AN IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 22nd August 1854, and dated the 29th June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Corydon Stillman Sperry
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th June 1854.
I, CORYDON STILLMAN SPERRY, of the State of Connecticut, of the United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention of "AN
IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE," which Invention has been communicated to me
by William M. Chase, a-citizen of and residing in the United States of America,
to be as follows:-
The machine, as improved, is not what is usually termed a stocking loom,
but is more properly named a knitting machine, for the reason that it forms.
each stitch of the work in regular succession, and not a number of. stitches at
once, as does the stocking loom. It is a machine in character like others in.
use, although it differs from them in sundry important particulars, which
constitute my Invention.
In this machine, the fabric produced is knit or formed on a series of hooked.
needles projected from an endless belt, the nature of my improvement or
Invention consisting in arranging the needles so as to severally stand in the

page_text: plane of the endless belt, instead of at right angles to it, in combination with
arranging on the outside of the belt the driving pinion of the belt, and the
teeth or projecting joints of the hinges of the belt, and which work with the
teeth of the pinion; the work or fabric produced being encompassed by the
belt, while the needles are provided with a stitch hook, yarn guide, and a
presser, and made to operate therewith, so as to produce the fabric by the
usual process of knitting.
By having the endless chain of needles made and operated as they are in
my improved machine, the chain extends around the work, instead of the work
being made to encompass the chain. In consequence thereof, my improved
arrangement of the work leaves all the joints of the links of the chain exposed,
so that a workman or attendant can readily remove one or more of the needles
of the chain or insert others therein, with much greater convenience than can
be done in other machines of such kind in use. The object of removing the
needles or adding others, as mentioned, being to enable him to perform the
operation either of "narrowing" or "widening" the work, as occasion may
require.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Corydon Stillman Sperry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CORYDON
STILLMAN SPERRY, of the State of Connecticut, of the United States of America,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, A.D. 1854, in the eighteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, "give and grant
unto me, the said Corydon Stillman Sperry, Her special license that I, the said
Corydon Stillman Sperry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Corydon Stillman Sperry, 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 of
"AN IMPROVED KNITTING MACHINE," (the same being communicated to me by
William M. Chase, a foreigner, resident in Massachusetts, in the United States

page_text: of America), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Corydon
Stillman Sperry, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
shoulo 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, or Office of Her Majesty's Com-
missioners of Patents, within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Corydon Stillman Sperry, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specificaction, and the accompanying Drawings, letters, figures, and references
thereof.
Of the said Drawings, Figure 1 denotes a front elevation of my said
improved knitting machine; Figure 2 is a vertical and transverse section of it,
the same being taken in such manner as to exhibit the yarn guide or director,
the stitch hook, and the contrivance for forcing the work down towards the
roots of the needles after the formation of each new loop. Such other Figures
as may be necessary to a proper representation of the various parts of my
improvements will be herein-after referred to and described.
The machine, as improved, is not what is usually termed a stocking loom,
but is more properly named a knitting machine, for the reason that it
forms each stitch of the work in regular succession, and not a number of
stitches at once, as does the stocking loom. It is a machine like in character
to others in use, although it differs from the same in sundry important
particulars, which constitute my Invention, and which I shall herein-after
describe.
In the Drawings above mentioned, A denotes the endless chain belt of
knitting needles, which is so made that the needles a, a, a, &c., instead of
being arranged or made to stand horizontally, and at right angles to the
vertical surface of the belt, are made to stand vertically, or in the plane of the
belt, as seen at a, a, a, a, Figures 1 and 2.
The driving pinion 6, instead of being arranged within the belt, as it has
been in other machines of this character, is disposed on the exterior surface of
it, and works against or engages with the projecting points of the belt. That
part of the inner surface of the belt which is immediately adjacent to the
pinion is supported by and works around a stationary vertical post or guide Ċ,
(see Figure 3, which is a vertical section of the belt and its support), that
extends upwards from a horizontal arm d, which projects from the main

page_text: frame B. The opposité end of the endless belt is supported by a straining
contrivance L, which is similar to such as are in common use in such machines.
The work or knitting hangs within the endless belt, instead of without it or
on the outside of it. In Figures 2 and 3 the work is denoted at c by red
lines.
.
The yarn guide or director is seen at D. It consists of a curved arm, made
to extend from a horizontal rocker shaft f, and to have a small conical' and
split tube g on its outer end, through which tube the yarn is carried from the
bobbin placed in any convenient position. The stitch hook is seen at E.. It
is arranged in rear of the chain belt of needles, and is formed, as represented
in side view, on an enlarged scale in Figure 4; that is to say, it is not only
made with a hooked end, as seen at h, but with a shoulder i, a short distance
in rear of the said hooked end, the shoulder performing the important office
of. pressing or casting the loop (taken up by the hook) over the hooked point
of the needle, the same having been effected in other machines of this kind,
by what is usually termed the "bent finger." By my improvement, I am
enabled to dispense with. such bent finger, and the machinery for operating it.
In order that the stitch hook may not only take up the loop, but cast it over
the end of the needle, and the yarn laid on the needle by the yarn director,
and. this to form or make a new stitch, the 'hook' should have following move-
ments imparted to it :-First, it should be made to pass into the groove of the
needle and under the stitch on the needle; next, it should be made to rise
upwards, so as to carry the stitch up to the hooked end of the needle; next,
it should be moved' laterally, far enough to be opposite the space between
the needle (first. operated upon) and the next needle; next, it should be
moved forwards between the two needles, and so as to cause the shoulder i to
press or force or cast the stitch over the hooked end of the needle. The
stitch hook should next be drawn backwards and depressed, so as to disengage
it from the stitch. The movements of the stitch hook may be produced by
various kinds or combinations of mechanism. No such machinery forms any
part of my Invention, and I lay claim to none in particular, but employ such
as may be suitable. That adopted by me is as follows, viz. The stitch
hook E is fastened to the lower end of a bar a', which works or slides freely
up and down through a piece of metal and is jointed by a joint
screw to a connecting rod d', on whose upper end is a strap f¹, passing
around an eccentric g', fixed on the main driving shaft ¹ of the machine.
The upward and downward movements of the stitch hook are effected
by such eccentric during its entire revolution. In order to produce its

page_text: forward and back movements, a lever ', working on a fulcrum, is
jointed at its lower end to the rear end of the piece of metal 61. The
upper end or arm of the said lever rests against a cam fixed on the
driving shaft (see Figure 5), which denotes a top view of the said shaft and
the cams applied to it; see also Figures 6 and 7; the former of which is a
side view of the said cam and the wing cam, to be herein-after described, while
the latter is a top view of the same, made so as to show the form of the
wing cam. During the revolution of the cam ', the lever will be moved
forward and backwards by the action of the said cam, and by a spring m
made. to bear against the rear side of said lever. The small wing cam n¹,
placed on the rear side of or to project above the cam l, serves to press the
upper end of the lever laterally, in order to produce the required lateral
motion of the stitch hook; a spring o', see Figure 2, presses the end of the
lever against such wing cam.. Both the stitch hook and the yarn guide
are arranged between the arms of the presser, which presser consists of
two arms k, l, extended at right angles from a horizontal rocker shaft m,
and long enough to play between. the needles. These arms should be made
to operate so as to press the work down to the roots of the needles after the
formation of cach stitch; they should next be raised upwards far enough to
allow of the movement of the chain belt, which, having taken place, they should
be depressed, so as to hold the work down until the. stitch hook has fairly
hooked under or taken up the stitch on the needle against. which it may be
acting. The presser should next be elevated with the stitch hook, so as to
allow the work to rise. While the stitch hook is casting the stitch or loop
over the hook of the needle the presser should be stationary; but as soon as
this has been effected, and the stitch hook has withdrawn itself from the stitch,
the presser should be depressed, so as to force the work to the roots of the
needles. Such movements may be attained by any suitable machinery applied
to the rocker shaft of the presser, such mechanism constituting no part of my
Invention; but that which I employ may be thus described:-Figure 8 is a
front elevation. of the machine, as it appears when its front plate p', and the end-
less cliain A are removed from the remainder of the mechanism. Figure 9 is a
vertical cross section of the machine, the same being taken looking towards
the left through the cam, which operates the presser. From the shaft m of the
presser an arm q' extends towards the front, and is jointed at its outer end to an
upright and bent bar, whose upper end is forced upwards against the cam s
by means of a spring t, one end of which is attaclied to the bar and the
other to the frame or box B, as seen in. Figures 8 and 9. The cam s¹ is fixed

page_text: on the driving shaft, and during its revolution, it, in conjunction with the
spring t¹, produces the rocker motion of the shaft m, such as will cause the
presser to operate in the manner required. Directly after each movement of
the chain belt, the yarn guide or director D should be moved forwards beyond
the back needles, so as to lay the yarn on that needle on which the new stitch
is to be made. After the stitch has been formed, the yarn guide should be
retrograded and carried to the back of the needles, in order that the chain belt
may perform its next movement without obstruction. The mechanism for
operating the yarn guide or director D consists of a cam u fixed on the
driving shaft, a slide, rod, or bar v¹, (whose lower end is jointed or hinged to
the outer end of an arm w³, extended from the shaft f,) and a spring a¹ which
forces the bar v up against the cam, the said cam being shown in Figure 9
by dotted lines. The machinery for moving the chain belt forms no part of
my Invention, except so far as the arrangement of the gear or pinion b, and
the joints x, x, x, &c. of the chain belt is concerned. On the main driving
shaft there is another cam a², which operates against the upper end of a lever b²,
which turns upon a fulcrum c, (see Figure 10,) which is a transverse section of
the machine taken through such cam, and looking towards the right, serves to
show the machinery actuated by it. A spring d² is used to draw the upper
end of the lever against the cam. The lower end of the lever is bent at right
angles or horizontally, and has two impelling pawls e, f, jointed to it, and
made to extend forwards and respectively to act in concert with two ratchet
wheels g, h, fixed upon the upright shaft of the pinion b, which works the
chain belt. These ratchet wheels and pawls are seen in Figures 2 and 11;
the latter Figure being a horizontal section of the machine, taken just
above the pawls, and so as to exhibit them. The teeth of one ratchet
wheel is arranged in a direction opposite to those of the other, in order that
when its pawl is in action with it, a motion of the shaft may be produced in
a direction the reverse of that effected by the movements of the other pawl
and its wheel.
By the movement of either pawl an intermittent rotary motion of the shaft i
will take place. The two pawls pass respectively through slots 1, 12, made in
a stationary vertical plate m²; see Figure 12, which is a front view of the
plate m², and the shifting contrivance attached to it. Such shifting contrivance
is a slide n², which is capable of being moved longitudinally, and has a projec-
tion o², extending down between the two pawls. When the slide is moved in
one direction, it bears against one of the pawls and throws it out of action upon
its ratchet wheel, and at the same time, in consequence of the two pawls being
'

page_text: connected by a spring 2, it draws the other pawl against the other ratchet
wheel, thereby creating a reverse motion of the shaft i. The object of the two
pawls is to enable the movement of the endless belt A to be reversed, so as to
cause the knitting to be produced in an opposite direction; one pawl, however,
is sufficient to produce the movement necessary to knit in one direction. The
shaft f, which carries the yarn director D, is made to slide longitudinally in its
bearings, and is connected into the slide n² by a lever q, which turns upon a
fulcrum, and has its ends inserted in notches made in the slide n² and the
shaft f, and this, so that the movement of the slide in one direction may create
a sliding movement of the shaft sufficient to move the yarn guide into the
proper position to commence the knitting in the reverse direction. The
shifting contrivance may be operated by the attendant or by any other proper
means.
Some parts of other mechanism, which I append or attach to the above
described machine, and for purposes not necessary to mention, may be seen in
the Drawings. As such mechanism forms no part of my Invention, I make no
further reference to it or description of it.
On the driving shaft there may be a fly wheel ³, from which a crank s² may
extend, and for the purpose of enabling a person to put the shaft in motion;
or the said shaft may be revolved by a pulley applied to it, and made to receive
an endless belt from any suitable driving drum.
By having the endless chain of needles made and operated in the above
described manner, the chain extends around the work, instead of the work
encompassing the chain, as it does in other well-known knitting machines. My
improved arrangement and disposition of the work exposes all the joints of the
links of the chain, so that a workman or attendant can readily remove one or
more of the needles, or insert one or more of the needles with much greater
convenience than can be done on the said well-known machines, as in the
latter he would be obliged to wholly or partially remove the work from the
needles, in order to accomplish the addition or subtraction of one or more of
the needles, such addition or subtraction being for the purpose of enabling him
to "widen" or "narrow" the work. My improvement affords great advantages
in knitting a heel, as the same can be effected in a much more perfect
manner, without that strain upon the work and needles that is incident to the
old and well-known machines.
What I claim as my improvement is, the arrangement of the needles in the
plane of the endless belt, instead of at right angles to it, in combination with
arrangement of the driving pinion b, and the projecting joints x, x, x, &c. of

page_text: the links of the belt on the outside of the belt, the belt being supported and the
whole being applied to the stitch hook, yarn guide, and presser, and made to
operate together, and with the work hanging on the inside of the belt,
substantially as herein-before specified.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature and seal, this
Twenty-second day of June, A.D. 1854.
CORYDON STILLMAN SPERRY. (L.S.)