IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR KNITTING
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JosкРa
WHITWORTH, of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-first
day of December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth
year of Her reign, did,. for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Joseph Whitworth, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Joseph Whitworth, my exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Whitworth, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR KNITTING;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, should cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear...

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Whitworth, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of improvements in that description of machinery for
which Letters Patent were granted to me, in conjunction with John Wilde, on
the Tenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five,
which machinery produced knitted fabrices by means of a series of vertical
needles fixed to a bar, which progressively moved past a peculiar arrangement
of apparatus by which a loop was made on each needle in succession, all which
will be found fully described by referring to the Specification enrolled to such
Letters Patent. Now, according to my present improvements, in addition to
having arranged the machine so as to use the bar with needles out of the
vertical position, and so that the work as it is produced may hang on and below
the needles, I have made several improvements in some of the parts or instru-
ments of the apparatus for producing the stitches or loops on the needles, and
also in the cams which give motion to such instruments or parts of the appa-
And I have also improved the construction and arrangement of the
bar which carries the needles, and the means of giving motion to such bar.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
ratus.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
In the accompanying Drawings of my improved machine for knitting,
Figure. 1 is a front elevation on a scale equal to the real size, Figure 2 is a
back elevation, Figure 3 is a plan or horizontal view, Figure 4 is an end view.
of the machine. The several cams by which the operating parts of the
mechanism are actuated are technically called as follows:-A is the back
rocking shaft cam; B, the retention cam; C, the chamfered slide traversing
cam; D, the presser cam; and E, the front rocking shaft cam.
I now proceed to give the names of the bars :-F is the retention lever bar;
G, the traverse lever bar; H, the feeder bar; I, the lifting hook bar; J, the
presser lever bar.
K is a frame having a bearing formed at a on a part of it,
perpendicular to its base. L is a chamfered slide, moving to and fro longi-
tudinally upon the bearing a, in a manner similar to the rail or bar upon the
rollers in my former machine. The chamfered slide L, which is shewn on an
enlarged scale, equal to double the real size, detached, at Figure 5, carries

page_text: in front the horizontal needles or hooks b, which are inserted and secured into
conical holes. The upper portion of these holes is cut away to allow the
lifting hook, hereafter described, to get under the stitch, and a support
is thus preserved under the needles by the remaining portion of the holes.
The holes just named are also made longer than what is required for the
needles b, see enlarged view, Figure 5, for the purpose of fixing with certainty
the stop or reversing pieces *30. c is a rack which is of the same pitch or
guage as the needles, and is fixed by screws d on the back part part of the
chamfered slide L. M is the main driving shaft of the machine, revolving
in bearings or plummer blocks N, and carrying the fast and loose pullies O', 0%,
and the several cams before mentioned. The shaft, with its pullies and several
cams, is shewn detached at Figure 6. The fast pulley O¹ and loose one O³,
on the rotatory driving shaft M, may be driven by a strap, and shifted upon
either of the pullies by the lever guide P, which has a fork E, and a fulcrum f.
The weight g at its upper extremity retains the strap on the pulley to which
it may have been shifted. F is a retention lever bar, which, with its actuating
retention cam B, is shewn detached at Figure 7. It retains the chamfered
slide L in a fixed position during a part of the operation. The fulcrum of the
retention lever bar F, has a pin h which passes through corresponding holes in
the retention lever F and fulcrum piece i, which latter is fixed by a screw and
nut j to a part k, projected from the pillar Q. A piece 7, fixed on one end of
the retention lever bar, takes into a space of the rack c; and the stud mat
the other end, by the action of the helical spring p, bears upon the retention
lever cam B, which is fixed by the pins n to the side of and carried round with
the chamfered slide traversing cam C, which latter is fixed to the rotary
shaft M. As the inclined part 0 of the retention lever cam B, shewn detached
at Figure 8; passes under the stud m, the retention lever bar F is raised by the
helical spring p out of the rack c, and is again forced into it by the part q.
G is a traverse lever bar, shewn at Figure 8, the use of which is to cause the
chamfered slide L to traverse to and fro longitudinally, which motion it receves
from the chamfered slide traversing cam C. The traverse lever bar G has
two fulera, in order that it may be moved laterally or vertically, either sepa-
rately or combined. The fulera piece r has at its upper end a rectangular
opening, in which the transverse lever bar G is placed. A pins, which passes
through the lever G and fulera piece r, forms a joint. The lower end of the
fulera piece is made circular, and is fitted loosely into a bush screwed for
the purpose of adjustment into the pillar Q. which pillar, for convenience,
is cast on the base of the frame K. The screw and washer u, at the lower
end of the bush t, keep the fulcra piece r, to which they are attached, in its

page_text: proper position. A piece v, made at its lower end to fit the spaces of the
rack C, is secured to one extremity of the traverse lever bar G. A stud w, fixed
to the other extremity, bears by the pressure of the flat spring 26 in the groove
of the chamfered slide traversing cam C by which it is actuated. The cham-
fered slide traversing cam C is fixed by a set screw to the rotary shaft M,
and by means of the traverse lever bar G causes the chamfered slide L to
traverse longitudinally to and fro upon the bearing a. It is shewn detached
at Figure 9 and at Figure 10. In order to exhibit its peculiarities more fully
it is shewn with its periphery supposed to be converted into a plane. a is a
parallel straight groove, the sides of which diverge at y obliquely right and
left until they reach the point z of the two parallel straight grooves 1 and 2,
where they take an opposite course at 3, and converge again at 4 to the
straight groove x.
R is a wedge-formed segment having a joint 5, upon
which it is moveable. It is secured to the chamfered slide traversing cam C
by the pin and collar 6 on the joint 5. Another wedge-formed segment S,
which is, however, not moveable, is fastened by the screws 7 beyond the
former segment R. The moveable wedge-formed segment R, on being shifted,
as shown by full and dotted lines,. Figure 10, to either of the oblique sides y,
causes the traverse lever bar G to move laterally, which motion it commu-
nicates to the chamfered slide L, as before explained. In order, when
necessary, to reverse the longitudinal motion of the chamfered slide L carrying
the needles b, the smaller wedge 8 is made, as it revolves, to strike against one
of the edges 37 of the reversing piece 29, which causes the moveable wedge-
formed segment R to move to the opposite oblique side of the groove, in which
position it is retained by the helical spring and conical pin 9. The manner in
which the reversing piece is made to present one of its edges, when neces-
sary, to the action of the smaller wedge 8, will be explained hereafter. A
portion of the chamfered slide traversing cam C at the bottom of the groove,
as shown in Figures 8 and 9, is made eccentric for the purpose of causing the
traverse lever bar C to take into the rack when it is required to move the
chamfered slide L laterally. A is the back rocking shaft cam, shewn detached
at Figure 11. It is fixed by a set screw on the rotary shaft M, and is for the
purpose of imparting the necessary horizontal reciprocating motion, by means
of the back rocking shaft T, to the feeder bar H and lifting hook bar I, in a
manner which I now proceed to explain. The back rocking shaft cam A has
an excentric groove 10 formed on one of its sides, in which groove a roller 11
works on a stud or pin 12 screwed fast to the extremity of the oscillating
lever U; the back rocking shaft T, working between the centres 13, has fixed
on one end the oscillating lever U, and on the other end is fixed the lever V.

page_text: The upper part of this last-mentioned lever V is made so as to receive one end
of the feeder bar H and lifting hook bar I, where a joint is formed by a
pin 14.
As the back rocking shaft cam A revolves an oscillating movement
is imparted by means of the oscillating lever U to the rocking shaft T, which
causes the lever V, fixed on another part of the rocking shaft T, to impart the
necessary horizontal reciprocating motion to the feeder bar H and lifting hook
bar I. E is the front rocking shaft cam, shewn detached at Figure 12, which
is fixed by a set screw on and towards the other end of the rotary shaft M. Its
purpose is to impart the requisite horizontal reciprocating motion to the
presser lever bar J, which, as will be seen by the following description, is
effected in a similar manner to that just described. The front rocking, shaft
cam E has an eccentric groove 15 formed on one side, in which works tho
roller 16 on the stud 17, screwed fast to the extremity of the oscillating lever X.
The front rocking shaft Y, working between the centres 18, has fixed on
it the two levers X and Z, namely, one on each end. 19 is a fulcrum piece
having a pin at its upper end, which passes through it and the presser lever
bar J, thus forming a joint. The fulcrum piece 19 has a vertical hole, in
which a stud 20 is placed, upon which it swivels. The stud 20 is screwed fast
at its lower end into the lever Z, by which means the fulcrum piece 19 may be
adjusted vertically. The stud 20 has a circular groove, in which the screwed
pin 21 works, and prevents the fulcrum piece 19 from rising or falling. The
presser cam D is shewn detached at Figure 18, and also at Figure 14, with its
periphery supposed to be a plane, in order to exhibit its form more distinctly.
Its use is to communicate a lateral and vertical motion to the presser lever
bar J, which motions require the peculiar construction of the lever Z previously
described. The presser cam D is made, for convenience of construction, in
two parts, which are fastened by the screws 22. It has a groove which at the
point 23 takes an oblique course until it reaches the point 24, where it takes
an opposite oblique course, more sudden than the former, until it reaches the
point 25. The groove is then straight from this last point to the one first
mentioned. A T-formed piece 28, secured to one extremity of the presser
lever bar J, is inserted in the groove of the presser cam D, and by that means
the motions of the presser cam D, as it revolves, are conveyed to the presser
lever bar J.
I now proceed to explain the manner in which the reversing piece 29 is
made to present either of its edges 87 to the action of the small wedge 8 on
the chamfered slide traversing cam C, and by that means change the direction
in which the chamfered slide L carrying the needles is moved longitudinally,
so that the knitting may be of any required width within the limits of the
"

page_text: machine. 30 are two stop pieces, shewn in section in enlarged view Figure 5,
which are fitted loosely on the upper side of the chamfered slide L. Both the
stop pieces 30 have a pin plate 31, which fits loosely into a hole, in which is
inserted a helical spring 32, which presses against the pin plate 31. A number
of small pins at 33 are rivetted in the pin plate 31, which pins are forced
by the helical spring 32 into the holes in which the needles bare inserted. The
curved part 34 is made to point to the needle where the knitting is to terminate.
The stop pieces require to be of different lengths, because the extremities of
the reversing piece 29, now about to be described, project further on one side
of the hole 45, in the feeder bar H, than on the other. The reversing
piece 29, shewn detached at Figure 15, is made for convenience in two parts,
which are screwed together by the screws 35. The screws 36, with the slutted
holes, form a guide for the reversing piece to slide in when moved laterally by
either of the stop pieces 30, so as to present one of its edges 37 to the action
of the small wedge 8, and thus change the direction in which the chamfered
slide L is moving longitudinally. The reversing piece 29 has an opening
at 38, through which the feeder bar H passes. 39, a bracket shewn detached
at Figure 16, is fixed by screws a* to the back of the perpendicular part of the
frame K. A hard piece of wood b*, inserted in the bracket 39, forms a rest
for the presser lever bar J. An opening 40 has passing through it the lifting
hook bar I. The upper part of the opening is covered with the yarn guide c*,
which has a hole 41, through which the yarn is conducted to the feeder. A*
is the bobbin stand, carrying the two bobbins d, running on spindles e*, in
bearings. One only of the bobbins is used, except when it is necessary
to make the knitting of additional thickness, as, for instance, in the heel of a
stocking, in which case the lower bobbin carries the yarn for the additional
thickness, and the upper bobbin the ordinary yarn, which two yarns are con-
ducted through the guide hole 41. The arm projects from the bobbin
stand. A carries the upper and lower balance levers 42, which are provided
with holes and notches in order to regulate, by means of weights 48, the
required pressure upon the yarn. The feeder bar II conducts the yarn from
the bobbin to the needles, and is actuated by the lever V, as before explained.
* is a joint made in order to enable the feeder bar H to move laterally with
the reversing piece 29, when it changes the direction in which the chamfered
slide noves. The lateral motion is required in order that the feeder bar II
may always be in advance of the lifting hook bar I. A curved piece 44 is fixed
by sert w, for convenience, to the feeder bar II. The yarn or yarns are con-
ducted through the hole 45 in the curved piece 44, and placed upon the
needles by mans of the reciprocating motion which the feeder bar II receives

page_text: from the lever V fixed on the back rocking shaft T, which motion is repeated
at each revolution of the rotary shaft M, as has been before explained. I is
the lifting hook bar, which lifts the loop or stitch. It is shewn detached at
Figure 17. One end of the lifting hook bar I is connected to the lever V, as
before described; at the other end is the hook i*, fitted into a hole, and secured
into it by the set screw 46. At or near its extremity the lifting hook bar I
has on its upper and lower sides a series of undulating curves, which pass
through the opening 40 in the bracket 39. At the top and bottom of the
opening 40 are inserted two circular pieces which act as guides to the series
of undulating curves, and by that means, as the lifting hook bar I is moved
forward and backwards, it is successively raised and lowered in order to lift the
stitch or loop, which operation is effected in the following manner :-The upper
curve 47 of the series of undulating curves on passing through the guide 40
lowers the hook into the grooves formed in the back part of the needle. The
lower curve 48, as it passes through the guide 40, lifts the hook which has
then hold of a stitch or loop previously formed; the stitch or loop is then
carried forward by the lifting hook bar I beyond the front of the needles where
the stitch or loop is liberated from the hook * by the pin 49 of the presser
lever bar J, now about to be described. The lifting hook bar I returns to
repeat the same operation on the following stitch, and so on at.each revolution
of the rotary shaft M by the means before described. The presser lever tar J,
shewn with its presser cam D and lever Z at Figure 18, presses the yarn to
the back part of the needles until the lifting hook bar I gets under the stitch
or loop, as before described. The presser lever bar J has at one end
a T-formed piece 28, taking into the groove of the presser cam D. At the
other end is a presser piece *, fastened to the presser lever bar J by screws.
At right angles to the lower end of the presser piece j* is cranked from one
side a conically-formed pin 49. The presser lever bar J has a fulcrum, as
before explained, at 19, and a rest 6*, formed of hard wood. When a stitch
or loop is about to be formed, the presser lever bar J is brought, by the motions
of the presser cam D and lever Z under and towards the back part of the
needles, where it remains until the hook bar I has acquired a hold of the stitch.
The presser lever bar J is then moved laterally from the stitch, and forward
towards the needle ends, at which time the hook bar I has advanced with the
stitch or loop to the front of the needles b, when the presser lever bar J is
raised by the presser cam D and liberates the yarn from the hook bar I, which
process is repeated at each revolution of the rotary shaft.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine

page_text: myself to the details as herein shewn and described, so long as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is,―
The mode of constructing and applying the lever G, in combination with the
slide bar L which carries the needles, together with the arrangement and
working of such slide bar L.
I also claim the mode of arranging and working the hook bar with its
hook, thus avoiding the use of the tumbling hook described in the said
former Specification.
I also claim the arrangement of apparatus for working the pressing lever J.
And I also claim the arrangement of cams for working the various parts, as
berein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Whitworth, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.