Improvements in and relating to Knitting-machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th June, 1894-Accepted, 28th July, 1894
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Knitting-machines.
We, JOHANN SCHMITT, Mechanist, and JEAN BAPTIST COBLENZER, Councellor
of Justice, both residents of Coblenz, in the Province of the Rhine, German
Empire, 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:-
-
This invention refers to knitting-machines, in which the fabric is carried as well
as transported by means of a spiral arranged within the machine in the shape of a
horse-shoe, and turned in such a manner, that the two ends rotate in contrary
directions without, however, being moved away from their normal places. If a
row of consecutive meshes is held by said spiral, or by the several windings of the
same respectively, and the spiral is turned in the manner before mentioned, one end
of the spiral, or the last winding respectively, will drop a mesh at each rotation of
the spiral, whilst the other end of the latter, or the first winding respectively, will
be able to take up a fresh mesh during that time. The fresh meshes are formed
by aid of a thread-guide carrying the thread through the mesh on the last winding
of the spiral, and carrying then the thread, or the loop formed now out of the
same respectively, into the way of the point of the first winding, so that said loop
may be taken up by said point. This operation is repeated at each rotation of the
spiral, so that fresh meshes are constantly formed, and interlocked with those
dropped by the end of the spiral..
There is, thus, produced by said mode of operation a fabric in the shape of a
hose, provided, the direction of rotation of the spiral remains constantly the same.
Such fabric cannot be used, however, for stockings, as the heel requires an open
or flat ware. To produce a fabric of this configuration, the knitting-machine had
been furnished with two shafts rotating, or oscillating respectively, alternately in
one and the other direction; the directions of the simultaneous movements of the
two shafts are, however, always contrary to each other. If, in a knitting machine
of that sort, one row of meshes had been completed, the direction of rotation of the
spiral was reversed, and the needle-like thread-guide, which had been operated by
one of the two oscillating shafts afore mentioned, was put upon the other shaft.
The fresh row of meshes now formed was commencing at the end of the row last
made, and continued backwards upon that row, so that the fabric produced by this
mode of operation was a flat or open one, as required.
The two oscillating shafts carrying the needle alternately were arranged one
above the other below the spiral-shaped ware-carrier. The point proper al of the
needle a (Fig. 1) was, thus, laying close to the circumference of the left-hand
end of the spiral, if the needle was operated by the lower shaft. After needle a
had been transplaced, however, to the upper shaft, point al of the needle was
distant from the circumference of the righthand end of the spiral by a space .
Point a of the needle being directed downwards now, and being, therefore, unable
to widen the mesh, the latter had from the beginning to be as wide as to allow
entrance of needle a. The fabric became, consequently, but a loose one, and could
not be used for manufacturing stockings.
Our improvements in knitting-machines of the kind before described relate, first,
to the arrangement of the oscillating shafts, or shaft respectively; second, to the
configuration of the point of the needle; third, to the configuration of the whole
needle and fourth, to the manner of operating the needle.

page_text: In order to make this invention more clear, we refer to the accompanying
drawings, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout the different
views and in which :-
Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatical front view of the old arrangement,
Fig. 2 shows a like view of our improved arrangement,
Fig. 3 represents the manner of forming the meshes, if the needle is operated
by the righthand oscillating shaft (not shown).
Fig. 4 represents the manner of forming the meshes, if the needle is trans-
planted, and operated by the lefthand shaft (not shown);
Fig. 5 shows a plan of the whole knitting-machine ;
Fig. 6 is a side-view of the same ;
Fig. 7 is the front-view, the needle being attached to the lefthand shaft ;
Fig. 8 is a part of the front of the machine, the needle being reversed, and
attached to the righthand oscillating-shaft ;
Fig. 9 is the rear-view of the machine,
Fig. 10 is an enlarged side-view of the needle ;
Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan of the head of the needle;
Figs. 12, 13, 14 & 15 represent a modified form of needle in several positions,
Figs. 16 & 17 show the mechanism for operating the modified needle ;
Fig. 18 is a plan of said mechanism,
Fig. 19 is a detail of Fig. 18;.
Fig. 20 represents the two sides of the web produced by our improved machine,
Fig. 21 shows the combination of the modified needle (Figs. 12-15) with an
old needle (Fig. 1).
Fig. 22 represents a modified form of web;
Figs. 23 & 24 show the needle for producing that web.
Referring to Figs. 5-9, c¹ e² designate two standards of the frame, which
support four shafts d' d² d³ d'. Shaft d carries a cog-wheel and a bevel-whéel e³,
the former meshing with a cog-wheel e' secured to shaft d', the latter (wheel e³)
meshing with a bevel-wheel e secured to a shaft f. Wheel e is provided with a
handle e'.
The rear ends of the shafts d³ dare furnished with oscillating crank-arms o³ g¹.
Crank is oscillated by the mediation of rod 2 from a disk 9' secured to the
rear-end of shaft d'; crank g' is oscillated by means of an eccentric g attached to
the rear end of shaft d². If, thus, bevel-wheel & is turned by means of handle e³,
the shafts d' and d³ are rotated continuously, whilst the shafts d³ and d' are merely
oscillating.
The front-ends of the shafts d' d' are provided with boxes h (Figs. 5 & 6)
having each an oblique series of projections or teeth h. These are taking into
corresponding holes or cavities, provided in the ends of the two legs of the horse-
shoe-shaped spiral b. Said legs are held in proper position, first, by the arms i of
the angular double-armed levers ii (Figs. 7 & 8) fulcrumed at 2, and second, by
the lower projecting ends of the adjustable slides k (Figs. 5, 7 & 8). The
arms i, as well as the projections are provided with rollers bearing against
opposite sides of each end of the spiral. In order to press the arms i against the
spiral, the enlarged lower ends of the arms are provided with conical borings
(shown in dotted lines in Figs. 6-8) into which take excentrically the points of
screws 1, Fig. 6. Said conical borings are arranged excentrically with regard to
said enlarged lower ends of the arms ¹ (Figs. 7 & 8), so that on screwing the
screws more or less forward, the rollers of the arms are pressed more or less
against the spiral.
That end of spiral b which drops the meshes must project beyond the other end,
as shown in Fig. 5. As, now, each end of the spiral must be able to take up as
well as drop meshes, it becomes requisite, to let at a time project the righthand end
beyond the lefthand one (Fig. 5), and at another time the lefthand end beyond the
righthand one. For this purpose; there is arranged on each of the shafts d' da
box m, Figs. 5 & 6, carrying a screw m', and an arm m² with a threaded pin m³.

page_text: The latter is provided with a nut m*. Box m has its place between the frame-
standard c and the respective box h. By turning one of the screws m' in the
direction of the hands of a clock, the respective boxes m and h are shoved forward,
whereby a similar displacement of the respective end of the spiral is caused by the
influence of the respective projections h¹ on said end.
Before entering into the description of the manner of working of the machine,
we wish to remark the following with regard to the reasons, why the old construction
shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1 cannot be used for the manufacture of open or
flat ware.
This ware requires that the thread remains always on one and the same
side of the machine, or of the thread-guide (needle) respectively. To attain this
in the old knitting-machines, the ears a² (Fig. 1) of the needles of the same were
arranged normal to the plane of the thread-guide, and one of the shafts for
operating the thread-guide was arranged below, the other beyond the spiral, as
represented in Fig. 1. If the needle, or the thread-guide respectively, was trans-
placed to the upper shaft, there then existed the drawback concerning the space
mentioned in the preamble. The web was rendered so loɔse thereby, that it was
perfectly useless for stockings.
Referring now, to Figs. 2, 10 & 11, our first improvement consists in arranging the
car a² of needle a within the plane of the thread-guide; the second, in arranging
both oscillating shafts (d³ d, Figs. 5-9) below the spiral. The thread n,
Figs. 3 & 4, enters the ear of the needle always from the lower side of the same,
independent of the position of the needle or thread-guide respectively. The point
proper a¹ of the needle lies, therefore, always close to the circumference of one or
the other spiral-end, or in a tangent to the same respectively.
Figs. 3 & 4 represent the manner, in which the meshes are formed, and inter-
locked with each other. Spiral-end Fig. 3, is that dropping the meshes which
have made their way through all the windings of the spiral; spiral-end 6² of same'
figure is that taking the fresh meshes up. The thread-guide is carried, as well as
operated by the righthand oscillating shaft (d, Figs. 5-9). The direction of
rotation of the spiral-ends is indicated by the arrows 25 & 26, Fig. 3. Mesh n' is
the next to be dropped. Needle a enters that mesh beforehand, and carries the
thread (coming from the last fresh mesh n², and passing through the last but one
mesh n³ dropped by spiral-end 6) into and through said mesh n¹. The loop formed
thus out of thread n is carried by needle o into the way of the end of winding b²,
when said loop will be seized by said end, and taken up as a fresh mesh.
After the whole row of meshes is completed, the position of the needle, as well
as the direction of rotation of the spiral is reversed, when the operation afore
described will be repeated in contrary direction. The meshes will be dropped then
by spiral-end 2, Fig. 4, and the fresh loops will be taken up by spiral end '.
This end, however, must project then beyond the other end, in contrary to the
position of the respective parts shown in Fig. 5.
The head a' of the needle is connected with the shaft proper a by an enlarged
intermediate piece a³, Figs. 10 & 11, containing the thread-ear a². Said piece is
lower than the parts a and a', so that the thread laying on the rear side of the
needle is hindered from coming upon the front-side of the same. The purpose of
the enlargement a³ is to provide a certain distance between the thread and the
needle-shaft, so that the point of the take-np spiral may freely enter the loop.
presented by the needle. The thread shown in full lines in Figs. 10 & 11
represents the position of the thread when the needle moves in the direction from
the drop-end of the spiral to the take-up end of the same; the dotted lines
represent the position of the thread when the needle moves in the reverse direction.
In order to avoid the transplacement of the thread-guide after a row of meshes
has been completed, the modification shown in Figs. 12-19 may be employed.
Needle a is of circular shape, and is fastened to a shaft o held by a horizontal
slide p. The latter carries a toothed sector q oscillated from shaft by crank g³
and connecting-rod g, and gears with a cog-wheel o¹ secured to the front-end of
needle-shaft o. This shaft may be displaced sideways by means of slide p from
:

page_text: the position shown in Figs. 14-16 & 18 to that shown in Figs. 12, 13 & 17. In
the first case, the circular needle will touch the circumference of spiral-end 62
(Fig. 14) and will enter the inner space of spiral end (Fig. 15); in the second
case, the needle will touch the circumference of spiral-end (Fig. 12) and will
enter then the inner space of spiral-end (Fig. 13).
If needle a is in the position represented in Fig. 12, the meshes are dropped
by spiral-end, whilst the fresh loops are taken up by spiral-end 62, exactly as
described with regard to the mesh n' and the loop n² of Fig. 3.
If needle a' is in the position represented in Fig. 14, the meshes are dropped by.
spiral-end 2, whilst the fresh loops are taken up by spiral-end b'. The direction
of rotation of the spiral .is, then, the reverse one; that of the circular-needle,
however, is not reversed; the difference is, that the point of the needle moves first
in the upper half of the circle (Figs. 12 & 13), and afterwards in the lower half
(Figs. 14 & 15), always in the direction indicated by arrow 27.
The fabric produced by the mechanism just described is shown in Fig. 20 in
front and back-view. It will be observed, that the appearance of both sides of
the fabric is the same. There is in that fabric the peculiarity, that the several
threads n³ n n nn (which, in fact, are merely portions of one and the same
thread enter the first mesh alternately from one and the other side. This results
from the point of needie a entering the respective mesh n' a time from below
(Fig. 12), the other time from above (Fig. 14).
In some cases, we prefer to use an old needle and a new one simultaneously, as
represented in Fig. 21. There are employed then two threads n n³, the former
being worked by needle a', the other thread (n°) by needle a³. Needle a carries
the thread n through the mesh next to be dropped by spiral-end 6². Needle a
carries the thread n first through the fresh loop formed out of thread no. The
loop formed thereby out of thread n is carried then by needle a³ into the way of
the point of spiral end b', and is taken up by said point. There are thus formed
two interlocked loops at a time. The loops, or meshes respectively, formed out
of thread n³, are those which are taken up, transported, and dropped by
the spiral, whilst the loops, or meshes respectively, formed out of thread n
are interlocked with those of the other thread merely by the co-operation
of the two needles. The fabric produced by this mechanism is a hose. There
is no change of the direction of rotation of the spiral, and no displacement
of the oscillating shaft of the circular needle.
It may be of advantage for some sorts of fabric, to obtain crossed meshes, as
shewn in Fig. 22. To produce meshes of this kind, a modified form of needle is
employed, the head of which latter is provided on its front with a projection a
containing the horizontal ear. The thread is led through this ear from the rear to
the front (Fig. 24). The point proper of the lefthand spiral-end is bent so as to
enter the space between the front-side of the needle and the portion n10 of the
thread. The difference with regard to the former mode of operation consists
merely in leading the thread through the ear of the needle in opposite direction, and
in taking the loops up from the front of the needle instead of from the back thereof.
Having now particularly described the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :-
1. The arrangement of the two shafts operating alternately the thread-guide on
one and the same side with regard to a plane laid through the legs of the helix
carrying the fabric, substantially as shown in Figs. 5-8, and for the purpose as
described.
2. The employment of a thread-guide the ear of which runs radial with regard
to the fulcrum of said thread-guide, substantially as shown in Figs. 2-4, and for
the purpose as described.
3. The employment of a thread-guide, having an enlarged position at the place
of the ear, said portion being provided with ribs on its upper surface, substantially
as shown in Figs. 10 & 11, and for the purpose as described.

page_text: 4. The employment of a thread-guide, having an enlarged portion at the place
of the ear, the upper surface of said portion being lower than the upper edges of
the shank, as well as of the point of the needle, said enlarged portion being
provided on its upper surface with ribs forming continuations of said shank and.
point, substantially as shown in Figs. 10 & 11, and for the purpose as described.
5. A knitting-machine having a rotatable helix as ware-carrier, and a circular
needle as thread-guide, said helix being adapted to be rotated in opposite direction
after a complete row of meshes has been formed, said needle being adapted to be
displaced sideways, substantially as shown in Figs. 12-17, and for the purpose as.
described.
6. A knitting machine having a rotatable helix as ware-carrier, and a circular-
needle as well as a sector-like one for working two threads simultaneously, said
circular needle being adapted to receive the meshes dropped by the respective end
of the helix and to carry a fresh thread-loop through each of them, said sector-like.
needle being adapted to carry another fresh thread-loop through said previous
loop, and to convey its own loop to the respective other end of the helix,.
substantially as shown in Fig. 21, and for the purpose as described.
7. The method of producing by means of the knitting machine described a
fabric, the meshes of which have crossed threads, said method consisting in intro-
ducing the thread into the needle from the rear side of the latter, and in taking up.
the fresh loops from the front side thereof, substantially as shown in Figs. 23 &,24,.
and for the purpose as described.
8. In combination with the method characterized by Claim 7, the employment of
a needle having on its front-surface a projection containing the front end of the ear,.
substantially as shown in Figs. 23 & 24, and for the purpose as described.
Dated this 27th day of June 1894.
JOHANN SCHMITT and
JEAN BAPTIST COBLENZER,
By Geo. Thos. Hyde,
1, Broad Street Buildings, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicants..