An Improved Method and Means for Producing a Variegated Knitted Fabric.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Mar., 1895-Accepted, 24th May, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method and Means for Producing a Variegated
Knitted Fabric.
I OTTO CARL WEICKER, of 11 Czennaksgarten Leipzig, in the Empire of
Germany, Merchant, 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 :-
This invention relates to circular knitting machines, by means of which single
coloured threads, for instance white and black respectively, each thread being of
uniform colour throughout, are utilized for producing a fabric having the
appearance of an irregular or variegated pattern, such as has been heretofore
produced by knitting with variegated yarns having several colours in the same
thread, or printed yarns, which by use of this invention, are therefore no longer
necessary.
The essential feature of this invention is that by the aid of two or more ordinary
single coloured yarns of different colours, with regard to one another, designs are
produced by the aid of certain yarn changing apparatus, which in the finished fabric
will have the appearance of stripes or streakes in irregular arrangement.
This object is attained by means of the construction described hereinafter and
illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is part elevation of the circular knitting machine with the yarn guide;
Fig. 2 a plan view thereof;
Fig. 3 a front view of the thread guide ;
Fig. 4 a section on the line R R of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a rear view of the thread guide;
Fig. 6, Sheet 2, a vertical section of the upper part of the frame with the knitting
devices and yarn guide thereon; Fig. 7 is a plan view thereof;
Fig. 8 shows the arrangement with automatic actuation from the drum of the
frame in vertical section; Fig. 9 the same in plan view;
Figs. 10 and 11 show the yarn guide carrier on a larger scale in elevation aud
plan respectively;
Fig. 12 represents a piece of fabric illustrating the striped or streaked effect
produced on the surface of the fabric; lastly
Fig. 13 is a representation of the cast off inechanism showing the periferal surface
plan of the cam disk.
In place of stationary yarn guides as used previously in the knitting frame of
circular knitting machines, this invention comprises an arrangement by means
of which alternately crossing yarn guides are used, which guide the yarns forming
the ground or base; so that the yarns change their position, appearing now on the
outer now on the inner side of the fabric, thus producing a peculiar effect of colour
change, according to the colour and the rate of interchange of the yarn chosen.
For this purpose a shaft A is provided on the knitting frame which can be driven
with various speed from the knitting shaft B by the medium of string pulleys ;
the composition and co-operation of these parts with the machine will be understood
from Figs. 6 and 7 of the annexed drawing.
The parts can also be run from inside (see Figs. 8 to 11) which will be referred
to later on, or in any other suitable manner.

page_text: Inc shaft A 18 in connection with a yarn guide carrier D, on which the
yarn guides F F are pivoted at d d.
Upon the shaft A is placed the cam H, upon the sides of which run the ends ii of
the yarn guides, these ends being forced together by the spring f (see Figs. 3 and 4).
By the rotation of the cam disk H the alternate crossing of the ends 6 of the
yarn guide arms F F takes place, whereby the yarns gg are brought alternately
the one to the one side and the other towards the other side; thus lying respectively
now above, now below the face of the fabric, so that, according as the yarn change
takes place more or less rapidly, a design or pattern on the fabric will be produced
in the above mentioned way.
The side surfaces of cam H are at their circumference provided with notches or
groovings, such as are for instance shown in the circumferential plan in Fig. 13, so
that the ends of the arms F running on the disk H, and actuated by the spring f,
are alternately brought together and driven apart.
The design therefore depends on the one hand upon the shape of the notches in
the disk H, in which intervals the yarn change will take place, and on the other
hand on the variation of speed and consequently more or less frequent thread change
effected by means of the step or conical pulleys C C.
It is evident from this that on the fabric any desired design can be obtained,
which is in no relation to the needle partition or the number of needles on the frame
and does not therefore repeat exactly for each circular row of meshes, consequently
during the next row the design does not come in contact with the previous design,
thus producing a so-called irregular pattern or streaky appearance on the surface of
the fabric.
In order to prevent any injuring of the yarn passing along the thread guide, said
yarns are made to run along a slot h and through a yarn feed eye k.
The actuation of the disk H may also be effected independently without the action
of the knitting shaft B, as is shown for instance by the arrangement of Figs. 8 to 9,
where the carrier D of the shaft A is held by a special adjusting bracket G fixed
on the moving knitting ring of the frame and the shaft A passes along over the
needles towards the toothed crown K which serves to actuate the knitting parts so
that said shaft A can be driven by means of the wheel L, engaging with said
crown K which wheel can be changed for another of different size to attain the same
result as by the use of stepped pulleys C.
On the shaft holder D at the same time the arm 1 for the yarn guide pivots may
be arranged, (see Figs. 10 and 11) so that this arrangement will be entirely
independent from the other parts which are like those in other knitting machines, no
matter of what construction, and so that said arrangement may be provided on the
circular knitting machines without necessitating any alteration or modification
thereof.
Instead of using two yarn guides a larger number may also be provided, to be
used in exchange for those in action and on the other hand this yarn changing
device may in such circular knitting machines be arranged either in some only
or in all of its knitting movements, according to the design to be produced in the
fabric.
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. An improved method of producing streaked and striped fabric on circular
knitting frames, consisting in causing an adjustable change of two or more coloured
but each differently coloured yarns to appear alternately at the surface of the fabric,
whereby a variegated or streaked or striped effect is produced on such fabric,
substantially as set forth.
2. The crossing double thread guides moved by cam disk H, which latter is
arranged on the moving knitting device of the apparatus and carried upon the

page_text: shaft A by the carrier D; said shaft being driven either from the knitting shaft by
means of stepped pulleys C or from the toothed crown of the needle bed by means
of exchangeable cog-wheel L, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 21st day of March 1895.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C., Agents for Applicant.