IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINERY AND IN THE MODE OF WORKING SUCH MACHINERY
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Tertius Rowlett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1874.
I, WILLIAM TERTIUS ROWLETT, of Leicester, in the County of
Leicester, Yarn Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINERY AND IN THE
MODE OF WORKING SUCH MACHINERY,” to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to a mode of manufacturing on circular knitting
machines ribbed and plain knitting with the view of forming on one
and the same machine by one continuous operation socks with ribbed
tops, or stockings with plain and ribbed work, the same being relatively
disposed in any desired manner. To provide for this kind of work I
employ double ended transferable needles, wholly or in part, using in the
latter case single ended needles to complete the complement for the
work.
A convenient way for carrying out the Invention is to provide for the
reception of the needles two rotary cylinders of corresponding diameter,
which are set end to end at a short distance apart, and are severally

page_text: grooved to a corresponding gauge. In these grooves needle slides are
fitted. Those slides which are intended to operate double ended needles,
carry at their outer ends hinged spring clips for receiving those needles
(the latch needle being the kind preferred). The total number of
needles used will correspond with the number of grooves in one of the
cylinders.
When plain work is being made, all the needles for the width the plain
work is required will be ranged in consecutive order in one and the same
cylinder, but when ribbed work is required (say for example on the
instep of the stocking), the needles to produce this work will be dis-
tributed equally or unequally as the case may be in the grooves of the
two cylinders.
To produce "one and one rib," the needles are arranged alternately
the one in the right hand cylinder, and the next adjacent necille in the
left hand cylinder and so on.
For other kinds of ribbed work a corresponding change of distribution
of the needles is required. When however a rib is required for the top
of a sock the needles will be disposed the one half in the one cylinder,
and the other half in the other cylinder. The clips for carrying the
transferable needles are formed with a tail or projection for the purpose
of being acted upon by a sector piece or cam, so as to release the needles
when required. The stem of cach slide is similarly provided with a pro-
jection which is acted upon by a fixed cam, for the purpose of traversing
them to and fro in their guides to actuate the needles while knitting,
and to effect the transference of the needles from one cylinder to
another; certain of the slides are provided with a second or it may be a
third projection for a selecting cam to act upon, and thereby thrust
forward the needles that are required to be transferred, so that the clips
of the other cylinder may scize and retain the needles that are thrust
within their reach. The spring clips of say the left hand cylinder which
are to receive the needles from the right hand cylinder are advanced for
that purpose in their grooves, and they are opened by the tail of the
moving jaw of the clip pressing against a sector cam. At nearly the
same time the like action takes place with respect to the clips which are
to deliver the needles from the right hand cylinder, and the clips of the
left hand cylinder as they severally receive the needles to be transferred
will retire, closing upon their needles and drawing them into the left
hand cylinder. During this transference the loops of the work will
"

page_text: romain around the stem of the needle ready to be acted upon by the
opposite end of the needle during the next course.
In manufacturing ribbed stockings according to my Invention,
whether with the use of the above described arrangement of circular
machine or by equivalent circular knitting mechanism, I propose to
arrange the work so that the rib will extend from the knee downwards
to about the ankle, the toe, foot, and also the upper part of the stocking
being plain. To permit of this I commence with plain work and con-
tinue it until the knee is reached, using all the needles in one cylinder.
I then distribute them between the two cylinders and work ribbed work
to the heel. I then by rearranging the needles knit one half of the tube
as plain work and the other half as ribbed work until a point near the
toc is reached. This plain work will form the foot of a second stocking
when the fabric is subsequently made up. On stopping the ribbed work
ncar the toe I rearrange the needles and knit the whole of the tube in
plain work until I reach the point where the instep of the second
stocking commences. I then recommence ribbed work on the opposite
half of the tube to that which last received ribbed work (rearranging the
needles for the purpose), and I continue knitting in plain and ribbed
work until the point is reached for the termination of the plain work
that is to form the foot of the first stocking. A repetition of the above
described operation will then follow.
In order to improve the the quality of the plain work I propose to make
every alternate needle first pull through its loop (such loop being longer
than is required for the finished work), and then for the other needles to
pull through their loops, and thereby to reduce the size of the loops first
formed and produce an uniform row of loops in the course.