CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMEWORK KNITTING MACHINERY, AND A NEW KIND OF FRAMEWORK KNITTED FABRIC
Year: 1843

page_text: TUSU ACCHIC majesty Queen
by Ter
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of January, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Uriah Clarke, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I the said Uriah Clarke, my exors,
adors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Uriah Clarke, my exors,
adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter, during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that
part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMEWORK KNITTING MACHINERY,
AND A NEW KIND OF FRAMEWORK KNITTED FABRIC;" in which said letters
Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Uriah Clarke, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Uriah Clarke, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully ascertained and described
in and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had to the sheets
of Drawings hereunto annexed, marked A, B, and C, that is to say:---
My improvements in framework knitting machinery are six in number, and
are as follows:-
First, instead of constructing the ordinary framework knitting machine,
otherwise known by the name of the stocking frame, with moving jacks as
usual, I construct it in manner following, whereby the jacks are entirely
dispensed with:-Figure 1 represents a front view of a frame on my improved
plan; Figure 2 an end view; and Figure 3 a side or transverse section on the line
a, b, of Figure 1; A, A, are side standards connected at the top by a cross bar
B; C is a frame which is suspended from the cross bar B, and includes all the
moving parts of the machine; E is the needle bar, and n, n, the needles;
F, F, are the sinkers, which are of the form particularly shewn in the side view,
Figure 3. They are made, it will be observed, of two widths f, f, the top part
f cut out of thicker plate than the other, and has a square aperture a cut out
in it for the admission of the sliding bar I, afterwards mentioned; and the
lower or nib end is of the common form; G1, G2, are two pairs of sleys or
guide bars, (one of each only being seen in the front view, Figure 1,) by which
the sinkers are kept in their vertical position; H, H, are spiral springs
attached to the sinkers near to the top, and secured at their lower ends either
to the front or back sley bar G³, by means of which springs the sinkers are
caused to fall; the bar I is about twice the width of the machine, and is of
the peculiar shape represented in the detached views given of it in Figures 5
and 6. It consists of two square flat pieces b', 6%, connected by a centre boss
C, the two square flat pieces being so fixed with respect to each other that
when the one is in a vertical position the other shall be horizontal, and that
which is in the vertical position shall be in a line with one of the edges of that
which is horizontal; K is a lever by raising or lowering which the bar I can
be turned one quarter round so as to change the position of the parts of the bar
61, 6, respectively, from horizontal to vertical as required. Supposing one half
6', of the bar I to be inserted through the apertures in a horizontal position,
and the other half 63, which is left out, to be consequently in a vertical position,
then the whole of the sinkers would be down; but if the lever K, Fig. 2, were
then moved, and the bar thereby turned one quarter round, the positions of
the parts of the bar b', 63, would be reversed, and, by turning the piece into
a vertical position, the whole of the sinkers would be simultaneously raised or

page_text: "locked up," as represented in the front view of the machine, Figure 1. Again,
suppose the bar, when the part 6' is in a vertical position, and the sinkers are
"locked up," to be drawn through the apertures a, a, then the sinkers will fall,
one by one, off the vertical part b' on to the part 6, which is in a horizontal position,
and be thereby lowered, the effect produced being precisely analogous to what is
obtained by "drawing the jacks" in the ordinary stocking frame. L is the presser
bar which is placed at the back of the sinker nibs, and fits loosely at the ends into
slots s, s, in the sides of the moving frame C (see the side view, Figure 2); when
the frame C is brought forward the presser bar is brought down upon the
needles by its ends catching against two drop catches d, d, affixed to the bottoni
of the arms M, M, which project from the standards A, A, and, as it passes the
catches, it is raised off the needles by means of a spring. When the frame C
is pushed back the drop catches move out of the way without affecting the
presser bar. N is a sley which is placed at the back of the presser for bringing
forward the work, and derives its motion from the movement to and fro of the
frame. The teeth or dents of this sley have, on the front edge, the shape of a
double inclined plane, as shewn in the detached view, Figure 3. In making
common work the lower inclined plane comes in contact with the work, and
brings it over the needle heads; but, in making the new kind of framework
knitted fabric which forms one part of my Invention, the upper inclined plane
is made to come into contact with the work, as will be afterwards more fully
explained. P is the falling bar, and R, R, screw pins by which the bar is
adjusted, the screwed ends of the pins working through nuts r, r, and the plain
ends being passed loosely through the ends of the bar and the studs t, t, having
shoulders at u, v, on which the bar rests. The mode of working with the machine
is as follows:-Supposing that there is work upon the needles, a thread is laid,
as in the ordinary stocking frame, by hand or by a carrier, under the nihs of the
sinkers, the bar I is then drawn (by the action of the feet on the treadles or
otherwise), which allows the sinkers to fall one by one, as before described, and
the thread to be distributed equally between the needles. The frame C is then
pulled forward, which brings the new-laid thread under the beards of the
needles, and the presser bar into action. One quarter turn is then given to the
bar I by the lever K, as before described, which raises the sinker's nibs out of
the needles. The frame C continues to advance until the sley N has reached
the needle heads and turned over the old work, which then hangs from the.
needles by the new loop. The frame C being now put back, takes with it the
work by means of a small bar O, which is fixed for that purpose in front of
the slev N.

page_text: The second of my improvements in framework knitting machinery consists of
a modification of the machine just described, the peculiar features of which
are shewn in the side view (partly in section) Figure 8. The sinkers are kept
in their places by sleys or guide-bars, and caused to fall by spiral springs, both
in the manner before described; but, in place of the sliding bar, I make use of
a slur-cock A, of the construction represented in the detached views, Figure 9
(elevation), Figure 10 (section), and Figure 11 (plan). In the middle of this
slur-cock there is a groove, in which an oblong square piece w moves freely;
and, as the slur-cock is drawn through the apertures a, in the heads of the
sinkers, it raises up the sinkers by means of one of its inclined planes, while
the moveable piece w slips back and serves as a step from which the sinkers
drop one by one. The falling bar P is connected with a lever C', by which it
is made to rise when the frame is brought forward, and so "lock up" the
sinkers, while, by the same movement of the frame, a spring bar D, which is
attached by joints to the back sley or guide bar G, is kept down by the ledge
E, and is liberated by the friction rollers F¹, F', attached to the ends of the bar
escaping from under the ledge as the frame is moved forward. When the
frame is put back again the friction rollers are pressed again under the ledge
E', and the spring bar consequently depressed. The presser bar L is in this
machine placed at the back of the sinkers, as in that first before described, but
it is acted on differently; it is connected to two arms or levers H', H', pro-
jecting backwards, and working upon fulcra supported by stays from the back
sley or guide-bar G2, so that the levers partake of every movement of the frame;
at the tail of each lever there is a drop catch K', which on the frame being
brought forward comes in contact with the inclined planes a, fixed on the
needle bar, whereby the tail of the lever is raised up, and the presser bar at the
other end is brought down upon the needles. A spring or springs are attached
to the presser bar to raise it off the needles, and the drop catches move upwards
out of the way when the frame is put back. To bring the work forward there
is a sley N, which is placed at the back of the presser bar, and acted on in the
same manner and by the same means, that is to say, on its being brought
forward by the movement of the frame near to the needle heads, the drop
catches K¹ come in contact with other inclined planes y, which give it a com-
pound sort of motion excellently adapted for bringing the work over the needle
heads. To prevent the work from turning over, as it is called, the blades or
dents of the sley N have nibs projecting forward underneath the presser, and
let partly into the presser by means of transverse grooves, as shewn by the
dotted lines in Figure 7. The mode of working this machine is the same as

page_text: that of working the one first before described, with the exception that a carrier
for laying the thread is indispensable, and that there is no separate movement
necessary for "locking up" the sinkers, that being effected, as before explained,
by the movement of the frame, and through the medium of the falling bar P
and lever C¹.
The third of my improvements in framework knitting machinery consists of
the modification represented in Figure 7 of the Drawings hereunto annexed,
in which jacks are made use of as in the common stocking frame, but acted
upon in a different manner; A is one of two side standards; B' the jacks to
which the sinkers F, are rivetted; D is a slur-cock of the ordinary form for
striking the jacks and causing the sinkers to fall, as in the common frame; it is
supported by two arms F1, F1, (one of which only is seen in the Drawing,)
projecting from the side picces C, C, of the frame, and moving along with it;
E' is a vertical sley by which the heads of the jacks are kept in their places.
The jack wire passes through the tails of the jacks, and is supported by a bar
which has its bearings in the arms F¹, F¹, before described. When the jacks
are "locked up," springs q are made to act on their ends in the ordinary way.
The locking up is effected by causing the falling bar P to rise up inclined
planes H, or by causing levers to act underneath it in the same way as de-
scribed under the second head of my improvements. A frame constructed on
this plan will be worked in the same manner as the last before described.
The fourth of my improvements in framework knitting machinery consists in
making use in guages which require dividers of dividers of the form represented
in Figure 4 of the Drawings hereunto annexed. The back, in which the teeth
are set, is made double, and the teeth are made of the same shape as the lower
or nib ends of the sinkers, and long enough to pass through the lower sley bar
and reach below the needles; inclined planes must be attached to the standards
of the frame, so that the ends of the dividers may be depressed by them as the
frame is brought forward; and there must also be inclined planes up which the
falling bar may simultaneously ascend. These two sets of inclined planes must,
of course, be adjusted to the length of fall intended to be given to the sinkers.
The fifth of my improvements in framework knitting machinery consists in
adapting any of the three machines berein-before described to the manufacturing
of colored figured work. The parts peculiar to this modification are represented
in Figure 12 of the Drawings hereunto annexed; A is what I call a sley needle
bar, which I substitute for the ordinary needle bar and sole bar; each needle a
is fixed into a blade of brass or other metal b, and into the opposite end of the
blade is fixed a round pin c, about two inches long. The three pieces thus
united together into one move backwards and forwards (when acted on as

page_text: afterwards mentioned), in apertures made for the purpose in the cheeks of the
sley needle bar A; B is a guide-bar through a corresponding orifice in which
the pin c is passed at its outer end; C is a vertical rod which is attached to
the lower part of the needle blade b, and moves freely in a bearing in the
bottom support D; E is a longitudinal bar to which each vertical rod C is
connected by a spiral spring s; F is a compound lever, one arm of which 9 is
attached to the end of the bar E, and the other fis left free to be acted upon
by the frame as it is put back; a second lever of the same description is fixed
to the other end of the bar E, but is not shewn in the Drawing. When the
arms ff, of the compound levers F, F, are pressed back by the frame being
put back, that causes the other arms g, g, to pull back by the springs s the
vertical rods C and the needles, needle blades, and tail pins, which are attached
to the top of the vertical rods, to recede through the apertures in the cheeks of
the sley bar A and guide-bar B; G is a hollow metal cylinder revolving on an
axis which is placed immediately behind the guide-bar B, and against which
the needle tail pins c press when moved in that direction by the action of the
compound lever F as before described. In this cylinder holes are pricked
corresponding with the design or pattern desired to be produced; on the
frame being put back, it causes, through the medium of the spring bar E and
compound lever F, the tails of the needles to press against the cylinder when
such of them as coincide with the holes in it pass in, and the beards of the
needles are thus withdrawn, and those needles only which continue projected
receive the loops; on the frame being brought forward the needles which bad
been so withdrawn are brought by the work forward along with it, and their
tails drawn out of the cylinder; a catch r is then raised from a ratchet wheel
I attached to the cylinder G, which allows the cylinder to move round as far
as is necessary to bring opposite to the needle frame a second series of holes
for the reception of the tails of those needles which in the first instance were
left projected and took the thread, but which now by the reverse motion of the
frame become the receding needles, while those or part of those which were
previously the receding needles are advanced and take up the thread.
Supposing the design or pattern to be worked out in two colours, the thread
taken up by the first set of needles would be of one of those colours, and those
taken up by the second set of the other, which would complete the course;
and in the same way it is obvious that designs or patterns may be worked of
any number of colours, all that is necessary being to divide the needles into
sets, one for each colour.
The sixth and last of my improvements in framework knitting machinery
consists of the contrivance represented in Figure 13, (which is applicable to any

page_text: of the machines before described, for raising the weight usually employed to
depress the work, so as to allow it to hang loosely during the time of pressing,
but to bear upon the work in coming over the needle heads; at a suitable
distance below the needles I place a roller R, which revolves on pivots, which
have their bearings in the lower standards; at one end of this roller I fix a
ratchet wheel S and pulley, on which last I wind a cord from which is
suspended a weight U; to tighten the work I wind it from the frame on to the
roller R; when it is desired to relieve the pressure I depress the ratchet wheel
on the side opposite to the weight, by means of a catch c, pendant from a lever
V, which is pressed upon by a small friction roller W, projected from the lower
part of the moving frame; on the frame being brought forward the lever V is
allowed to rise a little way by the acting of a spring, and on pulling the frame
forward just before it reaches the needle heads, the roller W allows the lever
V to rise, which liberates the catch c, and allows the weight to act upon the
work; on putting the frame back, the lever V is pressed down by the catch,
and the ratchet wheel slightly moved so as to remove the pressure of the
weight from the work.
And now to describe the new framework knitted fabric of my Invention: I
declare that its distinctive feature consists in the loops being twisted each half
way round in one direction, as represented in Figure 14 of the Drawings hereunto
annexed. By comparing this Figure with Figure 15, which represents a
single course of the common stocking loop, the difference between the two
will be readily perceived. The new fabric has not only a better appearance
than the other, but possesses much greater lateral elasticity, and is therefore
well adapted to the making of such articles as shirts, drawers, caps, gloves,
mitts, cravats, scarfs, &c. In making this fabric, I proceed as follows:-
Supposing the machine I am using to be constructed according to the first
of the arrangements before described, I remove from the needle bar the common
needles, and insert in their stead needles with twisted beards or barbs, such as
are represented in Figure 3 of the Drawings hereunto annexed; I also set the
sley which brings the work forward a short distance back from the presser bar,
as represented in the side view Figure 3, so as to allow the work to be taken
away upwards between the presser bar and sley (instead of downwards under the
frame as with common work), and then passed over a roller X, mounted
on the cross bar B, at the top of the standards A, A (Figure 3). In
making very slack work of this sort the presser may be altogether dispensed
with.
And having now described my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, first, the improved frame-

page_text: work knitting machine firstly before described, in the general arrangement and
combination of parts of which the same consists; second, the use of the sliding
bar I, whether adapted to the machine first before described or to any other;
third, the modification described under the second head of my improvements
in the general arrangement and combination of parts of which the same consists
fourth, the employment of spiral springs to actuate the sinkers in conjunction
with a moveable spring bar (D) to relieve the pressure while the sinkers are
being locked up; fifth, the peculiar movement of the sley bar for bringing the
work over the needle heads herein-before described; sixth, the employment in
framework knitting machines of a moveable pressing bar placed behind the
sinkers, whether the same is acted on by either of the modes before described;
seventh, the modification of machinery described under the third head of my said
improvements; eighth, the improved divider before described; ninth, the method
before described under the fifth head of my said improvements of producing
colored figures or patterns in framework knitted fabrics, by means of moveable
needles, whether rendered moveable by the particular contrivances before
described or by any other contrivances equivalent thereto; tenth, the contri-
vance before described for removing the weight from the work in framework
knitting machines; and, eleventh, the new framework knitted fabric before
described, and the application of needles with twisted beards to the manufacture
of twisted loop fabrics.
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