IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Prowett, of Loman Street, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
KNITTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 20th July 1869, and dated the 26th April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Prowett at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th April 1869.
I, WILLIAM PROWETT, of Loman Street, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in knitting machines.
In constructing a knitting machine I employ bearded needles similar
or nearly so to ordinary hosiery needles, and I mount them on slides
which are actuated in such a manner as to give to the needles an end-
way traverse.
I sometimes make the machine double acting by mounting needles
on each hand of the slides, the machine in this case produces simul-

page_text: taneously the fabrics one at the front the other at the back of the
machine. The needles are by preference worked in pairs so that each
slide carries four needles. The slides are arranged side by side in
suitable guides; their number depends on the width of the work the
machine is required to make, and on the gauge of the machine; the
slides are worked by cams which act upon them in succession and
progressively from side to side of the machine. Each pair of needles
as its slide is drawn back passes under a stationary bar called the
presser bar, which by bearing on the beards closes them down to
the stems. Beyond the presser bar is another stationary bar having
teeth upon it, and the needles pass between the teeth. This bar I
will call the comb bar. The heads of the needles when they have passed
behind the presser bar enter between the teeth of the comb bar,
The action in working a course is as follows:-A thread carrier which
traverses from side to side of the series of needles lays a thread on
to the needle stems, and then the needles retire underneath the presser
bar, which also has blades upon it entering between the needles; one.
blade to each pair of needles is sufficient: They serve to keep the
thread forward until it is placed safely under the beards. As the
needles continue to retire they lightly pull upon the thread and the
edges of the blades being inclined the thread escapes under the presser bar,
and it then comes to bear against the leading edges of the blades upon
the comb bar. As the heads of the needles retire between these blades
the thread is drawn into a zig-zag course, and the length of the loops of
the work is governed by the distance which the heads of the needles retire
into the guide comb, the blades of which thus act as sinkers. The work
hangs upon the stems of the needles in between the presser bar and
the comb bar, and is there constantly retained; then, as the needles retire
as already described, when the beards of the needles are drawn under
the presser bar they are closed, the face of the presser bar being inclined,
and as the needles move back the loops of the work ride over the
beards and pass over the heads of the needles, or are knocked over.
The cams which give these motions to the needles, are mounted upon
a nut working upon a stationary screw extending across the machine,
and at the end of this screw there is a loose arm which is caused to
revolve upon the screw; it carries a bar or driver which thus travels
around the screw and it takes with it the nut on which the cams are
mounted. Thus the cams as they rotate traverse from one side of

page_text: the machine to the other along the screw, and the pitch of the screw is
such that each cam takes all the needle slides one by one in succession.
The forms of the cams are adapted to give the required motions. If the
machine is single-acting all that is required is to draw back the needles
and then return them to their former position, but if the machine is
double-acting the second motion is made double the length of the first,
so as to retire the needles on the opposite side of the machine through
their presser bar and comb bar, and a third motion brings the slide
to the position from which it started. When the cams have traversed
from side to side of the screws of needles their motion is reversed and
they return.
In the single machine I prefer to use cams to move the needle slides
in one direction only and to cause their return by means of springs.
The arm which carries the driver is on an axis which is clutched
alternately by friction clutches with one or other of two driving pulleys
driven by driving bands in opposite directions but at the same speed.
The axis of the driven arm by means of a band drives a screw parallel
to the fixed screw, and having a nut upon it, which is thus caused
to traverse in unison with the cams moving along the first screw,
and when the cams come to the end of their course in either direction
this nut comes against a stop or adjustable projection on a bar which
is thus caused to slide in its bearers, and in so doing it reverses the
clutches. The same nut also gives motion to the thread carrier along
its guides, and as the thread carrier is required to be in advance of
the cams whichever be the direction of the motion the cams are allowed
to continue to travel a distance beyond the needle slides at the end
of each traverse, whilst the thread carrier is stopped until the thread
carrier has so been passed from one side of the cams to the other.
The thread carrier is stopped by coming against a stop upon the
frame, but the nut which drives it still travels on, the connection between
the nut and the thread carrier being by a yielding or friction holding only.
The needles are not fixed rigidly to the slides but are jointed to them,
and when the fabric is narrowed the needles which are not required
are turned up out of the way. The presser bars and the comb bars
are adjustable in position to vary the length of the loops. The presser
bar is allowed a slight play in guides, and weights or springs cause
it to bear sufficiently on the beards of the needles. Ribbed work may
be produced by turning up, say, every fourth ordinary needle out of the
way, and substituting for it a latch needle on another bar receiving.

page_text: independent motions. The latch needles where they are used stand at
right angles to the ordinary needles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Prowett in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PROWETT, of Loman Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Prowett, Her special licence
that I, the said William Prowett, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Prowett, 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 MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Prowett, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Prowett, 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
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in knitting machines.
In constructing a knitting machine, I employ bearded needles similar
or nearly so to ordinary hosiery needles, and I mount them on slides which
are actuated in such a manner as to give to the needles an end way

page_text: number depends on the width of the work the machine is required to
make and on the gauge of the machine. The slides are worked by cams
which act upon them in succession and progressively from side to side
of the machine. Each pair of needles as its slide is drawn back passes
under a stationary bar called the presser bar which by bearing on the
beards closes them down to the stems. Beyond the presser bar is
another stationary bar having teeth upon it and the needles pass between
the teeth. This bar I will call the comb bar. The heads of the needles
when they have passed behind the presser bar enter between the teeth
of the comb bar.
The action in working a course is as follows:-A thread carrier
which traverses from side to side of the series of needles lays a thread
on the needle stems, and then the needles retire underneath the
presser bar, which also has blades upon it entering between the
needles, one blade to each pair of needles is sufficient. They serve to keep
the thread forward until it is placed safely under the beards. As the
needles continue to retire they lightly pull upon the thread and the
edges of the blades being inclined the thread escapes under the presser
bar, and it then comes to bear against the leading edges of the blades upon
the comb bar. As the heads of the needles retire between these blades
the thread is drawn into a zig-zag course, and the length of the loops
of the work is governed by the distance which the heads of the needles
retire into the guide comb, the blades of which thus act as sinkers. The
work hangs upon the stems of the needles in between the presser bar
and the comb bar, and is there constantly retained; then, as the needles
retire as already described, when the beards of the needles are drawn
under the presser bar they are closed, the face of the presser bar
being inclined, and as the needles move back the loops of the work
ride over the beards and pass over the heads of the needles, or are
knocked over. The cams which give these motions to the needles are
mounted upon a nut working upon a stationary screw extending across
the machine, and a bar or driver which travels around the screw takes
with it the nut on which the cams are mounted. Thus the cams
as they rotate traverse from one side of the machine to the other along
the screw, and the pitch of the screw is such that they take the needle
slides one by one in succession. The return of the slides after they have
been pushed back by the cams may be effected by counter cams or by

page_text: springs. When the cams have traversed from side to side of the series
of needles their motion is reversed and they return. The driver is on
an axis which is clutched alternately by friction clutches with one or
other of two driving pulleys driven by driving bands in opposite
directions but at the same speed. The axis of the driver drives a
screw parallel to the fixed screw, and having a nut upon it, which
is thus caused to traverse in unison with the cams moving along the
first screw, and when the cams come near to the end of their course in
either direction this nut comes against a stop or adjustable projection
on a bar which is thus caused to slide in its bearers, and in so doing
reverses the clutches. The same nut also gives motion to the thread
carrier along its guides and the thread carrier is shifted at the end of
each traverse so that it may always be in advance of the cams which-
ever be the direction of the motion. The needles are not fixed rigidly
to the slides but are jointed to them, and when the fabric is narrowed
the needles which are not required are turned up out of the way. The
presser bars and the comb bars are adjustable in position to vary the
length of the loops. The presser bar is allowed a slight play in guides,
and weights or springs cause it to bear sufficiently on the beards of the
needles.
I sometimes make the machine double acting by mounting needles on
each end of the slides, the machine in this case produces simultaneously
two fabrics, one at the front and the other at the back of the machine.
The needles are by preference worked in pairs, so that each slide then
carries four needles. The forms of the cams are varied to give the
required motions. Where the machine is single acting, all that is
required is to draw back the needles and then return them to their
former position, but where the machine is double acting the second
motion is made double the length of the first so as to retire the needles
on the opposite side of the machine through their presser bar and comb
bar and a third motion brings the slide to the position from which it
started. Ribbed work may be produced by turning up, say, every fourth
ordinary needle out of the way and substituting for it a latch needle on
another bar receiving independent motions, the latch needles when they
are used stand at right angles to the ordinary needles.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed.

page_text: is a nont elevation, Figure 2, an end elevation; Tigures, a
plan of a knitting machine constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken at the line A, B, in Figure 2; and
Figure 5 is a transverse section to a larger scale taken at the centre of
the machine.
that they
a, a, is the frame in which the slides b, b, are mounted, so
can move in and out through the notched guide bars a¹, a¹. Fixed to
the frame b', 6', are the hosiery needles, pin jointed to the frames, two to
each. c is a screw fixed in the frame, and having upon it a nut d, to
which the cams d' are fixed; they are rotated by the driving bars e, e,
passing through the nut d, but the nut is able to slide upon them. The
drivers e, e, are at their end fixed into a toothed wheel e¹, having a
hollow axis carried in bearings on the frame. f,f', are two pulleys
running loose on the axis of the wheel e', and constantly driven by bands
from the main axis, on which is a fly wheel. The band actuating the
pulley f is crossed, as the Drawing indicates. g is a clutch by means of
which either of the wheels f, f¹, can be rendered fast with the axis. The
way in which this clutch is worked is hercin-after described by means
of it. The wheel e and drivers e are rotated alternately in either
direction, and so the nut d and cams d' are both rotated and traversed
from one side towards the other of the machine, and they draw back the
slides in succession from end to end of the series. The return of the
slides may be obtained by springs, but in the machine shown it is
effected by two sets of counter cams h, k, both fixed on the same nut,
traversing on another fixed screw similar to c, but cut in the opposite
direction. The drivers of the counter cams are fixed to a toothed
wheel h¹ rotating upon the screw and gearing with the wheel e¹. One
set of counter cams acts in travelling from right to left, and the other
set in returning from left to right. i is a screw axis driven by a
pinion, gearing with the toothed wheel e'. The pinion is one-half the
size of the wheel, and the pitch of the screw i is also one-half that of
the screw c. k is a half nut on the screw i, and which travels along it
to and fro in unison with the cams. The nut is fixed to a slide k¹,
which works along guides on the top of the frame.
slide k¹ to hold the thread carrier 7, which is a bar with the three guide
eyes 1, 2, and 1; upon it, the lowermost of which, P, lays the thread
2 is an arm on the

page_text: The
over the stems of the needles. The thread carrier is able to slide
horizontally a distance on the arm k²; it is shifted between the traverses,
so that it may always be in advance of the cams, and it is kept steady in
its guides by a spring k³. m is a bar sliding through an eye k' on the
top of the slide k¹ and m¹.. m² are stops clamped on this bar, with which
the eye comes in contact as the slide approaches the end of travel
in either direction. The bar m is jointed at one end to the weighted
lever n, turning on a fixed centre 12¹; at its other end it is slotted, and
receives the end of the clutch lever g', which works the clutch g. When
the eye ' comes against one of the stops m¹ it moves the bar. m, lifting
the weighted lever n, but in consequence of the slot in the bar the
clutch lever is not moved until the lever n is carried over the centre and
falls suddenly, and then it carries the clutch lever with it. In this
way the machine continues to work, the motions being reversed auto-
matically each time that the thread carrier and cams come to the end of
the series of needles. The stops m¹ on the bar m also serve to shift
the thread carrier between the traverses; this they do by acting
against the levers mounted on the slide k¹. The longer arms of these
levers near their outer ends bear upon the ends of the thread carrier l,
the levers being held up to it by an india-rubber spring ko.
shorter arms of the levers have fingers jointed to them, which are
able to fold inwards but not outwards, from the positions in which
they are shown in Figure 3. As the slide approaches one of the
stops m the finger coming against it yields by the extension of
the spring ks, which is attached to the fingers. The finger k is thus
able to pass the stop, and it springs back to its place behind it;
then the eye comes up to the stop, and so pushes the bar m, as
already described, until the weighted lever n falls over when the stop m¹
is carried forcibly back against the finger which in this direction can only
yield by carrying the levers and the thread carrier with it, and
so the thread carrier receives the motion necessary to put it in advance
of the cams during the return motion. o is a handle for stopping and
starting the machine, it is connected with the clutch g, it works over a
guide arc o', in the centre of which a bolt hole is formed to receive a
spring bolt o³ which can be drawn back and pushed forward by hand. If
when the machine is in action the bolt o' is pushed forward at the next
movement of the bar m it catches in the bolt hole and holds the clutch
in a central position and the machine is stopped; by drawing the bolt
and moving the lever in the direction in which it is free the machine is

page_text: again started. By the same lever the machine can be stopped in the
middle of the traverse, but if this be done care must be taken in starting
again to start in the proper direction. p is the comb bar, it has blades
or teeth fixed upon it which act both as guides to the needles and also
to prevent the work coming back when they retire so that the new loops
may be drawn through and the old loops passed over the heads of the
needles. is the presser bar, it rests on the stems of the needles and
is held down upon them by the springs q', its ends are received into
V holders in slides mounted on the frame and moveable thereon by
screws q to and fro, the same slides also carry the comb bar p. The
bar Չ also has blades or teeth upon it entering between the needles.
The blades or teeth are inserted into saw cuts in the bars and are
soldered in. By means of the screws
variations in the tightness of
the work are obtained, the more the bar q and the bar parc advanced
the looser will the work be. r is a bar resting by its own weight or
with a light spring on the stems of the needles, it prevents them rising
after they have been drawn back behind the presser bar q. 71, 71, are
screws in the ends of the bar r which rest against the back of the comb
bar and prevent it moving forward. 8 is the roller on which the work is
wound, it is turned by weights and cords s¹, the cords are mounted on
fuzees to compensate for the increase in the size of the roller as the
work accumulates upon it; is a ratchet and pawl on the roller; 8¹ is
a frame in which the roller is mounted, it is clamped when at work by
bolts to the main frame, but by slacking these bolts the roller can
be turned to the front for inspecting or removing the work. In working
the courses the thread carrier lays the thread over the stems of the
needles in succession, then as each winder receives the thread it retires
and takes it under its beard or barb; it passes under the presser bar
which shuts down the beard or barb so that the work which is held
between the presser bar and the comb bar passes over it. The thread
which is under the beard or barb is drawn underneath the teeth of the
presser bar f, as the needle continues to recede it is taken between the
teeth of the comb bar whilst the work or old loop passes over the head
of the needle; the needle then again advances passing under the presser
bar whilst the work is kept back by it. At the end of the course the
thread carrier traverses, as already described, and another course is
worked in the same way, and so the work goes on.
When it is required
to reduce the width of the work loops are taken off the outer needles
and placed on those next them, an operation known as tickling, and the

page_text: needles which are no longer required are turned up out of the way on
the joints connecting them with the slides. In widening other needles
previously turned up out of the way are brought down into work. If
the width of the work be greatly varied the stops m' should be adjusted
accordingly. t is a latch which is employed to hold the slides whilst
the work is being fashioned, it prevents the needles moving back with
any slight pressure which may be put upon them during the operation.
These machines may be made double-acting, as already mentioned, by
arranging needles and working instruments at the back of the slides as
well as at the front, springs are then used instead of the counter cams,
and they are so arranged as to hold the slides when free in a central
position. I prefer however to make the machines single-acting.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,
The arranging knitting machines in such manner that the needles
having had a thread laid over them by a reciprocating thread carrier
then retire in succession from end to end of the scries, each needle in
retiring passing under a stationary presser bar or equivalent instrument,
which causes the thread to be received and held under the beard or barb
of the needle whilst the loop of the previous course is, by a stationary
comb bar or equivalent instrument caused to pass over tho heads of
the needles.
I also claim the general arrangement of knitting machinery, sub-
stantially as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Prowett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM PROWETT. (L.S.)

page_text: Note. When latch needles are added for the purpose of ribbing they
project up between the ordinary needles and the path of the thread
carrier so as to receive the thread. These needles are all fixed on one
bar and are caused to descend and rise again between the ordinar
courses thus forming a new loop and passing the old loop over the
beard of the needle.