IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Harris Cooper, of Rotherby, Thomas Alfred
William Clarke, of Leicester, and Edwin Corah, of Leicester, all in
the County of Leicester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
KNITTING MACHINES.”
Scaled the 20th April 1875, and dated the 8th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harris Cooper,
Thomas Alfred William Clarke, and Edwin Corah at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the
8th February 1875.
We, JOHN HARRIS COOPER, of Rotherby, THOMAS ALFRED WILLIAM
CLARKE, of Leicester, and EDWIN CORAH, of Leicester, all in the County
of Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES," to be as follows:―
This Invention has for its object to produce automatically striped
work (either ribbed or plain) upon circular knitting machines.. For this
purpose we combine with any ordinary circular knitting machine appa-

page_text: ratus for automatically acting upon two thread guides or layers in such
manner that one thread guide shall be thrown out of action at the same
instant that the other thread guide is thrown into action, and also
apparatus for automatically cutting the thread that is thrown out of
action, and for holding the end of such thread until it is again to be laid
on to the needles. To effect this the thread guides are placed side by
side. Each thread guide is carried by a slide, which can move to and
fro radially to the circle of needles, and the slides are worked to and fro
in such manner that when one thread guide is in front of the needles
and in a position to lay its thread on to them the eye of the other thread
guide is at the back of the needles and out of action.
The slides may be worked to and fro by the pins of two cranks in the
following manner, or other means might be adopted for giving motion
to the slides: When two crank pins are used, one of the crank pins is
made to enter a vertical slot in one slide and the other a vertical slot in
the other slide. The spindle of one crank is hollow, and is mounted
upon the spindle carrying the other crank. On the outer hollow spindle
is a disc carrying a crank pin, which enters a horizontal slot in a slide
to which a vertical to-and-fro motion can be given. On the inner spindle
is also a disc carrying a crank pin, which also enters a horizontal slot in
the slide. The pins on the two discs are on opposite sides of the spindles,
so that when the slide is raised or lowered the spindles are caused to
make a partial turn in opposito directions, and the positions of the thread
guides are thereby reversed. The slide has a vertical to-and-fro motion
given to it by a hook or projection on the upper end of a lever, which is
alternately raised by a revolving cam and drawn quickly downwards by
a spring. Each time that the lever is raised its upper end is moved
sidewise by means of another cam on the same cam axis, so as to bring
it alternately over the top of an arm of the slide or over a pin upon one
of the discs. When it has been thus brought into position it is drawn
quickly downwards by the spring, the cam being formed with a sudden
drop to allow the spring to act.
When the end of the lever is brought over the slide and draws it
downwards it turns the spindles in one direction, and when it is brought
over the pin upon the disc it turns them in the opposite direction.
It is preferred to form the cams in a manner to produce two stripes
for each revolution of the cam axis. The cam has a slow revolving
.

page_text: motion given to it by a train of wheels from a toothed wheel on the
lower end of the cylinder which carries the circle of needles, and the
speed at which the cam is driven can be varied by altering the relative
diameters of the gearing wheels, and thus the stripes can be produced of
any desired width. One stripe can also be made broader than another
by altering the cams. Whenever either one or other of the thread
guides has been thrown forward to bring its eye to the back of the
needles, and has so been put out of action, the thread being still con-
nected to the work is carried round with it, and as it is carried round it
is laid into a small spring nipper. When it has been carried past the
nipper a hammer or knife is thrown forwards against it and severs it
between the nipper and the spot at which it was connected to the work,
the hammer or knife being caused to strike against a small fixed block
carried by the inner fixed cylinder or frame of the machine; or if a broad
faced hammer is used it may strike against a knife similarly carried; in
either case it is not necessary that the knife should be made with a sharp
cutting edge. This severing of the thread takes place just at the spot
where the needles have been drawn down to knock over the loops upon
them.
The hammer or knife is carried by a lever acted upon by a spring in a
manner to throw it forward, and each time before the hammer or knife
is required to come into action the lever which carries it is acted upon
by another lever, which at its end bears against a cam on the cam axis
before mentioned. The action of this cam draws back the hammer or
knife, and almost immediately after the position of the two thread guides
has been reversed the cam allows the knife to be thrown forward by the
spring, and the thread which has been put out of action is thereby
severed, the end of the thread which passes through the eye of the
thread guide remaining held by the nippor above mentioned until the
thread guide again comes into action; the end of the thread will then
be drawn out from the nipper.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Harris Cooper, Thomas Alfred William
Clarke, and Edwin Corah in the Great Seal Patent Office on tho
7th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HARRIS COOPER, of Rotherby, THOMAS ALFRED WILLIAM CLARke, of
Leicester, and EDWIN CORAH, of Leicester, all in the County of Leicester,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Harris Cooper, Thomas
Alfred William Clarke, and Edwin Corah, Her special license that we,
the said John Harris Cooper, Thomas Alfred William Clarke, and Edwin
Coral, executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John Harris Cooper, Thomas Alfred William Clarke, and Edwin
Corah, 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, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
* IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Harris Cooper, Thomas Alfred William
Clarke, and Edwin Corah, our executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal one of us or them, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Alfred William Clarke,
on behalf of myself and the said John Harris Cooper and Edwin Corah,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to
say:
This Invention has for its object to produce automatically stripe work
(either ribbed or plain) upon circular knitting machines. For this
purpose we combine with an ordinary circular knitting machine
apparatus for automatically acting upon two thread guides or layers in
such manner that one thread guide shall be thrown out of action at the
same instant that the other thread guide is thrown into action, and also
apparatus for automatically cutting the thread that is thrown out of
action, and for holding the end of such thread until it is again to be
laid on to the needles. To effect this the thread guides are placed side
by side; each thread guide is carried by a slide which can move to and
fro radially to the circle of needles; and the slides are worked to and
fro in such manner, that when one thread guide is in front of the
needles and in a position to lay its thread on to them, the eye of the
other thread guide is at the back of the needles and out of action.
The slides may be worked to and fro by the pins of two cranks in the
following manner, or other means might be adopted for giving motion
to the slides when two crank pins are used:-One of the crank pins is
made to enter a vertical slot in one slide, and the other a vertical slot in
the other slide. The spindle of one crank is hollow, and is mounted
upon the spindle carrying the other crank. On the outer hollow spindle
is a disc carrying a crank pin which enters a horizontal slot in the slide
to which a vertical to-and-fro motion can be given. On the inner spindle
is also a disc carrying a crank pin which also enters a horizontal slot in
the slide. The pins on the two discs are on opposite sides of the
spindles, so that when the slide is raised or lowered the spindles are
caused to make a partial turn in opposite directions, and the positions
of the thread guides are thereby reversed. The slide has a vertical to-
and-fro motion given to it by a hook or projection on the upper end of
a lever, which is alternately raised by a revolving cam and drawn
quickly downwards by a spring. Each time that the lever is raised its
upper end is moved sidewise by means of another cam on the same cam
axis, so as to bring it alternately over the top of an arm of the slide or
over a pin upon one of the discs; when it has been thus brought into
position it is drawn quickly downwards by the spring, the cam being
formed with a sudden drop to allow the spring to act.

page_text: When the end of the lever is brought over the slide and draws it
downwards it turns the spindles in one direction, and when it is brought
over the pin upon the disc it turns them in the opposite direction.
It is preferred to form the cams in a manner to produce two stripes
for each revolution of the cam axis. The cam has a slow revolving
motion given to it by a train of wheels from a toothed wheel on, the
lower end of the cylinder which carries the circle of needles; and the
speed at which the cam is driven can be varied by altering the relative
diameters of the gearing wheels, and thus the stripes can be produced of
any desired width. One stripe can also be made broader than another
by altering the cams, or other arrangements may be adopted for giving
motion to the cam axis. Whenever either one or other of the thread
guides has been thrown forward to bring its eye to the back of the
needles, and has so been put out of action, the thread being still con-
nected to the work is carried round with it, and as it is carried round
it is laid into a small spring nipper. When it has been carried past the
nipper a hammer or knife is thrown forwards against it and severs it
between the nipper and the spot at which it was connected to the work,
the hammer or knife being caused to strike against a small fixed block
carried by the inner fixed cylinder or frame of the machine, or if a
broad faced hammer is used it may strike against a knife similarly
carried; in either case it is not necessary that the knife should be made
with a sharp cutting edge. This severing of the thread takes place just
at the spot where the needles have been drawn down to knock over the
loops upon them.
The hammer or knife is carried by a lever acted upon by a spring in a
manner to throw it forward, and each time before the hammer or knife
is required to come into action the lever which carries it is acted upon
by another lever, which at its end bears against a cam on the cam axis
before mentioned. The action of this cam draws back the hammer or
knife, and almost immediately after the position of the two thread guides
has been reversed the cam allows the hammer or knife to be thrown
forward by the spring, and the thread which has been put out of action
is thereby severed, the end of the thread which passes through the eye
of the thread guide remaining held by the nipper above mentioned until
the thread guide again comes into action; the end of the thread will then
be drawn out from the nipper.

page_text: In order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
The Drawings shew various views of a circular knitting machine
with our improvements applied to it.
Figure 1 is a front view of the machine; Figure 2, a side view; and
Figure 3, a plan of the same.
In these Figures a, a, is a circle of latch needles which is revolved in
the ordinary manner at the same time that the needles are moved up
and down to have thread laid on to them, and to knock over the work.
b, b, are two thin slides. At the forward end of each is an eye through
which is threaded one or other of the two threads used in forming the
striped work. The two thread guides are placed side by side and are
free to slide to and fro in guides radially to the circle of needles.
c, d, are two cranks for giving an alternating motion to the two slides,
so that as one is moved forward the other shall simultaneously be moved
back. The crank c is on a solid spindle c¹ whilst the other is upon a
hollow spindle d' which is free to turn around the spindle c¹. On the
spindle d¹ is a disc d³ carrying a crank pin ď³ which enters a horizontal
slot in a vertical slide e; this slide has a vertical slot formed in it which
embraces the spindle c¹, so that it forms a guide for it as it moves up
and down; a face view of this slide is shown at Figure 4. On the
spindle c¹ is also a disc c³ carrying a crank pin c³, which also enters the
horizontal slot in the slide e. The crank pins c³, d³, are upon opposite
sides of the spindles c¹, d¹, as shewn, so that when the vertical slido é is
raised or lowered the spindles c¹ and dare caused to make a partial
turn in opposite directions, and so the alternating motion is given to the
two thread guides. f' is a hook on a rod ƒ jointed at its lower end to a
lever which is constantly pressed downwards by a spring f, as shewn.
In the rod fis a slot which embraces a small cam g' on the cam axis g,
so that as the cam axis rotates the hook f¹ is brought alternately over
the slide e and over a crank pin on the disc c³. The rod ƒ is also
moved up and down by a projection upon it bearing upon the top of a
cam 9³, so that as the cam axis revolves the rod f is raised by the cam 9*
until a sudden depression in the cam comes below the projection upon
the rod f, the rod is then drawn quickly downwards by the spring f' and
the position of the thread guides is reversed, as herein before fully
described.

page_text: The cams shewn in the Drawing are arranged in a manner to produce
two stripes (one of each color) for each revolution of the cam axis, but
this may be varied. The cam axis may have motion given to it in any
desired manner.
In the arrangement shewn in the Drawing a step-by-
step motion is given to it by a pawl h engaging with a ratchet wheel k on
the cam axis. The pawl h is carried by a lever h¹ which has upon it a
projection to bear upon a cam ² on the cylinder which carries the
needles. The lever is drawn downwards by a spring / which also serves
to hold the pawl / up to the ratchet wheel, and also the pawl m which
retains the ratchet wheel from turning back after it has been revolved
by the pawl h.
h
Whenever either one or other of the thread guides has been thrown
forward to bring its eye to the back of the needles and has so been put
out of action the thread being still connected to the work is, as before
stated, carried round with it and comes below a spring clip n composed
of two jaws, the back jaw being fixed and the front jaw hinged to it at
its upper end and acted upon by a spring n¹ to force it against the fixed
jaw. As the work is carried round with the needles the thread that has
been thrown out of action passes below the opening between the lower
ends of the two jaws, and as the work is carried round still further the
thread rises up between the jaws, as indicated in the diagram view,
Figure 5, and when it has been brought into the position indicated in
this Figure it is severed between the clip and the work. In the arrange-
ment shewn in the Drawings this is effected by the edge of a hammer o
being thrown against it. This hammer is carried by one arm of a lever o¹,
the other arm of which is acted upon by a spring of in a manner to throw
the hammer forwards. Above this arm of the lever o¹ is the end of
another lever p, which at its opposite end rests upon a cam 9 upon the
cam axis, and this cam is so formed that as soon as the thread which
has been put out of action comes into the position shewn at Figure 5
a depression in the cam allows the hammer to be thrown forwards by the
spring o², and the thread is struck between the front edge of the hammer
and a fixed block 7, and is so severed. Afterwards the hammer is again
drawn back by the action of the cam g to be ready to be again thrown
forward when the thread guides have again been reversed and another
thread has to be severed.
We would remark that the construction and manner of operating the

page_text: described is however very efficient and well adapted for the purpose.
As before stated the end of the thread which has been severed from the
work remains held in the clip holder n until the position of the thread
guides is again reversed and it is again brought into action; the thread
being then again incorporated with the work will be carried round with
it and its end will be drawn out from the clip holder.
We would remark that the combined arrangement of apparatus herein-
before described for automatically throwing one thread guide out of
action at the same time that another is thrown into action, and for
severing the thread which has been thrown out of action from the work,
and retaining the end of the thread in a clip holder until it is again
required to be brought into action, is not only applicable to circular
knitting machines such as shewn in the Drawings and which work with
latch needles, but is also applicable to circular knitting machines in
which bearded needles are used, and not only to machines in which plain
work is produced but also to machines for producing ribbed work, the
positions of the thread guides and the angle at which they work, and
also the position of the clip and cutting apparatus, being modified to suit
the particular class of machine to which it is to be adapted.

page_text: Fourth. The combined arrangement for severing the threads as they
are thrown out of action, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Alfred William Clarke, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.