IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES."-A communication from
abroad by Isaac Wixom Lamb, of the City of Rochester, State of New
York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 27th March 1866, and dated the 17th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
November 1865.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of an improved form of the parts of a knitting machine
needle, by means whereof compactness, effectiveness, and durability are secured
in a profitable degree.
One part relates to the manner of attaching a latch or caster to a knitting
needle, by which the operation of the caster is simplified.
Another relates to the construction of the hook of the needle, and the manner
of combining the caster therewith, by which an easy adjustment of the device
for operating the caster is permitted.

page_text: Another relates to the peculiar construction and combination of the parts
by means of which the caster may remain in the same position from the time
it closes the hook until the needle has completed its backward movement, and
moved forward again far enough to cause the front point of the caster to enter
the loop.
Fig. 1 shows a side view of one of these improved knitting machine needles,
with the caster in position to throw off the loop; Fig. 2 shows the same with
the caster in position to allow the hook to be open to receive new yarn;
Fig. 3 is a top view of the body of the needle before the hook is formed
thereon, showing the position of the slot in which the caster is hung;
Fig. 4 is a side view of the caster, shewing its form; Fig. 5 is a top
view of the caster, showing the indent to receive the point of the hook of the
needle.
The caster is hung within
position that its front point
The letters A, A', represent the body of the needle, having its rear end
of any form desired, and having a slot cut through it near the forward end;
beginning at or near the point where the needle begins to bend in forming
the hook, and extending back a distance equal to or greater than the length
of the caster. a, a¹, represents a caster made in the form shown in Fig. 4,
having its rear end a nearly straight to the hole e, and having its forward
portion a curved so that its highest point will be about half way from the
hole e to the extreme front point. The curve is such that the highest part of
the caster will be about an eighth of an inch above a line drawn from the
extreme point of a¹ to the centre of the hole e.
the slot in the body of the needle in such
extends forward under the point of the hook of the needle a distance equal to
about one-half of the distance from the said point to the hole e, so that the
highest point of the curve will be under the point of the needle. The caster
is secured within the slot in the needle by a pin or rivet e¹ that passes through
the body of the needle and through the hole e of the caster. There is a small
indent made in the top of the caster at the point where it touches the point of
the hook for the purpose of receiving and covering the point of the hook, and
the caster is enlarged sideways, or made thicker where the indent is made by
reason of such indent. The hook of the needle I make flexible, yet only
slightly so, the object of which is to permit the caster to be raised a little
further than against the point of the needle, the said point yielding slightly
for this purpose, so that in case of any variation in the depth of the needle
grooves in which the needles slide the device that would only depress the
casters of such needles as were in the deeper grooves sufficiently to close their
hooks would not strain the casters of needles that were in grooves of less

page_text: depth, because the hooks of such needles would yield slightly to accommodate
themselves to the greater elevation of the front portion of their castors. By
means of this construction I am enabled to dispense with the use of devices
such as heretofore have been placed in front of or made to precede the yarn
carrier for the purpose of opening the latches or barbs of the needles, and also
to dispense with devices placed behind the yarn carrier for closing the latches
or barbs.
The operation of the needle is as follows:-The caster is held in position
shown in Fig. 1 until the needle has made about one-half of its forward
movement, by which time the point of the caster (which is covered within the
slot in the needle) has entered the loop already on the needle, when the caster
is released, and by the continued movement of the needle forward the loop is
forced along on the caster, causing the same to drop down at its forward
point, as shown in Fig. 2, and the loop passes back about as far as the
rivet e. The needle is now ready to receive new yarn, and after the yarn
carrier has placed new yarn within the hook the needle is drawn back about
one-half of its movement, by which time the old loop has moved forward on
the needle nearly even with the point of the hook. At this stage in the
movement of the needle the rear end of the caster is depressed by any suitable
device, and as the caster swings on the pin e¹ the depressing of the rear end
will elevate the forward end thereof, closing the hook, as seen in Fig. 1, and
as the needle is drawn still further back the old loop is thrown off and a new
one formed. The caster is held in the same position until the needle
has made about one-half of its forward movement, when it is again released,
and the loop already in the needle passes along back over the caster,
causing it to descend, and thus open the hook to receive new yarn, as before
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our Lord:
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clark, my 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 MACHINE NEEDLES," a communication to me from abroad by Isaac
Wixom Lamb, of the City of Rochester, State of New York, in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, 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 I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Figure 1 is a cross section of a knitting machine to which this needle is
applied, showing the needle open on one side and closed on the other; Figure
2 shows a side view of one of these improved knitting machine needles with
the caster in position to throw off the loop; Figure 3 shows the same with
the caster in position to allow the hook to be open to receive new yarn ;
Figure 4 is a top view of the body of the needle before the hook is formed
thereon, showing the position of the slot in which the caster is hung; Figure 5
is a side view of the caster showing its form; Figure 6 is a top view of the
caster showing the indent to receive the point of the hook of the needle.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
This Invention consists of an improved form of the parts of a knitting
machine needle, by means whereof compactness, effectiveness, and durability
are secured in a profitable degree. One part relates to the manner of attach-
ing a latch or caster to a knitting needle, by which the operation of the caster
is simplified. Another relates to the construction of the. hook of the needle
and the manner of combining the caster therewith, by which an easy adjust-
ment of the device for operating the caster is permitted. Another relates to

page_text: the peculiar construction and combination of the parts, by means of which the
caster may remain in the same position from the time it closes the hook until
the needle has completed its backward movement and moved forward again
far enough to cause the front point of the caster to enter the loop.
The letters A, A¹, represent the body of the needles, having its rear end of
any form desired, and having a slot cut through it near the forward end
beginning at or near the point where the needle begins to bend in forming
the hook and extending back a distance equal to or greater than the length of
the caster. a, a', represent a caster made in the form shown in Figure 5,
having its rear end a nearly straight to the hole e, and having its forward
portion a¹ curved, so that its highest point will be about half way from the
hole e to the extreme front point. The curve is such that the highest part of
the caster will be about an eighth of an inch above a line drawn from the
extreme point of a to the centre of the hole e. This caster is hung within the
slot in the body of the needle in such a position that its front point extends
forward under the point of the hook of the needle a distance equal to about
one half of the distance from the said point to the hole e, so that the highest
point of the curve will be under the point of the needle. The caster is secured
within the slot in the needle by a pin or rivet e¹ that passes through the body
of the needle and through the hole e of the caster. There is a small indent
made in the top of the caster at the point where it touches the point of the
hook for the purpose of receiving and covering the point of the hook, and the
caster is enlarged sideways or made thicker where the indent is made by
reason of such indent. The book of the needle I make flexible, yet only
slightly so, the design of which will be herein-after shown.
The operation of the needle is as follows:-The caster is held in position
shown in Figure 2 until the needle has made about one-half of its forward
movement, by which time the point of the caster (which is covered within
the slot in the needle) has entered the loop already on the needle, when the
caster is released, and by the continued movement of the needle forward the
loop is forced along on the caster, causing the same to drop down at its
forward point as shown in Figure 3, and the loop passes back about as far as
the rivet c'. The needle is now ready to receive new yarn, and after the yarn
carrier has placed new yarn within the hook the needle is drawn back about
one-half of its movement, by which time the old loop has moved forward on
the needle nearly even with the point of the hook. At this stage in the
movement of the needle the rear end of the caster is depressed by any suitable
device, and as the caster swings on the pin e¹ the depressing of the rear end
will elevate the forward end thereof, closing the hook as seen in Figure 2,

page_text: top of the caster to receive the point
point so that it cannot drop through
shown in Figure 3, and as the caster
and as the needle is drawn still farther back the old loop is thrown off and a
new one formed. The caster is held in the same position until the
needle has made about one-half of its forward movement, when it is again
released, and the loop already in the needle passes along back over the caster
causing it to descend, and thus open the hook to receive new yarn as before
described. In using this needle in machines where the needles slide back-
ward and forward to make their loops, as in the case supposed or assumed
in this Specification, the most easy way of operating the caster and closing
the hook of the needle is to have the plate that confines the needles in their
grooves made bevilling on the under side of their forward edge, as shown in
Figure 1, so that the rear end of the caster will be drawn back under such
bevilled edge at the time that the hook should be closed, and the hook will
thus remain closed until the needle is again moved forward far enough to
carry forward the caster from under the plate that depressed the rear end
thereof. It will be seen that the caster swings on the pin e¹, yet only a little
distance, for the indent formed in the
of the hook enlarges the caster at that
the slot in the needle any farther than
comes up against the under side of the hook it cannot pass by the hook; the
swinging movement of the caster therefore is only equal to the opening under
or within the hook of the needle. This construction of the caster does not
allow the extreme front point thereof to rise up out of the slot in the
needle at any time, as it is within the slot at its extreme point when the
highest part of the said caster is against the hook, and the said extreme
point is below the needle when the hook is open, as seen in Figure 3. The
benefits of such an arrangement are twofold; first, it permits the caster to be in
the same position when its point enters the new loop, and thus enables me to
simplify the device that operates the caster as herein-before mentioned, and
secondly, by this arrangement the caster is protected more perfectly than by
avy means known to me other than shewn in this case. The object in having
the hook of the needle flexible is to permit the caster to be raised a little
farther than against the point of the needle, the said point yielding
slightly for this purpose, so that in case of any variation in the depth of the
needle grooves in which the needles slide the device that would only depress
the casters of such needles as were in the deeper grooves sufficiently to close
their hooks, would not strain the casters of needles that were in grooves of
less depth, because the hooks of such needles would yield slightly to accommo-
date themselves to the greater elevation of the front portion of their casters.
By means of this construction I am enabled to dispense with the use of

page_text: devices such as heretofore have been placed in front of or made to precede the
yarn carrier for the purpose of opening the latches or barbs of the needles,
and also to dispense with devices placed behind the yarn carrier for closing
the latches or barbs.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
First, I claim a caster swinging on a pin or rivet in a slot made in a knitting
needle, and having no longitudinal motion on such pin, where the point of
such caster never rises up out of such slot, substantially as described.
Secondly, I claim a flexible hook in combination with a hinged caster that
covers the point of such hook by rising up against the under side of such
hook, substantially as described.
Thirdly, I claim the combination of a hooked needle with a hinged caster,
in such a manner that the point of the caster will be covered in the slot of
the needle at the same time that the point of the hook is covered by the
caster, substantially as described.
Fourthly, I claim extending the rear end of a hinged caster back of the
rivet sufficiently to permit of applying a suitable device back of such rivet to
operate the front part of such caster, when such hinged caster is combined
with a hooked needle in the manner specified in the third clause of this claim,
substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)