Improvements in the Manufacture of Stockings, Socks, and other Knitted Articles, and in Machinery or Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application. 10th Nov., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 9th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 25th Apr. 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Stockings, Socks, and other
Knitted Articles, and in Machinery or Apparatus therefor.
We, JAMES HEARTH, WALTER HEARTH, and WILLIAM HENRY WILLIS,
trading as James Hearth & Co., of 124, Church Gate, Leicester, Hosiery
Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in the manufacture of stockings,
socks, and other knitted articles and in machinery or apparatus therefor the object
being to produce upon preferably a Cotton's Patent rib frame or other straight bar
knitting frame a ribbed fabric of any greater number or combination of ribs than
the ordinary combination of two and one ribs.
In order to produce upon a Cotton's Patent rib frame stockings and socks of the
greater combinations of ribs before mentioned we employ needles and sinkers
of special construction in combination with needles and sinkers of ordinary
construction.
The specially constructed needles intercalate between the machine needles
and differ from the ordinary needles by the peculiar manner in which the beard
is twisted.
The needles are cranked near the head, the part of the needle constituting the
beard and forming a continuation of the stem is bent over so as to pass under the
stem of the needle from whence it is continued upwards passing through the cranked
portion, the terminating end of the beard being caused to lie above and parallel
to the stem of the needle, so that when the beard is pressed it may enter
the eye or groove, the position of which may be the same as in the ordinary
cedles.
A needle with the beard twisted in the manner described will pass clearly
between tre sinkers and the knocking over bits and will permit of the points of
he narrowing machine completely covering such twisted beards to enable the
operation of narrowing and widening to be properly effected.
The sinkers employed in connection with the twisted bearded needles are made
horter at the catch or nose so as to take less thread.
The loops formed upon the needles with the twisted beards are not converted
nto stitches but are rolled off the beards and the thread is absorbed by the machine
titches.
Dated this 10th day of November 1890.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Stockings, Socks, and other
Knitted Articles, and in Machinery or Apparatus therefor.
We, JAMES HEARTH, WALTER HEARTH, and WILLIAM HENRY WILLIS,
trading as James Hearth & Co., of Church Gate, Leicester, Hosiery Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improvements in the manufacture of stockings
socks and other knitted articles and to machinery or apparatus therefor, the object
being to produce upon preferably a Cotton's Patent rib frame or other straight bar
knitting frame a ribbed fabric of any greater number or combination of ribs than
| Price 811

page_text: the ordinary combination of two and one ribs. In order to produce upon a Cotton's
Patent rib frame stockings and socks of the greater combinations of ribs before
mentioned we employ needles and sinkers of special construction in combination
with needles and sinkers of ordinary construction.
To more clearly illustrate the various methods of carrying our invention into
effect reference is made to the accompanying drawings showing the needles and
sinkers of a Cotton's knitting frame for the production of ribbed fabrics.
In Fig. 1, A are the frame needles and B the machine needles.
As hereinbefore mentioned we employ ordinary needles with needles of special
construction.
The specially constructed needles A¹ are represented by the solid dots shewn in
Figure 1 but one form of such needles is shewn most clearly in elevation on an
enlarged scale in Figure 3.
The special construction consists principally in the manner in which the beard
is twisted.
As shewn in Figure 3 the needle is cranked at C near the beard, the part or
extension C¹ forming the beard is turned over and passes partly behind the end of
the stem, then continued downwards and in a partly sideward direction passing
through the depression in the cranked portion and the point or terminating portion C
of the beard is brought over and continued for a short distance in a parallel line
in front of the eye or groove so as to permit of the pressing operation being correctly
performed.
A needle with the beard twisted in the manner described and shewn in Figure 3
will pass clearly between the sinkers and the knocking over bits and will permit of
the narrowing machine completely covering such twisted beards and enable the
operations of narrowing and widening to be properly effected.
It will be readily understood by those acquainted with the art of knitting that
the loops formed on the needles having their beards twisted in the manner described
are not subsequently formed into stitches but are cast off such needles when the new
row of loops is being brought over the arch to place them at the back of the needles
ready for the thread to be again lid.
The loop that is cast off is absorbed or taken up by the loop on either side of it
and additional elasticity it thus obtained in the fabric.
We have found it desirable in order to avoid inequality of those stitches which
absorb the loops cast off the twisted bearded needles-as compared with the stitches
in other parts of the fabric-to reduce the size of the loop formed upon such twisted
bearded needles.
This end can be obtained in several ways as hereinafter described, but in this
case the said result is accomplished by the employment of sinkers cut proportionately
shorter in the catch or nose.
Such a sinker D is shewn in Figure 2 in comparison with the ordinary
sinker E.
It will be obvious that as the two sinkers DE are projected forward between
the needles the same distance, the fact of the sinkers D being cut shorter
in the catch will cause them to draw less thread and a reduced size loop will
be the result.
As an alternative arrangement to obtain the same end we may instead of
using two differently constructed sinkers, employ sinkers of ordinary construction
in combination with needles cranked in their stems at the part where the thread is
laid across and formed into loops by the sinkers.
This arrangement is shewn in Figures 4 and 5. A are the ordinary needles
and G the needles having twisted beards and cranked stems.
It will be readily perceived that as the cranked portion H of the needle is
nearer to the terminating point of the sinkers-after the latter have been
projected between the needles to form the loop-than is the stem of the
straight needles a smaller amount of thread will be drawn and decreased loop
will be the result.

page_text: The 100ps formed on such needles will be cast off as hereinbefore mentioned and
not formed into stitches.
In some combinations of ribs we also find it desirable to employ at certain
intervals in connection with the ordinary needles, a needle with the usual beard but
with a crank H in the stem as shewn in Figure 6.
The sinkers used in conjunction with such needles may be of the ordinary
construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a Cotton's or other straight bar knitting machine the use or employment
in combination with the ordinary bearded needles, of needles constructed substan-
tially in the manner and as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
2. In a Cotton's or other straight bar knitting machine the combination with
needles such as A¹ of sinkers such as D formed shorter in the catch or nose,
substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
3. The manufacture upon a Cotton's or other straight bar knitting machine
of stockings, socks and other ribbed fabrics, of the character referred to, by the
means and in the manner substantially as described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawing.
Dated this 7th day of March 1891.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.