IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of 89, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY." -A communication from
abroad by Charles James Appleton, of the City of Hamilton,
Canada.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edward Griffith Brewer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 24th July 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
GRIFFITH BREWER, of 89, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.

page_text: me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Charles James Appleton, of the City
of Hamilton, Canada.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement :-
The object of this Invention is the improvement of knitting
machinery whereby it is rendered simple in construction, effective and
automatic in operation, and capable of producing different kinds of
work, and the Invention relates to the combination of a bed plate
containing needles with and operated by a sliding carriage which has
a horizontal motion and consists of the working parts of the machine,
vidilicet, of a cam holder and cam to operate the needles, a rack bar
and pinion to give motion to the carriage by means of a crank, a bobbin
for holding the yarn, a yarn carrier for guiding the yarn into the hooks
of the needles, an adjustable set of selvage stops to regulate the width
of the work, a selvage holder and finger for the purpose of holding the
yarn at any desired point, a stitch adjusting screw to regulate the stitch,
an automatic yarn carrier to drop the yarn into the selvage needle at
the proper moment. The Invention will be best understood by
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
A, Figs. 1 and 2 is a bed plate (which can be attached to a table by :
means of thumbscrews y³) and is used for the purpose of holding and
guiding a series of hooked or latched needles in grooves in a horizontal
position. B is a rack bar placed on the upper side of the bed plate and
over the needles. Upon the rack bar B a sliding carriage F is placed,
to which all the working parts of the machine are attached, consisting
of a cam holder g, cam h, pinion n, stitch adjusting screw r, bobbin
holder k, bobbin l, crank m, yarn carrier e, yarn carrier bar e¹, yarn
carrier spring o, selvage holder f, and selvage finger d.
Fig. 6 represents a side view of a single needle, any desired number
of which move horizontally in the parallel grooves cut into and 3
across the bed plate and operated backwards and forwards by means of
the cam h. The lower ends of the needles are constructed with an

page_text: upright shank extending a little above the face of the bed plate, and
are drawn in and pushed out by the cam h that is attached to the under
side of the carriage F, and is constructed so as to give the needles an
outward and inward motion automatically adjusted by the assistance
of the selvage stops.j, j, so as to allow all the needles taking the yarn
from the yarn carrier at any given point or any number of needles in
the machine. The selvage carrier ƒ is so arranged with a catch working
automatically on the pins x, x, adjusted on the selvage stops j,j, as to
give a reversed motion of the selvage finger going from right to left
and from left to right; h, Fig. 4, represents a full sized V shaped cam
which is held in place by screws to the cam holder g. As the carriage
F with cam is moved backwards and forwards by the crank m the
needles are carried up one side of the V shaped cam and down the other,
at the same time the yarn carrier e delivers the yarn into the hooks of
the needles, thus forming loops and knitting; j,j, are adjustable selvage
stops which are grooved plates sliding on the rack bar B and can be
placed in any desired position on the rack bar, and secured by means of
a pin passing through the stops and down between the teeth of the
rack; these stops may be placed at any distance apart to regulate the
width of the work. On the front of each stop is a projecting pin x, x,
Fig. 2, which serves to alternately catch and regulate the lateral motion
of the selvage holder f. The selvage finger d is rivetted to the selvage
holder f, and is for the purpose of holding the yarn at any desired point
until the selvage needle has secured the yarn for itself and returned to
its original position; it has a joint near its lower end which bends
inwards at the proper time, and releases the yarn; over the joint is
rivetted a small flat steel spring that causes the lower part of the finger
to return to its original position after the yarn is released. q, Fig. 1, is
a needle guard consisting of a plate as shown rivetted on the bed plate
A, to prevent the needles from slipping out. A stitch adjusting screw
r, Fig. 3, is arranged for the lengthening or shortening of the stitch at
pleasure. A small spring t, Fig. 1, is secured to the top of the carriage
F and presses on the finger bar to keep it in its place. The yarn carrier
bar e' slides between two raised projections on the top of the carriage F,
the front one of which has a small notch cut into it on the upper side
which allows the yarn carrier e to drop a little at the proper moment
and guide the yarn into the hooks of the needles at. any desired width
that may be required. A guard plate c is arranged immediately under

page_text: the needles in front and is secured to the bed plate A by the hooks
c¹, c, at each end%3B its use is to prevent the knitting or work from
sliding out with the needles when they are about to take up the yarn
in order to make fresh knitting or loops. It will be seen that the
machine is set in motion by turning the crank m; an upright spindle 5
y passing through it has a small pinion n keyed to its lower end which
gears into the longitudinal rack i at the back of the rack bar b. By
the direct and reversed motion of the crank the carriage F and all the
parts connected with it slide backwards and forwards, and the number
of stitches per minute will be regulated in proportion to the speed with 1
which the crank is driven.
Figs. 7 and 8 represent a comb which is put between the needles, and
the yarn is run across the needles by the carrier. Weights s, 8, are
placed on a hook attached to it to hold the first cast on stitches to
enable the machine to continue knitting without the assistance of any 1
cloth for starting the work.
Figs. 9 and 10 are enlarged views of the selvage carrier fand selvage
finger d. The finger is jointed as shown, and the spring w straightens
the lower part of the finger after it releases the yarn.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in 2
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The slotted front of the bed plate A acting in connection with
a cam holder g and cam h and an adjustable screw for lengthening
the stitch.
Second. The construction of the cam has shown in Fig. 4 in such a 2
manner as to bring the needles always in the proper working position.
Third. The selvage stops j, j, adjusted on the rack bar 6 as shown
for widening and narrowing the work at pleasure.
Fourth. The yarn carrier e acting in connection with the selvage
stops j, j, adjusted automatically to drop the yarn into the selvage a
needle at the proper moment.
Fifth. The selvage finger bar f and selvage finger d, operating
automatically in connection with the selvage stops j, j, and yarn
carrier e.

page_text: Sixth. The general combination and arrangement of knitting
machinery substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
EDW. GRIFFITH BREWER. (L.S.)