IMPROVEMENTS IN MARK OR ODERATING KNITTING MACHINES.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Buchanan Robertson, of Lurgan, in the
County of Armagh, Ireland, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN
MARK OR ODERATING KNITTING MACHINES.
"
Sealed the 14th August 1874, and dated the 17th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Buchanan
Robertson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th April 1874.
I, JOSEPH BUCHANAN ROBERTSON, of Lurgan, in the County of
Armagh, Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MODE OF OPERATING KNITTING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of and
mode of operating with knitting machines of the kind which are usually
employed to produce a cylindrical fabric so as to render them con-
veniently applicable for the production of conical or tapering fabrics, or

page_text: of fabrics having a varying diameter at different parts of their length.
For this purpose I fit upon a fixed cylinder a number of needle guides
or arms projecting beyond one end of the cylinder, and I make the parts
of those guides which are near their points of fixture to the cylinder to
some extent flexible and elastic. Each of the guides is bent inwards
with a gentle curvature towards the axis of the cylinder, some of the
guides being so bent more than others of the guides. Within these
guides I fit a ring or disc which can be made to slide longitudinally, its
outer periphery bearing against the inner faces of the needle guides.
As this ring or disc is slid in the one direction it presses the guides
against which it bears outwards so as to expand the circle occupied by
their extreme ends, and as it is moved in the opposite direction the
guides are caused to bend inwards by their own clasticity so as to
diminish the circle occupied by their extreme ends.
The guides being, as above described, bent to various degrees of
curvature, the sliding ring or disc, in its movement for expanding them,
acts first on those which are most bent inwards and afterwards in suc-
cession upon those which are least bent inwards. I prefer however to
fix at suitable points on the interior faces of the several guides sloping
projections, so that the sliding ring or disc in its movement as it comes
to bear upon these sloping pieces pushes out the guides on which they are
fixed more rapidly than if it acted only on their gently curved surfaces.
Each of those guides is at its outer end and also near the point where it
is fixed to the cylinder channelled, and in the channel a needle is fitted
to slide to and fro lengthwise of the guide to which it is fitted. The outer
-end of each needle is formed with a hook and rocking tongue in the manner
usually adopted for the needles used in knitting machines so as to take on
and cast off the loops of the yarn. The other ends are made with pro-
jections which enter the groove of a cam ring mounted concentric with
the cylinder and made to revolve round it, the groove being formed in
such manner that as the ring revolves cach needle in succession is caused
to travel outwards and inwards along its guide. The needles are made
sufficiently flexible and elastic to yield to the curvature of the guides as
they travel along them. The cam ring is driven by gearing from a
pinion on a shaft parallel to the axis of the cylinder, and on the said
shaft is another pinion which gears with a wheel mounted on the
framing some distance beyond the extreme ends of the needles. The

page_text: gearing is so proportioned that this wheel is made to revolve at the same
rate as the cam ring. The wheel has a tabular axis through which is
passed a yarn from a bobbin. The yarn after passing through the
tubular axis is led through an eye upon a frame fitted to slide radially
towards or from the centre of the wheel, which frame may be worked to
or from the centre by a screw. The eye is in such a position as to carry
the yarn across the hooks of the needles, and is made to slide inwards or
outwards in order that it may revolve in a circle nearly equal to thaţ
occupied by the points of the guides, which circle, as previously
described, can be varied. Several yarns may thus be led together from
several bobbins when it is required to knit with soveral strands.
The operation of this mechanism is as follows:-It being supposed
that it is desired to knit a conical or tapering fabric beginning from the
small end only a few of the needles are brought by the inward curvature
of their guides towards the axis of the machine, and the yarn carried
round those needles while they reciprocate forms a number of meshes
corresponding to the number of needles engaged. The ring or disc is
now slid outwards, whereby those needles are expanded to occupy a
circle of larger diameter, in which others of the needles become engaged,
the guide eye of the yarn being moved proportionally outwards so as to
carry the yarn round the enlarged circle of needles.
By using the sloping projections on the needle guides referred to
above so as to render the expansion sudden sufficient space can be
obtained for the circular movement of the guide eye of the yarn betwcon
the circle of the needles engaged and the larger circle occupied by those
that are to be next engaged.
By farther movement outwards of the ring or disc a farther expansion
of the circle of needles is effected and an additional number of needles is.
brought into action. And thus the fabric can be made to increase in
diameter and in the number of meshes round its periphery. And in
like manner by sliding the ring or disc inwards some of the needles are
permitted to approach towards the axis while others stop when they
reach a certain position, and the loops are taken off the latter and placed
upon the former, so that a fabric diminishing in diameter can be
produced. Thus by suitably arranging the movement of the ring or
disc the fabric may be made to vary in diameter, and when a number of
articles of like shape are to be produced I prefer to effect the required

page_text: movement of the ring or disc by a cam or other suitable gearing worked
from the prime moving shaft, so as to render the variation of diameter
of the fabric automatic.
The ring or disc instead of being circular may be made of other forms,
as for example, polygonal or elliptical, so as to act by its movement 5
only on some of the needle guides, or on some more than on others, and
thus to produce a variation not only in the diameter of the fabric but
also in the parts of its periphery where the loops are taken in or let out,
as, for example, in the formation of a stocking.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Buchanan Robertson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BUCHANAN ROBERTSON, of Lurgan, in the County of Armagh, Ireland,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Buchanan Robertson, Her special
license, that I, the said Joseph Buchanan Robertson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Buchanan Robertson, 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
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MODE OF OPERATING KNITTING
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Buchanan Robertson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same

page_text: to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Buchanan Robertson, do
hereby declare the nature of the, said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawing and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of and
mode of operating with knitting machines of the kind which are usually
employed to produce a cylindrical fabric, so as to render them con-
veniently applicable for the production of conical or tapering fabrics, or
of fabrics having a varying diameter at different parts of their length.
For this purpose I fit upon a fixed cylinder a number of needle guides
or arms projecting beyond one end of the cylinder, and I make thic parts
of those guides which are near their points of fixture to the cylinder to
some extent flexible and elastic. Each of the guides is bent inwards
with a gentle curvature towards the axis of the cylinder, some of the
guides being so bent more than others of the guides. Within these
guides I fit a ring or disc which can be made to slide longitudinally, its
outer periphery bearing against the inner faces of the needle guides. As
this ring or disc is slid in the one direction it presses the guides against
which it bears outwards, so as to expand the circle occupied by their
extreme ends, and as it is moved in the opposite direction the guides
are caused to bend inwards by their own clasticity so as to diminish the
circle occupied by their extreme ends.
The guides being as above described bent to various degrees of
curvature, the sliding ring or disc in its movement for expanding them
acts first on those which are most bent inwards, and afterwards in
succession upon those which are least bent inwards. I prefer however
to fix at suitable points on the interior faces of the several guides
sloping projections, so that the sliding ring or disc in its movement as it
comes to bear upon these sloping pieces pushes out the guides on which
they are fixed more rapidly than if it acted only on their gently curved
surfaces. Each of those guides is at its outer end and also near the
point where it is fixed to the cylinder, channelled, and in the channel a

page_text: needle is fitted to slide to and fro lengthwise of the guide to which it is
fitted. The outer end of each needle is formed with a hook and rocking
tongue in the manner usually adopted for the needles used in knitting
machines, so as to take on and cast off the loops of the yarn. The other
ends are made with projections which enter the groove of a cam ring
mounted concentric with the cylinder, and made to revolve round it, the
groove being formed in such manner that as the ring revolves cach needle
in succession is caused to travel outwards and inwards along its guide.
The needles are made sufficiently flexible and elastic to yield to tho
curvature of their guides as they travel along them. The cam ring is
driven by gearing from a pinion on a shaft parallel to the axis of the
cylinder, and on the said shaft is another pinion which gears with a
wheel mounted on the framing some distance beyond the extreme ends
of the needles. The gearing is so proportioned that this wheel is made to
revolve at the same rate as the cam ring. The wheel has a tubular axis
through which is passed a yarn from a bobbin. The yarn after passing
through the tubular axis is led through an eye upon a frame fitted to
slide radially towards or from the centre of the wheel, which frame may
be worked to or from the centre by a screw. The cyc is in such a
position as to carry the yarn across the hooks of the needles, and is made
to slide inwards or outwards in order that it may revolve in a circle
nearly equal to that occupied by the points of the guides, which circle as
previously described can be varied. Several yarns may thus be led
together from several bobbins when it is required to knit with several
strands.
The operation of this mechanism is as follows:-It being supposed
that it is desired to knit a conical or tapering fabric beginning from
the small end, only a few of the needles are brought by the inward
curvature of their guides towards the axis of the machine, and the yarn
carried round those needles while they reciprocate forms a number of
meshes corresponding to the number of needles engaged. The ring or
disc is now slid upwards, whereby those needles are expanded to occupy
a circle of larger diameter, in which others of the needles become
engaged, the guide eye of the yarn being moved proportionally outwards
so as to carry the yarn round the enlarged circle of needles.
By using the sloping projections on the needle guides referred to
above so as to render the expansion sudden, sufficient space can be

page_text: obtained for the circular movement of the guide eye of the yarn between
the circle of the needles engaged, and the larger circle occupied by those
that are to be next engaged.
By farther movement outwards of the ring or disc, a farther expansion.
of the circle of needles is effected and an additional number of needles is
brought into action. And thus the fabric can be made to increase in
diameter, and in the number of meshes round its periphery. And in
like manner by sliding the ring or disc inwards some of the needles are
permitted to approach towards the axis, while others stop when they reach
a certain position, and the loops are taken off the latter and placed upon
the former, so that a fabric diminishing in diameter can be produced.
Thus by suitably arranging the movement of the ring or disc the fabric
may be made to vary in diameter, and when a number of articles of like
shape are to be produced I prefer to effect the required movement of the
ring or disc by a cam or other suitable gearing worked from the prime
moving shaft, so as to render the variation of diameter of the fabric
automatic.
The ring or disc instead of being circular may be made of other forms,
as for example, polygonal or elliptical, so as to act by its movement only
on some of the needle guides or on some more than on others, and thus to
produce a variation not only in the diameter of the fabric, but also in the
parts of its periphery where the loops are taken in or let out, as, for
example, in the formation of a stocking.
The accompanying Drawing represents a vertical section of a circular
knitting machine arranged to operate according to my Invention. A is
the framing supporting three cross frames A', A2, and A³; B is a vertical
spindle driven by bevil gear B', or otherwise, from any convenient source
of power. It may also be turned by a winch handle B². On the spindle
B are fixed two toothed wheels B³ and B', and a third toothed wheel B'
is fitted with a feather to slide on it and to turn with it.
On the cross
frame A' is fixed a cylindrical ring C, with an angle ring C within it.
Between the interior surface of C and the exterior of C' are set a number
of clastic blades D, one for each of the needles to be used in the machine.
These blades are secured in an upright position by being gripped between
the two cylindrical surfaces of C and C¹, and are prevented from any
vertical shift by bending their lower extremities to a lip which is inserted
into a groove in C'. The blades D may however be screwed, rivetted,

page_text: or otherwise fixed to the ring C. The blades D extend upwards to a
considerable height, and at their upper part are provided with channelled
guides D¹, in which the needles work, these guides being formed of
trough shaped, open towards the outside. Near the upper part of the
blades D bars D² are jointed to them, and lic in radial grooves formed in
an annular part of the cross frame A², so that they steady the blades D
laterally, and studs D³ on these bars serve as stops when they bear
against the guide ring of A2 to prevent the blades D from springing
farther than is desired towards the vertical axis of the machine. Each
of the blades D is bent so that by its own elasticity it tends to spring
inwards, and it is pressed outwards by a ring or disc E bearing against
its internal surface. It will be readily seen that according as the ring
or disc E is raised or lowered the blades D, against which its edge bears
are pressed more or less outwards, and the summits or guide channels D'
of these blades are pushed to a greater or less distance from the axis
of the machine, thereby increasing or diminishing the diameter of the
circle which they occupy.
In some cases I fix on some of the blades D button studs D' in such
manner that when the disc or ring E passes them they are moved out-
wards or inwards more abruptly than when the said disc or ring passes
along the flat surface of the blades. This action of E upon one of the
studs D' is indicated by the dotted lines at D. A cylindrical ring Fis
mounted so as to turn freely round the fixed ring C, and in this revolving
ring is formed the cam path for working the needles, the needle jacks or
slides G having projections which enter this cam path, and being guided
in vertical grooves in the ring C in the usual manner. This cam path
is of the ordinary known kind, such that by its revolution it causes the
needles to ascend and descend successively in wave form, and may be
imade to suit either a single feed or several feeds. The cam ring F has
teeth F on its exterior gearing with the teeth of the wheel B', so that
. As the spindle is caused to revolve the cam ring also revolves and
gives the required vertical movements to the needles. To each of the
jacks or slides G is attached a wire H, which extends upwards outside
the blade D and terminates in a self-acting hooked needle H' of the kind
frequently employed in knitting machines.
The cam path in F and the length of the needle wire H are so arranged
that as the cam revolves the hooked end of the needle is made to rise

page_text: some distance above the channelled guide D' at its up stroke, and to
descend some distance into the guide at its down stroke so as to form the
knitted loops or meshes in the ordinary manner. The wire H carrying
the needle is sufficiently flexible to follow the bend of the guide blade D
and to work freely whether that blade be bent inwards towards the axis
of the machine or outwards, the guide blades and needle wires being
mado of considerable length to allow of the desired range of variation in
the diameter of the work without so far altering the vertical stroke of
the needles as to impair the uniformity of the work produced.
The feed apparatus consists of a wheel K mounted on the upper cross
frame As and geared with the wheel B³ so as to revolve at the same speed
as the cam F. The axis of this wheel is tubular, and the feed yarn is
passed through its hollow axis from a bobbin situated in any convenient
position.. On the wheel K is mounted a screw spindle K³, which works
in a nut K* mounted on a radial slide and having projecting down from
it a blade K³ through an eye in which the feed yarn is passed. This
blade is preferably jointed to the slide nut K³ with a spring so as to allow
it to yield a little to or from the axis of the machine so that it may
accommodate itself to irregularities in the circle of the needles round
which it revolves. On the screw K¹ is fixed a pinion K' gearing with
another pinion K, on which is a star wheel K. At every revolution of
the wheel K this star wheel passing an adjustable stop L' is turned
partly round, and the screw K¹ is thereby partly turned so as to move
the nut K radially. The proportions of the pinions K and K and the
stroke of the star wheel K° may be varied so as to suit the radial move-
ment of the feed cyc K³ to the desired change in the diameter of the
circle of needles. The stop L' is fixed by a setting screw on a vertical
rod L, which is jointed at its lower end to a lever L². The opposite end
of this lever is a fork which bears against the boss of the wheel B³. This
wheel is geared with a wheel M', the boss of which forms a nut enclosing
a screwed spindle M which is attached to the ring or disc E. While the
rod L is in the position shown in the Drawing the stop L' upon it is
within range of the star wheel K°, and the wheel B' is in gear with the
wheel M', so that the latter revolving on the screw M causes the disc or
ring E to move upwards or downwards, according to the direction in
which the machine is turned. The rod L can at pleasure be pushed
down by a lever L or otherwise, whereupon the stop L' is taken out of

page_text: range of the star wheel K, and at the same time the wheel B³ is raised
by the lever L³ out of gear with M¹. Thus the radial movement of the
feed eye K' and the change in the diameter of the circle of needles
effected by the movement of E is arrested, and work of uniform diameter
may be produced. Instead of gearing the wheel B³ directly to M' there
might be intermediate wheels so as to vary at pleasure both the speed and
the direction of revolution of M'; also instead of making E a disc, and
moving it by a central screwed spindle, it might be an open ring moved
by two or more screwed spindles and guided so as to leave passage
through it for work of considerable length. It may also be understood
that instead of employing screws to move E upwards or downwards the
required movement might be communicated to it by racks and pinions,
or it might be worked by a lever acted on by a cam driven from the
prime moving spindle B.
When there is considerable repetition of the same kind of work
requiring a like succession of changes in the diameter of the circle of
needles I prefer to provide a cam action, such as is last referred to, for
effecting the required vertical movements of E. When the ring or
disc E is made of other than circular form, such as elliptical or polygonal,
so as to push some of the guide blades D and needles H¹ farther out
from the centre than others, the spring of the feed blade K³ allows it to
yield to such variation in the radial position of the needles, and in such
cases I prefer to make the spring which acts on the said blade very light
so that it may the more readily yield.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I make no
claim generally to varying the diameter of a circle of needles used for
circular knitting so as to knit tapering fabrics; but I claim,―
First. For the purpose of varying the diameter of a circle of knitting
needles, the use of elastic guide blades in combination with flexible
needle wires, substantially as herein described.
Second. For the purpose of varying radially the position of the needles
and guide blades referred to above, the use of a disc or ring made to
move along and press upon the interior surfaces of the guides blades,

page_text: Third. In circular knitting machines wherein the diameter of the
ircle of needles is varied, mounting the feed eye on a radial slide acted
on by a screw so that its distance from the centre of revolution is
automatically adjusted to the distance of the needles therefrom, sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Buchanan Robertson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
JOSEPH BUCHANAN ROBERTSON. (L.S.)