Patent GB-577577-A (GB)
Abstract: 577,577. Knitting-machines. SMITH, H. N., and SMITH, E. E. Nov. 17, 1943, No, 19179. [Class 74 (ii)] A knitting-machine in which a looper 1 forms new loops coursewise through loops each held about a guard member 2, each loop being accepted from the looper by an accepting member and subsequently transferred to the guard member 2 when that member has cast off its old loop, is provided with hooked or like members 331 which engage the loops on the accepting members and hold them open so that the guard members 2 can readily penetrate them. In addition, the neck or hooked portion 257 of the accepting member 4, which portion functions in transferring the loop to the guard member 2, is of reduced cross-section, and the loop is received from the looper upon a portion 260 of larger section. Each guard member 2 has a head portion 3 of channel section, a loop receiving notch 38 being provided at the crest of each of the side walls of the channel. The guard members are pivotally mounted upon a frame which can be raised and lowered, and are actuated together as a unit. The accepting members 4 are slidably and rockably mounted upon a bed 5, each being rocked about a fulcrum 298A by a spring 274 and being moved forwardly to engage a loop held by the looper by a thrust member 277 which engages the members 4 seriatim. The hooked members 331 may comprise the prongs of a comb and are actuated collectively to engage loops held by the accepting members 4, and in moving downwards to hold the loops in open condition so that they can be entered by the heads 3 of the guard members, and finally to be swung away to free the loops held by the guard members. The looper 1 is provided with two hooks 7, 7a and is actuated by a rack member 34 which can be set by an arm 39, having a pin 38 engaging in arcuate slot 37 in the member 34, so that it can pull a loop in either direction through a loop held upon a guard member to form either a plain or a purl stitch. The looper is mounted upon the carriage supporting the thread guide 6 and is moved intermittently along the row of guard members with the thread guide. Thread furnishing means comprising an eyed plate 82 reciprocated between two fixed plates having aligned eyes may be provided to determine the amount of thread to be taken up by the looper, thread clamping means in the form of two cymbals being arranged immediately in front of the thread furnishing means. The cymbals are pressed together by a spring, and are held apart prior to a looping operation by the wedge end of a cam-operated lever. The thread guide 6 has a delivery mouth in the form of a flattened funnel, and is actuated to lay its thread into the path of the operative hook of the looper 1. For this purpose it is slidable vertically under cam control in a cam actuated horizontally movable slide. In operation, thread is supplied to the looper and drawn through one after another loop held by the series of guard member 2, and the accepting members are pushed seriatim into position to receive the new loops so formed. Thereafter the hooked members 331 are moved to engage and open the loops, the guard members 2 are moved collectively to enter the opened loops, and the accepting members pivot together to nest the hooked portions 257 into the channel-formed heads 3 of the members 2. Finally the accepting members and the member 331 are withdrawn, leaving the loops upon the guard members in position for another course of loops to be drawn through them. Specifications 536,489, 551,370, 554,036, 560,192 and 577,595 are referred to.