WEFT THREAD NEEDLES FOR KNITTING LOOMS OR MACHINES
Year: 1885

page_text: We, JOSEPH JOHNSON ADGATE and SAMUEL PARKER KITTLE, both of 115 Worth
Street in the City of New York, in the State of New York, United States of
America, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of our invention for WEFT
THREAD NEEDLES FOR KNITTING LOOMS OR MACHINES to be as follows:-
Our invention is an improvement in Weft Thread Knitting Looms for producing
woven fabrics by means of needles, and relates to the needles which are made to
fall behind the vertical plane of the needle grooves, or out of line of the vertical
needles, in order to take and introduce the weft thread.
The invention applies more particularly to that class of needles which are so
arranged in their jacks, or so shaped that their hooks or heads when raised will
naturally take a position back of the plane of the needle groove or behind the
vertical needles; without being pressed or pulled back by any mechanical means;
and consists of an improved construction of the needle which will permit its head
or the upper part of the needle to readily and easily move forward as the needle
descends, without liability of injuring the needle or needle groove, or interfering
with the perfect working of the machine.
When the head or upper part of the needle is situated behind or back of the
needle groove, as the needle descends the head is deflected or pressed forward so as
to slide in its groove. To permit this forward movement of the head or upper
part of the needle, the needle, as heretofore constructed, was either arranged in
the jack so as to have motion or play therein, or the jack or lower part of the
needle where a jack was not used, was so held in the needle groove and cam race
as to allow the upper part of the needle to swing forward on the toe or crank.
Either of these methods were objectionable as they prevented the needle being
held firmly and steadily in the race or groove as is necessary to a perfect working
of the machine.
In the needles, as heretofore constructed, the flexure, caused by bending the top
of the needles forward, was distributed through their whole length, thus causing
especial strain and danger of breaking where the needle entered the jack or near
the bottom of the shank, and also causing the pressure of the needle against the
needle groove to come upon a single point of the back of the needle, and groove
thereby producing undue wear and friction and interfering with the smooth and
even action of the needles and working of the machine.

page_text: Our improvement consists in so forming the needle, that its flexure, instead of
taking place through its whole length, shall be practically confined to, or take place
at, one part or point of the needle. This is effected by making the desired part of
the shank a spring, which is most easily accomplished by flattening such part or
section of the shank, so as to allow the needle to readily yield or spring, at the
proper place, when it is pressed forward. This spring section of the needle may be
of any length or size found necessary, and may be located at any point on the
shank below the latch or beard and above the union with the jack as is desired.
As the needle thus formed descends in forming the stitch, the upper part pressing
against, or coming in contact with, the edge of the needle cylinder, is pushed
outward, and by reason of the spring in the shank, readily yields or springs so as
to allow the head of the needle to move forward in order to slide down the groove;
and when the needle is raised the head by means of the spring readily moves back
and takes its normal position.
By reason of this construction the needle is sprung or deflected only at that part
of the shank where the spring is situated, and thus there is no movement or strain
of the needle in its socket in the jack, and the jack or lower part of the needle is
not materially moved or deflected by the movement of the head or upper part of
the needle.
The needle may therefore be held firmly and rigidly in the jack, and the jack or
needle shank will slide steadily and evenly in its groove, without any material
back and forth motion or any liability of being cramped against the cam cylinder.
This improved method of constructing the needles may be applied to straight
needles, set at an angle in their jacks, or to needles having curved stems, and may
be used on all needles designed to be deflected or moved forward or backward, and
whether moved by a presser or any mechanical device.
Our improvements further consist in forming the head or upper portion of the
needle with a curved back or rear edge or to cause the needle as it is carried down
and bears against the rear or back of the needle groove to slide more easily, and to
permit the loop threads to move in and cast off more readily over the head of the
needle in making the knitted stitch.

page_text: the needle-groove to come upon a single point of the needle, which, when the latter
has descended the full distance in making a stitch will be the extreme end, thus
causing undue wear and friction of the needle-groove, and interfering with the
smooth and even action of the needles and the working of the machine.
Our improvement consists in so forming the needle, that its flexure, instead of
taking place through its whole length, shall be practically confined to, or take
place at, one part or point of the needle. This is effected by forming at that part
or point of the needle where the flexure is to take place a spring; which is most
easily accomplished by reducing such part or section of the needle shank, as shown
in the drawing at g, so as to allow the needle to readily yield or spring at the
proper place when it is pressed forward.
The nature of our improvement and construction of the needle having the same
is shown in the drawings. As there seen in Fig. 1, 2 and 3, when a straight needle
is used, it is set at an angle in the jack B. so that the upper end of the needle will,
when elevated, project back of, and out of line with, the needle jack. If all the
forward motion of the needle is to be taken up by the spring of the needle,
sufficient space only is left between the needle cylinder and the cam cylinder for
the former with its needles to revolve within the cam cylinder and for the jack to
rise and fall, but not to play to and fro. A portion of the body or shank of the
needle A. from e to f is made sufficiently elastic and thin to form a spring g³, this
reduced or spring portion gl, as the needle descends and is pressed forward by the
needle-cylinder, readily yields or springs so as to allow the head of the needle to
move forward in line with the vertical needles so as to slide down the groove as
shown in Fig. 3; and when the needle is raised, the head by means of the spring gl
readily moves back and takes its normal position.
By reason of this construction the needle is sprung or deflected only at that
part of the shank where the spring is situated, and thus there is no movement or
strain of the needle in its socket in the jack, and no danger of breaking the needle
in its lower portion near its union with the jack; and the upper end of the needle
is made to lie smoothly and evenly in the groove as it ascends and descends, which
is not the case where the spring of the needle is distributed through its whole
length. Furthermore by having the spring portion g¹ the needle is made to spring
quickly and easily, preventing the wear of the parts, and causing the machine to
work smoothly and evenly. This reduced or spring portion g' of the needle is
formed below that part of the needle which traverses the loop; the forward part
of the needle is made straight up to the point d where the beard or hook is bent
over. This construction enables the yarn to slide easily upon the needle as the
latter ascends.
Our improvement further consists in forming the rear side of the needle so that
it inclines gradually forward up to the upper end, as from 6 to c, so that when the
needle descends, Fig. 3, this inclined portion of the needle will rest flatly against
the bottom of the needle groove. The length of this inclined portion of the needle
will be regulated by the position of the needle in the jack, increasing as the needle
is moved toward the rear of the jack; but it will not be found practicable to have
this inclined portion extend the whole distance from the upper end of the jack to
the upper end of the needle, for this would require the needle to be placed on the
extreme inner edge of the jack which would not be a practicable construction, and
would, furthermore, interfere with the proper spring of the needle. This con-
struction gives an even bearing in the groove and prevents uneven wear of the
needle and groove; and this improvement of having the forward part of the needle
straight and the rear part inclined for the purpose of allowing the thread to
slide easily upon the needle may be applied to rigid needles, as well as our improved
spring body needles.
Our invention of forming an elastic or spring body needle may be used on all
straight needles set at an angle in their jacks, or to needles having curved stems
(Fig. 4) and may be employed on needles which are made to spring forward as they
ascend in order to take the weft thread, as shown in Fig. 7. Our improved needles

page_text: may also be used where part of the forward motion of the needle is taken up by
allowing the jack to play forward, as shown in Fig. 6 and on needles where a jack
is not used, Fig. 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is
1. A knitting-machine needle having the shank A provided with the reduced
spring portion 9, as described, and for the purposes set forth.
2. A knitting-machine needle having the shank A provided with the reduced
spring portion g and the inclined back portion, bc, as described, and for the purposes
set forth.
3. A knitting-machine needle having the shank A provided with the reduced
spring portion g, the inclined back portion, 6 c, and the straight forward edge
behind the beard for the yarn to slide upon, all substantially as set forth.
Dated this 26th day of August 1886.
JOSEPH JOHNSON ADGATE.
SAMUEL PARKER KITTLE.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.