IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CIRCULAR LOOPED FABRIC MACHINES FOR MAKING FANCY HOSIERY."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathaniel Marshall, of the Town and County of
the Town of Nottingham, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO CIRCULAR LOOPED
FABRIC MACHINES FOR MAKING FANCY HOSIERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathaniel Marshall at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th August 1874.
I, NATHANIEL MARSHALL, of the Town and County of the Town of
Nottingham, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO
CIRCULAR LOOPED FABRIC MACHINES FOR MAKING FANCY HOSIERY," to be as
follows:-
I employ two modifications of apparatus. The first modification
consists of apparatus applicable to circular machines producing plain
looped fabrics, in which I employ the following parts, namely, the

page_text: usual circular head, to which is attached at one side thereof a frame
carrying bearings for the axle of a cam shaft. Within the framing the
axle carries two or more cams, each of which operate a thread guide in
such manner that one or other of the guides are alternately or succes-
sively projected towards the loop wheel, and afterwards withdrawn from
it, but not until one of the other guides has projected its thread between
the loop wheel and the needles. The previous thread is then cut off by
cutting apparatus operated by another cam on the cam shaft. The
cam shaft is intermittently revolved by a driver and ratchet or worm
wheel actuated by a cam on the flange of the circular head.
My second modification consists of apparatus applicable to circular
machines making ribbed looped fabrics, in which I employ a frame, cam
shaft, cams, thread guides, and cutting apparatus, as before described, in
conjunction with a driving shaft lying at right angles to the cam shaft,
which driving shaft operates the driver of the ratchet wheel or worm
wheel of the cam shaft previously named, and also operates the shaft of
a cam which actuates a dipping lever which slackens the thread fed to
the needles previous to the said thread being replaced by another, which
is effected by means of two plates which slide in opposite directions,
being so moved by a cam on the second shaft. These plates are faced
with india-rubber, which is slightly currugated or roughened. Between
these surfaces the succeeding thread is projected, and placed by the side
of the first thread, both threads being twisted together by the rubbing.
motion of the india-rubber facings, during which process the slack thread
formed by the dipping lever is taken up by the needles, the previous
thread being severed by the cutting apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Nathaniel Marshall in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHANIEL
MARSHALL, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Nathaniel Marshall, Her
special licence that I, the said Nathaniel Marshall, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Nathaniel
Marshall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO
CIRCULAR LOOPED FABRIC MACHINES FOR MAKING FANCY HOSIERY," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nathaniel Marshall, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathaniel Marshall, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification :—.
I employ two modifications of apparatus. The first modification
consists of apparatus applicable to circular machines producing plain
looped fabrics, in which I employ the following parts, namely, the usual
circular head, to which is attached at one side thereof a frame carrying
bearings for the axle of a cam shaft. Within the framing the axle
carries two or more cams, each of which operate a thread guide in such
manner that one or other of the guides are alternately or successively
projected towards the loop wheel, and afterwards withdrawn from it, but
not until one of the other guides has projected its thread between the
loop wheel and the needles. The previous thread is then cut off by
cutting apparatus operated by another cam on the cam shaft. The cam
shaft is intermittently revolved by a driver and ratchet or worm wheel
actuated by a cam on the flange of the circular head.

page_text: My second modification consists of apparatus applicable to circular
machines making ribbed looped fabrics, in which I employ a frame, cam
shaft, cams, thread guides, and cutting apparatus, as before described, in
conjunction with a driving shaft lying at right angles to the cam shaft,
which driving shaft operates the driver of the ratchet wheel or worm
wheel of the cam shaft previously named, and also operates the shaft of
a cam which actuates a dipping lever which slackens the thread fed to
the needles previous to the said thread being replaced by another, which
is effected by means of two plates which slide in opposite directions, being
so moved by a cam on the second shaft. These plates are faced with
india-rubber, which is slightly corrugated or roughened. Between these
surfaces the succeeding thread is projected and placed by the side of the
first thread, both threads being twisted together by the rubbing motion
of the india-rubber facings, during which process the slack thread formed
by the dipping lever is taken up by the needles, the previous thread
being severed by the cutting apparatus.
Figure 1 shews in plan sufficient of one head of a circular machine for
making a plain looped fabric, with the first modification of my improve-
ments attached thereto.
Figure 2 shews a side view of the same apparatus looking from the
left side of the machine.
Figure 3 shews in plan my second modification as applied to a circular
machine for making ribbed looped fabrics; Figure 4, a left hand end
view of the same.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 show respectively the cams marked 1, 2, 3, on
Figure 2, which operate the levers marked 1, 2, 3, on Figure 1.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 are side views of three thread guide slides; and
Figure 11 shows a side view of the cutting apparatus.
At Figures 1 and 2 the circular machine is shewn of the usual con-
struction. On one side thereof I attach a frame A carrying bearings for
a cam shaft B. This shaft carries as many cams as there are thread guide
slides employed; three only are shown in the Drawings. These cams
operate rocking levers marked respectively 1, 2, and 3. One end of cach
lever takes into a slot in the outer end of a thread guide slide carried by

page_text: a capped bearing C secured to the circular bracket. The ends of the
levers are held to the cams by springs. The cams move the levers so as
to operate the guides in such manner that one or other of the guides are
alternately or successively projected towards the loop wheel of the
5 machine, and afterwards withdrawn from it, but not until one of the
other guides has projected its thread between the loop wheel and the
needles. The previous thread is then cut off by the apparatus seen at
Figure 11, the blades D of which are held open until a thread is placed
between them by the withdrawal of one or other of the guides, at which
time a cam E releases a truck carrying lever E¹, so as to allow the
blades D to be closed by a spring E². The cam E is secured on the cam
shaft above a worm wheel F, which is operated by a worm F¹, the axle
of which is passed through a bearing F2, and carries a skew bevel
wheel F', which gears into and is driven by a similar wheel secured to
the under side of the flange of the head. The above apparatus may be
operated by means of a clawker and ratchet wheel, as shewn in my
second modification, instead of by skewed bevel wheels, and is equally
applicable to a circular machine for making ribbed looped fabrics.
My second modification consists of apparatus shewn in Figures 3 and
4 applied to a circular machine for making ribbed looped fabrics, to
which I attach a frame A and cam shaft carrying cams, as before
described, for operating thread guide slides B, each of which are held to
its cam by a spring coiled round it. The cam shaft is revolved by a
clawker C actuating a ratchet wheel D. The clawker is operated by a.
cam bit C² on the driving wheel of the head. The clawker C is attached
to another clawker C', operated at the same time as the clawker C. The
clawker C¹ operates the ratchet wheel D' of a shaft lying in bearings E;
this shaft carries two cams F and F¹, which operate respectively the
slides G and G¹, each carrying a plate faced with india-rubber, which is
slightly corrugated or roughened. The slides are held to the cams by
springs. The ratchet wheel D' carries studs, which operate a dipping
lever H, which slackens the thread fed to the needles previous to the
said thread being replaced by another thread, which is effected as
follows: The succeeding thread is projected on to the lower plate
carried by the slide G', and placed by the side of the previous thread,
both threads being twisted together by the rubbing action of the india-
rubber facings, during which process the slack of the previous thread
formed by the dipping lever is taken up by the needles, and the previous

page_text: thread is severed by the cutting apparatus, which is operated by the
same means as described in my first modification. Such apparatus is
equally applicable to a circular machine for making plain looped fabrics
as for a ribbed looped fabric machine.
In each of the above described modifications the length of the runs on
the cams may be varied according to the pattern required.
The thread guide slides are hinged, as seen at Figures 8, 9, and 10, to
ensure the thread being lowered between the cutting blades by the
incline on the top of the guide being pressed down by the front edge of
the bearing cap C.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim, the employment
of two or more thread guides for supplying two or more coloured threads
to the needles of circular machines for making ribbed looped fabrics, as
herein before described and illustrated in the Drawings annexed, or any
modification thereof, the same being also applicable to circular machines
for making plain looped fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel Marshall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
-five.
Witness,
H. W. GOUGH, C.E.,
Nottingham.
NATHANIEL MARSHALL. (L.S.).