Improvements in Jacks for Knitting Machine Needles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Oct., 1895-Accepted, 9th Nov., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Jacks for Knitting Machine Needles.
I, JOSEPH JOHNSON ADGATE, of Liberty in the County of Sullivan and
State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the jacks used for holding knitting machine needles,
particularly to the shank or projection on such needle jacks which travel in the
race in the cam cylinder, and consists in the details hereinafter set forth.
Heretofore it has been customary in reinforcing the cranks or projections of
jacks formed out of a flat piece of metal, to bend around and solder to the crank
This is
or projection another piece of metal, to give additional thickness thereto.
a difficult operation, requiring skill and care, and frequently there is trouble
caused by the breaking off or tearing loose of such soldered pieces when the jack
is in use.
I avoid these objections, and secure a jack which can be cheaply and easily
constructed out of a single piece of metal, and will hence have all the strength
and firmness incident to the avoidance of soldering or fastening together two
separate pieces of metal.
In the drawings
H
Fig. 1 is a side-elevation of my improved jack with a needle inserted therein, Fig. 2
is an edge view of a series of four of these jacks, the upper part of the needles
being broken away;
Fig. 3 is a side-elevation of the jack for the bent needles used in weft thread
machines, and Fig. 4 is a top-view of a series of four jacks, the second and fourth
jacks, in the series shown, being of the form shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is an edge-view of a variation wherein a portion of the knee is folded
around upon itself from below. Fig. 6 is a sideview of the same,
Fig. 7 shows a jack wherein the knee is reinforced from both the top and the
bottom; Fig. 8 is a side view of the same;
Fig. 9 shows a jack reinforced from the front-edge of the knee, and Fig. 10 is a
top-view of the same.
Similar letters of reference designate similar parts in all the figures.
As is well
A is the body of the jack which is formed of a single piece of thin metal and is
provided with a slot J, at its upper end, to receive the needle B. C. is the knee
which is intended to travel in the cam groove in the usual manner.
understood in the art, the jacks slide up and down in vertical grooves in the needle
cylinder, while their knees travel in the cam groove, and it is important that the
knees should mutually support each other against lateral motion. To accomplish
this and compensate for the space taken up by the divisions between the needle
grooves I make the blank for the knee of the jack extend further from the body
than the finished knee is to extend, and I dispose this excess of material so as to
fill the space between the jacks. I prefer to do this by bending or crimping the
knee of the jack alternately from side to side so that the surface of the knee shall
have projecting portions on either side extending half way to the next jack.
Upon the next jack the bends or crimps are reversed so that those on adjacent
sides of the jacks shall meet, thus giving the jacks mutual lateral support. These
bends or crimps can be readily produced by dies which can be used to strike up
the metal of the knees into the desired form. Referring to the drawing, D indicates

page_text: the crimp nearest to the body of the jack, and E that extending to the edge of the
knee. In the series in Figs. 2 & 4, the crimp D in the first jack on the left is
thrown to the right and the corresponding crimp in the second jack of the series is
thrown to the left, and so on alternately; and the crimps E alternate in the same
manner, as shown. A reference to Fig. 4 will show that at the bend of the
crimp E the metal of the series of jacks presents a solid line of support, upon the
line, so that the series of jacks will sustain great resistance or pressure without
bending or losing their proper crimps. By this method I secure a very strong and
durable jack made of a single piece of metal, which can be readily formed by dies,
and which entirely dispenses with the use of solder or rivets, and economizes the
metal used to form the jacks.
In Fig. 3 the upper portion of the jack is shown, reduced in width from F to C.
to allow for the tilting or forward play of the top of the jack towards the cam-
cylinder, during the descent of the bent needle. The bend in the needle descending
part of the upper edge of the needle cylinder, tilts the needle and jack forward and
this reduced width of the jack allows for this movement. Figs. 5-10 show three
modified forms of knees in each of which the knee is reinforced by continuing the
bending of the excess of metal until the portions I are folded over against the body
of the knees. Thereby the knees are reinforced upon one side compensating for the
distance between the jacks and rendering them mutually supporting.
The forms shown in Figs. 5 and 7, have the advantage of presenting a solid
rounded portion H of the jack, to travel upon the cam race; Fig. 5 showing the
lower edge rounded and Fig. 7 showing both the upper and lower edges rounded
at H H. In Fig. 9 the bend H¹ comes upon the forward edge of the knee. If it
is desired to secure still greater thickness of the knee, more than one thickness of
metal may be turned over onto the knee.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare, that what I
claim is:
1. A needle jack composed of a single piece of metal, and having a knee integral
therewith and formed from the same thickness of metal as the body of the jack,
and provided with vertical crimps alternating on opposite sides of the knee,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. A series of needle jacks provided with knees formed from the same thickness
of metal as the bodies of the jacks, said knees being provided with vertical bends
or crimps alternating to opposite sides of the knees, the direction of such bends or
crimps being reversed in every alternate knee, substantially as and.for the purposes
set forth.
3. A needle jack, composed of a single piece of metal, having a knee integral
with the body thereof, provided with crimps D and E, the upper portion of the
body of such jack being uniformily reduced in width from F to C, substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
4. A needle jack formed of a single piece of flat metal and having the knee C
reinforced by a portion bent over and resting evenly against the same, substantially
as shown and described.
5. A needle jack formed of a single piece of flat metal and reinforced on one
side thereof substantially as shown and described.
6. A needle jack formed out of a single piece of metal having a body a knee
reinforced on one side, said knee being provided with a rounded top and bottom,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 1st day of October 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18 Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London,
Agents to Applicant.