A New or Improved Process and Apparatus for Producing Knitted Goods with Two Right Sides.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application. 3rd Sept., 1888 :
Specification Accepted, 25th May, 1889
A New or Improved Process and Apparatus for Producing Knitted
Goods with Two Right Sides.
I, LORENTZ ALBERT GROTII, of No. 3 Tokenbouse Buildings, in the City of London,
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
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of Drawings
and to the letters and Figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
The method of working and the apparatus, applied to a Lamb knitting machine
and forming the object of this invention, relates to the production of knitted
goods with two right sides with broken or irregular mesh lines (maschenstäbchen) so
that within each row of meshes, the formation of right and right meshes alternates
automatically with the formation of enlarged Pearl meshes (Perlfangmaschen) according
to requirement.
This result is obtained by means of a Jacquard apparatus, a special arrangement of
cams and a needle with four different working points.
By this arrangement figured or fancy goods can be automatically produced without
increasing or reducing the number of meshes, while Pearl and right and right meshes
in any number are worked side by side. In this way a row of meshes composed of
Pearl and right and right meshes will be automatically produced during one complete
movement of the sliding carriage, that is, a backward and forward movement thereof.
During two single movements of the sliding carriage two right and right rows are
completely knitted off, but it requires two single movements of the siiling carriage.to
produce one row of Pearl meshes. The right and right meshes are knitted com-
paratively tight, whilst the Pearl meshes are knitted looser, and as the right and right
imeshes become thicker by reason of the tighter knitting; goods with this kind of
meshes are narrower than those with the looser worked Pearl meshes. The result
obtained by inserting Pearl meshes, in goods composed of right and right meshes, is
an enlarged row of meshes, and by the further addition of both kinds of meshes
figured or fancy goods are produced.

page_text: In order to produce automatically Pearl and right and right meshes in one row
and in stipulated form, the needles must be raised independently of each other to two
different heights and again drawn.
In order to more fully explain the manner of working, reference is made to the
accompanying Drawings in which a indicates those needles which are operated by
means of the Jacquard mechanism, whilst those marked y working in both rows and
placed in the front needle plate (Figures 10 to 12) perform the Pearl knitting.
Figure 1 shows a cross sectional elevation of the machine together with the Jacquard-
operating mechanism.
Figure 2 shows the passage of the needles through the cams of the back needle
plate as the said cams move from right to left.
Figure 3 shows the passage of the needles through the cams in the motion from left
to right.
Figure 4 shows the position of the needles when half raised by the cam a at
beginning of the movement of the sliding carriage from right to left, that is to say,
the position of the needles when the mesh is still resting upon the latch and a new
thread is being laid on.
Figure 5 the position of the needles at the end of the beforementioned movement,
with mesh and thread in the needle head.
Figure 6 the position of the needle a when raised to its highest point by means of
the Jacquard and the cam a, and when the mesh and thread slip behind the tongue, at
the commencement of the movement from left to right.
Figure 7 shows the position of the needle a at the end of the movement from left to
right, the needle having cast off and formed a double mesh.
Figures 8 and 9 show the positions of the needles y in the back needle plate which
have not been raised by the Jacquard Roller in their highest and lowest positions they
knit right and right goods with the needles of the front needle plate as usual.
Figure 10 shows the needles y of the front needle plate and needle of the back
needle plate in their highest joint working positions during the movement of the
sliding carriage from right to left.
Figure 11 shews the needles y and x in their end position after the completion of
the movement from right to left; the needle y having knitted right and right meshes,
whilst the needle a still holds the mesh and thread in the needle head.
Figure 12 shows the needles y and a in their highest positions at the commencement
of the movement from left to right, both needles casting off their meshes and taking
at the end of the movement the position shown in Figure 11.
Figure 13 shows the position of the meshes of goods with two right sides, the mesh
lines of which have a broken form, by reason of the right and right meshes alternating
with enlarged Pearl meshes.
Figure 14 shows a prismatic Jacquard card roller k and a perforated card v.
Figure 15 shows the mechanism for transmitting motion from the sliding carriage
to the lever l. The needles of the front needle plate are short and knit off their
meshes as usual at each movement of the sliding carriage. The needles of the back
needle plate are long and are provided with a flat foot e and four working points
indicated by the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively; they are all sunk into the needle plate
and are acted on by the cam a which is movable in a slot-like opening in the needle
plate the needles a, which are raised by means of the Jacquard cards e, work with the
needles y of the front needle plate standing opposite the needles and knit Pearl
meshes, whilst the needles y, which are not raised by the Jacquard cards, work with
the needles y which stand opposite in the front needle plate and produce right and
right meshes as usual.
In order however to work alternately and as may be desired Pearl or right and
right meshes, the Pearl mesh knitting needles are made to act automatically by
means of a Jacquard card, that is to say, when all the needles in the back needle
plate are let down in their respective grooves, the needles are raised at their hinder
ends by the Jacquard mechanism and are acted upon accordingly by the cam a;
the other needles which are not raised by the Jacquard apparatus knit as usual

page_text: right and right goods with the needles of the front needle plate, the side cams bb, cc¹
of the back cam box, Figures 2 and 3, can be regulated in their positions by
a scale.
The needles are raised automatically by means of wire stems f called springs
placed under the needles and provided with hooks or butts which pass through the
needle plate.
Under the needle bed m¹ is mounted, so as to turn in bearings, a prismatic roller k
shown on the Drawings as hexagonal, on which is placed a chain of Jacquard cards v
made of strips of sheet iron, cardboard or other suitable material, and one of which
always covers that surface of the hexagonal roller which comes opposite the springs f.
The cards are prevented from moving sidewise on the roller by means of pins t.
These Jacquard cards are perforated in such way that only those springs f which are
opposite the bars v² (Figure 14) are raised by the lifting of the roiler k in a direction
at right angles to the needle bed, whilst the springs corresponding with the
perforations pass into these perforations or openings, and keep their positions until
another card takes the place of the first one.
The mechanism of the Jacquard apparatus by means of which the automatic
movement of the prism and cards is obtained, and by means of which the pearl
knitting needles are raised, acts as follows:-
At the commencement of the movement of the sliding carriage the wedge piece n
fastened to the cam box s (Figures 1 and 15) ascends on a sloping surface of the
vertically up and down moving bar m and presses the latter against the two levers
which are secured to and turn with the shaft u, and are placed one under each end of
the bar m, and one at each side of the machine. By the turning of the shaft u the
two ends of the levers (which ends carry the bearings w of the roller k) the roller k
is lifted and consequently the card resting thereon is pressed against the springs f
projecting from the underside of the needle bed and thereby effect the raising of those
needles which correspond to the parts of the card which are not perforated.
The card roller keeps the needles in the raised position until the sliding carriage
has finished its movement. When the sliding carriage has reached the end of its
movement the bar m, which until then has been pressed down, is then released, and
the prismatic card roller falls away by its own weight. In order however that other
needles should be raised during the next movement of the sliding carriage the
automatic change of cards is effected in the following way :—
On the driving crank shaft (Figure 1) is placed a ring p provided with two
tappets o o'.
At the commencement of a fresh movement of the sliding carriage one
of these tappets always presses, according to the direction of revolution of the crank
shaft, either upwards or downwards against the lever g which turns on the fulcrum.c¹.
This lever carries a pawl which is movable on a hinge at h. This pawl acts upon
the ratchet wheel fixed to the axis of the card roller k. By the movement of the
lever into the position shown in Figure 5 the wheel i, and consequently the card
roller, is turned one sixth of a revolution, whereby the Jacquard card is changed so
that at the next movement of the sliding carriage fresh needles are raised by the
fresh card.
The process for producing the new double sided knitted goods is carried out in the
following manner :-
Before the commencement of the stroke or movement of the sliding carriage from
right to left, the middle cam d, Figure 2, is put out of action. The needles which are
intended to knit Pearl meshes are raised in their grooves by means of the Jacquard
cards and are caught by the cam a, Figure 1, (which runs in a slot-like opening in the
needle plate) at the point marked 3 on the foot e, and are only raised so high that
the meshes hanging on the needle heads cannot slip behind the latches, Figures 2
and 4; the other needles which are not raised by the cards are caught by the same
cam at a point of the foot laying a little higher up and projecting, marked 2 on the
foot e and raised so high that the meshes which hang in the needle heads can slip
behind the latches, Figures 2 and 8; and by the further movement of the sliding
carriage from right to left the unequally raised needles are caught by the cam 6 at the

page_text: point 4 and drawn down into the position in which the needles y have knitted off their
right and right meshes, whereas the needles, which are to knit looser Pearl meshes,
are simultaneously caught by the upper side cam b and the underside cam c, Figure 2.
at the points and 1, and brought loosely to the position in which the mesh and
the thread are not knitted off but both are still left hanging in the needle head,
Figure 5.
Before commencing the next stroke or movement of the sliding carriage from left,
to right, Figure 3, the middle cam d, which was put out of action before the movement
from right to left, is again brought into action so as to catch. all the needles and
at the working points 4 and raise them to their highest position so that all the meshes
slip behind the needle latches; on the further movement of the sliding carriage from
left to right, the needles y are caught by the cam at the working points 4, and
lowered or brought down to their normal position whereby these needles again knit off
their meshes, Figure 9, the needles are however simultaneously caught by the cam b¹
at the working points 4 and by the cam c¹ at the working points .1, and as soon the
cam bicaves the working point they are brought or lowered loosely, to their normal
positions by the cam c¹.
All the needles x and y have knitted off their meshes at the completion of the
second movement of the sliding carriage. The needles y (those which are not raised
by means of the card-roller) knit with the opposite needles, situated in the front
needle plate, right and right meshes during each movement of the sliding carriage,
whilst the needles (those which are raised by the. card). knit: only during every
second movement of the sliding carriage with the needles in the front needle plate
(which at this time knit two right and right meshes) one so-called Pearl mesh. This
manipulation is repeated as may be desired.
new
.
.
Instead of the above described construction of machine for carrying out my
new double sided knitted fabric, other similar
process for producing a
arrangements of apparatus may be used without departing from the nature of my
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
First The process for producing a knitted fabric with two right sides having
broken or irregular mesh lines (maschenstäbchen) in such manner that in each row of
meshes the formation of right and right meshes alternates automatically with the
formation of enlarged Pearl meshes as hereinbefore described. 1
Second A knitting machine for carrying out the process forming the subject of
the first claim clause hereof, in which the requisite alternation of right and right meshes
with Pearl meshes and the enlargement of the latter are effected by means of Jacquard
apparatus, the whole constructed as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the
Drawings hereto annexed:
Third A knitted fabric with two-right sides, the mesh lines (maschenstäbchen) of
which are of a broken or irregular form so that in each row of meshes the right and
right meshes in the wedge shaped piece to be formed alternate with enlarged Pearl
meshes as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in Figure 18 of the Drawings hereto
annexed.
Dated this 3rd day of September 1888.
"