US2000837A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

May 7,1935- Y w. D. GORMAN- Er AL 2,000,837

\ KNITTING MACHINE i1ed.oct. 2, 1934 Patented May 7, 1935 `UNITED STATES KNITTING MACmNE William D. Gorman,

Philadelphia, Pa., and

Charles Moses, New York, N. Y., assignors to H. Brinton Company,

Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 2,

18 Claims.

. Our said invention relates to knitting machines and particularly to knitting machines having independent needles of the type wherein needles are individually selected' by means of a design wheel as for making patterns. It isv an object of the invention to provide improved mechanism whereby the needles may be separated into sets positioned at diierent elevations, such as welt level, tuck level and knitting level or any combination of such levels.

A further object of the invention is to provide a design wheel of improved construction.

Referring to the drawing, which is made va part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a part of a knitting machine provided with our improved devices;

Fig. 2, a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

lig. 3, a partial section of the design wheel, an

Fig. 4, a plan with parts broken away.

In the drawing, .reference character I0 indicates a needle cylinder of conventional character, in the slots of which there are located needles II having outwardly projecting butts adapted to be engaged by cams such as stitch cams I2, lling cam I3 and needle raising cam I4. Conventional sinkers are indicated at I5, the sinkers being located in a bed I 6 secured to the needle cylinder and being actuated by cams on the sinker ring I1.

Commonly, but not necessarily, the cams of a feed are held on a block constituting a section o1' the cam ring and here indicated at I 8, such a section including in this case a stitch cam I2, a raising cam I4 and lling and other cams as convenience or necessity may indicate. The section in this case also includes a design wheel indicated generally at I 9 in Fig. 2, said wheel being mounted for rotation on a post 20 secured to a bracket 2|, said bracket having .a oot 22 extending into the block I8.

The design wheel comprises a pair of plates.

23 and 24, the lower plate having a central boss 25 for centering the upper plate, said boss also centering a holding plate 2B. The vplates 23 and 24 are each provided about their periphery with parallel teeth 21 of the usual type with slots between them and such slots ,extending obliquely from edge to edge of the plate. At a short distance inward from the edge of the platean annular recess is providedat 28 and l20 in the respective plates and the intermediate plate 24 is also reduced in thickness at its under side',

from a depending shoulder 30 to the central opening of theY plate, while 'the holding plate 26 is similarly reducedin thickness inwardly from a shoulder 3|. Inserts 32 4are adapted to be positioned with their' outer ends in the peripheral slots tor the purpose of engaging needle butts to 1934, Serial No. 746,566

raise the needles selectively, the distance to which the needles are .raised depending upon whether a needle butt is engaged by an insert of the lower set or of the upper set, in the eine bodiment of the invention here illustrated.

The inserts are enlarged at their inner ends as shown at 33, so as to be securely held in place' between the plates, which are reduced in thickness at appropriate points as hereinbefore de-A scribed. The plates 23 and 24 are fastened together by means of Ascrews 34 and the holding plate 25 is secured to plate 24 by screws 35.

In order that the plate 24 maybe correctly positioned circumferentially with reference to the base plate, so as to insure the desired pattern relation between the two plates and so as to nx the slots of the two plates in alignment and in position for proper engagement with the needle butts the lower plate is provided with a pin 36 adapted to enter a hole 3l in the upper plate when the plates are superposed. A nut 38 holds the wheel on the post, the usual spacer 39 and other conventional parts serving to insure free rotation of the wheel.

Preferably a lling cam I3 is so positioned that the needles approach the design wheel at welt level and preferably also the cam I4 has an active face so located as to cause the needle butts to travel obliquely in a, path' approximately parallel to and nearly identical with the plane of the adjacent part of the upper face of the wheel, so that the needle butts pass smoothly oi the cam and are raised by an insert of the lower series if the needle is to be elevated to tuck level as indicatedat 40 or by an insert of the upper series if the needle is to be elevated to knitting level as indicated at 4I. For the usual purposes of our invention the l,wheel Will/also have open slots not provided with inserts which Iopen slots allow the needles to remain at an idle level as indicated at 42. This idle level, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is higher than the welt level as indicated by lthe needle' at 43. It is desirable to re it will also be obvious that in this or in otherA ways vthe wheel of our invention maybe used for separating the needles into two sets insteadA of three sets as here shown, the specific division de'` pending on the particular results desired to be ob',- tained.

those skilled in the art andvtherefore we do not limit ourselves to what is shown in the drawing Many other changes in our improved mecha'- and described in the specication, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

It will be obvious also that o ur mechanism may be utilized for separating other devices such as jacks, or for separating needles by acting on their jacks and therefore such terms as needle butts are to be understood as being used for clearness in the claims and not for limitation except as required by the state of the art.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a knitting machine, a stitch cam, an inclined design wheel for elevating needles selectively into position to be depressed by said stitch cam, means on said wheel for raising needles selectively to either of two elevations, and needle depressing means between said wheel and said cam.

2. In a knitting machine, an inclined design wheel having slots for idle needles and also having means for raising other needles selectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, and means to depress the idle needles after they pass the design wheel.

3. In a knitting machine, an inclined design wheel having slots for idle needles and also having means for raising other needles selectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, means to depress the idle needles after they pass the design wheel, and means for causing the needles t approach the wheel at welt level.

4. In a knitting machine, an inclined design wheel having slots for idle needles and also having means for raising other needles selectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, means to depress the idle needles afterthey pass the design wheel, means for causing the needles to approach the wheel at welt level, and means adja- `cent said wheel for causing the butts of the needles to travel in a line approximately parallel to the plane of the wheel.

5. In a knitting machine, an inclined design wheel having slots for idle needles and also having means for raising other needlesselectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, a stitch cam and means between said wheel and the stitch cam for depressing the idle needles.

6. In a knitting machine, the combination of a section including a stitch cam, a design wheel having teeth for driving the wheel with slots between them for idle needles, needle-raising inserts for said wheel, and means on said wheel adapted to hold said inserts at different levels thereon between pairs of such teeth for raising selected needles to diierent heights.

7. In a knitting machine, the combination of a section including a stitch cam, a needle raising cam, a design wheel positioned to elevate selectively the butts of needles raised by said raising cam, said design wheel including open slots for idle needles and also including means to raise other needles selectively -either to tuck level or to cam, a design wheel positioned to elevate selectively the butts of needles raised by said raising cam, said design wheel including open slots for idle needles and also including means to raise other needles selectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, a cam to depress the idle needles to welt level, and a cam for causing the needles to approach the design Wheel at welt level.

9. In a knitting machine, the combination of a section including a stitch cam, a needle raising cam, a design wheel having slots for idle needles and also having means to engage the butts of needles actuated by said raising cam and to elevate them selectively either to tuck level or to knitting level, and needle depressing means between said stitch cam and said wheel.

10. A design wheel of the type adapted to elevate needles selectively, said wheel having oblique peripheral slots, and means fixed in said slots for elevating needles selectively to different levels.

11. A design wheel of the type for elevating needles selectively by engagement with their butts, said wheel having open slots for idle needles and also having means in xed position thereon for elevating other needles selectively to two diierent levels.

12. A design wheel comprising a pair of separable closely adjacent plates each having parallel oblique slots on its periphery, means for fastening said plates together, means for insuring alinement of the slots of the respective plates when assembled, and means extending outward from the periphery of each plate for selectively elevating to different heights the needles of a series.

13.v A design wheel having oblique parallel teeth about its periphery for engagement with needle butts to drive the wheel and interchangeable means in said slots at different levels axially of the wheel for engaging needle butts to lift the corresponding needles to different heights.

14. A design wheel comprising a pair of separable closely adjacent plates each having parallel oblique slots on its periphery, means for fastening said plates together, means for insuring alinement of the slots of the respective plates when assembled, and inserts in said slots adapted to receive needle butts at one level and elevate them to two different levels. 15. A design wheel of the type for moving needles selectively lengthwise, said wheel having fixed means for directly moving needles or jacks selectively lengthwise from one position to either of two other positions.

16. A design wheel of the type for moving needles selectively lengthwise, said wheel having xed means for vmoving needles selectively lengthwise from one position to either of two other positions, said design wheel also having means whereby selected needles may pass it without being moved.

17. For use in a knitting machine having a series of reciprocable elements with butts thereon, a design wheel adapted to be mounted in oblique position adjacent said series, and means in xed position on said. wheel for engaging said butts directly to -move said elements to diierent levels.

18. A design wheel having parallel teeth arranged in a circumferential series about its periphery and providing slots between them, said wheel comprising a plurality of separable plates, removable inserts for said wheel in said slots, means on at least two of said plates for positioning inserts circumferentially thereof, and means for fastening said plates together so that said inserts are fixed in position in sets at different levels axially of the wheel, the height of said inserts 7( being such as not to

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