Patent GB-773363-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to straight bar knitting machines
Inventor: WINFIELD DENIS
IPC: D04B11/00
Filed: 1953-12-31
Abstract: 773,363. Knitting. COTTON, Ltd., W. Oct. 29, 1954 [Dec. 31, 1953; March 13, 1954], Nos. 36289/53 and 7370/54. Class 74 (2). Patterning (e.g. operation of the mechanisms effecting, for fashioning, cam-shaft shogging and the corresponding reduction of machine speed) may be controlled at will, either by a manually set device by which any one of a plurality of pattern sequences may be adopted, as desired, in the production of comparatively small numbers of a variety of differently shaped articles, or by an automatic device for the successive production of a comparatively large number of identical articles; and each device may be rendered operative and inoperative independently of the other. The manually set device consists of a series of coaxially arranged sets of ratchet teeth on a drum 1, any one of which sets may be caused to rotate the drum by moving a corresponding pawl 2 to operative position. Each set contains shallow and deep teeth arranged in a predetermined sequence and, whenever the active pawl drops into a deep tooth, its nose 15, on its forward stroke, strikes a bar 16, so rocking supporting brackets 17 and thereby operating the cam-shaft shogging means, through link 18, lever 19, spring 125 and member 22 and the speed reducing means through the connections 18, 19 and other connections 20, 21. At one position circumferentially of the drum, the teeth of all the sets are aligned, to provide a " zero " position. The automatic device is constituted by a pattern chain 41 which acts on the lever 19 and also operates, in addition, an arm 50 connected to link saving mechanism, an arm 52 for slowing or stopping the machine and an arm 51 for obtaining slack courses; a slack course may also be produced at any desired time by manual operation of a knob 56 to operate the arm 51 independently of the chain. By means of another knob 57, arms 19, 50, 51, 52 may all be rendered inoperative, say for positioning the chain, which chain traverses around sprockets 42, 43 and is racked round by a ratchet wheel 44 and clawker 45 operated continuously from a cam on the main cam shaft 13 except when the coacting truck is held off the cam for, say, a striping draw-back course. When the drum mechanism is to control the frequency of fashioning, the clawker 45 is lifted clear of its ratchet wheel 44 by operation of a manually displaceable catch 54. The shogging cams 61, 62 are initially separate members. They may therefore be relatively adjusted circumferentially, to permit shogging of the cam shaft in one direction at one desired point in a revolution of the pair of plain and fashioning cams 59 and shogging in the return direction at some other desired point. They may also be adjusted axially to ensure that the shogging trucks 29, 30 engage exactly with the beginning of the accelerating cam faces 63, 64. The extent of shogging may be limited by fixed trucks. A device for counting the number of fashioning operations comprises a ratchet wheel 75 racked round by a pawl 74 whenever the nose of an active pawl 2 strikes the bar 16. The wheel 75 is first set with that one of the digits which it bears corresponding to the desired number of fashionings, opposite a stationary pointer 71. The wheel 75 is then racked round at each fashioning, until the zero indication comes opposite the pointer. At this point, a cam bit 76 varies a rod 79 which then engages a peg 70 on the active pawl 2, on its next return stroke, and displaces the pawl to inactive position. At the same time, switch contacts 72, 78c are made, to stop the machine or operate a warning signal.