Improvements in Knitted Fabrics suitable for Mattresses, Cushions, and similar Articles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Dec., 1896-Accepted 3rd July, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Knitted Fabrics suitable for Mattresses, Cushions,
and similar Articles.
I GEORGE FREDERICK SUMNER of Canton in the County of Norfolk, State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature
of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide a new and useful fabric for mattresses,
cushions and similar articles; I accomplish this object by taking thick slivers of
cotton, as they come from the carding machine, and have but little, or no twist in
them, (what twist there is, being that given by the rotation of the cans, if they are
deposited in cans) and then winding around each of these slivers a piece of thread to
hold the fibers in place, so that each sliver becomes a soft rope of cotton, ordinarily
about an inch in diameter.
These slivers are taken to a knitting machine adapted to make my new fabric; in
this machine the slivers are carried back and forth in double parallel lines, and while
this is being done, needles carrying thread, knit loops firmly around the slivers,
binding them together, thus forming a new and useful fabric differing essentially
from any other of which I am aware.
In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view taken at right angles to the slivers
of the fabric; this view also shows a small part of the machine for making the
fabric; in Figure 2 a selvedge edge of the fabric is shown, for the purpose of indicating
the arrangement of the slivers and the loop stitch method of uniting these slivers
by the inter-knit binding threads.
In Figure 1 of the drawing, the fabric is shown with the slivers formally laid and
bound together by the inter-knit threads. The series of slivers A A arranged in a
regular manner, side by side with the slivers B B and the complication of the inter-
knit binding thread are shown in a regular arrangement.
Figure 2 gives the appearance of the selvedge edge of the fabric; in this view the
fabric appears more as it does in fact, the rigid regularity of formation being
modified.
The fabric is shown in Figure 1 as it theoretically would be in the machine; but in
Figure 2 I have represented it as it really appears, owing to the strain of the knitted
threads, the threads acting co-jointly to draw the layers in such a manner as to force
them to assume wedge shapes and to inter-wedge with each other, so as to impart a
firmness to the fabric that it would not otherwise possess.
It is obvious that fibers other than cotton may be used, such as jute, wool, etc.
These fibers may be substituted for cotton, but in practice, I have found that cotton
was the best, cheapest, and most satisfactory.
The operation of forming my fabric in a double ribbed knitting loom is as follows:
The binding threads are placed in the usual way for starting to knit, then the knitting
operation is started, and when a good starting tie is formed the filling layers are
placed by the carriers in the chute and in working connection with the binding
threads. Then all of the working parts, namely, the two sets of needles, the guide

page_text: bar and the two filling layers, and carriers, are set in proper relation to each other
and to the filling and binding threads, that is, they are so set that when the machine
begins to move all parts will co-operate in their normal manner, when the working
of the machine will be as follows: One set of needles (the rear set for instance)
being down, the carrier on that side will lay over the loops of the thread a layer of
filling. Now the guides will draw over the threads from the. opposite side (the
needles of which are now drawing the loops of thread down to bind that layer) and
the rear needles will come up so as to receive the loops of thread from the guides as
they bring it over from the front. Now the front needles being down, the front
carriers will bring along a layer of filling and place it on the front. When this has
been done the thread guides will draw the loops from the rear over to the front and
hook them on to the front needles which are now up to receive the said loops.
Again the front needles descend and take the loops with them, and again all of the
motions are repeated. This can go on until a sufficient body of the fabric is made.
Then the ends of the threads are joined and the article is complete.
It is to be understood that the thread guides do not carry the loops to the same
series of needles at each passage but alternate the loops in such a manner as to form
the proper knitting stitch.
The selvage edge as shown in Fig. 2, is formed by the needles and guides which
take the threads forth and back at the ends of the machine, (that is at the edges of
the fabric, there being no filling, the layers having been carried back by the carriers,
a regular knitting stitche is formed as shown, these knitting stitche form a selvage
in the same manner that the selvage of an ordinary knitting selvage is formed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare what I
claim is
An improved fabric, particularly adapted to be used for mattresses and cushions,
made of two, or more slivers, or ropes, of fibers having a little or no twist in them,
laid in alternating, parallel lines, and secured together by inter-knit or binding
thread or threads so that these slivers are fastened and held in position in a soft,
yielding state, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 22nd day of December 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.