Improvements in Fashioning Machines for Attachment to Stocking Frames.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fashioning Machines for Attachment to Stocking
Frames.
I, CHARLES BANNER, of No. 73, Iverson Road, Kilburn, in the County of
Middlesex, Manufacturer 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 :—
My invention relates to improvements in fashioning machines for attachment to
stocking frames.
In the manufacture of stockings, knee-caps, abdominal belts and similar articles of
circular but irregular cross section, the necessary fashioning, i.e., the shaping of the
article to fit comfortably to the varying circumference of the limb, e.g., in the case of
a stocking leg, has, more especially in elastic goods, been, hitherto, generally
accomplished by fashioning the material along the edges and sewing them together
with a strip of silk or similar woven fabric over the seam.
The resultant join has been so bulky that the wearer's skin has frequently been
subjected to painfull abrasions.
Now, according to my present invention, I provide for fashioning such a part as
the heel of a stocking as the manufacture of it proceeds, and effect this by intro-
ducing more stitches or diminishing their number as required to produce the proper
shape.
With the ordinary fashioning machine as now used on a stocking frame, when it
is required to widen the web, the necessary number of stitches must be transferred,
by hand, from the needles on to others farther from the centre of the frame, using
for that purpose the device known as a tickler; for, as the points on the machine are
fixed and extend for its full length, it is evident that it cannot be used for such
purpose, inasmuch as it is incapable of lateral motion either to the right or to
the left.
In carrying my invention into effect, I remove the bank of fixed points from the
bottom bar of the machine, and use a short bank movable along the whole length of
the plate. A long notched rack is provided, and this is held by spring-pressure
down upon a tooth projecting from the bank. The notches in the bar correspond, in
point of distance and position, with the needles of the frame.
In order that my invention, and the means by which it is to be carried into
practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will now describe them in detail,
referring in so doing to the accompanying figures which are to be taken as part of
this specification and read therewith.
Fig. 1 is a plan of my invention.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation.
Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line A B of the former figures.
D, D are the two machine arms. These project from the needle bar in the ordinary
way E is the middle needle of the frame. These parts are introduced into the
drawings for the sake of making the method of applying my invention to the frame
quite clear.
F is the bottom har; G, G, the machine axles; and H, the horn. These three
parts are present in the fashioning machines heretofore in use.
I is the plate upon and to which the bank of points j is fixed. The method of
fixation is clearly indicated in the figures. A convenient number of points, say
nineteen, is held in a lead k cast about their heads, and the leads are separately held
to the plate 1 by set screws 7.
It will be noticed that the number of points in the bank is about one third that of
the needles in the frame.

page_text: M, M are grips adapted to hold the plate I upon the bottom bar F, but so as to
permit of its free motion thereupon, either to the right or left, for the full length of
the said bar. The holding device illustrated may be replaced by any other of
equivalent nature, the function of these grips being only to hold the bank to the
bottom bar while permitting it, at the same time, to slide, either to the right or the
left, in front of the frame in a plane parallel to that of the needles.
It will be readily understood that as the bank of points is movable
bar, there must be some efficient device adapted to hold it securely in any desired
upon the bottom
position thereupon.
The device illustrated is the one which I prefer, but I wish it to be distinctly
understood that my invention does not confine me to the precise details of such
device, which are as follows. N is a bar parallel with the bank of points. It is
fixed to a pillar standing up from the left hand end of the bottom bar. n is a tooth
projecting upwards from the bank, and o, o are equal notches in the bottom edge of
the bar N, thus producing a long rack. These notches are equidistant, as well as
..equal; and, in respect of their position with reference to the points and the needles,
are so placed in the bar that when the latter is in engagement with the tooth, all the
points shall be properly positioned for entering the stitches upon the, respectively,
opposite needles. The engagement of the rack with the tooth is effected by the
downward resilience of the part N¹.
The bar is disengaged from the tooth as follows. P is a handle; and p, a bell
crank lever having its fulcrum in a standard g. When the bar is required to be
disengaged from the tooth, the thumb bit p¹ of the lever p is pressed against the
stop with one band, and the bank moved right or left with the other into the required
position with reference to the needles, when the bar is released and the bank thereby
locked in working position.
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 :-
1. A movable and adjustable fashioning machine as set forth.
2. The combination of the several devices adapted to effect the adjustability,
on the part of a bank of points in a fashioning machine, in respect of the needles in
a stocking frame, as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 27th day of May 1890.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.