IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MA- CHINERY
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Lamb, Manufacturer, and Samuel
Lowe, Machinist, both of Nottingham, in the County of Not-
tingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MA-
CHINERY."
Sealed the 16th February 1875, and dated the 27th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Lamb
and Samuel Lowe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 27th November 1874.
We, JOHN WILLIAM LAMB, Manufacturer, and SAMUEL LOWE,
Machinist, both of Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
KNITTING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates mainly to improvements on the Patent granted
to us, and bearing date November 14th, 1871, No. 3068, for "Improve-
ments in Machinery for the Manufacture of Looped Fabrics," the object
being to enable the machine, which is capable of narrowing, splicing!

page_text: i
and striping to produce a single or an uneven number of courses of a
thread of a given colour and automatically to change the carrier for one
holding a thread of another colour and operate with that in a similar
manner, then, if required, to work even courses, and so on to vary the
work and produce stripes of varying widths, as may be desired.
The chief purpose of the Invention is to produce the stripes on the
upper part or what is known as the welt of the stocking, but the
Invention will be equally applicable to the striping of other parts of the
stocking or other goods.
It is well-known to hosiery manufacturers that when a single or odd
course for striping is required to be made in this class of machines the
attendant has to stop the action of the machine and lay in a thread by
hand. He then starts the machine, holding back the thread carrier
until some of the sinkers have acted. The carrier will then deliver a
floating thread over the sinkers as it is carried by the motion of the slur
box to the opposite side or selvage of the work. This floating thread is
then to be lifted to the back of the needles to prevent its being knitted
into the work, and it thus remains at the back of the work as a floating
thread.
According to our Invention we not only avoid the necessity for this
floating thread (which is inadmissible in all parts of the stocking except
the welt) but we effect an economy in the manufacture by making the
striping operation without stopping the machine. To this end we add
an additional carrier, making five in all; we select from these say two
thread carriers, which we "stop out" alternately by means of a rocking
lever operated by a tappet pattern cam. The axle on which this cam is
mounted is rotated by a reciprocating pawle taking into the teeth of a
ratchet wheel made fast to the cam. On the same axle is a second
tappet cam made fast to and rotating with the first mentioned cam. The
object of this second cam is to prevent the pressing off of the odd course
of work before a change of thread carrier has been effected and that
carrier has been brought into action. This end is attained by preventing
the needle bar from rising; for while depressed all the other acting parts
of the machine excepting the carriers which are all held back will go
through their motions without interfering with the last course of work
formed. Held in contact with this second tappet cam by means of a
tension spring is a stop piece made fast to a link rod which embraces

page_text: the cam axle and extends downwards, and is jointed to a crank lever
which rocks in a fixed bearing. To this lever is also jointed a link rod
which connects with a rock lever that moves in a horizontal plane upon
a fixed centre.
When the tappet cam presents one of its tappets to the stop piece it
will force down the link rod, rock the crank lever, and draw the
horizontal lever into such a position that the bowle of the vertical rock
lever through which the up and down motion is transmitted to the
needle bar will be held out of contact with its actuating cam, and thus
the needle bar will remain for the time quiescent. So soon, however, as
the tappet has passed the stop pieces on the link rod the link rod will
rise and the horizontal rock lever will regain its normal position, thus
leaving the vertical rock lever free to act upon and raise the needle
bar.
We would remark that an automatic apparatus for holding the needles
out of action so as to retain the work thereon while the carriers are being
changed after the production of an odd course may be applied to
machines having a movable needle bar which do not possess the capa-
bilities of striping through narrowing as described in our above-
mentioned Patent.
An obvious modification of the above described plan of securing the
object of this Invention is to keep back the needles from the presser,
and thus prevent the pressing off of the last row of loops during the
return traverse of the slur box. .
Another mode of producing odd courses in succession is automatically
to retard the return of the thread carrier which last laid the thread for
the odd course until one or more sinkers have been advanced behind the
thread carrier which is to lay the thread for the next course of work
and then allow both carriers to move forward together.
The thread carrier in advance will thus lay its thread under the sinker
web while the retarded thread carrier will lay its thread, which will be
a floating thread, on the top of the sinkers. In this case a clip or its
equivalent must be provided for holding the floating thread during the
return motion of the carrier.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John William Lamb and Samuel Lowe in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JOHN
WILLIAM LAMB, Manufacturer, and SAMUEL LOWE, Machinist, both of 1
Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said John William Lamb· and
Samuel Lowe, Her special licence that we, the said John William Lamb
and Samuel Lowe, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said John William Lamb and Samuel Lowe, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc,
excrcisc, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ircland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY,' upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John William Lamb and Samuel Lowe,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John William Lamb and
Samuel Lowe, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates mainly to improvements on the Patent granted
to us, and bearing date November Fourteenth, One thousand cight
hundred and seventy-one, No. 3068, for "Improvements in Machinery

page_text: for the Manufacture of Looped Fabrics," the object being to enable the
machine, which is capable of narrowing, splicing, and striping, to produce
a single course or an uneven number of courses of a thread of a given
color, and automatically to change the carrier for one holding a thread
of another color, and operate with that in a similar manner, then if
required, to work even courses and so on to vary the work and produce
stripes of varying widths as may be desired.
The chief purpose of the Invention is to produce the stripes on the
upper part or what is known as the welt of the stocking, which stripes
are used to indicate particular manufactures or qualities of goods, but
our Invention applies equally to the striping of other parts of the
stocking and to the striping of other goods.
It is well known to hosiery manufacturers that when a single or odd
course for striping is required to be made in this class of machines the
attendant has to stop the action of the machine and lay in a thread by
hand. He then starts the machine holding back the thread carrier
until some of the sinkers have acted. The carrier will then, in following
the action of the sinkers, deliver a floating thread over the sinkers as it
is carried by the motion of the slur box to the opposite side or selvage of
the work. This floating thread is then to be lifted to the back of the
needles to prevent its being knitted into the work, and it thus remains
at the back of the work as a loose or floating thread.
According to our Invention we not only avoid the necessity for this
floating thread (which is inadmissible in all parts of the stocking except
the welt), but we effect an economy in the manufacture by striping with
odd and even courses without stopping the machine. In carrying out this
object we by preference add an additional carrier, making five in all, and
we select from these two thread carriers, which we "stop out "alternately.
These carriers we supply one with a white or ground color thread and the
other with a red or other colored striping thread, and we alternate the
action of these carriers as desired, making the knitting mechanism work
idly (to prevent the knocking off of the work), while the slur box or
carrier driver is returning (after the thread for the odd course is laid)
to its starting position to fetch the carrier which is next to be brought
into action.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn at Sheets I., II.,
and III., the arrangement of mechanism which we prefer for carrying
out the objects of our Invention. The same result may, however, be

page_text: obtained, as will be hereafter explained, by the use of obvious modifi-
cations, some of which are illustrated at Sheets IV. and V.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a plan of so much of a knitting machine with our
improvements applied thereto as will serve to illustrate the nature of
our Invention. In this machine five thread carriers are employed;
Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of those parts of the machine
which are shewn in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation of
the machine drawn to a scale of half the size of Figures 1 and 2; and
Fig. 4 is a partial plan view taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3.
A, Fig. 2, is the needle bar carrying the needles a; B is the sinker
bar, in the comb of which slide the sinkers b, the same being operated
as heretofore; C is the slur box connected by means of suitable arms,
with the raised thread carrier bars as explained in the Specification of
our before-mentioned Patent, and working also the lower carrier bars as
in Cotton's well known machine. The thread carriers are marked 1, 2,
3, 4, and 5, the last number indicating the additional thread carrier.
For working odd courses the arrangement shewn in the Drawings
provides for the use of the carriers 2 and 5, which are stopped out
alternately by means of a rocking lever D operated by a tappet pattern
cam E. This lever D, when rocked, engages with a catch d, projecting
below the under side of the bar of the carrier 5, or with a catch¸d¹
attached to the bar of the carrier 2.
The cam E (see Fig. 2) is mounted loosely on an axle F, which is
carried by a bracket bolted to the under side of the slur bar. This
cam E is rotated by a reciprocating pawle F¹ taking into the teeth of a
ratchet wheel I made fast to the cam E. On the same axle is a second
tappet cam G made fast to and rotating with the cam E. The object of
this second cam is to prevent the pressing off of the odd course of work
before a change of thread carrier has been effected, and that carrier has
been brought into action. This end is attained by preventing the needle
bar A from rising, for while depressed all the other acting parts of the
machine excepting the carriers, which are all held back, will go through
their motions without interfering with the last course of work formed.
To prevent the needle bar A from rising the following contrivance is
adopted. H is a rod carrying a tappet 7, which is held in contact with
a tappet cam G by means of a tension spring ¹. This tappet rod H
takes at its upper end the form of a link, which embraces the cam axle,
and it extends downwards, and is jointed to a crank lever ³, which rocks

page_text: on a fixed centre. Fig. 3* shews the tappet rod in edge view,
and
connected with the crank lever . By means of a link. rod h³ the crank
lever is also connected with one of a pair of rock levers I (see the plan
view, Fig. 4), which are linked together and move in a horizontal plane
upon fixed centres. When the tappet cam G presents one of its pro-
jections to the tappet / it will force down the rod H, rock the crank
lever ³, and draw the horizontal levers I into such a position that the
vertical rocking frame K, which imparts to the needle bar its up-and-
down motions, will come in contact with the ends of the levers I, and
thus the bowles of the vertical rocking frame will be held out of
contact with their actuating cams K' on the driving shaft, and the
needle bar will necessarily remain for the time quiescent. So soon.
however as the projection on the tappet cam G has passed the tappet on
the link rod H that rod will risc, and the horizontal rock levers I will
regain their normal position, thus leaving the vertical rocking frame free
to act upon and raise tho needle bar.
The pawle F for driving the cams E and G is pivotted to the raised
arm of a rock lever F³ carried by a bracket on the framing. This rock
lever receives its motion through a bowlefon its lower arm bearing upon
a cam F* on the main driving shaft.
In knitting stockings upon the machine fitted with five thread carrier
bars, as shown in Sheets I., II., and III., and provided with a cut of
cams such as those shown at Fig. 2, which indicates one complete scries
of odd and even courses suitable for a welt, we commence by laying the
thread with the thread carrier No. 2, which is threaded with white
thread, and is free to move with the slur box. The other four carriers,
three of which are threaded with white and one with red, are locked out
in the following manner :-No. 1 is locked out of action on the left-hand
side of the machine in the well-known manner; No. 3 is locked out on
the right-hand side of the machine; No. 4 carrier is locked out on the
left-hand side. The new carrier No. 5 at the commencement is (and
until a sufficient length of white or ground color has been knitted to
form the upper part or fold of the welt remains) locked by the position
in which the rocking lever D was left at the completion of the striping
of the last knitted stocking, that is, the bar of the carrier No. 5 has been
moved up to a stop at the right-hand end of the machine; it cannot
therefore be traversed farther in that direction, and is prevented from
moving in the opposite direction by the raised position of the lever D.

page_text: No. 2 carrier is used alone to lay the thread for the successive courses
of knitting until the required length of white or ground colored work
has been knitted. The machine is stopped when this carrier is on the
right-hand side of its division. The pawle for operating the cams E and
G has been during this time traversing on an elongated tooth of the
ratchet wheel F. In order therefore to bring the pawle F¹ into efficient
action the attendant now moves forward the ratchet wheel Fr one tooth
by hand, bringing the pawle into gear with the ratchet teeth, and this
action releases the carrier No. 5 by the fall of the lever D and locks the
carrier No. 2, both carriers being at starting in a line one behind the
other. Carrier 5 will therefore now lay in a red striping thread, laying
it from right to left, then back to right again, and then again to loft,
making three courses of red; the counting cam E then allows the
bar D to rise, which locks the red striping carrier on the left-hand
side. To prevent the work from being pressed off by the ordinary
motions of the machine during the return of the slur box to fetch the
white or ground thread carrier, there being no thread under the sinkers,
the needles are held down by the action of the cam G on the levers I in
the manner above explained. By the time the slur box has returned to
the right-hand side (making what is termed a "drawback") the counting
cam E will have locked the carrier 5, and the carrier No. 2 will by the
return motion of the slur box lay the white thread for the next course,
working from right to left, then from left to right, and from right to left
again, making thus three courses of white. By the fall of the lever D
the carrier No. 2 is then locked and No. 5 is released, which then lays
red thread from left to right, and again from right to left, making two
courses of red. The carrier 5 is now again locked, and No. 2 carrier
proceeds to lay two courses of white, finishing on the left-hand side.
This being accomplished, carrier No. 5 is then caused to lay one course
of red to the right-hand side; it is then locked, and the lever I being
then operated as before the needles will be prevented from rising. The
slur box then moves back as before without any thread being laid, and
in returning with the carrier No. 2 the white thread for one course is
laid from left to right, and so on until the required pattern provided
for by the pattern wheel is completed. It will thus be seen that
according to this arrangement of the mechanism whenever it is required
to make an odd or uneven number of courses it is necessary to bring
the lever D into action so as to prevent the rising of the needles and the
pressing off of the work.

page_text: From the foregoing it will be understood that the arrangement of
five thread carriers upon the machine enables us to set apart one carrier
for the red thread, but by changing the thread of the striping carrier
our four carrier machine may be used with effect for producing the odd
or uneven striping. In this case however we provide the machine with
a modified form of our automatic selecting apparatus, and with suitable
stops, as shewn in Sheets IV. and V.
Fig. 5, Sheet IV., shows the working parts of the mechanism full size;
Fig. 6 is an edge view of the same; Fig. 7, Sheet V., is a partial plan
view shewing the carriers and a portion of the mechanism for working
the same. The main parts of the machine are the same as in the last-
described arrangement. F³ is the standard carrying the ratchet and
cams of the automatic apparatus bolted to the slur bar; D is the locking
lever formed with a T shaped head, which locks alternately the carrier
bars 2 and 3. In order to bring the catches of the carrier bars to be
operated upon into the same vertical plane and within casy reach of the
head of the lever D we extend the bar of the carrier 3 virtually rear-
wards by connecting it rigidly with a short bar that carries the catch of
the bar 3, and to the stems of the carriers 2 we attach a short bar, to
which is fitted the catch of those carriers. The operation of this T headed
lever will be precisely similar, and its motions will be produced by the
same means, as above described, with reference to the five carrier
arrangement, the same letters of reference pointing out corresponding
parts.
In commencing to knit a stocking in a machine arranged with four
carriers, No. 2 is, as before, employed to lay the white or ground colored
thread for the leg; the carrier No. 1, not, shown in the plan view, is
locked out on the right-hand side; No. 3 is locked out, as shewn in the
plan view, Sheet 5; No. 4 is locked out on the right-hand side in a
similar manner. The carrier No. 2 is therefore free and a sufficient
length of white or other ground colored work is knitted to form the
upper part of the welt when the machine is stopped, both carriers, 2
and 3, being on the left-hand of the machine and the carrier. No. 3 of
each division of the machine is then re-threaded with red thread and set
free by pushing back the stop at the lelt-hand end of the machine. Its
carrier and bar is now to be pushed to the right into the position shewn
by dots, that is, up to the needles, and the automatic apparatus is moved
forward by a handle on the cam shaft F, so as to throw the pawle off the

page_text: elongated tooth of the ratchet wheel. This action lowers the locking
lever D so as to lock the carrier No. 2, the machine is then ready to
commence striping the carrier No. 3, making one course from left to
right, then to left, and again to right, thus making three courses of red;
the cam E of the automatic apparatus then locks the carrier No. 3.
The slur box will now return without the thread carriers from right to
left to fetch the carrier No. 2, thus making a drawback, and the
needles will be held down by the action of the cam G in the manner
before described. The carrier No. 2 will next lay its thread from left to
right, then from right to left, then again to right, making three courses
of white or other ground color. The cam E will now again cause the
lever D to fail and leave the carrier No. 3 free, which as it had been
(by the rise of the lever D) locked on the right-hand side is ready to be
traversed from right to left, and back to right, making two courses of
red. The carrier No. 2 is next set free to make two courses of white
or other ground color. When this is done the carrier No. 3 is caused
to lay the red thread for one course, and a "drawback" is now required.
The carrier No. 3 is next locked by the drop lever, and the carrier No. 2
having been left at the extreme right of its traverse, the slur box is
moved from left to right to fetch that carrier. This mode of operation
continues until the pattern is completed. When the pattern welt for
which the cams are cut is completed, the pawle is left on the elongated
tooth or part f¹ of the ratchet wheel, and in order to bring the locking
lever into the intermediate position required to set free both carriers,
Nos. 2 and 3, the machine is stopped in order to move by means of the
handle the ratchet, wheel forward two teeth. The pawle will then be
brought again upon a plain part of the ratchet and the drop lever
into its intermediate position. The carrier No. 3 may now be pushed
back and locked out, and the leg of the stocking knitted by the use of
the carrier No. 2, and the remaining carriers are employed when required
as in the ordinary manner.
"
For the purpose of retaining the work upon the needles and thereby
preventing the work from being pressed off by the ordinary motions
of the machine after the "drawback or action of the slur cock when
no thread has been laid, we do not propose to confine ourselves to the
arrangement described with reference to Sheets I., II., and III., of the
Drawings, as there are several modes of working that will at once
suggest themselves to the experienced knitting machinist. Thus the

page_text: motion of the needle bar may be so controlled as to prevent its carrying
the needles against the presser bar, or the presser bar may itself be
moved at the required time so as not to be in the path of the needles
during their descent, or the ordinary actions of other parts of the
knitting mechanism may be so interfered with as to prevent the work
from being pressed off.
"
In Sheet VI. Figure 8 shows the rocking bar I of the automatic
apparatus employed for shifting the bowle of the lever or frame L (and
thus regulating the distance of the needles from the presser) on to a cam
of less diameter, so that the needles during the "drawback
course will
go through the usual motions, but be held back from the presser, and so
retain the last-formed loops. The two cams E and G are so cut and
arranged as to allow of the return of the bowle to the presser cam as
soon as the "drawback" course is completed. The cam G in this
arrangement acts upon the stop rod H, and through the bell-crank
lever ² and connecting rod h³ will move the horizontal rock lever I,
which is forked at its opposite end. This fork enters a groove turned in
the boss of the bowle or pulley wheel carried on the end of the lever
or rocking frame L. As therefore the bar I is rocked it will slide the
bowle away from one cam and present it to the other as desired.
Another mode of producing odd courses in succession is automatically
to retard the return of the thread carrier which last laid the thread for
the odd course until one or more sinkers have been advanced behind the
thread carrier, which is to lay the thread for the next course of work,
and then allow both carriers to move forward together.. The thread
carrier in advance will thus lay its thread under the sinker ncb, while
the retarded thread carrier will lay its thread, which will be a floating
thread, on the top of the sinkers. In this case retaining hooks or their
equivalent must be provided for holding the floating thread during the
return motion of the carrier.
Sheets VII. and VIII. illustrate the mechanism for making odd
courses, or a series of odd and even courses automatically, by floating
one of the threads on the back of the fabric.
Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation of the machine with the requisite
additional mechanism applied thereto; and Fig. 10, Sheet VIII., is a
view of the locking lever and operating cams with the parts of the
machine shewn full size.

page_text: Figures 11 and 12, Sheet VII., are sectional and plan views showing
the formation of the loops of the red thread and also the laying of a
floating thread, and Fig. 13 is a partial front clevation shewing the
relative position of the clawkers or retaining hooks and thread layers.
A is the needle bar; B, the sinker bar; M, M, the clawkers or
retaining hooks for holding down the floating threads during the
working of a course. The pawle F¹ for operating the ratchet wheel Fe
and cams E and G is mounted and operated as before described by the
cam F on the driving shaft, but in this instance the cam is formed to
act on the pawle twice during one revolution. The clawkers M, of
which there are two to each division of the machine, are fixed to a
bar N sliding in end guides. This bar N is carried by a rocking frame
or levers O, to the lower lever of which is fitted a bowle o that runs
loose on a projecting pin. This bowle bears on a cam O' on the driving
shaft, thus giving a rising and falling motion to the clawkers M. The
boss of the bowle is grooved, and is embraced in the forked end of the
horizontal rock lever I, which through the bell-crank lever h² and
vertical tappet rod is operated by the cam G, so as to shift the bowle off
the cam when the clawkers M are not required to be operated. This
arrangement of the machine has four carriers, the front ones of the
upper and lower tier, Nos. 2 and 3, being selected to be operated for
laying different colored threads in any required order.
When it is desired to knit a pattern composed of even and odd numbers
of courses, say three courses of red, three of white or other ground color,
two of red and two of white, followed by a succession of single courses,
and so on, as in the striping of the welt of a stocking, the ratchet
wheel F of the automatic selecting apparatus is as before to be moved
forward to bring its operating pawle F¹ into gear with the teeth of the
ratchet wheel F², which will cause the cam E to depress the locking
lever D so as to lock the carrier 2, and the carrier 3 being free will be
caused to travel across the division of the machine and back, laying the
thread for the knitting of two courses. The clawkers or retaining
hooks M will now be caused to rise and fall by the action of the cam G,
thereby catching and holding down the colored threads, as shewn in
the sectional view, which threads they will retain during the knitting of
the course. Immediately after the third traverse of this carrier has
commenced, and the sinkers for an inch or so have been thrust forward
by the action of the slur cock, thus forming loops of the red thread,

page_text: the motion of the ratchet will have brought the next step of the cam G
above the tappet of the locking lever D, and allow it to rise into the
dotted position, that is, intermediate of the upper and lower carrier bars,
and the carrier 2 will be released and commence to travel, laying its
thread over the top of the sinkers, as shown in Fig. 12.
:
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements
in Knitting Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying the samo
into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent we claim,—
First. The arrangement of automatic machinery described with
reference to Sheets I., II., and III. of the Drawings for knitting stripes
with single or an uneven number of courses.
Secondly. The arrangement of automatic machinery described with
reference to Sheets IV. and V. of the Drawings for knitting stripes with
single or an uneven number of courses.
Thirdly. In combination with our automatic locking mechanism we
claim arresting the operation of the knitting instruments while the slur
box is returning to recommence its efficient action.
Lastly. The means described with reference to Sheets VII. and VIII.
of the Drawings for producing odd or uneven courses for the welts of
stockings.
In witness whereof, we, the said John William Lamb and Samuel
Lowe, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Twenty-fifth
day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
JOHN WILLIAM LAMB.
(L.S.)
S. LOWE.
(L.S.)