USRE428E - Improvement in the manufacture of hosiery - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES 4PATENT OFFICE,

VILLIAM vll. MUNARY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT AIN THE MANUFACTURE OF l-l-OSIERY.

, Specification Ibrming part of Letters Patent No.16,5285, dated December 23,1856; Reissue'No. 1278, dated February 17, 1.9517.

i To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, W. Il. MCNARY, of the city ot' Brooklyn, in the county ot' Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of VHosiery; and I do hereby declare that .the

following is a full, clear, and exaetdescrip` tion ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, i'ormin g part of this specification. t

lhis invention consists in a certain mode ot' operation by which the heel ot' a piece of hosiery, and the toe also it' desired, may be produced of a proper form without a seam by knitting continuously from the legI toward the t'oot, or from the foot toward the leg, wi thout removingthe work from the needles, thereby not only expediting the manufacture, but 'at the same time producing a better and neater article.. y

The invention may ne carried out'by means ot' either the circular-vor straight knitting machine, but with more advantage by means ofthe circular-machine, as with that machine it enables a perfectly seamless, well-shaped stocking to be produced. Y

I will rst describe with reference tothe accompanying drawings the manner in which the invention is performed by the circularmachine, and then a few words of explanationwill suticev to show how it may be performed on a straight-machine.

Figure l exhibits a side viewof a sock.

The leg is. knitted in the usual manner as far as the lille a b c, where the heel commences.

'1t must be observed that before the heel commcnces this line is perfectly straight all the way round the stocking, but when the heel and foot are knitted on it is made to appear iu the side View of the form shown'. When the leg is thuscompleted, a row of stitches,

or two or more rows if the machine is eo'nr s'tructed to knit two or more rows together,- as is sometimes thecasei, is knitted from the point b, roundpast a, to a corresponding point, b, on the opposite side'of the sock, which is supposedl to Abe exactly half-way round, leaving the other half of the-stitches from b, round past c, to the opposite correspondingpoint, b, 4uponthe needles. A second -row'of stitches is then knitted in the' opposite direction onto the last-mentioned row, but is commenced at one end on the second stitch and carried only to the last stitch but-oue-of the former row, leaving the last stitch on the needle ou which it was formed. A third row is then knitted in the reverse direction on the second row', commencing on the second stitch, and proceeding only as far as the last stitch but one of the second row, leaviugthe last A fourth row is knitted on the third row in the same way, and in this way the knitting isalways continued back and lt'orth to the last stitch but one of the iueceding-row, which is always left on the needle, thus-redncingthc number ot' stitches in every successive row ot' knitting, but always keeping the suine number ot' stitches on the needles. vInstead of dropapproxiinatingthereto, is produced which conforms very nearly to the natural shape ofthe human heel. After the knitting in the above mannerhas been carried onl as tar as desirable, which is generally till the row is reduced toa very small number ,of stiches, the knitneedles, Awhich can be done'at the end ot' any it occupies in the machine.v Of coursc.only ithe Vhalt of the leg whichisI tohaye the vheel knitted to itis visible in"theback view,v rlhe line where the knitting of the leg in' acomplete circle ceases is indicated by b a'b to correspond withi the letters ot'referen'ce in Fig. l. The line of loops e o represents the first row knitted half-way round to commence the heel, the line of loops j' f the second row, and

stitch onl the needle ou which it was formed.'

ping only one stitch at. each end of the row,

two or more may bedroppedin thesame way. By the above means .a pieeeot' knitting ofthe form ofa portion of a sphere. or a rouu'ded form ting commences again all :the way round the row knitted-in the atoresaid.manner, as there leg, being represented inthe inverted position that each row stra-ight on the needles and the heel'knitting tive arrangement of the rows of knitting. y This is,A as far as known view of similar character to Fig. '2. The `legv I- one ot' the first 13h-,eline g g the third row;

' has one'sftitch lessth an its -pred-iz` ecessor at euch end. This figure doesnot give anV absol Itely correct, representation of the heel-knitting, as it really appears,v .for the edge indicated bythe red line would 'be held would bulge-out; but this ijs represent it so as to. give an thefonlyfway to ideaof the relal inode of knittingl theheel in ka rounded form to mc,*an entirely new feature in the manufacture of hosiery. i

Fig. 3 exhibits another Way f forming the heel on thesame principle. This la a back is knitted as far as the line-.ct bi c, as shown in Fig..1, i'n thevsaine Way. as before described, and then a row. of stitches is commenced from the same point b,{as before described, 'and ezeV tcnded'a little beyond lthecentre afoi thev back of 1 he leg," A 'second row is knitted on the first row back again toward b, but' terintv natcd, as before described, onthelast slt-itch but row, and 'a third row iscommenced on the second stitch of the secon'drow and carried one stitch beyond and knitted to thatstit'ch on theline b c b, whichis the same vline asab cFig. l, next beyond where the tirst row terminated. menced on the next stitchstilbfarther alongthe line a b c, and carried back aga-in -to thel last stitch but one of the thirdrow. A fth row is then knitted back again from the-second stitch vof the' fourthrow and extended one" stitch beyond jthe' last stitch thereof, f and knitted t'o the next stitch of the line a bgc, and soon. y Inconsequence'of the difficulty ofrepresenting the piece thusfornied to .produce'the heel, owing to its bulging'ou't, Ihave not'shown'the last stitches atthe left-hand` end connectedvgith the row of stitches bc b, but 'merely shown dotted lines to indicate'which stitches -on th'cline b ct by the'several rows of heel-stitches connect iwith. When'this piece is knitted to* extend tothe opposite point, b, to that where it'was commenced, a second piece of thesame form 1s commenced upon 1t from the last .named or left-hand point, ),and worked in the opposite direction,and byworking two or morepieces in this Way-theheel'is completed, and the foot m ay be commenced 'as described with reference to Fig. 1. pertorming myinv'enticn inferior to that first described., as it does no tgeive so neat an appearanceto the Work, and is only described to show that the rounded piecemay bepro-V duced in more ways thanv one by the 'same principle of operation.'

The toe may be produced ol 'a rounded form' g in either of t,heways above described; The toe represented inf-Fig.- 1, `which has a scam vA fourth row is com-1'" This last -method otf;

ting half- Way round in either ot' theivayfsabove described to produce a piece of the form off a portion of a sphere,

orot a rounded formanproximating thereto, like the heel-piece, and

then a piece of similar form cnthe' other half,

and knitting the ed ges together, thus' leaving Athe seam h i Where the said edges moet, or by knitting vhalfvva'y round fromf one side to form apiece of nearly h-ennsphcrical form,the seain may be brought in theline h j or l1, t'. y

1I osiery .with seamless toes maybe produced l on thcsame principle by knittin gr'thetoe first, commencing to ,kni in either-of the modes above described'of proV ducing the heel' till a piece isproduccd form'- i'ng' a sutiicient portion or bearing asuicient resemblance 'to a sphere. This piece isthen put on the Whole of theneedles, andthe knitti n gisproceeded with fallroun dit ltocommence the foot, which is knitted allround the need-les as *far as'thelin'e d'1) o, and then the 'knitting on one-'half' the again to 'i'orinthe heel. After the-heelis completed, the knitting allround thegneedles is proceeded with again to make the leg.

Though I considerit best .to make the and 'toe of the stocking of forms appioXimat-'- ing to portions'of spheres, 1` will remark that .I have usedthc same Ainode of knitting;r toproduce .hee1s Vof spheroidal Aor of only very,v slightly rounded form, and alsov tu bringthe heel nearly orquite to a point. The samerc-I suits may be obtainedin a strainhtknitting to circular knittin g will Ven able persons yskilled in .the'art to daptit toa straight-machine..

I do not confine myself to the use o f any herein described', but.

Nhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Let-ters Batent, isf,- Y The "production `of the heels and toes of 'hosiery by knitting a piece'ofespherical or modeiof operation in which thestitches-are dropped or left upon the needles and up again, substantially abled to Vbe producedby Va continuous opera;`

tion of the machinery or devices employed. 'WliL-Il. MCNARY. l/Vitnessesz Y n JAMES BUGKLEY,

J. -W. CooMB's."

t on one-half the needles'v heel:-

as the dei. l scription of the application of the/invention4 particular machinery to produce the resultsv other other suitable form on the cylindrical or straight portions of `the leg or foot byrany,

taken as-herein described,y whereby the whole-ot' the 1ega'nd;foot'is en@-

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