US2071289A - Means for knitting - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 16, 1937. E. R. PACE 2,071,289

MEANS FOR KNITTING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 24, 1934 Feb. 16, 1937. E. R. PACE 2,071,289

MEANS FOR KNITTING ,Filed Dec. 24, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EVERETT F PACE Feb. 16, 1937. E. R. PACE 2,071,289

MEANS FOR KNITTING Filed Dec. 24, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 EVEQETT R. Pace awe/whom Aha 51m Patented Feb. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,071,239 MEANS 'Fon KNITTING Everett R. Pace, Belmont, N. 0., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-hall. to iRagan Knitting Company, Thomasville, N. (3., a corporation of North Carolina, and one-half to Maurice Mills Company, Thomasville, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina Application December 24, 1934, Serial No. 759,123

'8 Claims (01. 66-12) -of the stocking together with a ribbed portion and then a leg portion together with a heel, toe'and foot portion. When the stocking leaves this machine it is a complete stocking with the exception of looping the toe after the stocking is completed'on the knitting machine.

It is therefore, an object of this invention to lay in an elastic strand of yarn in the ribbed top portion of the stocking which will give a certain amount of resiliency to the top of the stocking and cause the top of the stocking to remain in elevated position on the leg of the wearer without the necessity of employing supporters of any kind.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means on an automatic seamless knitting machine whereby this strand of elastic yarn may be laid into the top of the stocking simultaneously with the knitting of the ribbedtop portion thereof, thus eliminating the necessity of knitting the ribbed top and laying in the yarn on one machine and then transferring the top to another machine to finish the stocking.

Heretofore, it has been possible to knit elastic yarn in the ribbed top portion of a stockng but this takes a great quantity of yarn and greatly decreases the elasticity of the yarn on account of knitting it into the ribbed top portion under tension, By laying in a strand of yarn as will be described in the annexed specification, only onethird as much yarn is required in the top of the stocking as would be required should the yarn be knitted therein and in addition the elasticity of the yarn has not been materially decreased.

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby elastic yarn can be laid into the ribbed top portion of the stocking in an automatic seamless knitting machine so that the dial and cylinder needles will knit the conventional top yarn around the elastic yarn without engaging the elastic yarn and knitting it in any manner except to engage the yarn at the beginning of the strand and to knit the free end into the stocking by a few needles.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:--- v Figure 1 is an elevation of the upper portion of a knitting machine showing my invention attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1 showing in section the means for supporting the dial cap;

Figure 3 is a sectional 'plan view taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 in Figure 2 showing themeans for feedv ing the laid-in strand of yarn to the needles;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 in Figure 2 showing the means for cutting and clamping the yarn when the yarn is withdrawn from the needles;

Figure 6 is a view of the yarn cutting and clamping means shown in Figure 5, but showing them in opened position;

Figure 7 is a view of the opposite side of Fig= ure 6;

Figure 8 is a view looking at the left hand portion of Figure 6 showing the yarn cutting and clamping means in an opened position about to engage a strand of yarn;

Figure 9 is a sectional view through the striping drum showing the cam arrangement for operating the yarn feeding finger as shown in Figures 2 and 4; I

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken through the striping drum at another point showing the means for operating the needle leveling cam and also the cam for operating the extra short butt needles in this structure;

Figure 11 is an elevation of the upper portion of a stocking made in accordance with my invention;

Figure 12 is an enlarged portion of the stocking shown in Figure 11 showing the strand of yarn laid therein;

Figure 13 is a view looking at the lower portion of Figure 12;

Figure 14 is an elevational detail showing dial and cylinder needles engaging the top yarn and showing the elastic yarn being laid in;

Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view looking down on the dial and cylinder needles and also showing the yarn feeding finger feeding the laid-in strand on top of the top loop.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral l0 denotes a suitable support for a knitting machine which has mounted thereon an upwardly projecting bracket II, which has secured to the upper end thereof a cam ring l2. This cam ring has a plurality of conventional cams mounted therein for operating the needles and mounted inside of these cams is a cylinder l3. The cylinder I 3 has'suitable grooves in the exterior surface thereof in which are mounted conventional needles I and extra short butt needles Ila.

A conventional sinker ring I5 is disposed near the top 01' cylinder I3 and has aplurality of sinkers Iia mounted-therein to aid the cylinder needles in shedding their loops.

Latch ring l6 ispivoted to latch ring bracket I! by any suitable means such as bolt l8. Mounted concentrically of latch ring bracket I 6 is a dial cap l8 which has conventional dial needles 28 and cast-oil? needles 2| mounted therein, (see F18. 4.) v

It is a well known fact that in the art of knitting, during the knitting of a ribbed top of a stocking that the dial needles 20 and 2| knit the outside ribs of the stocking while the cylinder needles knit the inside rib. In other words, by referring to Figure 12, it I allow the ribs or wales c to be knitted by the cylinder needles then the ribs or wales d will be knitted by the dial needles. 0! course it is the general practice to render onehalf of the cylinder needles in an inoperative position while the rib is being knitted because there are twice as many cylinder needles as there are dial needles, and in order to cause the alternate loops to be knitted by cylinder and dial needles, this elimination of alternate cylinder needles must be effected.

The structure thus far described, is conventional with the exception of extra short butt nee-' dles Ha, but it is deemed necessary to describe this much of the old structure in order to disclose my invention more clearly.

Briefly, my invention consists of a yarn feeding means, a combination yarn cutting and clamping means, a yarn engaging means which is comprised of a plurality of extra short butt needles, and means associated with the above named means for operating them in timed relation to each other. It should be noted here that the elastic yarnnormally passes through the end 01 the yarn feeding means from the yarn package and has the end thereof clamped in the yarn clamping means, and in this case, the yarn is not being fed to the apparatus. When the yarn is desired to be laid into the stocking, the yarn feeding means is lowered directly beneath the hooks oi the extra short butt needles. These needles. engage the yarn and immediately thereafter the yarn clamping means releases the end of the yarn so that the end may be carried around by the cylinder needles. When it is desired to retire the laid-in yarn from the stocking, the yarn feeding means moves out from beneath the hooks oi the needles and guides the strand into the combination cutting and clamping means where the yarn is severed and clamped in a fixed position out 01 the path of the needles.

The cam ring i2 has secured thereto a vertically disposed support 25 which is turned laterally at its uper end and has pivotally mounted in the outstanding leg thereof, a yarn feeding finger 28 as at 21. Another bracket 28 is secured to the upper end oi. member 25 and has a projection thereon which has mounted therein a set screw 28 for limiting the travel in one direction of the feed finger 25. A tension spring 30 normally holds the end of finger 26 nearest the observer. as seen in Figure 2, against set screw 29. Through the left-hand end of yarn finger 2B is adapted to be fed an elastic strand of yarn 35 to the short butt needles Ila. When the elastic yarn 3| is first introduced to the needles, the finger 26 is in the position shown in Figures 2 and 4, and at this point the extra short butt needles Ma are in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4. These needles are usually spaced three or four in a row and are allowed to engage the end of the elastic yarn 3| and be pulled downwardly immediately thereafter, by means which will be presently described.

At a point prior to the feeding of the elastic yarn, all of the needles Ha are allowed to remain up, therefore, after the point where the needles Ila engage the yarn, the remainder of the needles I, which follow the needles Ha, in their rotation, have already been moved downwardly so they will not engage the elastic yarn 3i and these needles [4 will remain in lowered position for about one-fourth revolution.

The lowered position of these needles will allow the strand 3| to move inwardly against the top loops which are held by the dial and cylinder needles and therefore will be laid in and not knitted when the yarn reaches the knitting point. It should be noted that the needles Ma will be allowed to rise to the position shown in Figure 4 at the feed finger 26 which is not high enough to allow the top loop to pass beneath latch I 4b. This will prevent the latch D from pivoting laterally and engaging the left-hand end of finger 26.

In conventional knitting, the sinkers l3a which are mounted in the sinker ring I5 move to the position as shown in Figure 4 to cause the loops to shed but the loops will rest on the top of these sinkers and be engaged by the hook I31) and when in this position it is evident that since the loop is encircled around the right-hand upper end of needle Ha, that the latch Mb will be held downwardly in the position shown in Figure 4, The right-hand end of finger 28 has pivotally secured thereto a horizontally disposed link 34 which projects to the left in Figure 1 and is slidably mounted in a stud in the upper end of a vertically disposed arm 35. This arm 35 projects downwardly and is'secured to a projection on another arm 36 pivoted as at 31, said arm 36 being adapted to follow a cam 38 on the striping drum 38. In the position shown in Figure 9 the arm 38 has been caused to move off of cam 39 inwardly against the drum 38.

The tension spring 40 which is secured to the upper portion of arm 35 and the tension spring 38 secured to the end of finger 26, normally cause the lower end of arm 36 to follow the cam 39 on the surface of the striping drum 38. When it is desired to withdraw the elastic yarn from the top oi? the stocking the cam 39 is allowed to move under the lower end of the arm 38 which will cause the horizontally disposed link 34 to move to the left and cause the yarn finger 21 to move to the dotted line position as shown in Figure 2. When this is done the elastic yarn 3| is thrown into the jaws of the combination clamp and shears which is shown in detail in Figures 5 to 8 inclusive, and is held thereinuntil the yarn is again introduced to the stocking by the means which has just been described. The combination clamp and shears 38 is pivotally mounted on a bracket 31 which bracket is secured as at 31a to a vertically disposed bracket 38. Bracket 38 projects downwardly and is secured to the cam ring l2. By referring to Figure 8 the structure of the clamp and shearing mechanism is more clearly shown. Adjoining the bracket 31 and pivotally connected thereto by bolt 40 is a flexible, movable member 4| which slidably contacts the stationary upper jaw 42. Another thin flexible member 43 which is similar in all respects to the member 4| is placed beside the stationary 'a fixedupper jaw 45 which forms the upper shearing portion of the shears, and pivotally secured adjacent the left-hand side of member 45 is the lower member 46 of the shears which is adapted to move downwardly upon the yarn and sever it. All of the members 4|, 42, 43, 45 and 46 are pressed in close contact with each other by means of a compression spring 41 which is confined on the left-hand end of pin 40 by any suitable means such as cotter key 48 and washer 48a. The member 42 is stationary and forms the upper portion of the clamping means and the members 4| and 43 are pivotally mounted on pin 49 and forms the lower dog of the clamping means, whereas, the member 45 is fixedly mount ed on pin 4|! and forms the upper portion of the shears and the member 46 is pivotally mounted von bolt 40 and forms the lower shearing member. A suitable rod 49, which is bent at its end, penetrates the upper ends of members 4 43 and 46 and is adapted to move the upper ends of these members from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position shown in Figures 6 and 7 to cause the same to open and to receive the yarn when the finger 26 is in the dotted line position as shown in Figure 2. This rod 49 has a collar 50 fixedly mounted thereon which engages the bracket 5| and limits the movement to the right of rod 49 in Figure 5. The rod 49 has its other end slidably mounted in a stud 52, said stud 52 being mounted in the upper end of bracket 5|. Bracket 5| has a suitable slot 5la therein which is penetrated by a set screw 53 which screw is adapted to confine the member 5| to the bracket 37 and the slot 5|a provides means whereby the elevation of the right-hand end of rod 49 may be adjusted to the proper level.

A tension spring 54 engages the upper end of member 46 and normally tends to pull the shearing and clamping members in a closed position.

It is seen in Figures 2 and 5 that the extreme left-hand end of rod 49 is adapted to be contacted by a bar 56 which is pivoted as at 51 to the upper end of a bracket 58, and the other end of bar 56 normally has sliding contact with a pin 59 which is secured in the end of lever 60, said lever 60 being fixedly secured to the upper end of a rod 6| which is mounted for oscillation in a bracket 62 which is supported on the upper surface of cam ring |2. The lower end of rod 6| has a lever 64 fixedly secured thereon and this lever has a link 65 secured thereto as at 66. The other end of link 65 is pivotally secured as at 61 to a vertically disposed link 68 which projects downwardly and is secured to an arm 69 pivoted as at 31, said arm 69 being adapted to follow a cam 10 on striping drum 38. It is evident that when the lower end of arm 69 rides on top of cam surface 10 that the rod 6| will be caused to rotate Figures 5 to 8 inclusive.

I The cams are so positioned on the striping drum that when the arm 36 fallsoff of the cam 39 to cause the finger 26 to feed the elastic yarn to the needles that the arm 69 will very soon thereafter engage the cam Hi to cause the clamping means to release the end of the yarn.

The conventional needle leveling arm 13 is pivoted as at 14 to cam ring l2 and has pivotally secured in the arm I5 thereof, a link 16. Fixedly secured on rod 16 is a stud 11 which is adapted to contact one side of a pin 18 which extends outwardly from the side of cam arm 19. Cam arm 19 is pivoted as at to cam ring 12 and its righthand end has cam 19a thereon, see Figure 3, which is adapted to engage the butts of the needles and cause them to move downwardly at this point. The outstanding pin 18 is contacted by the stud 11 which causes the cam arm 19 with the cam 19a on the end thereof, to move outwardly. A torsion spring 8| normally forces the cam 19a inwardly into contact with the butts of needles whereas the stud Tl contacts the pin it and normally tends to force the cam outwardly. When the elastic yarn 3| is first introduced into the machine to the short butt needles iia, as shown in Figure 4. the arm 19 is caused to rotate in a clockwise manner to the position shown in Figure 3, barely enough to clear the short butt needles Na and let them pass by at an elevation shown in Figure 4 but cam 19a will engage the long butt needles I4 and move them downwardly. This will allow the needles |4a to engage the yarn 3| and carry it into the machine to be knitted. The cam 19a on the end of arm 19 is operated by the link 16 which extends laterally and is pivoted to the upper end of heel and toe lever 62 which is pivoted as at 83 and the lower end of said lever 82 normally contacts the main drum 84. A tension'spring 82a is secured to lever 82 and bracket 62 to force the lower end of lever 62 against main drum 84.

A link 85 is pivotally secured directly below the upper end of lever 82 and has its other end pivotr ally secured to an arm 86 which projects downwardly and is secured to arm 81. (See Fig. 10). The, arm 81 is pivotally secured as at 31 and the lower end of said arm normally contacts the surface of striping drum 38 or the cam 66. It is evident that when the lower end of arm 67 contacts the cam 88 on the striping drum that the link 85 in Figure 1, will be moved to the left to actuate the arm 16 and the pin 76 to cause the cam 19a on'the end of lever 19 to be moved outwardly a slight amount. It is also evident that this action willalso actuate the lever 82 which operates on the main drum 84, but this last actuation will not affect the pattern in any way. The lower end of lever 91 is allowed to remain on cam 86 long enough for four or five of the extra short butt needles to engage the yarn and immediately after this is done the lever contacts the surface of the drum 38 and allows the cam 79a on the end of lever 19 to move inwardly and engage all of the butts on the needles, including the extra short butt needles on each succeeding revolution.

these needles and pulls them down almost immediately after they have engaged the elastic yarn 3|. This will knit the starting end of the elastic yarn into the stocking when the short butt needles reach the regular knitting point to cause it to be firmly engaged therein at the starting point. The

lever 98 is pivoted as at 91 to the cam ring I2 and has another leg 98 to which is pivoted the horizontally disposed link 99.

The left-hand end of link 99 (Figure 1) is resiliently mounted in one end'of the bell crank I00, said bell crank I being pivotally mounted as at IN. The other end of bell crank I00 is pivoted to arm I02 which projects downwardly to the main drum 84 and is adapted to operate on a cam surface I03. A tension spring I04 normally pulls the lever I02 into contact with the cam surface I03 at all times, and it is seen that when this lever is mounted on top of cam surface I03, that the cam lever 96 and the cam 95 will be caused to move inwardly and engage all of the needles which are up at this point and to pull them downwardly. Figure '11 shows the upper portion of a stocking made in accordance with my invention, the stocking being denoted by reference character I06 which has a conventional welt I 01 and a laid-in portion I08. Figure 12 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the laid-in part of the stocking I08, in which the elastic strands of yarn 3| have been laid in between the alternate wales or ribs c and d, which are knitted by the cylinder needles and the dial needles.

Figures 14 and 15 show the position of the strand after it has been introduced into the fabric. The top yarn IIO after it has been engaged by the dial and alternate cylinder needles acts as a support for the elastic strand 3|. After the feed finger 26 has been moved to feeding position as shown in Figure 2, the cam 19a is moved outwardly slightly to cause it to miss two or three of the short butt needles Ila and thus fail to lower the same, but all of the remaining needles will be lowered. Then the short butt needles Ila are engaged by the cam 95 which lowers the -said short butt needles and causes them to engage the elastic yarn with their hooks and carry the elastic yarn around the cylinder. Then the conventional cam 73 raises all of the needles and thus all needles remain raised until they pass the throat plate where the regular yarns are introduced and then immediately after the needles pass the throat plate, knitting is effected in a conventional manner by all needles, including the short butt needles Ila. Therefore, it is seen that the short butt neeclles Ila are lowered to engage the elastic yarn by the cam 95 but are not lowered enough to knit,

as knitting takes place at the conventional knitting point.

Therefore, upon successive revolutions all of the needles at the point of feeding will remain low ered and the elastic yarn will be allowed to move over behind the cylinder needles I4 and on top of the top yarn H0 and assume a position as shown in Figures 14 and 15. It is evident then, that when the yarn is carried around to the knitting point that this strand will not be knitted but will be laid in between the alternate wales c and d which are knitted by the cylinder needles and dial needles respectively.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

The conventional throat plate is designated reference character I20 while the yarn feed fingers are designated by reference characters I2I and I22.

I claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine having dia l and cylinder needles, means for feeding an elastic yarn to the knitting machine at a point removed from the knitting point in the machine, said machine having a few short butt needles for engaging the free end of said yarn and carrying the elastic yarn around to the regular knitting "point of the machine to knit it into the fabric for afew loops at its point of introduction, so

that the remaining portion of said yarn is fed at a point below the dial needles and over the top of the cylinder needles whereby the yarn is not knitted by either the cylinder or dial needles other than at its point of introduction but is laid in between the loops formed by these needles.

2. In a circular knitting machine having dial and cylinder needles, a yarn cutting and clamping means disposed outside the cylinder needle circle for normally holding the free end of a strand of yarn, a yarn feeding means disposed outside the cylinder needle circle at a. point removed from the clamping and cutting means so that a straight line between the clamp and cutter and the end of the yarn feeding means when it is moved to feeding position will pass through the short butt needles, a few short butt needles for engaging the yarn which is held by said clamping means when said yarn is delivered to the stocking by said yarn feeding means, means for lowering said short butt needles to engage said yarn and carrylng said yarn around to the conventional knitting point to knit a portion of said yarn into the stocking, and means for releasing said clamping means after said yarn has been engaged by said short butt needles.

3. In a circular knitting machine having dial and cylinder needles, a yarn cutting and clamping means disposed outside the cylinder needles circle for normally holding the free end of a strand of yarn, a yarn feeding means disposed outside the cylinder needle circle for normally holding said strand of yarn out of engagement with the cylinder needles, a short butt cylinder needle for engaging the yarn which is held by said clamping means when said yarn is delivered to feeding position by said yarn feeding means, means for lowering said short butt needle to cause it to engage said yarn and carry it around the cylinder to the regular knitting point to knit a portion of said yarn into the stocking when it is first introduced, means for releasing said clamping means after said yarn has been engaged by said short butt needle, so that the remainder ofsaid yarn is fed at a point below the dial needles and behind the lowered cylinder needles whereby the yarn is not knitted by either the cylinder or dial needles but is laid in between the loops formed by the dial and cylinder needles.

4. In a circular knitting machine having cylinder and dial needles, a yarn cutting and clamping means disposed outside the cylinder needle circle for normally holding the free end of a strand of yarn, a yarn feeding means disposed outside the needle circle at a point removed far enough from the feeding means to throw the yarn into the needle circle when the feeding means are moved to feeding position for normally holding said strand of yarn out of engagement with the cylinder needles, a short butt cylinder needle for engaging the yarn which is held by said clamping means when said yarn is ing said clamping means after said yarn has been engaged by the said short butt needle, whereby the remainder of said yarn is fed at a point below the dial needles and behind the lowered cylinder needies and is not knitted by either the cylinder or dial needles except the short butt needles, but is laid in between the loops formed by the dial and cylinder needles and means for retiring the end of said yarn feeding means from operative position to cause it to guide the strand of yarn into engagement with the yarn cutting and clamping means. i

5. In a circular knitting machine having a revolving cylinder having a plurality of needles mounted therein for vertical movement and including short butt needles, said machine also having a revolving dial equipped with dial needles, means for feeding yarn to the cylinder and dial needles, means for feeding an elastic strand of yarn below. the dial needles, means for lowering all of the cylinder needles except the'short butt needles while the said yarn is first being introduced below the dial needles, whereby the said yarn is fed over the topsof the cylinder needles and onto the yarn on both the cylinder and dial needles, means for lowering all of the cylinder needles at the point where the elastic yarn is being fed on subsequent rounds of the cylinder after the elastic yarn is fed to the short butt needles, means for withdrawing the said yarn from feeding position, means for rendering the short butt needle lowering means inoperative while the said yarn is withdrawn from feeding position, combined means for clamping and cutting said yarn when it is withdrawn from feeding position, and means for releasing said elastic yarn from said clamping means when it is again introduced to feeding position.

6. In a circular knitting machine having cyl inder and dial needles, the cylinder needles including one or more short butt needles, means for lowering all of the cylinder needles except the short butt needles at a point in advance of their reaching their normal knitting position, means for feeding a yarn to the cylinder needles at their knitting point, a movable elastic yarn feed finger disposed outside the needle circle and to one side of the point where the cylinder needles are lowered and having an eye in one end thereof adapted to travel close to the outside of the needle circle while the needles are lowered, a combined yarn cutter and clamp disposed also outside the needle circle and on theother side of said point where the cylinder needles are lowered so that a straight line from the hole in the elastic yarn feeding finger and the clamp will pass through the needle circle to cause the elastic yarn when introduced to the short butt needle or needles to be engaged thereby and carried to the conventional knitting point of the machine to be knitted and whereby the said yarn will pass'over the lowered cylinder needles and be laid onto the yarn held on the cylinder and dial needles.

'7. In a circular knitting machine having cylinder and dial needles including short butt cylinder needles, means for feeding yarn to the needles to form a stocking by knitting a plurality of loops, means for lowering all of the cylinder needles except the short butt needles at a point in each revolution, means for then lowering the short butt needles, means for introducing an elastic strand along a chord of the needle circle at the point where the short butt needles are lowered whereby the elastic yarn is engaged by the short butt needles and carried to the knitting point of the machine and is passed over the lowered needles and laid in below the plane of the dial needles andback of the cylinder needles.

8. In a circular knitting machine having cylinder and dial needles for forming loops in the knitting of a stocking, means for feeding an elastic strand of yarn to the needles to be knitted for a loop or two and then laid in between the loops held by the dial and cylinder needles comprising one or more short butt cylinder needles, means for lowering all of the cylinder needles except the short butt needles, means for lowering the short butt needles to engage the elastic strand, yarn cutting and clamping means located outside the needle circle and to one side of the point where the needles are lowered, a yarn feed finger mounted outside the needle circle and on the other side of the point where the needles are lowered and having one end thereof provided with an eye for receiving the elastic yarn, the end having the eye therein being movable into close proximity to the outside of the cylinder needles on the other side of the point where the needles are lowered and whereby the elastic yarn is thrown into the short butt needles to be engaged and carried to the knitting point to be knitted for one or more loops and; the remainder to be laid between the loops formed by the cylinder and dial needles.

EVERETT R. PACE.

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