AN IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bernoulli Barlow, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE."-A communication from abroad by
Charles Albert Shaw, of Biddeford, in the State of Maine, and Jonas
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th September 1869.
I, HENRY BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE," being a communication to
me from abroad by Charles Albert Shaw, of Biddeford, in the State
of Maine, and Jonas Hinkley, of Norwalk, in the State of Ohio, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in improvements upon former Letters Patent
granted to Charles Albert Shaw, the Third day of April One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six, No. 948.

page_text: In performing this Invention a bed piece is used on which the rack
and comb slide; in the rack is a groove for holding the sliding pieces
hereafter mentioned; the bed piece carrics bearings or standards in
which a horizontal shaft revolves, keyed to this shaft is a blank wheel;
on the periphery of this wheel is a projecting edge, part of which is
loose and capable of being moved from side to side of the blank wheel,
thus forming a slow screw or helix, which gears into the rack and causes
it to nove laterally in either direction, as the projecting edge inclines
to the right or left. To one of the standards of the horizontal shaft
are suspended both the needle, which I make eye pointed, and the
looper motion is imparted to them in the following manner :- The
blank wheel on the horizontal shaft revolves nearly in contact with the
standard above mentioned. The needle carrier swings on a stud fixed
to the standard, and is provided with a slot into which a pin fixed to
the blank wheel projects, and thus guides the needle carrier and the
needle. On the same face of the blank wheel is a grooved cam into which
a pin fastened into the looper carrier works, and the looper thus
receives its motion. The eye pointed needle and the looper are so con-.
nected to the blank wheel as to be easily detached. On the rack and
comb are two sliding pieces or carriages, one placed on either side of
the needle and looper and their mechanism; these pieces serve the
purpose of regulating the width of fabric, and also by suitable levers
acting on the projecting loose edge of the blank wheel alter its position
and cause the rack and comb to move in the opposite direction, the
traverse of the rack being no more than the set distance between the
sliding pieces or carriages. A recording disc with a serrated edge
actuated by both the forward and return motion of the comb is
employed to register the number of stitches. The teeth of the comb
are bent upwards to retain the loops, and are provided with numbers
counting to the right and left from the centre of the machine or the
position of the blank wheel with its driving edge, for the purpose of
facilitating the setting of the sliding carriages.
By this improved arrangement of machinery a knit fabric is inade in
which every alternate row of stitches or loops is twisted or crossed.
The shaft on which the blank wheel is keyed is extended at one end to
act as a spindle for winding yarn on to the bobbins.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BERNOULLI BARLOW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow,
Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Bernoulli Barlow, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Charles Albert Shaw, of Biddeford,
in the State of Maine, and Jonas Hinckley, of Norwalk, in the State of
Ohio, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists of certain new and useful devices for effecting
the production of knitted fabrics, and of certain combinations and
arrangements of devices, by which operations the machine in certain
particulars is rendered automatic. It consists, first, of an improved
method of imparting an intermittent motion to the comb upon which

page_text: the fabric is formed; secondly, of an improved means of automatically
reversing the motion of the said comb; thirdly, of an improved method
of narrowing or widening the web or fabric; fourthly, of an improved
method of recording the number of times the rack and comb traverse to
and fro, or of indicating the number of rows of stitches that have been
knitted in the work; fifthly, in an improved method of imparting the
necessary movement to the needle and looper; and, sixthly, in an
improved method of disconnecting the needle and its carrier from the
device by which it receives its motion.
On Sheet 1, Figure 1 shews a front elevation of the improved knitting
machine; on Sheet 2, Figure 2 is an end elevation; on Sheet,
Figure 3 is a plan view; and on Sheet 4, Figures 4 to 15 represent
detached portions of the machine and an enlarged view of the improved
knitted fabric produced.
The machine is worked in the following manner :-The grooved
wheel B drives an expansible wheel or friction gear E, see Figure 14,
fixed upon the horizontal shaft D. The parts E' and E' forming the
wheel E are adjustable by the regulating screws, which set against the
corrugations of a thin washer between the parts E' and E', thus pro-
ducing a novel automatic expansible friction gear; this shaft D also
carries the wheel F, which moves the rack, needle, and looper, and also
in connection with the slides or stops i and i* reverses the motion of
the rack when desired and as arranged by the operator. A denotes the
base or platform of the machine. The shaft D is supported upon proper
standards, one of which 9 also holds suspended at one side of the
wheel F both the needle and looper arranged in their respective carriers
a' and d, see Figures 6, 8, 9, and 10. These carriers are attached to
sleeves a and d, through which pass supporting bolts or journals,
which bolts are attached or secured to the standard or support 9 in such
a manner as to allow of the free vibratory motion of both looper and
needle. The carrier or arm of the needle is slotted, as indicated at a²,
and the stud or eccentric 6 works in the said slot; thus by the revolu-
tion of the wheel F a vibratory or reciprocating motion is imparted to
the carrier a¹, and consequently to the needle a. The grooved cam c on
the same face of the wheel F imparts a similar motion to the looper d
and its carrier d' by means of the stud e working in the said groove or
cam c. Upon the periphery of the wheel F are fixed the projecting
fins F¹, F', see Figures 4, 5, and 15. The part or switch f thereof is

page_text: movable and slides a short distance from one side to the other by the
turning of the small crank or tumbler g situated under its sliding or.
free end. When the movable part or switch fis thus turned to one or,
the other side, the said fins form a slow screw or helix in one revolution
of the wheel F, so that as it revolves the said switch fat each revolu-
tion enters a space of the rack h one space or tooth in advance of that
one in which the fixed fins F¹ are travelling, thus advancing the rack h
at each revolution of the wheel F a distance equal to the space occupied
by one of the teeth of the said rack. Thus the motion of the rack
and comb h' is obtained. There are two slides or stops i and i*, which
are held in position by lips and grooves, which overlap a similar lip
and fit into a similar groove on the said rack h. Through the hollow
cylinders of the slides i and i* passes a rod 2 bifurcated at its inner
end, see Figure 7, which bifurcations fit into the spaces between the
teeth of the rack h. Around this rod is coiled a helix or spring. The
rod is turned by a thumb piece i on the front end of the rod 2, and on
the inner face of this thumb piece are small projections which fit into
corresponding recesses in the outer or front ends of the cylinders i,
when the said projections thus sink into the said recesses the bifurca-
tions of the rod are held firmly in the spaces between the teeth of the
rack, but when by the turning of the thumb piece the said projections
are thrown out of the said recesses and the rod revolved the bifurcations
are moved or drawn backward somewhat into the cylinder ¹ and par-
tially out of the said spaces; thus as the rod is turned these bifurcations
by alternately pressing into the spaces in the rack operate as a pinion to
move the slides i and i* along the rack and on the metal sheet or plate
on which the comb is formed in either direction. The distance between
the two slides indicates the width of the work or fabric. These two
slides or carriages
and i* are somewhat different in form and serve
different purposes.
This will be best understood by reference to i,
Figure 3, where there are seen on the face of the said slide toward the
rack h two inclined surfaces and and a projection 7. By means
of the two projections and of the two slides i and i* the reverse
motion of the rack is obtained in the following manner :-When the
wheel F approaches either slide i or i*, the movable part or switch f
of the said wheel is turned toward the slide it is approaching, and
when the said wheel has approached sufficiently near to the said
slide to enable the projecting points or i, as the case may be, to
touch the wheel one of these points comes in contact with the crank or

page_text: tumbler g, by which the movable switch fis moved. The rack traverses
only the distance between the said slides, successive rows of stitches
being added to the work by each traverse of the rack h. The inclines
and of the slide i actuate the recording disc k by which the number
of the successive rows of stitches added to the work is indicated; this
dise turns horizontally on the upright spindle 7. The periphery of this
disc is serrated, as shewn in Figure 3; it is moved by the spring arm m',
the lower end of which passes over the inclines and ; by this means
the rows of stitches are recorded at the end of one traverse, and again
at the commencement of the return traverse. Attached to the base of
the machine, see Figure 1, 2, and 3, is a bent arm or bracket n,
extending over to the front of the machine, and having small slots n
and n*, see Figure 6, in the part nearest the ends of the teeth of the
comb h', and through which slots the said teeth pass as the comb
traverses. The purpose of these slots is to retain the successive rows of
loops or stitches on the teeth of the comb until removed by the proper
operation of the machine. Attached to the needle carrier a¹ is the tension
plate o', Figures 2 and 6, the office of which is to regulate the delivery
of the thread or yarn to the needle. This is effected by the use of a
spring and nut on the screw o, which holds the tension plate in position,
and the pressure of which against the arm a¹ is regulated by the
turning of the said nut on the thread of the screw o. The yarn passes
from the spool S under the tension plate o' on the needle carrier a', see
Figure 6, through the hole a³, and thence to the eye a* in the needle a.
The needle or its carrier may be detached from its connection with the
wheel F and thrown off the stud b as follows:-The carrier a¹ is
attached to the sleeve a* which swivels on the bolt or journal p, which
bolt is screwed into the standard q, see Figure 13. The pin passes
through the standard q, the end of this pin takes into a groove a³ in
the sleeve a*. When the needle is thrown from under the rack the
sleeve a* may be slipped along the bolt p until the slot a in the
carrier a¹ is off the stud b, when the needle may be turned up (as is
illustrated in Figure 6) for convenience of threading and for other
purposes. The spring on the pin r is for holding the carrier d' in its
proper position. The bolt that holds the sleeve da, to which is attached
the looper carrier d, is also secured into the standard q, and can be
detached by unscrewing the said bolt; this looper carrier is made to
vibrate like the needle. A needle guide t, see Figures 6 and 12, is also
fastened to the looper carrier d. A rod is attached underneath to the

page_text: comb plate ', and serves to keep the stitches or loops of the fabric on
the teeth of the comb, and also to keep the fabric itself in proper
position during the operation of the machine. The rack is held to its
track by means of the pieces 2 having lips fitting into notches in the
teeth of the rack on the top thereof. S shews the spool from which
the thread or yarn is unwound to be worked into the fabric, the said
spool turning on a spindle attached to the base plate of the machine.
The stitch is formed as follows:-By the revolutions of the wheel F
vibratory motion is imparted to the needle carrier a', and also to the
looper d, as described. Suppose the needle and looper both to be drawn
or thrown back as far towards the spool containing the yarn as they are
permitted to move, then by the revolution of the wheel F in the manner
before described the needle first advances under the rack and comb h¹,
and over the spring or tongue t, carrying with it the loop formed by the
thread or yarn introduced as before described. As soon as the needle.
has thus advanced the looper d then advances also, and by means of
the point or hook d', Figures 6, 8, and 9, enters the said loop on the side
of the needle nearest the wheel F, and thus receives it on to the said
hook. Then by the continued revolution of the wheel F the needle
retiring leaves the loop on the hook or point of the looper, and the looper
retiring also over one of the teeth of the comb ' deposits the said loop
or stitch on the said tooth of the comb. The rack is then advanced
by means of the switch on the periphery of the wheel F, and another
tooth of the comb is brought under the looper or in the same plane in
which it moves, and the same operation is then repeated until all the
teeth between the two slides i, 2, have received a stitch or loop. The
motion of the rack is then reversed, as herein-before described, the
needle again advances under the comb, passing through the stitch
already formed, and suspended on the tooth immediately over its path,
slipping it off the tooth, and carrying it forward until brought in contact
with the tongue t on the arm n. The looper then advances and takes
off another stitch from the needle, thus completing the operation of
slipping the said first loop or stitch over the said second loop or stitch,
and the needle then returns, as before described; the looper then returns
also, and leaves the said second stitch on the tooth of the comb ¹.
Thus the process is repeated till a second row of stitches are placed on
the comb, which second row are in their turn removed, as before
described, the "work" thus completed on the stitches thus connected
hanging suspended from the comb.

page_text: The order of the movement of the parts immediately concerned in
the operation is as follows: First, the needle advances, then the
looper over the needle, then the needle retires, then the looper, and then
the rack advance. The looper is shewn in Figures 8 and 9, Sheet 4.
The edge of the looper next to the needle is concaved in order to render
it certain that the loop shall be taken up at each successive meeting or
operation of the needles and looper. The end of the bent arm n, which
meets the teeth of the comb, is formed with two projections n¹, n*,
between which rests, the spring plate t, and between which also play the
needle and looper. The shaft D, Figure 1, is extended beyond its
bearing at the end nearest the wheel B, for the purpose of acting as a
spindle on which the bobbin or spool may be wound or filled with yarn.
The teeth of the comb h¹ are also numbered by fives each way from the
central tooth of the same to facilitate the process of narrowing and
widening, as shewn in Figure 3.
The peculiar construction and arrangement of the needle, looper, and
other principal operative parts of this machine as herein described,
greatly reduces the cost of their manufacture, and increases the capacity,
and very much simplifies the machine, rendering its operations more
certain and rapid.
"
In using my improved machine the first row of stitches is knit by
running the comb from right to left, commencing on the left-hand side
of the work, as in this manner the machine will "set up or "cast on "
the first row of stitches without assistance. The reverse or intermittent
movements of the comb and the devices described produce a new and
peculiar fabric, as shewn in Figure 11, in which the stitches of every
alternate row are crossed or twisted, rendering the fabric much finer and
closer than ordinary knitting.
Having thus stated the nature and particulars of the Invention com-
municated to me by the within-named Charles Albert Shaw and Jonas
Hinckley, I declare that I claim,―
First. The wheel F having the movable switch when the said wheel
is combined with the cam c, or its equivalent, and used in a machine for
the production of knit fabrics, as described. .
Secondly. The wheel F having the movable switch when combined
with a crank pin or stud b, or its equivalent, as described.
Thirdly. The wheel F constructed as shewn, or its equivalent, when

page_text: used in combination with an eye-pointed needle, for carrying the yarn
or thread, a looper for taking the loop from the needle and a comb on
which the loops are deposited, or the "work is set up" or supported,
as described.
Fourthly. The combination of the wheel F, the eye-pointed needle,
the looper, the comb, and the tension mechanism or their equivalents,
as described.
Fifthly. The looper or looping mechanism operating in the manner
described.
Sixthly. An eye-pointed needle arranged as described to operate in the
arc of a circle, or its equivalent arrangement, for producing knitted
fabrics.
Seventhly. So arranging the needle carrier with reference to the
wheel F or its actuating mechanism that it may be readily detached
therefrom, substantially in the manner described.
Eighthly. The peculiar devices shewn and described for keeping the
needle carrier in position with reference to the wheel F and stud b, and
furnishing a convenient means of detaching it therefrom for the purposes
specified.
Nintbly. Numbering the teeth of the comb in the manner and for
the purpose described.
Tenthly. The slides i, i*, with or without the projections, when con-
struoted and used in the manner and for the purpose set forth.
Eleventhly. Constructing the rack / with a groove for holding the
slides i, i, in proper position, as shewn and described.
Twelfthly. Combining with the slide a means for operating the
recording diso k, as described.
Thirteenthly. Operating the recording disc by both the forward and
return movements of the comb by means of the double inclined surfaces
and, or their equivalent, as described.
Fourteenthly. The combination of the numbered recording disc and
the means used in operating the same, substantially as described.
Fifteenthly. The mechanism for actuating the recording disc con-
structed in the manner described.
Sixteenthly. Constructing the comb with curved or bent teeth, in the
manner and for the purposes described.

page_text: Seventeenthly. Extending the shaft D to act as a spindle for the
purpose of winding or filling the spool or bobbin as described.
Eighteenthly. The expansible wheel or friction gear E as shewn and
described.
Nineteenthly. I claim a knitting machine composed of all the devices
and instrumentalities shewn in the accompanying Drawings and therein
described when constructed, combined, and used substantially in the
manner and for the purposes specified.
And, lastly. A knitted fabric in which the stitches or loops in every
alternate row of the same are twisted or crossed, as shewn in Figure 11,
Sheet 4, for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bernoulli Barlow, have
hereto set my hand and scal, this Thirty-first day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.