IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO BE USED IN KNITTING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN KNITTING, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO BE USED IN KNITTING."-A
communication from abroad by Mark Lamar Roberts, of New
Brunswick, State of New Jersey, and Fergus Peniston, of New
York City. United States of America.
Sealed the 9th February 1869, and dated the 7th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his:
Petition, on the 7th September 1868.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING,
AND IN THE MACHINERY TO BE USED IN KNITTING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to a novel construction of circular
knitting machine in which the bearded needles are arranged to slide
in grooves formed on the periphery of a cylinder, and running parallel,
to the axis of that cylinder. The object of this part of the Invention

page_text: is to adapt the machine for making plain, tubular, or circular goods,
also flat, fabrics and articles of wearing apparel, and also to fit it for
family use, the said machine being capable of ready adjustment from
the one condition to the other.
The Invention relates, secondly, to an improved method of forming the
heels of stockings. The needles are formed with elastic beards that lie in
grooves in the needle stems and their tail ends are bent up at right
angles to the stem. Adjustable fixed cam guides are provided to
receive these ends, and impart an endway traverse motion to the
needles as usual when an axial motion is given to the cylinder. The
needles are confined to the cylinder by a band of wire laid in an
annular groove turned in the cylinder. The front end of the cylinder
(or upper end when the cylinder is vertical) carries a comb for turning
off the formed loops from the stems of the needles, and in front of
this a stationary segment-shaped needle guide within which the beards
of the protruded needles pass as they are carried round in order that
they may be properly presented to the stationary needle opener, which
lifts the beards, and lays the thread or yarn under the beards of the
needles. The yarn is brought down from a tension device, and threaded
through eyes in the yarn feeder. A rapid rotary motion is given to
the cylinder in any convenient way.
For knitting tubular fabrics, of. large size, such for instance as bags
for holding grain, a number of sets of cams, guides, and loop openers
may be applied at regular recurring points around the cylinder, and
as many threads may be knit at once,
When arranging the machine for knitting wearing apparel or flat
fabrics, the cam or cams and needle guide or guides are removed, and
an operating shaft for driving the cylinder is brought into action. This
shaft carries a worm, which when brought into gear with a ring of teeth
cut on the end of the cylinder will give it a slow axial motion.
For operating the needles, which under this arrangement are actuated
singly, a carrier is provided having two lugs projecting downwards
within close proximity of the cylinder and in line with the vertical
projection or tail of the needle to be operated. One of the said lugs
being before, and the other behind the tail of the needle, so that when
the carrier is moved in either direction it will carry with it the needle.
The carrier is mounted adjustably on a bar that slides in slotted guides
which are so shaped as to allow of the bar being lifted out of action.

page_text: The rear end of this bar has a looped termination in which a crank pin-
on a disc fitted to the worm shaft before-mentioned works. The form of
the worm is such relatively to the carrier that when the latter arrives
at or near the end of its backward throw, and before it has started
forward again the cylinder will be caused to rotate the distance of one
needle from another. Each needle is thrown forward over a guide at
the front of the machine having a groove on its upper face coincident
with the needle for the purpose of steadying it, and the yarn is fed
under the beard of the needle by a loop opener pivotted to the frame
and actuated by a vibrating bar which is operated by cam grooves on
the worm shaft.
For taking off a proper supply of yarn from the bobbin the needle.
carrier is fitted with a looped wire yarn guide, which in conjunction
with a spring yarn pulley fixed to the framing and rising through the
loop of the yarn guide draws off the required quantity of yarn at every
forward movement of the carrier. A presser is provided in front of
the cylinder to straddle the needle and depress the yarn on either sido
thereof.
To knit flat fabrics it is necessary to run the cylinder back and
forth instead of continuously in the same direction. To allow of this:
a double ring-grooved cam is fitted on the worm or driving shaft for
actuating through a bowle a vibrating lever, which gives the required
reciprocating motion to the presser. Diagonal grooves connect these
cam grooves together and allow of the bowle being thrown from one
to the other to reverse the action. The vibrating bar which actuates
the needle opener is lifted out of contact with one groove cam, and
put into contact with a reverse cam when the reverse motion is
required.
To form the heels of stockings at a given point, say 1, the
workinau ceases to go all the way around the hose but knits from
a central point 2 to the same point ou the opposite side, and then
back and forth, making one stitch less each time until somo 20° of the
turn of the heel is produced; the knitting then proceeds back towards
the central points 2 and from that back to the perimeter, the knitting
being continued back and forth widening one stitch each time, and
taking on the stitches of the narrowed part until the work is widened
up to the central point again. The knitting all round is then
recommenced and continued until the stocking is finished.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO BE
USED IN KNITTING," being a communication to me from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office, within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say): ==
This Invention relates to "Improvements in Knitting Machines"
whereby it is designed to provide a machine capable of knitting plain
tubular fabrics, such as bags for holding grain, hose for conveying water,
or stockings, socks, and other similar articles of wearing apparel, to be

page_text: operated either by hand or power, and which may be readily changed
from the condition of a circular cam knitting machine for knitting plain
tubular goods, in which condition it may be operated with great rapidity,
to the condition of a family machine which may be used either for
making tubular goods at a slower rate or articles of wearing apparel.
The improvements relate, first, to a novel arrangement of the needle
guides, needle opener, and thread feeder in combination with the needles
of a circular knitting machine to be used when it is employed for
knitting plain tubular fabrics.
Secondly. To an improved construction of needle and the method of
maintaining the needles in the right position and also securing them
in the grooves of the needle cylinder.
The Invention likewise relates to the adapting of the circular knitting
machine above referred to to the purposes of a family machine capable
of producing miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel, whether of
circular form or having a flat or irregular web (the above-mentioned
needle guide and the needle cam being detached from the machine).
Thirdly. To a novel manner of moving the device for throwing or
operating the needles of the machine.
Fourthly. To the arranging of the needle operator so that its stroke
and consequently that of the needles of the machine moved or operated
thereby can be adjusted and changed at pleasure according as it is
desired to knit loose or close.
Fifthly. To a novel manner or throwing or operating the thread or
yarn puller of the machine.
Sixthly. To an improved construction of yarn presser, and so operating
it that its movement can be reversed according as the machine is turned
forward or backward, this movement being necessary for the knitting
of the heel portion of stockings and suspenders, mittens, or anything
having a flat web.
Seventhly. To the combination in one machine of the above-described
circular cam knitting machine for making plain tubular goods and
certain devices for rendering the machine capable of knitting either
circular goods or articles of wearing apparel and adapted for family
use to be operated either by hand or power, the said combined machine
being capable of ready adjustment from the one condition to the other.

page_text: And, eighthly. To an improved method of knitting the heel in two
parts by a system of widening and narrowing, and uniting the two parts
as the latter is formed.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of
a knitting machine constructed according to this Invention, the same
being adjusted to the condition to produce plain tubular fabrics; Fig. 2
represents a side elevation of the machine when adjusted to the condition
for knitting either tubular fabrics or articles of wearing apparel or flat
fabrics; Fig. 3 represents an end elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 represents
an end elevation of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 represents a plan view of Fig. 2;
Fig. 6 represents a sectional elevation of the needle cylinder, shewing
a plan whereby the machine may be arranged in a vertical position
to facilitate the delivery of the work; it also shews a side elevation
of the needles; Fig. 7 represents a detail view of the cam shaft and
cams; and Fig. 8, a side elevation of the yarn presser; Fig. 9 represents
a portion of a stocking showing the improved method of forming the
heel. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
According to the first-named arrangement for producing plain tubular
fabrics there is employed a grooved rotating needle cylinder A, and
a needle operating cam B such as aro in use in other knitting machines,
and in both arrangements spring-looped needles C are employed
(see Fig. 6). The looped end of these needles springs down into a
groove in the body of the needle under the said end, but instead of
looping the other end of these needles around in a manner similar to
the point but in a larger loop as practised in the manufacture of this
class of needles and employing as heretofore an auxiliary grooved wheel
or cylinder to act in conjunction with the cylinder A taking the said
loop into its grooves for steadying and supporting the needles, the ends
are turned up at right angles, as represented at D, care being taken
that the turned up ends shall be as wide as the grooves for the purpose
of supporting the needles laterally and also for the purpose of affording
projections for the cam or other needle operating device to act on them.
For the purpose of securely holding the needles in their respective
grooves an annular groove E is provided in the face of the cylinder A,
and a tie a of wire or other suitable article is closely bound around the
cylinder to secure the needles in their grooves, and under this tie
the needles work. F, Figures 1 and 3 represents a needle guide
detachably connected to the bed or frame of the machine in front of the

page_text: cylinder and arranged to, receive the loops of the needles under it as they
are moved forward and presenting them in the exact position vertically
as they are carried around to cause them to receive the loop opener
and yarn feeder G within the loops as they arrive at the same. The
said loop opener is also supported in front of the needle cylinder upon the
bed or frame and may be either detachably connected or not as preferred.
H represents a tension device of common construction which may be
attached to the machine in any suitable position, through which the
yarn is fed into the eye I, as indicated in Fig. 3 of the loop opener,
and thence under the loop opener to the eye K in the same, through
which it is brought to the upper side of the said opener and secured
to the loop of one of the needles which have passed beyond the opener.
When this is done the machine may be set into operation by communi-
cating rotary motion to the cylinder A. in any convenient manner so
as to give it high speed. As the yarn is drawn through the eyes of
the loop opener it is taken into the said loops by reason of the latter
being thrown out by the cam under the guide F and taking the said
opener into them in the manner represented. The points of the needle
loops pass off from the opener and close down into the grooves in the
body of the needles enclosing the yarn in the said loops before tho
said points are returned by the cam to the end of the cylinder, and the
previously formed loop of yarn is forced over the loops of the needles
and knocked off by the comb L of the cylinder. In order to change
the quality of the articles produced to make them either coarser or
finer the needle cams B are arranged to be adjusted to or from the ends
of the needle cylinder to change the position of the needles relatively
to the comb, thereby producing coarser or finer fabrics, which also to
some extent varies the size of the fabric. This simple arrangement of the
operating parts admits of the machine being operated at a very high rate
of velocity without endangering any of the parts or injuriously affecting
the quality of the work, and in machines for knitting tubular fabrics
of large size, such for instance as bags for holding grain, a number of
sets of cams, guides, and loop openers may be applied at regularly
recurring points around the cylinder and as many threads knit at
3 once.
For arranging the machine for knitting wearing apparel or, flat fabrics
as well as tubular goods, the cam B and the needle guide F are detached
and an operating shaft M (see Fig. 5) is employed, which may be driven
by a belt or multiplying wheel, and having a worm thread N which

page_text: gears into teeth provided on the rear end of the cylinder for the purpose
of communicating slow rotary motion to it from the said shaft. The
cylinder is also so arranged that it may be thrown slightly backward
on its axis from the position it occupies in the first-mentioned arrange-
ment to be brought into gear with the said worm. For operating the
needles which under this arrangement are operated singly a carrier O is
employed having two lugs O' projecting downward to a close proximity
to the cylinder and in line with the vertical projection of the
needle which is to be operated, one of the said lugs being before and the
other behind the said projection, so that when the carrier is moved in
either direction it will actuate the needle in the same direction. The
said carrier is actuated by a sliding bar P to which it is connected,
arranged in ways Q and connected by its slotted end to the wrist pin
of a disc R on the end of the shaft M. The carrier is adjustably
'connected to the bar P in order to vary the throw of the needles to
allow the position of the looped ends of the needles when at the end
of their backward throw to be nearer to or further from the comb for
the purpose of making the texture of the fabric finer or coarser as may
be desired. The said adjustment of the carrier on the bar is effected
by arranging the carrier so that it may slide on the bar, and providing
the thumb nut S on the said carrier having threads taking into cor-
responding threads in the face of the bar. By turning the said nut
in either direction the carrier will be correspondingly moved on the
said bar. The form of the worm N is such and it is, so arranged
relatively to the carrier that when the latter arrives at or near the
end of its backward throw and before it has started forward again the
cylinder will be caused to rotate the distance of one needle from another,
thereby carrying beyond the reach of the carrier the needle last operated
and bringing within the range of the carrier the next succeeding needle.
Each needle is thrown forward in succession in this manner over a
guide T arranged on the front of the machine having a groove in its
upper face coincident with the needle for the purpose of steadying it,
and the yarn is fed into the loop by the loop opener U pivotted to
the frame at V and actuated by the vibrating bar W which receives
motion from the cam grooves in a cylinder on the actuating shaft M.
It may be here remarked that this arrangement of the needle opener,
and the means for operating it, as well as the arrangement of the driving
shaft and the worm for operating the cylinder, are such, as are commonly
-employed in machines of this character and form no part of this

page_text: Invention. In some instances the yarn may be passed directly from
the tension device H to the guide eye on the needle opener and thence
to the bottom of the same, where it is passed through the loops. But
in other cases it is highly important that a thread puller be provided
to feed a sufficient amount of yarn for each stitch. To this end there
is fixed upon the needle carrier O a rod X rising sufficiently above the
same and bending forward at right angles and terminating in a loop,
as clearly represented in Fig. 5. Y represents a spring yarn puller
secured at its lower end, which is coiled to admit it to spring freely
to the framework of the machine, and rises at its outer end up through
the loop of the rod X, and is provided with two guide eyes at the top
through which the thread passes to the tension device, and is arranged
in any manner so that it will have sufficient hold of the yarn to pull
it. As the carrier O moves forward the looped rod X will strike the
puller Y and carry it forward, causing it to draw or pull off a quantity
of yarn to be fed to the needles to form the next loop. This move-
ment of the yarn puller is varied as the throw of the needles is varied
by the adjustment of the carrier on the bar P. Z represents the yarn
presser, which is composed of a plate of metal arranged to rise and
fall between suitable guides to admit the presser to operate just in
front of the cylinder A. in close contact with it. The lower end of
the presser is bevilled so as to present a chisel edge next the cylinder,
and it may be roughened so as to prevent the possibility of the stitches
slipping off. It is also provided with a slot in its lower end to admit
the branches thereof to pass down each side of the needle a sufficient
amount to produce the required strain on the yarn. To knit flat fabrics
or parts of stockings or other articles it is necessary to run the cylinder
back and forth instead of giving it a continuous rotation, and to perform
the knitting successfully in this manner it becomes necessary to reverse
the order of the operation of the presser. For this purpose there is
fitted to the shaft M a double cam A' and A' for actuating the vibrating
lever B which gives reciprocating motion to the presser, each cam
having annular grooves C and Cs wherein the friction bowl tho
end of the arm B works to give the vibrating motion to it, the said
bowle being maintained in the grooves by a coiled spring D', and in
order to change the position of the said bowle from the one to the other
of the said grooves the angular grooves E' and Es (Fig. 7) are formed
leading from one to the other, and the arm B³ is jointed. The groove E*
at its junction with the groove C³ and the continuation of the latter
upon

page_text: is made deeper than the groove C previous to the said junction, so that
if the shaft M be turned backward the bowle in the arm B' will pass
from the groove C to the groove C and run in that groove as long
as the shaft be turned in that direction, and in like manner the groove E
and the continuation of the groove C² are made deeper than the groove C
previous to the junction of the same, so that when the motion of the
shaft is reversed again the bowle of the arm B' will be returned to and
run in the groove
C³.
When it. is desired to change the machine from the condition last
represented to the first-mentioned condition for the purpose of producing
tubular goods only, the needle guide T must be disconnected from the
front plate and the needle opener turned up into the position represented
in Fig. 3, which may be done by raising the vibrating arm W out of
the notch in the slide V', for which purpose as well as for changing
it from one notch to the other of said slide it is made susceptible of
being raised up on its axial pin. The sliding bar P must be raised up
in its bearings so as to raise the needle carrier above the cylinder
sufficiently to permit the contact of the same with the needles. For
this purpose the slots of the guides Q are extended sufficiently upward
and the pins q, q, provided, which may be inserted above the said bar
when it is in working condition and below it when raised out of the
said condition, and finally the cylinder A may be adjusted sufficiently
forward on its axis to throw it out of gear with the worm N, for which
purpose sufficienty play may be allowed to the shaft of the cylinder in
its bearings, and a hook d may be inserted between the bearing and collar
on the shaft alternately on one side or the other as required. In this
condition the cam B and the guide F may be attached as heretofore
described. Thus far the improved machine has been represented as
arranged in a horizontal position, but for some kinds of work, especially
long tubular goods, it will be found more advantageous to arrange it in
a vertical position, as in this position the work may be delivered to better
advantage.
Fig. 6 represents a sectional elevation of the needle cylinder in a
vertical position, in which position it may be placed with all the other
parts attached, as above described, and in order to facilitato the delivery
of the work crotched or other suitable feed roller supports D' may be
secured to the interior of the cylinder projecting downward and sup-
porting feed rollers D³ and D', one of which D³ may be provided at

page_text: one end with a friction wheel D³ arranged to bear on a circular track
around an opening in a plate D° for the fabric to pass through, being
thereby set into motion to produce a drawing effect on the fabric, the
said feed rollers being arranged to be pressed together by springs, screws,
or otherwise sufficiently to impinge upon the fabric to produce the
necessary tension. According to the improved method of forming the
heels of stockings when the point d, Fig. 9, is reached the operator
will cease knitting all the way round, but will knit from the point d'
to the same point on the opposite side of the stocking and then back
and forth, making one stitch less each time until the point is reached;
he will then knit back to the points d' and from that back to d³, and
then continue knitting back and forth widening one stitch each time
and taking on the stitches of the narrowed part until the work is
widened up to the point again. The operator will then proceed
to knit all the way round until the stocking is finished.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Knitting, and in the Machinery to be used in Knitting," as com-
municated to me from abroad, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. The improved needle guide F and loop opener and thread
feeder G, and the combination of the same with the needles C when
the latter are employed in a needle cylinder A, substantially as and
for the purpose described.
Second. The improvement in spring loop needles consisting of the
right angular projection at the rear end of the same, and the method
of maintaining and securing the said needles in the grooves in their
proper positions, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Third. The slide P and needle carrier arranged and operated sub-
stantially as and for the purpose described.
Fourth. The arrangement of the yarn puller Y and the looped rod X
connected to the carrier for operating the said yarn puller, substantially
as and for the purpose-described.
Fifth. The improved yarn presser herein-described, and the arrange-
ment of the cams and jointed vibrating lever for operating it, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose described.
Sixth. The combination in one machine of the hercin-described
circular cam knitting machine for making plain tubular fabrics, and

page_text: the several devices rendering the machine capable of knitting either
circular goods, flat fabrics, or articles of wearing apparel, and adapting
it also for family use, the said combined machine being capable of
ready adjustment from the one condition to the other, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
Seventh. The improved method of forming the heels of stockings
herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)