Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 28th Sept., 1896-Accepted. 24th Dec.. 1896
RICHARD CHALLANDS, The Park Nottingham, Gentleman FREDERICK
WILLIAM PARE, 20 Waterloo Road Nottingham Lace Manufacturer and JAMES
HILL SMITH 2 Claypole Road Nottingham Hosier do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is the construction of simple and effective splicing
mechanisms, and the application of such mechanisms to straight bar latch needle
knitting machines in such a manner that fabrics may be produced with a splicing
thread inserted at any desired portion of the same, the mechanisms referred to
being applicable to machines making one, two, or more courses for each traverse
of the knitting cam.
According to one arrangement the splicing thread carrier is attached to a rod
which is fitted to slide in bearings, or the carrier is fitted to slide on the rod, and
the rod or carrier is traversed the required distance by levers which are pivotted
to some convenient traversing part of the machine, the levers being disconnected
from the rod or carrier by cams which are fixed or movable according to the
character of the required splicing.
In another arrangement the splicing carriers are similarly mounted and actuated
as in the first described arrangement, but are disconnected from the driving
mechanism by oscillating the rods on which the carriers are, so that the splicing
thread is moved through or between the needles until the knitting cams have
passed the carriers.
In another arrangement, more particularly applicable to machines producing one
course for each traverse of the knitting cam, the splicing thread is fed to the
needles by means of hooks which may be mounted to catch and release the thread
at the desired points, or the threads may be moved into and out of the path of the
hooks.
When any of the above arrangements are applied to machines having more than
one division of needles, and producing more than one course for each traverse of
the knitting cams there is a splicing thread carrier to each knitting thread
carrier, and the splicing carriers or the hooks may be connected so as to act in sets,
and be operated by one or more cams instead of having separate mechanism for
each splicing thread carrier.
Dated this 90th day of December 1405
W. H. POTTER, M.I.M.E.,
Nottingham, Patent Agent.

page_text: Improvements in and applicable to Knitting Machines.
RICHARD CHALLANDS, The Park Nottingham, Gentleman FREDERICK
WILLIAM PARE, 20 Waterloo Road, Nottingham Lace Manufacturer and JAMES
HILL SMITH, 2 Claypole Road, Nottingham, Hosier, 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 improvements in and applicable to straight bar latch
needle knitting machines and has more particular reference to machines in which
two or more knitted courses are produced for each traverse of the knitting cam
and also machines in which the length of the traverse of the knitting cam is
automatically varied according to the variation in the number of needles in work,
the object of the present invention being the provision of means for introducing.
splicing threads into the fabric at any predetermined position.
According to this invention the machine is provided with as many splicing
thread carriers as there are knitting thread carriers and separate sets of splicing
carriers are used for each separate part of the fabric to be spliced, that is to say,
if the fabric is to be spliced at both sides there would be two sets of splicing
carriers.
In one arrangement the splicing carriers are fitted to slide with, or upon suitable
rods and are traversed to and fro by means of levers which are pivotted to some
part of the machine having the same motion as the knitting cams. These levers
are disconnected from the splicing carriers or the rods carrying the same by coming
into contact with cams which may be fixed or carried by bars connected to the
fashioning screws.
In another arrangement the splicing thread carriers are traversed similarly to
the carriers in the first described arrangement, but are so mounted that they may
be oscillated with the rods carrying the same.
In another arrangement the splicing thread is laid into position to be knitted
into the fabric by means of hooks, which are suitably pivotted and so mounted
that they can be turned by cams to release the thread. This arrangement is more
particularly suitable for machines producing one course for each traverse of the
knitting cam.
The mechanisms herein described may be applied to machines having two or
more divisions of needles and the levers driving the splicing carriers may be
carried by rods extending across all the divisions, or the splicing carriers in each
division may be arranged to splice independently of the carriers in the other
divisions.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1. is a sectional elevation of a part of a knitting machine showing the
application of the splicing mechanism according to one arrangement.
Fig. 2. is a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3. is an end elevation to a larger scale of the splicing thread carriers.
Fig. 4. is a front elevation of the carriers shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5. is a diagramatic plan of an alternative arrangement of splicing
mechanism.
Fig. 6. is a plan of a single cam box with splicing hooks and means for actuating
the same, and
Fig. 7. is a back elevation of the parts shown in Fig.
In the machine selected to illustrate the application of this invention the
needles are fitted to slide in a bed 1 which is attached to the angle rail 2. On the.

page_text: top of the bed 1 there is a bar 3 which is fitted with nebs 4 for the purpose of
assisting the formation of the loops. The cam boxes 5 carrying the knitting
cams 6 are fitted to slide on a bar 7 and are actuated by a crank through suitable
connections. The machine selected is also fitted with means for automatically
varying the number of needles in work, the length of the traverse of the knitting
cam and also the number of traverses made by the knitting cam, the means here
referred to being described in Specification No. 23603 A.D. 1894. The machine
is also provided with tension or take up appliances and with other usual and
necessary parts, and in Figs. 1 to 5 this invention is shown applied to a machine
having a double cam box capable of producing two knitted courses for each
traverse of the same.
According to this invention when applied to a machine fitted with a double cam
box there are two splicing thread carriers 8 and 9 for each part of the fabric it is
required to splice. These carriers are fitted to slide upon a rod 10 and comprise
a guide 11 fitted with a cover 12 and a piece 13 on the under side to which the
splicing thread guides 14 and 15 are attached. Each carrier is also fitted with a
friction plate 16 to prevent the carriers moving after they have reached the desired
position and means such as eyes 17 for guiding the thread to the guides 14 and 15.
On the top of the pieces 11 there are driving lugs 18 so arranged in conjunction
with the driving levers 19 and 20 that each lever always engages with its own
particular carrier and also gives the same the necessary lead, or distance the eye
of the splicing thread carrier is in advance of the eye of the knitting thread
carriers 21 and 22, this lead being such that the splicing thread is practically
delivered to the needles at the same angle as the knitting thread.
The lever 19 is attached to a shaft 23 and the lever 20 to a shaft 24, and both
shafts are shown carried by a bracket 25 which is attached to the cam box 5 and
is moved to and fro with it, the shafts being mounted to oscillate in the bracket
and traverse with it. The shafts may however be similarly mounted in brackets
which are carried by any part of the machine having the same traverse as the cam
box. The levers 19 and 20 are normally held in a position to engage with the
projections 18 and therefore, when traversing, they move the splicing carriers with
them until raised up or disengaged from the projection. This may be done by
any arrangement of cams which lift the levers when the latter are travelling in
one direction, and which allow the levers to pass over them without raising the
same when travelling in the other direction.
The cams 26 fulfilling the above conditions are pivotted upon a bracket 27 and
by weights or springs are held in the position shown.
When the levers meet the inclined edges of these cams, the levers are raised
and the splicing thread carriers stop at a corresponding position, but when the
levers strike the vertical edges of the cams, these latter turn on their axles and
the levers pass over without being raised. If the machine is making a fabric with
parallel edges, or a parallel portion of the fabric is required to be spliced, the
cams 26 are placed in fixed positions according to the width of the spliced portion,
and when a fabric is being spliced on a fashioned edge of the same the cams 26
are attached to some part of the machine which moves in accordance with the
variations on the width of the fabric.
In the drawings the bracket 27 is shown attached to a fixed bar 28 while a
similar bracket 29 carrying the cams for the fashioned edge of the fabric is
attached to one of the bars 30 which are connected to the fashioning mechanism.
The mechanism now described is capable of splicing a fabric at any part of the
same,
and is applicable to a machine knitting any number of courses for each
traverse of the cam box. When the machine has more than one needle bed the
shafts 23 and 24 are extended and carry the levers for all the needle beds and
such shafts may be operated by one or more sets of cams according to the number
of needle beds.
In Fig. 5 there is shown an arrangement, diagramatically, of splicing mechanism
for splicing the sides of the fabric only, but applicable to machines making two or

page_text: more courses for each traverse of the knitting cam. In this arrangement the parts
act similarly to the corresponding numbered parts already described but levers 19
and 20 are carried by one shaft 31, the projection 18 on the outside splicing
carrier 8 is higher than the projection on the inner splicing carrier 9, the cams 26
are arranged to give different amounts of motion to the levers, and there is only
one cam at the extreme edges. With this arrangement the levers, say moving from
the right to left strike the carriers and carry them forward in their proper position
relatively to the knitting thread carriers. When the first of the cams 26 is
reached both levers 19. 20. are raised, but only high enough for the lever 20 to
release the inner carrier 9, the farther motion bringing the lever 19 into contact
with the higher cam 26, thereby releasing the outer carrier 8 at the same position
as the carrier 9. The levers then engage the carriers used for splicing the left
band side of the fabric and carry them forward until the inner carrier has passed
the selvage needle when both levers are lifted, leaving both carriers in a similar
position to that shown at the right hand side of Fig. 5.
In an arrangement specially applicable to machines producing one course for
each traverse of the cam and preferably splicing at the sides of the fabric only,
hooks are used as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In this arrangement two splicing thread
hooks 32 are pivotted to the cam box and are held in the position shown by a
spring 34, the hack ends 35 of the hooks being held against levers 33 whose
motion in one direction is limited by stops 36. The splicing thread with this
arrangement is arranged on the same side of the knitting thread carrier 32* as
the selvage of the fabric so that the thread when released by the hook on the
other side of the carrier is not caught by the latter and carried across the
unspliced part of the fabric. The splicing thread is released from the hooks
when the levers 33 come into contact with the tumbler cams 37 which acting
through the levers 33 cause the books to move away from the needles and thereby
allow the splicing thread to escape from them. The tumbler cams may be fixed
or attached to the fashioned mechanism.
As an example of the method of working with this arrangement suppose the
cam box to be in the centre of the fabric and moving towards the left hand side
of the fabric, the knitting thread being fed to the needles by the fixed carrier 32*
in the ordinary manner. The splicing thread which had been left at the inside
edge of the spliced portion of the fabric at the last traverse of the cam box,
stretches from this point to a guide so placed that the thread is held in the path of
the books 32. Now when the left hand side book reaches the splicing thread it
engages the same and carries it to the selvage needle at which the hook releases
the thread by means of the lever 33 and a cam 37. The kuitting cam 5 then
completes its traverse and the splicing thread when released from the hook 32
either is pushed forward by and passes in front of the knitting thread carrier 32*,
or it may be pulled back by the hook 32, in which case the splicing thread is
drawn under the carrier 32* which moving to complete its traverse with the cam
box passes so far beyond the selvage needle that the splicing thread falls in front
of the right hand hook 32 and is taken by this hook on the return stroke or
traverse of the knitting cam. As already explained the splicing thread is arranged
on the selvage side of the spliced part of the fabric, that is the splicing thread
guide is on the side mentioned consequently the splicing thread, when the inside
edge of the spliced part is reaches stretches at an angle from the book 32 to the
thread guide, and when the thread is released the angle of the same pulls it in
front of the carrier 32x and allows the carrier to complete its traverse without
carrying the splicing thread with it.
In modifications worked similarly to the arrangements herein described the
splicing thread carriers are fitted to slide upon and oscillate with a suitable rod so
that when the end of the spliced portion has been reached the splicing thread
carriers are oscillated until at the back of the needles and in another modification
applicable to the first described arrangement each splicing carrier is attached to a
separate rod which is fitted to slide in bearing.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
!
1. In straight bar latch needle knitting machines producing two or more courses.
at each traverse to the knitting cam the application to and the combination with
the same of splicing thread carriers fitted to splice any predetermined part of the
fabric substantially as herein described.
2. The combination with latch needle knitting machines producing two or more.
courses at each traverse of the knitting.cam of splicing mechanism- comprising
sets of splicing carriers for each portion of the fabric to be spliced each set of
carriers consisting of as many splicing carriers as there are courses knitted at.
each traverse of the knitting cam, such splicing thread carriers being fitted to slide
on a fixed rod and actuated by levers carried by shafts moving similarly to the
cam box and capable of being oscillated by cams substantially as herein shown.
and described.
3. The combination with latch needle knitting machines producing two or more.
courses at each traverse of the knitting cam of splicing mechanism comprising
sets of splicing carriers for each portion of the fabric to be spliced each set of
carriers consisting of as many splicing carriers as there are courses knitted at each
traverse of the knitting cam, such splicing thread carriers being fitted to slide on
a fixed rod and actuated by levers carried by a single shaft moving similarly to
the cam box and capable of being oscillated different distances by means of cams
substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 5 and for the particular
purpose specified.
4. In a latch needle knitting machine producing one course for each traverse of
the cam box, the combination with the same of pivotted hooks for carrying the
splicing thread the required distance, and levers and cams for actuating the hooks
substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7 of the accom--
panying drawings.
5. In straight bar latch needle knitting machines producing one or more courses.
at each traverse of the knitting cam, and in which the length of the traverse of
the knitting cam can be automatically varied according to the number of needles.
in work the application to and the combination with the same of splicing thread
carriers fitted to splice any predetermined part of the fabric as herein described.
6. In straight bar latch needle knitting machines producing one or more courses
at each traverse of the knitting cam, and in which the length of the traverse of
the knitting cam is automatically varied according to the numbers of needles in
work the combination with such machines of splicing mechanism comprising sets
of splicing carriers for each portion of the fabric to be spliced, each set consisting
of as many splicing carriers as there are courses produced at each traverse of the-
knitting cam, such carriers being fitted to slide upon a fixed rod and actuated by
levers carried by shafts moving similarly to the cam box and capable of being
oscillated by cams substantially as herein shown and described.
7. In straight bar latch needle knitting machines producing one or more courses.
at each traverse of the knitting cam, and in which the length of the traverse of
the knitting cam is automatically varied according to the number of needles in
work the combination with such machines of splicing mechanism comprising sets of
splicing carriers for each portion of the fabric to be spliced, each set consisting of
as many splicing carriers as there are courses produced at each traverse of the
knitting cam, such carriers being fitted to slide upon a fixed rod and actuated by
levers carried by a single shaft moving similarly to the cam box and capable of.
being oscillated different distances by means of cams substantially as herein.
described with reference to Fig. 5 and for the particular purpose specified.
8. In straight bar latch needle knitting machines in which one course is.
produced for each traverse of the knitting cams and in which the length of the:
traverse of the knitting cam is automatically varied according to the number of

page_text: needles in work the combination with the same of pivotted hooks for carrying
the splicing thread the required distance, and levers and cams for actuating the
books substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated thin 02nd Ing of Santamba 1006