IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY, AND PRODUCTION THEREBY OF KNITTED FABRICS OF A NOVEL CHARACTER
Year: 1881

page_text: IN
THE
LETTERS PATENT to William Henry McNary, of Brooklyn, in the State of
New York, but temporarily of Berlin, in the Empire of Germany, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY, AND
PRODUCTION THEREBY OF KNITTED FABRICS OF A NOVEL CHARACTER."
No text detected.

page_text: guides accompanying the needles in their movement and the lower remaining
quiescent), and the guides by being returned to their normal position while the
needles are down will lay their thread at the back of the needles, where they
remain until the next delivery of yarn. On the needles again moving the upper
thread guides will remain stationary, but the lower will accompany them, and at
the next or second descent of the needles the upper threads will be knitted and
the lower thrown to the back of the needles. The lower threads will thus
lie at the back of the knitted fabric under the floats of the upper threads,
that is, tied to the back of the fabric by the crossing or interlacing of the upper
series of threads. The improved mechanism employed for this purpose consists
of the two sets of thread guides carried by slides, and mounted on the upper and
under sides of a bridge picce, and a presser plate laid in a rebate on the upper
face of the bridge piece, the presser plate being moved into and out of acting
position by a horizontal sliding bar as usual. This bar is automatically coupled or
uncoupled by the action of a stud on the pattern plate to a second bar underlying
it, coupled to bring the presser into an acting position, and uncoupled when it is
desired to maintain the presser out of action. This lower sliding bar receives a to
and fro motion at every second movement of the needle ring, from a grooved cam
suitably geared with the main shaft. Mounted horizontally between the switch
wheel and the yaru slides is a set of four rock levers lying immediately over each
other; the two lower long levers are connected at their front ends to the upper and
lower yarn slides respectively; the rear forked ends which embrace the switch
wheel are curved, and extend downwards to the back of the switch wheel. The
fulcrum pin of the upper and lower long levers_is_carried-by-a-bracket,-and-serves-
also as a joint pin for the two prongs of which the fork of the lower lever is
composed. This lower lever also carries a transversely rocking bar armed with
wedges, which dropping into the spaces between the jointed limbs of the lever
thrust the tail piece to the right or left, as the case may be, and render the lever
for the time being rigid as against the lateral pressure of the switch. Immediately
over these long levers are mounted two short rock levers coupled by pins each to
their respective long lever. The fulcrum pins of these levers (carried by a bracket
extending over the upper yarn guides) pass through slots in the front ends of the
short levers; the rear ends of these levers are forked and embrace the switch wheel
when moved endwise.
The lower short lever is furnished with inclines, which (according to the position
of the lever) will act on the transverse rock bar of the lower long lever, and give
rigidity to the forked portion of the lower long lever, and shift the position of
the forked portions of the lower long levers relatively to each other after every
shift of the lower thread guide bar, other inclines being provided to restore the
jointed fork to an intermediato position when the short lever is withdrawn from
the switch wheel.
The action of these short levers is therefore to reset or change the position of
their respective long levers, and thus obtain a double action of the projections
carried by the switch during one rotation of the main shaft.
Supported upon brackets from the sliding bars are two cam slotted bars
underlying the lower short lever. Into each of the cam slots of these bars enters a
pendent pin from the short levers, the lower lever being thus connected to the
lower sliding bar and the upper lever to the upper sliding bar. The endway
motion of the lower sliding bar when both sliding bars are coupled will through its
cam slot cause the rear forked ends of the short levers to advance within the
circuit of the projections of the switch wheel, and one of which striking this lever
moves it to the right or left, as the case may be.
This motion is transmitted to the lower long lever and moves the lower thread
guide slide the distance of one needle to the right or left according to the position
of the switch, and thus restores the lower slide to its normal position. The upper
short lever when struck by the projection of the switch in like manner carries over
the upper long lever, which is connected at front to the upper thread guide slide.

page_text: When the sliding bars are disconnected, which is effected by the action of the
pattern plate upon the swinging frame, the upper short lever and the upper long
bar connected to the upper thread guide slide only will be in action, and the
presser being at this time in its forward position, a row of loops will be knitted at
every descent of the needles from the upper threads, while the lower threads will
be laid as interlaced threads under and over the several threads of the upper.yarn
guides, as they pass from one vertical row of loops to another in a diagonal line.
With one set of threads the machine will be capable of producing plain or knitted
and floated work and change from the one to the other as before.
To produce the above described knitted fabric on straight machines of the class
above mentioned certain obvious modifications of the yarn guide slides are required
consequent upon the needles moving vertically up and down without travelling
laterally. The presser bar is in this machine so mounted as to be capable of motion
to and from the needles in addition to its lateral travel. Thus the yarn guides will
have motion given to them in place of the travel of the needles and in an opposite
direction, that is, at first the lower yarn guides remain stationary and the upper
move so that the needles may descend without knitting, and while the needles are
down the guides are moved, as before described, to place their threads at the back
of the needles. On the needles rising the lower thread guides remain quiescent,
and the upper are moved to lay their threads under the beards of the needles
previous to their next or second descent to be pressed. Repetitions of these
motions in the same order and direction are made as far as the desired traverso
may require.
Another improvement consists in a novel construction of the forked switch
lever.
In place of the revolving button and its accessories hitherto used, the switch
lever is provided with a slide fitted in a longitudinal slot in the lever, and held in
position by a spring snap bolt; this slide carries a pendent square stem and two
sliding tappets connected together by a rock lever which has its fulcrum on the
pendent stem, and causes the depression of one tappet on the rise of the other, and
brings that tappet within reach of the pins on the pattern plate; these tappets
are provided with double inclines, by which the pins on the pattern plate act to
give the slide an endway traverse. The pattern plate is provided with long pins
to strike the pendent square stem and shift the switch lever, short pins to strike
the tappets only and shift the slide endwise, and double inclines to raise the one
tappet and depress the other, the order and position of these pins and inclines upon
the pattern plate being determined by the knitter.
Another improvement relates to the mechanism for feeding and delivering the
yarns to the yarn guides. In rear of the ordinary feed rollers a roughened feed roller
of larger diameter than the ordinary feed rollers is mounted, and driven by gear
from the lower feed rolls at the same peripherical speed. To the roughened feed
roller the yarns are led from the warp beam or bobbin, and over guide rolls so
situate as to cause the threads to pass over more than half the circumference of the
roughened feed roller in passing from one guide roller to the other; the yarns are
thence led to the ordinary feed rolls and to the yarn guides. By these means the
drag of the yarns from the warp roller or bobbins is rendered equable and certain,
and the ordinary feed rollers are therefore relieved of the excessive pressure hitherto
required to obtain a bite on all the yarns.
Another improvement relates to a positive locking device for the yarn guide
slides after overy endway movement they have received, so as to ensure their
A short shaft is carried
retaining the position to which they have been moved.
with lugs from the bridge piece on which the yarn guide slides are mounted; this
shaft is geared with the innin shaft, and carries a disc having portions of its peri-
phery cut away. The back of the yarn guide slides is provided with notches to
receive the edge of this disc, and those notches are brought into line with the disc
when one or other of the gaps is opposite the edge of the slide. The edge of the

page_text: rotating disc will enter the notch and securely lock the slide in place until the gap
in the disc again comes round.
Another improvement relates to mechanism for producing fine work in the above
class of circular knitting machines. For this purpose thread guides similar to
ordinary warp guides are so mounted as to be capable of receiving a half turn at
every reverse of the traverse motion of the thread guide bar to prevent the beards
of the needles catching on the entering sides of the guides, and a motion to and
from the needles for every course of work to enable them to lay their threads
around the stems of the needles; these guides are mounted in bearings on the under
side of the yarn guide slide, so as to be capable of rotating on their axes. The
stems of these guides carry pinions, the teeth of which gear with a stationary rack
bar of a width sufficient to admit of the guides receiving a forward and backward
motion to advance them into the line of the needles. The axial motion, which is
concurrent with and dependent on the end way motion, is obtained by reciprocations
of a slide mounted on the yarn guide slide, and furnished with pins entering into
diagonal slots in the yarn guide slide, the reciprocations of the slide being obtained
from a cam on the main shaft.
"
Another improvement consists in adapting to circular knitting machines the
'latch needle." To this end I remove the presser which closes the beards of the
ordinary needles, such instrument not being required in this case.
Lastly, the Invention relates to a stop motion applicable to both the above
described classes of machines, by which the knitting action of the machines may be
arrested either on the breakage of any one of the threads delivered to the machine,
or should any threads become slack from the passago of a knot into the yarn guides,
or any other cause.
The threads after delivery-by-the-feed_rollers are led through guide eyes in
-vertical-wires_mounted in rows in a swinging frame; these wires when not held-up-
by the yarns are free to fall, so that their lower ends project-below-tho-swinging
frame. A rocking or reciprocating bar actuated from any convenient shaft in the
machine is situated immediately below the swinging frame, and should a slack or
broken thread have allowed one of the wires to project below the swinging frame,
the reciprocating bar will carry back the swinging frame and release a snap, bolt,
or catch, which retains the belt shifting rod over the fast driving pulley, a tendency
boing given by a helical spring to the belt shifter to roturn when released the
driving belt onto the loose pulley.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Henry MoNary in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th March 1882.
WILLIAM HENRY MCNARY, of Brooklyn, in the United States of America, but
temporarily of Berlin, in the Empire of Germany. "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING
MACHINERY, AND IN THE PRODUCTION THEREBY OF KNITTED FABRICS OF A
NOVEL CHARACTER."
This Invention relates to improvements in circular knitting machines of the class
described in the Specification of the Patent granted to Alexander Melville Clark,
Twenty fourth January, One thousand eight hundred and seventy eight, No. 315,
and also to improvements in straight knitting machinery of the class described in
the Specification of a Patent granted to me, dated Fourteenth of May, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine, No. 1932.
The main object of the present Invention is to enlarge the capacity of these two
classes of knitting machines both in respect of speed of production and in the
variety of kinds and qualities of fabrics produced, and further to adapt these
machines to work up economically yarns of low tensile strength.
I will first describe the circular machino as adapted to the manufacture of a new
kind of knitted fabric in which two sets of threads are employed, the one set of
threads being knitted and floated alternately, and the other set of threads being
interlaced as weft threads with the knitted fabric, and I will then proceed to
describe my improvements in the straight machine to render it capable of
producing a like fabric.
I will next proceed to explain the manner of producing on the improved circular
and on the improved straight machine other kinds of knitted fabrics, namely, the
ordinary knitted web used for hosiery and produced from a single set of threads;
the knitting and floating alternately by the use of a single set of threads, which
produces a heavier class of work suitable for the heels and toes of stockings ; and,
lastly, the knitting of one set of threads and the laying in of a second set of
threads as weft threads for the purpose of producing a cloth of a close texture, and
with a face of a superior quality to the back.
The introduction of an improvement in the yarn feeding mechanism will be
incidentally described, and a means for arresting the motion of the mechanism on
the severance of the thread will be also explained.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a side clevation partly in section of the
circular machine complete.
In Sheet 1I. Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the machine, the mechanism for
feeding the yarns to the thread guides being in great part removed for the purpose
of shewing the underlying mechanism.
In Sheet III. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of part of the machine taken at
about the middle of its width.
In Sheet IV. the pattern plate and its mechanism is shewn in plan and elevation
at Figures 4 and 5.
Referring to these Figures I will now describe the general character of the
machine, and will afterwards refer to the special points of novelty presented by the
machine.
A is the bed plate of the machine, which may be mounted on any suitable
supports. Bolted to one end of this bed plate is a cylindrical frame B which
circumscribes the needle ring B' to which an intermittent or step-by-step axial
motion in either direction is imparted. A portion however of the cylinder B is cut

page_text: away to the extent, say, of one seventh of its periphery to form a space for the
reception of the segment-shaped plate C which is grooved on its inner face to
correspond with the ring B and forms a gate for giving the rising and falling
motions to those needles which are for the time in use.
The needle ring B' has formed on its outer periphery parallel vertical grooves a
to receive a series of bearded needles a¹ which are fitted with shanks a' that slide
freely up and down in the grooves a whenever the needles enter that section in
which they become subject to the action of the gate C but at every other portion
of the ring the needles are held in an elevated position by the lug a³ upon the
shank a projecting outwards into a narrow groove a cut in the inner periphery
of the hollow cylinder B.
The needle ring B' is supported by the annular plate B' bolted to the bed plate A
and extending beneath a flange B³ secured to the needle ring B¹. Motion is given
to the needle ring through a ring of teeth cut in the edge of this flange B³, into
which gears a spur pinion b at the bottom of the hollow sleeve b₁ which forins an
extended hub and is mounted on the fixed vertical stud b. This pinion b receives
its motion through the toothed wheel b³ (made fast to the upper end of the hub b¹)
from the switch wheel c upon the main driving shaft D.
It has been already mentioned that the needle ring B' has an intermittent or
step-by-step motion, and it is from the switch wheel c that this motion is derived.
This motion of the ring of needles serves to enable the needles to take up the
threads from the two sets of thread guides hereafter more particularly explained,
and to bring the needles in front of a presser, which by depressing the beards will
cause. looped work to be formed and the loops when formed to be passed to the
back of the needles: The-supply-of-this-thread-to-the-thread-guides.is_controlled
-by-a-novel arrangement_of_delivery_rollers which have a variable rotary motion
imparted to them through gearing carried by a swinging frame in connection with
the pattern plate E, as will be hereafter more fully described.
The switch wheel c (see the plan view and sectional elevation Sheets II, and III.)
has formed upon its periphery two threads c¹, c, of a width and depth to fit the
spaces between the teeth of the spur wheel b³, such threads running about five-
sixths of the way around the periphery in planes parallel with its plane of rotation
the remaining sixth being cut away to receive a movable piece or switch c³ on
which is formed a thread c. The thread of this switch is intended to form a con-
nection in either direction oblique to the plane of rotation of the wheel c between
one and the other of the two threads c¹, c³, the said movable piece being fitted to
turn on a pivot c³, to perinit of the direction of its obliquity being reversed. The
wheel 63 remains stationary while the parallel threads c', c², are passing between
its teeth, viz., during about five-sixths of the rotation of the main shaft D, and it
is driven while the oblique thread c is passing, viz., during about one-sixth of the
rotation of the main shaft D. The movement thus given to the wheel b³ and from
it by means of gears 6 and B³ to the needle ring B¹ is sufficient to rotate the
needle ring B' and its ring of needles a¹ a distance equal to that between the
centres of two adjacent needles, and the needle ring B' is moved in one or the other
direction according as the switch is set with its thread e running to the right
or left hand. The switch thus enables the needles to be traversed to the right or
left continuously for a given length of time for the purpose of knitting circular
work, or in opposite directions alternately when it is required to knit a fabric with
straight selvages, or to accumulate work at a given spot of the fabric.
The switch is locked with its thread in either position by two buttons d, d',
which are both firmly attached to the same pin d' mounted loosely in the wheel c
in a direction parallel to its axis. Screw stops fitted into the sides of the switch
wheel farthest from the locking buttons prevent the switch c³ from moving in
either direction farther than is necessary to change the operative position of the
threads c, and by bringing the button which is upon the opposite side of the
wheel c to that against which the stop that is in action bears the switch will be
locked. The buttons d, d¹, each of which consists of a small circular piece of metal

page_text: having radial projections on opposite edges (the projections upon one button being
set at right angles to those of the other button) serve a double purpose, acting as
the agents by which the switch c³ and consequently the obliquity of the thread c* is
changed, as well as securing the switch in its position after changing it. The
front corners c of the switch where the lugs of the buttons a, a, come in contact
with it when they are turned, as hereafter described, are rounded or bevilled, so
that they serve as cams by which the buttons effect the shifting of the switch from
one to the other of its two operative positions. A quarter rotation of the pin d²
serves to move one button out of the way sufficiently to unlock the switch c³,
while the other button acts upon the curved corner of the switch and shifts it,
and then locks it in its reversed position. A V-shaped projection on a spring d³
entering corresponding V-shaped notches in the button prevents the latter from
turning except when acted upon by the switch lover e.
The mechanism by means of which the changes of this switch are regulated for
the purpose of giving a desired form to the article knitted is shewn best in
plan and elovation at Figures 4 and 5, Sheet IV., before reforred to, and is
constituted as follows:-
E is a circular studded pattern plate mounted loosely on the vertical stud E¹
which is securely fixed in the rear end of the bed plate A. The pattern plate E is
furnished with spur teeth corresponding in number to the needles with which the
needle ring is fitted, and it gears directly with the switch wheel c in a manner
similar to the wheel 6. Fitted on to the stud E' above the pattern plate is the
forked lever e which serves to operate the switch. The prongs e¹, e³, of the lever
extend sufficiently far to enter the path of the buttons d, d' (as they are revolved
by the rotation of the switch wheel), and allow such buttons (one or other of them)
to strike the fork, thereby receiving a quarter turn. This axial motion of the
buttons d, d¹, will shift the switch whenever it is required to reverse the motion
of the needle ring B¹ and pattern plate E. The prongs e¹, e², of the lever e are
placed sufficiently far apart so that as the switch wheel c rotates but one of the
buttons d, d, will come in contact with the fork at one time. This fork e has a
lateral motion imparted to it by means of the pins on the pattern plate E (as will
be presently described) sufficient to bring into action whichever of the prongs e', e³,
is required to act, and it is held in either of its operative positions until changed
by mechanism designed for that purpose by the V-shaped end of a spring e
entering a correspondingly shaped notch in the forked lever. When one of these
prongs has acted upon a button the quarter turn given to this button will clear
this button from the renewed action of that prong until the other prong of the
lever has been brought to act on the button upon the opposite side of the wheel c
and given to it a quarter turn; this will again bring the first button into the
circle of contact with the lever e whenever the prong upon that side is brought
sufficiently near the wheel:
Returning now to the forked lever e it will be necessary to explain how that
lever is actuated by the pattern plate E for the purpose of effecting the change in
the position of the switch.
1
Secured in a longitudinal slot in the lever e in such a manner as to have a
motion parallel with the lever e only is a slide beld in position longitudinally
(except while being acted upon by mechanism to be described) by a snap bolt
attached to the slide, and taking into ratchet teeth formed in a bracket f² carried
by the forked lever. Pendent from this slide is a square stem f³, against the back
and front of which (see the detached views, Figures 5) tappets f, fs, slide. The
stems of these tappets pass up through guides in the slide f, and they are connected
together by a rock lever fe which has its fulcrum on the pendent stem f³, and is
intended to cause the depression of one tappet on the rising of the other so as to
bring the same within reach of a pattern pin on the plate E. Each tappet it will
be seen is provided with a double vertical incline, which when pressed upon by a
pattern pin will cause the endway traverse of the slide to bring the flat side of
the stem into line with the advancing pattern pin. It is only when the tappet

page_text: is in its depressed position that the advancing pattern pin can reach it. When the
pattern pin has struck the stem f" the shifting of the switch will result therefrom,
and the direction of the traverse of the pattern plate E will be reversed. The next
pattern pin in succession will act upon the incline on the opposite side of the
tappet, press end wise the slide fin its slot, and the pin will then press on the flat
face of the stem and shift the forked lever as before, but in the opposite direction,
thereby reversing the position of the switch and consequently the traverse of the
pattern plate.
The pattern plate is formed with concentric rings of holes to receive tight fitting
pins which will be arranged to correspond to the work required, and will be
brought into use so as to control the motions of the needle ring (through the fork
and switch wheel), the positions of the pins being determined by the knitter after
the manner practised by the weaver in adjusting his jacquard apparatus. Tho
pins will be of two different lengths, the longer ones to strike the stem f³ of the
slide in order to shift the position of the fork, and the shorter ones to strike the
inclined tappets ƒ ƒ³, and thereby to shift the slide fendwise so as to bring one
of these tappets into position to receive a blow from an advancing long pin. Both
the short and long pins it should be remarked will serve to traverse the slide, thus
a long pin may strike one of the inclined tappets and move the slide f so as to
bring the stem f³ in line with the pin to receive its blow. At the next movement
of the pattern plate this pin which bas just acted as a traversing pin will strike
the slide and rock the forked switch lever. It should be further stated that so
long as circular work is being produced no shifting of the forked lever or change
of the switch is required, but when selvaged or shaped work is to be commenced
then the shifting of the switch will be required, and it is at this moment that a
long pin must come into contact with the stem of the slide f and rock the forked
lever The-pattern-indicated on the pattern plate by fixed pins terminates at
either end by means of fixed double_inclines_f* f*,-one-of-which-is-situate-in-a-
circle beyond that which carries the outermost pin, and the other in the inner
circle next adjacent to the innermost pin.
When the last of the set of pattern pins has come into action that tappet of the
slide which has been presented to those pins will now by reason of the shifting
of the slide fin its guide be brought in line with a fixed double incline, say f*, on
the pattern plate E. The next advance movement of the pattern plate will cause
this incline to lift the depressed tappet, say f, or that at the front of the stem ƒ³,
as at Fig. 5, and thereby to depress the corresponding tappet f' on the back of
the stem and bring it into the requisite position for meeting the next advancing
pattern pin. The pins will now in succession act upon the inclines of this tappet
and force back the slide f until the tappet f' is brought into line with the other
fixed incline f¹ on the pattern plate. This will cause a reversal of the
movements above mentioned, and thus the work. will proceed alternately,
commencing at opposite ends of the pattern. If the slide has not reached its
exact position the tendency of the before mentioned snap bolt f¹ will be to advance
it to that position as well as retaining it until the slide is pressed further forward
by the pattern pin next brought into action.
To enable the machine to make circular work, straight selvage work, and
fashioned work all in one and the same article, there will be set up in the
concentric circles of holes, say, a long pin in circle 1, a long pin in circle 2, a short
pin in circle 3, a long pin in circle 4; in circle 5 the inclined stop fi* will be
situate, and in an outside circle marked 0 the other inclined stop f* will be placed.
Thus, supposing the pin of circle 1 has set the switch lever for changing the switch
and moving the pattern plate E in the direction of the arrow the incline f* will
raise the inclined tappet f' and depress the tappet f*; the pin in circle 2 will now
travel round until it comes to the opposite side of the switch lever; it will then
strike the tappet f* opposed to it, thereby shifting the slide fand bringing the
stem f up into line. By the next movement of the pattern plate the pin 2 will
strike the stem and shift the lever.

page_text: The rotation of the pattern plate being now reversed it will bring round the
short pin in circle 3, and by causing that pin to strike the tappet f* will move the
slide still nearer to the fulcrum of the forked lever. The short pin will, however,
pass under the lever without acting upon it and consequently circular work will
continue to be produced until the long pin of the fourth circle is brought into
action. This pin advancing to the tappet f in the same direction as the pin 3 will
strike the tappet and thereby cause the slide f to present its stem f³ to the pin 4.
At the next movement of the pattern plate this pin will strike the stem and
reverse the position of the switch lever. This completes the course of the pattern.
The knitting will then continue and the pattern plate will rotate in the reverse
direction until the inclined stop comes under the tappet f, and by striking this
tappet and passing under it will lift it out of action and depress the tappet f into
the path of the pin 3. On this pin 3 coming into action upon the tappet f the
direction of the traverse of the slide will be reversed and thus the repetition of
the pattern of work will be continued.
The longitudinal motion of the needles necessary to form the stitches takes
placo between the intermitted movements of the needle ring B' occasioned by the
passage of the parallel threads c', c², upon the switch wheel c through the teeth of
the wheel b³.
The mechanism which gives this up-and-down motion to the needles is
the same as that described in the Specification of the Patent granted to
Fred. Driffell Poulter, November first, One thousand eight hundred and seventy
eight, No. 4422.
This motion is taken from a crank plate keyed on the end of the driving shaft D
by means of a link which connects it with the rock lever F keyed on the rock
shaft F (see general view, Fig. 1), and from this rock shaft by a second arm and
link an adjustable motion is given to the gate which occupies the space cut away
in the cylinder B, as before mentioned.
In order to provide knitted work of the first kind mentioned, viz., one set of
yarns knitted and floated alternately and another set of yarns or threads interlaced
as a weft, two sets of threads are required, which are presented to the needles by
two series of thread guides, the guides being carried by an upper and lower
slide M, M, and the number of guides in each set corresponding to the number of
needles in the gate C. These guides are fitted to a bridge piece B* (sec Sheets II.
and III.), which covers the opening cut in the outer ring B for the gate. Under-
lying the upper slide M is the presser N, which receives a forward and backward
motion for the purpose of pressing the needles and closing the beards according to
the requirements of the work. This presser lies in a rebate in the upper face of
the bridge piece B* (sce Sheets II. and III.), and above it is fitted the slide M,
which is held to the bridge piece by screws or pins passing through longitudinal
slots in the slide. A similar arrangement is employed for connecting the lower
slide Al' with the under face of the bridge piece B. Underlying the back part
of the presser plate N are two straight sliding bars N1, N2, which together fill a
horizontal recess cut in the outer part of the bridge piece B*. The bar N¹
carries two pins n, which enter diagonal slots n¹ formed in the overlying part of
the presser plate N. These diagonal slots, which are parallel to each other, serve
as inclined planes for the pins n to act upon and by the endway movement of the
bar N' to advance the presser plate towards the needles or draw it back out of
their range.
When the presser plate is advanced the beards on the descent of the
needles will be depressed and the threads underlying the beards will be drawn
through the loops of the work which hang upon the needles. By drawing the
presser plate out of action the threads presented to the needles will simply form
Hoating threads or interlaced threads. When the rotary traverse of the ring of
needles is reversed through the action of the pattern plate above described
it will be necessary to readjust the position of the thread guide slides to
enable them to present their threads to the needles in such a manner as to
ensure all the needles which are at work taking up a supply of thread.

page_text: :
It will be understood that at every reversal of the motion of the ring of needles
one needle will be dropped out of work and a fresh one will be brought into work;
it will be necessary, therefore, immediately before each reversal to shift the thread
guide slides so as to bring a thread in front of the fresh needle which is to coine
into action. This remark will apply equally to both slides M and M', but in
addition to this it will be requisite to give to the lower slide an independent
motion, it being necessary to traverse it to-and-fro at every alternate step-bp-step
motion of the needles.
Before following out the action of the presser it should be explained that the
sliding bars N¹, N³, are connected together by a peculiar construction of coupling,
which is thrown into and out of use by connection with a swinging frame, which
carries change gear like that shewn and described in the Specification of Alexander
Melville Clark's Patent, dated January Twenty fourth, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy eight, No. 315.
This coupling, shewn in plan view at Fig. 2, Sheet II., and in the detached
view, Fig. 3, Sheet III., consists of a horizontal sliding forked piece N³, one prong
of which locks into a notch in the lower sliding bar N, the other being connected
to the upper bar by means of a screw passing through a slot in that prong, and
moving freely between guides fixed to the sliding bar. This forked piece is con-
nected to a rocking bar n which has its fulcrum on a pin projecting from the
table of the machine, and receives motion from the swinging frame, to which it is
connected by a link rod n**.
The movements of the swinging frame are controlled by tappets on the pattern
plate, as described in the Patent of A. M. Clark above mentioned, and by this
-means-the-sliding-bars-N', N', are locked together when it is desired to bring the
presser_into_an_acting-position,-and-unlocked-when-it-is-desired_to_maintain_the_
presser in action.
The sliding bar N2 is extended towards one side of the machine, and it is fitted
at its extended end with a bowle n² which takes into a cam groove formed on the
periphery of the boss of a spur wheel n³. This spur wheel is geared through an
intermediate wheel n*** with a pinion D² on the main shaft D, and it thus receives
one rotation for every two rotations of the main shaft. By reference to the cut of
the cam of the spur wheel n³ it will be seen that a to-and-fro motion is imparted
to the sliding bar N' at every second movement of the needle ring. From what has
been already said it will be understood that when the two sliding bars N¹ and N
are in connection they will move together.
Standing up from the lower sliding bar N' are brackets carrying a bar N,
through which a cam-shaped slot is cut. Entering this cam groove is a pin n³
projecting down from a rock lever N that is forked to embrace the switch wheel.
This rock lever has for its fulcrum a fixed pin no carried on a bracket from the
bridge piece B*, a longitudinal slot being made in the end of the lever to receive
the pin and allow of its having a slight endway motion. This endway motion is
produced by the reciprocation of the cam bar N' acting upon the pin n³ for the
purpose of allowing the prongs of the forked end of the lever to advance within
the circuit of the projections c' on the switch of the switch wheel, one of which
projections striking the lever will move it to the right or left hand, as the case
may be. This rocking movement of the lever N³ is transmitted to an underlying
rock lever No through a pin n standing up vertically from that lever, and pro-
jecting through a longitudinal slot made to receive it in the lever Nº. The lever N
is connected by pins to bracket pieces M³ carried by the lower thread guide slide,
as shewn in the cross section, Fig. 3b, Sheet III., for the purpose of imparting the
requisite endway motions to that slide.
Standing up from a fixed bar of the framing is a fulcrum pin n³ for the lever No.
This fulcrum pin serves also as a joint pin to connect together the two forked
pieces of which the lever N° is constructed. The means for giving rigidity to this 5
lever and shifting the forked pieces relatively to each other for the purpose of
setting the prongs of the tail piece in the proper position with respect to the

page_text: switch wheel after every shift of the lower thread guide bar will be explained
hereafter. As the switch wheel rotates the lever N' will be rocked by the pro-
jection c on the switch striking a prong of the lever N³, which through the jointed
lever No (see the detached view, Fig. 2º), will traverse the lower thread guide slide
the distance of one needle either to the right or left, according to the position of
the switch. The reason for forking the lever N6 at its forward end is simply for
the convenience of clearing adjacent parts of the mechanism, but the tail end of
the lever is forked to embrace the switch wheel, and it is by means of the switch
of this wheel that the lever after being rocked, as explained, is restored to its
normal position, and caused to move back the lower yarn guide slide M'. The
upper yarn guide slide M is acted upon by a third rock lever Ne*, which has for
its fulcrum the pin n³. This lever carries a vertical pin n which passes up to and
projects through a longitudinal slot in a fourth rock lever N**. The rear ends of
the rock levers N, NG*, are forked like the other levers to embrace the switch
wheel, and it is through the action of these levers, which are acted upon by the
switch wheel in the same manner as the levers N5, No, that the upper thread guide
slide M receives its motion.
Referring to the plan view, Fig. 2, and also to the detached views, Figures 2
and 2b, it will be seen that attached to the jointed lever N° (near its joint) is a
transverse bracket nº, on the face of which is mounted a short rock bar n¹º carrying
a pair of compound wedges n", n", at its opposite ends. These wedges are
intended alternately to drop into the spaces between the jointed limbs of the
lever No, thrust the tail piece to the right or left, as the case may be, and render
the lever for the time being rigid, as against the lateral pressure of the rotating
switch wheel. The rocking of the bar no with its wedges is effected by means of
inclined tappets n' on the underside of the forked lever N, which at each recipro-
cation strikes down one or other of the wedges n", and thus locks together the
parts constituting the jointed lever No.
It should be here remarked that the levers N5, N5*, receive not only a rocking
motion, as above described, but also a movement in the direction of their length
to enable them at times to miss the action upon their tail ends of the projection C
of the switch c³. The special object of this endway movement of the rock levers
No, No, will be hereafter explained when describing the process of knitting. For
the present it will suffice to say that when the tail of the lever N³ is drawn out of
reach of the switch its tappets n will be clear of the rock bar n10. It will
however be necessary at this time to unlock the jointed lever N, and to set its tail
end to an intermediate position with respect to the front portion of the same. For
this purpose the rock lever N³ is provided with a second pair of inclined tappets na
which, coming into contact with the rock bar, will bring it to a horizontal position
and cause its wedges to bear equally against the opposite sides of the tail piece.
Thus at this time the only one of the four levers which can be acted upon by the
switch will be the lever NG*.
.
I have already described the connection of the lever N' with the sliding bar N³
through the cam bar N', and the object for such connection I have now only to
state that a similar arrangement is provided for connecting the rock lever N** with
the sliding bar N', and thus by means of these two bars N1, N2, which are nt
certain times locked together, as already explained, the two rock levers N³, N³,
are advanced together towards the switch wheel to be acted upon by it or are
withdrawn out of its reach. When the sliding bars N1, N2, are disconnected the
bar N only will be in action, and will present the rock lever N° alone to the action
of the switch wheel.
From the foregoing description it will be understood that as the position of the
switch is controlled by the pattern plate, so the movements of the four levers No, No,
and M**, N**, will all be subject to the same control.
The levers N, N*, will however be acted upon when the switch comes to the
front, and the levers No, No*, will be similarly acted upon when the switch passes
round to the back.

page_text: I have said that the machine is shown at Sheets I. to III. as arranged for
knitting and floating the upper thread and interlacing the lower thread as a weft
thread. When the needle ring is moving in the direction of the arrow 1 in Fig. 2,
that is, to the right, and the cam on the spur wheel n³ has pushed the lower
sliding bar N in the direction of the arrows 2, the needles in the gate C are at
this time in their highest position. The bar N2 being at this time connected with
the upper bar N', both bars will be moved in the direction indicated, the presser N
will be drawn back and the cam bars N4, N**, will be caused to throw back towards
the switch wheel the two upper short lovers N3, N5*, so as to bring the prongs of
the two levers into the path of the switch. The motion backwards of tho
lever No* through its right hand tappet n acts upon the rocking bar n10, and
depresses its right hand wedge " between the divided portions of the lever N,
thereby throwing the right hand prong of the tail end of the lever against the side
of the switch wheel and locking the limbs of the lever No. The switch as it
revolves rocks the lever N5*, and through the lever No moves the upper yarn
guide slide M one step in the direction of the arrow 3. This movement of the
yarn guide slide takes place immediately after the step-by-step movement of the
needle ring in the same direction, and it is always made while the needles are in
their highest position. The needles then descend without knitting either sets of
threads. The switch wheel continuing to rotate a projection e' on the switch will
next strike the tail end of both the levers No, No, and thereby throw both yarn
guide slides over to the left or in the opposite direction to the arrow 3 while the
needles are still down, the lower yarn guide being one step in advance of the upper
yarn guide.
As the needles rise both sets of threads_willbe-at-tho-backs-of-the-
needles. The needles then move to the right, and the switch will by this time
-have-reached-the-lever N, and its projection striking the right hand prong will
carry it over to the right, and with it the lever No, which will thus carry back the
lower yarn guide slide one step to the right, at which time both sets of thread
guides will stand in a position the one immediately over the other. The can on
the spur wheel ³ in its rotation will then draw the sliding bar N in the direction
of the dotted arrow 4, at the same time withdrawing the two levers N°, N**, from
the path of the switch and advancing the presser N, the tappets n¹s on the lever N³
at the same time rocking the wedge bar into a horizontal position, by which means
the right hand wedge is withdrawn. The lever No will now be restored to its
normal position, the right hand prong at the tail end being thrown from the side
of the switch wheel. The yarn guide slides and presser will remain unmoved
during the next rotation of the main shaft, so that the needles at their next descent
will knit the upper threads. The lower set of threads will however not be knitted
by reason of the beards of the needles being pressed before reaching the threads.
These threads will therefore be thrown to the back of the needles, together with
the loops of the previous course of work. During the action of the thread guide
slides and the needles immediately preceding that just mentioned when the presser
was in its back position, the upper yarn guide slide held its threads opposite the
spaces between the needles. At this time therefore there were none of the upper
threads in front of the needles, and consequently no knitting action took place on
the descent of the needles. While tho needles were still down the thread guide
slides by being returned to their normal position, laid their threads at the back of
the needles where they remained until the next delivery of yarn. Upon this
delivery followed the knitting action just described. It should be remarked that
the lower threads will lie at the back of the fabric under the floated threads of the
upper yarn guides, and they will therefore be tied to the back of the fabric only
by the float of the upper threads, that is, by the crossing or interlacing the upper
series of threads.
In describing the action of the needles, and thread guides, and presser, it has
been assumed that means are employed to pull over the work as the courses of the
loops are formed on the needles. This means, which is known to the knitter
as the "wiper," I propose to employ in the form shewn and described in the

page_text: Specification of a Patent granted to me, Fourteenth May, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine, No. 1932.
The mechanism for controlling the delivery of the upper and lower threads or
yarns to the yarn guides will be understood by reference to Sheet I., Fig. 1
representing it in end elevation. R is the pair of upper yarn delivery or feed
rollers, and R¹ is the pair of lower yarn delivery or feed rollers mounted in frames
H, H, bolted to the bed plate A. Tho yarn which these rollers deliver to their
respective thread guides is drawn from beams or bobbins, not shown in the
Drawing, by groups or rollers R2, R2, carried by brackets on the framing H,
whence the yarn passes to the upper and lower pair of delivery rollers respectively.
These groups of rollers R2, R2*, are employed to render the drag of the yarns
from the warp rollers or bobbins equable and certain, and to relieve the ordinary
feed rollers from the excessive pressure on the yarns hitherto required to obtain a
bite on all the yarns. This improved feeding and delivering mechanism is shewn
more clearly in Sheet V. of the Drawings, where Fig. 6 is a cross section of a
portion of a circular machine with one set of the delivery and feed rollers applied
thereto, and Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of the same. These views also show the
application of a stop motion to the machine, and will be hereafter described. The
roller R, which is mounted between the warp beam and the rollers R, is of larger
diameter than these rollers, and its periphery is coated with sand paper or other-
wise roughened. To this roughened roller the yarns are led from the warp beam
or from bobbins or creels, they being held in contact therewith by means of guide
rollers 1 and 2 which hold the yarn in contact therewith for about three quarters
of its circumference; from the guide roller 2 the yarns pass to the bite of the
ordinary feed rollers R, R. The roller R is driven from the lower feed roller R
by spur gear, so proportioned as to give it the same peripherical speed as the roller
from which it is driven. By this means the feed rolls R are relieved from the
pressure which was necessary to drag the yarn and so turn the warp beain or
bobbins, and as the roughened roller has an equal bite on all the yarns, this work
will not as hitherto have to be in part performed by the needles themselves.
Such threads, as from unequal winding are liable to hold to the beam or bobbins,
will now be dragged therefroin or broken between the roller and the beam or
bobbins, and not as otherwise near the needles, which prevent the possibility of
stopping the machine before the work was pressed off, and had thereby caused
defects in the knitted fabric. The upper front rollers can be removed at pleasure,
their axles entering vertical guide ways in the frames H, H', open at the top so
that the rollers may be lifted out. The lower roller of the pair R carries at one
end a gear wheel keyed to it. The frame H at this end of the roller has pivotted
to it by a stud directly opposite the end of the shaft of the lower roller a swinging
fraine, to which is attached a train of change gearing. The construction of the
swinging frame and its appurtenances, the arrangement of gearing, and the mode
of operating the swinging frame from the pattern plate are the same as described
and shewn in the Specification of the Patent of A. M. Clark above referred to, and
therefore need no further description.
The changing of the positions of the swinging frame by which one or other of
the change gears is brought into contact with the pinion that drives the lower
roller R for the purpose of changing the speed of the rollers, and thereby supplying
n varying quantity of yarn to the needles when it is desired to make tight and
loose work in the same article, or otherwise vary the character of the work, is
effected automatically during the process of knitting. The locking together and
unlocking of the sliding bars N', N, is at the same time effected through the
swinging frame by inclines on the pattern plate, which act on the lever w to
change the position of the swinging frame. The lever wis pivotted near its centre
to a bracket w' attached to the bed plate A, and the other end extends out to and
over the centre of the tappet slide fupon the switch lever e (see the plan view,
Fig. 2, Sheet II.). This slide carries at its centre a vertical pin k, which is
supported in position by a collar and projects down through the slide to reach an

page_text: incline on the pattern plate, the office of which is to lift the pin when it is
required to shift the position of the swinging frame. The upper end of this pin k
is in contact with the underside of the lever w, and when therefore it is lifted by
the inclines k' arranged so that at definite times they will run under the pin k
and push it up, the lever w will be forced up and change the position of the swinging
frame in the manner described in the before mentioned Patent.
The pair of rollers R' for supplying the threads or yarns to the lower yarn guide
slide are driven by the gearing 1 to 8 from the pinion D2 on the main shaft, and
the threads or yarns passing from the nip of these rollers R' are led through
slots made for that purpose in the upper yarn guide slide and presser, and they are
threaded through the tubes of the lower yarn guide slide.
I have now described the several motions by which the knitting is effected and
explained the means for obtaining and controlling those motions, but I will
reserve my explanation of the order in which the motions are controlled for the
purpose of varying the character of the work until I come to explain the nature
of the diagrams in Sheets VII. and VIII.
I will now proceed to explain the means employed for locking the yarn guide
slides after every endway motion they have received so as to ensure their retaining
the position to which they have been moved. This locking contrivance is illustrated
at Figures 8 and 9, Sheet VI. It will be seen that it has reference to the locking
of the upper slide M, but a precisely similar arrangement may be adapted to the
lower slide M. Projecting from the bridge B are two lugs which form_bearings
for a cross shaft M that lies parallel with the main driving shaft D. Keyed to
this shaft M' is a disc M³ having two portions of its periphery cut away. In the
back of the slide M are two notches M and M, which represent-two-positions-of-
the slide. By bringing one or other of these notches into line with the disc M³
-which-is-done-when-one or other of the gaps in the periphery of the disc comes
opposite the edge of the slide), the rotation of the disc will cause the edge of the
disc to enter the notch and thus lock the slide in place. Rotary motion is imparted
to the disc M through a train of gearing from the main shaft D, and it is thereby
caused to rotate at the same speed as that shaft. From this explanation it will
be understood that the endway motions of the thread guide slides take place at the
moment that the gaps in the disc are presented to the slides, and that two motions
of the slides may take place during one rotation of the locking discs.
Referring now to the diagrams on Sheet VII., it will be seen what is the
character of the new work produced by the machine when two sets of threads are
used after the manner above described. In these diagrams the threads of the
upper yarn guide slide are represented as light threads, being shown by double
lines only, and the threads of the lower yarn guide slide are represented as dark
threads, being shaded by cross lines; the loops and the floated threads, it will be
soen, are all formed from the light threads, and the dark threads are interlaced
with the fabric by lying between the floats and the knitted fabric.
Diagram I. shews two yarn guide slides, each fitted with five guides which stand
the one set immediately over the other. The upper guides carry light threads, and
the lower guides dark threads. In this diagram the needles are supposed to have
descended and knit and risen again, and one row of loops is thereby formed. In
diagram II, the needles are supposed to be at their highest position. They are
represented as moved one step to the right, accompanied by the upper yarn guides,
the lower yarn guide slide remaining quiescent. The result is that the upper or
light threads remain between the needles, while the lower or dark threads aro laid
in front of the advanced needles. The presser having been withdrawn out of
action, the needles will now descend without knitting. In diagrain III. the needles
are now supposed to have descended to their lowest position, and the upper and
lower yarn guide slides have moved one step to the left, thereby carrying their
threads over the heads of the needles. Thus, when the needles next rise, the
threads will be at their back. In diagram IV., the needles having risen, are
represented as moved one step to the right, the upper yarn guide slide at the same

page_text: time remaining quiescent, while the lower yarn guide slide accompanied the
needles. The upper threads are thus laid in front of the stems of the needles,
while the lower threads remain between the needles. The presser will now be in
an advanced position, and on the next lescent of the needles a row of loops will be
knitted from the upper threads only, the lower threads which were in front of the
needles being thrown to the back, as represented in diagram I.
The mechanism above described serves also to produce the fabric illustrated at
Fig. 10, Sheet VIIL, which is a diagram of a form of work also produced by two
sets of threads, the light threads being in this case always knitted, and the dark
threads laid in between the connecting threads of the contiguous loops.
In order to produce this work it is only necessary to disconnect the sliding
bars N, N, which is done through the swinging frame, an incline ¹ on the pattern
plate striking up the pin of the slide f, and thereby moving the swinging frame
as above explained.
The above described mechanisin is further capable of producing the work
illustrated at Fig. 11, Sheet VIII., which is a diagram of a form of work produced
by the employment of one set of threads only, such threads being supplied to the
upper yarn guides, the machine being arranged and operated in the manner
described when making the new fabric, illustrated by the diagram in Sheet VII.
When it is desired to produce the ordinary knitted fabric in this machine, the
upper thread guide slide only will be used, and the sliding bars N', N³, will he
uncoupled when the presser is in its forward position, so as to act upon the beards
of the needles at every descent of those needles.
It will be understood that when the upper set of threads only is used, and it is
required to produce alternately plain knitting, or floating and knitting, the angle
pieces on the pattern plate E are suitably adjusted to effect the change automa-
tically.
To produce the above described knitted fabric, viz., a fabric in the manufacture
of which two sets of threads are employed, one set being knitted and floated
alternately, and the other interlaced as weft threads on straight knitting machinery
of the class described in the Specification of the Patent granted to me, dated
Fourteenth May, One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine, No. 1932, certaiu
modifications of the movements of the yarn guides are required consequent upon
the needles moving vertically up and down without travelling laterally. In
Sheets IX. and X. so much of the straight machine so modified as is necessary to
illustrate this part of the Invention is shown. Fig. 12, Sheet IX., is the central
portion of a straight machine in plan view, and Fig. 13, Sheet X., is a cross section
on the line 1, 2, of Fig. 12. The upper and lower yarn guide slides M and M',
and the presser N are mounted on the top of the longitudinal rib A¹ standing up
from the bed plate A. The yarn guides are mounted so as to slide freely longitu-
dinally, and the presser lies in a rebate on the rib A', so as to slide to and from
the needles. Z is a horizontal sliding bar for controlling the traverse of the yarn
guides. This bar is mounted in standards at the back of the machine, and
provided with rack teeth which gear with the switch wheel c. This bar carries on its
upper side two adjustable tappets z, z', that extend towards the switch wheel, and
are brought into the path of the buttons of the switch wheel alternately to reverse
the direction of the switch. The distance apart of the tappets determines the
amount of traverse given to the yarn guides. Below the presser bar N the sliding
bar Nis mounted. This bar, which extends the full width of the machine, carries
pins n which enter diagonal slots in the presser bar N.
A bowle n³ which this bar N¹ carries enters a groove in a cam n³ (driven by
spur gear from the inain shaft), and by the rotation of this cam the bowle is caused
to transmit a reciprocating endway motion to the bar N³, so as to place the presser
alternately in an advanced position during one course, and in a backward position
at the next rotation of the main shaft. Lying in a rebate in the rib A', parallel
with the bar N¹, are two short bars or slides N* and N³ for controlling the motions

page_text: of the upper and lower yarn guide slides. These bars lie in the same line but apart
from each other, and are provided with rack teeth at their rear edges.
The bar N is situate opposite the switch wheel, and its teeth gear into the worm
wheel 63, which is driven by the switch passing up through its teeth as the switch
is carried around from the front towards the back of the machine, the needles being
at this time in their highest position. The other bar N³ is situated to the left, and
its teeth gear with a toothed sector forming one end of a rock lever Z¹, the opposite
end of which rock lever gears with rack teeth on the edge of the horizontal slide Z.
This slide receives its endway motion to the right hand from the switch as it is
carried down through the teeth 2 of the bar Z at the time the needles are in their
lowest position. Fitted to the bars N2, N3, are bracket bearings, in which are
mounted horizontal axles carrying the long spur pinions N, N³, and notched
discs N**, N*, respectively. The peripheries of the discs interlock with notches
cut in projections m, m*, m', 'm', formed on the back edge of the yarn
slides MI, M, as seen best in the cross sections, Figures 13 and 14. The disc N**
is so cut and the projections m, m', are so arranged (see Fig. 14) that either slide M
or M shall be free while the other is locked to the sliding bar N2, or both slidos
will be left free to move independently as required, while the disc N** is cut see
(Fig. 13) so as to lock both the upper and lower yarn guide slides M, M¹, to tho
sliding bar N³, and to leave them free as will be required in the series of motions
to be hereinafter described. Both the discs are continuously rotated by their
respective pinions N, N³, which gear with spur wheels n³, n³, keyed on the
shaft n. This shaft, which carries the can n before mentioned, receives
motion from the main shaft D through the spur gears n³ rotating once for
every two rotations of the main shaft. M' is the forked rock lever operated
"by the switch of the switch-wheel; and it is used to reset the position-of-the-yarn-
-guide-slides.at.cach reversal in the direction_of_motion_of_the_yarn_slides.
front end of this lever stands between the adjustable tappets m², m³, of the yarn
guide slides, ready to act upon them when they are brought up to the sides of tho
lever. The tappets m³ of the lower yarn guide slide are screwed to a bracket or
bridge piece m standing up from the lower slide M', and brought round the sliding
bar N to the underside of the lever M². See Fig. 15.
Tho
On starting the machine the motions of the parts will be as follows:-The
needles being in their highest position the switch passes in the direction of the
arrow, Fig. 12, through the worm wheel that gears into and drives the sliding
bar N2, the disk N** being locked to the lower yarn guide slide. This yarn guide
slide will now move one step to the left, and lay its threads under the beards of tho
needles, the upper yarn guide slide remaining stationary will hold its threads
between the needles. The presser bar being in its rear position, the needles will
descend without knitting. While the needles are down the switch will pass through
the teeth of the horizontal slide Z, and move it in the direction of the arrow. Tuis
motion will be transmitted to the sliding bar N³ by the toothed rock lever Z', and
move it to the left one step. The disc No being at this time in a position that
locks both yarn guide slides to the sliding bar No, they will both be carried one step
to the left and will lay their threads over the heads of tho needles, so that as the
needles rise the threads will lie at the back of the needles, forming at this time a
float from the threads of the upper yarn guides. The needles now rising again to
their highest position, the presser is brought forward; the disc N* will meanwhile
in its rotation have interlocked with the upper yarn guide slide, while the disc N**
will be free from both yarn slides. As the switch again passes through the rack teeth
of the worm wheel 6,3 the sliding bar N is driven with tho coupled upper yarn slide
one step to the left, laying its threads under the beards of the needles, the lower
yarn guide slide remaining stationary, its threads will stand between the needles,
and on their descending a row of loops will be knitted from the upper threads only;
the loops of the lower threads which were laid under the beards of the needles
when they were first in their highest position will now be thrown over the beads
of the needles to the back. This order of alternate knitting and floating will

page_text: continue till one of the tappets or on the bar Z is brought up to and placed in
the path of one of the buttons on the switch wheel, and the position of the switch"
will thereby be changed as the switch wheel continues to rotate, and the switch
will consequently reverse the position of the forked rock lever M, the front end of
which will reset the position of both the yarn guide slides before the switch again
passes through the wheel to recommence the above series of motions of the yarn
guide slides in the opposite direction.
To make the fabric shewn at Figure 10, Sheet VIII., on this improved straight
machine, it will be necessary to change the disc N** for one cut like that shewn in
Fig. 14ª, Sheet X., so that it may at one rotation of the main shaft D act upon
both yarn guide slides, and at the next upon the upper yarn guide slide only. It
will also be necessary to remove the projection m from the upper yarn guide
slide M, in order that the disc N* may act only on the lower yarn guide slide.
The presser bar will be held continuously in its advanced position by disconnecting
the bar N¹ from the cam n*. During the first rotation of the main shaft both
yarn guide slides will be moved one step (according to the position of the switch),
say, to the left by the disc N*, while the needles are in their highest position,
laying the upper threads under the beards of the needles, and the lower threads
across their stems below the presser. As the needles descend, a row of loops will be
knitted from the upper threads, and the lower threads, which were laid across tho
stems of the needles below the presser bar, will be thrown over the hends of the
needles to the back, leaving the lower threads lying across the knitted loops of the
upper threads. While the needles are down, the disc N** will act on the lower
yarn guide slide only, and move it one step to the left, laying its threads at the
back of the needles as they rise, the upper yarn guide slide remaining stationary, and
its threads lying between the needles. At the second rotation of the main shaft,
the needles being at their highest position, the disc N** will act only on the upper
yarn guide slide and move it to the left, laying the threads over the floats of the
lower threads and under the beards of the needles; the lower yarn guide slide
remaining stationary, its threads will lio between the needles. The needles now
descend, knitting a row of loops from the upper threads; after the needles have
again risen to their highest position, the above series of motions will be repeated,
thereby interlacing the lower threads with the connecting threads of the contiguous
loops formed from the upper threads. To produce the fabric shown at Fig. 11, one
set of threads only is employed; these threads are supplied to the upper yarn guides,
the machine being arranged and operated as described for the purpose of making
the new fabric.
The threads will then be knitted and floated alternately as shewn.
When the ordinary knitted fabric is to be made the reciprocating bar N¹ is
disconnected from the cam n³, when the presser is in a forward position, so as to
act at every descent of the needles, and a step by step motion is given at each
rotation of the main shaft by a suitably cut disc N**, the disc No being removed
from the machine.
For the purpose of producing fine work in circular machines, I propose to use
thread guides similar in construction to those employed in the ordinary warp
knitting machine, as these admit of the machine being constructed of a finer
gauge. In order however to prevent the beards of the needles from catching into
the threads on the entering sides of the guides, the contrivance shewn in Sheet XI.
at Figures 16 and 17 is adopted. Fig. 16 is a partial plan view of the machine,
shewing the guides mounted in bearings on the underside of the yarn guide
slide M, so as to be capable of rotating on their axes; and Fig. 17 is a cross section
of this part of the machine. The guides me are made from pinion wire, which is
turned down to form journals, and one end is flattened and pierced to form the cyc
of the guide. The pinion teeth m³ gear into a rack m³ formed in a recess on the
face of a rack bar m³, which recess is made of a width greater than the length of
the pinion to admit of a forward and backward motion being given to the yarn
guides for the purpose of advancing them into the line of the needles and enabling
12

page_text: them to lay their threads around the stems of the needles. This advance motion
is obtained from a cam m² on the main shaft D. The rotation of this cam serves
to vibrate a horizontal rock lever, which is carried on a fixed fulcrum m". Linked
to the forward end of this lever is a slide m¹ furnished with pins, which take into
diagonal slots in the yarn guide slide. By the endway motion of the slide m¹s the
yarn guide slide M will be advanced to and withdrawn from the needles for the
purpose of presenting the threads to the beards of the needles. The axial motion
of the thread guides is concurrent with and depending on the end way motion of the
slide M, and the effect of this motion of the guides is to hold the threads in both
of their positions clear of the beards of the needles.
My last improvement consists in a stop motion applicable both to the circular
and straight machines. By this stop motion the knitting action of the machine
will be arrested, either on the slackening or breakage of any one of the threads
delivered to the machine, or on a knot passing into and being arrested by any one
of the yarn guides. This stop motion is shewn as applied to the improved circular
machine in Sheet I., but will be best understood by reference to Sheet V., where
Figures 6 and 7 shew it in sectional olevation and in plan view as applied to one
Bet of threads.
The yarns are led from the feed rollers R, R, through eyes in pendent wires,
then over a supporting rod R*, and thence down to the yarn guides. These
pendent wires slide freely up and down in a swinging frame Q pivotted to the
framing of the machine and project below it. Immediately below the swinging
frame a rocking bar Q having two steps on its upper surface is mounted in a
frame pivotted to the framing of the machine, and it is continuously rocked by an
_excentric-Q-on-the-main-shaft. -Behind-the-swinging-frame-Q-and-at right-angles
to it is mounted a bolt Q3 moving in fixed guides_and_held_by_a_coiled-spring-
against the back of the swinging frame. This bolt carries a catch q, which takes
into a notch in the back of a horizontal transverse sliding bar Q₁, and holds it
stationary in position while the catch is in the notch. The sliding bar Q' is con-
nested to the belt shifting rod Q by the rock lever Q, and a tendency is given to
this by a coiled spring Q7 to shift the belt on to the loose driving pulley of
the machine as soon as the catch q is pushed out of the notch in the bar Q'; this
action will take place whenever any one of the yarns breaks or becomes unduly
slack, and allows of its wire dropping sufficiently below the swinging frame to be
struck by one or other of the steps on the upper face of the rocking bar Q. On
this occurring the swinging frame Q and the bolt Q3 will be pushed back by the
rocking bar, and the catch will be withdrawn from the notch in the bar Q',
thereby leaving the rod Q5 free to shift the belt from the fast to the loose pulley
and stop the machine.
In adapting the stop motion to a machine furnished with two sets of threads it
is preferred to arrange the wires in four ranks, as shewn in Fig. 1, Sheet I., to
provide for the double set of yarns without increasing the width of the swinging
frame. The reciprocating bar Q' will in this case be fitted with four steps to strike
with equal promptness a front or a rear wire, the length of the wires in each rank
being made to correspond with the different elevations of the steps of the
reciprocating bar.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Knitting Machinery,
and in the Production thereby of Knitted Fabrics of a Novel Character," and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. In circular knitting machines the arrangement of mechanism for working
the thread guide slides and the presser as described with reference to Sheet I., II.,
and III., whereby one or other of the fabrics illustrated by the diagrams in
Sheets VII and VIII. is produced at pleasure.
Secondly. The adaptation to the forked switch lever of the slide f with its
attachments, whereby through the action of the pattern plate not only is the
switch of the switch wheel reversed, but the swinging frame which actuates the

page_text: yarn delivery rollers is rocked, and the locking together and unlocking of the
sliding bars N' and N will be effected.
Thirdly. The means for giving to the thread guides a half turn at every reverse
of the traverse motion of the thread guide bar, and a motion towards and from
the needles during the working of every course, as described with reference to
Sheet XI.
Fourthly. The application to straight knitting machines of the arrangement of
mechanism for working the thread guide slides and the presser, as described with
reference to Sheets IX. and X, whereby one or other of the fabrics illustrated by
the diagrams in Sheets VII. and VIII. may be produced as desired.
Fifthly. In combination with circular and straight knitting machinery of the
classes above referred to, the improved arrangement of yarn delivery apparatus as
described with reference to Sheets I. and V.
Lastly. In combination with the yarn delivery apparatus, the arrangement of
stop motion above described for arresting the action of knitting machines on the
severance or the undue slackening of a thread.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry M'Nary, havo hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.