to act as a cam and its own counter-cam. The slide Q12 carries two ratchet-pawls S for each ratchet-wheel, and the action of these on the ratchet-wheel is controlled by the bluif from the pattern mechanism, this arrangement enabling either or both wheels to be actuated in either direction and by varying the positions of the cams g and g vary the number of needles fed with the knitting-thread, and consequently enable a fashioned fabric of any shape to be produced.

The knitting-thread h is drawn from a spool it through a guide Z1 guide-channel h under a pivoted shoe 71 over the spring take-up Wire 71 and through guides h and h to the carrier. The splicing-thread 7r, passes through parts which are similar to the parts used for the thread h, and these parts are indicated by the same reference-numbers and the letters h and 70, respectively. In an ordinary circular-knitting machine the take-up device is so fixed that the thread leaves it over the center of the needle-cylinder; but in the machine herein described the best results are obtained and there is the minimum amount of slack to be dealt with if the take-up device is placed, as shown, with the guides perpendicularly over the outside of the needle-cylinder and the center of the part of the cylininder devoid of needles.

Under the bracket 2, carrying the take-up springs and connected parts, there is a fixed cutter t" and a movable cutter i for severing the splicing-thread. The movable cutter is attached to a slide '6 which is guided on pins 7] and is held in the position shown by a catch-lever i, which is connected by a link i to another lever 2' and on the same axle as the lever i there is a lever 2' which is in posit-ion to be actuated by the pattern mechanism. When the catch 2' is raised, the spring 1' comes into action, the movable cutter is actuated, and the splicing-thread is severed.

The belt fork-rod Z is guided in brackets on the machine-standard and when the belt is on the fast pulley is held by a lever Z, which is pivoted on the same axle as the lever 9 and is held in the position shown by a spring Z The lever Z may be operated from the front of the machine by a rod Z and when pushed backward the rod Z is released and is moved endwise by a spring to move the belt onto the loose pulley. The lever l is also connected by a link Z to the patternchain mechanism, so that it can be actuated automatically, as hereinafter described.

For controlling the actions of the various parts of the machine a pattern-chain o is provided. This is passed around a toothed chain wheel 0, which is actuated intermittentlyby a ratchet wheel and pawl 0 from a lever 0 which is oscillated by a cam 0 on the crankwheel axle. The chain in the arrangement shown is provided with pattern-bits of two different heights, thus enabling a narrower chain and a less number of pattern-chain levers to be used. The chain is suitably guided by pulleys o and 0 the latter being carried by arms from a rod 0, so that they can be moved according to the length of the chain and for adjusting the tension of the same. The pattern-chain levers are centered at o and are held in position to be actuated by the chain pattern bits by suitable spring 9 One pattern-chain lever is double-ended, its

the action of a short pattern-bit, while the lower end 0- of the same lever operates the lever 1 through the link 1, the end of which is slotted, so that it is not actuated unless the pattern-chain lever is operated bya long patternbit, and so that the lever Z maybe operated by hand without operating also the pattern-chain lever. The pattern-levers for the bluff-plates when operated by short patternbits allow one pawl to come into action, and

when operated by the long pattern-bits allow the other pawl to come into action. In connection with these pattern-levers there are holding-out levers 0 which holdthe patternlevers in the position placed by the patternchain bits, and thus allow of continuous fashionings being made without the use of a separate pattern-bit for each fashioning. There is also a handle-pattern lever 0 carrying projections at and 0 The projection at 0 passes under the levers 0 and when operated by the chain it raises the levers o and allows the pattern-chain levers to fall into their normal position. When the lever 0 is moved by hand beyond the distance it is moved by the pattern-chain, the projection at 0 forces back all the pattern-levers and raises the pawl 0 and the projection at 0 raises the levers 0 thus removing all obstacles to the revolution of the wheel 0' by hand in either direction.

The machine herein described may be used for the manufacture of all kinds of fashioned selvaged articles, such as pants-legs, shirtsleeves, and the like. When commencing to knit an article, a rib fabric is run on the needles, if desired, and the cams g g are Wound in by hand until the thread-carrieris thrown in and out of its feeding position at the selvage-needle. The machine is then started and a piece of parallel work knitted until the cams g g are moved to a different position and the thread fed to a greater or less number of needles. When the splicing is to be commenced, the machine is stopped and the splicing-carrier threaded. The machine being restarted, the splicing-thread carrier, the eye of which rests upon the eye of the knitting-thread carrier when both are in action, is moved in and out of action by the knittingthread carrier at the selvages of the article and also in dependently of the knitting-thread carrier at the inside edges of the spliced portion of the article by the fixed cam f", the splicing-thread being floated across the machine between the two inside edges of the spliced portion of the fabric. When the splicing-thread is put into work, the cutter is opened, and when the spliced portion of the article is completed, the splicing-thread is antomatically severed without stopping the machine. By arranging the cams g and g independently of each other they may be moved in any direction and the fabric may be widened or narrowed simultaneously at both sides, or it may be widened or narrowed at either side, or it may be widened at one side and narrowed at the other side.

The fashionings in thismachine are made without transferrence of loops, and consequently without loss of time, as the widenings are made by feeding the thread to a greater number of needles and the narrowings by reducing the number of needles to which the thread is fed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles, the needle-cylinder, the knitting-cam, a knitting-cam ring, the gear-wheels driving the same, a rack driving the gear-wheels, the crank, lever, and links driving the rack, a knitting-thread carrier, the knitting-thread-carrier cams, the rings carrying the same, the ratchet mechanism actuating such rings and chain-pattern mechanism to control the operation of said ratchet mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles, the needle-cylinder, the knitting-cam ring, the sinkers, the sinkeroam, the sinker-ring, means for reciprocating the knitting-cam ring, connections between the knitting and sinker cam rings, a knittingthread carrier connected to the knitting-cam ring knitting-thread-carrier cams for throwing it in and out of action, rings carrying the said cams, ratchet mechanism for actuating the said rings in either direction, thread take up devices, a fixed and movable cutter for the splicing-thread, and pattern-chain mechanism to control said cutter and said ratchet mechanism, substantially as described.

3. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles, a needle-cylinder partially filled with needles, knitting-cams; a re ciprocating knitting-cam ring, a thread-carrier connected to the knitting-cam ring, cams for throwing the thread-carrier in and out of action, rings carrying the said cams, pin ions gearing with the said cam-rings, ratchetwheels attached thereto, pawls for the ratchetwheels, a slide carrying the pawls, bluffs regulating the action of the pawls and chain-pattern mechanism controlling the bluffs substantially as described.

4. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles the needle-cylinder, the reciprocating knitting-cam ring, crank and gearing actuating the cam-ring, a knitting-thread carrier and a splicingthread carrier connected to the knitting-cam ring a fixed cam for throwing the splicing-thread carrier into and out of action independently of the knitting-thread carrier, a knittingthread take-up device, a splicing-thread take up device, a bracket carrying such devices, a fixed thread-cutter, a sliding thread-cutter, a catch for holding the latter open, a patternohain, levers and links between the chain and cutter-catch and a belt-shifting rod substantially as described.

5. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles, the needle-cylinder, a sinker-ring attached thereto, the sinkers, the sinker-cam ring, the knitting-cam ring, and connections between it and said sin-kercam ring, a crank, links, rack and gear-Wheels actuating the knitting-cam ring rack buffersprings, a thread-carrier bracket connected to the knitting-cam ring, knitting-thread carrier pivoted thereto,thread-carriercams,rings carrying the same, ratchet mechanism Whereby either ring can be moved independently of the other and pattern mechanism controlling the action of the ratchet mechanism substantially as described.

6. In a circular-knitting machine the combination of the needles, needle-cy1inder,knit- HENRY CLARKE.

WVitnesses:

T. J USWIGUE, A. B. CLARKE.