Improvements in Knitting Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1898-Accepted, 14th Jan.,
1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Knitting Machines.
I, FRANK BLACK WILDMAN, of 535, Chain Street, Norristown, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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:-
In automatic knitting machines variations in the pattern are produced by the
operation of needle controlling cams through pattern mechanism, which has hereto-
fore usually embraced a pattern chain containing lugs or projections which actuate
cam operating devices. A portion of my invention relates to the employment of
a pattern wheel or disc, in lieu of the ordinary pattern chain, to which an inter-
rupted motion is imparted, whereby the pattern wheel or disc may be permitted
to remain in a state of rest, while no change is to be made in the pattern of the
fabric being knitted, thus permitting a small pattern wheel to be used in lieu of a
long pattern chain.
It is also an object of my invention to enable the pattern controlling lugs or
projections to be easily changed or altered to produce any desired changes in the
pattern; and this I accomplish by the use of detachable blocks or segments upon
the pattern wheel.
My invention also relates to mechanism for operating a pattern chain or wheel
with an interrupted motion, so that the chain or wheel may remain at rest when
no changes are to be made in the pattern to be produced in the fabric.
My invention also embraces mechanism controlled by the movement of the
knitted fabric for operating the devices for controlling the actuation of the pattern
chain or wheel, so that the operation thereof is automatically controlled by the
fabric itself.
Another part of my invention relates to the employment of devices for enabling
the pattern chain, or wheel, and the mechanism for operating and controlling it,
to be instantly brought to any determined point, as the point of commencement,
thus enabling the parts to be brought at any time into position to commence the
making of the pattern.
My invention further relates to the employment of a removable protecting casing
or covering for the mechanism for operating and controlling the pattern chain or
wheel; to mechanism for operating the said pattern chain operating and control-
ling devices by the movement of the knitted cloth; and to many novel constructions
and combinations of parts which are hereinafter fully described and claimed.
I shall now refer to the accompanying drawings for the purpose of more particu-
larly describing my invention.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a knitting machine embodying my invention;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the left hand side of Fig. 1 with parts in section and
broken away; Fig. 3 is a face view of the pattern wheel and lever; Fig. 4 is a
horizontal sectional view of the machine on the line of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a
front view of the enclosing casing of the pattern wheel operating devices; Fig. 6
is an enlarged view of the pattern wheel operating devices as shown in Fig. 2;

page_text: Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the same on the line y-y of Fig. 6; Fig. 8
is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating a modification of the
pattern wheel operating devices; and Fig. 9 is a front elevation of part of the
mechanism shown in Fig. 8.
A is the frame work of the machine.
1
B is the knitting head, which may be of any convenient construction. For
purposes of illustration I have shown an automatic rib knitting head of well known
character, in which the movable cams are operated through levers a, b, actuated
by discs S, N, on a shaft s, which is raised and lowered by a lever S controlled
by the pattern chain. The raising or lowering of the shaft s changes the positions
of the parts S, N, so as to make them actuate the levers a, b.
While I have shown my improvements in the pattern mechanism applied to the
disc carrying shaft 8, it is to be understood that they may be applied to any form
of automatic mechanism for actuating the cams, without in any way departing from
my invention.
"C is a take-up for taking up the cloth as it is knitted in the head B, and may be
of any suitable construction. I have shown the take-up operated through a belt C¹
from the driving shaft c.
I shall now particularly describe my improvements in the pattern devices:
D is a pattern wheel mounted on a shaft d in bearings on the frame A below the
base plate A. This pattern wheel consists of a disc having its periphery provided
with projections d', similar to those used on the ordinary pattern chain. I prefer
to construct the pattern wheel of a disc, to the outer edge of which the segments or
blocks d, which form the operative projections, are attached, as shown in Fig. 3.
By making these segments or blocks detachable they may be easily removed and
replaced by others to change the character of the pattern wheel.
E and are two discs (shown as ratchet wheels) of which the former is the
pattern wheel operating disc or ratchet, and the latter is the disc or ratchet for
controlling the pattern wheel operating disc or ratchet E.
Suitable devices are employed for imparting motion to the discs E and F, and
also far moving the latter independently of the disc E.
.
The following is my preferred construction of apparatus for operating the
discs E and F and driving the pattern wheel D:
The disc E is carried by the shaft and is provided with ratchet teeth.
The disc which is of slightly smaller diameter than the disc E is loosely jour-
nalled on the shaft adjacent to the ratchet E and is also provided with ratchet
teeth.
H is a pawl adapted to engage the teeth of both the ratchets E and F. It is
pivoted to a slide H in guides h on the frame A below the base plate A¹
The
slide H¹ may be reciprocated in any convenient manner. For this purpose I have
shown an horizontal lever H2, pivoted, as at h², below the base plate A¹ and acting
at one end upon the end of the slide H', and at its other end H3 upon an annular
cam H, carried by the rotary base plate B¹ of the knitting head. A spring Ho
between the slide H¹ and the frame work returns the slide and maintains the end
of the lever H2 in contact with the cam H4. The ratchets E and F are so con-
structed and operated that the ratchet E will move faster than the ratchet F. As
shown the ratchet E is provided with alternate deep and shallow teeth e¹, e², so disposed
with reference to the teeth of the ratchet F, that when the pawl H engages a deep
tooth el it will also engage a tooth of the ratchet F and will move both ratchets, but
when it engages a shallow tooth it will not engage the tooth of the ratchet F and
consequently will move the ratchet E only. The pawl H, therefore, in the con-
struction shown moves the ratchet E twice as fast as it moves the ratchet F.
G is a gear wheel carried by the ratchet F so as to rotate therewith. In the
construction illustrated in Fig. 7 I have shown the gear wheel G journalled on
the shaft & between the fast ratchet E and the loose ratchet F, to the latter of which
it is secured, while in the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 it is connected with
the ratchet F by friction plates G¹.

page_text: I is a shaft journalled transversely in bearings in the frame A below the knitting
head and above the take-up. It is a wheel, provided with pins or teeth, carried
by the shaft I and adapted to make contact with the cloth as it passes from the
knitting head to the take-up (see dotted lines in Fig. 2). 12 is a pinion on the
shaft I engaging the gear wheel G, which is loose on the shaft d.
As the cloth is
knitted and is drawn down by the take-up, it will rotate the wheel I' and shaft I,
from which, through the pinion I2 and gear wheel G, the ratchet F will be rotated.
on the shaft d.
J are a series of segments or blocks, of which one or more may be used, attached
to the ratchet F, adjacent to the edge, so that their outer faces will be level with
the teeth. The pawl H is sufficiently broad that it will make contact with the
faces of the segments J, thus preventing it from engaging the teeth of the ratchet F,
and consequently, while that portion of the ratchet F which is provided with the
segments J is under the pawl H, it will not be operated thereby.
K is an adjustable segment, similar to the segments J, except that it is secured
to the ratchet F with provision for circumferential adjustment.
I have shown the segment K secured to the ratchet F by a set screw k, passing
through a curved slot in the segment, and engaging a threaded socket 2 in the
face of the ratchet. I have also shown the segment K provided with a flange /
engaging an annular groove in the face of the ratchet.
The segment K may overlap the segment J as shown in Fig. 6, and to permit
this I have shown the ratchet cut away adjacent to its periphery to form an annular
offset for the segments J, while the segment K is secured to the face of the ratchet
below the offset and thus extends over the segments J. The segments J may be.
detachably secured to the ratchet by set screws j engaging threaded sockets j¹ in
the ratchet.
By adjusting the segment K it may be made to overlap the last of the segments J
to a greater or less extent.
K is a segment similar to the segment K and is adapted to be adjusted in posi-.
tion more or less distant from the segments J and K as the pattern may require."
The ratchet E is provided at one or more points with places where the short ratchet
teeth are cut away, as at e, e (Fig. 6), so as to present short spaces devoid of shallow
teeth, and these spaces e, e, are notched as at e³.
I shall now explain the operation of the pattern mechanism, so far as the same
has been described:
Supposing the parts at starting to be in the positions shown in Fig. 6, with the
pawl H resting on the surface of the segment K and upon the flat portion e of the
ratchet E above the notch e therein; the reciprocation of the pawl will produce
no movement in either ratchet F or E, and not driving the ratchet E, will not
rotate the shaft and pattern wheel D). The pattern wheel I will therefore
remain at rest, with the lever S, shafts and discs S, N, in such positions as may
be determined by the portion of the pattern wheel which is acting on the lever St.
As the cloth is knitted and travels down it acts on the card wheel I' and rotates
the shaft I, and through the pinions I2 and gear wheel G, drives the ratchet F.
When the segment K passes from under the pawl H, it permits it to drop into
engagement with both the notch of the ratchet E and the teeth of the ratchet F.
The pawl H thus continues to rotate both the ratchets E and F, moving the
former with every reciprocation and the latter with alternate reciprocations, and
turns the pattern wheel, until the segment K¹ on the ratchet F passes under the
pawl and holds it out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet F' but without dis-
engaging it from the ratchet E which it continues to rotate together with the
pattern wheel D, until the part e comes adjacent to the segment K'. The pawl
how ceases to drive the ratchet E and pattern wheel D, until the segment K¹,
which has been moving slowly with the ratchet F under the action of the wheel I',
passes from under the pawl, and allows it to drop into engagement with the
hotch e³ and the teeth of the ratchet E, when it will continue to rotate both
atchets, until the first of the segments J passes under it.

page_text: The segments J now lift the pawl from engagement with ratchet F. Meanwhile
the ratchet E and pattern wheel are driven by the pawl H, until the portion e of
the ratchet E is reached when the rotation of the ratchet E and the pattern wheel D
ceases and the ratchet F rotates slowly under the action of the wheel I¹ until the
segments J and K pass from under the pawl H and allow it to drop into engage-
ment with the notch e¹. The operations described are then repeated.
It will be observed that the segments J, K, and K' act to hold the pawl H out of
engagement with the ratchets E and F, thus causing the pattern wheel, and needle
controlling cams operated thereby, to remain at rest, for an interval of time while
the segments are moved by the wheel I and the cloth. This interval therefore
depends upon the length of the segments. In the machine shown in the drawings
each segment is of a length sufficient to permit the making of three inches of
cloth and by increasing or decreasing the number of segments, or adjusting the
adjustable segments K, K', the length of cloth made, before any change takes
place in the pattern mechanism, may be varied.
A great advantage of my pattern mechanism is that the intermittent operation
of the pattern wheel, which permits the wheel to remain at rest, while a length
of cloth is being knitted, enables a comparatively small wheel to be used instead of
a long pattern chain such as is now usually employed.
Another great advantage of my pattern wheel is that it permits very nice
adjustments or changes to be made. With an ordinary pattern chain, such as is
now commonly used, to change the pattern produced by the chain requires the
changing of a link. Not only is this a difficult operation, but, as the minimum
size of the links is restricted, a smaller change cannot be made than is permitted
by the minimum size of the links. With the ordinary pattern chains the minimum
change that may be made is about one-eighth of an inch. With my pattern wheel,
by adjusting the segment K so that it will overlap the segment J to. a greater or
less extent a very small change is possible.
It is to be understood that the particular arrangement of the segments J, K
and K is not essential to my invention and that they may be variously disposed to
suit the pattern to be produced. In the construction shown the segments and pattern
wheel are so arranged that the needles will first knit one or more plain courses,
will then form a rili, and while the segment K¹ is passing, will form a series of
plain courses, and, finally, while the segments J, are passing, will make a long
series of tuck courses. This arrangement is for a knitted sleeve and cuff; but for
other patterns the parts J, K, K¹, may be differently arranged to control the
pattern wheel in any way that may be desired, as to make tucks, loose courses, etc.
The segment K' may be omitted when the pattern does not require it; and the
segment K may also be omitted when provision for minute adjustment is not
necessary.
To ensure a uniform operation of the wheel I' by the cloth I employ a guide L
extending transversely adjacent to the periphery of the wheel I so that the cloth
as it passes to the take-up C will be pressed forward toward the toothed periphery
of the wheel I', as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The guide L preferably
consists of a roller, having a roughened periphery, carried on a shaft L' supported
by the main frame.
The guide roller L serves a special purpose with the construction shown in
Figs. 8 and 9 in maintaining a uniform and extended contact of the cloth with
the wheel I and thus imposing a frictional resistance upon the wheel I¹ and
preventing it from rotating rapidly under the direct action of the ratchet F, wher
the latter is driven by its pawl; it thus serves to maintain a uniform movemen
in the wheel I¹ whether the ratchet is moving slowly under the action of wheel I
when the pawl of the ratchet is not operating it, or the ratchet is driven rapidly
independently of the wheel I when the pawl is driving it. It also prevents th
disengagement of the cloth from the wheel I', when the cloth is pulled outwar
by the hand of the operator for examination, which would interrupt the operation

page_text: of the wheel I' and the ratchet F (when its pawl was not operating it) and thus
change the length of the pattern.
To prevent possible injury to the hands of the operator from contact with the
sharp teeth or points of the wheel I', as well as to prevent injury to the teeth which
would affect the operation of the wheel I' and consequently of the pattern controlling
ratchet F, I employ a guard 13 extending over the periphery of the wheel I'. I
have shown the guide extending only over the upper portion of the wheel, as
that is the point where there is the greatest danger of contact, but the guard
may of course be further extended if desired, even to the extent of enclosing the
card wheel except at the point of contact with the cloth. I have shown the guard
carried by a bracket I on the shaft I, but it may be otherwise supported.
In the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9, instead of having the gear wheel G
fast to the loose ratchet F, I have shown it connected therewith by frictional contact.
In the former case not only is the ratchet F driven by the gear wheel G through
the action of the cloth, but the ratchet also drives the gear wheel when the
ratchet F is operated by the pawl H. This is avoided in the construction shown
in Figs. 8 and 9, in which the gear G is connected with the ratchet F by friction
plates G, bearing on the face of the gear and fastened to the body of the ratchet
by bolts G. The friction of the plates G₁ is sufficient to drive the ratchet F
when the gear is driven from the pinion 12, but not sufficient to overcome the
resistance to the movement of the gear G, when the ratchet F is driven by the
pawl H, and consequently the gear G and toothed wheel I are not operated by
the ratchet F, but are operated only by the action of the cloth.
The frictional contact of the plates G¹ may be regulated by adjusting the
bolts G2 through the threaded nuts G³. G are stop screws for maintaining the
nuts G³ in adjusted position and preventing them from working loose.
It is desirable that the pattern mechanism should be so constructed that it may
at any moment be turned back to the starting point of the pattern, so that, in case
of a defect in the material, it will not be necessary to complete the pattern, but
the mechanism may be immediately brought into position to start the pattern anew.
I shall now describe the mechanism which I employ for this purpose, the same
being more particularly shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5.
M is a handle or indicator mounted on the end of the shaft d, by means of
which the shaft and pattern wheel may be turned.
N' is a lever pivoted above the shaft d and provided with a projection n adapted,
when the lever is depressed, to act as a stop to the handle M, when the same is
turned into its highest position. The pattern wheel D and ratchet E are so located
with reference to the handle M, that they will be at the starting point of the
pattern when the handle is turned into the upright position, as shown in Fig. 5.
O is a push pin, extending through the casing P, which encloses the ratchet
mechanism, and is connected with the free end of the lever N¹. A spring o
normally holds the parts raised. By depressing the push pin 0, the stop n will
be brought in position to arrest the indicator handle M and thus stop the pattern
wheel and ratchet E at the starting point.
The stop n is shown projecting through a slot p in the casing P.
To provide for the adjustment of the ratchet F I have shown its hub F extended
and provided with a knurled handle Q by means of which the ratchet may be
turned on the shaft d. A stop is carried by the segment K and is adapted to
strike a projection or lug n on the lever N1 when the same is lowered. The
ratchet F is turned on the shaft d until the stop r strikes the lug n¹ and the
ratchet is then at the starting point of the pattern.
It is highly desirable that the ratchet mechanism should be protected and kept
clean, and for this purpose I employ the enclosing casing P, which covers the
top, front and sides, and is detachably supported at the bottom, as by posts R,
to which it may be detachably fastened by set screws. The casing P is slotted,
as at t, to admit the shaft d and hub F¹, so as to bring the handles M and Qon
the outside. The ratchet mechanism is protected at the back by the frame A.

page_text: The ratchet mechanism is thus covered and protected and the casing P may be
easily and quickly removed at any time to permit the mechanism to be inspected,
adjusted or repaired.
To maintain a regular and uniform operation of the ratchet F from the shaft, I
may employ a friction block or finger V carried by the frame A and pressed in
contact with the surface of the pinion 12 by a spring, this would not, however,
be used in the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
While the pattern wheel consisting of a disc provided upon its periphery with
the pattern projections ar blocks, as a substitute for the ordinary pattern chain,
is an important part of my invention and is hereinafter claimed, it is to bu
understood that, so far as my invention relates to the devices for rotating the
pattern wheel and controlling the same, the ordinary pattern chain may be used
if desired without departing from my invention.
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
1. The devices substantially as herein described and shown for controlling the
operation of the pattern wheel or chain of a knitting machine.
2. The adjustable piece or segment K for adjusting the said devices for con-
trolling the operation of the pattern wheel or chain.
:
3. The devices controlled by the knitted fabric for operating the devices for
controlling the operation of the pattern chain or wheel.
4. The means, substantially as described and shown, for setting the pattern
wheel operating shaft and the devices for controlling the means for actuating
it in a determinate position.
5. The yielding driving connection between the mechanism controlled by the
knitted fabric and the devices for controlling the means for actuating the pattern
wheel or chain.
:
6. The guard I³ for the toothed wheel I':
7. The guide L adjacent to the toothed wheel I¹ for maintaining the knitted
fabric in contact therewith and for imposing frictional resistance thereon.
8. The enclosing casing P for the pattern mechanism and their controlling
devices.
9. The combination with devices for operating the pattern wheel or chain of a
knitting machine, of the means, controlled by the knitted fabric, for temporarily
throwing said devices out of action.
Dated this Savonth day
D 1000
FRANK BLACK WILDMAN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.