Patent GB-189703749-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and connected with Knitting Machines and Knitted Fabrics.
Inventor: STURGESS GEORGE FREDERICK
Filed: 1897-02-12
Granted: 1898-05-12
Abstract: 3749. Sturgess, G. F. Feb. 12. Knitted fabrics; circular knitting-machines.-In making the fabric shown in section and elevation in Figs. 6<b> and 6<c>, the black thread is fed to the back part 268 of the cylinder needles, Fig. 6<d>, and makes the long veneer loops 271, whilst the white thread is fed on to the closing-latches and gets into the front part 269 of the needle and makes the shorter foundation loops 270. The fabric shown in back and front elevation and section in Figs. 5<c>, 5<b>, and 5<a> is made on one set of needles. The needles are picked to different elevations by a designer, and certain needles take both threads and knit the veneer loops 259 and foundation loops 258 ; the long veneer loops are drawn on the back taper and the short foundation loops on the front taper 56 of the cylinder tricks, Fig. 5<n>. At 258 only the foundation loops are knitted, and, owing to the way the thread is delivered and the needles picked, the black yarn is interlaced at 261 between the cross-bars of the white loops and does not make long loose loops. Fig. 6<m> shows a similar result obtained by using a thin and thick thread. When the thin thread only is knitted a hole is formed. The fabric in Figs. 5<e>, 5<f>, and 5<g> is made with two sets of needles ; the cylinder needles are picked to various heights and the dial needles are tilted to different angles so that any one of the needles can be made to knit with one or both threads. The cylinder needles knit both threads at 277 and makes a rib line at the back. At 274 the rib needle takes both yarns and makes a rib line 273 at the front. By making the rib needles take both threads, a rib line can be made at any place irrespective of the colour and so the pattern of rib can be changed. Figs. 5<i>, 5i, and 5<k> show a fabric using three threads, any one of which can be brought to the front to form a veneer loop, the other two threads being buried behind it. Stripes, checks, and figures can be made by the use of the designer. The designer for picking the needles to different heights consists of a ring driven from the cylinder at a slower rate than the cams. In tricks in the ring are a number of pickers having different widths of tail ; a revolving spring picker arm geared to and driven from the cylinder acts on the pickers which shoot up the needles a distance proportional to the width of the tail. In one modification, a conical designer is geared to the ribber spindle and the pickers are acted on by a stationary cam ; in another, picker arms are fixed to a wheel and make strokes parallel to the needles, the ends of the arms being notched so as to pick any one or more of a group of needles. The angle hooks shown in Fig. 5<n> are for keeping the threads separate and for allowing the thread to rest on the top and so get behind the needle when required. The latches are prevented from prematurely closing by guards formed of a rotating disc or fixed piece. The web needles described in Specification No. 20,835, A.D. 1894, are improved by making the shank springy by turning back the tail; they work inside the cylinder which has specially-formed needle tricks, the feet passing through slots and being acted on by cams to give a vertical and radial motion. The web needle cams can be put in or out of action. The web needles next the double dial post have spurs which draw down the fabric around the post. The draw cam, both cylinder and dial, and web needle cams are capable of being moved to either side of the thrust cam so as always to take the rear position. The dial draw cam, being in the same plane as the thrust cam, both acting on the feet, requires an inward radial motion to allow it to pass the thrust cam. The cylinder draw cam acts on the feet, and the thrust cam on the tails of the needles. The tails of some of the needles are rendered flexible by thinning them down and bending the tails up towards the hooks. The draw cam is adjusted to regulate the length of loop by a lever pivoted to its stalk and acted on by a cam on a catch wheel driven from the pattern mechanism. The wing cam at the side of the draw cam is split into three thicknesses ; each part is acted on by levers and catch wheels operated so as to cause the wing cam to act on an arranged series of needles having corresponding different lengths of foot and so cause the needles to draw later, or sooner, or not at all. By this means loops can be cast off any of the cylinder needles. A cast-off cam for the dial is operated from a catch-wheel and the pattern mechanism so as to cast off dial needle loops at any time. The needle finger for use in elevating and depressing the needles in fashioning consists of a vertically-swinging reversible arm on which is a horizontally-swinging arm, the relative positions of the arms being determined by spring plungers. The needle finger is carried by the ribber arm post, and is of course adjustable relatively to the draw cam. The horizontal arm collides with the first needle and raises or lowers it into action, and a small motion of the arm renders it ready to repeat the operation on its return motion. Appropriate cast-off and transfer cams are automatically operated so as to act on the feet of the dial needles and cause the transfer of loops to the cylinder needles, thus changing the pattern of rib. For regulating the needle latches, a brush, formed by bristles placed between two wires which are twisted together, is used. In feeding the threads to a machine with two sets of needles, the two threads pass under a hood through the spring take-up, and then pass out through two separate holes, one radially to the back of the cylinder needles and the other vertically, and then over a latch guard on to the closing-latches of the cylinder needles. A brush under the latch guard opens the dial needle latches. The bases of the tricks of the dial are bevelled at 181, forming a pivot or apex on which the needles rock. According to the length or width of the tails of the needles they tilt more or less and the tilt is positive. Various forms of needle-holders 194, 196 act on the tails of the needles, and cams 193, 195 act on the needle-holders to regulate the tilt. Four cams are used, and any one cam is brought into position to cause any particular set of needles to tilt the required amount by an arm 191 on the ribbed pillar coming into contact with one of the four projections 190, 188, &c. The arm 191 is adjusted automatically from the pattern mechanism. The tails of some of the needles are bent back and the needle-holder slides in the space thus formed, the needle and holder being telescopic. The dial may be built up of two parts, space being left in the lower part for the enlarged or bent parts of the transfer needles ; the tricks may be connected by a solid piece or bridge at the inner end. The transfer needles have their tails thinned and bent back sideways to allow the loop to escape by pressing aside the springy tail ; the needle-holder slides between the stem and bent part, forming a telescopic needle. Pivoted on the dial are two thread-carriers which can be alternately thrown into and out of action for striping by means of cams worked by gearing from the ribber spindle ; when a carrier is thrown out its thread is cut, by drawing it between two shear blades, and is then clamped. The position of the dial is adjusted by a collar with a number of notches, any one of which can engage a pin on the spindle. The compound dial post consists of two posts pivoted together and regulated by a wing nut ; a lug 244<a> on the dial enters between the two posts. A reversible and adjustable high and low cross and a hollow bobbin case in which the yarn passes through the centre are described. The thread-guides for supplying the cylinder needles are pivoted and are acted on by cams on a catch wheel. When making the fabric shown in Figs. 5<e>, 5<f>, and 5<g> two carriers are used, and when making that shown in Figs. 5<i>, 5<j>, and 5<k> one of the two carriers has an extra eye for the third thread. Means for securing the correct alignment of the needle beds in a ribber machine are described. For rotating or reciprocating the cam rings, the driving-shaft carries a crank 311, Fig. 9<a>, connected by a link 302<c> to a crank 302 on a shaft geared up to the cam rings. The crank-pins 301, 302 are connected to another crank-pin 302<d> by a rigid link 302<g> and a hinged link 312, 313. In the position shown, the cam ring rotates, the third crank helping the others over the dead centres. By lifting the link 312 to the dotted position and shortening the throw of the crank 301, both which operations are performed automatically, the crank 302, and consequently the cam ring, is made to reciprocate. Fig. 11 shows a modification. In the position shown, if 301 rotates so will 302, but if the throw of 301 is reduced 302 will reciprocate, the slot 321<a> and pin 321<b> acting like the hinged link in Fig. 9<a>. A further modification is shown in Fig. 12 ; in all cases the change of motion is effected by altering the throw of one of the cranks.