Improvements in Machinery Employed for Joining together Hosiery . and the like Fabrics.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1889
Specification Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery Employed for Joining together Hosiery
. and the like Fabrics.
1 JULIUS KÖHLER of Limbach, Saxony, manufacturer of sewing machines do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED FOR JOINING TOGETHER HOSIERY AND THE LIKE FABRICS" and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement and accompanying drawings
My said invention relates to a combined linking and seaming machine, capable of
adaptation for three different kinds of stitches hereinafter described, and also
adjustable for hosiery and the like fabrics of various gauges or degrees of fineness.
In order that my invention may be more fully understood I have appended hereunto
four sheets of drawings to which reference will be made in the following description.
In these drawings the same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures.
Under the designation of linking machine is to be understood a machine specially
intended for the linking together of, the meshes of two pieces of knitted fabric. In
this operation the fabric is hung mesh by mesh on horizontal pins which are either
attached to a ring as in the circular linking machines or to a straight bar as in the
flat linking machines. The sewing needle passes through two meshes and forms with
the assistance of a loop catcher a single link stitch in the sewing thread as shown in.
Fig. 20 Sheet 4. The goods are thus joined mesh by mesh as in hand sewing: the
single link seam has however the draw-back that it lies more on one side than the
other and it is furthermore liable to become undone.
Another method of joining knitted fabrics is by the use of a seaming machine for
making whipped seams such as are illustrated in Figs. 25 and 30 of Sheet 4 wherein
Fig. 25 shows a whipped seam composed of a single thread, while Fig. 30 shows such
a seam composed of two threads. In the case of the whipped seams above mentioned
the fabrics to be joined are fed forward to the needle by two rotating discs which press
against each other, but as the circumferential speed of the feeding discs never corre-
sponds exactly to the pitch of the meshes of the fabrics to be joined the latter are not
joined accurately mesh by mesh. This can only be done by the machine if the fabric
is hung on pins as in the linking machine and the object of one part of my said

page_text: invention is to combine a linking machine with a seaming machine in such a manner
that knitted fabrics may be joined mesh by mesh either with a link stitch or with
a whipped seam of one or two threads as may be desired.
In hosiery goods the degree of fineness that is to say the pitch or distance of the
meshes, from each other varies considerably and it is essential that the pitch of the
pins on which the goods are hung should correspond with that of the goods to be
manipulated. In circular linking machines as heretofore constructed the rotating
ring Fig. 1 Sheet 1, provided with pins from which the work is suspended is
carried by a disc c connected to the plate of the machine by an arm d while the feed
mechanism e is placed within the disc c and is actuated by a click reaching over the
ring. This arrangement of parts renders it impossible to substitute one ring of
pins for another and it is necessary to have a number of machines in order to operate
on goods of different degrees of fineness: the object of another part of my said
invention is to overcome this disadvantage by rendering a single machine capable of
operating on knitted fabrics of varying degrees of fineness or gauge.
Referring to the accompanying drawings Figures 2 and 3 Sheet 1, and Fig. 7.
Sheet 2 show a circular machine for linking and seaming constructed in accordance
with my said invention wherein Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 3 a transverse
section as seen from the front, and Fig. 7 is a plan.
The plate of the machine has bolted to it a hollow pillar B in which the vertical
shaft C is free to turn. To the upper part of the shaft the disc D is firmly attached
while to the lower part a toothed wheel E is attached; the latter gears into a pinion F
revolving freely on a stud G³ being held thereon by a washer G2 and a set screw G¹.
The boss of the pinion F is prolonged in order that the ratchet wheel G may be
secured thereon. The click H which works in the teeth of the ratchet wheel G is
connected to the lever I I¹ by a double hinge joint H₁, see Fig. 4.
In order to impart varying degrees of angular motion to the pinion F and through
it to the ring carrying the pins on which the work is hung, I either employ ratchet
wheels of different sizes while retaining the same pitch of teeth or vary the pitch of
the teeth and keep to the same size of wheel. In the first case the click H has
always the same stroke imparted to it by a cam K. The stroke of the click H inay
also be made variable by making use of an adjustable excentric.
The ring D is let into the disc D and is provided with recesses to receive the
pins D2 which are held in their proper positions by a cover plate. The pins have
either of the forms shewn in Figs. 5 and 6 Sheet 1 and have a groove along which the
sewing needle can slide in order to pass with certainty under the loop of the mesh Z.
which hangs on the pin.
Owing to the feed mechanism being under the sewing plate there is no obstacle
to the substitution of one ring of pins for another and the work cannot, become
soiled by contact with oil.
To the needle bar M₁ is imparted a reciprocating motion by means of a circular
excentric and a fork M. In order to accomodate the height of the needle to the
varying thickness of the pins D2 the head of the needle bar is provided with the
device shown in Figs. 9 and 10. A sliding piece g the end of which is turned over
at right angles is provided with an open slot fitting, a groove turned in a screw .
By turning the screw the height of the sliding piece g can be adjusted. A small
groove ensures the horizontal position of the needle. On the sliding piece 9 is
placed a cover plate i provided with a triangular groove for guiding the thread.
A set screw passing through a slot in the sliding piece serves to secure the needle
thereto and also fastens the sliding piece itself to the head of the needle bar.
The loop catcher N has imparted to it a threefold motion, viz. :-in a vertical
direction, in a transverse direction or perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing,
Fig. 2 and also longitudinally in the direction of the needle bar. Motion in the two
first directions is derived from the excentricity of the circumference of the cam K
and from the groove therein, while the movement in the third direction is derived
from the groove in the cam P Fig. 3 by means of the arm N2 the end of which is
'provided with a stud working in the cam groove..

page_text: .
If the loop catcher is to be used in making a linked seam the last named motion
is not used. In this case the arrangement shown in Figs. 11 and 12 Sheet 2 comes
into play. The boss of the cam P is formed into a concentric disc Q, so that when
the cam P is slid along its shaft the stud at the end of the arm N2 leaves the groove
of the cam P and the arm N? rests on the disc Q. The loop catcher then no longer
receives motion in a longitudinal direction, but only in the remaining two directions
as hereinbefore mentioned.
Another part of my said invention relates to means for removing the fabric from
the pins on which it is held after the operations of seaming or linking have been
performed.
For this purpose I use a detacher R Fig. 8 Sheet 2, the end of which is thinned
out and lies immediately under the pins. A slight to and fro motion is imparted to
the detacher by means of the cam R' so that during the onward progress of the
ring containing the holding pins the work is drawn away from the latter.
In flat linking and seaming machines such as representod in section in Fig. 13
Sheet 3 and in a front elevation in Fig. 14 Sheet 3. I employ the same mechanism
for producing the linked seam and the whipped seams composed of one or two
threads as in the case of the circular linking and seaming machines herein before
mentioned, but I replace the ring containing the pins by an angle bar V in which the
pins are secured by a coverplate or bar V. In this case also the pins may be of
either of the two forms represented in Figs. 5 and 6 Sheet 1. The bar V of suitable
length is provided with guide blocks T fitted on a metal slide bar or rail U in such
a manner that it can easily slide thereon. To the front of the slide bar U a wooden
lath W is secured by screws to prevent the work becoming soiled by contact with
the lubricant used for the slide bar. The support X connects the slide bar U with
the base A of the machine. The moveable angle bar V is provided with ratchet
teeth into. which gears the click p mounted on a lever 79' which is actuated by an
excentric or cam. On changing the bar V for another having the pins closer or
farther apart the click p is replaced by another one and the back stroke thereof is
suitably regulated by a set screw.
The formation of the stitches is effected on either the circular or the flat linking
and seaming machines in the following manner. In the case of the single link seam
a loop catcher of the form shown in Fig. 16 Sheet 4 is put on the loop catcher bar
and as hereinbefore mentioned the excentric P Fig. 12 Sheet 2 is moved on its
shaft so that the end of the arm N² bears on the disc Q. The loop catcher can then
only move on the front side of the fabric. Supposing the needle to have moved
so far backwards that a loop has formed in the thread as shewn in Fig. 16, the
loop catcher seizes it and during the back stroke of the needle as shewn in Fig. 17
it advances a little further while the fabric is fed to the right the length of a stitch.
The needle in its next forward stroke passes through the loop previously formed as
shewn in Fig. 18. The loop catcher then rises as at Fig. 19 in order to free itself
from the loop, and the needle advancing at the same time draws the loop tight as
in Fig. 20.
The whipped seam with a single thread is produced with the same loop catcher
but in this case the pin at the end of the arm N2 Fig. 11 Sheet 2 must work in the
groove of the cam P so that the loop catcher may move alternately on both sides
of the fabric. The loop catcher seizes the loop of the thread as at Fig. 21 and
while the needle retires and the fabric is fed the length of one stitch the loop is
raised above the edge of the fabric as in Fig. 22. The loop catcher thereupon
presses down the loop on the other side of the fabric sufficiently far for the needle
to pass through the loop as in Fig. 23. The loop catcher then rises as in Fig. 24
to free itself from the loop while the advancing needle draws tight the loop as
shewn in Fig. 25. The loop catcher meanwhile passes to the front of the fabric in
order to catch the next loop.
In forming a whipped seam composed of two threads the loop catcher inoves
exactly as in the case of a single thread but is of the form shewn in Fig. 26 and
is constructed so as to carry a second thread. Supposing the loop catcher to have

page_text: seized the needle thread loop as in Fig. 26 it moves over the edge of the fabric as
in Fig. 27, while the needle thread loop slips over the loop catcher and the fabric
is fed forward the length of one stitch. At its next stroke the needle passes over
the loop catcher thread as at Fig. 28 and as soon as the loop catcher retires as in
Fig. 29 the loop catcher thread forms a loop round the needle and the loop of the
needle thread falls down so that the still advancing needle draws both threads tight
and unites them as in Fig. 30. In the foregoing description of the formation of
the different stitches it is assumed that the fabric is fed from left to right. The
formation of the stitches remains however the same when the fabric is fed in the
opposite direction but in this case the loop catcher must work from the left side
towards the needle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is―
1. The combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinbefore
described and shewn constituting a machine for the purpose of uniting hosiery and
the like fabrics mesh by mesh by means of linked or whipped stitches at will such
stitches being illustrated in Figures 20, 25 and 30 Sheet 4 of the accompanying
drawings and the said fabrics being suspended from pins arranged either in a circle
or in a straight line.
2. In machines used for the purpose of uniting hosiery and the like fabrics mesh
by mesh by any of the stitches hereinbefore referred to and provided with a
circular support for the said fabrics the combination and arrangement of parts
substantially as herein before described and shewn for permitting the ready
adjustment of the machine to enable fabrics of various degrees of fineness to be
joined together.
3. In machines for uniting hosiery and the like fabrics in which a circular support
for the fabric is used the method of supporting the disc containing the pins from
below in combination with the method of imparting an intermittent rotation thereto
from beneath for the purpose of permitting the ring D' and the ratchet wheel G
to be readily removed and changed substantially as hereinbefore described and
shewn.*
4. In machines used for uniting hosiery and the like fabrics the use of the
detacher R acting substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and
shewn.
Dated this Tenth day of January 1980
JULIUS ALLMANN & Co.,
70 Deansgate, Manchester,
Agents for Applicant.