US2396767A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

'mh 1, 194e.' E. WILDT ETAL 396,767

l .KNITTING MACHINE i Fied Aug. 28, 1944- 4 sheets-sheet v1 ATTORNEY March 19, 1946. E. WILDT ETAL. 2,396,767

' KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28,. 1944 4 shets-sheet 2 kF/Gz'.

March 1,9, 19461. y E. WILDT ETAL 2,396,767

y KNITTING MACHINE f Filed Aug. 8, 1944 4 sheets-sheet s F/G.2A.

March 19, 1946, E. WILDT Em. 2,396,767

KNITTING MACHINE Filled Aug. l28, V1944 4 Sheetsf-Sheef 4 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 19, 1946 KNITTIN G MACHINE Edwin Wildt, Henry Harold Holmes, and John Cyril Herbert Hurd, Leicester, England, assignors to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Application August 28, 1944, Serial No. 551,518 In Great Britain September 6, 1943 13 Claims. ,(Cl. Gli-135) This invention concerns knitting machines and has for its object the provision of a machine for producing fabric involving a `combination of structure and pattern effects such as that disclosed in the specification of our co-pending application Serial No. 551,519.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of the head of a circular knitting machine of the superposed rotary needle cylinder type as is necessary to illustrate the application of the invention thereto,

Figures 2 and 2A are developed views of the cam systems of the machine as seen from inside the top and bottom cam boxes,

Figure 3 is a detail vertical sectional View of the shogging mechanism with which the machine is furnished,

Figure 4 is a plan view of this mechanism, and Figure 5 is a detail plan view of a portion of a dial cam system of the machine showing cams for controlling and operating the lap or wrap thread guides.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

Referring to Figure l, the circular knitting machine therein shown includes rotary bottom or plain and top or rib needle cylinders I and 2 respectively. Double-ended latch needles such as 3 are provided for operation in these cylinders, which latter are also furnished with sliders 4 for operating the needles, when knitting, and for transferring needles from one cylinder to the other for purposes now well known to those acquainted with the art concerned. To each needle 3 there are two sliders 4, one in the bottom cylinder I and the other in the top cylinder 2. The customary holding down sinkers or web holders for cc-operation with the needles are indicated at 5, and at 6 is shown a verge to assist in rib knitting. A cam box 'I surrounding the bottom cylinder houses cams for operating and controlling the sliders in that cylinder, While for similarly operating and controlling the sliders in the top cylinder there are cams in an associated cam box 8. For producing interlock fabric with webs of l/ 1 rib combination, the bottom and top needle operating sliders 4 are set out in the manner illustrated in Figure 2. In this figure, however, only such of the sliders as are actually in operation for the production of such fabric are shown, all of the remaining, i. e. idle, sliders being omitted for the sake of clarity: in practice there would,

vrof course, be a slider 4 in each ofthe tricksla Aengaged with the bottom and top sliders iA co- Y operate to knit one of the ribbed webs, whilst the vplain and rib needles engaged with the corresponding sliders 4B similarly co-operate to knit the other ribbed web of the fabric. In this machine there are also four circumferentially spaced feeders, viz. two odd feeders F1 and F3 and intervening even feeders F and F4, for supplying yarns y and y1 independently to the respective sets of needles, together with different sets of cams for operating the said sets. The two webs are therefore in effect independently knitted but have crossed sinker wales as a result of which an interlocking structure is produced. To this Yenel the sliders l in the respective sets are provided with butts in different planes and are appropriately prearranged in the bottom and top cylinders in conjunction with appropriate ca'm systems respectively disposed in the bottom and top cam boxes l and 8 suchwise that the two sets of needles knit respectively at the spaced feeders. Thus, as will be seen, the sliders liA in the bottom cylinder are each formed with a knitting butt b accommodated in an upper track T1 in the cam box l. In this track there are, at each of the two odd feeders F1 and F3, a clearing cam 9, a cam Iii for retracting appropriate needles to an extent suicient to enable them toA take knitting yarn y and a plain stitch cam I l. Similarly, the co-operating sliders lA in the top cylinder are each formed with a knitting butt b1 accommodated in a track T2 in the top cam box 8. At the feeder F1, in the track T2, there is a clearing cam i2, a cam I3 for withdrawing appropriate rib needles to feeding level at which they take another yarn y and a rib stitch cam Iii, whereas at the feeder F3 there is another stitch cam I4 and the feeding level is indicated at I5. The sliders 4B in the bottoni Cylinder are each formed with a knitting butt b2 accommodated in a lower track T3 in the cam box 'l in which track-at each of the twoeven feeders F2 and :P4- there is a cam i6 for positioning the needles engaged with the said sliders 4B at feeding level at which they take knitting yarn y1, followed by a plain stitch cam I1. At the feeder F2, moreover, the cam IB is preceded by a clearing cam I8. Again, the sliders 4B in the top cylinder are formed with knitting butts b3 which travel in a track T4. At each of the even feeders F2 and F4 in the last mentioned track there is a cam i9 for positioning rib needles at the feeding level and a rib stitch cam 2D. A clearing car'n 2l is also provided at the feeder F2. For convenience in the following further description, the four knitting stations. reading from left to right of Figure 2, are designated by the reference letters K1, K2, K3 and K.

As will be understood, with the cam systems described the two sets of needles knit at the feeders alternately. I

Each of the sliders 4 in the bottom cylinder is also provided with a transfer butt tb for engagement at appropriate times with a bottom transfer cam 22 whereby the slider is raised to position its needle for transference to the opposing slider in the top cylinder. Similarly, each of the sliders in the top cylinder `is provided with a transfer butt tbl for engagement, when occasion demands, with a top transfer cam 23 adapted to advance the slider to position the needle then engaged thereby for transference to the opposing slider in the bottom cylinder. Whenever a bottom slider is raised by the transfer cam 22, the opposing slider is advanced by reason of engagement of its butt tbl with a cam 24 to an extent sufficient to receive the needle thus transferred from the bottom to the top cylinder. In a similar way, bottom sliders are raised by a cazn 25 to receive needles transferred downwardly from the top to the bottom cylinder, It will be noted that the bottom and top transfer cams 22 and 23 are located between the knitting stations K1 and K3.. Moreover, between the knitting stations K3 and K4 are two further transfer cams 26 and 21 in the tracks T3 and T4 for engagement, when required, with the knitting butts b2 and .b3 `respectively. Needles associated with bottom sliders raised by the transfer `cam 26 are received by top sliders which latter are advanced by a' .following transference of a needle in either set from one cylinder to the other that needle is passed through a knitting station and thereby restored to such a level that it can pass a knitting station at which needles of the other set knit.

In combination with the machine there is provided embroidery mechanism of the general character described in the specification of United States Patent No. 2,292,941.. This mechanism includes a single circular series of lap or wrap thread guides such as that shown at 30 in Figure l, said guides being `arranged in a horizontally disposed dial 3| which is mounted withinthe needle cylinders l and 2 concentrically therewith. There are as many guides 3U as there are needles of one set in the bottom cylinder. The dial is provided with a flanged portion 31a to .enable it to be supported by an annular support '32. This `support is flanged at `32a and thereby adapted for movement circumferentially between two superposed supporting rings 33 and 34 attached both to each other and to the top cylinder 2. By reason of this lconstruction the dial can be shogged as and for the purposes hereinafter described. Each of the thread guides 34) is formed at its operative end with a downwardly directed right angular extension tta which is laterally bent in the manner depicted in Figure 5. The upper edge of each thread guide is formed with a butt 35h for engagement with suitable operating cams. In addition each guide has a rearwardly extending tail butt 39o so as to enable same to be used in conjunction with selecting means for controlling the operation of the guides according to the effects to be achieved. The tail butts are provided at respectively different levels so as to be Alocated in correspondingly different planes heightwise. As shown in Figure 1, the thread guides are initially formed with a plurality of frangible tail butts 36e which can be readily broken olf according to requirements. A stationary cam plate 35 is supported above the dial 3l and on its underside is furnished with appropriate cams for action on th-e butts 36h. For action upon the tail butts 313e at each feeder there is provided a horizontally disposed selector -cam 3E (Figures 3 and 5) which is movablev vertically into any one of the aforesaid different planes in which tail butts are located, or to a neutral position clear of said butts, according to patterning requirements. Each selector cam `3B advances appropriate embroidery thread guides 30 for lapping or wrapping purposes and is arranged and operated substantially as described in the prior specification aforesaid. The embroidery threads are supplied by selected guides 30 to appropriate needles in the bottom cylinder at the same level as that at which the yarns y and y1 are fed. That is to say, before it islapped or wrapped by an embroidery thread, a needle is withdrawn somewhat by reason of the corresponding slider being engaged by one of the cams I0 or i6, as the case may be. Accordingly, each of the knitting stations in the bottom cam box 'i is also a wrapping station. When, with the arrangements described, a wrapping action takes place either at the feeder K1 or K3, the needles associated with the sliders 4B are out of the range of the lap or wrap thread guides 39 which latter are at this time selected to Wrap only needles associated with sliders dA. Conversely, when wrapping at feeder K2 or K4, needles associated with the sliders dA are out of the range of the guides 3B.

If desired, the alternative thread guide selecting mechanism described in the prior specificaarranged for action upon the stepped cam 31 to impart turning movement to the latter and hence also to the disc cam 38 one or more steps in one direction or the other, and connections between said disc cam and the annular support 32 whereby the latter can be shogged one or more times in one direction or the other to a required extent. As shown in Figure 4, said connections include a pivoted lever 42 adapted to be acted upon by the disc cam A38, and a shoe 43 on this lever which engages a member Y44! mounted to move bodily with the annular support 32.

Alternatively, the needles may be shogged in relation to the thread guides.

Instead of selectively operating the thread guides, the cylinder needles may be selectively operated as by pattern controlling selecting means including a rotary wheel, drum or jacquard band and racking mechanism, with or without intermediate selectors, and operated in the manner aforesaid, so that selected needles are moved lengthwise, e. g. raised or lowered, in relation to the guides suchwise that only needles which are raised or left raised are lapped or wrapped with embroidery threads. Y

All of the embroidery thread guides may be supplied with threads of-the same character or colour, so that if a succession or all of the needles in the bottom cylinder are lapped or wrapped, horizontal striping effects of a corresponding solid character or colour will be produced. Alternatively the guides may be supplied with contrasting threads alternately, or in any other desired order, so that if a succession or all of the needles in the bottom cylinder are lapped or wrapped, horizontal striping with corresponding contrasting effects, coursewise, will appear in the knitted fabric. By suitable shogging of the thread guides contrasting solid horizontal striping effects are produced in desired sequence Walewise. For example, black threads may be supplied to the guides corresponding with needles which knit at one feeder, and red threads may be supplied to the guides corresponding with the needles which knit at the next feeder. Thus black stitches would appear on the plain wales of one web and red stitches would appear on the plain wales of the other web, i. e. black and red stitches alternately in the coursewise direction. By shogging the guides at appropriate times in relation to the needles, or vice versa,. and operating the guides so that either black or red threads are lapped or wrapped on the plain needles knitting at both feeders, black or red stitches would be produced, in coursewise` succession, on the plain wales or both webs thus forming solid black or solid red horizontal striping effects. Shogging and operating the guides so that black threads are served at both feeders for a course or courses alternately would produce solid black and red stripes alternately in the walewise direction of the fabric. Appropriate intermediate selection of the guides, or the needles, would produce a diversity of effects on the ground fabric between stripes. When a succession or all of the guides are supplied with threads all of the same character, e. s. red, the guides may serve all of the said threads to the bottom cylinder needles of one set at one feeder, and, thereafter, as the result of shogging at the appropriate time, may serve the bottom cylinder needles of the other set with the same threads at the next feeder, thus again producing solid horizontal stripes. Also by shogging at suitable intervals horizontal stripes may be produced in desired walewise sequence with or without other effects in the intervening courses of the ground fabric.

The shogging mechanism may also be adapted to produce shogged effects from the same threads in diierent wales of one or each of the Webs so that inclined or diagonal, zig-zag, crossed and like lines of lap or wrap stitches are produced, o1' from dilferent threads in the same wales s as further to diversify the pattern effect.

Means may also be provided for moving any desired bottom cylinder needle or/and a guide lengthwise relatively so that the embroidery thread is laid either below the hook suchwise as -to be engaged by the needle hook to form a stitch,

or further from the hook, e. g. below the latch in the illustrated example (or well below the beard of a bearded needle) so as thus to be merely interconnected with the ground fabric to form loops, as distinct from stitches, as hereinbefore mentioned. For example, when needle selecting mechanism is provided `the same mechanism, or an additional similar mechanism, may be adapted to move a desired needle or needles to one or the other of two alternative positions so that in one position lap or wrap stitches are formed, and in the other position merely loops are formed.` Or a similar selecting mechanism, adapted to function in vthis way, may be provided in association with the guides for producing a like result.

What we claim then is:

1. A knitting machine which includes, in combination, two needle beds, two sets of needles, one half of each set being in alternating relationship in one bed and the remainder of each set in similar relationship in the other bed, feeders for introducing yarns to the said sets of needles, corresponding sets of cam systems for causing the respective sets of needles to knit-independently, and mechanism for wrapping desired needles with embroidery thread.

2. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, and embroidery mechanism comprising thread guiding means operable in conjunction with needles in the bottom cylinder and means for operating said guides so as to wrap desired bottom cylinder needles with embroidery thread.

3. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, a bottom needle cylinder, a cam box surrounding said cylinder, a superposed top cylinder, another cam box similarly surrounding said top cylinder, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, and the sliders of the two sets being provided with knitting butts in respectively different planes, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, cam systems disposed at different levels in the bottom and top cam boxes for action on the butts in the different planes so that the two sets of needles knit respectively at spaced feeders, and embroidery mechanism comprising thread guiding means operable in conjunction with needles in the bottom cylinder and means for operating said guides so as to wrap desired bottom cylinder needles with embroidery thread.

4. A knitting machine which includes, in combination, two needle beds, two sets of needles, one half of each set being in alternating relationship in one bed and the remainder of each set in similar relationship in the other bed, feeders for inually operable thread guides and means for so operating the said guides selectively that desired ones of corresponding needles in one of the needle beds are wrapped with .embroidery thread.

5. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders `for operating the needles, said needles and associated slidersbeing arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other .set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, dierent sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, and embroidery mechanism comprising as many individually operable thread guides as there are needles of one set in the bottom cylinder and means for so operating the .said

guides selectively that desired ones of said bottom cylinder needles are wrapped with embroidery thread.

6. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of Aone set alternate with the needles and sliders of :the other set in each of the cylinders, a plurality of feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles and causing them to knit at the feeders alternately, cam means located between the knitting stations at the feeders for eectng transference ofneedles from one cylinder to the other, and embroidery mechanism comprising thread guiding means operable in conjunction with needles in the bottom cylinder and ymeans for operating said guides so as to wrap desired bottom cylinder needles with embroidery thread.

7. A knitting machine which includes, in combination, two needle beds, two sets of needles, one half of each set being in alternating relationship in one bed and the remainder of each set in Iio similar relationship in the other bed, feeders` for introducing yarns to the said sets of needles, corresponding sets of cam systems for causing the respective sets of needles to knit independently, embroidery mechanism comprising individually operable thread guides and means for so operating the said guides selectively that desired ones of corresponding needles in one of the needle beds are wrapped with embroidery thread, and means for shogging the guides and needles relatively, for the purposes herein specied.

8. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets `of needles, dierent sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, movable thread guides for wrapping embroidery threads around .desired needles in the bottom cylinder, a grooved carrier for said thread .guides which carrier is arranged suchwise as to enable the guides to be moved in a plane at right angles to the axis of the needle cylinders,

and means for operating the guides.

9. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two'independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, ,different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, movable thread guides for wrapping embroidery threads around desired needles in the lbottom cylinder, said guides being differentiated from each other by the provision thereon of patterning butts so disposed as to be located in different planes, a -grooved carrier for the thread guides which carrier is arranged suchwise as to enable the guides to be moved in a plane at right angles to the axis of the needle cylinders, a selecting cam movable into any one of the aforementioned planes for action upon desired patterning butts for the purpose of advancing predetermined guides to Wrap.

10. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders for operating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and sliders of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, movable thread guides for wrapping embroidery threads around desired needles in the bottom cylinder for the purpose of obtaining wrap striping effects, a grooved carrier for said thread guides which carrier is arranged suchwise as to enable the guides to be moved in a plane which is normal to the axis of the aforesaid cylinders, means for operating the guides, and means for shogging the thread guides over needles.

11. A circular knitting machine which includes, in combination, superposed bottom and top needle cylinders, double-ended needles for operation in said cylinders, sliders in the cylinders foroperating the needles, said needles and associated sliders being arranged in two independently operable sets wherein needles and slidlers of one set alternate with the needles and sliders of the other set in each of the cylinders, feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles, movable thread guides for Wrapping embroidery threads around desired needles the bottom cylinder for the purpose of obtaining wrap striping elects, a grooved carrier for said thread guides which carrier is arranged suchwise as to enable the guides to be moved in a plane which is normal to the axis of the cylinders, means for operating the guides, and mechanism for eiecting turning movements of the thread guide carrier independently of the needle cylinders for the purpose of shogging the thread guides, said mechanism compm'sing a stepped cam, a disc cam to which said .stepped cam is connected, a support upon which said cams are mounted and which is fixed in relation to the needle cydinder, plungers arranged for action upon the stepped cam to impart turning movement to the latter and hence also to the disc cam in one direction or the other, means for controlling said plungers in accordance with patterning requirements, and connections between said disc cam and 4the thread guide carrier whereby the latter can be shogged to a desired extent in one direction or the other.

12. A knitting machine which includes, in combination, two needle beds, two sets of needles, one half of each set being in alternating relationship in one bed and the remainder of each set in similar relationship in the other bed, a plurality of feeders for supplying yarns independently to the respective sets of needles, different sets of cams for operating the said sets of needles and causing them to knit at the feeders alternately, cam means located between the knitting stations at the feeders for effecting transference of needles from one needle bed to the other, and mechanism for wrapping desired needles with embroidery thread.

13. A knitting machine which includes, in combination, two needle beds, two sets of latch needles, one half of each set being in alternating relationship in one bed and the remainder of each set in similar relationship in the other bed, feeders for introducing yarns to the said sets of needles. corresponding sets of cam systems for causing the respective sets of needles to knit independently, embroidery mechanism comprising individually operable thread guides and means for operating said guides so that desired needles in one of the beds are wrapped with embroidery thread, and means for moving any desired needie and corresponding thread guide relatively so that an embroidery thread is laid below the latch of the needle, for the purpose herein described.

EDWIN WILDT. HENRY HAROLD HOLMES. JOHN CYRIL HERBERT HURD.

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