Improvements in Machines for Producing Knitted Fabrics.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Producing Knitted Fabrics.
We, JOHN WATERFIELD, of 32, Longmont Street, Providence, Rhode Island,
United States of America, Machinist, WILLIAM BADCOCK, of 158, Amherst Road,
Hackney, Merchant, and HENRY BALDWIN EDWARDS, of 3D, Clarence Mansions,
Marylebone, Gentleman, both in the County of London, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows: -
This invention relates to machines for producing knitted fabrics, and has
reference more particularly to what are known as knitting looms for producing a
knit fabric having longitudinal and transverse threads corresponding to the
warp and weft threads of a woven fabric, so that the finished work has the appear-
ance of having been produced on an ordinary loom.
In one class of fabrics of this kind, three distinct sets of threads are employed,
namely warp threads, plain weft or filling threads extending across one side only.
of the warp threads, and knitting weft threads which, as their name implies, are
knit into the fabric and serve to retain the other threads in place.
The machines which have been constructed hitherto for making this class of
fabric have usually been straight knitting machines of a very complicated and
unreliable character, and have admitted of little, if any, variety in the fabrie
produced.
Now, the object of this invention is to provide a machine of a simple and
reliable character which shall be capable of producing a very great variety of
fabrics, including cloths resembling the well-known diagonals.
One important point of this invention consists in providing means whereby the
loops of the knitting thread can be caused to miss or skip certain of the warp
threads, so that if for example a diagonal cloth be required, the loops in one row
are produced between alternate warp threads, while those in the next row are
produced between intervening threads.
A further important feature of the invention consists in constructing the machine
somewhat after the manner of a circular knitting machine and in such a way that
both sets of weft thread's remain stationary and only the warp threads revolve.
A convenient means for obtaining the desired distribution of the loops is to
provide the needles with butts of different sizes, some of the needles having one
butt longer than the other. Certain of the cams for operating the needles are
arranged to miss the shorter butts, and thus the variation in stitch is obtained.
In one construction of machine embodying the invention the needles are
arranged in the tricks or slots of a needle cylinder which revolves inside a
stationary cam cylinder having interchangable cams. The needles and cams are
arranged in order according to the lengths of the needle butts, and the pattern
to be produced. The number of sets of cams will be equal to the number of loops
that each needle is to make in a revolution of the needle cylinder.

page_text: The warp threads are carried by warp beams or rollers mounted in brackets
which are secured to a toothed ring revolving with the needle cylinder. The said
threads extend through notches or tricks in the edge of a light guide ring whereby
they are kept apart during their travel to the warp guides. This guide ring rests
loosely on the outer edge of an annular stationary cover plate arranged above the
warp guides, and is connected, say with the bracket of the warp beams so that it
revolves with the latter.
The warp guides are arranged approximately at right angles to the needles, and
are carried in radial tricks or grooves in a flat ring situated above the needle cam
cylinder. They are provided with butts which project into a cam groove on the
underside of the aforesaid cover plate so that as the said ring revolves they are
moved in and out. At the same time they receive a rising and falling motion which
is due to one part of each guide being inclined to the main part thereof, such
inclined part working in a contracted mouth at the open end of the trick.
Suitable means may. be provided for removing the needles and the warp guides.
Thus, for example, the cam cylinder may have a vertical slot through which a
tool can be inserted to take hold of the needles. To prevent any break in the
continuity of the cam grooves suitable removable studs may be fitted in the slots
to act as bridging pieces. The warp guides may be removed through an aperture
in the cover plate, which aperture is normally closed by a removable piece.
If wire needles be employed, their shanks may be secured to the flat body part
by being soldered or otherwise fixed in slots having recesses to receive a small butt
or projection on the ends of the said shanks, thus guarding against "drawing"
of the needles.
The filling threads, of which there is one for each set of cams, are fed from
stationary bobbins and are delivered below the warp guides at or near the point
where the needles finish their downward movement. The said threads lie across
the outside of the warp threads and are brought to the point of delivery by
stationary guides secured outside the needle cam ring.
The knitting threads, which correspond in number to the filling threads, are fed
through guides arranged above the warp guides and are delivered at the point
where the needles complete their upward movement.
The fabric as produced is drawn down through the needle cylinder by tension
rollers which are carried round with the said cylinder. These rollers are provided
with ratchet and pawl mechanism operated by an arm which is adapted to strike
a series of cams on the frame of the machine. When the full tension is on the
fabric, the arm is raised and only touches the tops of the cams, thus imparting
but little movement to the rollers, whereas if the tension be not sufficient the arm
will be lowered at the moment it strikes the cams and the latter will therefore
impart a greater degree of movement to it and to the ratchet and pawl mechanism
for operating the tension rollers.
The cloth roller, on which the finished fabric is wound, is driven from the
tension rollers in any convenient manner and is carried around with them as the
needle cylinder revolves.
4
The needle cylinder, the ring carrying the warp guides, and the ring carrying 4
the warp beams, are all driven by suitable gearing from a common shaft to which
rotation may be imparted by a driving belt and fast and loose pulleys.
A spring belt shifter may be employed to enable the belt to be shifted instantly
in case of emergency.
Dated 1: O

page_text: Improvements in Machines for Producing Knitted Fabrics.
We, JOHN WATERFIELD, of 32, Longmont Street, Providence, Rhode Island,
United States of America, Machinist, WILLIAM BADCOCK, of 158, Amherst Road,
Hackney, Merchant, and HENRY BALDWIN EDWARDS, of 3D, Clarence Mansions,
Marylebone, Gentleman, both in the County of London, 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, reference
being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
This invention relates to machines for producing knitted fabrics, and has
reference more particularly to what are known as knitting looms for producing a
knit fabric having longitudinal and transverse threads corresponding to the
warp and weft threads of a woven fabric, so that the finished work has the appear-
ance of having been produced on an ordinary loom.
In one class of fabrics of this kind, three distinct sets of threads are employed,
namely warp threads, plain weft or filling threads extending across one side only
of the warp threads, and knitting weft threads which, as their name implies, are
knit into the fabric and serve to retain the other threads in place.
The machines which have been constructed hitherto for making this class of
fabric have usually been straight knitting machines of a very complicated and
unreliable character, and have admitted of little, if any, variety in the fabric
produced.
Now, the object of this invention is to provide a machine, of a simple and
reliable character, which shall be capable of producing a very great variety of
fabrics, including cloths (such as described in our Specification No. 118828)
resembling the well-known diagonals.
And in order that our invention may be readily understood, we will describe the
same fully with reference to the annexed drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is an elevation of so much of the new circular knitting machine or loom
as is necessary to explain the invention.
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are plans of certain portions of the machine, hereinafter
referred to.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line x, x, Fig. 3, shewing the construction
of that part of the machine in which the knitting is actually effected.
Fig. 6 shews a development of one portion of the cylinder which carries the
cams for operating the needles.
Fig. 7 shews, diagrammatically, the order in which the needles are arranged
to suit the cams shewn in Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a detail section, on the line y y Fig. 4, shewing a portion of the
machine hereinafter referred to.
Figs. 9 and 10 shew respectively convenient devices for actuating the tension
rollers and the roller on which the fabric is finally wound.
Fig. 11 shows one of the needles which are employed in the said machine.
Fig. 12 shows one of the warp guides.
The body of the machine is supported on legs A, and comprises a lower plat-
form B built up of concentric rings as shewn in Fig. S, and to the inner or
stationary ring () of which the said legs A are connected.
C, C are uprights extending from this stationary part, and carrying an upper
annular platform D which supports the knitting mechanism. E, E, are side
bars or uprights for carrying the upper bobbins and thread guides. These side

page_text: bars are bent or cranked, as at E', in order to permit of the warp rollers, herein-
after described, revolving freely within them.
1
The knitting mechanism proper comprises a needle cylinder a arranged to revolve
inside a stationary cam cylinder b which rests upon, or is formed integrally with,
the upper platform D.
c, c, are the needles, which are of the ordinary latched kind, and are carried in
tricks or grooves in the usual way. They are secured in their holders e, by means
of solder, or otherwise, and their lower ends are each bent to form a heel,
takes into a corresponding recess in the holder.
which
,, (Fig. 7) are respectively the wide and narrow butts with which the needle
holders are provided near their upper and lower ends.
d, dare the cams which raise the needles into their highest position, and are
hereinafter termed "lifting cams." Of these cams, those marked d are con-
siderably thicker than those marked d, the purpose of this being to obtain the
varied distribution of the loops in the manner above referred to. e, e, are cams,
which are of the same thickness as the cams d and move the needles downward
after they have been raised by the lifting cams.
Both kinds of cams consist of interchangeable triangular blocks secured to the
cam cylinder by screws, and are so arranged that a cam groove or path f is formed
between them for the butts of the needles to enter.
The points of the cams e are shaped as at e*, to enable the butts of the needles
to pass them more easily, whilst the points d' of the cams d, d, are shaped as shown
to prevent the needles being thrown too high. :
The revolution of the needle cylinder carries the needles past the cams in the
direction of the arrow, Fig. 6, with the result that while the thick lifting cams d
act on both the wide and the narrow butts c³, et, the thin cams d' only act on the
wide butts c³.
gare the warp threads which are wound upon warp beams or rollers h, and are
led to the warp guides i over a cover plate supported on short pillars b* fixed
to the upper platform D.
The warp beams h are mounted in brackets 1 secured to a ring k which is
provided with teeth on its underside, and forms the outer part of the lower plat-
form B. This latter is built of up three concentric rings k, k³, 12, Fig. 8, the
second of which is stationary, while the outer and inner ones revlove with the
needle cylinder, so that the warp beams also travel round therewith.
To prevent the warp threads becoming entangled, they are passed through
notches in the edge of a loose ring or band g, which is suitably connected with
the ring k so as to revolve therewith, say by light metal strips (not shown) extend-
ing down from the band g¹ to the said ring k.
The warp guides are arranged approximately at right angles to the needles in
radial tricks or grooves in a revolving flat ring situated above the cam
cylinder. The said guides are provided with butts which project into a cam
groove (see Figures 3 and 5) on the underside of the cover plate 61 so that as
they travel round, they are moved longitudinally in and out by the cam groove.
At the same time, they receive a rising and falling motion which is due to an
inclined portion on each guide working in and out of the tricks or grooves, the
mouths of which latter are partially closed by a circular band or strip secured
inside the ring. The purpose of the rising movement of the warp guides is to
enable their points to clear the tops of the filling guides as they travel round,
whereas, the purpose of the falling movement is to cause the warp thread to rest
solid or direct on the top of the needle cylinder at the moment the loop is being
nade. This is an important feature, because if the guide were kept always raised,
the warp threads would be inclined when the loops were formed, and consequently
the loops would be of different sizes according to the tension on the thread, and the
cloth would have an uneven appearance.
are the filling threads, which are carried by bobbins mounted on brackets /*
on the stationary inner part or ring of the lower platform. From the bobbins,

page_text: the filling threads are conducted upward by guides and delivered just below
the points of the warp guides. These guides are secured outside the cam
cylinder oposite those places where the needles descend to their lowest positions.
The filling threads are drawn from the guides by the revolution of the needle
cylinder and the warp threads, and are caused to stretch themselves across the out-
side of these latter threads.
m are the knitting threads which correspond in number to the filling threads;
they are wound upon bobbins m¹ supported on a ring m³, and are conducted to the
guides m³, in the manner shewn in Fig. 1, through eyes m' on rings m³.
The guides m³ serve to deliver them at the points where the needles complete
their upward movements, so that when the said needles descend they knit the
threads into the fabric.
It will be seen from Fig. 5, that the said knitting threads are delivered on to the
opposite side of the warp threads to that on which the filling threads are delivered,
but by the knitting operation their loops are caused to pass through the fabric and
across the filling threads, so tying the latter in place.
The needles and thread guides co-operate in the following manner:-
When the needles rise into their highest position, as indicated in dotted
lines Fig. 5, the warp guides are thrust in between them, and as they revolve,
the knitting threads are drawn from the guides m³ and are stretched along the
upper sides of the warp threads below the hooks of the needles, the needle latches
being at this time open. Previously however, the filling threads were drawn
from their guides along the undersides of the warp threads so that, as the needles
ascended. the said filling threads were situated between the backs of the needles
and the warp threads. When, therefore, the needles descend, they draw the
knitting thread down in loops across the filling threads, so that the latter are
firmly locked in position against the warp threads. A little before the needles
descend, the warp guides retire and pass clear of the filling guides as they travel
round with the needles. It will be seen from Figs. 3 and 6, that the warp guides i
and the needles c are caused by the shapes of their operating cams to follow a
regular wave-like path as they travel around the machine.
With the arrange-
ment of cams and needles shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the operations are as follows:
On passing the cams the first and second needles (counting from the left
Fig. 7) rise and descend forming a loop while the third needle remains idle, as the
cams being thin, do not project far enough to engage the short butts of the third
needle.
On passing the next cam, viz. d, in the bottom row the second and third needles
operate, as this cam is a thick one and engages both the wide butts and the
narrow butts . At the same time the first needle remains idle as there is no
cam in the upper row to engage its butt c³.
In the next stage, there is a thick cam d in the upper row, but none in the bottom
Hence the first and third needles are operated, but the second one remains
row.
idle.
These various operations are repeated continuously as the needles travel round,
there being as many sets of cams as there are knitting and filling threads.
The relative positions of the guides m³ and 3 of these latter threads can be
clearly seen in Fig. 6, as can also the path followed by the points of the needles c
which is indicated by the dotted lines.'
The fabric, as produced, is drawn down through the needle cylinder a, by means
of tension rollers n, mounted in brackets 3 secured to the revolving ring and
the needle cylinder, so that the said tension rollers are carried round with the
latter. These rollers may conveniently be operated by the following mechanism,
which however forms no part of the present invention.
The ends of their axles n¹ are mounted in hollow arms o (Fig. 9) pivoted at o¹
to the brackets 3. The pull of the fabric naturally tends to raise the rollers and
the hollow arms into their highest position, such tendency being resisted by
adjustable springs 02 acting on projections o³ on the hollow arms.

page_text: In order to rotate the tension rollers on their own axes, a ratchet wheel ³
(Fig. 9) is arranged on one of the axles n', the two rollers being geared together at
their opposite ends by pinions n³. The ratchet wheel n² is operated by a lever p
and pawl p. The said lever is pivoted concentrically with the ratchet wheel on
.the axle n¹ and carries, at its lower end; a truck or roller p2, which is adapted to
strike a series of cams q disposed around the stationary ring of the platform, as
the ends of the rollers revolve.
1 ...
The lever is thus caused to rock on its pivot and, at each movement, the pawl p¹
tends to rotate the ratchet wheel, the amount of rotation depending on the extent
of movement of the lever: A second pawl 23 serves to restrain the ratchet wheel
from backward movement, and the two pawls may be kept in engagement by a
spring or springs not shown.
If the arms o be in their highest position, as they will be when the proper
tension is on the fabric, the truck or roller p will just touch the top of the canis,
and little or no motion will be imparted to the ratchet wheel, whereas, if the fabric
be too slack, the roller 72 will be in its lowest position, and will receive a greater
amount of movement from the cams. The tension rollers will thus be revólved
step by step, by the cams, and will draw down the fabric until the tension on the
latter is sufficient to again raise the rollers.'
It will be obvious, however, that any other suitable tension device may be
employed, if desired, but the foregoing is one which gives satisfactory results in
practice.
The finished fabric is finally wound upon a roller r carried by a pair of brackets s
extending down from the inner revolving ring of the lower platform, so that the
roller r revolves with the tension rollers. The said roller may be operated in any
convenient manner, say, for example,, by the device shewn in Fig. 10, wherein
a pawls, on a vertical sliding rod 2, is adapted to act on a ratchet wheel rl on
the roller spindle. The necessary movement of the rod 2 is produced by a pair of
cams (Fig. 4) situated opposite one another on the underside of the stationary
platform ring k¹. These cams act on a roller s' on the upper end of the rods,
and depress the latter, after which, a spring stends to raise it into its highest
position again and, at the same time, causes the pawl s to rotate the ratchet
wheel, backward rotation of the said ratchet wheel being prevented by a
retaining pawls. Owing to this arrangement, undue strain on the fabric can be
avoided by regulating the tension of the spring so that it will not be strong enough
to operate the pawl and ratchet if the fabric be already tight.
The various revolving parts of the machine are driven from a main shaft t
in the following manner:-
The ring carrying the warp beams is provided with teeth which gear with
a pinion on the shaft t. The needle cylinder a, and the ring carrying the
warp guides, are provided with teeth a¹ and 2, respectively, which engage a pair
of pinions on a vertical spindle u in gear with a spindle a driven by bevil
gear from the main shaft t, which is itself actuated by means of a belt and fast
and loose pulleys 13. A spring actuated fork t may be provided to enable the
belt to be thrown on to the loose pulley instantly, if necessary.
A hand wheel is arranged at the extremity of the main shaft to enable the
machine to be rotated by hand, when necessary, as for instance if it be required to
take out a needle, or a warp guide.
11
Suitable means are provided to permit of these latter operations without it being
necessary to take the machine to pieces.
To this end, for the purpose of taking out the warp guides, the cover plate b¹
is fitted with a removable fillet 63 let into it flush, and held in position by a screw b.
This fillet serves to close an aperture, in the cover plate, which opens into the
cam groove. Consequently, when the fillet is removed, the warp guides lying
under the same can be taken hold of with a suitable tool and removed one by one.
Similarly, the wall of the cam cylinder has a vertical slot or opening 65 beneath
the fillet 3 through which access can be had to the needles in the needle cylinder.

page_text: The continuity of the cam grooves is, however, preserved by small studs 66
which are inserted in the slot 65 and act as bridging pieces.
The machine above described can be employed for producing all the ordinary
patterns that have been usually produced on the so-called knitting-looms, but, in
addition, it can also be employed for producing diagonals in the manner described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is;-
-
1. A circular knitting machine or loom for producing a fabric resembling a
woven fabric, such machine having its needles working inside a cam cylinder and
having a circular series of warp guides operating in conjunction with the needles,
substantially as described.
2. In a circular knitting machine or loom of the kind referred to in the preceding
claim, the combination of needles working inside a cam cylinder, radial warp
guides co-operating therewith, and means whereby certain of the needles are caused
to miss a loop at regular intervals, as and for the purpose specified.
3. In a circular knitting machine or loom of the kind referred to in Claim 1,
a series of warp guides so constructed and arranged as to have a radial movement
and also a rising and falling movement, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
4. Our improved machine for producing knitted fabrics resembling woven
diagonals, having its parts arranged and combined to operate substantially as
herein before described with reference to the drawings.
Daved this 24th day of February 1899.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and
5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicants.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and
5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicants.