IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Josiah Griswold, of the Hop and Malt
Exchange, Southwark Street, in the County of Surrey, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Josiah Griswold
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 21st August 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOSIAH GRISWOLD, of the Hop and Malt Exchange, Southwark Street,
in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS-IN
KNITTING MACHINERY," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true
and first Inventor thereof.
:

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Josiah Griswold, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings forming
a part of this Specification :-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Josiah Griswold, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings forming
a part of this Specification :-
My said improvements relate to circular knitting machines, and
consist,―
First. In so constructing and arranging the cams that the machine
will knit a flat web when the yarn carrier is immovably attached to the 1
cam ring.
Second. In the employment of switches adjustable by the needles to
guide them over a part of their course and prevent their dropping from
the same when the machine is turned in either direction.
Third. In providing the cam ring with an auxilliary groove for the 1
retention of those needles which are not used in knitting flat web or
ribbed work.
Fourth. In a contrivance whereby any number of the needles may be
rendered temporarily inactive without disconnecting them from the work
in knitting a flat web.
Fifth. In a novel contrivance for retaining the needles properly in
place in the needle cylinder.
Sixth. In novel appliances for elevating and depressing the needle
cylinder for varying the size of the stitches.
Seventh. In the application to the machine of a brush or number of 2
brushes for opening the needle latches.
Eighth. In improved means for changing the position of the yarn
carrier in knitting a flat web.
Ninth. In the construction of apparatus which forms an attachment
to a circular knitting machine for knitting the reverse or pearl rib.
3

page_text: :
they are then elevated again to their normal position by the cam e.
When however the cam ring D is revolved to the right the needles are
raised by the cam 6 and depressed by the cam a. The aforesaid cams
are so arranged in relation to the yarn carrier H that the yarn will be
presented to the needles at the time they are depressed by the cam
which follows the yarn carrier.
Figure 3 also shows my improved automatic switches, one of which is
also shown in perspective in Figure 4. When the cam ring D is revolved
to the right the stitch I will be automatically closed upon the end of
the cam b, as shewn in Figure 3, bridging the space between-the-said-
cam and the cam e, and keeping the needles from falling down between
these cams, but the switch I will be lifted by the needles ascending the
incline or cam d, allowing the said needles to pass freely between the
two cams a and d. If however, the cam ring is revolved to the left
the needles will close the cam I and open the cam I'.
In knitting flat web and ribbed work all of the needles will not be
used, but instead of removing them from the machine I have found it
more convenient to provide an auxilliary groove K for the reception of
their butts. This groove is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. An
opening is made into it under the central cam, which opening is usually
closed by the semicircular block I; this block however is made adjust-
able, and when depressed into the position represented by the dotted
lines will permit the butts of the needles to be automatically dropped
into the said auxilliary groove; the blook is then raised and the needles
may remain in the said groove until they are required to be used, when
by again depressing the said block the needles may be lifted out of the
said groove.
By the employment of the aforesaid auxilliary groove the needles
thrown out of action are disconnected from the work, but it is sometimes
desirable, as in knitting the heel of a stocking, to suspend the action of
some of the needles-without detaching-them from the-work. For this
purpose I make the central cam c adjustable so that it may be depressed
_either automatically or by a thumbscrew o' at the side of the machine.
By this contrivance the needles instead of passing underneath the said
cam c will bo raised above the cams and will thus be rendered inactive.
To bring these needles into action again it is only necessary to raise the

page_text: said cam o to its normal position; by thus temporarily lifting a number
of the needles out of action I can knit a flat web whose width will be
equal to the circumference of the cylinder.
The elastic ring or clasp G for keeping the needles in the proper
position in the grooves O' of the cylinder O is clearly shewn detached in
Figure 5.
India-rubber rings have heretofore been used for this
purpose, but these are liable to deterioration by the oil used to lubricate
the machine. The said ring or clasp G may be formed of any metal
possessing sufficient elasticity, and it may be round, square, or oval in
transverse section. I prefer to form the said ring or clasp with thumb
pieces to facilitate its opening.
It is necessary that the machine should be provided with means for
varying the length of the stitch, and for this purpose the cams a, b, may
be made moveable, but I prefer to obtain the required variation by
means of an improved contrivance for elevating and depressing the
needle cylinder C. I therefore cut two or three oblique slots M in the
flange of the said needle cylinder, as shewn in Figure 2, and inside
the bed of the machine I fix pins or studs m in such a position that
when the said needle cylinder is revolved in one direction it will be
raised and the stitch lengthened, and when revolved in the other
direction it will be depressed and the stitch shortened. I provide a set
screw to keep the said cylinder in place when properly adjusted.
.
The latches of the needles must be open when the yarn carrier
presents the yarn to the needle hooks, and to insure their being in this
position I attach to the cam ring a brush, or number of brushes / in a
position slightly in advance of the yarn carrier. These brushes open the
said latches and allow the yarn to enter the hooks, and I thereby avoid
the annoyance and inconvenience occasioned by the dropping of stitches.
One of these brushes is shewn detached in Figure 6.
'
In Figures 8, 9, and 10 the bevel gear-ring-F" is shown detached from
the cam ring D. The said ring F' revolves upon the shoulder and is
held in place by the rebate g¹. The cam ring D is kept in place by
means of the groove & cut in the bottom of the needle cylinder O and
the flange which projects into the said groove. The needle cylinder is
secured to the bed of the machine by screws in the usual manner. The
said ring F is actuated by the crank E through the bevel pinion F. On
the outside of the cam ring D are pins or studs R, R³, as shewn in

page_text: -
Figure 9. These-pins are placed at such a distance from the centre of
the cam T, Figure 10, that in turning the ring F in either direction
they communicate motion to the cam ring D when the yarn carrier H is
in the proper position to present the wool to the needles as they descend
to form the stitch.
When the ring F¹ is revolved continuously in one direction as in
knitting the leg of a stocking, the projecting base of the yarn carrier H
-bears-constantly against one of the pins or studs R, R, and the cam
ring D therefore has: the same movement as the toothed ring.F; but
when knitting a flat web the yarn carrier is caused to act alternately 1
against each of the pins R, R', by the reciprocating rotary movement of
the ring F³, which movement is not communicated to the cam ring D
until the yarn carrier is in the proper position relatively to the cams.
Inside the cam ring D is a shoulder U, V, on which the needles rest
during the greater part of the revolution of the cam ring. The cam u, v, 1
which is preferably made of steel, forms a continuation of this shoulder
and serves to raise and depress the needles. At the points where the
downward inclination of this cam commences I pass the needle guides W
and X through diagonal slots cut in the cam ring D. These guides arc
formed or fixed on the ends of the rocking bar Z which is operated by 2
the yarn carrier H in such a manner that when the cam ring D revolves
in cither direction the forward guide will be projected inward to the
depth of the cams, while the other one will be withdrawn flush with
the inside of the cam ring. The purpose of these guides is to raise the
needles to receive the yarn before they are depressed by the central 2
cam T.
The attachment represented in Figures 12, 18, and 14 is designed for
knitting the reverse or pearl-rib. O-is-the needle-cylinder- of-the-
machine. Resting upon this cylinder is an auxiliary conical needle
frame C, having grooves C³ cut on its surface similar to those in the
needle cylinder C.- Revolving upon this conical cylinder C³ is a conical
cam ring C, a plan and section of which are shewn in Figures 12 and 13.
The cams for effecting the advance and return of the needles aro
situated at 3, 4, 5, on the inside of this conical ring C'. If the machino
was to be used only for knitting a tubular ribbed web.I should use cams.
of the form represented in Figures 12, 13, and 14, but for knitting a flat

page_text: --Eighth-The-needle guides operated by the yarn carrier, as herein set
forth for the purpose specified.
Ninth. The apparatus for attachment, illustrated in Figures 12, 13,
and 14, for knitting the reverse or pearl stitch, constructed and operating
substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Josiah Griswold, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August,
in the year-of-our-Lord-One-thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
H. J. GRISWOLD. (L.S.)