IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Lamb, Manufacturer, and Samuel Lowe,
Machinist, both of Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING MACHINERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Lamb and
Samuel Lowe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st
November 1878.
JOHN WILLIAM LAMB, Manufacturer, and SAMUEL LOWE, Machinist, both of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING
Nottingham, in the County. of Nottingham.
MACHINERY."
The object of this Invention is so to modify the well known "cotton" knitting
machine as to provide for the striping of fashioned hose without the loss of time
occasioned by the "drawback or movement of the knitting mechanism without
thread being laid on the needles, which is at present requisite when the thread
carrier next to be brought into use has been left on the further side of the
machine.
It is also proposed to stripe in three or more colors, and to splice and stripe
simultaneously. With these objects in view we provide the machine with more
passing carriers than heretofore, say, 4, 6, or 8, and we may dispense with the use
of the ordinary "cotton" thread carriers to give additional room for the passing thread
carriers. The thread carrier bars we mount one above the other in different
vertical planes and support them in stepped guides. At the back of these bars are
fitted forked pieces to receive the end of a driving finger, which is, keyed to a
sliding rod that receives an end-way motion through a friction clip from the slur
box. This sliding rod is made capable of rocking in its bearings for the purpose
of lifting the driving finger to a level with the fork of any one of the thread
carrier bars, and thereby of bringing the same into action at the next motion of the
slur.box. This rocking of the sliding rod is effected by means of a chain of tappets,

page_text: which are brought under a sliding rod pendent from a rod carried by short arins
keyed to the sliding rod. As the tappets of this chain are brought under the
pendent rod they will force it upwards in its fixed guide, and thereby cause the
depression-of the driving finger, such depression being in proportion to the height
of the tappet. As these tappets pass from under the pendant rod the driving
finger will be lifted by the counterweight action of the parts connected with the
sliding rod.
This arrangement admits of the thread carriers being employed in-pairs, two-for
each colour, the same being so disposed that there is always one thread carrier for
each colour, ready to be brought into use when required at either side of the
inachine.-
In order to splice and stripe at the same time it will be requisite to provide for
driving two thread carrier bars at the same time, or four when the work is divided,
to form for example the heel of a stocking. In order to drive two bars simul-
taneously two rocking fingers will be required, the lateral motions of which will be
under independent control. These fingers may be connected together or inde-
pendent of each other, their fulcrum rods being under the control of tappets, as above
explained. This modification may be considered as a duplication of the parts
employed in the first described arrangement, where the thread carrier bars acted
singly and in the order in which they were selected by the driving finger.
.

page_text: "
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John William Lamb and Samuel Lowe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st May 1879. .
JOHN WILLIAM LAMB, Manufacturer, and SAMUEL LOWE, Machinist, both of
Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham. "IMPROVEMENTS IN KNITTING
MACHINERY."
"
The object of this Invention is so to modify the well known "cotton" knitting
machine as to provide for the striping of fashioned hose without the loss of time
occasioned by the "drawback i or movement of the knitting mechanism, and
without the thread being laid on the needles, which is at present requisite when the
thread carrier next to be brought into use has been left on the further side of the
" division."
It is also proposed to stripe in three or more colours, and to splice and stripe
simultaneously.
33
With these objects in view we provide the machine with more passing carriers
than heretofore, say, four, six, or eight; and we may dispense with the use of the
ordinary "cotton thread carriers to give additional room for the passing thread
carriers. The thread carrier bars we mount one above the other in different
vertical planes and support them in stepped guides. At the back of these bars are.
fitted forked pieces to receive a driving finger, which is so connected to the slur
box that it will admit of engaging with either of the forks of the carrier bars and
imparting the requisite notion thereto.
This arrangement of the thread carriers admits of their being employed in pairs,
two for each colour, the same being so disposed that there is always one thread
carrier for each color, ready to be brought into use when required at either side of
the " division,"
In order to splice and stripe simultaneously it will be requisite to provide for
driving two thread carrier bars, at the same time the length of traverse of which
will necessarily differ greatly.
In the accompanying Drawings our improvements are shewn in several views.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., shews in end elevation a portion of a "cotton " knitting machine
(suitable for making fashioned goods) with our improvements applied thereto; and
Fig. 2, Sheet II., is a sectional elevation of the same, shewing the principal
working parts of the knitting mechanis:n.
Fig. 3, Sheet III., is a partial plan view of the right hand end of the machine.
as arranged for striping with four carriers.
Fig. 4, Sheet IV., is a side view of the cams and levers for operating the chain of
tappets, which serve to automatically adjust the driving finger and control the
action of the "snap" mechanism.
Figures 5 and 6, Sheet V., shew in partial plan and sectional elevation the
snap" mechanism.
A is the frame of the machine; B, the needle bar; b, the needles; C, the sinker
bar; c, the sinkers; and D, the knocking over bits. Of these parts of the ordinary
knitting machine the sinkers only have been modified in shape; 1, 2, 3, and 4, are
the thread carriers attached to bars 1*, 2*, 3*, and 4*, mounted in stepped guides E
formed on brackets carried by the slur bar F. The increased number of carriers
moving in different planes require the needles to be placed a greater distance from
the presser than usual, the length of the "dividing sinker" neb has therefore been
increased, so as to enable the work to be held down during the formation of a new
row of loops, as shewn in Fig. 1, Sheet I. The jack sinkers bave therefore a
greater distance than usual to travel in forming the, new loops; G is the cam shaft.
The cams operating the various parts of the knitting mechanism are similar to'
those of the ordinary machine, except in respect of the amount of motion required
in consequence of the above-mentioned change in the length of the sinkers, which
change requires a corresponding change in the cut of the cams.

page_text: ⚫orked brackets extending backwards an increasing distance from the No. 1 carrier
bar to No. 4, so as to cause their forks to stand over each other in the same vertical
plane.
H. is the thread carrier driver mounted loosely on the slur bar near the right-
land-end thereof, and capable of sliding freely thereon. The vertical standard of
the driver His fitted with a slide carrying a driving finger h. The slide is capable
of receiving a vertical_motion_in_order to bring the finger into line with any-one
of the forks of the carrier bars. This motion is effected by means of a chain of
tappets, which retain it in line with the fork of that carrier which it is desired to
operate
The driver H is connected with the friction clips of the slur box F by a longi-
tudinal bar h lying parallel to the slur bar and bolted to the driver. This bar h
passes through the friction clips or boxes of the slur cock and extends towards the
other side of the machine, where an adjustable stop for arresting in one direction
the motion of the bar, and consequently of the driver H, is situate. For regulating
the movement of the driver H in the opposite direction a stop is provided at the
near side of the machine.
The thread carrier intended to be brought into use is selected by the finger h of
the driver H, for which purpose the finger h receives a vertical motion from a chain
of tappets, as will be presently explained; thus the thread carriers not selected will
remain stationary, they having no tendency to move. I is the chain of tappets for
raising and lowering the finger of the driver H, this chain is carried upon a chain
wheel I mounted upon a stud pin carried by a bracket projecting from the frame
of the machine (see Fig. 1 and the detached view Fig. 1a); 12 is a vertical sliding
har mounted in the bracket and carrying a bowle at its lower end for receiving the
lifting pressure of the tappets; 13 is a rock lever mounted on a stud pin carried by
a bracket projecting from the frame A. and pivotted at its rear end to the vertical
bar 12. The forward end of this lever 13 is formed with a wide fork (see Fig. 1a),
the prongs of which carry a round horizontal_rod for receiving a travelling link
rod 1 pendent from the slide of the driver H. A spring 1 connected with the
framing serves to hold down the bowle of the vertical bar 12 on the chain of
tappets.
The chain wheel 1' carries a ratchet wheel I, which is operated by a pawle
carried by the lever 17. This lever is reciprocated by the cam G on the cam
shaft G through the rock lever J and a connecting link J (see Fig., Sheet 1V.).
The chain it will be seen is fitted with tappets of different heights, each tappet
corresponding to one of the thread guide bars. As an intermittent rotary motion
is imparted to the tappet chain through the chain wheel 1' the finger 'will be
raised or lowered to engage with any one of the forks of the thread guide bars, as
may be determined by the requirements of the work in hand.
"
K is one of the ordinary narrowing slides, which are fitted at their outer ends
with stops K and K; the stops K₁ are set at an angle from the vertical corre-
sponding to the set of the carrier bars, and they are formed with sliding parts,
which may be moved to allow the thread carrier bars to be pulled out from the
"division when required, as will be hereafter explained. For this purpose the
right hand stop may be adjusted by sliding it down to admit of the bars 1* and 2*
being drawn over to the outside of the machine, and on the left hand side a like
sliding piece of the stop K' can be moved down, so as to allow the bars 3* and 4*
to be drawn out in a similar manner (see Fig. 13, Sheet VII.).
The stops K¹ in this arrangement are employed for the purpose of pressing in
those carrier bars that are not in use during the narrowings, so that after each nar-
rowing slide has been racked in the carrier bar forks will be kept in a vertical line as
before. The stop K² by its adjusting screw will move in the carrier driver Has
well as arrest its outward traverse to the right. The left hand traverse of the
driver is arrested by a similar screw stop K³ carried on the left hand narrowing
slide (see Fig. 8, Sheet VI.), which stands in the path of the longitudinal bar h¹.

page_text: The threads supplied to the thread carriers require as is well known to be held"
at tension when not in use lest they should accidentally curl towards the needles
and be knitted in. For this purpose the ordinary snap apparatus is employed, one
for each thread carrier bar. The rock bars of this snap apparatus are put under
the control of the chain of tappets I, in order to release the thread which has been
selected in the following manner.
The pendent operating rods L of the snap levers L' end in flat heads. L³ (see
Fig. 4, Sheet IV.), in which vertical slots are made to receive a horizontal pin
carried by the fork of a lever M. The edges of these flat heads are notched to
receive a locking bolt N which is fitted to slide on a bracket N' (see the partial
plan, Fig. 6, Sheet V.).. In this bolt a notch is cut of the width of one of the heads.
L2, and as this notch comes into coincidence with one or other of the heads, that
head will be unlocked, leaving the rod free to rise under the pull of a tension
spring, whereby the snap will be lowered and the thread that is to be next used
will be free to be drawn through this tension apparatus. The rock lever M is
reciprocated by means of a cain G on the cam shaft G, and by its reciprocation
the bead of the raised rod will be drawn down and the snap bar rocked so as to
raise the snap. The sliding bolt N will now be free to move endwise under the
action of the bell-crank lever O operated by the link rod O', which at its upper end
is pivotted to the vertical sliding bar 12 that is raised and lowered by the chain of
tappets. Thus by means of the chain of tappets the thread carrier bar is selected,
and the thread with which it is to be supplied is released from the grip of the snap
apparatus simultaneously by the action of the same tappet. This arrangement of
thread carrier bars and mode of driving them admits of the thread carriers being
distributed at pleasure on opposite sides of the "division" of needles before com-
mencing the work, according to the known requirements of the pattern. It will
now be understood that if three thread carriers are on one side of the division and
one on the other, the driver on reaching the end of its traverse may be raised or
lowered so as to pick up and carry back the fourth thread carrier, and thus odd or
single courses may be introduced into a pattern without the necessity of a
drawback."
«
The operation of striping with the mechanism above described may be carried
out in four colors in the manner following:-
The pattern being first determined on and the various sizes of bits or tappets
required being attached to the chain I in their proper order, the tappets are suc-
cessively brought into action to shift the finger h of the driver H successively into
line with the carrier bars in the order in which they are to be used, and the work
will then proceed as desired. We will now give an example of the mode of striping
in four colors. For this purpose the thread carriers require to be arranged at
starting in the following inauner:-No. 1 thread carrier supplied, say with a red'
thread, is brought to the left hand side of the division of needles, and No. 2, say
with a green thread; No. 3, say with a thread of navy blue; and No. 4, say with
a light blue thread are all brought to the right hand side of the division of needles.
Supposing the ground color of the stocking to be navy blue the striping with the
four colored threads knitting stripes of various widths in even and in odd courses
will conveniently take this order. Commencing with navy blue we knit say
twelve courses with No. 3 carrier bar. In even courses the carriers are left on the
side from which they started. The finger of the driver will be then shifted
by the chain I to No. 4 carrier bar, having light blue thread, and two courses will
be knitted; a succeeding tappet returns the finger to No. 3 for, say,
courses. Again the position of the finger is changed to No. 4 and four courses are
knitted. A tappet on the chain of less height now shifts the finger of the driver
to No. 2, and five courses are knitted with green thread. This odd number of
courses will leave the No. 2 carrier bar on the left hand side of the division, and the
finger of the driver can then be changed to take back No. 1 thread carrier having a
red thread, and two courses being. worked, the thread carrier will be left at the left
hand side of the division. No. 2 with given thread may then be taken from the
two more

page_text: left hand side of the division, and after working five courses be left on the right
hand side and soon through any desired number of changes. Any_single_course,
desired may be introduced into the pattern by making the immediately preceding
group of courses consist of an odd number.
When the striping is to be carried up the instep and a striped heel is also
_required_we make a sufficient-length-of-fabric-to-form-a "cut-up"-heel-and-then-
rack in the carriers to the desired width of instep, and continue the operation at
-the-decreased-width-till-sufficient-fabric is knitted to form the instep, and we then
carry the striping through the narrowings at the toe if required.
We may here remark that our improved arrangement of thread carrier bar
affords great facilities for splicing in plain color; mechanism as arranged for this
purpose, is shewn in Figures 7 and 8, Sheet VI., Fig. 7 being a plan view of the
right hand end of the machine, and Fig. 8 a plan view of the left hand end.
During this operation a second driver H is employed at the left hand side of the
machine, and is intended to act on carriers 3 or 4, and sometimes on both together,
according as it is adjusted to the requirements of the work. This driver is con-
nected to the slur cock in a similar manner to the right hand one by means of the
longitudinal bar h² passing through the friction clips of the slur cock. This
operation requires one of the bars to be independently driven, as during the progress
of the work two of the carriers though moving simultaneously traverse unequal
distances. For this purpose a friction clip P* is fitted to the bar 1* to carry the
fork which is acted upon by the driver P, and the driving finger p for this 1* is
carried by a bracket upon the slur cock. When spliced hose are to be knitted with
this arrangement of carriers Nos. 2 and 3 are threaded with similar sized yarn and
Nos. 1 and 4 with splicing threads.
.
Commencing with No. carrier for the leg of the hose and starting with it from
the right hand side of the division we continue to knit till the ankle is reached,
when the carrier No. 2 is left on the right hand side of the division. The carriers
are then re-adjusted for the next part of the operation in the following manner :-
Nos. 1 and 4 carriers supplied with splicing threads (which carriers have until now
remained out of action) will now come into use, No. 1 carrier at the right hand side
and No. 4 at the left, No. 1 carrier is brought up to the selvage on the right hand
side and No. 4 carrier is brought into the division of needles in the requisite
distance on the left hand side, as shewn in Figures 7 and 8, Sheet VI. The finger h
is next to be adjusted to enter the left hand fork of the bar 4* (see Fig. 8) and the
sliding finger p pulled forward to enter the fork of the friction clip P* on the
bar 1 The driver H (shewn in side and back elevation at Figs. 1, 4, Sheet VII.)
of the bar 4* is stopped by the plate F*, Fig. 8, on one traverse and on its return
traverse by the screw stop K2 carried on the narrowing slide. The carrier bar 1* is
stopped on its right hand traverse by the sliding stop K¹ and on its left traverse
by the stop Q. which it carries, striking against one of the stepped bracket guides
on which its works (see Fig. 7).
The carriers and the means for driving them being now adjusted the splicing of
the ankle at both sides of the division will proceed until that part of the knitting
is reached where the divided heel is to commence.
For this further operation another adjustment will be required. The left hand
driver H is now raised so as to enter between the forks of the two carriers' bars 3
and 4 to operate the two simultaneously. The stop R is pushed down so as to
arrest the driver H on its left traverse, and limit the traverse of the carrier 2 to
the width of the half heel, when it will move to and fro with the splicing carrier I.
The knitting may now be continued for the heel, which will be narrowed as in the
ordinary manner by the stops K¹ and K².
In Sheet VII. we have shewn the manner of adapting the above series of thread
carriers for splicing and striping. Fig. 9 is a plan of the right hand end of the
machine with the necessary changes introduced. In this example it will be seen
that the thread-carrier bars 1* and 2* are fitted with two friction clips S, carrying
forks which are intended to be operated by one of the fingers h, so that when they

page_text: are used as splicing thread layers and their traverse is limited they may be
stopped while the bar 3* or 4*, as the case may be, is allowed to complete its full
course. The driver H (see the detached view Fig. 10), is fitted with two fingers
one above the other, so as to take into the forks of the bars 1* and 3* or 2* and 4*
and drive the two simultaneously.
Supplementary thread carriers 1 and 2 are also forwarded which can be moved
along the bars 1* and 2* and secured in place by screws.
One of these carriers is
shown detached at Fig. 11.
In arranging the inachine for making striped and spliced hose (see Fig. 9,
Sheet VII.) we first thread, say Nos. 3 and 4 thread carriers, with differently
colored threads, and Nos. 1 and with splicing, threads of like color (No. 1 being
like No. 3 and No. 2 like No. 4). We. next draw down the right hand stop K',
as shewn in Fig. 12, and pull out the two thread carrier bars 1* and 2* so that the
forks of their friction boxes will be out of reach of the upper driving finger, as
shewn in Fig. 9, and having adjusted the driving finger h of the driver H to the
fork of the carrier bar which is furnished with the ground color, say No. 3, the
driver will alternate between the forks of the two carrier bars 3* and 4* by means
of the chain of tappets, while the leg is being knitted and also through the
narrowings, the carriers being carried in by the inclined stops on the narrowing
slides. When the ankle is reached and the splicing is to commence we first bring
in and secure the two supplementary splicing carriers 1ª and 2 on the bars 1*
and 2*, pushing the bars into their proper positions by hand. The right hand
stop K is then pulled up so as to arrest the outward traverse of the two splicing
bars, their left hand traverse being arrested by stops similar to the stop Q, of
Fig. 7, Sheet VI. The carrier bars No. and 4 will now continue to traverse in
their turn the full width of the work, the carriers and 2 with their splicing
threads accompanying their fellow carriers of the same .color, but being stopped
as described will lay the splicing threads the desired width in the work.
This striping and splicing may be continued until the required length of fibre is
knitted.
It will be obvious that the thread carrier bars instead of being driven in pairs
by one driver may be actuated by independent drivers, but we prefer the arrange-
ment shewn in Sheet VII.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in Knitting
Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim,-
First. In combination with the "cotton" friction clip or box an automatically
adjustable driving finger or propeller for selecting and actuating the thread carrier
bars of fashioning machines, as and for the purpose above set forth.
Secondly. The means above described for striping and splicing simultaneously.
In witness whereof, we, the said John William Lamb and Samuel Lowe,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Thirtieth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.