IMPROVEMENTS IN DARNING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hill, of Ashby Street, Clerkenwell, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DARNING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hill at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st May 1878.
ROBERT HILL, of Ashby Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex.
PROVEMENTS IN DARNING MACHINES."
" IM-
My present Invention has reference to the darning machine described in the
Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me, bearing date the 15th May
1877, No. 1893, and its objects are to permit of the employment of a simpler form
of needle to produce locked stitches, and to simplify and improve the construction
and working of the machine.
In place of the peculiar form of needle described in the said Specification, which
had a barb and a movable piece jointed to the shank to fall upon the barb at the
proper time, and so form an "eye," I employ a needle with an eye near the point
and with a groove on one side, extending from the eye to the point, and a groove
on the other side extending from the eye a short distance along the shank, these
two grooves being continuations one of the other, but on opposite sides of the
needle; they enable the needle to slide along the thread, and the thread to slide
along the needle, without disturbing the work, in the manner herein-after explained.
Or the needle shank may be grooved on both sides, behind the eye, for its whole
length, particularly when fine work is required. The shank has a feather or other
device, and there is a corresponding device in the needle bar to ensure that the
needle may be always fitted in the right position in the said bar.
I dispense with the thread carrier, described in the Specification herein-before
referred to, and with the various parts by which it was actuated and guided,
and I now employ a thread looper, which is worked and acts as herein-after
described

page_text: According to one arrangement, I attach to the front of the needle bar a forked
or other piece, which as this bar moves travels along a twisted or grooved bar fixed
to the frame of the machine on centres. Near the end of the twisted or grooved
bar is attached the thread looper, which may be adjustable. The motion of the
forked piece along the twisted or grooved bar gives motion thereto on its axis and
therefore to the looper, which, at the commencement of the return of the needle
from its most advanced position, descends and takes hold of the thread on the side
of the eye which is next the twisted bar, in the first place detaining it; the con-
tinued motion of the needle bar backward, the forked piece acting on the twisted
bar, causes the looper to draw down along the groove in the needle and through the
work sufficient thread to provide for the one-half of the next two stitches, and then
to rise and relieve the thread. In advancing, the needle draws back through the
work a portion of the thread thus set free, corresponding to its stroke, drawing
supply from the reel in like manner. At its most advanced position, when it begins
to retire, the looper again seizes the thread at the side of the needle next it, and
again draws down thread one half from the previous stitch, and the other half from
the needle. Or when the arrangement of looper next about to be described, and
which I prefer, is employed, the looper last described may be used as a supplemen-
tary looper or thread supplier, that is to say, it engages in the tail of the thread as
the needle retires and draws sufficient from the reel through the needle eye to supply
the needle in its next stitch. This thread supplier or supplementary looper may in
this case either be worked by a twisted bar as above described, or it may receive its
upward movement from a cam on any convenient part of the machine and its down-
ward movement by a weight.
The arrangement of looper last above referred to consists of a rod or screw
carrying a circular looper at one end, and having an eye therein adjoining the
looper. This rod is caused to rotate by a chain or band from the driving wheel or
otherwise, and at each return stroke of the needle, as the loop of the thread is
formed, the looper engages therein and holds it. The successive loops thus become
placed on the looper rod or screw, gradually working up the same, owing to the
rotation of the rod and the motion of the feed. When the darning is completed,
the thread is broken and its end, or, if preferred, a separate thread is passed through
the eye of the looper rod, and the work is then drawn off this rod, leaving the
thread in all the loops; this thread is then fastened off, thereby forming a lock
stitch.
The grooved sector, described in the Specification herein-before referred to, I make
with transverse grooves as before, but in lieu of the circumferential grooves, I form
grooves at an angle of, say, 45°, to the circumferential line; and instead of the
series of blades or wires which fitted into the circumferential grooves, I employ a
counterpart, formed on its under face with two sets of grooves corresponding with
those in the sector.
When the work is in position on the sector, the counterpart is brought down
upon it by means of a lever or otherwise, and forces it into the grooves, and the
darning can then proceed.
Owing to the inclination of the grooves the work may be put at right angles to
its first position, when the cross stitches have to be formed, instead of at an angle
of 45°, or thereabouts, as was necessary with my previous arrangement. The
counterpart moves in a slot in its lever, or is otherwise arranged to advance simul-
taneously with the sector, and feed the work to the needle.
One manner in which I make the counterpart is as follows:-I employ a series
of blades, each of which is fitted with a spring which tends to keep it forced out-
wards. The springs are differential, so that before the face of the blades comes in
contact with the grooved sector, the blades are graduated, that is to say, they pro-
ject from their holder in successive steps or graduations, the central one by prefer-
ence projecting most, and the two outer ones the least. Thus, when these blades
are brought down upon the grooved sector with the work thereon, the central one
'

page_text: comes in contact with the work first, then the two blades next the central one,
then the next two, and so on, their springs giving way to the pressure applied.
The work is thus forced into the successive grooves without being strained.
Another way of constructing the counterpart is to apply a series of cams to the
blades, so that they shall come down upon the work in succession, when a handle
or other device which works the cams is operated upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent filed by
the said Robert Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st November
1878.
ROBERT HILL, of Ashby Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex.
PROVEMENTS IN DARNING MACHINES."
"IM-
My present Invention has reference to the darning machine described in the
Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me, bearing date 15th May 1877,
No. 1893, and its objects are to permit of the employment of a simpler form of
needle to produce locked stitches, and to simplify and improve the construction
and working of the machine.
In place of the peculiar form of needle described in the said Specification, which
had a barb and a movable piece jointed to the shank to fall upon the barb at the
proper time, and so form an "eye," I employ a needle with an eye near the point,
and with a groove on one side extending from the eye to the point, and a groove
on the other side extending from the eye along the shank. These two grooves being
continuations one of the other, but on opposite sides of the needle, they enable the
needle to slide along the thread, and the thread to slide along the needle without
disturbing the work; or the needle shank may be grooved on both sides for its
whole length, particularly when fine work is required. The shank has a feather or
other device, and there is a corresponding device in the needle bar to ensure that
the needle may be always fitted in the right position in the said bar.
I dispense with the thread carrier described in the Specification herein-before
referred to, and with the various parts by which it was actuated and guided, and I
now employ a thread looper, which is worked and acts as herein-after described.
This looper consists of a rod or screw carrying a circular looper at one end, and
having an eye therein. This rod is caused to rotate by a chain or band from the
driving wheel or otherwise, and at each return stroke of the needle, as the loop of
the thread is formed, the looper engages therein and holds it.
The successive loops
thus become placed on the looper rod or screw, gradually working up the same,
owing to the rotation of the rod and the motion of the feed. When the darning is
completed the thread is broken, and its first end, or, if preferred, a separate thread
is passed through the eye of the looper rod, and the work is then drawn off, this rod
leaving the thread in all the loops; this thread is then fastened off, thereby forming
a lock
stitch.

page_text: The grooved sector described in the Specification herein-before referred to, and
which constitutes the work plate or cloth plate of the machine, I make with
transverse grooves as before; but in lieu of the circumferential grooves I sometimes
form grooves at an angle of, say, 45° to the circumferential line, and in this case,
instead of the series of blades or wires, which fitted into the circumferential grooves,
I employ a counterpart formed on its under face with two sets of grooves cor-
responding with those in the sector or work plate.
When the work is in position on the sector, the counterpart is brought down
upon it by means of a lever or otherwise, and forces it into the grooves, and the
darning can then proceed.
Owing to the inclination of the groove the work may be put at right angles to
its first position when the cross stitches have to be formed, instead of at an angle of
45°, or thereabouts, as was necessary with my previous arrangement.
One manner in which I make the counterpart is as follows:-I employ a series
of blades, each of which is fitted with a spring, which tends to keep it forced out-
wards. These springs are differential, so that before the face of the blades comes in
contact with the grooved sector or work plate, the blades are graduated, that is to
say, they project from their holder in successive steps or graduations, the central
one by preference projecting most, and the two outer ones the least. Thus when these
blades are brought down upon the grooved sector or work plate with the work
thereon, the central one comes in contact with the work first, then the two blades
next the central one, then the next two, and so on, their springs giving way to the
pressure applied, the work is thus forced into the successive grooves without being
strained.
Another way of constructing the counterpart is to apply a series of cams to the
blades, so that they shall come down upon the work in succession when a handle or
other device which works the cams is operated upon, and this construction of
counterpart is specially applicable to the preparatory laying of the work on my
original form of sector with circumferential or right-angled grooves, as herein-after
'described.
The manner in which my present improvements may be carried into effect will
be fully understood by the annexed Drawings, which I now proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan of the machine as I arrange it
when the grooved sector or work plate is rectangular, and the counterpart is
composed of a series of blades brought down in succession upon the work by means
of cams, as last above described. The said counterpart, and the means for operating
it, are not shown in these Figures.
Figure 3 is a front elevation, and Figure 4, a rear elevation of the machine.
Figure 5, a side elevation; and Figure 6, a back elevation of the counterpart just
referred to, together with the grooved sector or work plate.
Figure 7 is a plan of the said counterpart with the cam removed.
Figure 8, a plan with the blades and their springs removed; and Figure 9 is a
cross section.
Figures 10 to 13 are views illustrating the other construction of counterpart,
herein-before .described, and will be herein-after more fully explained.
Figure 14 shows views of the needle on an enlarged scale.
Referring to Figures 1 to 9, A is the base or bed plate; and B, the frame of the
machine; C is a bearing for a shaft D, which carries a driving wheel E provided
with a handle F for imparting a rotary motion thereto. The inner end of the shaft
D carries a disc G having a crank pin H. A roller on this pin works in a vertical
slot in a bracket J, so that as the disc G and pin H rotate, a horizontal to-and-fro
motion is imparted to the said bracket; L is the needle bar which passes through
this bracket and through guides or bearings M, M, being adjustable by means of the
set screw N let into the bracket J; O is the needle; P is an incline on the rear of
the needle bar for imparting the intermittent motion to the ratchet Q, shaft R, and
grooved sector or work plate S, as described in the Specification of my former
Letters Patent herein-before referred to. T is an arm or bracket pivoted to the

page_text: frame B at U, and carrying a series of blades V similar to those described in my
said former Specification. When this arm with its blades is in place, it is secured
by a pin W passed into an upright X
On the driving shaft D is a wheel Y, from which an endless chain Z (or it might
be a band or strap) is carried round the pulley a; b is the looper rod; and c, the
looper, the rod 6 being fixed in the boss d of the pulley a by means of a screw e;
fis an eye in the rod b; g is a loose frame of wires, which is slipped on to two
pins h, h, on a fork i fixed to the boss of the sector S, the object of these
wires being to enable the thread to move freely from one stitch to another.
The counterpart of the work plate has a boss k, Figure 5 (seen also in
Figure 1), from which is carried up an arm, forming at its upper part the
bearing for a rod m. This rod carries at one end a handle n, and at the other a
series of cams, or, more strictly speaking, one graduated cam. The several gradua-
tions of the cam bear upon the top of blades p, p, (by preference rounded at the
top, as shewn), which work in slots or guides q, q, and are kept pressed up by
means of springs r, "; the springs are soldered or otherwise fastened to the plates,
and bear at their ends upon the flanges or parts 1 between the guides q; 8 is the
spool arm.
Such being the construction and arrangement of the parts of the machine shewn
in Figures 1 to 9, I proceed to describe the mode of working the same. The work
plate or sector S being at its extreme position at the right hand side of the machine,
the counterpart being off the shaft R, the frame of wires g being removed, and the
arm T with its blades V being lifted clear of the work plate, the stocking or other
article to be darned is placed in position. The counterpart is then slipped on the
shaft R and a complete revolution is given to the handle n, by which movement the
graduations of the cam o successively overcoming the power of the springs r force
the blades p, p, successively through their guides q into the circumferential grooves
of the work plate S, and the blades carry the work with them. The cam o is by
preference arranged so that the middle blade p is first forced down, then the blade
next adjoining the said middle blade on each side, then the next blade on each side,
and so on. The counterpart is then slipped off the shaft R, the frame of wires g is
put in place, and the arm T is brought down, so that its blades V enter the grooves
of the work plate and press upon the work, and the pin W being passed into its
socket the machine is ready for the darning to proceed; this is effected by turning
the wheel E, and thereby giving the requisite reciprocating motion to the needle
and rotary motion to the looper c through the instrumentality of the parts herein-
before described. The needle with the thread advances through the work, and as it
again returns the hook of the looper engages in and holds the loop of the thread;
the continued rotation of the looper causes the loop to wind round the circle of the
looper, and then to fall upon the looper rod b in sufficient quantity for the next
stitch, the result being that as the darning proceeds and the work is fed in the
manner described in my said former Specification there is a series of loops on the
looper rod.
When the hole in the stocking is darned in one direction the thread is broken,
and then the original commencement of the thread is passed through the eye f in
the looper rod; the screw e which secures this rod to its pulley is next withdrawn,
and the looper rod being thereby freed is drawn through the loops carrying the
thread with it, and consequently locking all the stitches. The work is then shifted
on the sector at an angle of 45°, or thereabouts, to its first position to allow the
stitches in the other direction to be produced; this is effected in the same manner,
and the darning of the hole is then complete.
In some cases, instead of the circumferential grooves in the work plate or sector S,
I form grooves at an angle of, say, 45° to the circumferential line for the purposo
herein-before explained, and in this case the blades p must be placed to correspond.
I now proceed to describe the counterpart represented in Figures 10 to 13. In
this case the work plate S in the arrangement shewn has grooves at an angle of
about 45° to the circumferential line, and the blades are arranged to correspond;

page_text: the blades are also formed with grooves or recesses to correspond with the transverse
grooves in the work plate, and thereby form runs or paths for the needle. p, p, are
the blades, each of which is fitted with a spring which tends to keep it forced
outwards; t is a holder for the blades; u, a pin to prevent them falling out; vis
an excentric fitted with a handle e for acting on the holder t and blades. The
holder and its blades are carried by an arm x centred at y to a bracket / which is
secured to the shaft R. After the work has been put in position on the work
plate S the arm x is brought down into the position shewn; a pin is then inserted
at z to keep the arm in place; and, lastly, the excentric v is pulled round by means
of the handle w, the effect of which is that the blades p, p, are brought down upon
the work, forcing it into the grooves of the work plate.
The springs r, r, as before mentioned, are differential, so that they normally
project from their holder in successive graduations, as seen in Figure 12, and
therefore come down upon the work successively in a similar manner to the blades
in the arrangement represented in Figures 5 to 9, and already described.
The counterpart represented in Figures 10 to 13 remains on the work during the
darning operations, the blades p, p, having runs for the needle as has been already
stated, and as indicated at 1, 1, Figure 13, the said counterpart being fixed on the
shaft R travels with the sector or work plate S. The arm T and blades V shewn in
the previous Figures are dispensed with.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my "Improvements in Darning
Machines,"
First. Constructing darning machines with a thread looper, arranged and acting
so as to produce locked stitches with a continuous thread, substantially as herein-
before described, and represented in the annexed Drawings.
Second. Constructing the travelling grooved sector or work plate with grooves at
an angle to the circumferential line, substantially as and for the purpose berein-
before described with reference to the annexed Drawings.
Third. Constructing a movable counterpart to the grooved sector or work plate,
substantially as herein-before described, and represented in Figures 5 to 9 of the
annexed Drawings.
Fourth. Constructing a travelling counterpart to the grooved sector or work plate,
substantially as berein-before described, and represented in Figures 10 to 13 of the
annexed Drawings.
Fifth. The combination or combinations of parts forming the improved lock stitch
continuous thread darning machines, constructed and working substantially as
herein-before described, and represented in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hill, have hereunto set my hand and
scal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-eight.