IMPROVEMENTS IN LATCHED NEEDLES FOR KNITTING MACHINES, AND IN THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Morgan-Brown, of the Firm of Brandon and
Morgan-Brown, Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings,
London, and 1, Rue Laffitte, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LATCHED NEEDLES FOR KNITTING MACHINES, AND IN THE METHOD OF
MANUFACTURING SAME." A communication from abroad by William Corey,
Manufacturer, of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Morgan-Brown at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th January 1877.
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown,
Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1, Rue
Lattitte, Paris. IMPROVEMENTS IN LATCHED NEEDLES FOR KNITTING MACHINES,
AND IN THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME." A communication from abroad
by William Corey, Manufacturer, of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States of
America
This Invention consists in improvements in latched needles for knitting machines,
and in the method of manufacturing the same.
In needles of this class, as ordinarily made, the latches are held in place by rivets
extending through the sides of the needle, and through openings in the latches.
These rivets are liable to become loose, and project laterally from the side of the
needle, where they engage and damage the work; this is a serious evil in this class
of needle. Other needles have been made by attaching a shouldered rivet to the
base of the latch, and then inserting the latch and rivet into the opening or slot in
the needle stem, when the ends of the rivet are permitted to enter holes in the side
walls of the needle.
In this present Invention the latch is provided with a hole, as usual, and placed
in a groove in the needle shank, or between the side walls, is therein confined by
means of a bearing or bearings formed by compressing a portion of one or both side
walls by a punch or punches into the opening in the latch. The punch or punches
form a bearing or bearings, upon which the latch turns as a pivot.
The Invention consists in a knitting machine needle having its latch held in

page_text: place by one or more bearings or projections formed by forcing a portion or portions
of the side walls of the shank of the needle into the opening in the base of the
latch.
Also in the method of securing the latch in the shank of a knitting machine
needle, consisting in forcing a portion of the metal of the side wall or walls of the
shank from the outside toward the centre of the latch when the latch is in place,
the metal so forced in as a bearing or journal entering the opening in the base of
the latch, holding it securely in position, and serving as a pivotal point for the
latch.
In this Invention it is preferred to operate simultaneously upon each side of the
needle, forcing a portion of each side wall of the shank into the hole in the base of
the latch, such portions of the shank so forced in for bearings, and entering the
opening in the latch, meeting and forming a cylindrical bearing divided in its centre,
substantially at the centre of the latch.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Morgan-Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
June 1877.
:
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN, of the Firm of Brandon and Morgan-Brown,
Engineers and Patent Agents, of 38, Southampton Buildings, London, and 1, Rue
Laffitte, Paris. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LATCHED NEEDLES FOR KNITTING MACHINES,
AND IN THE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME." A communication from abroad
by William Corey, Manufacturer, of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States of
America.
In needles of this class as ordinarily made the latches are held in place by rivets
extending through the sides of the needle and through openings in the latches.
These rivets are liable to become loose, and project laterally from the side of the
needle, where they engage and damage the work; this is a serious evil in this class
of needle. Other needles have been made by attaching a shouldered rivet to the
base of the latch, and then inserting the latch and rivet into the opening or slot in
the needle stem, when the ends of the rivet are permitted to enter holes in the side
walls of the needle.
In this present Invention the latch is provided with a hole, as usual, and placed
in a groove in the needle shank, or between the side walls, is therein confined by
means of a bearing or bearings formed by compressing a portion of one or both side
walls by a punch or punches into the opening in the latch. The punch or punches
form a bearing or bearings upon which the latch turns as a pivot.
The Invention consists in a knitting machine needle having its latch held in
place by one or more bearings or projections formed by forcing a portion or portions
of the side walls of the shank of the needle into the opening in the base of the
latch.
Also in the method of securing the latch in the shank of a knitting machine
needle, consisting in forcing a portion of the metal of the side wall or walls of the
shank from the outside toward the centre of the latch when the latch is in place,
the metal so forced in as a bearing or journal entering the opening in the base of
the latch, holding it securely in position, and serving as a pivotal point for the
latch.
In this Invention it is preferred to operate simultaneously upon each side of the
needle, forcing a portion of each side wall of the shank into the hole in the base of
the latch, such portions of the shank so forced in for bearings and entering the
opening in the latch, meeting and forming a cylindrical bearing divided at its centre,
substantially at the centre of the latch, substantially as herein shown and described.
In the Drawings attached and forming part of this Specification,—.
Figure 1 represents the shank and latch blanks.

page_text: Figures 2 and 3 represent formed needles of two different varieties.
Figure 4 represents the shank of a needle separated after confining a latch in
place so as to show the bearings.
Figures 5 and 6 represent sections of the shank and latch'; and Figure 7, a modi-
fication with but one bearing at one side of the latch.
.
The needle shank is preferably made from round wire bent to form the butt, and
pressed to flatten the sides. Figure 1 represents such a shank a before the hook b
is bent and shaped, as in Figure 2, 3. By its side is placed a latch blank c provided
with the usual hole 2 at its base. This shank is milled to form the depression 3 for
the finished end of the latch, and is sawn or slotted at 4 in the usual way for the
reception of the latch, leaving walls 5, 6, (Figures 4 to 7) at each side the latch.
The shank a, held between suitable jaws, has the base of the latch inserted in the
slot 4 between the side walls 5, 6. Then to make the bearings 7, 8, (shown in
Figures 4 to 6), two punches are advanced simultaneously against the outer sides of
the walls of the shanks, and acting thereon they force the metal of the walls
opposite the hole 2 in the latch into such hole, forming bearings or projections, as
shown, such bearings meeting and their faces flattening one against the other
between the ends of the punches and at the centre of the latch, substantially as
shown in the Drawings. In this way it is possible to form cylindrical bearings or
journals within the hole in the latch base, upon which the latch can turn freely, and
by which it will be retained in position.
It will be evident that with a bearing of this class there is nothing to work loose,
and the usual loose pivot is entirely dispensed with.
Instead of employing two projections for a latch bearing, as in Figures 4, 5, 6, but
one may be used, as in Figure 7. Each finished needle shows on the shank on one
or both sides of the walls 5, 6, depressions e, e. In this way it is possible to make
the needles quite thin at or opposite the pivotal points of the latches. This process
is much more economical than the old process of making latched needles, and the
needles are greatly improved both as to quality and durability.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,
First. As a new manufacture a knitting machine needle in which the latch is
held in position by a bearing or bearings or journals formed by pressing a portion
of the side wall or walls opposite the latch base into an opening in the latch base,
substantially as set forth.
Second. The method of securing the latch of a latched knitting machine needle in
place, consisting in inserting the latch, provided with a hole in its base, into the
slot between the side walls of the needle, and then forcing a portion of the metal of.
the side wall or walls into the hole in the base of the latch, all substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Morgan-Brown, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven
WILLIAM MORGAN-BROWN. (L.S.)