Year: 1888

page_text: A communication from WILLIAM WILLIAMS CLAY, of the Town of Paris, in the
County of Brant, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, Manufacturer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E. do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
The object of the invention is to design an attachment for a circular knitting-machine
by which goods with circular stripes of predetermined width may be knitted, the
changes being effected automatically without stopping the machine.
Before starting the machine I set the mechanisin hereinafter described so that when
the stripe of a predetermined width has been knitted, the thread a from which the
said stripe is being produced is automatically cut off and the thread 6 of a different
colour conveyed to the needles of the machine and the knitting proceeded with without
either stopping the machine or connecting by hand the two threads mentioned.
Although I have used the reference letters a and b to distinguish the two different
threads, it is to be understood that no drawings accompany this specification.
Before proceeding to explain the mechanism by which the change is effected I will
first describe the course of the threads a and b. After leaving the bobbin the thread a
passes through a hole in a bracket then around one side of a lever which lever is
pivotted on the upright. The thread a then passes through a hole in this upright, then
through a notch or hole made in a second lever which lever is pivotted also to the
upright. After passing the lever the thread a passes through a hole made in a second
upright. It then passes through a tubular thread-guide into the feed-wheel and
thence to the needles where it is knitted in the usual manner.
The thread b passes
through notches and holes in exactly the same manner as the thread a only it is carried
past the two levers on the opposite side to that past which the thread a is carried, the
said thread & passing through the hole through the thread-guide and feed-wheel in
exactly the same manner as the thread a. When the stripe of this particular color has
been knitted as wide as desired, the mechanism which I shall describe hereinafter

page_text: causes the first mentioned lever to move away from the thread b. This action leaves a
loop of the thread loose immediately behind the second lever which at this time is also
caused to move from the thread 6 but as the second lever presses against the upright
by the action of the spring plate the said thread is held until the lever is raised clear
of it.
At the point where it is desired to loosen the thread -which up to this time has
been held tight between the second lever and the upright-the said lever is pushed
from the upright by the pin or projection attached to it, sliding up on an incline formed
on one side of a hole made in a sliding plate which is supported from the bracket, that
is to say a slot is made in the sliding plate to fit over the said bracket but the slot is
made slightly longer than the width of the said bracket so that the sliding plate may
slide with the second lever the required distance before loosening the thread which is
effected in the manner mentioned viz. by the second lever being pushed from the upright
by the pin or projection mounting from the hole made in the sliding plate. When the
thread is thus released the feed-wheel will immediately carry it towards the needles,
the loops left in the thread b around the first lever and spring plate leaves sufficient
room loose thread to form about a dozen loops in the goods being knitted before the
thread a is severed in the following manner. The first lever which is still moving,
after leaving the thread b before mentioned, comes in contact with the thread a while
it is still being knitted, carrying the said thread a into a position corresponding with
the position of the thread b, forming loops in the thread corresponding with the loop
formed by the first lever in the thread b. The second lever also continues to move
until the pin or projection reaches the hole when it will fall into the said hole and the
lever will nip the thread a between the said lever and the upright thus locking the said
thread u.
In order to prevent the needles being strained by the nipping of the
thread in the manner described the feed-wheel is journalled upon a spindle and on the
same spindle is journalled a sleeve on one end of which is formed a gear which is
connected to and is driven by a gear-ring formed on the outside of the revolving
cylinder of the machine, a hub is also formed on the feed-wheel and on the inner
end of the sleeve opposite to the hub is formed a cup into which the hub is forced when
any undue strain is exerted on the thread passing over the feed-wheel. This undue
strain is of course produced when the thread is nipped in the manner described; con-
sequently the hub is forced into the cup formed in the sleeve forming a frictional
connection between the two, which completely relieves the needles from the strain
referred to; the strain on the thread being between the feed-wheel and the point where
the thread is nipped, thus stretching the thread between the points named until it is
cut off by being drawn against the point of the thread-guide which is made sharp
for that purpose. The thread thus cut off remains in the guide until the levers are
caused to move back in the opposite direction, when the said thread a will be once more
taken up by the feed-wheel and put into action.
Having described the operation of the threads I shall now proceed to explain the
may be
automatic mechanism by which the stripes produced in the manner described
made of any predetermined width. I form a gear-ring and connect it to the cylinder
or some other revolving part of the knitting machine. Into this gear-ring is meshed
a bevil pinion which is connected to and drives the shaft. A gear-wheel is connected
to the shaft and meshes with a gear wheel connected to another shaft on which the
cam-disc is also fastened; consequently as long as the first mentioned shaft revolves
the second shaft and the cam-disc will also be in motion. On the end of the first shaft
may be
is connected an adjustable crank-pin which is arranged so that its throw
increased or decreased as desired. To this crank-pin is attached a bar or pawl the
opposite end of which engages with the ratchet wheel. By increasing or decreasing
he throw of the crank-pin the number of teeth in the ratchet wheel which the paw
will pass during the revolution of the shaft may be increased or decreased as desired,-
that is to say the crank-pin may be set so that the pawl may be moved either one tooth
two teeth three teeth, or any number of teeth desired, within the compass of the
crank; consequently the spindle to which the ratchet wheel is connected may b
caused to revolve the desired distance, and consequently the chain which passes ove
5

page_text: a sprocket-wheel attached to the same spindle as the ratchet wheel will be correspond-
ingly moved and it is by the motion of this chain that the width of the stripe is
regulated.
The proper calculation of the mechanism having previously been prepared, a number
of dogs are placed on the chain, which is an endless one, at certain distances apart,
which distances are regulated by the desired width of the stripes to be made in the
goods being knitted. When the machine is in operation the chain travels, and one
dog is travelling towards another dog. This second dog is pivotted on a bar which is
itself pivotted on an upright and connected at its upper end to a horizontal bar. The
tail of the second dog lies across the path of the first dog and rests against a vertical
bar; consequently when the first dog reaches the tail of the second dog it will press
the said dog, which, being pivotted to the bar pivotted on the upright will cause
the said bar to move until the second dog is pushed from the path of the first dog
which will continue travelling and, coming in contact with the body of the second dog
will bring its tail over against an upright where it remains until the next dog reaches
it and pushes it back into its initial position.
The opposite end of the horizontal bar has a downwardly projecting arm connected
to it and designed to engage with the adjustable spindle on the end of which a
friction roller is attached. The spindle of this roller is connected to a crank which is
pivotted and connected through its spindle to an arm which is itself connected by
means of a rod to a loose ring which surrounds the knitting machine and is supported
by a bracket. The first mentioned lever is connected to the ring by a rod and the
second lever is connected to the ring by another rod and owing to the connections
described the rocking of the crank will cause the ring to move on its centre and as
the levers are connected to this ring they will be moved by the motion of the said ring.
The speed at which the various parts of the machine will travel being settled by the
manufacturer of the mechanism I have described, the operator knows at what time
the crank should be adjusted for the purpose of operating the levers so as to cut off
the thread from which one stripe is being knitted and substitute the other thread by
which the next stripe is to be produced; he has therefore merely to attach the dogs in
such positions in the chain as will cause the horizontal bar to be shifted at the required
periods.
When the first dog acts against the second dog as described, so as to push the
horizontal bar over, the friction roller will be brought opposite to the pathway of the
cam which it is travelling towards and this cam is set so as to push and rock the crank
in the opposite direction to that in which it is rocked by another cam. When the crank
is rocked by the one cam the ring will be caused to move on its centre, and through
its motion the levers will be rocked so as to cut off the thread a and put the thread
into action in the machine in the manner before described.
From this description it will be seen that the width of the stripes being knitted may
be regulated by simply arranging the dogs on the chain or it may also be regulated by
adjusting the crank-pin in which case the dogs may remain permanently in position.
Dated this 21st day of February 1888.

page_text: A communication from WILLIAM WILLIAMS CLAY, of the Town of Paris, in the
County of Brant, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, Manufacturer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, M.I.M.E.
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
The object of the invention is to design an attachment for a circular knitting-machine
by which goods with circular stripes of predetermined width may be knitted, the
changes being effected automatically without stopping the machine; and it consists,
essentially, of an arrangement of levers and feeding mechanism operated by mechanism
preferably deriving motion from the knitting machine, and so arranged that the thread
from which one stripe is being knitted may be cut off from the needles and replaced
by a thread of a different colour without causing any break in the work or necessity
for handling or tieing the thread; the whole being constructed and operated substan-
tially as hereinafter more particularly explained.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a knitting machine provided with this improved
automatic striping mechanism.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the thread holder, a detail of which is shown
in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of the feed-wheel provided with these improvements.
In the drawings A represents an ordinary circular knitting machine which is driven
and operates in the usual manner.
a represents a thread of one colour, and a thread of a different colour; and for
the purpose of this description we will assume that the thread a is now being drawn
upon by the knitting-machine, and that goods of its color are being produced.
Before starting the machine I set the mechanism hereinafter described, so that when
the stripe of a predetermined width has been knitted, the thread a from which the
said stripe is being produced is automatically cut off, and the thread of a different
colour conveyed to the needles of the machine and the knitting proceeded with without
either stopping the machine or connecting by hand the two threads mentioned.
Before proceeding to explain the mechanism by which the change is effected I will
first describe the course of the threads a and b. After leaving the bobbin the thread a
passes through a hole in the bracket B then around one side of the lever C which lever
is pivotted at d on the upright D. The thread a then passes through a holo in the
upright D, then through a notch or hole e made in the lever E which lever is pivotted
to the upright D at f. After passing the lever E the thread a passes through a hole g
made in the upright F. It then passes through a tubular thread-guide G into the

page_text: So
feed-wheel H and thence to the needles I where it is knitted in the usual manner,
The thread 6 passes through notches and holes in exactly the same manner as the
thread a only it is carried past the levers C and E on the opposite side to that past
which the thread a is carried, the said thread b passing through the hole g through
the thread-guide G and feed-wheel H in exactly the same manner as the thread a.
long as the levers C and E remain in the position shown, the thread a is being knitted.
When the stripe of this particular colour has been knitted as wide as desired, the
mechanism which I shall describe hereinafter causes the lever C to move away froin
the thread. This action leaves a loop of the thread loose immediately behind the
lever E which at this time is also caused to move from the thread b but as the lever E
presses against the upright D by the action of the spring plate J the said thread is
held until the lever is raised clear of it.
At the point where it is desired to loosen the thread b-which up to this time has
been held tight between the lever E and the upright D-the said lever is pushed from
the upright by the pin or projection, h, attached to it, sliding up on an incline formed
on one side of the hole made in the sliding plate K which is supported from the
bracket B as indicated-that is to say a slot j made in the plate K to fit over the
said bracket B but the slot is made slightly longer than the width of the said bracket
so that the plate K may slide with the lever E the required distance before loosening
the thread, which is effected in the manner mentioned, viz. by the lever E being pushed
from the upright D by the pin or projection mounting from the hole i. When the
thread b is thus released the feed-wheel H will immediately carry it towards the
needles I the loops left in the thread around the lever and spring plate J (see
fig. 2) leaves sufficient loose thread to form about a dozen loops in the goods being
knitted before the thread a is severed in the following manner. The lever Ở
which is still moving, after leaving the thread bas before mentioned, comes in
contact with the thread a while it is still being knitted from, carrying the said
thread a into a position corresponding with the position in which the thread is
shown in figs. 1 and 2 forming loops in the thread corresponding with the loop
formed by the lever C in the thread b. The lever E also continues to move until
the pin or projection h reaches the hole when it will fall into the said hole and the
lever E will nip the thread a between the said lever and the upright D thus locking
the said thread a. In order to prevent the needles being strained by the nipping of
the thread in the manner described I journal the feed-wheel H upon a spindle L
(see fig. 4) and on the same spindle I journal a sleeve M on one end of which I form
a gear N which is connected to and is driven by a gear-ring 0 (see fig. 1) formed
on the outside of the revolving cylinder of the machine. I also form a hub m on the
feed-wheel H and on the inner end of the sleeve, M, opposite to the hub, m, I form
a cup, into which the hub, m, is forced when any undue strain is exerted on the
thread passing over the feed-wheel, H. This undue strain is of course produced when
the thread is nipped in the manner described; consequently the hub, m, is forced into
the cup formed in the sleeve, M, forming a frictional connection between the two,
which completely relieves the needles from the strain referred to; the strain on the
thread being between the feed-wheel, H, and the point where the thread is nipped,
thus stretching the thread between the points named until it is cut off by being
drawn against the point of the thread-guide, G, which is made sharp for that
purpose. The thread thus cut off remains in the guide, G, until the levers, C, and E,
are caused to move back in the opposite direction, when the said thread, a, will be
once more taken up by the feed-wheel, H, and put into action.
Having described the operation of the threads I shall now proceed to explain the
automatic mechanism by which the stripes produced in the manner described may
be made of any predetermined width. I form a gear-ring, P, and connect it to the
cylinder, or some other revolving part of the knitting-machine, A. Into this
gear-ring, P, I mesh a bevel-pinion, Q, which is connected to and drives the shaft, I.
A gear-wheel, S, is connected to the shaft, R, and meshes with a gear-wheel, T,
connected to the shaft, U, on which the cam-disc, V, is also fastened; consequently, as
long as the shaft, R, revolves, the shaft, U, and the cam-disc, V, will also be in

page_text: motion. On the end of the shaft, R, I connect an adjustable crank-pin, W, which is
arranged, as indicated, so that its throw may be increased or decreased as desired.
To this crank-pin, W, I attach a bar or pawl, X, the opposite end of which engages
with the ratchet-wheel, Y, as shown. By increasing or decreasing the throw of the
crank-pin, W, the number of teeth in the ratchet-wheel, Y, which the pawl, X, will
pass during the revolution of the shaft, R, may be increased or decreased as desired,-
that is to say, the crank-pin, W, may be set so that the pawl, X, may be moved either
one tooth, two teeth, three teeth, or any number of teeth desired, within the compass
of the crank consequently the spindle to which the ratchet-wheel, Y, is connected
may be caused to revolve the desired distance, and, consequently, the chain, Z, which
passes over a sprocket-wheel attached to the same spindle as the ratchet-wheel, Y, will
be correspondingly moved, and it is by the motion of this chain, Z, that the width of
the stripe is regulated.
The proper calculation of the mechanism having previously been prepared I place
on the chain, Z, which is an endless one, a number of dogs, n, at certain distances
apart, which distances are regulated by the desired width of the stripes to be made in
the goods being knitted. When the machine is in operation the chain, Z, travels in
the direction indicated by arrow, and the dog, n', is travelling towards the dog, o.
This dog, o, is pivotted on the bar p which is itself pivotted on the upright, q, and
connected at its upper end. to the horizontal bar, r. It will be noticed that the tail of
the dog, o, lies across the path of the dog, n' and that it rests against the vertical bars;
consequently when the dog n¹ reaches the tail of the dog o, it will press the said dog,
which, being pivotted to the bar p, will cause the said bar to move until the dog o is
pushed from the path of the dog n', which will continue travelling and, coming
in contact with the body of the dog o, will bring its tail over against the upright t,
where it remains until the next dog n reaches it and pushes it back into the initial
position in which it is shown.
The opposite end of the horizontal bar has a downwardly projecting arm w
connected to it and designed to engage with the adjustable spindle on the end of
which a friction roller w is attached.
When the bar is set in the position indicated in fig. 1 the friction roller w will he
opposite to the cam 10 attached to the cam-disc V as shown. This cam-disc V is
revolving in the direction indicated by arrow and the cam 10 has almost passed the
roller w.
The spindle of this roller is connected to the crank y which is pivotted,
as indicated, and connected through its spindle to the arm, which is itself connected
by means of the rod 5 to a loose ring 6 which surrounds the knitting machine A, as
shown, and is supported by the bracket 7 as indicated in fig. 1. The lever C is con-
nected to the ring 6 by the rod 8, and the lever E is connected to the ring 6 by the
rod 9 and owing to the connections described, the rocking of the crank will cause
the ring 6 to move on its centre, and as the levers C and E are connected to this ring
they will be moved by the motion of the said ring. When the crank y is in the
position indicated in the drawing the levers C and E will be in the positions in which
they are represented in Fig. 1, and they will remain in that position until the crank y
is caused to rock in the opposite direction to that in which it has been rocked by the
action of the cam 10. The speed at which the various parts of the machine will travel,
being settled by the manufacturer of the mechanism I have described, the operator
knows at what time the crank y should be adjusted for the purpose of operating the
levers C and E so as to cut off the thread from which one stripe is being knitted and
substitute the other thread by which the next stripe is to be produced; he has therefore
merely to attach the dogs n and n', in such positions in the chain Z as will cause the
bar to be shifted at the required periods.
In Fig. 1 the mechanismi is shown in the position it will appear just before the time
that the thread a should be cut off and the thread b substituted for it in the knitting
of the goods. When the dog n' acts against the dog o as described, so as to push the
bar over, the friction-roller to will be brought opposite to the pathway of the cam
which is travelling towards it and this cam is set so as to push and rock the crank y in
the opposite direction to that in which it is rocked by the cam 10. Wheu the crank y

page_text: is rocked by the cam the ring 6 will be caused to move on its centre, and through
its motion the levers C and E will be rocked so as to cut off the thread a and put the
thread into action in the machine in the manner before described.
From this description it will be seen that the width of the stripes being knitted may
be regulated by simply arranging the dogs n, n', on the chain Z, or it may also be
regulated by adjusting the crank-pin W, in which case the dogs n, n¹ may remaiu
permanently in position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination in a knitting machine, of an arrangement of levers and feeding
mechanism operated by mechanism preferably deriving motion from the knitting
machine and so arranged that the thread from which one stripe is being knitted may
be cut off from the needles and replaced by a thread of a different colour without
causing any break in the work or necessity for handling or tieing the threads,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. A mechanical arrangement for severing the threads by pulling them apart and
inserting other threads so that threads of different thicknesses and different colours
may be passed automatically into the machine, and knitted into stripes of pre-
determined width, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. A geared loop wheel geared to teeth cast in the leads fixed onto the cylinder, so
that the loop wheel is revolved without pressing on the needles, fixed to a spring
barbed loop wheel knitting machine.
4. A tubular stationary thread-guide to hold the thread when pulled apart so that
the running thread will draw the threads that are in the thread-guide when desired
at predetermined periods automatically, substantially as and for the purpoз0
specified.
5. The levers arranged to draw the thread so that it can be carried forward through
the tubular thread-guide substantially as and for the purpose specified.
6. The lever for holding the thread securely so that it cannot pass through the
tubular thread-guide until desired, in combination with slide ring for operating the
levers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
7. The slide-plate K having a slot to fit onto the upright B and slightly longer
than the width of the said upright, in combination with the lever E having a pin or
projection arranged to work in connection with a hole i made in the slide-plate K
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 6th day of November 1000