Improvements in Knitting Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Knitting Machines.
I, EMIL FRANCK, of 1850, Wellington Street, in the City of Philadelphia, County
of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The main object of my invention is to so construct a knitting machine as to
automatically effect the throwing into and out of action of certain of the needles of
the head, to accomplish the operation of narrowing and widening to form a pocket
at one side of the knitted tube, and this object I attain in the manner which I will
now proceed to describe, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in
which Fig. 1, is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of sufficient of a
circular knitting machine to illustrate my invention;
Fig. 2, is a transverse section on the line 1-2, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of
the arrow, the needles being omitted.
Fig. 3, is a plan view of the machine, with the needle, cylinder, and the ring
carrying the lifting cams removed therefrom;
Fig. 4, is a sectional view of the cam ring, showing the supporting cam in
elevation; and
Fig. 5, is an enlarged view of part of the machine illustrating a detail of
construction.
1. represents the fixed frame of the machine, to suitable bearings in which is
adapted the driving shaft, 2, having a fast pulley, 3, and loose pulley, 4, and provided
with an operating crank or handle, 5, said shaft having at the inner end a bevel
wheel, 6, which gears into a bevel pinion, 7, at the lower end of the ring, 8, which carries
the lifting cams of the machine. This ring is suitably mounted on the fixed frame
of the machine so as to be free to rotate thereon, and is retained in position vertically
by means of a ring, 9, secured to the fixed frame.
Within the cam ring, 8, and concentric therewith is a needle cylinder, 10, which
is supported on the fixed frame by brackets, 11, and is grooved externally for the
reception of the needles, 12.
These brackets have pins, p, adapted to notches or grooves, p', in the lower edge
of the needle cylinder (Fig. 1.) so that the latter can be readily lifted out without
disturbing the other parts of the machine.
Some of the needles are short as shown at the right hand side of Fig. 1, and have
bits, 13, at their lower ends, and the backs of the grooves in which these needles
travel are vertical, but those needles which have to be thrown into and out of action
in effecting the widening and narrowing operations, have stems extending below
the bits, 13, as shown at the left hand side of Fig. 1, and the grooves in which these
needles slide are bevelled, that is to say, they are deeper at the bottom than at the
top, so that by pressing inward upon the downwardly projecting stems of these
needles their bits will be withdrawn from engagement with the cam blocks, 14,
and, 15, whereby the operation of the needles to form the stitch is effected.
The projecting stems, 16, of the needles, 12, are acted upon by horizontally
sliding cam plates 17, and, 18, and supposing the needles of the head to be divided
into two equal parts, one of these cams will act upon the stems of the needles at one
end of a set comprising half the needles, the other cam acting upon the stems of
the needles at the opposite end of said set, as shown in Fig. 3, so that by inter-
mittently moving first one and then the other of these cams, the needles of the set
may be gradually thrown out of action commencing at the end needles of the set
and working forward, one needle at a time, and when sufficient of the needles have

page_text: been thrown out of action they may be gradually thrown into action again by reversing
the movements of the cam plates.
During the entire widening operation the needles on the other half of the head
should be lifted so as to be out of action, and in order to effect this, I provide a
vertically movable supporting cam, 19, extending half way around the cam ring and
having a portion projecting through a slot, 20, in said ring. This cam is provided
with a handle, 21, by which it may be readily lifted, so as to elevate and throw out
oi action the needles supported thereby, the needles being maintained in the elevated
position by the action of a spring, 22, engaging with a recess, 23, in each needle as
usual.
The cam plates, 18, are connected by brackets, 24, to an annular rack, 25, which
rests upon the fixed frame of the machine and the cam plates, 17, are connected by
brackets, 26, to an annular rack, 27, resting on the rack, 25.
a
With the rack, 25, is adapted to engage a doublo pawl, 28, which is hung to a
pin, 29. passing through a slot, 30, in the frame, 1, this pin being connected by
rod, 31, to one arm of a lever, 32, hung to a stud, 33, on the frame and having
a vibrating movement imparted to it from the cam or eccentric, 34, on the driving
shaft through the medium of a rod, 35.
When the pawl is adjusted so that one of its fingers engages with the rack, the latter
is fed forward, but if the pawl is shifted so as to bring the other finger into engagement
with the rack the latter will be retracted. In order to effect the automatic reversal of
the pawl upon the carrier, the same has an arm, 36, which is acted upon by pins, 37,
on the rack when the latter reaches the limit of its movement in either direction, that
is to say supposing the rack to be moving forward the pin, 37, will strike the armi, 36,
and reverse the pawl, so that on the next movement of the latter, the cam will be
moved backward and at the end of the backward movement the pawl will be shifted
into position for moving the rack forward.
A spring finger, 38, carried by the rod, 31, has a head engaging with notches in a
disk, 39, secured to the lower end of the pin which carries the pawl, so that accidental
shifting of the latter is prevented.
Precisely the same devices are used for operating the rack, 27, the rod, 31, in this
case, however, being secured to the other arm of the lever, 32, so that the pawl acts
alternately.
After each cam plate has been moved forward and back and has reached the limit
of its backward movement, and the pawls have been shifted into position for again
moving the racks forward the rack operating mechanism should be thrown out of gear,
and allowed to remain out of gear during the time that the machine is used for making
tubular fabric, the rack operating devices being again thrown into gear when the
proper length of tubular fabric has been completed and the formation of a bag or
pocket is to be repeated.
In order to effect this automatic stoppage of the rack operating mechanism, the cam
or eccentric, 34, whereby the same is actuated, is driven by a clutch, 40, the operating
lever, 41, of which is hung to the shipper, 42, and has a projecting finger, 43, acted
upon by a pin, 44, on said rod, so that as the latter moves outward to shift the belt
from the loose pulley to the fast pulley, the clutch must be operated so as to throw the
cam or eccentric, 34, out of action, the movement of the rod in the opposite direction,
however, being permitted without effecting a positive movement of the clutch.
This backward movement is effected by a coiled spring, 45, engaging with the lower
end of the pivot stem of the arm, 41, and with the shipper rod, 42, so that in case the
engaging parts of the clutch are not in position for engagement when the shifting rod
moves, the arm, 41, can yield until the parts are in position for engagement, where-
upon the clutch will be thrown into gear under the action of the spring, 45.
The automatic operation of the belt shifting rod is effected by a weight carried by
the tube of fabric which is being produced. The rod, 42, is connected by a link, 46,
to one arm of a lever, 47, hung to a bearing on the fixed frame, and when the forma-
tion of the pocket upon the tube has been completed and the needles in the other part
of the head have been depressed into operative position, the lever, 47, is operated so

page_text: as to raise its short arm, thus projecting the bar, 42, and bringing the lever and link
into line with each other, so that they will resist the retraction of the shifting bar
under the action of the spring, 48.
This effects the shifting of the belt onto the fast pulley and the throwing out of
action of the clutch, 40, but as soon as sufficient length of tubular fabric has been
produced, the weight of the lower end of the tube strikes a plate, 49, carried by a
rod, 50, which is connected to one arm of a lever, 51, hung to the frame the other
arm of said lever being provided with a weight, 52.
When the plate, 49, is depressed therefore the lever, 51, acts upon the end of the
short arm of the lever, 47, and depresses the same so as to bring the said lever and
the link, 46, out of line with each other, whereupon the rod, 42, will be instantly
retracted under the action of the spring, 48, the belt will be shifted from the fast to
the loose pulley and the clutch will be operated so as to throw the cam or eccentric, 34,
into gear.
The driving shaft is now operated by hand to effect the desired reciprocation of the
cam-box during the formation of the heel or toe pocket upon the tube, after the
completion of which the shipper rod may be operated, through the medium of the
lever, 47, so as to again throw the belt onto the fast pulley and again proceed with
the formation of tubular work.
It should be noticed that accidental movement of the racks, 25, and, 27, is pre-
vented by means of spring fingers, 55, which engage with the teeth of the racks as
shown in Fig. 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare what I
claim is.
1. The combination of the vertical needle cylinder of a knitting machine, the
needles, and the operating cams for acting upon the bits of the said needles, with
shifter cams located below the operating cams, and acting upon the needle stems
below the bits, so as to throw said bits into and out of range of the operating cams,
as set forth.
2. The combination of the needle cylinder and its needles, the operating cams
acting on the bits of the needles; shifter cams located below the operating cams, and
acting on the stems of the needles below the bits, so as to throw said bits into and out
of range of the operating cams, annular racks carrying said shifter cams and
reciprocating pawls engaging with the racks to turn the same, as set forth.
3. The combination of the needle-shifting cams, the rack for operating the same,
the duplex pawl acting on said rack, and having a projecting arm, means for
reciprocating the pawl, and pins carried by the rack and acting on said arm of the
pawl to effect the automatic reversal of the same at each limit of its movement, as
set forth.
4. The combination of the cylinder and its needles, operating cams for the needles,
shifter cams acting on said needles, racks carrying said cams, pawls one engaging
with one rack and the other with the other rack, a vibrated lever, and rods connecting
one pawl to one arm of said lever and the other pawl to the opposite arm of the same,
as set forth.
5. The combination of the cylinder and its needles, operating cams for the needles,
cams for shifting said needles into and out of operative position racks carrying said
cams, pawls for operating the racks, a pawl-operating lever, a cam or eccentric
having a rod connected to said lever, a driving shaft for the eccentric, a shipper
rod, a clutch for connecting the eccentric to the driving shaft, and an arm on said
clutch connected to the shipper rod to throw said cam or eccentric into or out of
action, as set forth.
Dated this 2nd dow of Tan
1000
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.