Improvements in Rotary or Flat Bar Knitting Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 11th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 13th Jan., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary or Flat Bar Knitting Machines.
1, CHARLES HENRY ALDRIDGE of Pinfold Gate, Loughborough, in the County
of Leicester, Hosiery Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention relates to what is known as tuck, misspressed or radial knitting
and is especially applicable to a frame known as Cotton's Patent.
In frames of this description for making ordinary kuitted goods a fixed presser
is used whereby all the needle beards are closed at times when they are brought
against it. In some cases the presser bar has been notched and an additional bar
correspondingly notched has been inserted into it and shifted to and fro end wise
so as either to close the notches in the presser bar or leave them open and then
allow such of the needles as are opposite to the notches to enter into them and
remain unpressed or a pair of similar notched bars are held up under the sinker
bars or under the knocking over bits as the case may be, in either case the kind of
work that can be produced with such permanently notched bars is very limited.
In some cases also what is known as radial knitting is also produced with similar
movable but unnotched presser plates the presser plates being moved towards or
away from the centre of the work so as at times to leave some of the needles at
the centre or at the sides unpressed according to the kind of work that is being
produced, the plates being themselves either used as pressers or used for holding
such of the needles as they act upon away from an ordinary plain presser bar so
that when so held away their beards are not closed.
The object of my invention is to give greater facilities for producing misspressed
work. This I do by introducing what may be termed jack pressers one for each
needle to act against the needle stems and press them back so as to keep the
beard away from the ordinary presser bar at the time when the beards of the
other needles which are not being acted on by their jack pressers are closed
by it.
In this way any one or other or any number of the needles may be misspressed
at will. The jacks may all be jointed to a fixed bar at the back of the needle
bar and may be varied in thickness according to the gauge of the frame they may
also each be made to press upon one two or more needles as desired-they may
also be made with tail ends to be acted on by pattern surfaces in any suitable way.
For producing radial knitting they may be acted on by bars moved endwise step
by step below and at right angles to them-so that when a bar comes under
the tail end of any jack and raises it, the needle that jack acts upon would be
held away from the presser bar. A number of parallel bars might be used each
acting on a few jacks only so that the traverse which would have to be given to
any of them would be short, thus rendering it unnecessary to leave long spaces
between the several sets or divisions of needles in the machine. The bars would
be actuated by the screw tackle so that their movements would correspond with
the traverse given to the thread carrier. Or the tail ends of the jacks may be
acted on by a pattern drum or jacquard moved to and fro from the main cam
shaft of the machine so that any needle at any part of the work may be miss-
pressed independently of the others.
In some cases in place of using jacks to hold the needles away from the presser
bar I use a plate to act against the front of the needles and press the needles up
to the presser bar. If a pocket or fulness is to be made in the middle of a piece

page_text: of work I cause the plate to act alternately upon each half of the division of
needles first on one half and then on the other, at the same time setting the plate
inwards step by step so that at each time of acting it acts upon some of the needles
at the centre. At the same time I use an additional thread layer so that one or
other layer may lay thread on to those needles which the plate will act upon when
in one or other of its positions. In this way a row of work will be formed upon
some of the needles at the centre at each course whilst on the remainder of the
needles on alternate courses only. After being set inwards step by step the plate
would be set outwards step by step in the same way until a diamond shaped
pocket had been formed. In a similar way a fulness in the middle of a piece of
work may be produced by using a plate or bar of half the length of the division
of needles and moving it step by step from one side of the division to the other
and then back again. In a similar way also sections of work radiating from a
point at one side of the piece of work may be produced either with a single plate
acting alternately at different sides or with two or more plates each of short
length.
Dated this 11th day of March 1802
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary or Flat Bar Knitting Machines.
I, CHARLES HENRY ALDRIDGE, of Pinfold Gate, Loughborough, in the
County of Leicester, Hosiery Machinist, 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:-
My invention relates to what is known as tuck mispressed or radial knitting and
is especially applicable to a frame known as Cotton's Patent.
In frames of this description for making ordinary knitted goods a fixed presser
is used whereby all the needle beards are closed at times when they are brought
against it. In some cases the presser bar has been notched and an additional bar
correspondingly notched has been inserted into it and shifted to and fro endwise so
as either to close the notches in the presser bar or leave them open and then allow
such of the needles as are opposite to the notches to enter into them and remain
unpressed or a pair of similar notched bars are held up under the sinker bars or
under the knocking over bits as the case may be in either case the kind of
work that can be produced with such permanently notched bars is very limited.
In some cases also what is known as radial knitting is also produced with
similar movable but unnotched presser plates the presser plates being moved
towards or away from the centre of the work so as at times to leave some of the
needles at the centre or at the sides unpressed according to the kind of work that
is being produced, the plates being themselves either used as pressers or used for
holding such of the needles as they act upon away from an ordinary plain presser
bar so that when so held away their beards are not closed.
The object of my invention is to give greater facilities for producing mispressed
work. This I do by introducing what may be termed jack presser stops one for
each needle to act against the needle stems and hold them back so as to keep the
beard away from the ordinary presser bar at the time when the beards of the
other needles which are not being acted on by their jack presser stop are closed
by it.
In this way any one or other or any number of the needles may be mispressed
at will. The jacks may all be jointed to a fixed bar at the back of the needle bar
and may be varied in thickness according to the gauge of the frame, they may
also each be made to press upon one, two, or more needles as desired—they may

page_text: also be made with tail ends to be acted on by pattern surfaces in any suitable way.
For producing radial knitting they may be acted on by bars moved endwise step
by step below and at right angles to them-so that when a bar comes under the tail
end of any jack and raises it the needle that jack acts upon would be held away from
the presser bar. A number of parallel bars might be used each acting on a few jacks
only, so that the traverse which would have to be given to any of them would be
short thus rendering it unnecessary to leave long spaces between the several sets
or divisions of needles in the machine. The bars would be actuated by the screw
tackle so that their movements would correspond with the traverse given to the
thread carrier. Or the tail ends of the jacks may be acted on by a pattern drum
or "jacquard" moved to and fro from the main cam shaft of the machine so that
any needle at any part of the work may be mispressed independently of the
others.
This arrangement will be understood by referring to the accompanying
drawings.
Figure 1 Sheet is a part section of the chief working parts of & " Cotton's
patent frame" and Figure 2 is a part front view of the same.
AA are the needles carried by the needle bar A, B B are the "sinkers" carried
by the head B, C C are the "knocking over bits," D is the head-rail which
supports the heads B' &c. E E are the "jacks" which act upon the stems of the
needles. E' is a rod, or shaft, passing through the said jacks and upon which
they are free to swing. E2 is a "comb-bar" attached to the head-rail D. This
comb bar steadies the tails of the jacks E and keeps them in their correct
position.
It will be seen that if the tail of any jack E be moved in the direction of the
arrow E³ its top end F will press upon the stem of its corresponding needle and
in so doing will hold it away from the presser B³ as shown in Figure 1 and the
loop on that needle will not be cast off or "pressed."
The tails of the jacks E may be acted upon by pattern surface or notched bars
in any suitable manner. One convenient arrangement is shown in Figures 1 to 4
Sheets 1 and 2.
F is a shaft carried by suitable bearings and on this shaft are placed collars Fi
at convenient intervals. These said collars F¹ form bearings for bars F2 F3 which
are free to slide side by side lengthwise on the shaft F. It will be seen that the
pressing edges X X Figures 3 and 4 of the bars F2 F3 project beyond the other
portions of the bars.
The shaft F is caused to rock in its bearings so as to bring the bars F2 F3 into
the position shown in full lines in Figure 1 or into the position shown in dotted
lines. When in the position shown in full lines the jacks E which are in front of
the pressing edges X X of the bars F2 F3 will be pushed into the position shown
in full lines and their corresponding needles will be held off the presser B³ and their
loops will be "mispressed." The shaft F is then rocked or turned so as to bring
the bars F2 F3 into the position shown in dotted lines and while in that position
the bars F2 F3 may be racked or moved endwise so that the next time they are
5 brought into the position shown in full lines a different number or set of jacks E
are pressed forward and the corresponding needles are mispressed."
66
A shaft G may be placed in any convenient position. Upon the said shaft G
are placed arms G₁ which carry a rod, or rods G a suitable motion may be
imparted to the shaft by cam or other convenient means so that when the
bars F F are in the position shown in dotted lines, the rod G' will press on the
tails of the jacks E and keep them in the position shown in dotted lines i.e. out
of action. The end F of the bar F' Figure 4 may be attached to a suitable
collar F the said collar being free to slide on the shaft F but not to turn upon it,
a suitable bracket may be attached to the screw tackle and may fit into a groove
in the collar F thus as the screw tackle racks in or out, the bar F³ receives from
it a corresponding motion. In a similar manner the end F' of the bar F' may be
Fo

page_text: attached to and actuated by the screw tackle at the other end of the frame. Thus
as the screw tackle is narrowed in, or the frame narrowed the two rods F2 F3 slide
side by side and the total length of the pressing edges X X Figure 3 is
automatically reduced or vice versa.
In some cases it is convenient that the ends of the bars F2 F3 should be attached
to tackle for governing their endwise movements independent of the ordinary screw
tackle.
In some cases the pressing edges X X of the bars F2 F3 may be notched so as
to press only on certain jacks at a time and thus produce varied fancy work.
When making plain radial knitting the two bars F2 F3 may be coupled together
or one bar only may be used as most convenient.
In other cases instead of only two bars F2 F3 several parallel bars may be used
side by side each acting on a few jacks only, so that the traverse which would
have to be given to any of them would be short.
In some cases two, or more sets of bars similar to F2 F³, may be arranged on
the shaft F as shown in Figure 5 Sheet 2 so that by turning the shaft F in its
bearings one or other set of bars may be caused to act upon the tails of the
jacks E and thus a larger range and variety in mispressed work can be
produced.
In some cases the tails of the jacks E may be acted upon by a pattern drum
or "jacquard" which may be moved, or racked by any convenient means from the
main shaft.
Figure 8 Sheet 3 shows one suitable arrangement of pattern drum which would
take the place of the shaft F, and the bars F2 F3 Figure 1. H is the cylinder or
drum, from which radiate the bits H¹. These bits may be held in their places
by suitable comb bars, or plates, H2 these bars may be cut or notched, on one edge
so as to admit the bits H' and hold them in their correct position to correspond
with the tails of the jacks E.
Thus when the said pattern drum is caused to rock or turn, and a bit H' comes
opposite to a jack E, there a loop will be mispressed independent of any other loop
in the course so that by varying the position and number of bits H₁ any desired
pattern in "mispressed work is produced.
In some cases instead of using separate bits H₁ for each jack E bars may be
used reacting the whole width, or part of the width of jacks. These bars may be
plain on their pressing edge or notched so as to catch certain jacks only, and thus
produce any pattern of mispressed work desired.
The pattern drum H may be rocked or turned in its bearings by any convenient
well known means, and in some cases the pattern drum may be caused to move to
and from the tails of the jacks as well as turn in its bearings.
To form a pocket or fulness in the middle of a piece of work I use presser or
mispresser plates or bars or jacks acting together with two or more thread layers
in the following manner :-If a bar or plate be used to press against the front of
the needles and press the needles up to a fixed presser bar I cause the plate to act
alternately upon each half of the division of needles first on one half and then on
the other at the same time setting the plate inwards step by step so that at each
time of acting it acts upon some of the needles at the centre, at the same time I use
an additional thread layer so that one or other layer may lay thread on to those
needles which the plate will act upon when in one or other of its positions. In this
way a row of work will be formed upon some of the needles at the centre at each
course whilst on the remainder of the needles on alternate courses only. After
being set inwards step by step the plate would be set outwards step by step in the
same way until a diamond shaped pocket had been formed. In
similar way a
fulness in the middle of a piece of work may be produced by using a plate or bar
of half the length of the division of needles and moving it step by step from oue
side of the division to the other and then back again. In a similar way also
sections of work radiating from point at one side of the piece of work may be
;

page_text: produced either with a single plate acting alternately at different sides or with two
or more plates each of short length.
One way of effecting this shewn at Figure 9 Sheet 3. K is a shaft carried in
a convenient position and in suitable bearings. This shaft is free to slide in its
bearings as well as to rock. Upon the said shaft are placed arms K' which carry
a presser plate K' in such a manner that when the shaft K is caused to rock in
its bearings (by a cam on the main shaft through suitable tracks and arms) the
plate Kis caused to press on the stems of the needles as shown in Figure 9 and
the needles are thereby forced towards the main presser B³ and the needle beards
are pressed."
66
The presser plate K² may be of such a length as to be capable of covering some-
what more than half the length of the division of needles, or any other length.
suitable to produce the desired result.
When the presser plate K2 is required to press alternately, first on one half of
the division of needles and then on the other, the shaft K has a suitable
longitudinal motion imparted to it.
The motion may be imparted by any convenient means, such as a cam similar to
that used for the "draw across "of the slur cocks &c. The said cam may be
geared so as to shift the shaft K (and consequently the presser plate K³) only at
alternate courses. The shaft K may be stopped by a bracket from the ordinary
screw tackle and thus the amount of traverse of the presser plate K² will be
regulated according to the racking of the ordinary narrowing screw, and thus will
follow and correspond with the traverse of the thread carriers, such carriers being
released by the ordinary well known "hatchet" arrangement.
When the presser plate K2 is simply required to rack across the division of
needles and back again--the shaft K can be racked (and consequently the plate K²
also) step by step by means of the ordinary screw tackle.
In some cases instead of fixing the presser plate K to the arms K¹ and sliding
the shaft K endwise, I cause the shaft K to only rock in its bearings and the
presser plate K2 to slide in suitable recesses, grooves or bearings, in the tops of
the arms K¹.
The
In order to better understand the working of this arrangement we will suppose.
a case of making a single pocket or fulness in the centre of a piece of fabric.
diagram Figure 10 Sheet 3 will explain this :-Let a b c d Figure 10 represent a.
piece of fabric with a diamond shaped fulness in the centre such as the bosom of a
vest and marked with the letters e f g h. Then this fulness would be made in the
following manner:-A single thread carrier would be used running right across.
the whole width of the fabric and the needles would be pressed in the ordinary
manner (or by the presser plate K' being extended to the full width of the fabric
as most convenient) until the place is reached where the point e of the diamond
starts. Here a second thread carrier is brought into action and the presser
plate K³ has an endwise movement imparted to it. The action of the two thread
carriers and the presser plate K² are then as follows:-No. 1 carrier will traverse
from the selvedge a c to one or more needles beyond or to the right of the centre
laying a course from ; to e, the presser plate K will then cover all the needles.
from to e and press them while the remainder of the needles from e to k are not
pressed, carrier No. 1 then returns from e to j and the presser plate K² again.
presses the needles from ; to e while the needles from e to k again remain unpressed..
Carrier No. 2 now starts from one or more needles to the left of the centre and
lays a course from this point to the selvedge b d. The presser plate K' is now
shifted from the left half of the division to the right half of the division and
presses all the needles over which a course has just been laid. The carrier No. 2
then returns and lays a course from k to e which is again pressed. Then carrier
No. 1 comes into action and the presser plate K is shifted to the left half of the
division and the process is repeated.
Each time the presser plate is shifted from one side of the division to the other it
is racked in so as to over lap one or more needles past the centre and the

page_text: corresponding thread carrier lays a course on all the needles pressed so that when
the centre of the fulness is reached their action will be as follows:-
No. 1 carrier lays two courses between e and f, which are pressed by the presser
plate K² the needles from f to m are not pressed. Then No. 2 carrier lays two
courses between h m which are pressed by the presser plate K' and the needles
from e to h are not pressed. Then the action is reversed, the traverse of the thread
carrier and the number of needles pressed at each course are reduced until the
bottom point g of the diamond or fulness is reached, when one carrier again runs
right across the full division and the needles are pressed in the usual manner or by
the presser plate K2 being extended to the full width of the fabric as most
convenient. When two fullnesses are required side by side in one width of fabric,
such as the bosoms of a vest, I prefer to use the "jacks" to cause the needles to
mispress as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 5.
In order to make the double fulness I use two pairs of presser bars, one pair
arranged as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and a second pair as shown in Figures 6
and 7. (In each figure only one pair of bars is shown to avoid confusion.)
In this case the presser bars shown in Figures 3 and 4 would cause the needles
between the fulnesses to mispress, or retain their loops, and the presser bars shown
in Figures 6 and 7 would cause the needles outside the fulnesses to mispress.
The needles across the fulness receiving a course and being pressed each time.
The shaft F would be rocked so as to bring the two sets of presser bars into
action alternately. To produce the two fulnesses or bosoms three thread carriers
are used and their action will be best seen by reference to Figure 11, and noting
their action when at the widest part of the fulness No. 1 carrier would lay a course
from 1 to 3, No. 2 carrier from 2 to 5 and No. 3 carrier from 4 to 6. Carriers
Nos. 1 and 3 work together and lay their courses simultaneously from 1 to 3 and
from 4 to 6 and the presser bars shown in Figures 3 and 4 are then in action
carrier No. 2 lays its course from 2 to 5, when the presser bars shown in Figures 6
and 7 are in action. The position of the presser bars and the thread carriers being
widened out and narrowed in by the screw tackle as hereinbefore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine having special "jacks" or "jack
presser stops" to act against the stems of the needles and hold them back so as to
keep the beards of the needles so pressed, away from the ordinary presser,
substantially as herein before described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, Sheets
and 2.
Second. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine having sliding bars plain or
notched to act upon the tails of the "jack presser stops," substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 Sheets 1 and 2.
Third. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine having two or more sets of sliding
bars, plain or notched to act upon the tails of the "jack presser stops." The shaft
carrying the said bars being caused to rock or turn in its bearings so as to bring
one or other set of bars into contact with the tails of the said jacks substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 7 Sheets 1 and 2.
Fourth. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine having pattern drums, or
cylinders, provided with suitable bits, or strips, to act upon the tails of the "jack
presser stops "substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1
to 8 Sheets 1 and 3.
I
Fifth. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine having two or more thread carriers
brought into action alternately to lay thread over different and overlapping portions
of a division of needles on which work is being produced and mechanism for
pressing off the loops of work at each course on those needles only on which thread
is layed so as to produce a "pocket" or fulness in the middle of (that is surrounded
by) flat work substantially as hereinbefore described.

page_text: Sixth. A rotary or flat bar knitting machine adapted substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated at Figures 1 to 8 for producing "tuck-work"
misspressed" or radial knitting.
66
Dated this 5th day of Decembar 1802
C. H. ALDRIDGE.