IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR KNITTING
Year: 1867

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 LOOMS FOR KNITTING."-A communication
from abroad by Augustus Celanus Carey and Hugh K. Moore, both of
Malden, State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th March 1867, and dated the 14th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th January 1867.
J, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOMS FOR KNITTING," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in the use of revolving and vibrating jacquard
pattern cylinders in combination with sliding needles on a straight frame for
the purpose of knitting irregular tubular work, such as stockings, drawers,
shirts, gloves, and other like articles.
Second, in combining and operating in connection with two rows of needles
two jacquard pattern cylinders that are at times both thrown forward together,
at other times thrown forward alternately, first one and then the other, and at
times cease to revolve, according as the style, character, or shape of the article
that is being knitted may require.

page_text: Third, in interposing wires between the jacquard pattern cylinders and the
needles, by which wires the needles are operated, and which admits of making
the cylinders small, and operating them readily without interfering with the
other working portions of the machine.
Fourth, in the use of nibs or projections on the wires that are interposed
between the jacquard and the needles, and which drive the needles (and
remote from the ends of such wires), so that the needles in the line of such
nibbed wires may be moved forward far enough by the bars in the jacquards to
catch and hold the loops but not to knit. The making of holes in the knitted
work is thus prevented.
Fifth, in the combined use of a pattern wheel having a toe-and-heel segment
thereon, and the jacquards for operating the pawls or dogs, whereby the jacquard
cylinders are, turned on their axes.
Sixth, in a thread or yarn tension regulator in combination with a knitting
loom or machine, which regulator can be adjusted at any time whilst the
machine is in motion. This regulator consists of an arm with an eye at the
end through which the yarn passes, and from thence round a post and through
the eye of another arm at the top of the post; from this it passes through
guides and through a ring or weight which is suspended between the guides.
Seventh, in combining in.a knitting loom or machine two rows of needles.
and two cross heads (each cross head carrying a yarn or thread), and an
intermediate needle or needles in the central part of the rows of needles, for
the purpose of knitting two cylinders which will form the legs of a pair of
drawers, then the operations of the two rows of needles are combined, and the
fabrics are united so as to form the. body portion of the drawers and finish the
same; the two sets of needles are then disconnected and they commence
knitting up two legs, and then a body for another pair of drawers, and so on
continuously.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on 3
the 13th July 1867.
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 most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3.
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year. of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Edward Newton, lfer special licence that I, the
said William Edward Newton; my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the William Edward 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 LOOMS FOR KNITTING," being a communi-
-cation to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, my executors or adminstrators, by
tan 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declaro the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly. described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
.and.to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists, first, in the use of revolving and vibrating
jacquard pattern cylinders in combination with sliding needles on a straight
frame for the purpose of knitting irregular tubular work, such as stockings,
drawers, shirts, gloves, and other like articles.
Second, in combining and operating in connection with two rows of needles
two jacquard pattern cylinders that are at times both thrown forward together,.
at other times thrown forward alternately, first one and then the other, and at
times cease to revolve, according as the style, character, or shape of the article
that is being knitted may require.
Third, in interposing wires between the jacquard pattern cylinders and the
needles, by which wires the needles are operated, and which admits of making
the cylinders small, and operating them readily without interfering with the
other working portions of the machine.
Fourth, in the use of nibs or projections on the wires that are interposed
between the jacquard and the needle, and which drive the needles and remote
from the ends of such wires, so. that the needles in the line of such nibbed
wires may be moved forward far enough by the bars in the jacquards to catch
'

page_text: and hold the loops but not to knit; the making of holes in the knitted work
is thus prevented.
Fifth, in the combined use of a pattern wheel having a toe-and-heel segment
thereon and the jacquards for operating the pawls or dogs whereby the
jacquard cylinders are turned on their axes.
Sixth, in a thread or yarn tension regulator in combination with a knitting
Joom or machine, which regulator can be adjusted at any time whilst the
machine is in motion.
Seventh, in combining in a knitting loom or machine two rows of needles
and two cross heads (each cross head carrying a yarn or thread) and an
intermediate needle or needles in the central part of the rows of needles for
the purpose of knitting up the legs of a pair of drawers, then uniting them
to or running them into the body portion of the drawers and finishing the
body and then commencing and knitting up two legs, and then a body for
another pair of drawers, and so on continuously.
The organization of a machine that will begin a stocking at the toe and
with a single stitch (or two, three, or more), and then automatically widen
out to the dimensions of the foot portion and knit that part, and then widen
out and turn the heel portion and finish that, then begin and knit the leg
portion and finish that and the stocking, and begin the toe of the next
stocking, and so on, obviously requires great labor and mechanical skill, inde-
pendent of Invention of a marked character, as such a machine to be useful and
valuable must be simple enough in its construction not to become disarranged
in any of its parts, and to produce good merchantable work, and capable of
being managed by such labor as is most economically employed in such work,
and, more than all, must be cheap enough in its first cost to successfully
compete with hand work which its product most resembles and imitates.
Although the machine may be changed, and possibly with advantage, in
some of its parts, I have shown in the accompanying Drawing the elements
that must constitute its success under whatever modifications of construction
it may appear in.
Fig. 1 represents a top view of the loom or knitting machine; Fig. 2
represents an elevation from one of the ends thereof; Fig. 3 represents an
elevation from one of the sides of the machine; Fig. 4 represents a vertical
longitudinal section through the machine, and showing the uncut portions in
elevation.
The machine is supported in and upon a suitable frame A containing the
necessary boxes, bearings, supports, ways, and guides for the moving parts,
as will be explained hereafter; B is a shaft to which motion may be commu-

page_text: ;
nicated by steam, water, or any other kind of power, and through which shaft
the various parts of the machine may derive all their movements; upon the
extreme end of this driving shaft B and beyond the side frame there is a
crank C to which one end of a connecting rod D is attached, the other end of
which is attached to a projecting arm E upon a vertical rock shaft F sup-
ported in the main frame; to the top of this vertical rock shaft F there is
connected a long arm G which extends to and is attached to a bar H on the
slide I that carries the thread guide J, and the shoes a, a, that move the
needles back after they have been projected by the jacquard cylinders'; upon
this same shaft B just inside the crank C, but outside of the frame, there is a
sliding double cam K arranged by a slot and spline, so that whilst it always
turns with the shaft it may be moved longitudinally on the shaft to bring into
or throw out of action that part of the cam K which has two beats or
throws for every revolution of the shaft, or that part K¹ which has but a
single beat or throw for every revolution of the shaft, as the work being knit
may require the cam K turns between two upright pivotted arms L, L', to
which arms are respectively connected the bars M, M³, that connect them
with the crank arms N, N', fastened on the ends respectively of the rock
shafts O, O', and the pivotted arms L, L, are held up to the cam by springs
P, P¹, to ensure their contact action; on the rock shafts O, O¹, respectively
are bow-shaped pieces Q, Q', forked at their upper and outer ends, as at b, b¹,
Fig. 4, so as to take or straddle pins or studs c, c¹, in the frames R, R¹, that
carry the jacquard cylinders S, S¹, and through these connections the
jacquards get their motion to and from the needles, or the wires that drive the
needles forward; when the cam with the two beats or throws is working
against the arms L, L', the jacquards are thrown forward and back both at the
same time; when the single beat portion of the cam is working in connection
with the arms, then the jacquards are moved forward and backward alter-
nately, first one and then the other; upon the shaft B between the sides of
the main frame there is a single beat cam T that strikes an arm U which is
held up against it by a spring d, and throws forward the arm by every
revolution of the shaft; on this arm U there is a pivotted dog V that is drawn
downwards by a spring e, but can rise on its pivot when it is necessary; this dog
V every time it is thrown forward and not otherwise influenced takes against
the ratchet teeth f of the pattern wheel W and turns the wheel; the dog V
has a set screw g in it by which its downward motion is regulated, and on the
opposite side of the pattern wheel diametrically from the dog there is a
weighted pawl or dog lever X that prevents the pattern wheel from having
any back motion; the pattern wheel W has two segments Y, Z, upon it, the

page_text: "
former being what is termed the "heel" segment, and the latter the "toe
segment, so called because they are actively engaged whilst these portions of
the stocking are being knitted; the pattern wheel W, moreover, carries two
lifters h, h, which aid the dog i to rise up on to the segments Y, Z, the feeding
dog V taking into a notch j in the ends of these pivotted and weighted lifters;
and as the outer surfaces of these lifters are higher or project beyond the
périmeter of the pattern wheel they give a longer throw than the ratchet teeth
on a less diameter would give; the weighted ends of these lifters beyond
their pivotted points swing them into and out of action at the proper time and
places; the dog i that is raised up and let down by the heel and toe sections
on the pattern wheel is adjustably fixed in an arm k pivotted to the main
frame at 1, and to this arm are attached, first, an upright m that operates a
shipper n, which shifts the cam K on the shaft B, and, secondly, an upright o
that through the pivotted levers p, p, raises or lowers, as the case may be, the
the pawls or ratchets q, q, that turn the jacquard cylinders S, S', but whilst
the ratchets 9, 9, are thrown in and out of action by the mechanism just
above described they are also actuated by wires, 7, that are moved by the
shoes a, a, on the slide I through the hinged switches s, s, and the projections
t, t, thereon in one direction, and by the jacquard through the same wires "", "",
in the opposite direction. It will thus be seen that the rotation of the jacquards
upon their axes. whilst they continue to be thrown forward and back by the
mechanism above described is suspended from two distinct operative sources,
viz., by the sections Y, Z, on the pattern wheel W through the lever k, and
by the wires, r, through the shoes on the slide I through the intervention of
the switches s, s, and the jacquards S, S¹, the latter operation being more dis-
tinctly shewn in the Drawing at Fig. 1. When the single beat cam K' is.
working, the jacquards S, S¹, move alternately; when the two-beat cam K
works both jacquards move up and back together; when knitting straight
work the jacquards move alternately up and back without revolving on their
journals or. axes; when knitting the heel-portion of the stocking the jacquards
are thrown up and back together, and revolve alternately; when knitting the
toe portion of the stocking the jacquards throw up together and revolve
together when closing up and then alternately, and throw the needles in and
out.
The sudden rise u on the toe section Z is to throw up both jacquards.
once or more than once; the depression v near the end of the heel section Y is
to use any blank that may be left on the jacquard before a new stocking is
begun; it keeps the jacquard revolving after the change from the double to the
single cam. When the jacquards are not to revolve the lifting wires w, w,
attached to the levers p, p, throw the pawls q out of action. The horizontal

page_text: wires r, r, are for special working, viz., for throwing out the pawls 9 when
knitting the heel portion of the stocking, and whenever the pawls q are
thrown out of action the jacquards cease to revolve, and are held against any
accidental turning by the jar and motion given to then by friction springs
x, a, that bear against them, though a take-up dog may be arranged to
prevent any motion backward.
Of the construction of the jacquard cylinders it is only necessary to mention
that they are hollow cylinders with holes and slots made in their perimeters,
which leave bars and uncut spaces between them, such holes, slots, and bars
forming the pattern and means of throwing in the needles to knit to a par-
ticular form and shape, and may be changed, removed, and replaced by others
when it is necessary to change the form or figure of the article to be knit on
the loom. In the centre of the slide I, and longitudinally of the slide, there is
placed a bar y, which is held by friction springs,, to the slide I, but has a
motion imparted to it independent of that it has with the slide, or rather a
cessation of the motion that the slide would impart to it if not otherwise
restrained. The bar y projects beyond the ends of the slide I, being con-
siderably longer than the slide, and to each of the sides of the frame in the line.
of the bar y there is affixed a spring stop 1, against which a projection on the
under side of the bar alternately strikes and stops, whilst the slide or cross
head itself moves on and far enough to carry the shoes a, a, attached to it to
the end of or a little beyond the end of the rows of needles. The thread-
guide J is arranged on the bar y, and has an upward curved shoe at its lower.
end so as to pass over the work without disturbing it, and for closing down
the latches of the needles should any of them fail to close. The needles 2 are
short and lie in suitable grooves or guides, in which they can be freely and
truly moved; they have nibs 3 on their rear ends, which by projecting upward'
in their groove or guide keep their latches in proper working position, or
prevent them from turning out of their right positions. Behind the needles
and in suitable grooves, corresponding to those of the needles, are wires 4,
which project far enough to come within the influence of the jacquards, and
by means of the holes, slots, and bars of the jacquards these wires 4 are
actuated, and through the wires the needles are moved up and back or remain
in the line of the knitting, as the case may be, or as the jacquards may be
cut or prepared for in the usual way of making jacquards for such purpose,
viz., knitting to pattern. Upon any suitable number, or upon all of the
wires 4, there may be near their remote rear ends nibs 5, which are or may
be used for throwing up the needles far enough to receive and hold the yarn,
but not to knit the portions of the wires behind these nibs entering holes or

page_text: slots in the jacquard, which means they are not moved until the nibs come
against an uncut part of the jacquard, and consequently they do not come up
to the knitting line. The object of holding the yarn on the needles without
allowing those needles to knit is to prevent the making of holes in the work
when some of the needles for the time being cease to knit, and afterwards
begin again to knit, as in narrowing, widening, or turning a heel, or making
a toe.
The yarn guide and tension is made as follows:-On a cross bar 6 there is
arranged a post 7, which may turn on the bar under a regulated amount of
friction that will hold it at any point or position at which it may be set; near
the lower end of this post there is an arm 8 with a hole through its outer end
for the yarn to pass through. At the top of the post 7 there is arranged an
arm 9, which can be turned clear around on the post, and in the end of this
arm 9 there is a hole for the yarn to pass through. On one of the ways 10,
on which the cross head or slide I moves, and in nearly a central position of
the machine there is an upright 11, on the top of which a bow-shaped or two-
armed piece 12 is arranged with a hole in each of its arms for the yarn to
pass through, and upon the upright there is a ring 13, through which the yarn
passes; this ring acting as a falling weight to take up any or all slack in the
thread or yarn. The post or upright 11 is free to turn in its bottom support
or socket 14, so as to accommodate the yarn to the traversing of the yarn
guide J, through which it finally passes to the needles or knitting line. The
yarn, as shewn more particularly in Fig. 4, is passed through the hole in the
arm 8, and may be passed once or twice around the post 7, or not at all (as
will be explained), thence through the hole in the turning arm 9, thence
through one of the arms 12, then through the ring 13, thence through the
other arm 12, and down through the thread guide J to or within the action of
the needles. Now to put on more tension on to the yarn it is only necessary
to turn the arm 9 a whole or a part of a revolution, which makes a whole or
a part of a turn of the yarn around the post, and to reduce the tension the
arm is turned in an opposite direction.
The general operation of the machine is as follows:-The stocking is begun
at the toe; both jacquards and both rows of needles are thrown forward by the
action of the "toe section " Z on the pattern wheel and the double cams K.
As soon as the dog i drops off from the high part u of the section Z or seg- S
ment the wires w (being still down) the single cam K is brought into action
by the shipper n, and then the jacquards are thrown up alternately, and have
a turning motion on their axes by means of the pawls q (one at a time), and
this continues increasing one or more needles until the toe is of the proper

page_text: width; then the dog i drops off from the toe segment Z, and the pawls are
raised up by the lifting wires w, and are out of action. In this condition of
the parts the machine will knit straight work until the foot of the stocking
is of the proper length; then the heel segment Y comes around, raises up the
lever and shifts the cam K, and drops the lifting wires w, and allows the
pawls q to take on to the ratchets on the jacquards, and to turn them two teeth
on one side, and one tooth on the other, and vice versa, which is done by the
horizontal wires r, r, moving the pawls alternately out of and then allowing
them to go into action. The object of this alternating motion is to obviate
the necessity of using large jacquard cylinders; the horizontal wires > are
operated by pivotted levers or switches s overlying the wires that drive the
needles, these switches being moved by an incline on the shoe a on the cross
head I, which moves the nib on one of the needles against the projection or
nib t on the switches respectively. Before the heel portion of the stocking is
commenced, or rather the commencement of the heel portion is the widening
out of the foot portion; and the throwing in and out of the needles is regu-
lated by the jacquards and inclines on the shoes, which are previously arranged
for the special shape, form, and size of the stocking to be knitted; there are
additional needles which do not knit in the foot portion of the stocking, but
when the stocking is to be widened out, as at the heel (or calf or leg) then these
additional needles are thrown in by the jacquards. The heel is formed by
knitting back and forth with a portion of the needles only on one end of the row,
and first on one side and then on the other, and throwing 'in additional
needles according to the form to be produced, which form is cut or made in
or on the jacquards, and repeating this back and forth knitting and throwing
in of additional needles or knitting a single gore, or two or more, until suffi-
cient is knit to form the heel; then all the needles are thrown in, and the
leg or straight work is knitted as in the knitting of the foot: When the
heel portion is knitted the arm or lever k or rather its dog i drops from the
segment Y, and the single cam is thrown into action, the lifting wires ware
raised, which throws out the pawls q, and the machine goes on to knit the
leg portion of the stocking. Each of the rows of needles move under a plate 15
near the knitting line, the plates being stationary, and as the needles pass
under these plates their latches are opened or closed, as the case may be,
turning them back in one case and forward in the other case.
The plate of
the opposite row of needles opens the latches or swings them back, whilst their
own plate closes them down as the needles are moved back under them, that
is to say, after each of the needles of the rows have passed beyond the line
where they are to receive the yarn they pass under the plate 15 of the oppo-

page_text: .site row, and the points of the latches taking against the opposite plate the
latches are thrown back or opened. When the needles return back under
their own plate the latches thus raised up are pushed down or closed, their
.own plate closing, but the opposite plate opening the latches of the separate
.rows of needles. And in order that these plates may so open the latches of
the opposite set of needles and close the latches of its own set of needles they
should be close enough together, so that the traverse of the needles may extend
to and under the plates; and the plates may be made, adjustable for that
purpose as shewn by set screws and slots in Figure 1 of the Drawings.
A stocking being composed of one continuous irregular tube but a single
cross head and one thread or yarn is required to complete it on the loom or
machine. But in knitting a pair of drawers which may be said to be com-
posed of three cylinders, viz., the two legs and the body, a portion of the
machine must be differently arranged from that for knitting a stocking; as,
.for instance, the rows of needles must be longer, and a greater number in
them, and the cross head or slide I instead of being single must be doubled,
each carrying a thread or yarn guide and a yarn; these two cross heads will
traverse over each other's paths at the centres of the rows of needles, and
where they mutually travel over the same space the needles may be active,
inactive, or catch and hold the loop or yarns, as the case may be, so that the
legs of a pair of drawers may be commenced at their bottom portions and the
two cylinders knitted up separately, but pari passu, widened and shaped as
the jacquard may be set or formed for until they are long enough, when the
two cylinders (the legs) are united and made into one (the body portion) and
that is knit up, widened or narrowed as may be desired, and as the jacquard
is cut for; when two cross heads are used they are thrown or operated from
opposite sides of the machine by devices like or substantially like those shewn
in the Drawings, so that by this general construction of machine single or
double tubular work may be knitted of such pattern, shape, or size as the
pattern wheel and jacquards may be made for, and to change from double to
single tubes as may be desired, and widen and narrow the same as the
jacquard may be made or cut beforehand.
Having thus fully described the Invention, which has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is,
First, the combination of revolving and vibrating jacquard pattern cylinders
with sliding needles on a straight frame, for the purpose of knitting irregular
tubular work, as described.
I also claim combining and arranging in connection with two rows of

page_text: needles two jacquard cylinders that are at tinies both thrown forward
together, at other times thrown forward alternately, first one and then the
other, and at times cease to revolve according as the style, shape, or pattern
of the article that is being knit may require.
I also claim in combination with vibrating jacquard cylinders and with needles
in straight rows the wires interposed between the jacquard and the needles,
by which the needles are operated by the jacquard for the purpose described.
I also claim the use of nibs or projections on the wires that are interposed
between the jacquard and the needles and remote from the ends of such
wires, so that the needles in the line of such nibbed wires may be moved
forward far enough by the jacquard to catch and hold the yarn, but not
to knit, and thus prevent the making of holes in the knitted work, as
described.
I also claim the combined use of a pattern wheel having a toe and heel
segment thereon, and the jacquards for operating the pawls by which the
jacquards are turned on their axes, for the purposes described.
I also claim a yarn tension, composed essentially of the arm 8, post 7,
turning arm 9, guides 12, and suspended weight or ring 13, as herein
described.
I also claim in combination with the double rows of needles the plates 15
for opening the latches of the opposite set of needles and closing the latches
of its own set of needles, as described.
I also claim when knitting drawers the combination of two cross heads, two
rows of needles, two jacquards, and two yarns, so that the two cylinders that
constitute the legs of the drawers may be first knitted up, then both thrown
into one, which will form the body of the drawers, and that portion knitted up
and finished, when the machine will change again and knit up the legs and
then the body of the next pair, and so on as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)