Improvements in or relating to Straight-bar Knitting Frames.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th Nov., 1889-Accepted, 1st Mar., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Straight-bar Knitting Frames.
I, HORACE WALTER PLANT, of 7 Oxford Street and Fairfax Street, Leicester,
Hosiery manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to straight bar knitting frames particularly to that class
of frames known as Cotton's shog bar knitting frames and the object of the invention
is to effect such improvements in the construction of the said frames or to provide
apparatus which may be applied thereto and act in conjunction therewith by means of
which a different kind of stitch from any that can be produced upon the said frame,
may be obtained thereon.
In the manufacturo of Cardigan jackets and the like for which this class of frame is
particularly adapted it is frequently desirable to alter the pattern of the fabric by
varying the stitch in certain parts of the garment during the course of its manufacture
to give the article a more ornamental appearance, and heretofore as far as I am aware
this has been done by employing stitches produced by shogging the needles, but the
production of a tuck stitch or twill stitch such as is hereafter described has not, to my
knowledge, yet been accomplished upon the class of frame before alluded to. In order
to obtain the tuck or twill stitch, instead of drawing each succeeding loop formed upon
a needle through that last formoil, I provide for placing two or more loops upon each
needle prior to drawing a loop through the same to form a stitch.
The fabric composed of double, treble or other multiple loop stitches otherwise
known as tuck or twill stitches will be found much thicker and in pattern different
from what is formed by the other kinds of stitches referred to.
In order to form these multiple loop, tuck, or twill stitches I provide that the needles
in the frame or the machine, but preferably those in the frame may be kept out of
contact with the presser or in other words caused to misspress for two or more courses
and then at the succeeding course the whole of the loops accumulated upon the needles
may be pressed and knocked over together thereby forming a stitch which is termed
tuck or twill stitch.
In order to effect this result 1 prefer to mount upon preferably the cam shaft an
additional or auxiliary cam or its equivalent adapted to act upon the trucks of the
frame and vary their position during the working of the frame, so that by means of
this additional suitably shaped cam the needle bed will be prevouted from moving
sufficiently to enable it to cause the needles to come into contact with the presser. In
order to bring the said trucks into contact with the said cam I may provide a lover
fulcrummed to a convenient part of the frame, one end of the said lever may be forked
or otherwise adapted to engage with one of the trucks and the other end may be
capable of being operated by hand, or by a cam, fixed in a suitable position on the
frame or by any other suitable means.
By means of this lever the truck can be shifted on to the additional cam at such
times as the operator may desire and the needles of the frame be caused to miss-press
accordingly.
I do not however limit myself strictly to the mechanism as described for effecting
the miss-pressing of the needles and consequent variation in the pattern of the fabric
produced as other forms or variations of mechanism may be employed to effect the
same result and the mechanism described may also be modified in certain details to
serve the same purpose.
Dated this 5th day of February 1889.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Straight-bar Knitting Frames.
1, HORACE WALTER PLANT of Oxford Street and Fairfax Street Leicester, Hosiery
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to he particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
"
This invention has reference to straight-bar knitting frames, particularly to that
class of frames known as "Cotton's shog lar knitting trames, and the object of
the invention is to effort such improvements in the construction of the said frames
or to provide apparatus which may he applied thereto and act in conjunction therowith
by means of which a different kind of stitch from any that can at present bo
produced upon the said frame, may be obtained thereon. In the manufacture of
Cardigan Juckets and the like, for which this class of frame is particularly adapted,
it is frequently desirable to alter the pattern of the fabric by varying the stitch
in certain parts of the garment during the course of its manufacture to give the
article a more ornamental appearance, and heretofore, as far as I am aware, this
has been done by employing stitches produced by shogging the needles, but the
production of a tick stitch or twill stitch such as is hereafter described has not, to
iny knowledge, yet been produced upon the class of frame before allude i to. In
order to obtain the tuck or twili stitch, instead of drawing each succeeding loop
formed upon a neelle through that last formed, I provide for placing two or more
loops upon each needle prior to drawing a loop through the same, to form a stitch.
The fabric composed of double, trable or other multiple loop stitches otherwise
known as tuck or twill stitches will he found much thicker and in pattern different
from what is formed by the other kinds of stitches referred to.
In order to form these multiple loop, tuck, or twill stiteles 1 provide that the
needles in the frame or the machine, but preferably those in the frame may he kept
out of contact with the pressure, or in other words caused to mispress for two or
more courses and then at the succeeding course the whole of the loops accumulated
upon the needles may be pressed and knocked over together thereby forming stitches
which are termed tuck or twill itches.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a sectional lovation of the mochanism
employed for carrying out this invention.
Figure 2 is a soctional plan of sarno.
Figure 8 is a suctional elevation on the line Y. Z. of Fig. 1.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the above mechanisin and of so much of a
knitting machine of the class described as is necessary to illustrate the invention.
In order to keep the frame needles out of contact with the presser and theroby
cause them to miss-press, it is necessary that the wheel A, which in the ordinary
manner shogs the frame track bar A', for the purpose of placing the trucks of
the frame alternatoly onto the pressing and misspressing cams should remain stationary
or ho placed out of action for the purpose of keeping the frame trucks on the
nispressing cam, so that the frame needles may not press during that course, but
retain the loops on the needles until the next or subsequent course, when they will
be knocked over and form tuck or twill stitches.
The wheel A has fixed on its side and is revolved by a ratchet wheel B operated
by a pawl B pivotted on the upper ond of the rocking lever which is impelled
forward by a cam D¹ in peripheral contact with the truck-roller ( on the rocking
lover U.
To keep the wheel A stationary for the purpose before mentioned I provide for the
pawl B', which operates it, being placed out of action.
For automatically effecting this result the following additional or supplementary
mechanism is employed. On the shaft E which carries the wheel A, I mount
a ratchet whoel actuated by the pawl F1 pivolted on the upper and of a
rocking lever F³ carrying a roller F and receiving its forward movement from the

page_text: cam G, on the cam shaft H. The lower end of the rocking lever F is mounted on
the shaft J supported in the standard J' and kept in contact with the cam G by the
spring F. The ratchet wheel F has screwed on one side a cam-plate K and on the
opposite side a similar cam-plate K¹.
On the ratchet wheel F being operated by the pawl F¹ the cam-plate K will come
into contact with the stud K and cause the spring-controlled lever L to move
sufficiently.on its pivot L' on the bracket M to enable its upper forked end L³ which
embraces the roller to shift the latter off the cam D¹ on to the circular plate D
adjoining, as shown in Fig. 2. While the roller C¹ is on the circular plate D it is
obvious that the pawl B₁ will not be impelled forward to operate the ratchet wheel so
that the wheel A will consequently remain stationary and the frame needles will
misspress; but immediately the cam-plate K has passed the stud K' the spring L'
will cause the lover L to return to its former position and cause the frame needles
thereby to come into contact with the presser, when the mis-pressed loops and the
loops of the subsoquent course will be knocked over together and form tuck or twill
stitches.
The roller N in its normal position is in peripheral contact with the cam O for the
purpose of shogging the machine needle bar while the frame needles are mis-pressing,
but immediately the cam-plate K' comes into contact with the stud K' the lever N,
which is similar in construction and operation to the lever L, will move the roller N³
onto the circular plate O' and consequently place the wheel P out of action.
The wheel P communicates a shogging motion to the machine needle bar through
the medium of certain lovers, the particular construction and operation of which are
well understood by those acquainted with the kind of frame to which this invention
applies.
The position of the camplate K' on the ratchet wheel F should be such as to cause
the spring-controlled lever N to shift the roller N onto the cam O at the time that the
roller C is on the circular plate D and causing the mispressing of the frame needles.
The effect of shifting the roller N onto the cam O will bo to set the wheel P in motion
and cause the machine needle bar to shog while the frame needles are mispressing.
The number of mispressings that shall take place or in other words the number of
loops that may be accumulated upon the frame needles between the courses or prior to
the stitches being knocked over to form a course in the fabric, is determined by the
number of camplates that are fixed on the sides of the ratchet wheel F.
An additional camplate being fixed on each side of the ratchet wheel F for every
additional mispressing of the frame needles or for overy additional loop to be
accumulated thereon.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. The application to a knitting machine such as described of mechanism or
apparatus for causing the frame needles to misspress substantially as and for the
purpose described.
2. The combination in a knitting machine such as described of mechanism or
apparatus to cause the needles to produce tuck or twill stitches substantially as and for
the purpose described.
3. In a knitting machine the combination with a ratchet wheel such as F of one or
more cam-plates on each of its sides substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a knitting machine the combination with a ratchet wheel such as F of spring
controlled levers such as L and N substantially as and for the purpose described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 4th day of November 1889.