Improvements in or relating to Knitting Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1898-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Knitting Machines.
A communication by JAMES LAWTON BRANSON, of 506, St. John Street, Phila-
delphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Knitting
Machine Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester,
both in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement: —
The object of this invention is to provide, in a knitting machine, simple and
efficient means for moving certain needles into and out of action at predetermined
intervals, generally during the formation of the heel and toe parts of stockings,
as will hereinafter be fully described and claimed.
In the drawings-
Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of a circular knitting machine embodying the
invention.
Figure 2 is a partial development of the exterior of the cam cylinder showing
the picker mechanism as about to engage with the actuating means therefor.
Figure 3 is a vertical section, as on the line - of Fig. 2, with the needle cylinder
and a needle included.
Figure 4 is a detail, in section, of the picker mechanism, as on the line y-y
of Fig. 2.
Figure 5 is a section of the picker arm, as on the line 2-z of Fig. 2, showing
the joint therefor.
Figure 6 is a development of the interior of the cam cylinder and the needle
heels therein, showing the picker as adjusted to engage the active needles and
lift them successively out of action.
Figure is a similar view, showing the picker as adjusted to engage idle or
up-thrown needles and depress them successively into action.
Figure 8 is a similar view, showing a slight modification of the cams.
1 designates the bed of the machine; 2 the cam cylinder; 3 the knitting cams;
4 the needle cylinder, and 5 the needles. The knitting cams comprise the central
cam a, the side or stitch cams b, ₺ the raising cams c, c, and the upper depress-
ing cams d, d, which latter are constructed in two parts with an intervening
space between their opposing bevelled ends. Otherwise the cams are or may be
of usual construction. Within this space is a picker device which is so con-
structed and arranged as to effect the raising and the lowering of active and
inactive needles respectively, as the requirements of the work may demand.
In the present instance this device embodies an arm or lever 6, the free end
of which is oppositely-notched so as to engage the needle heels in its path irre-
spective of the direction of its movement. This end projects into the cam

page_text: cylinder, its outer end being pivoted to a rotary head 7 fitted to an opening in
the wall of said cylinder. The fulcrum or pivotal connection of the lever is
preferably though not essentially a ball and socket joint, whereof the ball 8 is
formed on the end of the lever and the socket is formed partially on an outwardly-
extending arm 9 on the rotary head, the ball being maintained in place by a
socketed cap-plate 10, or the like. The head is flanged for the reception of a
two-part retaining plate 11 that is secured to the wall of the cylinder by screws,
or other means.
be
In the head is formed a V-shaped opening 12, through which extends into the
cylinder the free or needle-engaging end of the lever, whereby the latter may
moved and guided in diverging paths. Normally this end of the lever is yield-
ingly maintained at the apex of the opening. For this purpose there is herein
represented a bow spring 13, which is affixed to the end of the arm 9, by screws
or the like, so as to embrace the lever. The limbs of the spring are provided with
teats 14, which, bearing upon suitably-located studs 15 on the rotary head, limit
the forward movements of the limbs, yet the lever, when it is moved in either of
the paths, bears against the opposing limb and travels in opposition thereto,
which imb, upon the release of the lever, returns the latter to its normal position.
When the rotary head is in one position the paths diverge upwardly; when it is
moved a half turn the paths are inverted. i.e., they diverge downwardly. Thus,
irrespective of the position of the head, the lever is capable of movement in the
diverging paths.
The V-shaped opening is so formed that when the head is in one position the
apex of the opening is adjacent to the top of the cam a, and the diverging paths
extend to and above the noses of the upper camas d d, respectively, as indicated
in Fig. 6; and that when the head is in the reverse position the apex is above
the top of the cams d d, and the diverging paths extend below the noses of said
cams, as indicated in Figs. 7 and S.
During the knitting of straight-ahead or tubular work, as, for example, in
the formation of the leg or the foot of a stocking, the head is in the position
illustrated in Fig. 8, .e., with the paths diverging downwardly and the picker,
perforce, above the knitting cams. Preparatory to the narrowing and widening
operation, as, for example, in the formation of the heel or the toe of a stocking-
the head is turned a half revolution, in which case the head occupies the position
shown in Fig. 6, the picker thus riding upon the underlying needle heels; one
half of the entire series of needles is raised out of action in the usual manner,
and the cam cylinder is then turned sufficiently to allow the knitting cams to clear
the active needles, the picker thereupon assuming its position at the apex of the
opening. The cylinder is then reciprocated. In the first stroke-assuming
the movement to be in the direction of the arrow-the picker impinges against
the first needle heel in its path, and is thrust upward thereby, the engaged needle
being lifted by and with the picker until the latter recedes from the knitting
cams, in which case the needle heel is released at a point above the nose of the
upper cam and is directed thereby out of action. Upon the escape of the needle,
the picker, being depressed by the spring, rides upon the underlying needle heels
until the knitting cams reach the open space at the end of the stroke, in which
case the picker resumes its normal or active position. In the reverse stroke the
picker engages the first opposing needle heel, recedes in the opposite path against
the action of the spring, and carries the engaged needle above the nose of the
upper cam, which needle is thereby directed out of action. In this way during
the reciprocations of the cam cylinder the picker acts upon the end needles of the
two fashioning series, and lifts them out of action in alternate succession until
the requisite narrowing has been effected. This being done, the head is rotated
to reverse the position of the picker, in which ease, during the succeeding recipro-
rations of the cam cylinder, it acts upon, and is actuated by, the previously up-
thrown or idle needles and returns them successively to action in inverse order
to that in which they were up-thrown as above described.

page_text: Obviously the rotary head may be either manually or automatically adjusted,
and it may be retained in positions of adjustment by friction, or otherwise.
same
Mechanism for automatically operating the head is herein shown, the same
comprising a segmental rack, 16, movable toward and from the outer flange 17
of the head, which is serrated or toothed similarly to a pinion, as illustrated.
When the rack is moved inward the toothed head engages the
and is thereby partially turned. When the rack is retracted the head
in its traverse is unaffected thereby. In the
present instance the
rack is formed on or secured to a slide 18 which is fitted to a
guide 19 on the bed-plate, and is maintained normally retracted by a suit-
ably-located spring 20, so as to lie in the path of a pattern or cam wheel 21, or
the like, which at certain stages co-acts with the slide to effect the requisite
adjustments of the rack.
The inner flange 22. on the head is provided with two diametrically opposite
notches 23, 23. A spring dog 24 is affixed to the bracket so as to bear against
the flange and engage either of the notches moved thereto, and thereby retain
the head in either position of adjustment. The dog is provided with a projecting
stud 25 and the rack is provided with an extension 26 having a bevelled end
portion which, when the rack is moved inward, lies in the path of the stud and
thereby, upon the advancement of the cam cylinder, depresses the stud and dis-
engages the dog from the notch in the head, to permit the partial rotation of the
latter. When the head has been turned a half revolution as above explained,
the dog engages the then opposing notel to lock the head in place.
In the knitting cams illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, the stitch cams are
represented as pivoted wing cams. In Fig. 9, the stitch cams are shown as fixed,
and the rotary head is represented as provided with a cam, e, at or adjacent to
the apex of the V-shaped opening, which cam is designed to direct the needle
heels to the picker, as shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The combination with a cam carrier, its cams, a needle cylinder and its
needles, of a single needle-picking. device provided with oppositely-disposed
needle-engaging portions, and diverging guides with which the said device co-acts
during the forward and reverse strokes of the carrier.
2. The combination with a cam carrier, its cams, a needle cylinder and its
needles, of a single needle-picking device provided with oppositely-disposed
needle-engaging portions, and a movable support therefor provided with diverging
guides with which the said device co-acts during the forward and reverse strokes
of the carrier.
3. The combination with a cam carrier, its cams, a needle cylinder and its
needles, of a single needle-picking device provided with oppositely-disposed
needle-engaging portions, and a rotary supporting head therefor provided with
diverging openings which afford guides for said device in the forward and reverse
strokes of the carrier.
4. The combination with the cam carrier and its knitting cams, including
lateral stitch cams, of a single needle-picking device located intermediate said
stitch cams, and invertible means to guide said device in upwardly-diverging
paths to lift the needles, and in downwardly-diverging paths to depress the
needles.
5. The combination with a cam carrier and its knitting cams, including lateral
stitch cams, of an invertible supporting and guiding head, a single needle-picking
device thereon located intermediate said stitch cams, and adapted, when the head
is in one position, to move two series of needles out of action in alternate succession,
and when in another position to move said needles into action in alternate
succession.

page_text: 6. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a needle picker with
oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means for guiding said picker in
diverging paths, and means for maintaining said picker normally at the junction
of said paths.
7. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a needle picker with
oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means for guiding said picker in
diverging paths, means for maintaining said picker normally at the junction of
said paths, and a movable support for said picker.
8. The combination with a cam carrier, and its cams, of a needle picker with
oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means for guiding said picker in
two downwardly-diverging paths and in two upwardly-diverging paths, and means
whereby the picker may be held yieldingly at the junctions of the respective
diverging paths at predetermined intervals.
9. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a rotary head, a needle
picker thereon with oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means for
guiding said picker in two downwardly-diverging paths and in two upwardly-
diverging paths, and means whereby the picker may be held yieldingly at the
junctions of the respective diverging paths at predetermined intervals.
10. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a rotary head, a
needle picker thereon with oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means
for guiding said picker in two diverging paths, and means for maintaining said
picker normally at the junction of said paths.
11. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a rotary head, a
needle picker thereon with oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, means
to guide said picker in diverging paths, means for maintaining said picker nor-
mally at the junction of said paths, and means for rotating said head.
12. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, including a two-part
top cam, of a needle picker, invertible means for guiding said picker in diverging
paths intermediate the parts of said top cam, and means to maintain said
at the junction of said paths.
picker
13. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a lever jointed ex-
teriorly of the carrier, provided with oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions,
and extended into said carrier, means to guide said lever in diverging paths,
and means to maintain said lever at the junction of said paths.
14. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a lever extending
into said carrier and having a ball and socket connection exteriorly thereof so as
to swing in diverging paths, means to guide said lever, and means to maintain
said lever at the junction of said paths.
15. The combination, with a cam carrier and its cams, of a rotary head, a
needle-picking lever jointed thereon, provided with oppositely-disposed needle-
engaging portions, and extended into the carrier, means to guide said lever in
diverging paths, and means to maintain said lever at the junction of said paths.
16. The combination with a cam carrier and its cams, of a rotary head, means
for rotating the same, a needle-picking lever jointed on said head, provided with
oppositely-disposed needle-engaging portions, and extended into the carrier, means
to guide said lever in diverging paths, and means to maintain said lever at the
junction of said paths.
2000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.