Improvements in the Manufacture of Knitted Hosiery and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 24th July, 1891-Accepted, 29th Aug.,
1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Knitted Hosiery and in
Apparatus therefor.
We, WILLIAM JAMES BILLINGS, of the firm of Billings and Company, Hosiery
Manufacturers, and THOMAS STARBUCK, Foreman, both of Stockwell Head
Street, Hinckley, in the County of Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to circular knitting machines having what are known as
bearded needles, and has for its object to provide improved means for introducing a
splicing thread automatically during any part of the rotation of the needle cylinder,
whereby we are enabled to manufacture hose and half hose having thickened toes,
soles heels and ankles without the usual seams along the foot.
In carrying out our invention we provide a carrier for the splicing thread, which
is adapted to be operated by cam-surfaces in such a manner that, during a certain
part of the revolution of the needle cylinder, the splicing thread is brought into
such a position that it will be caught by the needles; and we also provide means
for cutting off the thread after each splice, and holding the end ready for the next
splice.
According to one arrangement the carrier is firmly fixed on the upper end of a
sliding-rod working in a suitable guide, the lower end of the said rod being pro-
vided with a projection extending into contact with a cam of suitable shape for
lowering the guide when the splice is to be applied and then again raising it so as
to remove the thread from the needles. In order to cut off the splicing thread and
hold the end we employ a somewhat similar arrangement of rod except that at the
top it is provided with a knife or cutter. Below this cutter is an anvil over which
the splicing thread passes and onto which the knife or cutter falls to sever the
thread. The holding of the thread may be effected by the use of two blocks or
pieces of india-rubber or other suitable material, one of which is arranged adjacent
to the anvil and the other to the cutter in such a manner that, when the latter falls,
the thread will be held between them.
Instead of using a vertically moving carrier we sometimes employ an oscillating
carrier which is operated by a cam or the like to move it towards and away from
the needles at the proper time; or a carrier working in suitable guides may be
operated by an oscillating lever.
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Knitted Hosiery and in
Apparatus therefor.
We, WILLIAM JAMES BILLINGS, of the firm of Billings and Company, Hosiery
Manufacturers, and THOMAS STARBUCK, Foreman, both of Stockwell Head
Street, Hinckley, in the County of Leicester, 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 :-
This invention relates to circular knitting machines having what are known as
bearded needles, and has for its object to provide improved means for introducing a

page_text: splicing thread automatically during any part of the rotation of the needle cylinder,
whereby we are enabled to manufacture hose and half hose having thickened toes,
soles, heels and ankles without the usual seams along the foot, and also thickened
knees.
In carrying out our invention we provide a carrier for the splicing thread, which
is adapted to be operated by cam-surfaces in such a manner that, during a certain
part of the revolution of the needle cylinder, the splicing thread is brought into
such a position that it will be caught by the needles.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan of so much of a circular knitting machine as is necessary to
illustrate our invention; and,
Figure 2 is an elevation of part of the same:
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the lower part of the needle cylinder and
parts connected thereto.
a indicates the needle-cylinder, and b, the needles, c the loop wheel, d the
sinker wheel, e the presser wheel, and the ordinary thread-carrier, all of which
parts are well known in a circular knitting machine having bearded needles and
therefore require no explanation.
g is our improved carrier for the splicing or thickening thread. This carrier is
pivotted in a standard (secured to the bed i upon which the parts carrying the
wheels d and e are supported) in such a manner that, when the said carrier is in
the position shewn in full lines in Figure 2, the thread carried thereby will be con-
veyed to the needles; whilst, when the said carrier is in the position shewn in
dotted lines in Figure 2, the thread will be held clear of the needles.
j is a catch which serves, by engaging with the rear end of the carrier, to hold
the same so that the thread is held away from the cylinder when the splicing or
thickening is not required.
k is an arm secured to the underside of the carrier and having at its end a block /
with which a cam m is designed to engage. This cam m is not formed integral
with the cylinder a but is fitted around the same, as shewn in Figure 3, so that it
can be rotated relatively to the said cylinder, a più n serving to lock the cam to the
cylinder.
With this construction it will be obvious that, when the cylinder a is rotated by
means of bevelled gearing, (one of the wheels of which is indicated in Figure 2
at o) the said cam m will be caused to rotate with the said cylinder and during its
rotation to act upon the block I, thereby moving the said block and consequently
also the carrier from the position shewn in full lines in Figure 2 to that shewn in
dotted lines.
p is a spring which at one end is secured to the standard h, whilst the other end
is connected to a hook upon the carrier in such a manner that the said block / will
be maintained in contact with the surface of the cam.
It will be noticed by reference to Figure 1, that the cam m extends half way
round the cylinder, one end of the said cam-surface being inclined, while the other
terminates abruptly. After the block / has been raised by the inclined end of the
cam-surface, the carrier is held with the thread out of the reach of the needle-
cylinder by the flat surface of the cam: when, however, the cylinder has rotated
far enough the block drops from the cam-surface and so allows the carrier to
bring the thread into position where it can be knitted into the hose; the thread
being embodied in the fabric with the ordinary thread until the carrier is again
lifted out by the contact of the inclined end of the cam-surface with the block l.
In our Provisional Specification we referred to the use of mechanism for cutting
off the thread after the thickening of each row of stitches: we have found, however,
that it is better to allow the thread to constantly run through the carrier of the
thickening thread, the part which is not embodied in the hose lying upon the surface
thereof in such a manner that, after the hose is finished, these threads can be
removed by cutting them off by hand. This arrangement no doubt causes a waste

page_text: of a small quantity of thread, but in practice it is found that this loss is more than
compensated by the saving of time by the hand trimming.
If it is desired to thicken the opposite side of a stocking from that to which the
thickening was previously applied, for instance, to thicken the knee after knitting
the feet and heel portions, we simply rotate the cam m relatively to the cylinder a,
the pin n being removed from the hole in which it is shewn in Figure 3 and placed
in the hole n¹ shewn in the same figure.
It will be noticed by reference to Figure 1 that the carrier for the thickening
thread is arranged between the ordinary carrier fand the looper wheel c. Although
this arrangement is not absolutely necessary, it is advantageous, for the reason that
it enables the thickening thread to be seen upon the outside of the finished stocking,
which would not be the case if the carrier for the thickening thread were placed in
front of the ordinary guide, that is to say, if the ordinary guide were placed
between the looper wheel and the carrier for the thickening thread.
Although in the foregoing description the carrier is described as oscillating upon
a pivot, it is to be understood that we might employ a carrier to slide in suitable
guides, the said carrier being raised by the contact of the cam with a lug or block
in connection with the said carrier.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :
1. In a knitting machine having bearded needles, the combination with the
ordinary thread-carrier of an auxiliary thread-carrier, adapted to be raised and
lowered relatively to the needles by means of a cam rotating with the needle-
cylinder, substantially as described.
2. In a knitting machine having bearded needles, the combination with the
ordinary thread-carrier of a carrier for a thickening thread, the said carrier being
adapted to oscillate upon a pivot and to be operated by means of a cam upon the
needle-cylinder, substantially as described.
3. In a knitting machine having bearded needles and provided with a carrier for
a thickening thread, which carrier is acted upon by a cam on the needle-cylinder,
arranging the said cam so that it may be moved relatively to the needle-cylinder,
substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
4. The manufacture and use of a knitting machine having bearded needles and
provided with mechanism for introducing a thickening thread, substantially in the
manner hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. In a knitting machine having bearded needles the combination with the
ordinary thread carrier of an auxiliary thread carrier adapted to be raised and
lowered relatively to the needles and arranged between the ordinary carrier and the
loop wheel, substantially as described.
6. The manufacture of hosiery by machinery constructed substantially in the
manner hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.