US2065858A - Narrowing mechanism for knitting machines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1936. v s IMQN v 2,065,858

NARROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet? f" H INVENTOR'.

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AT? VEV Dec. 29,1936. r M I 2,065,858

NARROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING -MACHINES 7 Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sh'et 3 INVENTOR. 1%

A TTORNEY Dec. 29, 1936. s. IMON I NARROWING MECHANISM FOR-KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR. a. fl nru/ BY v A TTORNEY s. lMON 2,065,858 MRROWING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Dec. 29, 1936.

Filed Dec. 17, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORQ 4/4",

A TTORNEY Patented Deci 29, 1936 HJNES Sadami Imon, Komeno-cho, Nata-kn,

N a, J pan Application December 17,1934, Serial No. 757,950 In Japan December 28, 1933 2 Claims.

. This invention relates to a mechanism for automatically eifecting sc-called decreasing of the loops of thread in flat or Lamb type'knitting machines having two needle beds or rows of needles sloping at an angle of nearly 90. The object of the invention is to provide a knitting machine of such type in which the decreasing of the loops of thread can be automatically and accurately effected in a simple manner.

In the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example:- I

Figure 1 is a front view of the machine according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is'an enlarged front view in detail;

Fig. 3a is a sectional view showing the manner of slidably mounting racks for actuating knitting needles;

Figure 4 shows in section a part of a double shaft shown in Figure 3; a Figure 5 is an enlarged side view in detail; Figure 5a is an enlarged view of a detail;'

Figure 6 is a detail showing'one of the cam a controlled reciprocating rods;

Figure 7 is a detail showing the device for actuating transfer needles;

Fig. 7a is a section taken on line Ia-Ta. of'

. Fig. 7; 30' Figure -8 is a view diagrammatically showing the relation between the transfer needle and the V knitting needle;

. ,Figure 9, is an enlarged view showing the top of Figure 8;. v Figure 10 is, a section taken along line X-Y -ofFig.9; v Figure 11 is a detail of a transfer needle; Figure 12 is a detail showing a device for actuating a screw-threaded shaft; I

Figure 13 is a rear elevatiorrthereof; Figures 14 "and 15 are front and side views showing the coupling mounted on the cam shaft;

Figures 16 and 17 are details showing a latch- 0 ing bolt and actuating block therefor used 'in said coupling; v

Figures 18 to 22 showthe shape of various cams controlling the motion of the. device according to this invention; 1

Figure 23 is a diagram showing in orrder the operation of said cams.

showing the under side Referring to the drawings, mounted upon the frame I is a main shaft 2, to which is operatively connected a. shaft 3 through an intermediate ss'driving shaft 3'. To said shaft 3 are iixed a crank 4, an eccentric disc 5, and a sprocket wheel 6. ,Through an intermediate lever I and links 8 and 9, the end of the crank l is operatively connected to a main rocking lever H). An eccentric strap rod ll carries at its free end a pawl 12. Provided at the top of the right-hand side (Fig. 1) of the machine is a pattern mechanism comprising a roller 13 and a pattern'belt l5 surrounding said roller and carrying a plurality of feelers 14 arranged at desired intervals. A rotary weight It is provided for thepurpose of maintaining the pattern belt I5 in tension. On one side of the roller I3 is mounted a ratchet wheel (not shown) adapted to be rotated intermittently by means of the pawl I2 in accordance with the movement of the rod II. To the upper end of a bracket I1 is pivoted a lever l8 which is adapted to be engaged and lifted by the feelers M. The free end of the lever I8 is connected by. means of a link is to a reciprocating rod 2|, the latter carrying at its lower end an arc-shaped actuating block 20. (Figs. 14 and 16.) obliquely cut at both ends as shown in Figure 16, and is inserted in an annular groove 24-formed in the coupling disc 23 which is fixed on' the rotating shaft 22. The disc 23 is formed with a bore 24', and in said bore is inserted a latching bolt 25 provided with a recess 25' as shown in Figures 15 and 17. At the outer end, the bolt 25 is pressed inwardly by a spring 26 and the inner end thereof projects into a hole 21' formed'in-a sprocket wheel 21 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 22. .Said sprocket wheel 21 is driven from the sprocket wheel 6 on the shaft 3 by means of a driving chain 28. There is provided suitable means (not shown) influenced bythe rotation of the cam shaft 22 for stopping the motion of the main rocking lever l0 during the rotation of said shaft 22. 1 7 V At the end of the rotating shaft 22 there are secured a plurality of cams A, 'B, C, E and D, with which respectively engage reciprocating rods A, B, C, E and the short arm D of a bell'crank lever 3|, each by means of ,an antifrictionroller 29. In order to ensure good engagement, each reciprocating rod is pulled downwardly by means of a spring 30 as shownin Figure 6, and the lever 3| is provided with an extension 3| which is pulled leftwardly (in Figure 1) by a spring 32.

Mounted on the top of the frame are rails 33 (Figs; 1 and 5), on each of which is mounted a carriage 35 for actuating needles and.

also-a base 35 supporting a transfer needle mech anism, The carriage 35 is operatively connectedthrough a link to the upper end of the main or narrowing has been done.

rocking lever I I in usual manner. The base II is operatively connected through a link I1 to the free end of the bell crank lever II. On the base II is secured a guide block II, having a guide way (Figs. 3, 5, and 7) with which engages a slide 39. The upper surface of said slide 38 is formed with a rack 39'. Secured at right angles to the slide I8 is a guide rail II. A reciprocator II engages with said guide rail II, and it is normally pulled downwardly and rearwardly by means of springs 42 and II. To one side of the guide block 38 is secured a guide plate II which engages with a pin II secured on one side of the reciprocator II. Said guide plate 44 is so shaped that, when the slide 39 is retracted with the rail II and the reciprocator II, the latter is moved upwardly along the rail 40, the pin II on the reciprocator ascending along the front inclined edge of the guide plate II. At the front of the lower end of the reciprocator II there are secured a plurality of transfer needles II, and rearwardly thereof a brush I1 is secured. In Figure 7a four transfer needles I are shown, so that decreasing of loops is effected on four needles. This is for the purpose of producing a neat appearance of the edge-of the knitted article on which decreasing Provided also on the base It is a' bearing II (Figure 3), in which is lournaled a shaft II having a fixed gear II at its one end. Said gear 48 meshes with an intermediate gear II which in turn meshes'with the rack II. The other end of the shaft II is journaled in bearings I2 and II,-and between said bearings is a gear II which is slidable but nonrotatable relative to the shaft II. For this purpose, the shaft II is splined as at II, and the gear II is mounted thereon by means of a key II. The gear II meshes with a rack I'l formed on the reciprocating rod C associated with the earn 0.

Near the top of the frame I, a screw-threaded shaft II is rotatably mounted, which shaft having a fixed ratchet wheel II at its one end (Figs. 3, 5, 12, and 13). Loosely. mounted on said shaft II adjacent said ratchet wheei'is' a gear I2 having an arm II which carriesa pivoted pawl II. The gear I! meshes with a toothed rack II on the reciprocating rod E associated with the cam E. The pawl II is normally maintained in engagement with the ratchet wheel II by means of aspring II connected to the gear I2.

II is a needle bed adapted to traverse to and fro according to the rotation of the screw-threaded shaft II, and it is provided with a plurality of recesses II through which knitting needles Y project. Beneath said needle bed II is a double shaft consisting of an inner shaft I1 and an outer hollow shaft II. (Figs. 3. 4, and 5.) At the ends of the inner shaft II are mounted gears II and II, and at the ends of the outer shaft II are mountedgearsll and". 'Ihegears-II and II respectively mesh with toothed racks II and II formed on the upper ends of the reciprocating rodsA'andB'respecttvelyassociatedwiththe camsAandB. ThegearIIontheotherendof theinnershaftI'lmesheswithatoothedrack II having a butt II at its rear end and adapted toadvancetheknittingneedlesll. Forthepurpose,thebuttII'oftherackIIengageswiththe rearfaces ofthe butts of theneedles II. The gearIIonthesameendoftheoutershaftII meshes withatoothed rack II havingabutt II atits rear end and adaptedtoretracttheknittingneedlesII. SaidracksIIandIIareslidably mountedinslotsformedinablocksecuredtoa ber of loops of thread.

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fixed part of the frame as best shownin mgure 3a.

As shown in Figure 5, there are two needle beds II and both are operatively connected to the shaft 58, and both are equally provided with knitting and transfer needles andactuating means therefor as hereinbefore described. Al-

though the cams and reciprocating rods actuated thereby are shown. only for the left hand needle beg II in Figure 5 for ,the sake of clearne'ss, it i o be understood that actually another set of quite similar cams and reciprocating rods is provided also for the right hand needle bed, so that decreasing of loops is effected on both needle beds. For the purpose, the butt II of the rack II engages with the front faces of the butts of the needles 34; As shown in Figure 3, the racks II and II are horizontally spaced but the butts II and 16' thereof are brought into same vertical plane, as shown in Fig. 50, so that the butts II and II alternately act upon the same needles, one pushing the needles forwardly and the other pushing the needles-'rearwardly. As shown in Fig. 5a,theracks'I Iand'IIaredesignedto operate four needles at a time. The operation of this invention is as follows:- The main shaft 2 drives the shaft} and, as the latter rotates, the main rocking lever II is actuated through the links I and I and-it gives reciprocating sliding movements tothe carriage II. whereby operating the knitting needles as in the usual manner. At the same time, the pawl II which is associated with the eccentric disc I intermittently rotates the roller II with the pattem belt II, and a feeler II thereon engages with the projection on the lever II and lifts the latter, whereby the link II and the reciprocating rod 2| carrying the actuating block II are lifted. whereupon, the latching bolt II under the influence of thespring II is pressed inwardly and engages with the hole 21' in the sprocket wheel 21, whereby the latter is operatively connected to the shaft through the coupling disc II, and the shaft flisrotated. Whenthelatchlng bolt 2I again comes to the uppermost position after having completed one revolution, it is disengaged from the sprocket wheel 21 by the action of the actuating block 1|. which has already returned into the groove 24, the lever II having returned to the normal lowered position, where-,. by the coupling disc II is-disengaged from the sprocket wheel 21, and its rotation ceases. Thus, it will be seen that the cam shaft It performs only one rotation ata time, and during such rotation the various earns thereon automatically control the mechanism for decreasing the num- The cam D controls. through the lever II and the link 31, the movement of the base II' carrying the needle transfer mechanism.

The cams A and B respectively control the rotation of the inner and outer shafts I1 and II for projecting and retracting the knitting needles II.

Thecamccontrolstherotationoftheshaftll foractuatingtheslidellthroughthegears II and II, thereby controlling the movement of they transfer needles II. a

The cam controls the rotation of the gear I2 for rotating the screw-threaded shaft II, thereby shifting the needle beds II for oneneedle interval.

. The so-called decreasing operation according tothisinventionisaccomplishedbythemechau nism actuated by the combined control of said various cams in the following manner;

Refer mainly to Figure 23. As the cam shaft 22 rotates, the base 36 moves from the predeter mined rest position to the position at which "decreasing should be effected. (The cam D, from point a to point 1).) By this time, the cam A has already acted upon the rack I5, and that knitting needle which is to be decreased or eliminated is lifted for some" extent. At the point e (in Fig. 23), the needle 34 is advanced to the position P shown in Figure 7. At this moment, the-spoon-like latch 34' turns back. (But, the transfer needle 46 is yet in a rear and upper position.) Such movement of the knitting needle is effected by the movement of the cam A, point 0. Next, the transfer needle carried by the reciprocator 4| advances along the guide plate 44, and the tip of the transfer needle 46 comes beneath the turned latch 34' as just shown in Figure 7. This is'effected by the cam 0 moved to point 0'. Next, the knitting needle 34 and the latch 34', together with the transfer needle 46, further advance to the position as shown in Figure 9 (point d in Fig-23). The loop of thread is disengaged from the latch 34' and is engaged by the transfer needle. This is effected by the cams A and C, point d. The knitting needle is further advanced so as to have the loop entirely disengaged from thelatch 34 as shown in position Q in Figure 8. This is effected by the cam A, point e. Next, the knitting needle is retracted to the position R in Figure 8. This is efiected by the cam B, point i. The toothed rack I5 starts to be lowered. This is effected by the cam A. Whenthe toothed rack 15 is brought near the upper rest position by the cam B, the needle bed isshifted transversely for one needle interval. This is eflected by the cam E, from point g to point 11.. Consequently, one knitting needle is eliminated, and the needle carrying the nextloop is advanced. In the position R in Figure 8, the latch 34 isclosed, but

upon the advance movement of the needle the latch 34' is opened by the action of the brush 41 (Fig. 7) and it receives the loop from the transfer needle. This is effected by the cam A, from point i to point 7'. The transfer needle 46 is then retracted leaving the loop upon the knitting needle which has just advanced. This is eifected by the cam C, from point It to point I. Then, the toothed rack 15 is lowered or retracted to the rest position. This is effected by the cam A, from point 121. to pointn. Thus, the so-called decreasing operation is effected automatically. After finishing said operation, the base" 36 is returned to the above-mentioned rest position. This is effected by the cam D, from point n to point a.

The time at which the above-mentioned de- I creasing" operation is effected is determined by the pattern belt 15, and by suitably designing this invention is designed for use in knitting tubular fabric, it can be used also for knitting thicker plain fabric, knitting on both needle banks simultaneously, as is usual in existing flat type knitting machines.

What I claim is:-

1. A mechanism for automatically decreasing the number of loops in flat type knitting machines comprising a cam shaft, a cam on said shaft con--. trolling the advancing movement of the knitting needles, a second cam on said shaft controlling the retractive movement' of said knitting needles, a third cam on said shaft controlling a transfer needle, a transfer needle mechanism, a' base supporting said mechanism, a fourth cam on said shaft controlling the shift of said base, a needle bed, a fifth cam on said shaft controlling said needle bed, a coupling upon said shaft, means including a pattern for actuating said coupling so as to rotate said shaft 2. single revolution, a reciprocator carrying said transfer needle controlled by said third cam so as to impart thereto a movement parallel relative to the base and at right angles to the movement of the knitting needle, said cams being so constructed-that upon rotation said base is first shifted by said fourth cam from the predetermined rest position to a position at which decreasing should be effected, then the tip of the transfer needle is brought below the latch of the knitting needle by the third cam, then said transfer needle and kitting needle are advanced together under the influ-- ence of the first and third cams, then said knitting needle only is retracted under the influence of the second cam, transferring the loop from said knitting needle to said transfer needle, then the knitting needle is shifted transversely relative to the transfer needle under the influence of the fifth cam, then next the knitting needle is advanced under the influence of the first cam to the position of the loop that has been just transferred, then the transfer needle is retracted under the influence of the third cam, thereby transferring the loop to the knitting needle just advanced, and then the base is returned to the first mentioned rest position under the influence of the fourth cam.

2. A mechanism for automatically decreasingthe number of lops in flat type knitting machines ed to said shaft but upon completion of one rotation of said shaft saidlatching bolt is disengaged from'said sprocket .wheel provided said block has been lowered whereby the driving connection is disengaged.

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