Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1887
Complete Left, 12th Oct., 1887
Complete Accepted, 15th Nov., 1887
I CONSTANTINE DE NEGRI of 68 Stamford Street, Blackfriars in the County of
Surrey, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to Circular Knitting Machines with selfacting needles and
has for its object improvements in parts thereof.
Instead of fixing the arm that carries dial, to the shell, as is now done in some
machines, I cast or fix one or two upright pieces to the geared ring to which either
an arm or bridge is attachable.
The movable or adjustable post which holds the dial from turning I make readily
adjustable as follows.
I bore the needle cylinder and face the inside bottom ledge on which I have cast
the lugs wider than is usual for the purpose of screwing down cylinder and fit therein
freely a ring with two small bosses on inside edge, also a stand up post of ordinary
type and another stem which continues below the cylinder, in the above named wide
lugs in cylinder I cut two curved slots and from bottom of cylinder I fit a shouldered
screw through each slot which I screw into each boss that I had cast on ring, also at
a short distance from the stem attached to or cast on ring 1 screw another stem into
part of one of the cylinder lugs and mount a lever thereon which extends outwardly
to any convenient part below the machine body and inwardly a comparatively short
distance, I then connect the two stems with a link so that when the longer end of the
lever is moved it adjusts the position of the post and then may be fastened by a
thumb nut on cylinder stem or in any other convenient manner.
Another way of fitting the movable post is by connecting a second ring to the
former higher up in the cylinder and thereby doing away with the screws bosses and
slots named above.
An improvement in the adjustment of the shell stitch cam is in fixing the index to
cam itself and letting it come through to the front plate, quite independent of the
lever by which the cam is moved.
The cam cap I make capable of being thrown into or out of action by swiveling
its outthrow cam in such a manner that it either allows the needle to pass between it

page_text: and the raised part below cap, or by approximating its edge to the raised part and so
making the needles to act. This swiveling may be carried out from top of cap by
means of a lever.
I further adjust the ribber stitch cam by means of an eccentric which fits in that
end of the cam which requires adjustment in connection with lever or index on
top of cap.
The clasp ring I make deeper than is usual and instead of the little spring, which
often either breaks or does not catch properly I fix to the front of one end a small
strip of steel free to turn on a pin and with curved recess at the other end made to
drop on a headed pin fixed to other end of ring, the ring also being deeper than is
usual allows of two blades being inserted in its joint which greatly increases its
strength and stability.
The machine needle below the butt is continued a short distance at an angle to
the edge of cut in cylinder and then turned in sharp to bottom of cut.
Dated this 19th
T
1000

page_text: Improvements in Knitting Machines and Machine Needles.
I, CONSTANTINE DE NEGRI of 68 Stamford Street, Blackfriars, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to Circular Knitting Machines with selfacting needles, and
has for its object the improvements of some of their parts.
My said invention comprises,
First, an improved manner of fixing the arm in some cases, or the bridge in other
cases (which carries dial, cam cap &c.) to the geared ring, instead of to the cam shell,
thereby giving it more stability.
Second, an improved post, for adjusting the ribbing needles in their proper varied
relative positions to those of the cylinder needles, which works easily and holds the
dial steady when once adjusted.
Third, a positive shell stitch cam and indicator combined, which can not possibly
alter their positions independently of one another and thereby mislead the operator,
as they are rigidly attached together.
Fourth, an improved welting cam cap, of simple construction and stitch cam
adjustment, the latter indicating the position of stitch cam on top of cap, whence it
can be readily adjusted.
Fifth, a clasp ring of stronger construction, both in the clasp or catch and hinge
parts, than is usually adopted.
Sixth, a machine needle of simple construction below the butt, which whilst
resisting the side pressure of shell cams without injuring the cylinder, works smoothly
up and down the grooves.
I now proceed to illustrate the above improvements by the drawings herewith.
Fig. 1 is a plan of machine in which the arm or bridge has been removed and
Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the arm a which in some cases may be employed
and a 6 (the latter being part in dotted lines) the bridge which in other cases may
be used, the arm being carried by the upright piece c and the bridge by the upright
pieces c and d and being held in place, in case of arm by thumb nute and in case of
bridge by thumb nuts e and f. These upright pieces are cast on or attached to the
geared ring .
The second part of my invention is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 which are respectively
plan and sectional elevations of the needle cylinder, fitted with the adjustable post,
which consists of the ring 9, the stand up post h and the stem i, the link kand
lever being connected as shown and the lever being pivoted on stem y² which is
screwed into bottom of cylinder, in these Figures the ring g is shown as held down
in its place by screws m, m, capable of sliding in the curved slots n, n, also in bottom
of cylinder which can be seen in Fig. 1.

page_text: By looking at the drawing it will be quite clear that by moving the lever in one
or the other direction, its short end shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 will either push
or pull the link k also shown dotted, which will in its turn cause the ring g, with its
post &c., to move round in cylinder in one or other direction, the post thus adjusting
the dial by arresting the projection on the dial's bottom, as usually provided for the
purpose, when the post can be fixed in position by the thumb nut 0, on end of
stem y².
In Fig. 5 1 show another way of fitting the movable post, by joining an additional
ring by uprights to the ring g and doing without the screws m or slots n, a
similar lever and link being used to move and tighten it in position.
A modification of this last would be to do away with the top ring and keep only
the bottom ring and uprights.
At Figs. 12 and 13 can be seen two views of my shell stitch cam adjustment, the
index being rigidly screwed or fastened to the back of cam and, both being arranged
to be bodily moved up or down by the lever, to the required position indicated
on plate and tightened by the lever 2, which is attached to a screw
dotted.
as shown
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate my cam cap complete with cams &c in three separate
views, is the outthrow cam shown out of action in firm lines, so that it would allow
the needle butts to pass between and in the direction of arrow, without the needle
taking a stitch and in dotted lines the outthrow cam is shown in action so that the
needle butts are arrested from passing between and 2 and are forced outwardly by
cam, their butts being passed in the direction of the dotted arrow; The lever y is
attached to cam and can be moved just far enough to give either of these two
positions and is held in either position by means of a point on handle end of the
lever dropping into a recess on top of cam cap.
y
In Fig. 9 I show the index which affects the position of the ribbing stitch cam ;
The index is squared on the bosss and held on by a screw, the boss being fitted
into a hole in cam cap, also having the screw 2 screwed into the bottom of it
eccentrically after passing through the slot of stitch cam shown at 2 Fig. 8. Now
it follows that on moving the index round in either direction it will alter the position
of the screws and with it the stitch drawing end of stitch cam and it will easily be
seen that by tightening the screw at top which holds the index on, after moving
index to desired position, the cam can be held rigidly in its place.
up
off the
the insertion
In Figs. 10 I show on a larger scale at t, the catch which when lifted
pin shown as a screw at t², releases the clasp ring free to open, also at
of the two blades, instead of one, as usually made, for the ring to swing open on
when released.
Fig. 11 shows the new form of needle that I use which below the butt extends at
an angle as far as surface of cylinder and then turns in, square with the needle itself,
to bottom of groove and which, whilst having all the advantages of the most approved
needles, by this form below the butt, can be manufactured at a lower price.
-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
First, the way in which an arm (in some cases when desired) or a bridge (if
preferod) is fixed to the geared ring by the upright piece or pieces attached to it
substantially as described and illustrated in Fig. 2.
Second, the movable post, consisting in some cases of a post which stands up from
a single ring fitted to move freely inside the cylinder, whilst resting and being held
down to its bottom ledge, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or in other cases of a post,
standing up from two rings, both fitting inside the cylinder, the bottom one resting
on the inside bottom ledge of cylinder and the other some what above it and
connected with the first by uprights, as in Fig. 5, or in other cases a post standing
up from a single ring, fitting and resting on inside bottom ledge of cylinder, with
two or more uprights fitting freely against inside bore of cylinder, which is in fact
like Fig. 5 without the upper ring p.
In all these three cases the post being

page_text: actuated and held in position by any ordinary means such as described and illustrated
in Figs. 3 and 4.
Third, the positive shell stitch cam and indicator combined, which can not alter
their positions independently of one another, but are movable together by any
ordinary agent, such as a lever as described and illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 12 and 13.
Fourth, the particular form of ribbing outthrow cam, swiveling on a centre, as
described and illustrated at r Fig. 8 and the eccentric index adjustment of ribbing
stitch cam, substantially as described and illustrated.
Fifth, the clasp ring with double bladed hinge and catch in combination, as
described and illustrated.
Sixth, a knitting machine needle having its lower end or foot formed in the
manner herein described and illustrated.