IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMEWORK KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Whittaker McCallum, of Belper, in the
County of Derby, Hosier, and Luke Woodward, of the Town of Notting-
ham, Framesmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAMEWORK
KNITTING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 24th April 1860, and dated the 5th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Whittaker
McCallum and Luke Woodward at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 5th November 1859.
We, THOMAS WHITTAKER MCCALLUM, of Belper, in the County of Derby,
Hosier, & LUKE WOODWARD, of the Town of Nottingham, Framesmith, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FRAME-
WORK KNITTING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a combination or arrangement of machinery for.
making looped fabrics, by means of which such fabrics with "selvage work"
may be produced more advantageously than has hitherto been obtained. The
needles are arranged somewhat inclined, but by preference in a nearly upright
position. Instead of the sinkers being of the ordinary form, bolts working in
combs or guides are used for forming the loops; these bolts are acted upon by
levers, which receive motion from a slur cock on a slur bar. The levers which
move the bolts or loop forming instruments allow of the ordinary jacks, springs,

page_text: and other instruments generally used for that purpose to be entirely dispensed
with, by reason of which additional speed is gained in the working.
The knocking over of the work is effected by means of a fixed comb thro'
which the needles work in such a manner that as the needles descend (after
the presser bar has acted) the loops are knocked over, the work being sup-
ported upon the surface of the comb while the needles descend below it. To
slide the bolts or loop making instruments back again after the completion of
a course, a bar which may be called a front locker bar is used acting simulta-
neously on all the bolts to carry them back to their starting position. This
bar then, immediately it has done its work returns again out of the way to
allow of the slur cock and levers acting again, as before. In order to prevent
the needles when they rise again carrying up the work with them, a bar with
points is used, the points passing between the needles and so remaining during
the time the needles are rising and until the fresh loops are formed, they then
retire out of the way and the presser acts, and the knocking over takes place
as before by the descent or moving away of the needles. When it is desired
to make ribbed fabrics in the machine, instead of the points just mentioned,
another set of needles, which may be called the machine needles, are placed upon
the bar and the points dispensed with; this second set of needles is so arranged
as to pass between the frame needles in the ordinary manner of ribbed frames,
and the same presser is caused to act on and press both sets of needles. To
assist the machine needles in getting clear of their loops a bar is placed just
below them, against which the work rests while those needles are retiring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Whittaker McCallum and Luke Woodward in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
WHITTAKER MCCALLUM, of Belper, in the County of Derby, Hosier, and LUKE
WOODWARD, of the Town of Nottingham, Framesmith, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Thomas Whittaker McCallum and Luke Woodward, Her special
licence that we the said Thomas Whittaker McCallum and Luke Woodward,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said

page_text: Thomas Whittaker McCallum and Luke Woodward, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 FRAMEWORK KNITTING MACHINERY,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Whittaker
McCallum and Luke Woodward, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same 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 we, the said Thomas Whittaker McCallum and
Luke Woodward, 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, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in a combination or arrangement of machinery for
making looped fabrics, by means of which such fabrics with "selvage work"
may be produced more advantageously than has hitherto been obtained.. The
needles are arranged somewhat inclined, but by preference in a nearly upright
position. Justead of the sinkers being of the ordinary form, bolts working in
combs or guides are used for forming the loops, these bolts are acted upon by
levers which receive motion from a slur cock on a slur bar. The levers which
move the bolts or loop forming instruments allow of the ordinary jacks, springs,
and other instruments generally used for that purpose to be entirely dispensed
with, by reason of which additional speed is gained in the working.
The knocking over of the work is effected by means of a fixed comb, through
which the needles work in such a manner that as the needles descend (after
the presser bar has acted) the loops are knocked over, the work being sup-
ported upon the surface of the comb while the needles descend below it.. To
slide the bolts or loop making instruments back again after the completion of
a course, a bar which may be called a front locker bar is used, acting simul-
taneously on all the bolts to carry them back to their starting position. This
bar then immediately it has done its work, returns again out of the way
to allow of the slur cock and levers acting again as before. In order to
prevent the needles. when they rise again carrying up the work with them, a
bar with points is used, the points passing between the needles, and so re-

page_text: Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of some parts of a knitting frame
constructed according to our Invention; Figure 2 is a similar view of some
of the same parts shown full size; and Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, are diagrams
representing the whole of the working instruments in the various positions
they assume in producing the work. a, a, is the framing of the machine; b is
the driving axis, it is turned by a crank, handle, or otherwise, and has on it a
toothed wheel c, (the toothed wheels are indicated by blue circles) taking into
and driving the wheel d, which is mounted on a stud on the framing, and
takes into and drives the toothed wheel e keyed on the cam shaft or axis f.
The cams and cam levers for the sake of simplicity are not shown in the
Drawings, the motions of the working instruments being shown a competent
workman would readily apply them; g is the axis of the needle bar, by means
of a lever on it actuated by the needle cam on the shaft fit receives a rocking
motion, and by other levers it causes the needle bar g' to slide up and down
in its guides; and i are respectively the axes which actuate the bars we call
the front and back locker bars h' and '; the axes h and i receive a rocking
motion from the locker cams on the shaft f, and cause the locker bars to slide
to and fro in guides as herein-after explained; j,j, are combs (shown sepa-
rately at Figures 8), in which the bolts or loop making instruments (shown
separately at Figures 9) are carried. These bolts when the machine is at
work are slid to and fro in their combs, behind every alternate bolt, and
entering the space in the comb with it is a lever k (shown separately at
Figures 10, working on a centre or axis k', carried by the comb k², l² (shown
separately at Figures 11), thus it will be seen that when these levers rock
on their axes, the bolts opposite to them are thrown forward, the other bolts
are moved only by the locker bars as herein-after explained; 7 is the thread
carrier bar, along which the thread carrier slides, to it are affixed the carrier
needles 1, 1; m is a bar which is stationary while the machine is at work, but
is capable of adjustment by turning the thumb screws m³ to vary the length of
the loops; m' is the slur bar which slides on the bar m; m², m², are slur
coeck, one for each breadth of work, they act upon the upper ends of the

page_text: levers k, and cause the bolts or loop forming instruments 1, 3, to travel in
their combs as required; n is the presser, it is actuated by cams on the shaft f,
and by levers in the usual manner; o is a comb for knocking over the work,
it is fixed to the stationary bar o', and is shewn separately at Figures 12;
P. p, are leads of points which serve to prevent the work from being carried
up by the needles when they rise, after the knocking over of the work, they
slide to and fro horizontally in guides on the frame a, and are actuated by
levers and cams on the shaft f. a¹, a', is a frame which carries the bobbins or
spools g, the threads from which pass down through guides a² to the carrier
needles as shewn.
We will now proceed to describe the working of a course. The thread
carriers proceed and each lays its thread, the needles being up to receive the
same as shewn in diagram, Figure 3. The thread carrier is actuated by a
sliding bolt in the usual manner; this bolt by descending arms r attached to it
and which each enter between the ends of two adjusting screws on the slur
bar, move the same, and thus the slur cocks m³ receive motion, and they act
upon the levers k, causing them to give a forward motion to their respective
bolts or loop forming instruments, thereby causing every alternate bolt to
move forwards and form loops, but leaving every alternate bolt (that is, all of
them that come between instead of in a line with the levers k) undisturbed in
its backward position. The thread carrier needles each having travelled to
the end of its course, then moves forward into the position shewn by Figure 4,
this motion is obtained by means of a cam. The advantage obtained by giving
this swing movement to the needle carrier bar is the securing the safe lap of
the thread on the selvage needles. The bar i which we have termed the back
locker bar is next caused to move forward, and act upon the projecting nebs
of the bolts, so as to push before it the bolts which were not moved forward
by the levers k, k, thereby. causing the whole of the bolts to divide equally
between them, the loops formed by the action of the levers k. The front
locker bar at the same time moves a short distance back to relieve the
thread from too much tension when dividing the loops. These parts are now
in the position shewn in Figure 4. The needle bar next descends and the last
formed loops are thereby caused to pass under the beards of the needles, the
front and back locker bars then retire together, and take back all the bolts j¹
and levers k, k. At the same time the needles descend into proper position to
be acted upon by the presser n, as shewn at Figure 5, the pressing takes
place, the presser descending to the position shewn by Figure 6, and by the
continued descent of the needles the safe landing of the work is insured.
The presser then retires out of action and the work is knocked over by

page_text: coming in contact with the comb o, while the needles descend below it. The
point bar with its points p then comes forward to prevent the work from being
carried up by the return movement of the needles, this position is shewn at
Figure 7; the return motion of the needles then takes place, and the course is
complete, the instruments are then again in position to form a fresh course, as
shewn at Figure 3.
When it is desired to form a slack course, the slack course bar s is slid a
short distance endwise by a hand lever provided for that purpose, so as to
bring slight projections formed upon its inner face out of recesses formed to
receive them in the bar m, by means of which the slur cocks are brought so
much closer to the levers k, k, and they will consequently impart more motion
to the bolts, and cause the loops of that course to be slack loops, afterwards
the slack loop bar will be put back and the work proceed as before.
When it is desired to make ribbed fabrics in the machine instead of the
points just mentioned, another set of needles which may be called the machine
needles are placed upon the bar and the points dispensed with; the second set
of needles is so arranged as to pass between the frame needles in the ordinary
manner of ribbed frames, and the same presser is caused to act on and press
both sets of needles. To assist the machine needles in getting clear of their
loops a bar is placed just below them against which the work rests while those
needles are retiring. This arrangement is shown at Figure 13, it works in a
similar manner as far as working the course is concerned, to machines here-
tofore employed in the manufacture of ribbed fabrics.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Whittaker McCallum &
Luke Woodward, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Third
day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty
T. W. MCCALLUM. (L.S.)
L. WOODWARD.
(L.S.)
T. W. MCCALLUM. (L.s.)
L. WOODWARD.
(L.S.)