IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY."― A
communication from abroad by James Green Wilson, of New York
City, United States of America.
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 6th June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th June 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to a substitute for the beaters, or, as they are
sometimes termed, pressers employed in those knitting machines in which
several needles are knitted upon at once, with separate yarns to operate
between the needles for the purpose of bringing and holding the work to its
proper place thereon while the stitches are being formed. The beaters or

page_text: pressers above mentioned have a complicated movement, which requires com-
plicated mechanism to produce it, and the object of the substitute is to effect
the same result by a simpler movement and less complicated mechanism, and
to this end the said substitute consists of a pad of india-rubber or other
moderately soft or yielding substance operating to press the work against the
upper part of the interior or back of the needle ring or needle bar.
Another part of the Invention consists in giving such a movement to the
above-mentioned pad that it operates as follows, to wit, it rises from contact
with the work just before the rotating movement of the needle ring in a
circular machine or longitudinal movement of the needle bar in a straight
machine takes place, and before the needles have quite completed their ascent,
and remains out of contact during the movement of the ring or bar, and until
the needles have commenced descending, when it is made to press and
hold the work firmly against the needle ring while the needles complete their
descent, and thereby to prevent them from dragging down the finished courses
of stitches into the grooves provided in the outer face of the needle ring or
needle bar for the needles to work in. As the needles start on their upward
movement the pad descends still further, so that it draws the work and yarn
back over the bends of the hooks of the needles as they continue ascending, thus
bringing the new loops on to the stems of the needles and keeping the yarn of
which such loops are composed out of the way of the needles in the return of
the latter for the yarn which is to form the next course of loops.
Another part of the Invention consists in the employment, in combination
with the pad above specified, of a second pad so applied as to press upon the
work just before the first one leaves it, and continue holding it against the
needle ring or needle bar while the first one is raised, but to leave it after the
first one comes into action again. This second presser must be so applied as
to be capable of moving with the needle ring or needle bar, as the movement
of the latter takes place while the presser is in action, and the presser should
have a spring applied to it to move it back again in the opposite direction to
the needle ring or bar when it has been lifted up from the work. By the use
of these two pads the work is drawn away from the needles as fast as it is
done, and the necessity for attaching a weight or fitting the machine with
what is called a "take up" is obviated.
Another part of the Invention consists in the employment, in a circular
knitting machine, of a divided presser for closing the beards of the needles
and a divided series of yarn conductors. When a large number of yarns is
used to kuit at once on several of the adjacent needles of a circular knitting

page_text: machine, and a presser made all of one piece is used to operate at once on
such needles, it is obvious that only one of the series of conductors and one
point in the presser can move in a direction radial to the centre of the needle
ring, and that the movement of all the other conductors and all the other
points of the presser will deviate more or less from such a direction according
as they are more or less distant from that one conductor and that one point in
the
presser and this deviation becomes greater as the number of conductors
and length of the presser are increased. To obviate this difficulty the presser
is divided into two or more pieces, and the series of conductors are divided
into a corresponding number of parts. Each piece of the presser and the
corresponding part of the series of conductors is so applied and operated
that one point in each piece of the presser and one conductor in each part of
the series moves radially toward the centre of the needle ring.
The Invention consists, lastly, in an improved stop motion to stop the
machine when a yarn gives out or breaks, or when the tension upon it
becomes so great from any cause as to make it liable to break. In this
stop motion every yarn has suspended from it a slide, which is furnished
with a tongue, and which is free to move up and down upon one of a
series of upright rods, which may be secured to a horizontally sliding
shipper bar or to the bed plate of the machine. When these rods are
attached to the shipper bar there is arranged alongside of it a bar
which derives a regular reciprocating motion from the main shaft of the
machine, and in case of a yarn giving out or breaking its suspended slide
drops and brings its tongue into notches provided both in the shipper
bar and the reciprocating bar above mentioned, and so locks the said bars
together, and causes the reciprocating bar to move the shipper bar to a.
position to throw the machine out of gear; or in case of the tension
becoming too great, the same result is produced by the yarn raising the
suspended slide and bringing its tongue into notches in the two bars.
When the upright rods on which the suspended slides work are secured in the
bed plate of the machine, there is arranged below them a shaft, which is
caused to have a continuous rotary motion while the machine is in operation,
and which is capable of a longitudinal movement, by which it is made to act
upon the shipper to throw the machine out of gear. In this shaft there
is a screw thread into which the tongues of the suspended slides are dropped
by the giving out or breaking of the yarns, or lifted by any excessive tension
of the yarn, and the revolution of the screw thread in contact with the tongue
of the slide is caused to produce the necessary longitudinal movement of the

page_text: shaft to throw the machine out of gear. To prevent the shaft from being
moved longitudinally further than is necessary, there are cut in it at
intervals apart corresponding with the intervals between the tongues of
the suspended slides grooves extending directly round it, such grooves
being of the full depth of the screw thread. When the shaft has moved
a short distance one of these grooves arrives opposite the tongue; which
is thus freed from the screw thread, and permits the free rotation of the
shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
J, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal; should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates,
firstly, to a substitute for the beaters or pressers employed in those knitting
machines in which several needles are knitted upon at once with separate
yarns to operate between the needles for the purpose of bringing and holding
the work to its proper place thereon while the stitches are being formed. The
beaters or pressers above mentioned have a complicated movement, which
requires complicated mechanism to produce it, and the object of this substitute
is to effect the same result by less complicated mechanism than heretofore.
To this end a pad of india-rubber or other moderately soft or yielding substance
is used to press the work against the upper part of the interior or back to the
needle ring or needle bar.
Another part of the Invention consists in giving such a movement to the
above-mentioned pad that it operates as follows, to wit, it rises from contact
with the work just before the rotating movement of the needle ring in a
circular machine or longitudinal movement of the needle bar in a straight
machine takes place, and before the needles have quite completed their ascent,
and remain out of contact during the movement of the ring or bar, and and
until the needles have commenced descending, when it is made to press and
hold the work firmly against the needle ring while the needles complete their
descent, and thereby to prevent them from dragging down the finished courses
of stitches into the grooves provided in the outer face of the needle ring or
needle bar for the needles to work in. As the needles start on their upward
movement, the said pad descends still further, so that it draws the work and
yarn back over the bends of the hooks of the needles as they continue ascend-
ing, thus bringing the new loops on to the stems of the needles, and keeping
the yarn of which such loops is composed out of the way of the needles in
the return of the latter for the yarn which is to form the next course of
loops.
Another part of the Invention consists in the employment, in combination
with the pad above specified, of a second pad so applied as to press upon the
work just before the first one leaves it, and continues holding it against the
needle ring or needle bar while the first one is raised, but to leave it after the
first one comes into action again. This second presser must be so applied as
to be capable of moving with the needle ring or needle bar, as the movement
of the latter takes place while the said presser is in action, and the said presser
should have. a spring applied to it to move it back again in the opposite

page_text: direction to the needle ring or bar when it has been lifted from the work.
By the use of these two pads the work is drawn away from the needles as fast
as it is knitted, and the necessity of attaching a weight or fitting the machine
with what is called a "take up is obviated.
Another part of the Invention consists in the employment, in a circular
knitting machine, of a divided presser for closing the beards of the needles..
When a large number of yarns is used to knit at once on several of the adjacent
needles of a circular knitting machine, and a presser made all of one piece is
used to operate at once on such needles, it is obvious that only one point in
the presser can move in a direction radial to the centre of the needle ring,
and that the movement of all the other points of the presser will deviate more
or less from such a direction according as they are more or less distant from that
one point, and this deviation becomes greater as the length of the presser is
increased to knit upon a greater number of needles at once. To obviate this
difficulty the presser is divided into two or more pieces or sections, and each
piece or section is so applied and operated that one point in each will move
radially toward the centre of the needle ring, and thus any extreme deviation
from the radial movement will be obviated.
The Invention consists, lastly, in an improved stop motion to stop the
machine when a yarn gives out or breaks, or when the tension upon it becomes
so great from any cause as to make it liable to break. In this stop motion
every yarn has suspended from it a slide, which is furnished with a tongue, and
which is free to move up and down upon one of a series of upright rods, which
may be secured to a horizontally sliding shipper bar or to the bed plate of the
machine. When the said rods are attached to the shipper bar, there is
arranged alongside of it a bar which derives a regular reciprocating motion
from the main shaft of the machine, and in case of a yarn giving out or
breaking, the suspended slide drops and brings its tongue into notches provided
both in the shipper bar and the reciprocating bar above mentioned, and so
locks the said bars together and causes the reciprocating bar to move the
shipper bar to a position to throw the machine out of gear, or in case of the
tension becoming too great, the same result is produced by the yarn raising
the suspended slide and bringing its tongue into notches in the two bars; when
the upright rods in which the suspended slides work are secured in the bed
plate of the machine, there is arranged below them a shaft, which receives a
continuous rotary motion while the machine is in operation, and which is
capable of a longitudinal movement, by which it is made to act upon the shipper
to throw the machine out of gear. In this shaft there is a screw thread into.

page_text: which the tongues of the suspended slides are dropped by the giving out or
breaking of the yarns, or lifted by any excessive tension of the yarn, and the
revolution of the screw thread in contact with the tongue of the slide is caused
to produce the necessary longitudinal movement of the shaft to throw the
machine out of gear. To prevent the shaft from being moved longitudinally
further than is necessary, there are cut in it at intervals a part corresponding
with the intervals between the tongues of the suspended slides, grooves
extending directly around it, such grooves being of the full depth of the screw
thread. When the shaft has moved a short distance, one of these grooves
arrives opposite the tongue, which is thus freed from the screw thread and
permits the free rotation of the shaft.
The several improvements are illustrated in the circular knitting machine
represented in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of
the machine; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the
same parallel with Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an inverted plan of the same; Fig. 5
is an elevation of the rotating stop motion; Fig. 6 is an elevation of the
reciprocating stop motion; Fig. 7 is a top view of a portion of the latter stop
motion. Similar letters and numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures. The machine has needles a, a, of the flexible bearded
kind most commonly used in knitting machines, arranged to work longitudinally
in grooves in the exterior of the intermittingly rotating needle ring A, parallel
with the axis thereof. The needle ring is fitted into a stationary upright
cylinder B secured to the bed plate C of the machine. The rotating motion of
the said ring is produced by means of a switch wheel D on the horizontal main
shaft G gearing into a toothed ring A', which encircles the lower part of and
is secured to the needle ring. The longitudinal movement of the needles by
which the stitches are formed, and which takes place during the intermission
in the rotary movement of the needle ring, is produced by means of a horizon-
tally grooved bar E, (Fig. 3,) secured to a vertical slide F, which works in
guides b, b, the said bar entering an opening c, c, in the cylinder B, and receiving
in its groove the projections d, d, on the shanks or jacks of one more than
the number of needles it is desired to knit upon at once. The slide F derives
motion through a rod F, from the arm F of a rock shaft F, which
receives motion from an excentric G on the main shaft G. M is the pad of
india-rubber or other yielding material which forms a substitute for the
beaters or pressers, which press the work against the upper part of the interior
of the needle ring inside of or behind the needles. This pad is secured in a
metallic clamp M', which is secured rigidly to an upright stem M³, which is

page_text: attached by a rigid arm M³ to an upright square bar M'; arranged in an
úpright guide M³, erected upon the bed plate C. This bar M* passes through
the bed plate, and receives a longitudinal reciprocating motion through an
elbow lever M', which is arranged to oscillate freely upon the rock shaft F³,
independently of the movement of the rock shaft itself, the said lever deriving
the necessary motion froni two cams M7, M³, upon the main shaft G of the
machine. One of the arms of the lever is forked for the said cams to operate
within it, and the other arm is connected by a rod M' with the lower end of
the bar M. The movement produced by the cams M7, M³, on the pad M is
such that the said pad rises from contact with the work just before the rotary
movement of the needle ring takes place, and before the needles have quite
completed their ascent, and remains out of contact during the movement of
the needle ring, and until the needles have commenced descending, when it is
made to press and hold the work firmly against the needle ring while the
needles complete their descent, and thereby to prevent them from dragging
down the finished courses of stitches into the grooves provided in the outer
face of the needle ring for the needles to work in. As the needles start on
their upward movement the pad descends still further; so that it draws the
work and yarn back over the bends of the hooks of the needles as they
continue ascending, thus bringing the new loops on to the stems of the
needles, and keeping the yarn of which such loops are composed out of the
way of the needles in the return of the latter for the yarn which is to
form the next course of loops. T is the second pad made of leather or india-
rubber, and secured in a clamp T¹, which is attached by an arm T2 to an
upright stem T, which is carried by an arm T secured to an upright square
bar T, that works through a fixed guide To erected upon the bed plate C.
This bar T passes through the bed plate, and receives a longitudinal recipro-
cating motion from the rock shaft F, through a rod T', connecting it with an
arm To, that is fast upon the said rock shaft: The pad T is formed and
arranged to act upon the work nearer to the needles than the pad M, so that
the two can pass each other in their respective upward and downward
movements. The movement of this second pad T is só timed relatively to
that of the first pad M, that it comes down upon the work just before the
first one leaves it, and continues holding it against the needle ring while the
first one is raised, but is lifted up from it after the first one conies into action
again. The stem T' is so fitted to the arm T³, that it is capable of turning
therein to permit the pad T to move with the needle ring as the movement
of the latter takes place while the pad is in action. The stem is made with

page_text: a square below the arm T', and a spring f¹ is so attached to the arm that
by its action upon the square it moves the said pad back again in the opposite
direction to the needle ring when it has been lifted up from the work. By
the use of the two pads M and T operating in combination as described,
the work is drawn away from the needles as fast as it is done, and the
necessity of attaching a weight or fitting the machine with what is called a
"take up" is obviated. I is the presser for closing the beards of the needles
to enable them in their descent to throw off the completed stitches. This
presser extends about one-third of the way round the outside of the circular
series of needles just above the needle ring, (see Fig. 2,) and it is divided
into three equal parts, which are so fitted to slide in suitable guide grooves
in a stationary horizontal plate J as to be capable of sliding back, and forth
toward and from the axis of the needle ring for the purpose of closing the
needle beards, and allowing them to open again at the proper times. These
pressers are connected by means of adjusting screws g, g, and pivoted sockets
g', g, with the upper ends of the arms L, L, L*, (Fig. 1,) of three rock
shafts L, L, L*, which are arranged in bearings secured to the bed plate.
The middle rock shaft L* derives its oscillating or rocking motion from two
cams 18, 19, on the main shaft G, and by that means is caused to produce
the necessary movement of the middle section of the presser I, and the said
rock shaft L* is geared by bevil toothed segments L³, L³, with the other two
rock shafts L, L, and so caused to impart to them an oscillating motion pre-
cisely like its own, whereby they are caused to give to their respective sections
of the presser movements corresponding with that of the middle section, so
that the several sections are caused to operate alike upon the needles.
The series of yarn conductors e, e, (Fig. 1) which deliver the yarn to the
needles are divided in the same manner, and they may be attached to the
pressers, or they inay, as represented in the Drawing, be attached to or
formed upon the raised rims of stationary plates J, J, J, bolted to the
plate J, the said plates J, J, J, serving to hold the pressers down in
the guide grooves of the plate J. In order to obviate the necessity of
shifting the presser in a lateral direction when the direction of the needle
ring is changed, as is necessary in other machines which knit with several
threads at once, the presser represented has attached to its ends by
pivots h, h, two moveable pieces h, h, either of which may be brought into
contact with its respective end of the presser in such manner as to form a
prolongation of the front or operating edge of the same, as shown at the end
of the presser next the bottom of Fig. 2; the back parts of the pieces h, h, are

page_text: connected together by a curved plate h² in such manner that when either
piece his brought close up to the front edge of the presser at its respective
end to form the prolongation at that end, the other piece is out of contact with
the front edge of the presser, as shown at the end of the presser next the top
of Fig. 2, and in such a position as to work between the needles, so that the
prolongation of the operating edge can only be formed at one end, and the
effective length of the said edge is always the same. The shifting of the
picces h, h, is effected by means of the lever U, (Fig. 4,) which is used for
reversing the position of the switch in the switch wheel D. To produce the
reversal of the rotary motion of the needle ring, the lever U is secured to an
upright shaft or fulcrumi pin U₁, which is fitted to turn in a suitable fixed
socket secured to the bed plate, and this shaft or pin U¹ has also secured to it
an arm Us, Fig. 2, connected with which is a horizontal rod U', which works
in suitable guides, and is connected with the curved plate h³. The lever U is
intended to be operated by hand, and it acts upon the switch through the
agency of a horizontal sliding rod Us, which is made with a fork i, substan-
tially like that on what has been called the switch lever of some previously
patented machines. In the stop motion represented as applied to the machine
the upright rods k, k, on which the suspended slides work, are secured to the
bed plate C of the machine, and a screw-threaded shaft P¹ is used to bring the
driving pulley G₁ of the machine in and out of gear, the said shaft P¹ deriving
rotary motion from the main shaft G through a belt 12 and pulleys 13, and 14.
The driving pulley G¹, on which the driving belt runs, is fitted to turn loosely
upon the shaft G, and a friction clutch arranged within the said pulley is
fitted to the shaft in such manner as to be capable of sliding lengthwise upon
it, but to compel the shaft to turn with it, and this clutch (not shewn in the
Drawing) is connected with a rod j, (Fig. 2,) which is capable of sliding
lengthwise within the shaft, the shaft being made hollow for that purpose.
The rod has applied to it within the shaft a spring, which tends to move or
hold it in a direction to disconnect the clutch from the driving pulley; the rod
is also connected with a horizontally moving lever G', which works on a fixed
fulcrum pin J at the opposite side of the machine to the driving pulley
and clutch; and at the inner end of this lever there is an eye 10, through
which passes the notched arm H¹ of a small shaft H, which is arranged hori-
zontally in fixed bearings on the same side of the machine, and which has a
spring applied to its arm HI' in such manner as to throw the arm upward, and
engage its notch 11 with the upper edge of the eye 10, and so hold the clutch
in gear with the pulley when the lever is brought to a proper position for

page_text: throwing the clutch into action. At the rear end of the shaft H there is a
second arm H, Fig. 5, occupying a nearly upright position opposite to the
end of the screw-threaded shaft P₁. This shaft P¹ is arranged to move length-
wise in its bearings, as well as to rotate therein; and in its screw thread
there are cut at intervals apart, corresponding with the distances between
the rods k, k, a series of grooves o¹, o³, extending directly round the shaft
to the full depth of the threads, thus dividing the screw thread into a
number of short screw threads u, u. The rods k, k, are each fitted with
a slide, furnished with a loop or eye m and a tongue'n, which works in
a groove in the rod, and passes through an opening in the bed plate.
The yarns indicated in Fig. 2 of the Drawing in red color pass through the
eyes m, m, one through each eye on their way to their respective conductors e, e,
and while they remain unbroken, or do not give out from the bobbins which
supply them, their tension is sufficient to hold up the slides 1, 1, with the points
of the tongues n, n, some distance above the screw thread shaft P1, the rods k, k,
being directly over the said shaft, and each of the tongues n, n, being directly
over one of the short screw threads u, u, but so soon as a yarn breaks its
slide drops down its respective rod k, and its tongue n enters the respective
screw thread u below; and as the tongue n is not moveable in a horizontal
direction, the continued rotation of the shaft P¹ causes the screw thread so
to act against the tongue n as to produce the longitudinal movement of the
shaft until a groove O' arrives opposite the tongue, and permits the continued
rotation of the said shaft being produced, that already produced having been
sufficient to force outward the arm H of the shaft H from the side of the
machine far enough to depress the notched arm H¹ of the shaft and liberate
the lever G, and so allow the spring in the main shaft G by its action on the
rod j to throw the clutch out of gear with the driving pulley G¹, and so stop
the machine. When the yarn has been mended, if broken, or a full bobbin
put in the machine in place of that from which the yarn has all been used,
and the slide has been again raised up on its rod k, the machine is started
again by moving the lever G2 to the position in which the notch 11 in the
arm of the shaft II will engage with the upper edge of the eye 10 of that
lever.
The shaft H and its arm H' also operate to disengage the lever G³ to
permit the clutch to go out of gear and stop the machine whenever it is
necessary to reverse the movement of the needle ring in knitting the toe and
heel of a
stocking, or in knitting any other article which requires a reversed
motion of the needle ring, and such operation of the shaft and its arm H' is

page_text: produced as often as may be necessary by means of studs 15, 15, on a
wheel V mounted on a fixed stud 12 projecting from the side of the bed plate.
This wheel is caused to rotate slowly by the action of a pawle. 13 upon ratchet
teeth 14, 14, formed upon a portion of the wheel V, the action of the said pawle
being produced by suitable mechanism (not shewn) actuated by an excentric
on the main shaft G of the machine. Every time one of the studs 15, 15, on
the wheel V comes round to the arm H¹ of the shaft H, it presses down that
arm and liberates the lever G³, and so allows the clutch to go out of gear and
cause the stoppage of the machine. The attendant then moves the lever U in
a direction to reverse the position of the switch in the switch wheel D, when
the machine is again started by moving the lever G3 by hand to the proper
position. The direction of the rotation of the needle ring will now be the
reverse of what it was until the next stud 15 comes into operation on the
arm H¹, and again produces the stoppage of the machine, when the attendant
moves the lever U in the opposite direction to that in which he before moved
it, and again starts the machine by moving the lever G². The needle ring
will now be again caused to rotate in the same direction that it did at first,
until another stoppage is produced by the action of another stud 15 on the
arm H.
Every time the machine is stopped by the action of one of the studs the
lever U is moved in one direction or the other as may be necessary to produce
the reversal of the rotary motion of the ring, when the clutch has been again
brought in gear and the machine being started. In order to afford facility for
stopping the machine by band whenever it may be desired, the shaft His
furnished at its front end with a short thumb lever H³, by the depression of
which the arm H is made to liberate the lever G2, and the clutch is allowed
to go out of gear.
In what has been herein-before termed the reciprocating stop motion
represented in Figures 6 and 7, there is substituted for the rotating screw
threaded shaft P¹ a horizontal bar P, which derives a longitudinal reciprocating
motion in fixed guides N2, N3, from a grooved cam P³ on the driving shaft
G, such motion being made once back and forth for every revolution of the
said shaft. This bar P has a groove extending the whole length of its upper
surface for the reception of the shipper bar N, the upper face of which is level
with the double upper edge of the bar P. The shipper bar N is connected
with a cluch N¹, which is fitted to the driving shaft G with a feather and
groove, which permit it to slide upon the shaft, but compel the shaft to turn with
it; this clutch operates in connection with the driving pulley G', which is fitted

page_text: upper edges of the
to turn loosely upon the shaft, and a spring N is applied to the shipper bar
in such manner as to exert a constant tendency to press the clutch into and
hold it in gear with the pulley. The upright rods k, k, which are secured to
the shipper bar, are substantially like those indicated by similar letters in the
rotating stop motion, and fitted with similar slides 1, 1, eyes m, m, for receiving
the yarus, and tongues n, n, these tongues being flat and broad enough to
extend right across tho shipper bar and the bar P. Close to one side of
each rod k there is provided in the upper side of the shipper bar N a notch
n capable of receiving the tongue n attached to the slide that is fitted to that
rod, and corresponding notches o, o, are provided in the
bar P. As the bar P in its reciprocating movement moves in the direction
to bring the clutch into gear with the driving pulley indicated by an arrow on
the said bar in Fig. 7, the notches o, o, arrive opposite to the corresponding
notches n', n', in the shipper bar N, and so soon as a yarn breaks or gives out;
its slide drops down its respective rod k, and the tongue n attached to that slide
then rests on the edges of the bar P on opposite sides of the bar N, until the
reciprocating movement of the bar P brings the notches o, o, opposite to the
notches n', n', when the tongue drops into its respective notches n³, and o, o,
and so locks the bars N and P together, and causes N to be moved along with
P in a direction to carry the clutch N¹ out of gear with the driving pulley, and
disengage the latter from the shaft, thus producing the stoppage of the machine.
When the shipper bar has brought the clutch out of gear, it is caught by a
spring catch N, which holds it until the yarn has been repaired or a new
bobbin applied to the machine, when the slide having been raised up, the
liberation of the shipper bar by raising the spring catch N' permits the
spring N³ to move it in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 7, and brings
the clutch into gear again to start the machine.
Either of the within above-described forms of stop motion may be made to
stop the machine, when the tension of the yarns becomes gradually so excessive
as to render them liable to be broken, by furnishing the slides with hooked
tongues of such form and so arranged as to operate in notches on the under side
of the reciprocating bar or threaded shaft in the same manner that the tongues
described act above such bar or shaft.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of " Improvements in
Knitting Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim,--
First, a pad of india-rubber or other yielding material applied and operating

page_text: in combination with the needle ring or needle bar and needles of a knitting
machine in the manner and for the purpose or purposes herein set forth.
Secondly, the employment in combination with the pad above mentioned of a
second pad so applied as to press upon the work just before the first-mentioned
pad leaves it, and continue holding it against the needle ring or needle bar
while the first one is raised substantially as herein described.
Thirdly, the employment in a circular knitting machine of a presser
divided into two or more pieces or sections having independent movements
substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.
Lastly, the stop motion composed principally or in part of slides suspended
from the yarns and a threaded rotating and longitudinally moving shaft or
notched reciprocating bar, or their equivalent, applied in combination with the
driving shaft and driving pulley of a properly organized knitting machine
to operate substantially as herein above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)