Iм- PROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO KNITTING MACHINES."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alphonse Ségard, of Arvilliers, in the Department
of the Somme, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO KNITTING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alphonse. Ségard at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd June 1870.
I, ALPHONSE SÉGARD, of Arvilliers, in the Department of the Somme,
in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO KNITTING MACHINES," to
be as follows:-
:-
The ordinary machine for producing ribbed hosiery has for its object
the formation of a double stitch, one on each side of the web, but not
opposite to each other. This effect is ordinarily produced by means
of either a circular or a square frame, but in the former case the web
forms a tube, out of which pieces of the required form are cut, but
having no list, and in the second case with the kind of needles ordinarily
used production is much limited by the complication of the mechanism.

page_text: Now the present Invention consists in adapting for use in square
frames of the old construction a needle, a portion of which moves on a
centre, and which was formerly in use only in circular frames and
combining suitable mechanism therewith, thereby admitting of the
manufacture in a continuous manner of all kinds of ribbed web of
whatever form and with lists. The moving portion of the needle is
adapted to turn on its pivot so as to be brought down in front of the
hook, and to be raised therefrom as required. The needles are suc-
cessively worked in a guiding comb by a projecting piece on the needle
plate working in a sinuous groove between two plates fixed underneath
a carriage, which is caused to traverse the machine to and fro, by a
projecting piece on its upper part working in a right and left-handed
screw. There are a front and a back carriage fixed in suitable relation
to each other and worked by their respective screws, so that the ranges
of needles carried by their respective combs may be worked as required.
Also the movement of the screws and the sinuous grooves must be
relatively adjusted for the same purpose. As either carriage moves on
its screw in one direction it acts upon one of a pair of balanced levers
mounted on the thread guide, which is liberated as required by coming
in contact with a fixed incline, the other balanced lever being corre-
spondingly acted upon by the carriage in its reverse motion, and by this
means the thread guide is worked as required. Each guide carries a
thread proceeding from a bobbin, the front guide corresponds with the
needles of the back carriage and vice versa, its balanced levers are a
little longer than those of the hinder guide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alphonse Ségard in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALPHONSE
SÉGARD, of Arvilliers, in the Department of the Somme, in the Empire 3
of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: 66
grant unto me, the said Alphonse Ségard, Her special licence that I,
the said Alphonse Ségard, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alphonse Ségard, my 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 AND
APPLICABLE TO KNITTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alphonse Ségard, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alphonse Ségard, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in and applicable to Knitting
Machines," consists in the adaptation and application to such machines
of the mechanism herein-after described.
The ordinary machine for producing ribbed hosiery has for its object
the formation of a double stitch, one on each side of the web, but not
opposite to each other. This effect is ordinarily produced by means of
either a circular or a square frame, but in the former case the web
forms a tube out of which pieces of the required form are cut, but
having no list, and in the second case with the kind of needles ordinarily
used, production is much limited by the complication of the mechanism.
Now my Invention consists in adapting for use in square frames of
the old construction a needle a portion of which moves on a centre and
which was formerly in use only in circular frames, and combining
suitable mechanism therewith, thereby admitting of the manufacture
in a continuous manner of all kinds of ribbed work of whatever form
and with lists. The moving portion of the needle is adapted to turn

page_text: traversing freely in a groove formed by the two guides I, I'; D', E¹, are
studs which successively gear with each of the two threads of the
screws B, C. The bottom of the stud is furnished with a tenon
traversing its slide so as to turn on itself in following the curves of the
thread, whereby the slide may go to and fro the whole length of the
frame without injurious friction. F, F, are plates, to which are fixed
the stems of the needles with swinging pieces; F³, F³, are the heels of
the plates F, F. These heels are acted upon by sinuous plates I³, I³,
fixed under the slides in order to carry the needles backward for the
formation of the stitch; G is the main driving shaft, which is bent as
shewn in Fig. 1, so as to admit of the frame being worked by hand;
H, H', are two flat plates cut into the form of combs, the spaces of
which receive the plates F, F¹, and serve as guides for the latter; I, I',
are parallel guides fixed apart to the frame and forming a carriage;
grooves are formed in them to receive and allow to slide the levers of
the slides D, E, in order to preserve the alternating rectilinear move-
ment of the latter; J, J¹, J, J³, J', are toothed gearing for transmitting
motion from the shaft G to the screws B, C; K is a wheel fixed at the
end of the shaft G for working the mechanism for diminishing the breadth
of the web; K¹ is a wheel driven by K, and mounted on the main shaft
of such mechanism. In order to put these two wheels into gear as
required either the shaft G must be slidden back or other suitable means
may be employed which might be worked by a counter, especially if the
frame were worked by mechanical power; L, M, are springs fixed at one
end to flat plates fixed to the guides I, I', and at the other end to the
ends of the plates F, F¹, in order to carry these plates to the front of
the frame when the stitch is made; N, O, guides for the threads A¹, A²,
coming from the bobbins and converging towards the needles; P is a
support for the hinges of the bars n, n¹; Q are springs for driving or
returning the balance levers a, a², a¹, a³; R, R³, R², are bars supporting
the thread guides N, O; S is a manufactured web being rolled on to the
roller T, which is a cylinder or drum mounted in the frame and turned
by a weight as the web is manufactured, and controlled by a ratchet
wheel and pall; U are brackets fixed to the frame to support the
bars R, R', R'; V, V¹, are heels at the back of the plates F, F¹. These
heels are intended to draw back the needles by means of the rods t, t¹;
✗, the standards of the machine tied together by stretchers X¹; Y, Y¹,
are catches for the racks f, f¹; a, a², a¹, a³, are balance levers formed of
two levers connected together. The levers a, a¹, turn on fixed pivots a*,

page_text: when the cams c, c', act on the links b³, 65. The lever a is capable of
sliding on a², for the screws which connect them are fixed in the latter
and pass through slots in the lever a; the latter can also be raised
when the excentric 6 urges the link b³, so that these two levers oscillato
at the same time, although they slide one upon the other. The opposite
balance lever a¹, a³, must be arranged in the same manner; b, b¹, are
excentrics fixed on the shaft o, and acting on the links b², b', fitted at
the bottom of the levers a, a¹, in order to raise them; c, c³, are excentrics
on the same shaft to act on the links 6, 6, at the bottom of the
levers a², as; d, d¹, are bodkins driven with an alternating intermittent
rectilinear motion by means of the racks f, f, to take the stitches on the
rows of needles d, d³. These bodkins are furnished with needles placed
in two rows, one above the other, so that the lower needles d' may
range with the spaces left between the upper needles d; d³, d³, are the
stems of the needles fixed repectively to the plates f. f¹,; e is a bar fixed
at one end to the lever ', and at the other end to a joint e' connected to
the top of the lever a¹. This joint has a support e² fixed to the lever a³,
which support serves for a pivot; f,f¹, f, f³, f, fs, are bars cut into
racks in two places, but with one set of teeth on the top and bottom,
and the other on the side; g is a crank on the shaft o and jointed to the
rod h, which is also jointed to the rod k; is a lever jointed with the
bar e, and carrying the catches Y, Y', it vibrates on a centre h² fixed on
the cross bar j; i is a presser fitted to the stem t to depress the heel of
the plate F at the time of diminishing, and to facilitate the placing of
the cleat x on this heel in order to keep the needle back for the change;
j,j, j, is a carriage connecting each pair of balance levers a, a³, a¹,
¹, grooves in the carriage; to serve as guides for the racks f, f¹; k is a
guide bar jointed with the rod h, and guided by collars k¹ fixed to the
frame; 1,, are mortises in the guide bar k to guide the rods n, n³,
while leaving them free to vibrate; m, m³, are the teeth of the racks f,f¹;
n, n', rods hinged on the cross bar P, the vibrations of which rods are
intended to give motion to the catches Y, Y¹, in order to work the
racks f, f; o is the main shaft of the mechanism for diminishing the
breadth of the web; p, p', are cams on the shaft o to act respectively
on the links p², p³, of the rods q, q', which force back the heels v, v', at
the time when the bodkins d, d¹, come in gear with the needles to effect
the dimishing; 9 is a rod carrying the link p, it slides in a guide »,
and its upper end is furnished with two spindles, between which the
forked ends of the rod 8 enter; q' is a rod carrying the link p³, and
a³ ;

page_text: f3
sliding in the guides like q. At its end is pierced a hole allowing the
rod s¹ to pass freely; 8 is a forked rod united with the guide bar u and 8¹
with the bar u¹; t is the rod of the collar enclosing the guide bar u,
and terminating in the presser i; t¹ is a rod on the collar of the bar u¹,
its top is intended to act on the heel V₁; u, u¹, are guide bars turning
on pivots fixed in the frame, they are enclosed by a collar which slides
so as to take up again the plates as the diminishing goes on; V are the
plates fixed to the frame, and which support the pivots of the balance
levers a, a², a¹, a³; v¹, v³, are blades to which the springs L, M, are
fixed; x, x¹, are cleats fixed to the racks f², fƒ³, f*, ƒ³, to keep back the
heels V, VI, after the diminishing; a is an arrangement of two thin bars
kept apart by two brackets, and leaving between them a space for the
free passage of the thread A², which is thereby kept in position; x³ is
a support for the thin bars ³, as well as the pressers y³ of the blades y, y¹,
which are fitted to the thread guides N, O, in order to guide the passage
of the latter in the two directions; z is a blade for preventing the
closing again of the swinging pieces of the horizontal needles when they
return after having formed their stitch; ', support of z, it is fixed to the
slide; D is a spur fixed on the support ¹ to facilitate the forming of the
stitch at the time when the vertical needle has descended.
Formation of the Simple Stitch.-A piece of manufactured web A³ is
rolled on the drum T to serve as a foundation. In each of the meshes
of the foundation is passed one of the horizontal needles d³, then into
the hook 8 terminating the needle is passed, the thread A' coming from
the guide N, and the swinging piece 10 is turned over to the back.
When the needle retires by the effect of the sinuous plates I², the stitch
which is at the back of the swinging piece 10 raises this last, which in
returning to the front gives to this stitch the means of release out of the
hook 8, whilst the thread of the bobbin remains held in the hook. When
the needle returns, the thread that remained in the hook turns over the
swinging piece to the back, but by the traverse of the guide N the
thread of the bobbin is again taken in the hook. At length when
the needle retires it causes a new stitch to be formed as aforesaid.
The foregoing description will have shewn that the course of the slide
in one direction and the other uninterruptedly is produced by the
rotation of the double-threaded screw, in which gears a stud, the stem of
which passes into the slide. Then the continued action of the machine

page_text: in such conditions will produce a succession of stitches in a constant
breadth determined by the length of the row of needles.
The return of the guides as soon as they have arrived at each end of
the breadth of the web is effected in the following manner :-The slide
always finishes its course equal to the length of the spiral of the screw;
in returning the presser y² situated at the top of the rod as acts upon the
heel of the blade y of the guide N, and withdraws the heel of the blade y¹
from the guide O. Having reached the end of its course towards the
fly wheel, the blade y is brought against an end presser situated between
the bars R, R³, the stopping of this piece forces the presser y³ to pass
over the blade y, which is then depressed and allows the presser y³ to
finish its course. The same effect but reversed is produced on the blade
of the guide O. For this mechanism effecting the change in the course
of the guides of the threads proceeding from the bobbins may be
substituted that represented in Fig. 8, and which is arranged as
follows: In front of the screw C are fitted two parallel guide bars 1
connected together with a space between them, and on cach of which
slides freely by means of collars 2 the guide pierced with a hole at the
bottom for the passage of the bobbin thread; also inclined plane
pressers 3, 4, are fixed towards the ends of the bars 1 at a distance apart
adjustable according to the breadth of the web. At the top of the guide
rises a rod 7 carrying a pivot common to the two balance levers 5, 6,
placed as shewn. In front of the slide is fixed a rod x³, which is bent
so as to be in the same plane with the balance levers. By this arrange-
ment when the slide E for example advances in one direction, the rod ³
acts on the end of one of the balance levers, but when the latter meets
the inclined plane 3, its end resting against the rod x is lowered, which
allows the rod to continue its course. When the slide is at the end of its
course the balance lever first acted upon is inclined in an opposite
direction by the weight of its longer arm, and the other lever then
presents one of its ends to the action of the rod a³ to force the guide in
in an opposite direction. Each guide carries a thread coming from a
bobbin, that of the front corresponds to the needles of the back carriage,
and vice versa, the balance levers of the first are a little longer than
those of the second. The guides which travel on the guide bars 1 are 3
not placed exactly one behind the other, the retarding of one in relation
to the other ought to correspond with the time required by the return
of the needles.

page_text: Formation of the Double Side.-In order to form a double side there
must be two sets of needles, one horizontal the other vertical, and
working separately with a certain interval of time between one and the
other, beginning however with the horizontal. When the horizontal
needle d³ forms its stitch, the vertical one d is at rest; the thread of
the needle d³ passes above the needle d² to go and lay hold of the hook 8
of the following needle d³; the vertical needle placed between two
horizontal needles becomes then charged with its stitch, mostly from the
thread which has served to form the two stitches of the horizontal needles.
Having reached a given point the vertical needle forms its stitch by the
same means as the horizontal needle; in its turn this latter becomes
charged from the thread which has formed the stitch of the vertical
needle, and so on to the end of the breadth of the web. For the double
stitch it is to be observed that the hinder comb ought to carry one
needle more than the front one, otherwise a list would carry a stitch on
one side, whilst the opposite list would carry its stitch to the back
of the web.
Formation of the Simple Side.-For this manufacture the thread A³
and its guide O are dispensed with. The horizontal and vertical needles
are required to form their respective stitches immediately one after the
other. In order to make the simple even stitch, the front carriage would
be dispensed with and only the back carriage worked.
Diminishing the Breadth of Web.-In order to effect the diminishing
the frame must stop working. For this purpose the shaft G is pushed
back towards the fly wheel, so as to put the wheel J* out of gear
with the wheel J³, whereby the wheel K is brought into gear with
the wheel K¹ to set in motion the shaft o. As soon as the shaft o
is in motion the cam c causes the balance levers a, a², and a', a³, to
vibrate in order to lower the bodkins d, d¹, towards the needles. As
soon as the needles of the bodkins are inserted in the eyes of the needles
d2, ds, to take the stitches of the latter, the cam P¹ withdraws the hori-
zontal needles whilst the cam p brings down the vertical needles. By
the complete revolution of the cam c the bodkins continue to advance in
the eyes of the needles to pass under the stitches and take away these
stitches by the effect of the cam b which raises the lever a. When the
bodkins are charged with stitches, the spring p' pushing back the rod q'
puts the horizontal needles further back to free them entirely from their
stitches. The cam p in raising the rod 7 lowers the presser i, which

page_text: depresses the vertical needles in order to free them also from their
stitches. The raising of the lever a has determined the pivotting of the
link e¹ to draw the rod e, which causes the lever ¹ to act; then the
palls Y and Y¹ at the same time act on the rods of the racks f, f¹, in two
opposite directions, and the bodkins d, d', which they carry come in
front of the near needles to convey on to these needles the stitches
which they had taken up.
In order to prevent a second stitch from being formed on the dis-
engaged needles, the plates F, F, should be kept backward. To attain
this end, a crank g draws back the guide bar k, which causes the vibration
of the rods n, n³, to which are connected bars r, r¹, like e accompanied
with its action of racks, but with this difference, that instead of tho
latter carrying bodkins d, d', they carry cleats x, x¹, resting against the
heels V, V. After a turn of the shaft o, the bodkins resume their
former position to recommence the same work after a given number of
turns of the shaft G, and they are kept in this position by springs Q.
When the diminution is effected, the shaft G is returned to its normal
position to continue the manufacture of the web.
In order to regulate the number of turns of the shaft G to effect each
change in the process of manufacture, whether of constant breadth or
diminishing or increasing, a counter may be suitably combined with the
apparatus for each case.
Increasing the Breadth of the Web.-To effect the increasing instead
of the diminishing, it would suffice to fix the bodkins d, d, on the bar f
at the same distance, for then instead of approaching cach ather they
would separate.
As my Invention depends on the application of the needle with a
swinging piece to the continuous square frame, and that one of its main
distinctive features consists in prolonging the sloping off in which lies
the swinging piece turned over to the back, I have represented at Fig. 7
a needle stem double size in order the better to show the details of its
form. The stem terminates in front in a hook 8, and a little backward
there is a pin 9 on which pivots the swinging piece 10, which can thus
fall in front on the hook 8 and behind.
Usually to plant the swinging piece returned behind, and to let only
its point project, the plate of the stem is sloped off for a distance less
than the length of the swinging piece which forms a part of the cye of

page_text: the needle; but under my Invention, the sloping off is carried to a dis-
tance at 11 nearly double the length of the swinging piece; this simple
change is intended to afford to the needles of bodkins facility in becoming
planted with a view of allowing the needle to take its stitch without
the liability to let it slip, which is indispensable to obtain a continuous
working without intermissions. By adding or dispensing with so many
thread guides N, O, as would be necessary on each bar 1 or R, R', but
of the same number on each, all required varieties of form of web or
stitch may be obtained. A variation of web or stitch may also be
obtained by changing the position of the rows of needles.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I
claim as of my Invention is,―
First. The combination of mechanism as represented and described
for working on a square frame the needle with a swinging piece formerly
in use only in circular frames, and necessarily producing a web in the
form of a tube.
And, secondly. The elongation of the cyc or sloping away of the
needle at the back of the swinging piece in order to avoid the escaping
of the stitch and the consequent frequent stoppage of the frame, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonse Ségard, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.