Patent GB-189900016-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and applicable to Circular Knitting Machines.
Inventor: CLARKE HENRY
Filed: 1899-01-02
Granted: 1899-12-30
Abstract: 16. Clarke, H. Jan. 2. Circular knitting-machines.-Relates to machines with latch needles and oscillating needle cams and thread-carriers and fixed needle cylinders, and the object of the invention is to fashion pant. legs, shirt sleeves, &c. by throwing the thread-carrier out of or into action, and so to vary the number of needles fed at either or both selvages and to splice the fabric at any part. Any number of articles can be made on one machine. The cam ring c, Fig. 10, has a fixed uptbrow c', a sliding down-throw c<3> operated by the needles themselves, and two vertically-sliding switch cams c<4>; its outer rim is toothed, and it is oscillated by being geared up to a slide which is operated by a rocking lever d<2>, link d<1>, and crank-wheel d geared to the main shaft. A bracket on the ring works between a pair of projections on, and so operates, the sinker cam. The sinkers slide horizontally in tricks in a ring e<1>. The splicing-thread carrier f <3> and the main carrier f<1>are pivoted to a bracket f carried by the cam ring. A spring tends to draw the splicing- carrier into the operative position ; a friction washer causes the main carrier to stay in any position in which it is put. The latch guard f <8> is slotted to allow the carriers to move to the inoperative position. A fixed cam f<9> acts on a truck f<5> on the heel of the splicing-carrier, and, according as it is shaped, causes the carrier to splice at any part. A similar truck on the heel of the main thread-carrier f<1> is acted on by two cams g<1>, one at each end of the stroke ; these cams are carried by rings working in a groove in the bed. These rings are moved in opposite directions by pinions g<4>, g<5> and ratchet-wheels g<7>, each of which is acted on by a pair of pawls carried by a slide operated by a rocking lever g<14> and cam g<13> ; the pawls are put in or out of action by bluffs operated through a link g<11> from the pattern chain o. The threads h, k pass from spools h<1>, k<1> through eyes k<2> and feeding-tubes, under pivoted shoes k<4>, over the spring take-up k<5> or h<5>, and down through eyes k<6> to the carriers. When a catch i<6> is released, by means of the link i<7>, lever i<8>, i<9>, and a pattern lug, the spring-actuated slide i<3> is set free, and the splicing-thread is cut between the fixed blade i<1> and the movable blade i<2>. The pattern chain o has lugs of two different heights, and passes round adjustable pulleys o' and fixed pulleys o‹ and round a pulley actuated by a ratchet-wheel and pawl operated by a cam and lever. The bits act on levers, pivoted at o<8>, which control the fashioning and yarn delivering. One lever o<9> acts through a link l<4>, and disengages a lever l<1> from a notch in a bar l; the bar l, when released, is pulled by a spring, and shifts the belt on to the loose pulley. The stop-motion may be operated by hand. When a pattern lever is operated, a pivoted lever o<13> will hold it in place until a further lug operates another lever o<10>, and so puts the hold-out lever o<13> out of gear. This lever o<10> may be operated by hand, and may put the pawl of the pattern-driving ratchet-wheel out of gear, so that the chain can be moved by hand.