IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Moses Mellor, of the Firm of Moses Mellor & Sons,
Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING
MACHINES.
"
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Moses Mellor at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th March 1876.
HENRY MOSES MELLOR, of the Firm of Moses Mellor & Sons, Nottingham.
1MPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES."
The first part of my improvement relates to the construction of loop wheels
employed in circular knitting machines having fixed needles in a revolving
cylinder.
"
Hitherto loop wheels have been used having soft steel blades or leaves soldered
into a brass boss with a steel bush in the centre. The wear and tear upon such
blades or leaves when working thick and inferior yarns is very great. To obviate
this I propose to make the loop wheels in two parts, having a groove in the centre,
the back or catch part having hardened steel blades or leaves, and the front part
(fixed upon hub of back part) having soft steel blades by preference, so that they
inay be curled if desired, but it will be quite clear to those acquainted with such
machines that the last-named system of curling the blades is quite unnecessary
with my arrangement of wheel, as the whole front part of the wheel can be twisted
nt the same time.
I also prefer to leave a groove in the centre of the wheels for purposes of
supporting the needles with a notched wheel or steel bearer in the before-mentioned
groove, while the wheels are placing the yarns between the needles.
Another part of my Invention relates to an arrangement of oscillating thread
guides in connection with a feed wheel working in needles fixed in a revolving
cylinder for the purpose of making striped hosiery. The thread guides consist of
two levers placed horizontally one above the other, and radially or approximately
so to the circle of needles. The ends of the levers nearest to the circle of needles
are formed with an eye for thread to be passed through. One thread guide is out
of action at the time when the other is in action. Whenever a change is to be
made in the color of work being produced, the levers are simultaneously acted upon
by mechanism in such manner as to cause them to oscillate in opposite directions.

page_text: By this movement the thread eye, which previously was out of action, will be
moved towards the feed wheel, and the end of the thread carried by it will by
means of the feed wheel be laid on to the needles, whilst the thread eye which was
previously in action will be moved away from the feed wheel, and the thread
carried by it will be brought into contact with a fixed blade, and will be nipped
between this blade and the thread guide with sufficient force to retain the thread
and cause it to break as the circle of needles continues to revolve. A short length
of the thread equal in length to the staple of the fibre from which the thread is
formed will thereby be left projecting from the thread eye.
The mechanism for giving a simultaneous movement in opposite directions to the
two thread guides may be considerably varied. I prefer however to act upon the
tail ends of both levers by projections upon the opposite sides of a disc, to which a
partial turn is given when the position of the thread guides is to be reversed, the
movement of the disc being controlled by the action of a slowly revolving cam.
The above described system may be employed in circular frames having sliding
needles, either barb or latchet, when making plain or ribbed fabrics.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Henry Moses Mellor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th September
1876.
HENRY MOSES MELLOR, of the Firm of Moses Mellor and Sons, Nottingham.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES."
The first part of my improvement relates to the construction of loop wheels
employed in circular knitting machines having fixed needles in a revolving
cylinder.
Hitherto loop wheels have been used having soft steel blades or leaves soldered
into a brass boss with a steel bush in the centre. The wear and tear upon such
blades or leaves when working thick and inferior yarns is very great. To obviate
this I propose to make the loop wheels in two parts, having a groove in the centre,
the back or catch part having hardened steel blades or leaves, and the front part
(fixed upon hub of back part) having soft steel blades by preference, so that they
may be curled if desired, but it will be quite clear to those acquainted with such
machines that the last-named system of curling the blades is quite unnecessary
with my arrangement of wheel, as the whole front part of the wheel can be twisted
at the same time.
I also prefer to leave a groove in the centre of the wheels for the purpose of
supporting the needles with a notched wheel or steel bearer in the before-mentioned
groove, while the wheels are placing the yarns between the needles.
Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the Drawings shew various views full size of a loop
wheel constructed as above described. A is the back part having blades a of
hardened or tempered steel soldered in to it; B is the front part having blades by
preference of soft steel soldered in to it. The boss B fit over the hub of the
part A, as shewn, and can be locked to it by means of the nut C screwed on to the
end of the hub of the part A.
Another part of my Invention relates to an arrangement of oscillating thread
guides in connection with needles fixed in a revolving cylinder for the purpose of
making striped hosiery. The thread guides consist of two levers placed horizontally
one above the other, and radially or approximately so to the circle of needles. The
ends of the levers nearest to the circle of needles are formed with an eye for thread
to be passed through. One thread guide is out of action at the time when the
other is in action. Whenever a change is to be made in the color of work being
produced, the levers are simultaneously acted upon by mechanism in such manner
as to cause them to oscillate in opposite directions. By this movement the thread

page_text: eye, which previously was out of action, will be moved towards the feed wheel or
point at which thread is laid on to the needles, and the end of the thread carried
by it will be easily drawn forward by the needles, as the thread eye and needles
will then be travelling in the same direction, the thread eye which was previously
in action will likewise be moved away from the feed wheel or point at which
thread is laid on to the needles, and the thread carried by it will be brought into
contact with a fixed blade, and will be nipped between this blade and the thread
guide with sufficient force to retain the thread and cause it to break as the circle
of needles continues to revolve. A short length of thread will thereby be left
projecting from the thread eye and resting against the needles.
The mechanism for giving a simultaneous movement in opposite directions to the
two thread guides may be considerably varied. The arrangement shewn in the
Drawings is the one which I prefer.
The above-described system may also be employed in circular frames having
sliding needles, either barb or latch, and cither when making plain or ribbed
fabrics.
Figures 1 to 7 shew various views of part of a circular knitting frame having
sliding latch needles, and fitted with striping apparatus in the manner above
described. A is the framing; B is a bracket for carrying the thread guides or
feeding levers and cams by which they are actuated; C, circle of latch sliding
needles; D, E, F, cam, lever, and ratchet wheel for giving a step-by-step motion to
the striping wheel G, having around it a number of holes, into which pegs H can
be inserted, as shewn, for controlling the striping. The cam D is fixed upon the
revolving cylinder which carries the circle of needles. I, J, K, are levers, ratchet,
and ratchet wheel for giving motion to the cams L, which control the movement
of the feeding levers or thread layers M. The cams L are at the upper end of a
spindle, which at its lower end has fixed to it the ratchet wheel K. The feeding
levers M are held up to and against the cams L by springs M', as shown at
Figures 1, 2, and 3. N, blade for holding threads when not in work; O, latch
guide; O', eye in latch guide through which both threads pass. The position of
the pegs H on the striping wheel G determine the width of the stripes produced in
the work.
When a change is to be made they cause the cams L to turn a distance at two
successive revolutions of the circle of needles.. At the first movement the cams
are brought into position for causing a change; at the next movement the cams.
first cause the thread layer which was out of action to move away from the
blade N; its thread is then free, and is carried onwards by the needles. Shortly
afterwards the other thread layer is moved up to the blade N, and the thread
carried by it is broken off, as herein-before described, the broken end still resting
against the needles just above their latches, which at this point are closing.
In order to prevent the thread running back at the time when one thread eye is
thrown out of action and the other thrown into action I employ a thread relieving
apparatus shewn at Figure 6; it consists of a rod P carrying thread eyes, through
which the threads are threaded. At the time when a change in the threads is to
take place this rod is lifted, and the threads are thereby relieved of tension. This
action takes place at every revolution of the cylinder, but is only of use when
changing from one thread to another. The lifting of the rod is effected by a lever S
and cam R, as shewn at Figure 6. The two threads are shewn in the Drawings
by two dotted lines. The raising of the rod P terminates just at the time when a
thread is to be severed.
Thread relieving apparatus such as above described can be used with other
arrangements of apparatus for producing striped work wherever one thread carrier
is. put out of action when another is put into action.
In order to ensure, especially when working yarns of short staple, that the
severing of the threads shall take place between the needles and the eye O' I also
use a small horizontal knife with its edge upwards. When making ribbed work I
carry the knife in the same way, and move it to and fro by the same cam as the

page_text: horizontal rib needles; the knife comes between two of the frame needles. When-
ever one of the threads is held fast it is drawn taut over the knife at that time in
position of line x, y, Figure 2; the knife then moves back with the rib needles and
cuts the thread; the other thread being slack is not cut.
When making plain work with a mock scam the knife is mounted and worked
in the same way as the horizontal needle which forms the seam.
Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11 shew part of a circular knitting machine with fixed
bearded needles. In these Figures, A is the framing; B, B, are brackets; C is a
straight feed wheel; D, a loop wheel; E, a dividing wheel; E, a presser; G, a put
or holder back; H, the circle of bearded needles fixed to the revolving cylinder of
the machine; I, cams for shifting the position of the thread layers or feeding
levers J K is the blade for holding back whichever thread is for the time out of
work. The feed wheel C having straight blades is to supply sufficient thread to
the needles and prevent any extra strain coming upon the loop wheels and needles.
This feed wheel works on the stems or lower parts of the needles. L is an eye,
through which both threads are led.
Motion may be given to the cams I at the time when a change in the work is
to be made in the manner herein-before described and shewn at Figures 1 and 4;
or other arrangements may be adopted for causing the thread layers or feeding
levers to shift their positions at the time required.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I would have it understood that I claim as my improvements in circular
knitting machines,
First. The construction of loop wheels with hardened and tempered steel blades,
substantially as herein-before described.
Second. The combination with a revolving circle of needles of oscillating thread
layers, the ends of which are capable of moving tangentially or nearly so to the
circle of needles to put their threads into and out of action and produce striped
work, the thread eyes being moved in the same direction as the needles at the time
when they come into action, and in the opposite direction when they go out of
action, substantially as herein-before described.
Third. The combined arrangement of oscillating throad layers M and blade N,
substantially as herein-before described.
Fourth. The combined arrangement of knitting machinery for producing
striped work, substantially as herein-before described.
Fifth. The employment of a thread relieving apparatus substantially as
described for relieving the threads from tension at the time when one thread is put
into action and the other out of action.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Moses Mellor, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-six.
HENRY MOSES MELLOK. (L.S.)