Patent GB-825207-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to knitting method and machine
Inventor: LAWSON ROBERT HEMPHILL
IPC: D04B9/00
Filed: 1955-10-27
Abstract: 825,207. Knitting. SCOTT & WILLIAMS Inc. Oct. 27, 1955, No. 30817/55. Class 74 (2). A multi-feed circular machine has means for controlling needles during one period of reciprocatory knitting to cause needles of each of selected groups to take and knit yarn at a different corresponding feeding station for each group, to provide areas each of which is knit primarily from a single yarn, and means for controlling needles during another period of reciprocatory knitting to cause at least some of said needles to take and knit yarn at a plurality of feeding stations to produce multifeed fabric. Thus, on a four-feed machine, all four feeds may be used, one for each colour area, to form solid colour diamonds in the leg of a stocking, the heels, toes and loopers' rounds may be knitted two-feed, the foot four-feed, and the ring toes two-feed or four-feed. The top may be knitted multifeed. The needle cylinder contains shortbutt instep needles and long-butt heel and toe needles; and below them are intermediate jacks 8 and tiltable pattern jacks 10 differentiated one from another by removal of selecting butts of the groups 16a to 16d, 20<SP>1</SP>, 20a to 20d and 22. Each jack 10 bears also operating butts 18, 24, downwardly opening notches 19, 26 of which are brought into and out of the paths of raising cams as the jack is rocked about its fulcrum 12, through the selecting butts; and the edge 21 of the jack is parallel to the edge 13. Each of four yarn feeding stations has four interchangeable fingers of which one, 38, at feed four, supplies elastic yarn. Of the needle cams, 58, 61, 40, 42, 46, 48, 52, 54 are fixed and engage all needle butts 60, 67, 44, 50, 66, 56 are radially movable, and 64, 62 are radially movable and tiltable. Of the cams operating on the butts 9 of the intermediate jacks 8, spring-urged cams 76, 78 and 80, 82 raise jacks during clockwise and counterclockwise strokes respectively and yield during the opposite strokes, cams 84, 86 raise jacks on both strokes and cams 88-102 lower the jacks. The upper ends of the jacks 10 are rocked outwardly by cams which read and engage butts of the group 22, are moved upwardly and downwardly in unison, step by step, and also have radial movements. Of these 130, 134, 138, 142 engage butts during counterclockwise strokes of the cylinder, and 128, 132, 136 and 140 during clockwise strokes. There is an assembly of reader cams at each feed and, in each case, cams such as 140, 142 are arranged to be projected alternately by mounting them to slide in a carrier such as 216 and providing them with teeth 282 to mesh with an elongate cam-controlled pinion such as 218. The reader cams are raised and lowered in unison by a pattern-controlled lead screw 220. The upper ends of the jacks 10 are rocked inwardly by fixed cams 144, 146, 148, 150, which act on butts 18. Cams 152, 154, 156, 158, 159 also rock the upper ends inwardly by selective action on butts 16a to 16d. Cams 160, 162, 164, 166 act on butts 14, and cams 168, 170, 172 and 174 act on butts 20a to 20d. Cams 116, 118, 120, 122 co-operate with points 26<SP>1</SP> to position the jacks for tilting selection. Cams 178, 180, 182, 184 act on butts 24. At feed 1, a cam 176 acts on butts 20<SP>1</SP> to select needles during make-up and top formations. Cams 104, 110 raise any jacks 10 reacting them with outwardly rocked upper ends, such jacks being subsequently lowered by the appropriate one of cams 106, 108, 112, 114. Cams 124, 126 engage the notches 26 to lift any jacks which reach them with their upper ends inwardly rocked. In knitting the leg diamonds, a jack 10 will cause a needle to take a yarn, in a counterclockwise stroke at feed 1 or feed 3, or in a clockwise stroke at feed 2 or feed 4, only when its upper end has been rocked outwardly by cam action on a butt 22 and has not been returned inwardly by cam action on a butt 16, the jack then rising over cam 104 or 110. Similarly, a jack 10 will cause its needle to take yarn, in a clockwise stroke at feed 1 or feed 3, or in a counterclockwise stroke at feed 2 or feed 4, only when its upper end has not been rocked outwardly by cam action on a butt 22 or 20, the jack rising over cam 124 or 126. Heel, ring toe, toe and loopers' rounds are knitted multifeed at feeds 1 and 2, the loopers' rounds by round and round knitting. Widening and narrowing during heel and toe formation is effected by raising pickers 68, 70 which may be rendered inoperative, or operative to raise one or two needles at a time, and lowering pickers 72, 74 which may be inactive or may lower three needles at a time. During multifeed knitting by reciprocation, the sinker cam ring may shog between limits determined by engagement of screws 460, 462 on the ring with surfaces 456, 458, yarn being fed under the sinker webs but, during single feed reciprocatory knitting, adjustable screws 464, 466 are interposed, to reduce the extent of the shogging, and yarn is drawn at the back of the sinker webs to position the stitches along the junctions of differently coloured areas in well-defined diagonal lines. The height of the needle cylinder is variable, under pattern control, to take account of the different knitting conditions. When a stocking is to be begun, the previously knitted stocking has been pressed off, all yarn fingers are out of action and their yarns have been cut and clamped, excepting the elastic yarn, which trails down inside the needle cylinder to the previously knitted stocking, over a guard movable to permit that yarn to be seized by the needles. Latch openers 428, 430, controlled by the main cam drum, are therefore active during make-up. Each inelastic yarn passes to a spring-urged pivoted yarn finger, through a spring-urged pivoted sweep which takes up the slack on change of direction due to reciprocatory knitting. An extension of the yarn finger engages the lower end of the associated sweep, below its pivot, so that, if the yarn breaks, both finger and sweep move to inactive position. A pivoted end of the yarn finger can swing to correct position on the latch ring throat. A trick wheel 540 at each feed controls the yarn change, including cutting and clamping means forming the subject-matter of Specification 826,722 and the guard which manipulates the uncut elastic yarn. Each trick wheel is stepped round by pawl and ratchet, under the control of the main pattern chain 713. At make-up, first alternate long-butt needles take and knit elastic yarn at feed 40 and subsequently alternate needles take the elastic yarn, clear, and then take and knit inelastic yarn at feed 3, the elastic yarn being interlaced on alternate needles and being finally taken out of action when the top is complete. The diamond pattern of the leg may be continued into the instep. The junction between adjacent coloured areas is as in Fig. 52. At the boundary of a diamond of a first colour there will be first a diagonal line of stitches of the next adjacent colour, then a second diagonal line of stitches of the first colour, after which will follow the next adjacent area in the second colour; and no terminal loop of a yarn will be linked, in the same wale, with a loop of the same yarn formed on the next stroke. The outgoing and incoming yarns are knitted together at two non-adjacent wales, as at 1050, 1052, to anchor them. The machine drive is through gears 670, 672 and a bevel gear 684 meshing with a needle cylinder driving bevel either by way of a clutch element 674 and an element 676 slidably splined to the shaft bearing the gear 684, or by way of a segment 680 oscillated from a crank pin on the gear 670 and geared to an element 677 also engageable with the element 676. The segment bears a pawl activating a ratchet 711 which rotates a sprocket 712 for the main chain 713. The member 676 is moved by a slidable member 694 actuated by cams 696 on a clutch drum 698 secured to a shaft 699 which, through gears 700, 702, drives the main cam drum 704. Specification 826,721 also is referred to.