Improvements in or relating to Knitting Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Knitting Machines.
I, WILHELM BACH of 7 Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse Apolda, in the Empire of
Germany, 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:-
The object of the present invention is a knitting machine for pearl-work or plain
knitting, with double-ended tumbler-needles; the machine being provided with
drivers and hooked balance-needles carried on them, which are used for the
movement of the double-ended tumbler-needles, the drivers when moved by the
lock pushing the hooked balance-needles until the latter bear against the needle-
bars, the drivers operating and determining the position of the double-ended
tumbler-needles, the hooked balance needles being on the contrary operated by
needle-lowerere and withdrawing the double-ended tumbler-needles. The drivers.
thus cause the movement of the double-ended tumbler needles by being pushed
forward by the needle-raiser or by the middle triangles, the hooked balance-
needles on the other hand draw the double-ended tumbler needles back to their
original position for completing the loops taken up. In order to attain correct
working of the drivers, the parts of the locks of the front and rear bed are arranged
uniformly opposite each other, the point of the needle-raiser on that part of the
bed-plate which draws the needles towards itself being however arranged a little in
front of the point of the needle-raiser on the other side of the bed-plate, in
consequence of which the drivers on the rear-side of the bed come into operation
later, thus also influencing the later position of the double-ended tumbler-needles.
and causing them to move in such manner, that the point of the middle triangle on
the rear-side causes the double-ended tumbler needles to come under the bar lifting
the hooked balance-needles, while on the opposite, front-side of the bed one tumbler.
of the double-ended tumbler-needle is moved so that, when the hooked balance-
needles are uniformly and simultaneously withdrawn by the needle-lowerers on the
reur-side, the hooked needle cannot seize the tumblers of the double-ended tumbler-.
ncedles, whereas on the front-side of the bed-plate the hooked balance-needles..
seize the open tumbler-heads of the double-ended tumbler-needles and thus draw the
tumbler-needles back. Such a knitting machine may be combined with a Jacquard.
mechanism of well-known construction.
The special construction of the knitting machine is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the needle-bede with the covering plate taken off, the
triangles constituting the lock being however shown this view being a section on.
line A-B of Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a section on line C-D of Fig. 1, in which the drivers are shown
uniformly started by the middle triangles or needle-lifters. The double-ended
tumbler-needles lying in the needle-grooves of the front-bed.
Fig. 3 is a section on the line E-F of Fig. 1 through the needle-beds, the.
needles being shown in such position that the drivers on the rear-bed are moved to
their foremost position by the middle triangle point, the double-ended tumbler-
needles being thus, pushed back again to their furthest backward position on the
front-bed.
Fig. 4 is a section on the line G-H (Fig. 1) through the needle-bed, the!

page_text: position of the parts being that the rear middle-triangle point of the front bed has
pushed the drivers of said front bed and consequently the double-ended tumbler-
needles into their foremost position on the rear-bed.
Fig. 5 is a section through the needle-beds on line J-K of Fig. 1, the hooked
balance-needles being drawn back by the needle-lowerers and therefore also the
double-ended tumbler-needles are drawn over to the rear-bed.
Fig. 6 shows a hooked balance-needle on an enlarged scale.
Figure 7 shows one side of the needle bed of the knitting machine in combination
with a well known Jacquard roller mechanism.
Figure 8 is a cross section of Figure 7 on the line L-M.
Figure 9 is a cross section through the so-called Jacquard-eccentric or cam on
the line N-O (Fig. 7).
Figure 10 shows the edge of the Jacquard-mechanism in operative position when
the drivers which had been pushed forward are to be withdrawn.
Figure 11 shows a knitting machine with a needle raiser movable in the direction
of the needles and having a movable point, the dotted lines showing the
position of the needle raisers when the slide is moved in the direction of the
arrow.
The arrangement of the knitting machine with double-ended tumbler needles
is as follows:-
The double ended tumbler needles a are pushed forward by drivers b on which
are arranged the hooked balance needles c. These balance needles are caused to
move forward in consequence of their tail ends e resting against the projection 69
of the drivers. The hook c' of each balance needle is adapted to engage with the
hooks a a² of the tumbler-needles. The double ended tumbler-needles are pushed
by the front end b¹ of the drivers. The hooked balance needles c and the drivers b
are arranged in needle grooves d behind the tumbler needles and are covered by
needle bars e.
:
At the beginning of a course the tumbler needles are on one or other side of the
machine and when the movement of the slide takes place say from the left
to the right-hand side they lie on the front bed and are pushed towards the
rear-bed.
The movement of the drivers and of the auxiliary needles is produced by the
lock as illustrated in Fig. 1. The needle lowerers fgfg' are arranged exactly
opposite each other. The middle triangles h' are also arranged opposite each
other, as regards their co-operating edges i, i or k; k¹. But the middle points"
of one of these triangles, which cause the complete raising of the drivers
and thus cause movement of the double-ended tumbler-needles is a little in
advance of the other. On the rear-side of the bed the point moves, when:
the slide is moving in advance of the point of the middle triangle on the:
front-bed...
The double-ended tumbler-needles a are covered needle-bars, which have
chamfered edges, and at the same time serve for guiding and for holding the
booked balance-needles c raised.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the parts of the lock co-operate as
follows:
When the slide moves from left to the right the double-ended. tumbler-needles
are at first on the front-bed. The edges ii of the needle-lifter push simultaneously
and uniformly the projections of the drivers b as indicated in Fig. 2, until the
drivers come up to the edge m of the front-triangle h and to the edge of the
rear-triangle . In consequence of this the tumbler-needles a are moved forward
by the driver of the front-bed, so that they come over the bed slot o and partly
into the needle-grooves of the rear-bed.
Then the edge p' of the triangular point of the rear-bed becomes alone
operative by pushing forward only the projections of the drivers 6 therefore also
their operative ends b. The projections 6 of the drivers of the front bed move

page_text: during this time along the straight plane m of the middle triangle h. This position
is illustrated in Fig. 3.
When the projections 6 on the rear-bed have passed the outer point of the
middle-triangle of the rear-bed, they have been moved forward so far that they
push with their ends 6' against the end a¹ of the double-ended tumbler-needles a.
In consequence of the movement of the drivers on the rear-bed the corresponding
hooked balance-needles are also moved forward in such manner that their hooks c³
come over the needle-bar 2. The ends b¹ move the double-ended tumbler-needles in
auch manner that their ends a¹ come under the needle-bar.
Now the lock on the front-bed begins to act with its point 7, by the operative
edge of this point pushing forward the projections & on the front-bed. The side r
of the point of the front-triangle corresponds to the side of the rear-triangle.
Both have the same angle of inclination and the result is that as the side r of the
front-triangle h pushes forward the projections of the front-bed, the side of
the rear middle triangle enables the projections of the drivers of the rear-bed to be
pushed back, and thus the tumbler-needles to be pulled over to the rear-bed. The
tumbler-needle is thus guided at both ends and is pushed into the rear-bed (Fig. 4)
till its end a nearest to the rear-bed is considerably behind the hook of the
hooked balance-needle on the rear-bed, while the other end as is under the needle-
bar on the front-bed and therefore cannot be seized by the hook c³ of the
balance-needle c on this latter side.
Fig. 4 illustrates this position in section on line G-H (Fig. 1).
The needles remain in this position during the time that the projections of the
drivers of the rear-bed glide along the surface m of the middle triangle, so that in
this manner time is obtained to put a thread a into the open tumbler end a* of the
tumbler-needle (Figs. 1 and 4).
Now the needle-lowerers ff begin simultaneously and uniformly to act, not on
the needle-drivers but on the projections c' of the hooked balance-needles c of the
front and rear-beds. The hooked balance-needles will thus be simultaneously and
uniformly pulled back, the action of this movement being as follows;-
The hooks c of these needles slide on the front-bed from the needle-bars =
without being able to engage with the ends a³ of the double-ended tumbler-needles
as these latter are under the needle-bar (Fig. 4) so that on the front-bed the
tumbler-needle a is released, the open end a' however, on the rear-bed is so far
behind the hook c³ of the corresponding balance-needle that c³ engages with a', thus
pulling over the double-ended tumbler needle into the rear-bed. The needle-end a¹
of the tumbler-needle a remains open (Figs. 3 and 1).
The loop y suspended on the shank of the needle a is pushed in the well-known
manner over the closing tumbler of the end a³ of the double-ended tumbler-needle
and completed, while the thread a is formed into a loop by the closed end of the
needle (Fig. 5).
When the slide is thereupon moved in the opposite direction, an opposite action
takes place, that is to say the sides k k¹ of the middle triangle cause the drivers b
and thus also the tumbler-needles a to move forward, then the surface p of the
front middle triangle h becomes operative first, then comes the surface of the
rear-triangle, whereby the tumbler-needle is pushed into the front-bed so far,
that its end a¹ comes under the needle-bar z', whereas the end a' comes far behind
the hook 3 of the hooked balance-needle on the front-bed, so that finally when the
hooked needles are pulled down by the needle-lowerers g g, the hooked balance-
needles on the front-bed pull the double-ended tumbler needles to their side.
In order to properly guide the hooked balance-needles in their up and down
movement, there are formed on them notches et co-operating with the covering-bars e
(see also Fig. 4). In this manner it is made possible for the hooked balance-
needles c to ride up on the needle-bars z z¹ and to be guided during their backward
movement caused by the needle-lowerers fg fg', said needles turning upon their
pivots on the drivers b.

page_text: Such a knitting machine for plain-work may be connected in a very simple
mauner with a Jacquard-mechanism, as illustrated in Figs. 7 to 10.
The Jacquard roller which is moved towards the needle-bed drives forward by
means of its studs s-before the movement of the slide begins-the rear-ends 6 of
the drivers b of those needles which are to be used, the needles which are not to be
used remaining in their retracted position. The operative drivers I push forward
the corresponding honked needles c. which come in the manner described against
the sides of the middle-triangles. The remaining drivers 2 pass along the rear-
edge of the needle-raiser and do not become operative.
In order to securely guide the drivers which have been moved forward in their
upward movement and in order to retract all the hooked balance-needles and
drivers after knitting Jacquard cams are arranged on each side as follows;-
Fig. 7 shows the arrangement for the front-bed. The Jacquard cams are
provided on their outer side, where the projections & of the drivers which have
been pushed upwards, strike against them, with a rounded edge t³ (Figs. 9 and 10)
and are so provided with springs that they are raised by the ends 6 of the raised
drivers and rest on them, whereby during the forward movement of the slide
these drivers remain in their position till raised by the needle-raisers hh. For
this purpose they are arranged under the needle-lowerers fgfg. When however
all the needles are withdrawn by the needle-lowerers ff' g g' the inclined edge
of the Jacquard cam meets the projections of the drivers I which have been in
operative position and draws them all back by means of its inclined edge t, so that
they can again become operative only when they are again pushed forward by the
studs a of the Jacquard roller.
Fig. 8 shows such a Jacquard cam t in section on the line L-M of Fig. 7, when
it presses down the projections of the raised drivers 1.
Fig. 9 is a cross section on the line NO of Fig. 7.
Fig. 10 illustrates how the edge of the Jacquard camt draws back the needles.
If it is desired to produce plain knitting, that is to say that in which the knitting
is done only on one side, it is sufficient simply either to withdraw the needle
raisers or h¹ in the direction of the needle grooves on that side on which no
knitting is to be done or to withdraw the points or on the side to which the
needles must not be drawn.
Such a device is indicated in Fig. 11 wherein each of the triangles is
provided with a longitudinal slot in which engages a pin on an eccentric or disc.
By partly rotating this disc the triangle & will be moved forward into the dotted
position and the other triangle will be moved backwards, whereby the double
ended tumbler-needles will not be pushed over onto the other bed, by the point of
the triangle. Any other suitable means may be employed for moving the points
so, as for instance a cam, wedge or inclined plate.
The devices for opening the tun.blers and for putting in thread are left out in the
drawings in order to avoid unnecessary complications; these devices are of ordinary
well-known construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inveu-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A knitting machine provided with double-ended tumbler-needles for plaio-
work, in which the double-ended tumbler needles a are raised by drivers & from
the bed (11) by means of locks arranged exactly opposite to each other aud having
needle-raisers hand points arranged one in advance of the other the
tumbler needles being withdrawn by hooked balance needles carried on and
moved forward by the drivers b by means of needle-lowerers fg fg in such
manner that the drivers 6 at first uniformly move forward and thus draw the
double-ended tumbler-needles a from the bed I into the middle position, whereupon
the point (which is in advance of the point ) of the needle-raisers 4 on the one

page_text: side of the bed (II) raises the booked balance-needles on to the needle-bar =' and
then the point (coming into operation afterward) on the other side I of the bed
also raises the hooked needles over the corresponding needle-barz but moves the
double-ended tumbler-needles a into the opposite bed II in such manner that when
the rows of hooked needles are being uniformly withdrawn the hooked needles on
this side (II) of the bed seize the tumbler-ends a¹ and pull them over to that side
of the bed, while at the other end a¹ of the double-ended tumbler-needle a the
loop is being completed substantially as described.
2. A knitting machine provided with double-ended tumbler-needles for plain
work of the description set forth in Claim 1 in combination with suitable Jacquard
mechanisms which acts on the ends 6 of the drivers and the spring plates or
Jacquard cams t provided with rounded rear-edges which cams act with said
edge on the raised drivers and thereby hold said raised drivers I whereas the
chamfered edges of said cams bring all the drivers back into their original
positions substantially as described.
3. In the knitting machine provided with double-ended tumbler-needles described
in Claim 1 the booked needles c having notches thereon in combination with
needle-bars or rails e for guiding the hooked needles in their up and down motion,
on the needle-bars z z' substantially as described.
Dated this 9th day of November 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.