Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Oct., 1885.
Complete Left, 27th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 27th May, 1887.
I, WALTER BLAKE of 67 Southwark Street London S.E. in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be as follows :-
My invention relates to circular knitting machines, and it is not adaptable for any
other form of knitters.
One part of my invention consists of an improvement in the manner of adjusting
the needles in the cylinder to the needles in the dial.
In all existing machines of the kind referred to the adjustment aforesaid is affected
by a lug on the bottom of dial, and a rocking pin, or standard working inside the
cylinder upon a stud, or pivot, and operated by a short lever at side of niachine.
The lug, on bottom of dial, only acts upon one side of the rocking pin thus causing
the dial to be able to make a couplete revolution on its shaft before it strikes the lug
on its opposite side if the machine is reversed.
This action is crude, and clumsy. My invention does away with the whole of
the before mentioned apparatus, and adjusts the cylinder to the dial at one operation
by shifting a small lever a fraction of an inch.
Further the dial on all existing machines being adjustable is obliged to be loose
upon the shaft, and is tightened by means of a nut every time the adjustment is made.
This repeatedly done has a tendency to make the dial less rigid than it should be.
By my invention the dial is a perfect fixture on its shaft, and the cylinder which
has a level bed the whole of its circumference is made to adjust by the simple means
before mentioned, whereas the dial which hitherto has been the adjustable part is by
this invention fixed permanently to its spindle, thus making the working parts of
machine rigid, and firm.
Further, another part of my invention provides an arrangement by which the
hitherto used lug on bottom of dial is dispensed with, and a small roller deeply grooved
is substituted.
This roller is matched with a ball roller fixed at the top of a rigid standard secured
to the inside of the cylinder, and which ball roller working in the deep, and wide
groove in roller on the lug on bottom of dial gives in the first place an easy and safe

page_text: passage for the yarn, and secondly prevents the dial having the whole of its radius
one way free without stop until it reaches the other side of the old fashioned plain
standard, or post.
Further, another part of my invention refers to an improved index, or counter.
This necessary part of a knitting machine which is used to register the rows knitted,
has hitherto been a complicated adaption of paul, and ratchet, and is usually cumber-
some, and defective.
By my invention the index dial plate with the engraved numbers is a fixture, and
forms part of the base of the machine. The hand, or pointer is affixed to the top of
a small upright spindle having at its foot a toothed wheel of the requisito pitch to
give when geared to a worm cut the main shaft of the machine a movement of the
hand or pointer from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, & so on for every revolution of the machine,
which revolution knits one complete row of work.
Full details, and complete set of drawings will be found in the final specification.
Dated this 13th day of October 1886.

page_text: I, WALTER BLAKE of 13 Annandale Road Greenwich in the County of Kent
Patentee and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to simplify and render more effective what is known
as the adjustment of the ribbing needles relatively to the cylinder or plain needles in
Circular Knitting Machines, which adjustment has hitherto been effected by a move-
ment of the dial.
This objectionable plan is by this invention superseded by an adjustment of the
Cylinder, which I accomplish by a forked lever provided with slots and fly nut working
on fixed studs on the base of the machine, and on the base of the Cylinder.
Fig. 1 is a flat section of a Circular Knitting Machine.
The dotted lines a. a. a, show the adjusting lever before mentioned.
The slot b is provided with a stud screwed at the lower end to receive a fly nut, this
stud is the fulcrum upon which the lever moves, and the fly nut is used to keep it
in its proper position when adjusted. The ends of the forks of the lever c. c. are fixed
to lugs cast on the base of the cylinder by screwed studs, these studs work in slots
provided for them in the lugs which are cast on to the base of the machine.
It will be seen that the slightest movement of the lever handle d. operates upon the
cylinder resting in its grooved bed in base of machine, and turns it slightly either to
the left or to the right as may be required, it being retained in this position by the fly
nut aforesaid on stud in slot b. in handle of lever d.
This contrivance allows of the dial which carries the horizontal needles or ribbers
to be made a rigid fixture to the spindle, and transforms the weakest part of the
machine, as heretofore, into one of the strongest, the dial requiring to be, to produce
first class work as firmly fixed as possible.
Another part of my invention consists of the self-acting index counter for registering
the number of rows knitted.
In place of the complicated pieces of mechanism which have hitherto been in use I
take from the main spindle of machine the motion of the pointer.
On Fig. 1 letter e. is shown the clock face indexed from one to 60, 80, or 100 as the
case may be, the pointer or hand f. being fixed to the top of an upright spindle. Fig. 2
letter a. furnished with a toothed wheel b, geared to a spiral thread cut in main shaft
of machine C.
Thus the means for operating the pointer consists of only two pieces viz, the little
upright spindle and small toothed wheel instead of the old fashioned index which
consists of a variety of springs, pauls, ratchets &c.
Another part of my invention consists of the method of fixing the ribbing dial to its
shaft and the appliance for holding the cylinder in adjustment with the dial. The

page_text: dotted lines e. e. in Fig. 2 is a fixed standard forming part of, and permanently fixed
to the base of the machine.
At the top of this standard is fixed a deeply grooved small wheel f. working on a
pin and fixed between two forks which form the top of standard.
On the bottom of the ribber dial, g. is fixed a small platform dotted line h provided
with a V groove, in this groove is placed the carriage of the small pinion wheel i.
This wheel is thick and small the shape of a skittle ball and intended to fit into the
wide groove on the wheel f. on the top of the fixed standard e.
The wheel i. and its carriage running in the V groove on the platform h. is kept up
to its place in the groove of wheel f., by a steel spring at its back.
This spring may be spiral or flat, but I prefer it flat.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of these parts and more clearly shows their construction
and purposes than the dotted lines in Fig. 2.
A. is the standard fixed to base of machine, is the hollow grooved wheel fixed in
the forks of top of standard, c. is the cheese shaped wheel fixed to the moveable
carriage d. on bottom of ribber dial. e. which ribber dial is rigidly fixed to shaft f. of
ribber arm g. the pin h. passing through the ribber arm g. drops into a hole in cam
plate k. and so drives the ribbing needles in the operation of knitting.
A comparison of this drawing Fig. 3 with the drawings of any other ribbing
attachment of a Circular Knitter, will at once show the difference, the greatest
dis-similarity being in my invention the entire absence of lock nuts either at top or
bottom of the dial shaft one simple nut at the bottom being required whilst in all
others 2. 3 or 4 lock nuts are used.
Fig. 4 is a separate view of the adjusting lever and forks, showing the lugs on base
of machine described in Fig. 1. It is lettered the same as Fig. 1. and will readily be
understood.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :—
1st. The method of making the Cylinder adjustable by means of the forked lever,
substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.
2nd. The upright fixed standard, and grooved wheel at top, as shown and
described.
3rd. The adjustable carriage and cheese shaped wheel on bottom of ribbing dial as
shown and described.
4th. The combination of the standard and grooved wheel fixed to base of machine,
with the adjustable carriage and cheese shaped wheel attached to the bottom of ribbing
dial, substantially as set out and described and for the purpose specified.
5th. The simplified method for obtaining motion for the pointer of index counter,
substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 97th Annil 1887