Improvements in Knitted Fabrics and Method for Making same.
Year: 1887

page_text: Improvements in Knitted Fabrics and Method for Making same.
1, THOMAS HENRY CARROLL, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Inventor,
do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTED
FABRICS AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention has reference to knitted fabric and the method of making the
same; and consists in certain improvements all of which are fully set forth in
the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form part
thereof.
At present in the market there are two main or characteristic forms of knitted
fabric; one of which is what is known as jersey cloth, essentially a plain knitted
fabric without any backing and made of a uniform color; and the other of which
is what is known as stockinette formed with a looped or plush back. Both of
these fabrics are made in a single continuous piece, that is to say the adjacent
horizontal face_loops are formed of the same thread; and hence must be of the
same color. The jersey cloth is extremely light and therefore not sufficiently
warm for winter clothing whereas the stockinette while having all the warmth required
is extremely expensive to make and entirely beyond the reach of the majority of
people.
The object of my invention is to produce a fabric which may be either made plain.
like jersey cloth or with a looped or plushed back like stockinette, and which shall be

page_text: cheap to manufacture, durable under wear, and have far more warmth than jersey cloth
if made from the same threads or yarns. Further my object is to form a knitted cloth
which may he striped vertically as well as horizontally to form either striped, checked
or plaid fabrics either with the plain or carded or plushed back. It is readily seen
that a fabric of this nature which can be produced with such great variety of effect has
great novelty and will supply an article which it has heretofore been impossible to make
though greatly desired.
In carrying out my invention I use two sets of needles arranged upon the well
known balmoral knitting head, one set being arranged within the other and concentric
therewith. These needles are of the ordinary latch construction, and the needle jacks
upon both sets of needles would be substantially the same and be operated by the cams
found upon all knitting machines of this class. To make cloth I would use a head of
large diameter with say 5, 6 or more sets of thread guides. Each set of needles has
its own thread guides so that a separate thread either of the same or of a different
color may be run into each set of needles, and as the needles of the two sets are
staggered the fabrics knitted upon each of the sets will be also interwoven or inter-
laced together the loops of each set being arranged alternately and in the completed
fabric they form a uniform surface. If these threads are of different colors, then
the fabric produced will have vertical stripes a most desirable feature in this class of
goods and one which as far as I am aware has not been heretofore accomplished. It
is self evident that the needles of the two sets need not be staggered alternately but
one set might have two or more needles arranged between one or more needles of the
other set and staggered, in which case I could produce different widths of stripes,
or the different stripes arranged at different distances apart. The completed jersey
cloth formed in this manner will be thicker and more handsome in appearance than
when only one set of needles is used because the back loops of each of the two face
fabrics give extra thickness and prevents any possibility of the fabric being readily
seen through. These back loops may be left plain or be carded or combed to give a
cloth or plush appearance to the back; but to make the fabric more of the appearance
of stockinette (which is a very high priced goods) I knit or weave into the back of the
fabric by the inner set of needles one or more yarns or threads which are held to the
back by the threads of the inner set of needles from which the face of the fabric is
formed. To make this backing thread looped it is arranged back and forth between
the needles of the inner set, and if two such threads are knitted into the back
simultaneously then these threads would cross each other between the needles and wrap
about the needles upon different sides thereof. These backing loops will form no
perceptible part of the face of the fabric but when combed up in conjunction with the
loops heretofore mentioned (formed of the face threads) an extremely thick soft plush
backing will be produced, and the fabric will look in all material respects the same as
stockinette, embodying all the intrinsic properties thereof and in addition thereto
advantages thereon by the proper arrangement of different colored threads in the
various feed or thread guides.
A fabric may be formed in which a checked, a striped, a mottled or a plaid appearing
face may be produced. The variety of designs which may be produced upon a machine
for making this fabric is very numerous, a few particular designs being herein set out
as an illustration.
In the drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a perspective view representing the method of knitting my improved fabric
and showing a number of each set of needles, their thread guides and devices for
operating the backing thread guides.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of same except so far as face thread guides and operating
devices for the backing thread guides.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged skeleton view showing how the fabric is formed and the relative
arrangement of the various threads.
Fig. 4 is an end view of a piece of the completed fabric uncarded.
Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the back carded or combed.

page_text: knitting, and
Fig. 9 is a plan view diagram illustrating the arrangement of a number of sets of
thread guides about a single knitting head.
A represents the outer set of needles and B the inner set, shown in the present
instance as arranged alternately or in which the needles of one set are located in front
of the openings of the other set. C and D are the respective thread guides the former
feeding the yarn E to the needles A and the latter feeding the yarn F to the needles B.
Both sets of needles ascend and take the yarns E and F and then descend below the
fabric as at H drawing the yarns through the loops in the well known manner and
form new loops upon the needles as they descend at I. The fabric knitted by the
action of these two sets of needles and the two threads E and F is shown in Figs. 1, 2
and 3 if the threads J and K in these figures are ignored. From this it will be seen
that the B needles ascend between the back loops P of the loops formed by the
threads E on needles A. The thread E fed to the A needles is preferably under
greater tension than the thread F fed to the B needles to insure the part formed on
the A needles to draw down upon the part formed on the B needles to make the
completed fabric smooth. The loops formed on the needles B will therefore interlace
with the loops formed on needles A as is clearly shown in Fig. 3, e and f in the
various figures corresponding to the loops formed on the needles by the respective
threads E and F and these loops produce the face of the fabric. If the E and F
threads are of different colors then we have a vertically striped fabric produced as
indicated in Fig. 6. If two or more sets of thread guides are used as indicated in
Fig. 9, then, if the colors of the E and F threads be reversed in the adjacent sets, a
check fabric will be produced as indicated in Fig. 8. Again if the F threads in two
adjacent sets were alike, and the E threads unlike (every alternate one being of the
same color as the F threads) then we would have a plaid such as indicated in Fig. 7
in which the figures one to six indicate the loops produced on the corresponding one
to six sets of thread guides as indicated in Fig. 9. From this it will be observed that
the designs may be greatly modified, as with 5 6 or more sets of thread guides a large
number of combinations may be obtained. From the foregoing it will be readily
perceived that the whole secret of this capability of producing a large variety of
desirable patterns is due to the division of the needles and the use of two separate and
independent face threads which shall simultaneously be knitted into the fabric. Such
knitted goods will be essentially heavy jersey cloth and if desired the back loop
threads P may
be rubbed or carded up to form a soft or plush back. To increase the
thickness of this plush back I weave or knit in one or more backing threads which are
worked into the fabric in the form of wefts as will be clearly understood from an
inspection of Fig. 3.
To knit in these backing threads I provide two thread guide levers L and M
which are pivoted at N and are oscillated in alternately opposite directions
by the cam teeth of the cam O which rotates with the needle head. These
guides L and M guide the back threads J and K back and forth between
the needle B of the inner set, the said threads J and K crossing each
other between the needles as shown in the various figures. These threads
are not acted upon by the hooks of the needles but are simply tied in place as
filling threads by the next set of loops made with an F thread upon the needles B.
These threads are arranged upon the inner set of needles alone and have nothing
whatever to do with the outer set and when they are tied into the fabric they are
located as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 in which it will be observed that they have the
appearance of weft threads and their loops j and k which extend above the body of
the fabric and parallel to the loops P of the face threads may be left in that condition
(see Fig. 4) or may be carded or combed to form a plush back as indicated in Fig. 5.
I do not limit myself to the particular alternative arrangement of the needles A and B
as the number and particular arrangement is immaterial to my invention, provided
there are two independent sets of needles each having separate face yarns fed thereto
and both operated to interlace their loops with each other. Neither do i limit myself

page_text: to the particular method of inserting the filling threads J and K shown for if desired
only one of said threads may be used, and the thread might pass back of two needles
and in front of one or lay the yarn in any other manner upon the back or inner set of
needles. Therefore while I prefer the construction shown I do not limit myself
thereto as it may be modified in various ways without departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. The method bereindescribed for the manufacture of a knitted fabric which
consists in knitting two separate and distinct parts on two separate sets of needles
with different yarns or threads fed to the needles under different tensions the needles
of one set passing through the loops formed by the other set, to cause the loops of the
two parts to interlace to form an integral smooth piece of fabric.
2nd. The method of knitting a fabric which consists in knitting two separate
circular parts upon two separate sets of needles arranged in operative position in
different circles and interlacing the loops of said parts together to form a complete
fabric, each of said parts being formed of two or more yarns or threads fed to the
needles of each set, the threads forming the part knitted on one set of needles being
fed to said needles with a greater tension than the threads fed to the other of said sets
of needles and forming the other part, whereby the loops of the two parts of the
fabric adjust themselves automatically upon leaving the needles to form a smooth
face, and by properly arranging the colors of said threads the fabric may have a
striped, checked, plaid or other desired face.
3rd. As an improved article of manufacture a knitted fabric made in two parts
each part having its own independent yarn and said parts being united by having
their loops interlaced over their entire surface to form an integral piece of fabric, and
backing threads woven into one of said parts and appearing wholly upon the back of
the fabric.
4th. As an improved article of manufacture a knitted fabric made in two parts each
part having its own independent yarn and said parts being united by having their
loops interlaced to form an integral piece of fabric, and carded or plushed backing
threads woven into one of said parts and appearing wholly upon the back of the
fabric.
5th. As an improved article of manufacture a knitted fabric made in two parts each
part having its own independent yarn and said parts being united by having their
loops interlaced to form an integral piece of fabric, and backing threads woven into
one of said parts and appearing mainly upon the back of the fabric, the said back of
the face fabric and extra backing threads being carded or plushed.
6th. The method hereindescribed for the manufacture of a knitted fabric which
consists in knitting two separately knitted parts upon two separate sets of needles and
with different threads for each set of needles, the needles of one set passing through
the loops formed by the other set to cause the loops of the two parts to interlace to
form an integral piece of fabric and interweaving one or more plush or backing
threads upon one of said sets of needles whereby the same is tied into one of the
parts and appears mainly upon the back of the completed fabric.
7th. The hereindescribed method of knitting a fabric which consists in knitting
two separate parts upon two distinct sets of needles and with separate threads the
threads of each set always feeding to its own set of needles, and applying one or more
backing threads by winding them back and forth between the needles of one set and
tying them in position by the face threads of the set of needles upon which they are
placed.
8th. The hereindescribed method of knitting a fabric which consists, in knitting
two separate parts upon two distinct sets of needles, and with separate threads, the
threads of each set always feeding to its own set of needles, and applying one or more
backing threads by winding them back and forth between the needles of one set and

page_text: tying them in position by the face threads of the set of needles upon which they are
placed and subsequently carding the threads forming the back of the fabric.
9th. The hercindescribed fabric which consists of two distinct parts which are
interlaced together to form one uniform appearing fabric, each of said parts being
formed of two or more threads of yarns worked into each of said parts whereby by
suitably arranging the colors of said yarns or threads the fabric may be produced
with stripes, checks, plaids, polka dots or other desired pattern upon its face.
10th. The hereindescribed fabric which consists of two distinct knitted parts which
are interlaced together to form a smooth face each of said parts being formed of a
series of threads knitted together and forming a series of adjacent helical rows of
loops of each series, each row of loops being formed of a different thread from that
constituting the next or adjacent rows in the same series, whereby by employing for
each of said parts of the fabric threads of a variety of predetermined colors in a
predetermined order of arrangement the latter may be brought to the face of the
fabric in a certain predetermined relative order, and the fabric may be produced with
a striped, checked, plaid, polka dot or other desired pattern.
11th. The hereindescribed method of knitting a fabric having a figured face
which consists in simultaneously knitting two separate circular parts upon two
separate sets of needles feeding a series of successive threads of a variety of
predetermined colors to each set of needles, and interlacing the loops of the two parts
to form a complete fabric with a smooth face knitting the threads of the series of
threads (making up each of the separate parts of the fabric) successively so as to
produce successive helical rows of loops whereby the separate rows of loops formed
from the same threads are separated from each other and whereby by the employment
of threads of predetermined colors in a predetermined order of arrangement the
combination of all of the loops will make a fabric with a striped, checked, plaid,
polka dot or other pattern upon its face.
בז
11 371 Jof 1907