IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Samuel Norris at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th November
1865. A communication from abroad by Asa Sessions, residing at
Springfield, Massachusets, in the United States of America.
I, SAMUEL NORRIS, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING
MACHINES," a communication to me from abroad by Asa Sessions, resident at
Springfield, Massachusets, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the machine known as
the Lamb knitting machine, and consists of a new and improved arrange-
ment for regulating the supply of yarn. To the bed of the machine I attach
a bridge, which is slotted to support the yarn feeder, which travels in the slot
for the purpose hereafter described. To the feeder an arm is pivoted, the
arm passes through a hub, where a spring presses upon or against it on each
side of the hub for the purpose hereafter described. The arm is formed into
a loop at the end for the yarn to pass through, the hub being fastened to the
bed of the machine by means of a curved arm or bracket support to which it
is pivoted. Attached to this arm is a small wire with a loop in the upper end,
at the side of this loop I place a spring; the yarn is passed through the loop
of the wire, and on through the loop of the small wire, and thence to the
feeder. Now, as the crank is turned, the slider is driven backward and
forward, bringing the yarn in contact with the needles as in the ordinary
machine. This slider operates the needles by means of mechanism technically
called a "lock," which is the same in every particular as the one used on the

page_text: Lamb knitting machine, and also operates the yarn feeder in the manner
hereafter described. The arm by its vibrating motion derived from the motion
of the slide pulls off the yarn from the bobbin, and at the same time produces
tension thereon just sufficient to keep it from getting entangled. The object
of the slot is to bring the yarn carrier or feeder in a position so that it may
feed the yarn to the needles as they are going down. To effect this it is
necessary that the feeder shall be at the end of the slot opposite the end of the
machine towards which the slide is travelling, and for this reason it is
necessary that it shall change from one end of the slot to the other with the
change of stroke. In order that the wire may not slip through the hub too
easily, and thereby not move the feeder along with the slot, the spring
is placed on the hub so that it shall press on the wire with sufficient force to
hold it firmly until the feeder has moved in the slot, when, owing to the
change of the parts and the operation of the machine, the friction of the spring
on the wire will be overcome and the wire will slip in the hub. The spring
which bears on the yarn as it passes through the loop of the wire is pulled
outward by the pressure of the yarn passing over it as long as the carriage is
passing backward or forward, but grips it firmly at each end of the stroke,
and keeps the slack from the needles, and thereby prevents the needles from
losing a stitch, or becoming entangled with the yarn. By comparing this
method with the old feeding arrangement, it will be seen that I have a
much simpler arrangement, and consequently one not so liable to get out of
order, and of much cheaper construction, while at the same time it is surer in
its action and operation, completely overcoming the difficulties and defects of
the old feeder.