Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Aug., 1887
Complete Left, 12th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 15th June, 1888,
I, JOSEPH MATTHEW SELLERS, of the firm of William Sellers and Sons of Keighley
in the County of York, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows, that is to say :-
-
It consists of improvements in and applicable for knitting machines, and relates :-
Firstly to an improved arrangement of the driving and brake mechanisms, whereby
these said machines are made easier to manipulate and more effective in their
operations.
To attain this, the usual style of handle-and-lever or winch, from and through
which the reciprocatory motion of the machine's carriage is imparted, is mounted on
a horizontal shaft, on or in connection with which by suitable gearing, are mounted
the driving pulleys which may consist of a fast and loose pulley or a loose pulley
and friction plate of the usual, old and well known kind, so that when the driving
belt is not operating said shaft, the handle or winch may be utilized for manual
operations.
Connected with the belt-guide or belt-shipper, used for putting the above named
parts into and out of operation, are means for operating a lever to which is attached a
brake that is made to operate in connection with a brake wheel (this said wheel
forming or being used if desired, as the fly-wheel) in such a manner that when said
belt-shipper is moved for the purpose of arresting the motion of the machine, this
said brake is applied to its brake wheel, by which means said motion is almost instan-
taneously arrested, thus avoiding the inconvenience as well as the damage done to the
work being performed, that is experienced and enacted when said motion cannot be
so readily and effectively controlled. Used in connection with the above named
driving and brake mechanisms is a holder which, when placed in position, holds the

page_text: belt-shipper so that the brake may be clear of the brake-wheel while at the same time
the belt is not moved sufficiently to put the machine in motion, in this manner
allowing said machine to be freely manipulated by the winch or handle for purposes
well understood.
Secondly, to an improved arrangement and combination of mechanisms whereby
the motion of the machine is automatically, at certain prescribed intervals, arrested,
in order to indicate to the operative when the work being performed requires attention
as for alterations, narrowings, etc., as is well known.
This arrangement and combination of mechanisms consists of a peg-wheel, of
suitable dimensions to allow an appropriate number of openings to be made therein
for the reception of pegs (or this peg-wheel might be substituted by a disc), to which
peg-wheel (or disc) rotary motion is imparted, by suitable gearing as by a worm or by
wheels, from the driving mechanism.
Mounted in a suitable position relatively with the above named peg-wheel (or disc)
is a lever to which is attached a spring, said lever when not held by a projection
formed on, or by a notch formed in the framework; being moved by said spring so
as to operate the belt-shipper and arrest the motion of the machine, said belt-shipper
in turn, when operated, overcoming said spring and placing said lever back again
into connection with its projection or noteli.
From this it will be seen that when a peg in the above described peg-wheel is
brought, as said peg-wheel revolves, into connection with the lever above named, said
lever will be pushed or pressed beyond its projection or notch in the framework, and
the motion of the machine thereby arrested, and that when the belt-shipper is moved
for the purpose of again putting said machine in motion, the above named lever will
be again placed within its notch ready to be again operated when another peg is
brought into position.
It will be readily understood that one peg-wheel having a sufficient number of
openings, may be made to indicate, by proper arrangement of pegs therein, for almost
any kind or size of article being produced. However, to prevent mistakes and
confusion, I preferably make use of a separate peg-wheel for each separate purpose.
The mechanisms and arrangement of parts hereinbefore described under the first
and second headings, although described, as will have been seen, in connection with
that class of machines known as the "flat knitting machine," yet it will readily be
understood how the same may be arranged and made to operate and be in connection
with that known as the "circular knitting machine;" since said circular machines
only require to be coupled to the driving shaft, with gearing in order to obtain their
necessary rotary motion.
Thirdly, to an improvement in the construction of parts in connection with the
class of knitting machines known as the flat machine," whereby said machines are
made more compact and firm than heretofore.
This is attained by making the bearings of the carriage, each of which operates by
a tongue fitting in the groove of the carriage bar, extend over, so that another
tongue might be formed on each of said bearings to operate in another groove formed
on the opposite side of each of said carriage bars, by which means said carriage is
more firmly held than heretofore, so that the horizontal shaft usually used, together
with the bearings from the carriage that work in connection with it, might be
dispensed with, in this manner making the machine more compact.
Also by the employment of these improvements, one of the binding-bridges
which couple one side of the carriage to the other, might be dispensed with, in this
manner allowing more room for the actions of the operative.
And lastly, to improvements in means for supplying lubricant to the tongues that
operate in the grooves formed in the carriage bars hereinbefore described.
Heretofore these grooves have been made to run the whole length of the bars,
consequently any lubricant placed within them has been driven, as the carriage has
reciprocated, out of the outer ends thereof; now to prevent this I place a suitable
stop piece at each outer end, leaving the groove to extend as before but only to
reach within said suitable distance of each of said outer ends, so that as the tongues

page_text: on the bearings of said carriages approach these outer ends the lubricant is held and
amassed until said tongues retreat when it flows after them to lubricate the parts
travelled over, in this manner being retained for use as long as may be desired.
The above described means for retaining the lubricant are applicable to machines
already in use as well as to machines constructed according to the hereinbefore
described improvements, since they (said means) only relate to the grooves formed
on the upper sides of the carriage bars. However to lubricate the grooves beneath
said bars, in which operate the tongues constructed in accordance with this invention,
holes or openings are made, leading from said upper grooves to those beneath,
through and by which said lower grooves are lubricated as will easily be understood.
Dated this 22nd day of August 1887.

page_text: I, JOSEPH MATTHEW SELLERS of the firm of William Sellers and Sons of Keighley
in the County of York, Machine Maker 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, that is to say :-
It relates to improvements in and applicable for knitting machines whereby
the efficiency of said machines is greatly enhanced, and in order that same
may be more readily understood hereunto appended are sheets of drawings illustrative
thereof, to which, by letters and figures, reference is made in the following
description.
Fig. 1 is a top view of a machine of the class well known as the "flat machine."
Fig. 2 is an end view of fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are drawings illustrating parts
hereinafter referred to.
In all the drawings only such portions of the machine are shewn as are necessary to
illustrate my invention.
The object of this invention is attained by making the bearings aa aa of the
carriage (each of which bearings a a a a operates by a tongue a fitting in the
groove c of the carriage bars d d) extend over the carriage bars d, so that on each of
said bearings a a a a may be formed a tongue a² in such a position and form that it
may operate within the groove which is made on the under side of the bars d d, in
addition to the ordinary groove c made on the other side thereof, from this it will be
seen that the carriage bis more firmly held by the bars d d so that the horizontal
shaft, heretofore employed in an ordinary way for this purpose, together with the
bearings from the carriage that work in connection with it, may be dispensed with,
thereby making the machine more compact.
Again by these tongues a² being employed, only one of the binding-bridges e is
needed to join one side of the carriage b to the other, in this manner allowing more
room for the actions of the operative.
In order that the parts, hereinbefore described, may be more certainly and more
constantly lubricated, the grooves c c are made so as not to extend the whole length of
the bars d d in which they are respectively formed but are stopped at suitable
distances from the outer ends thereof as at ff fig. 5, in this manner when the
lubricant is placed within said grooves c c it is retained and not allowed to flow or be
driven, by the reciprocatory movement of the carriage b b, out at the outer ends
thereof, as is the case when this invention is not employed, but to the contrary, when the
tongues a approach these stop places the lubricant is amassed until said tongues
retreat when it flows after them to lubricate the part travelled over.
The above described means for retaining the lubricant are applicable for machines
already in use as well as for machines constructed according to the herein before

page_text: described improvements, since said means only relate to the grooves cc that are
formed on the upper sides of the carriage bars d d. However, to lubricate the
grooves beneath the said bars d d, in which operate the tongues a², holes or
openings g g are made, leading from said upper grooves c c to those beneath, through
and by which said lower grooves are lubricated as will easily be understood.
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 bearings a a a a constructed as shewn so that the tongues a¹ and a³ may be
formed thereon or attached thereto, and the bars d d having double grooves formed
therein, in the manner described and illustrated, so that the aforesaid tongues a¹ and a²
may operate therein, in combination substantially as and for the purposes specified.
2. The bars d d having the grooves c c formed therein, in such a manner that
lubricant placed within said grooves c c is retained in the manner and for the purposes
substantially as herein set forth and described.
3. The bars d d having the double grooves formed therein, for the purpose of
allowing the tongues a¹ and a² to operate within them, said grooves being also formed
so that said tongues a¹ and a² may be lubricated, in the manner and for the purposes
substantially as herein specified.