IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING
MACHINERY." - A communication
Sealed the 27th January 1853, and dated the 15th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 15th November 1852.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY" to be
as follows:
The machine which forms the subject of the present application
consists principally of two sets or series of bearded knitting needles.
One set is fixed in a vertical position, to a rotating vertical cylinder,
and the other set, which may be considered the working needles, are
placed in a horizontal, or nearly horizontal position, and are fixed
in slides which are ranged radially round a moveable plate, ring, or
wheel. These two principal parts are so arranged and combined as
to cause the ends of the horizontal needles to lie between, and at

page_text: some parts of the operation of knitting to project beyond, the
vertical needles. As the ring which carries the horizontal needles
is not keyed on to any shaft or otherwise fixed, it is free to be
carried round by the vertical needles between which the horizontal
ones project, and the required in and out or radial motions are
communicated to these latter needles by means of a horizontal cam,
which is keyed on to a vertical shaft in the centre of the machine
and acts on the back or inner ends, of the slides to which the
horizontal needles are attached, and thereby presses them in or out
as may be required. The necessary vertical motion is given to the
horizontal or working needles by setting the ring or wheel (to which
they are connected), slightly out of the horizontal position, that is,
with one side a little elevated. By this means the horizontal or
working needles are raised at certain points above the ends of the
vertical needles and thereby push over the loop as it is formed. Of
course there are the requisite pressers for closing the beards of both
sets of needles when necessary, as is usual in all kinds of knitting
machinery.
The thread or yarn to form the fabric is introduced through a
feeder, from a spool or bobbin conveniently placed, and is carried
into the machine by the rotation of the vertical needle cylinder, a
feeding wheel and roller being furnished for the purpose of inserting
the thread under the beards of the needles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes.

page_text: sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special license that I, the said William Edward Newton, iny executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, adininistrators, 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 law-
fully 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 " IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY," being
a communication from a foreigner residing abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument in writing under iny hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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 William Edward Newton, 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; reference being had to
the drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
The machine which forms the subject of the present Invention of
Improvements in knitting machinery consists of a series of barbed
needles, arranged upon the end of a cylinder which turns upon a
stationary curb, while the needles act in combination with another
set of needles arranged upon slides, which are caused to traverse
towards and from a common centre in a rotating disc, by means of
a stationary cam, which acts upon the said slides, as the disc and
needles are carried round, or caused to rotate by the needles upon
the cylinder. In addition to these principal parts, there is a rotary
sinker, to supply the cylinder needles with yarn, and also rotating
pressers, to act upon and close when required the barbs of each set
of needles; there is furthermore a supporting segment or ring, to
hold up the fabric as it is knit, and sustain it in the position required

page_text: and also additional segments to support the needles when the barbs
are pressed into the grooves.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention
I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring
to the accompanying Drawings, which the same letters indicate
like parts in each of the figures. Fig. 1, is a top view. Fig. 2, an
elevation. Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section taken in the line from
A', to B, fig. 1. A, represents a square base of cast iron, to which
the stationary parts of the machine are either fastened or connected.
In the centre of this base there is a large circular aperture sur-
rounded by a curb or flange B, with a rebate upon the inside, to
which the rotating cylinder C, is fitted, and in which it turns when
acted upon by the gear D, (which may be turned by the crank E,
or by applying pullies and a belt), which gear D, takes into the gear
F, upon the cylinder C. This cylinder C, is constructed in the form
represented in the sectional view, so as to receive the mountings G,
of the vertical needles a, which mountings are secured and held
firmly by the segments H, which are secured to the cylinder by
screws, as shewn in the Drawing. There are two standards I, I,
fastened to the base A, which support the top bar J, to which bar
the stud or spindle I, is fastened, as shewn in the Drawings. The
rotating disc L, is fitted to turn freely on the stud K, and has two
circular ribs b, b, upon its upper surface, which ribs are scored across
in the direction of the radii of the disc, so as to receive the slides
M, M, which are made in the form represented, and carry the disc
needles C, C, which are soldered into a score in the projection d, upon
the slide M, the score across the slide, just within the projection
d, being also partially or entirely filled with solder. The slides
M, M, are traversed (so as to carry the needles towards and from the
centre of the disc L, as it is turned), by the stationary cam N, fas-
tened to the stud or spindle I, by the screw e. There is a projection
f, fixed upon the side of the cam N, and fits the scores g, j, in thic
slides M, M. The cam N, is circular, as seen in Fig. 1, except at
the part O, where there is a bar, the ends of which are fastened to
the stationary portion by the screws h, h. The middle of the bar

page_text: O, is adjusted as desired, by the centre screw i, the holes through
it, for the screws h, h, being elongated, so as to admit of such ad-
justment. There is a thin circular plate P, which rests upon the
hub of the disc L, (Fig. 3,) and also upon the ends of the slides
M, M. When drawn down on to the said slides by the screws j, j,
that pass through the disc L, the plate P, will cause such an amount
of friction on the slides, as will prevent them froin shaking about.
The stud Q, is fastened in the slide k, which slide is fastened to the
the base A. The stand R, is fastened to the top of the stud Q, and is
perforated, so as to receive the shank of the sinker stand S, which
stand is pressed forward by the spring 1, so as to carry the floats of
the rotary sinker T, which turns in the stand S, between the cy-
linder needles a, a, the nut m, on the shank of the sinker stand being
adjusted, so as to prevent the sinker from being pressed too hard
against the needles by the spring l. The stud U, is fastened to the
base A, and has the slide n, fastened upon it, the stud o, being
fastened in the said slide, upon which the rotary presser V, turns
as it presses the barbs of the cylinder needles into the grooves in the
needles, while the disc needles raise the loops or stitches above the
points of the barbs, as the cylinder turns and carries them by the
presser. The stud W, is also fastened in the base A, and has the
stud P, fastened upon it, upon which the rotary presser X, turns,
and presses the barbs of the disc needles into the grooves in the
needles when they are drawn in through the stitches by the cam N,
as the slides M, M, pass around under it. The segment Y, (Fig. 1,)
supports the needles a, a, while the barbs are pressed into the
grooves by the presser V, and the segment Z, supports the disc needles
c, c, while the barls are pressed into the grooves by the presser X,
and the segment q, raises the stitches up in connection with the disc
needles, so that they may slip off over the ends of the cylinder
needles as they pass round by it; these three segments Y, Z, and 2
may each be constructed like the segment q, which extends down,
and is bent off and fastened to the base A; as shewn in the Section
Fig. 3, or they may be all formed in or on one circular piece which
may be fastened to the base A. The stand r, (Figs. 1, and 2,) is

page_text: fastened to the base A, and has the projection s, upon it, which is
perforated, and also the top of the stand t, as represented by dotted
lines, for the yarn to pass through as it is drawn from a spool or
hank to supply the machine, as shewn by the red line which repre-
sents the yarn as it is carried in between the needles, by the sinker
T. There is a gate u, in the cam N, fastened by the screw v, which
gate may be removed, by taking out the screw, so as to remove one
of the slides M, if the needle attached to it should become bent or
broken.
The machine having been constructed and completed as above
described and placed upon a frame, stool, or some other support,
so as to leave the space vacant a convenient distance below the
circular aperture in the base and at the same time be at such a height
as to be managed conveniently by the attendant who puts the
stitches of a piece of knit stuff upon the cylinder needles, and the
yarn from a spool arranged in some convenient position, so as to
supply the machine, is put through the guides s, and t, and drawn
by the rotary sinker T, the floats of which carry it in between the cy-
.linder needles below the barbs, thereby forming loops, the old stitches
being carried below, where the sinker forms the loops by the disc
needles, and as the cylinder moves forward in the direction indicated
by the arrows, until the needles arrive at the rotary presser V, which
presses the barbs of the needles into the grooves, and at the same
time the disc needles raise the stitches up above the ends of the
barbs, so that as the cylinder proceeds, the disc needles raise the
old stitches, aided by the segment q, so that they slip off the ends of
the cylinder needles at the same time the disc needles are forced out
so as to bring the stitches or loops within the points of their barbs,
and as the cylinder proceeds the loops pass under the barbs of the disc
needles, and when they arrive at the presser X, the barbs of the disc
needles are pressed into the grooves, while the cam draws the barbs
under the stitches, which slip off the needle, and are perfected before
they get opposite to the sinker T; this completes a revolution of the
cylinder needles, which carry the disc needles along with them.
The knitted fabric as it is produced, passes down through the

page_text: aperture in the base, and a weight may be attached to it to pull it
down if preferred. By varying the number of needles in the disc,
in proportion to the number in the cylinder, the ribs in the knitted
fabric, or the spaces between them, can be varied in width as
desired.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the construction and ope-
ration of knitting machinery, that this machine may be modified in
various ways, without departing from the principles of the Invention
described. I do not therefore mean or intend to confine myself
rigidly to the precise arrangements herein shewn; nor do I intend
to claim all the several parts herein shewn and described as new; as
similar parts have been heretofore used for similar purposes, but
those parts and combinations which I consider to be new, and
therefore wish to claim, as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, are, First, the disc, the disc needles, and the ap-
paratus or its equivalent which actuates the needles, and causes
them to traverse to and fro. Second, the rotating cylinder and
needles in combination with the devices and apparatus or its equi-
valent mentioned in the first claim. Third, the rotary sinker, in
combination with the devices and apparatus mentioned in the first
and second claims respectively. Fourth, the supporting segments
Y, Z, and q, or their equivalents.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal this Fourteenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifter thre
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)