US1184501A - Knitting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

L. N. nfWlLLlAMs.- .KNITTING MACHINE'. APPLICATION FILEDJUNE 2 4 1914.

1,184,501'. Patented Maye, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

L. N. D. wLLLLAL/ls. KNLTTLNL MACHINE. APPLICATION FlLED lUNE24. 1914.

Paeufedl May 23, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.'

LOUIS N. I). WILLIAMS, OF

OGONTZ, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNITTINe-ivrricnnvrz. A

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Apnlication led June 24, 1914. l Serial No.. 846,945.

To all whom timer/concern.' r

Be it "known that I, Louis N. D.; WIL- mans, a citizen of the United vStates,'resid ingV in Ogontz, Pennsylvania, have invented certain 'Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specifi-` cation.

My invention consists of amachine for producing more rapidly than before, stockings have toes of the type shown in Samuel Henshalls Patent No. 388,678, dated August 28, 1888, that is to say, toes formed by uniting the edges of independently pro-` duced tapered webs, one projecting from the'instep portion of the foot and the other from the sole portion of the same.

lIn the accompan ing drawings-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the forward end of the foot ltube of la stocking with toeforming blanks produced thereon in accordance `with my invention; Fig. 2 Iis a vertical. sectional view of suilicient of my improved knitting machine to illustrate my invention;

Fig.l 3 is a similar section with the needle-1v picking devices in a different position from that shown in Fig. 2; F i'g. 4 is a similar soy section with the needle-picking -devices in a still different position .and with the cam mechanisms differently disposed; Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the disposition ofthe needles'in the machine, and Fig. 6 is a viewa'i of a special form of needle which maysome` times be employed.

y The stocking shown in the Henshall patent before referred to had at the front end of the foot tube two' projecting and tapering webs one on the upper or instep half of the foot and the other on the sole or lower half stocking-is similar to that of Henshall, 'the difference being that whereas, in the Hen., shall stocking, the toe websknitted successively, in my stocking the webs l and lc are knitted simultaneously and with separate yarns, asindicated respectively by lfull and dotted lines in Fig. 1 The Henshall Stocking was provided around the edge' of each of the tapered webs 1 and 1"withv a band 2 so as to provide a course of stitches for being applied tothe points of the looping machine, whereby the toe was closed 'or ycompleted-by uniting the stitches around the edge of the web lbvto those aroundthe ,regular succession circle.

edge ofthe web l, and my stocking may or provided with this band, as de may not be sired. Y

In knitting my improved stocking I lemploy a knitting machine of the circular type and capable of to-and-fro knitting or of both round-and-round and to-and-fro knitting, the needle cylinder of such machine being provided with two semi-circular banks of needles and the machine lbeing .also provided withtwo sets ofneedle-actuating cam mechanisni, one for acting upon the needles ofone bank and the other for acting upon the needles of the other bank, each of these sets of cam mechanisml having combined therewith needle. picking mechanism whereby, during to-and-fro knitting, needle after needle, at'the opposite ends of the respective banks can be moved out of operative relation with the vknittingcams so as to gradually reduce the number of active needles in each bank and thus graduallyT reduce the width ofthe web which is being produced I,elle-actuating cams which operate one bank of needles being' set diametrically opposite to those which operate the other bank of needles and one set of needle-actuating cams operating its bank of needles simultaneously with the operation of the other bank of needles by the opposite vneedle'-actuating cams. If it is desired to knit .round-andround, however, one set of needle-actuat'in cams can be adjusted to a positien in 1i e vertically lwith the otherl set so v.t-,l'iat the operationl ofthe needles ofone bank follows. that ofthe operation of the needlesof the other '-bank, the needles being actuated in throughout the ventire Any desired construction of needle pickpurpose of illustration I.' have selected that shown in my- Letters Patent No. 774,124,

datedl November, 1904, to which reference lng mechanism may be employed but'for thek ,accompanying drawings, those members-of v the needle-operating cam mechanism and of the picking mechanism which it has been necessary to show have been numbered to accord, with the numbering of the correspondingparts in the drawings of the patent.l t p For the purpose of producing the toe portion of the stocking or'ily, the lifting pick-l ers are employed as the shaping of the web is effected entirely by a narrowing operation.- If, however, the machine is intended to produce a heel pocket upon the foot tube one of the needle-actuating cam mechanisms may be combined with both lifting and de-k pressing pickers as in such case .both narrowing'and widening operations will have to be performed upon the bank of needles actuated by said cam mechanism in producingA the heel.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, 20 represents the needle cylinder suitably mounted in a fixed holder Q1 and car'-A rying two semi-circular banks of needles 23 and 24, the needles '23 having longer stems butts upon which the knitting cams act are in different horizont-al planes and thus provide for thel use' of two cam rings shown, re-

spectively, at 1 and l, the cam Iring l being mounted above the cam lring 1 and carrying cams which act upon the butts ofthe short needles 24, while the cam ring 1 is provided with cams which act upon the butts of the long needles 23. The rings 1 and 1a are locked together for joint rotation or recip- -rocation and the ring 1 is locked to a drive ring 25, the latter being mounted so as to be'free to either rotateor reciprocate in aI bea-ring in the-main frame or bed 26 and being intended for cooperation with mechanism whereby either rotating or reciprocating movement may be imparted to it in -a manner customary in machines of this type.

In the present instance the cam rings l and 1a are locked together by means of a spring-actuated bolt 27 and the cam ring 1a is locked to the, drive ring 25 by means of a spring-actuated bolt 28, both of these bolts being carried by the cam ring 1 and being actuated by one and the same spring 429, each bolt having a knob projecting through a slot in the cam ring, whereby the bolts may be retracted to unlocking position or permitted to project into locking position. The cam ring .1 -a has two bolt-receiving openings in order to permit locking of the cam rings 'together' either when the needle operating cams are diametrically opposed for to-and-fro knitting, as in Fig. 2, or are disposed almost directly one above the other for round-and-round knitting, as in Fig. v4, and the drive ring 25 may likewise beprovided with two bolt-receiving openings in order that the 'cam ring 1' may be adjusted to said different positions witho'ut corresponding movement. of the drive ring, or w-here such independent adjustment 1s not necessary the cam ring 1 may be permanently secured to the drive ring and the bolt 28 may be omitted.

In reference to the construction androperation ofthe needle supporting and actuating members 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 18, shown in the drawing, it will be sufficient to say that these partsare constructed and operated in the same manner as the corresponding parts of the machine Vof my Patent 774,124, before referred to. v

In Fig. 2, theparts are shown in position for the pickerlO of the cam ring 1 to act upon the end needlesw (Fig. 5) of the bank of long needles -Q/,and the picker 10 of the cam ring 1a is in position to act upon the end needle w of the bank of short needles g' y, the cam rings moving. in the direction 'with the butts of the needles, and, by the 90 .time the latterhave reached their elevated or inoperative position, will be free from engagement with said butts and will be restored to operative position again by action of the springsl-t'. In knitting'round-and- 'e round or inl knitting to-and-fro with the full banks of needles, the pickers are moved to and retained in inoperative positi'onby means of the cams 18,- as shown in Fig. 4. Mounted upon the upper end of the -needle cylinder E20 is a ring 30 in which are radially guided the web holders 31, radial movement being imparted to these web holders at the proper timebymeans of a cam ring 3:2, which is mounted .upon the ring 30 so as to be either rotated or reciprocated. thereon by engagement of lugs 33 on said ringwith a projectingarm 34 which carries a ,yarn

-machine is a similar bracket r36 which carries,

a yarn guide 35a, the latter being adjusted to position to feed its yarn` to the needles during to-and-fro knitting, as shown in-Fig. E2, but being raised out of-operative relation with the needles, as shown in Fig. 4, or having its yarn severed, when round-and-round knitting is being performed.

The cam which retracts the web holders at the ever-active feed 35 may be xedly mounted upon the ring 32 but the vcam which retracts the web holders at the intermittently-active yarn feed 35a should, by preference, be adjustable on said ring either to the position shown in Fig. 2 or 3, so as to retract the web holders when said yarn feed 35a is feeding yarn to the needles, or

to the position shown in Fig. 4, so as to 130 .permit said web holders to remain in the projected position when the yarn feed 3 5 is moved to non-feeding position.

' In producing a toe having oppositely disposed narrowed webs each having an edge band 2, as shown in Fig. l, the machine will be operated so as to knit to-and-ro until the narrowed webs have been completed, whereupon all of the needles will be adjusted to is two-part throughout, a single cam ring can be used, said ring carrying oppositely disposed sets of cam mechanism eachl with a needle picker, and both to-and-fro knitting and round-and-round knitting can be effected upon .a machine having but a single cam cylinder if the cams are so mounted in the latter.. as to be susceptible ofprojection and retraction. In such case the short needles may have long butts, as shown in Fig.

2, and the long needles may have both long butts w at the bottom and short butts lw between the bottom and top, as shown 'in Fig. 6.

In lknitting to-and-fro upon a machine of this type the oppositely disposed cams will be adjusted so as to act upon the long butts of the respective needles but in knitting round-and-round the upper cams will be projected so as to act both upon thelong butts of the short needles and upon the vshort butts w of the ldng'needle's, the lower cams'being retracted so as tov fail to act upon the long butts 'w ofsaid long needles.

` I claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine susceptible of either round-and-round or to-andfro knitting, the rcombination of two semicircularI banks of needles, and needle-operating cam mechanism and `a yarn guide for each bank of needles, each of saidl needleactuating cam mechanisms -being combined with picker mechanism .for moving needles in successionto inoperative position in re'.

spect to the cams.

o2. In a circular knitting machine susceptible of either round-and-round or to-andfro knitting, the combination of two semicircular banks of needles, and needle-operating cam mechanism and a yarn guide for each bank of needles, eachof said needleactuating cam mechanisms being combined with picker mechanism for moving needles insuccession to inoperative position in respect to the cams, and one cam'carrier being movable in respect to the other, whereby'the relation ofthe cam mechanism to one' anothermay be changed to cause them to act 'simultaneously upon their' respective vneedles during to-andfor knitting or to follow one another in their action during round-and-round knitting.

3. In a circular knitting machinesusceptible of either `roundandround or to-andfro knitting, the combination of a needle' carrier having two semi-circular banks of needles, needle-actuating cam mechanism and a yarn guide for each bank of needles, pickers operating in connection with each cam mechanism, means for adjusting said 'cam-mechanism in respect to one another,

and means for locking them their adjusted positions.

4. In a circularknitting machine susceptible of eitherround-and-round or to-andin either of fro knitting, the combination of a needlecarrier having two semi-circular banks of needles, knitting cam carriers and yarn4 guides', one Jfor each bank of needles, pickers operating in connectionwith eachy knitting cam vmechanism,'means.for adjusting said carriers in respect to one another,l means for locking said carriers in either of their adjusted positi0ns,'a driving device for one of said cam carriers, the latter being adjustable in respect to said driving device, and

means for locking said cam carrier to said driving device in either of its 'adjusted positions.

" In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence' of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses: i

KATE A. BEADLE, v ,HAMILTON D. TURNER.

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