IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ManufacturE OF KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ManufacturE OF KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES."
A communication from abroad by Samuel Peberdy, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th October 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLES." A communication from abroad by Samuel
Peberdy, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of knitting-machine-
needles, and consists essentially in forming upon these needles a pivot whereon the
latch is hinged, which pivot is struck up by means of a die upon the inner face of
one of the two flaps or jaws that hold the latch between them.
Heretofore the latch has been hinged between the jaws or flaps of the needle by
means of an ordinary rivet passed through the said jaws and the hole in the heel
of the latch. After some use however this rivet frequently becomes slightly
loosened, and offers at its two heads, or at one of them, sharp or projecting edges,
upon which the loop of yarn as it passed up and down on the needle is more or less
abraded or cut. The object of my present Invention is to remedy this defect
so as to permit the loop of yarn to travel up and down the needle on a smooth
surface.
The said Invention is illustrated in perspective and on an enlarged scale in the
accompanying Drawing Drawing, in which
Figure 1 represents a piece of wire from which my improved needle is to be
formed, and
Figure 2 represents the wire after it has been stamped by the die, so as to leave
the raised pivot.
Figure 3 represents the needle-bar with the flaps turned up, and the latch
detached.

page_text: Figure 4 shows the said latch in place in the needle, and also represents the hook
on the end of the latter.
Figure 5 represents a portion of a needle having the latch secured thereto in the
ordinary manner.
Figure 6 represents the latch detached, and shows the groove or depression in
the face of the same which fits upon the hook of the needle.
A is the body or shank of the needle; B is one of the flaps or jaws made by the
impression of the die on the needle-bar, and B' is the other flap, having upon its
face the struck up pivot C; between the said flaps is a slit Cl. The pivot C is
formed by a hole in the face of the die as it is impressed on the wire A. The slit
C is pierced through the wire by a projection upon the face of the said die; D is
the latch, and E is the hook of the needle; the manner of constructing this hook is
well known to those skilled in the art of manufacturing knitting-machine-needles,
and the construction and operation of the latch, and likewise the operation and
objects of the various parts of the needle are equally well known.
The slit or opening C¹ is formed in the wire to facilitate the removal of dirt which
may accumulate between the jaws B, B'.
In constructing my improved needle the round body of the wire or bar A is first
struck or stamped and-flattened-out by the die, so as to form the flaps B, B'; these
flaps are then turned up, as shewn in Figure 3, after the latch D has been fitted or
placed on the pivot C, and when the said flaps are turned up the latch is held in
place, as shown in Figure 4.
It will be apparent that the pivot C should be as long as or sligthly longer than
the thickness of the latch, so that it will not only serve as the pivot of the same,
but also as a brace or stay between the two jaws B, B', to prevent their being
pushed or squeezed so closely together as to jam the latch tightly between them;
these jaws inay be turned up by means of pliers, pinchers, or any other suitable
device. Since the pivot is thus held between the jaws B, B¹, without piercing
them, it is evident that the outer surface of these jaws will be smooth.
I am aware that a pivot for a needle-latch has heretofore been made by punching
through the flap B¹, or through the flaps Band B', but by this construction a thick
hollow pivot is produced which is objectionable. By first flattening out the needle
bar and then turning up the jaws B, B', as above described, I am enabled to obviate
the necessity for cutting out with a saw the space between these jaws as heretofore
practised, and therefore my improved construction of needle is preferable, for the
reason that in the latter case there is a loss of metal, and a consequent loss of
strength, while in my improved needle all the metal is retained or utilized.
I am also well aware that rivets have been struck up upon the lower metallic
part of shovel-handles for riveting thereto the blades of the shovels, and also that
similar rivets have been struck up upon the lower part of spoon-handles to rivet
thereto the bowls of the spoons, and therefore I do not claim the striking up of
such rivets upon objects whereby other objects may be riveted thereto. In both
these cases the rivets pass through the shell of the shovel blade or the spoon bowl,
and the heads of the said rivets are exposed and flattened out in the ordinary
manner. This exposure of the end or ends of the rivets is as above stated the
objectionable feature in knitting machine needle as ordinarily constructed, which
my Invention is designed to overcome. This I accomplish by turning up the
flaps so that they constitute jaws between which the latch is held upon the rivet,
as above described.
"
Although in the foregoing description I have termed the struck up bar, stud, or
piece C a rivet, it is strictly speaking a pivotal bar or stud upon which the latch is
free to swing, neither of its ends passing through tho jaws, so that its ends are
protected against outside friction by the two jaws acting as shields.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First. In a knitting-machine-needle, the solid latch-pivot forming part of and

page_text: projecting from the inner face of one of two turned up parallel flaps or jaws between
which the heel of the latch is held, whereby both ends of the pivot are protected
against outside friction, substantially as above described.
Second. In the process of forming a knitting machine needle, the flattening out
of a section of the shank, the striking up of the pivot C upon the inner face of the
flap or jaw B', the insertion of the pivot through the eye or hole in the heel of the
latch, and the bending up of the flaps or jaws B, B', so as to hold the said latch in
place between them, whereby the end of the latch-pivot is protected from outside
friction, substantially as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
44437 PART
W. RODT.
BAKE
M