Improvements in Circular Knitting Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Feb., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 30th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 2nd Jan., 1897
Improvements in Circular Knitting Machines.
I, WILLIAM HURST PAYNE of the Firm of D. Payne & Son, 50 Bond Street,
Hinckley in the County of Leicester, Hosiery Manufacturer do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to knitting machines of the circular reversible
type namely those machines in which a continuous rotary motion produces the leg
and foot and a reciprocating motion produces the heel and toe of a stocking
or sock.
The object of the invention is to provide mechanism therefor by which a plated
or double faced fabric may be produced on the said machine.
In the production of plated or double faced fabrics two threads are employed
of different qualities or colours one of which is knitted so as to appear on the face
and the other on the back of the fabric produced.
The present invention is designed to effect this result and comprises, in addition
to the usual bobbin stand and main thread supplied therefrom, a second bobbin
stand revolving with the machine and carrying a supplementary thread of different
quality or colour from the main thread and intended to form the back of the
fabric.
This supplementary or plating thread revolving with the machine avoids
contact or mixing with the main thread and is passed through or over a suitable
number of guides, eyes, arms or equivalent at different heights or otherwise
suitably arranged so as to lead the said thread to the needles in such a position
that the main and supplementary threads are laid under the hooks of the needles,
the one immediately behind the other, in which position they are knitted into and
form the two sides of the fabric.
The said guides are formed preferably at the back of or behind the usual thread
guide and one or more of them may be suitably spring controlled so as to impart
any required tension to the auxiliary thread, which is led on to the needles at a
point in close proximity to that at which the main thread is fed thereto.
Dated this 28th day of February 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvement
1, WILLIAM HURST PAYNE of the Firm of D. Payne & Son, 50, Bond Street,
Hinckley in the County of Leicester, Hosiery Manufacturer do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to knitting machiues of the circular reversible

page_text: type namely those machines in which a continuous rotary motion produces the leg
and foot and a reciprocating motion produces the heel and toe of a stocking
or sock.
The object of the invention is to provide improved mechani-m therefor, as
hereinafter described, by which a plated or double faced fabric may be produce.l
on the said machine.
In the production of plated or double faced fabrics two threads are employed of
different qualities or colours one of which is knitted so as to appear on the face
and the other on the back of the fabric produced.
For this purpose the two threads are laid under the hooks of the needles, one
immediately behind the other, so that as the stitches are formed one thread is
knocked over and appears on the face of the fabric and the other at the back of
same.
The invention is shown as applied to a circular kuitting machine known as
The Branson," and will be understood from the following further description
having reference to the accompanying drawings in which,
Figure is a plan and Figure 2 a side elevation of so much of the knitting
machine hercinbefore referred to, provided with my improvements, as is necessary
to illustrate the invention.
Figure 3 is an exterior view of the thread carrier Figure 5 is a view of the
opposite side of same and Figure 4 is a section thereof.
Figure 6 is an elevation of part of the knitting machine and Figure 7 an
elevation and Figure 8 a plan of the thread guide detached and the devices for
controlling the plating thread during the knitting of heels and toes.
Only so much of the kuitting machine will be hereinafter described as is
considered requisite to a clear comprehension of the invention.
Like letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the figures of the
drawings.
A represents the usual com shell or cam cylinder which revolves continuously
around the needle cylinder and actuates the needles therein to produce tubular r
leg fabric and reciprocates about the said cylinder to produce fashioned or heel
and toe fabrics.
Attached to cam cylinder by screws B' is an angular bracket B Fig. 2 the upper
horizontal part 2 of which has a vertical thread guide rod C secured therein,
and finished at its upper end with two loops or eyes C'C2.
The said rod C also passes through a lateral horizontal arm D which is tightly
fixed on the top of the bracket by the nut D'.
The said lateral arm D is provided near its opposite end with an upright
spindle E over which is passed the bobbin F carrying the supplementary or
plating thread F
The said parts hereinbefore referred to being connected to the bracket B
revolve, as will be understood, with the cam cylinder A and thus prevents the
supplementary thread twisting round and getting mixed with the ordinary
knitting thread ( which is a stationary one, proceeding from a bobbin (not shown
in the drawings) on any fixed part of the machine.
represents the usual thread guide, hinged at to the bracket the latter
being attached by a screw A' Fig. 2 to the cam cylinder A. On the back of the
thread guide II is arranged a series of auxiliary thread eyes K K K 2 (more or
fewer in number than shown) hrazed or otherwise connected thereto and arranged
at different heights or elevations so as to impart, an amount of drag or tension to
the supplementary thread to keep it constantly tant.
At the rear of the said thread guide H and between the folded over part II 2,
is a small horizontal tube 1. shown clearest in Fig. 4 and at the bottom of the said
thread guide is also a projecting pin M (or an eye) under which the supplementary
thread passes just immediately prior to being taken by the needles N.
The plating thread F is shown in full line and as will be noticed its course to
the needles is as follows:-After leaving the bobbin Fit goes upwards through

page_text: the eye Cacross to the eye C2 thence downwards to the three eyes K K K 2 of
different heights along the horizontal tube L thence downwards vertically and
under the pin M to the needles N.
By leading the plating thread to the needles in the tortuous or irregular course
or direction illustrated and described it ensures the said thread F being kept
sufficiently taut, otherwise if the tension be taken off the thread the latter would
become loose in work and a number of needles would fail to engage the said thread
when descending to form their loops and the ordinary thread alone knitted into
the fabric by such needles and thus bad work would be the result.
The ordinary knitting thread is shown in broken line and passes from a stationary
bobbin (not shown in the drawings) through the usual eyes in the thread guide to
the needles, the two threads one immediately behind the other, that is, the plating
thread immediately behind the main knitting thread.
The hereinbefore described means and the course through which the plating thread
is led to the needles are specially applicable during a continuous rotary motion of
the machine in the production of a continuous length of seamless tubular fabric,
but in the knitting of fashioned fabrics such as heels and toes in which a
reciprocating motion of the thread guide takes place, it is essential that means be
employed to take up the slack thread i.e. to gather up the loose length of thread
at the moment the thread guide commences to return at the end of each reciprocal
movement, otherwise long slack loops would be formed down the selvedge of such
fashioned fabric which is objectionable.
The particular means comprised in the present invention for taking up the slack
of the plating thread at the monient named are shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8.
At the back of the thread guide H a plate O is brazed or otherwise secured
thereto and on its exterior there is connected by a screw O' a vertical plate O 2 to
which a supplementary or rocking thread guide P is pivotted at P. This
supplenientary guide P has a thread eye P 2 in one end through which the plating
thread F passes on its way to the needles as hereinafter described.
To the vertical rod C Fig. 6 there may be soldered or otherwise attached, au
arm R whose upper end has a socket R' formed therewith in which the end of a
small horizontal pin R 2 is fixed by a set screw R 3.
Around the said pin is a coiled spring S kept in position thereon by the set
screw S.
The end of this spring has a straight extension or arm S3 the end of which is
in the form of a hook.
This spring controls the movement of the rocking thread guide.
The plating thread F' according to this part of the invention passes through the
eyes CC2 downward under a staple or eye O 3 Fig. 8 on the plate O under one
end of the rocking guide P through the eye P 2 in the opposite end of the latter,
over the hooked end of the spring arm S 3 through a hole H3 in the thread
guide H thence downwards through a staple or eye H4 at the back of the
guide H when it is immediately close to the hooks of the needles and is takeu
thereby to be formed into loops.
During the time the needles are forming loops the plating thread F¹ being in
tension, the hooked arm S3 is drawn downwards thereby and the rocking thread
guide P is moved into the nearly horizontal position shown in Fig. 6.
The plating thread passing under the end of the said guide elevates it into the
position shown and thereby allows the thread to feed freely to the needles.
At the moment of the reversal of the motion of the usual thread guide H during
reciprocal heel and toe knitting, the plating thread F' slackens, so that the spring
hook S 3, from which the tension is now taken, rises and becomes elevated and
takes up the slack thread and thus prevents a slack loop being made on the
selvedge of the fabric.
The said spring arm simultaneously raises that end of the rocking guide P nearest
to it, the effect of which is to depress the opposite end of the said guide so that it
traps the thread against the plate O, and holds it in that position until the needles

page_text: again commence to kuit when the plating thread being thereby drawn tightly,
pulls down the hooked arm and allows the rocking thread guide to assume the
nearly horizontal position and release the thread ne hereinbefore mentioned so
that it can feed freely to the needles.
T is an arm affixed to the arm R and is used as a stop to prevent the spring
arm S3 turning right over or making a nearly complete revolution when the
thread is removed from the hook.
The ordinary knitting thread G passes through the holes shown in the thread
guide to the needles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A circular knitting machine of the character specified and provided, in addition
to the ordinary knitting thread, with an auxiliary or plating thread revolving with
the machine and passing through a series of thread eyes such as C1 C2 K K K 2 L
and M arranged at different heights before being delivered to the needles to
produce a double faced fabric substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
2. A circular knitting machine of the character specified provided, in addition
to the ordinary knitting thread, with an auxiliary or plating thread revolving with
the machine and passing to the needles through a series of thread eyes, some of
which, such as CC2, are elevated above the plating thread bobbin F, others of
the said eyes K K K 2 L being located at different heights behind the usual
thrend guide substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
3. In a circular knitting machine of the character specified a thread guide H
provided at its rear with a series of thread eyes K K K L arranged at different
levels, so that an auxiliary or plating thread revolving with the machine and
passing through the said eyes to the needles may be kept taut during the process
of knitting substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. In a circular knitting machine of the character specified the combination with
the thread guide il of a supplementary thread guide such as Pand spring controlled
arm such as S 3 substantially ns and for the purpose described.
5. In a circular knitting machine of the character specified the combination with
the usual thread guide II of the improved means for leading a plating thread to
the needles and controlling the said thread, constructed, arranged and operating
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
6. The improved mechanism for plating knitted fabrics consisting of the parts
constructed, arranged and operating substantially in the manner described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 26th day of November 1806
WM. HURST PAYNE.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.