Patent GB-704842-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to knitting machines and to stockings and the like
Inventor: DEANS FREDERICK EDWARD
IPC: D04B9/46
Filed: 1949-04-22
Abstract: 704,842. Knitting. BENTLEY ENGINEERING CO., Ltd: April 24, 1950 [April 22, 1949], No. 10745/49. Class 74 (2) In a circular machine there are provided two knitting positions at each of which are at least one main feeder and one splicing feeder, two courses being knitted at each rotation and at each swing during oscillatory knitting, mechanism for knitting heel and toe pouches by oscillation and diverting to an inactive loopholding level, the needles not required at the start of each pouch and subsequently restoring them to knitting activity, and mechanism for causing a selected and variable number of the heel needles to take and knit a main thread and a splicing thread at each knitting position in the production of a spliced area above the heel and in the foot bottom. Interchangeable yard feeders are provided at each feed. The needles are selected by jacks 5 which are rocked about their fulcra 8 in one direction by cams 28, 29, 30 acting on butts 10 and in the other direction by a battery of cams controlled by a pin drum and acting on butts 7, the jack butts 9 being thus brought into and out of range of cams 24, 25 and so their operating butts 6 raised or not from selecting track 22 to' active height. Cam 30 causes a selection made in advance of cam 24 to be repeated at cam 25. When beginning a stocking, even numbered needles only knit at the first feed on the first time round, and at the second feed all needles knit. The third course is similar to the first course, but welting instruments carried in a dial, are projected, so that the even needles draw loops over them, after which the instruments are withdrawn. The fourth course is a repeat of the second. The welt is then knitted, two courses per rotation, a picot edge being made, when about half the length of welt fabric has been knitted, by causing spaced needles to tuck for at least two courses. Normal knitting is then resumed until finally all needles are lowered to inactive track 19, by introducing cam 36, cam 29 causes even needles to be raised to knitting track 16, the welting instruments are projected over the lowered odd needles which are then raised by a transfer cam 53 to penetrate and take the loops carried by the instruments. During the ensuing rotary knitting a patterned garter band, consisting of tuck stitches or float stitches, may be formed. To produce the float stitches, the feeders are so adjusted that needles which reach only tucking height miss one of two threads offered at each feed. During knitting of the leg, certain needles located among the heel needles and having extra-short butts, tuck periodically, to produce lines of mock fashioning marks. High heel splicing is begun on the needles associated with a group of jacks IS, midway in the heel needles H ; these needles are raised high enough to take main and splicing threads. The end jacks of this group and groups SWR, SWL, on each side thereof possess nibs 11. During the formation of parallel splicing, jack lowering cams 37, 39 nullify the effect of the nibs, but when these cams are withdrawn the width of the splicing is progressively increased. At the change-over to heel knitting, a cam 33 raises the instep needles I into a high inactive track 18. Two courses are knitted per swing, needles being picked up to the inactive track and down again as necessary by two uppickers, and a down-picker. The up-pickers may have stepped picking ends and be controlled, each to pickup one or two needles. The down-picker may pick down three needles per swing, one of them being picked up again by the up-pickers. A Y-heel may be produced by picking up the required number of needles, picking some of them down and up again and then picking them all down. A square heel may be formed by introducing all the inactive heel needles en bloc, or by picking up' some, restoring them all at once, picking them up again, narrowing until only the required number of heel needles are active and then lowering all the inactive heel needles en bloc. In a modification, heel needles X may be raised to inactivity with the instep needles I and subsequently lowered. In the case of a Y- heel, the needles X may be picked down before the instep needles are lowered, and in the case of a square heel, after the inactive heel needles have been introduced en bloc the needles X may be picked up and again introduced en bloc. The introduction of needles en bloc is effected by introducing lowering cam 54. The foot is now knitted, two corners per rotation, splicing being resumed on those splicing needles that were operative prior to heel formation. The spliced area is narrowed, to produce a cradle sole, through the medium of the nibs 11 and narrowing cam 38. This rate of narrowing may be two needles per revolution, but by using a further cam, similar to cam 38, the rate of narrowing may be increased to four needles per revolution and varied by control of cam 39. Knitting of the foot bottom is continued, with a constant width of splicing, until the toe is approached, when cams 37, 39 are withdrawn, and periodically introduced, if desired, to produce a controlled widening of the splicing. Splicing is then ended, a few rotary courses knitted and the toe pouch knitted by reciprocation, all but the toe needles being raised to the high inactive track 18. At the end of the toe, the inactive needles are lowered and linking courses are knitted. When two latch openers are rendered inoperative a feeler is set, which is engaged by any latch which reaches it closed and which thereupon operates a stop motion.