IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LAYING IN EXTRA THREADS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNITTED OR LOOPED FABRIC
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Groves, Manufacturer, and James Basford, Frame-
work Knitter, both of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LAYING IN EXTRA THREADS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNITTED OR LOOPED FABRIC "
Sealed the 6th April 1877, and dated the 26th January 1877
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Groves and James
Basford at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January
1877
JOHN GROVES, Manufacturer, and JAMES BASFORD, Fiamework Knitter, both
of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester * IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR LAYING IN EXTRA THREADS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KNITTED OR LOOPED
FABRIC "
In effecting these improvements, in place of introducing an additional thread
carrier to lay the extra thread for splicing or plaiting any part of the fabric where
it may be thought desirable to introduce an extra thread beyond those other wise in
work, we place stationary guides or thread holders at the part or parts where the
work to be operated upon is in process of making. These guides or thread holders
have the extra thread or threads drawn through them, and for the ordinary carrier
or thread layer we substitute one with the addition of a chip or slide over the
ordinary feeder
The effect of the working is that when it is required that the extra thread shall
be introduced the guides are brought into the required position by a sliding bai
and remain stationary there during the time the operation of laying in the extra
thread is wanted.
The clip or slide on the upper portion of the carrier receives the extra thread in
its passage and deposits it upon that portion of the machine producing the fabric,
which is immediately below the stationary guide, and is received by the needles
and worked into the fabric so far as may be thought desirable.

page_text: Figure 1 shows by a sectional view some of the parts of apparatus arranged for
the manufacture of knitted or looped fabrics with our improvements applied
thereto
Figure 2 shows a fiont view of some of such parts for the production of one
breadth of fabric
Figure 3 also represents a similar front view, but with the stationary guides or
holdets in different positions, and Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 show details
separately
In each of the views the same letters indicate corresponding parts
The apparatus to which our Improvements are shown applied is of the character
of that described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to William Cotton,
bearing date the 16th of December, 1864, No 3123, and which is commonly known
in the trade as "Cotton 8,” but it will be readily understood that the Invention is
equally applicable to other character or description of knitted or looped fabric
machinery in which the use of such extra threads is required a are the needles
which are carried and operated as requned by the needlo bar a, b and c are the
Jack and dividing sinkers, and d are the knocking over bits, the leads d' of which
are caned and operated by the bar d², e and fare the thread carriers, which are of
the character and are operated as described in the said former Specification, except
that, as is commonly the practice now, the back lower edge e¹ and f' thereof is
formed to be sustained by and slide on the front edge of the covering bar g to the
sinkers, and that the carrier e for each breadth of fabric is formed as shown by the
separate views thereof at Figure 3, with a projection e' carrying a clip or plate o³ in
front of the ordinary feeder thereof The object of this projection is that when
additional threads are required to be introduced such projection may, as shown,
alternately take the threads for the time held for that purpose in position by the
stationary guides or thread holders h and a The guides or thread holders of each

page_text: 2
breadth of fabric across the machine are all applied to the same bar h¹, and the
guides or thread holders of each breadth of fabric across the machine are all affixed
to another bai ¹, and these bais h¹ and ' are supported so as to be slided in fixed
standards or blackets k, and they are there held as slided, stationarily for use
To facilitate the adjustment of then position these bais h¹ and are provided
with adjustable stops ², or by other suitable adjusting means
Each guide or
thread holder h and i is similarly formed with holes 3 and 4 through it to conduct
a thread from any suitable source of supply, and the lower end h³ o 2³ thereof is by
its bar h' or ' held in position, so that in the passage of the thread carriei e such
lower ends of the thread guides or holder may pass between the ordinary front
surface of the thread carriet and the plate e³, and in so doing the projection c³ for
connecting that clip or plate e with the face of the thread carrier will take the
thread from such thread guide or holder and lay it on the needles to be taken by
the sinkers and formed into loops with the thread laid in the ordinary way by such
thread camer
The thead guides or holders and are each provided with a spring & having
holes 5 and 6 therethrough for the passage of the thread to the eye of the thread
guide or holder, and thereby to aid in imparting an elastic tension on such
threads
The front view of parts, Figure 2, is represented as for the laying in of extra
threads at the two side parts for the heels of hose, and in such case the thread
camere would during a part of its traverse take additional thread or threads
alternately from one and then from the other of the thread holders or guides and 2,
and lay such thread or threads with its own thread from its position, as the case
may be, towards the right or the left hand selvage of the fabric to that night or left
hand selvage until the extra thickening is completed and the separate heel pieces
have to be formed, when the stationary guide or thread holders will be removed out
of the way by the sliding of the bars h³, ¹, as shown by Figure 3, and the two
thread carrieis e and f may proceed in the ordinary way to produce then respective
heel pieces
We would also remark that although we have shown the improvements applied
to apparatus with needles arranged to work in a vertical direction they are equally
adapted to working with apparatus in which the needles are aanged in a holi-
zontal or other suitable dnection And although additional thread or threads are
descubed as for use in splicing it will be readily understood that such may be other-
wise used, and that projections of the character described as applied to thread
carriers may be employed to take and lay thread supplied from guides or holders,
such as described, without such carriers also, at the same time having thread
supplied in the ordinary way through them
Having thus described our Invention and means we adopt in carrying the same
into effect, we would have it understood that we do not confine ourselves to the
precise arrangements of parts or mode of operating as described, as the same may
be varied without departing from the peculiar character of the Invention, but what
we do claim is the arranging or combining parts of apparatus employed in the manu-
facture of knitted or looped fabric whereby the introduction of extra threads is
effected by the use of additional thread layers, guides, or holders which, whilst their
position is capable of variation, are stationary during operation, substantially as
descubed
In witness whereof, I, the said John Groves, have hereunto set my hand
and seal. this 20th day of July in the year of ur Lord One thousand