Year: 1885

page_text: I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm, of Haseltine Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 that class of knitting machines known as circular in
which latch needles arranged to be moved endwise to form the stitch, are used, and
it consists in a spring sinker, and mechanism connected there with for imparting to
each sinder a positive outward movement as the needle begins to descend, so that
the loop drawn down by the needle will be drawn over said sinker inside of its
hook and then release said sinker and permit it to be moved inward and carry with
it the loop just formed thereon, by the tension of its spring.
It further consists in certain novel features and arrangements of parts, whereby
the lower ends of the needles may be moved laterally, by swinging about a fixed
fulcrum or axis at or near the hook end of said needles so that the lugs secured to,
or formed upon, said needles may be removed from the path of the cam whenever
it is desired to throw the said needles out of action, and
It further consists in certain combinations constructions and arrangements of
parts which will be readily understood by reference to the description of the
drawings and to the claims to be hereinafter given.
Of the drawings
Figure 1 represents a plan of a machine embodying my invention, with the cam
for operating the hook bars removed.
Figure 2 represents a vertical section of the same, the cutting plane being on
line z, z Figure 1.
Figure 3 represents an inverted plan of a portion of the can plate for operating
the hook bars, showing the cam path as being provided with two outward and
inward throws.
Figure 4 represents a plan of a portion of the radially grooved annular plate
with a number of the sinker operating hook-bars in position therein.

page_text: Figure 5 represents an elevation of a portion of the inside of the upper section of
the needle cylinder and showing the vertical grooves formed therein to receive and
support the spring sinkers.
Figure 6 represents a section of the same the cutting place being on line 3, y on
Figure 5.
Figure 7 represents a plan of a small portion of the lower section of the needle
cylinder.
Figure 8 represents an inside elevation of the same.
Figure 9 represents an elevation of the sinker detached from the machine.
Figure 10 represents a sectional plan of a portion of a machine embodying a
modified form of my invention, the cutting plane being on line 2, 2, on Figure 11,
and
Figure 11 represents a central vertical section of the same, the cutting plane
being on line w, w on Figure 10.
Figures 4 to 9 inclusive are all drawn to an enlarged scale.
A is the needle cylinder firmly secured to the base ring B in any suitable
manner, and it has formed in its periphery a series of vertical grooves a, a to
receive and form guides for the needles C. C.
The needles C, C are each provided with a lug b which projects outwardly into
and is acted upon by the cam patli c of the cam cylinder D which is provided with
the bevel gear teeth E to which rotary motion is imparted by the gear E¹ in a well
known manner.
The rotation of the cam cylinder D imparts to the needles C, C an endwise
reciprocating movement through the medium of the cam path c and the lugs.b, b
also in a well known manner.
The needle cylinder is made in two parts A and A¹ secured together by the
screws a¹, a² as shown in Figures 2 and 11.
G is the sinker made from spring wire bent to the form shown in Figure 9 to
form the shank d, lug d¹, hook d² and the downwardly projecting finger d³ as
shown.
The upper end of the lower section A of the needle cylinder has formed therein
a series of radial grooves e, e as shown in Figures 7 and 8, said grooves being
designed to receive the lugs d' of the sinkers G, which lugs engage with the lower
Bide of the inwardly projecting rib a³ on the upper section A¹ of the needle cylinder
and thus effectually prevent the sinkers from being moved upwards.
The inner edge of the rib a2 of the section A¹ of the needle cylinder has formed
therein a series of vertical grooves e¹, e¹ as shown in Figures 5 and 6 to receive the
straight portions of the sinkers G and hold them in an upright position.
The sinkers are held in place in said grooves by the ring H which screws into
a female thread formed in the lower section A of the needle cylinder, a portion of
the outer surface of the ring H being left smooth or without thread as at f Figure 2
which fits closely to the inner surface of the rib a' as shown.
The upper portion of the ring H is curved outward and has its edge rounded as
shown, which rounded edge bears upon the curved portions of all of the sinker
shanks d, d, in such a manner that by adjusting the ring H up or down the
sinkers G may be so adjusted simultaneously that all their hooks d' will be at a
greater or less distance inside the circle of the needles when in their normal
positions, the rounded edge of said ring acting upon the curved inclined portions
of said sinkers to press them outward and serving also as the stop to limit the
inward movements of the several sinkers caused by the spring of their shanks,
after being drawn outward by the cam path g in the cam ring 1, the object of said
adjustment of the sinkers being to regulate the length of the loop and the strain
upon the yarn.
The horizontal portions of the sinkers immediately in front of the hook d' are
fitted to rest in radial grooves formed in the upper end of the upper section A¹
of the needle cylinder and are guided thereby in their outward and inward
movements.

page_text: A series of rods or bars h, h each provided with the lug h¹ and hook h² are fitted
to and move end wise in radial grooves formed in the upper side of the annular
plate J, said end wise movement being imparted thereto by the cam-ring I having
formed in its under side the path 9 provided with the two outward and inward
throws g', gl as shown in Figure 3 which path engages with the lug h¹ on the
book bars has shown in Figures 2 and 11.
The cam ring I is provided with the cam-path g having two outward and
inward throws g, g¹ by virtue of which arrangement I am enabled to connect the
cam-plate I to the cam cylinder D so that the two shall at all times revolve in
unison which is done by means of the U-shaped arm or lever K, which is firmly
secured to the cam-cylinder D by screws h and its upper arm or branch is secured
directly to the cam-plate I by means of the screw i, in order to make said cam
time with the needle cam when knotting back and forth for forming a heel or toe.
The normal position of the sinkers is as shown at the left side of Figures 1 and 2
and the cam-ring I is connected to the upper arm of the U-shaped lever K midway
between the throws g¹, g¹ which are arranged to be of such a distance from said
arm K as to permit the sinker G, the finger d³ of which engages with the hook h²
of the bar h-to be moved by the rearmost throw g¹ of the path g to the extreme
of its outward movement in whichever direction the cam ring I is being moved,―
just before the needle immediately in advance thereof has been drawn down to its
lowest position, so that the yarn drawn down by said needle will be drawn in the
form of a loop over said sinker in front of the hook d².
The extreme upward movement of the needles C should likewise be central
between the throws g¹, g¹ in the cam ring I and coincide with the yarn-guide L.
secured to said arm K, so that in whichever direction said cams are moved the
yarn will be delivered to the needles when in their highest position and such
delivery of the yarn shall precede an inward movement of the sinkers.
Whether the arm K is moved continuously in one direction, or vibrated to and
fro through a portion of a revolution, that throw of the path g which follows the.
delivery of the yarn to the needles, alone acts upon said yarn while the throw of
said path which leads the delivery of the yarn, while it moves the sinkers outward
and inward performs no useful result and if the machine was not required to knit
anything but a straight tube, said second throw would be superfluous.
As soon as the book bars h have reached their extreme outward positions they
are again immediately moved inward again by the reverse portion of the throw g¹
of the path g in the cam ring I but said inward movement of the hook bars does
not of necessity cause a corresponding inward movement of the sinkers, by virtue
of the fact that the hooks 2 are open at their outer ends and simply move away
from the fingers d³ of the sinkers each of which when released by the hook h
moves inward only to the extent allowed by the tension of the yarn thereon and
when the tension of the spring in the shank of the sinker overcomes the tension
on the yarn, as the needle rises, the sinker will finally automatically assume its
normal position. The sinker may be turned upward at the point where the hook
bars h connect therewith so that said hooks will tend to hold the sinkers down.
The annular plate M mounted upon the cylinder A by a driving fit has a recess N
in which two segmental plates O and O¹ are placed, one upon the other each being
provided at each end with a cam-like curve k and adapted to be operated by the
plate P, the eccentric Q, and the two double ended pawls 1, 1.
The grooves a, a have their inner walls so inclined that said grooves are con-
siderably deeper at their lower than at their upper ends, and the partitions between
said grooves a, a are cut away midway of their lengths so as to form the annular
groove a³ in which the segmental plates O, O¹ act against the needles C, C when
pressing said needles out of action.
A spring m is placed in contact with the needle C in such a manner that it will.
always tend to keep the said needle in contact with the cam-cylinder D and the
lug thereof in the cam-plate c.

page_text: The spring m may be placed within the groove a in a recess n made for that
purpose as shown in Figure 2 or it may be placed between the cylinder A and the
inner cylinder R which is provided with as many vertical grooves o, o in its
periphery as there are grooves a, a in the periphery of the cylinder A said vertical
grooves o, o serving as guides to prevent the turning of the spring m one end of
which extends lengthwise of said groove while the other end is bent horizontally
and passing through a hole in said cylinder, its extreme outer end presses against
the inner side of the needle C with the tendency of keeping said needle in
contact with the cam-ring D.
When it is desirous of throwing any of the needles C out of action, the seg-
mental plates 0, 0¹ are moved against them by mechanism substantially such as
shown and described or equivalents therefor-to such an extent that said needles
are swung about a fulcrum as at p until the said needles come into contact with
the inner walls of the grooves a, a, at the upper and lower portions thereof, the
spring m being compressed to allow of such movement.
It has been found by experiment to be of advantage to thus remove the needle
from action without bending the needles as no damage is liable to be done thereto
as is the case when the needle is bent midway, of its length, for in practice the
needles were sometimes broken at the bend in the lug by the repeated bending
and cramping of the needle shank.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
First. A spring sinker for knitting machines made of wire and having the
parts d, d¹, ds, and d³ arranged relative to each other substantially as shown and
described.
Second. The spring sinker G in combination with the needle cylinder,-a series
of needles, a cam cylinder provided with a cam-path for operating the needles, the
hook bars h, and the cam ring I provided with a cam-path for operating the hook
bars all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes
described.
Third. The combination of the needle cylinder made in two parts, the series
of spring sinkers, and the adjusting and holding ring, all arranged and adapted to
operate substantially as described.
Fourth. The combination of the sections A and A¹ of the needle cylinder, the
former provided with the radial grooves e, e and the latter with the vertical
grooves e¹, el; the sinkers G, G; and the adjusting and holding ring H all arranged
and adapted to operate substantially as described.
Fifth. In combination with a needle cylinder a series of vertically moving
needles, a needle operating cam cylinder, an annular plate having mounted therein
a series of hook bars each provided with an upwardly projecting lug, a series of
sinkers, a cam plate provided with a cam path having two outward and inward
throws; a U shaped arm rigidly connected at one end to said cam cylinder and at
the other to said cam plate; and a yarn guide secured to the upper branch of said
U-shaped-arm all substantially as described.
Sixth. In combination with the needle cylinder A, A¹; a series of sinkers G, G,
a series of hook bars h, h, a series of vertically moving needles C, C a cam
cylinder D; an annular plate J an annular cam plate I provided with the path g
having two outward and inward throws g¹, g¹, and the U shaped lever K rigidly
connected at one end to the cam cylinder D and at the other end to the cam plate I
substantially as described.
Seventh. The combination of the needle cylinder A provided with the
grooves a, a, made deeper at their lower ends than at their upper ends, the
needles C, C, provided with the lugs b, b, the cam cylinder D provided with the cam
path c; the segmental cams O, 01 adapted to be moved against said needles so as

page_text: to throw them out of action, and the springs m, m adapted to press said needles
into contact with said cam cylinder substantially as described.
Eighth. The needle cylinder A provided with the grooves a, a made deeper at
their lower than at their upper ends, in combination with the needles C, C, provided
with the lugs b, b; the cam cylinder D provided with the cam path c, the segmental
cams 0, 0, adapted to be moved against said needles so as to throw them out of
action, the cylinder R provided with the longitudinal grooves o, o and secured to
the interior of the cylinder A, and the springs m, m inserted between said
cylinders A and R and extending through openings in said cylinder A into contact
with the needles C, C substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1885
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.