US1995644A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1935. M. c. MILLER KNITTING MACHINE 19 0 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 5 March 26, 1935. c MlLLER 1,995,644

KNITTING MACHINE Q Original Filed March 3, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 26, 1935.

' M. C. MILLER I KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed March 5, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 26, 1935. M, c. MILLER 1,995,644

KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed March 5, 1930 4 sh ts-sh et 4 f zueizivn' Patented Mar. 26, .1935

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 3, 1930, Serial No. 432,792

, Renewed April 5, 1933 40 Claims.

The present invention relates to knitting machines for knitting turn welt fabric and is here- .in more specifically disclosed as embodied in a flat Cotton system full-fashioned hosiery ma- 5 chine.

The principal object of the present invention is to modify and improve the construction and operation of a machine for producing turned welt fabric to make the machine more economical and efficient and more fully automatic in operation than machines of this type previously produced.

More specifically, one object of the invention contemplates the provision of welt turning devices particularly adapted for use in a full-fash- 15 ioned hosiery machine which are automatic in operation and permit the turning of the welt and the subsequent knitting of the leg portion of the stocking without interrupting the continued knitting on the machine.

With these objects in view, the several features of the invention consist in the devices, combinations and arrangement'of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims which, together with the advantages to be obtained thereby, will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is aview in front elevation of two sections of a Cotton system full-fashioned machine embodying the several features of the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2'2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of one section of the machine, illustrating particularly the assembly of the welt turning devices including a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail view in side elevation of the actuating cams for the welt turning devices; Fig. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic view corresponding to Fig. 2, illustrating particularly the positions of certain of the operating parts including the opcrating cams and certain of the shaft centers and their cooperating parts; Fig. '7 is a view in left elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5 and illustrating particularly the cam for projecting the transfer hooks during the setting-up operation; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 5 illustrating particularly the cam for advancing the carrier during the operation of transferring the loops back onto the needles at the end of the welt turning operation; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 5; Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view in left elevation illustrating particularly the transfer element bed, needle, 55 sinker and knockover elements in the positions taken during normal knitting at the end of the yarn sinker measuring operation; Fig. 11 is a similar view illustrating the parts in position with the welt hooks advanced between the needles and the initial course of yarn held on the sinker nibs; 5

Fig. 12 is a similar view but with the sinkers withdrawn and the loops held on the welt hooks; Fig.

13 is a similar view illustrating the parts in position with the needles at press during the knitting of the next suceeding course; Fig. 14 shows the 10 parts in position with the needle retracted to the knockover level; Fig. 15 is a similar view with the transfer elements advanced in position over the needles preparatory to returning the loops held on the transfer elements to the needles; Fig. 16 is 15 a somewhat similar view with the needles advanced through the loops formerly held on the transfer elements and these elements again in retracted position; Fig. 1'? is a detail plan view partly in section taken on the line 1717 of Fig.

11; Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken on the line 1818 of Fig. 11; Fig. 19 is a detail view in side elevation of a welt hook; Fig. 20 is a detail view in side elevation of one of the transfer elements; and Fig. 21 is a plan view of two cooperating 25 transfer elements in their normal position.

The knitting machine herein disclosed as embodying in a preferred form the several features of the present invention comprises a multiple section flat full-fashioned hosiery machine which is adapted for the production of turned welt fabric. This machine comprises a number of sections each of which as is usual in this type of machine includes a series of collectively operated spring beard needles which are given a vertical reciprocatory movement to pulldown new loops and lateral reciprocatory movements toward and. away from fixed pressing surfaces to close-the needle beards and cast off the old loops, and a series of independently movable sinkers which are 90 actuated to position and kink the new yarn about the needle shanks. The machine is also provided with welt turning mechanism similar in many respects to the welt turning mechanism disclosed in applicant's pending application Serial No. 351,997, filed April 2, 1929, but which is constructed and arranged to act automatically when thrown into operation upon starting the machine to take the initial course of loops from the needles and after a sufficient length of welt fabric has been knitted, to transfer these loops back to the needles without interfering with the continued operation of the machine.

The mechanism for turning the welts comprises a series of movable supports or carriers,

one for each section of the machine. As in the mechanism of the application above referred to,

' a series of welt hooks corresponding in number and in position to the needles are mounted on the supports to slide relatively to a corresponding series of transfer elements or cheeks which are rigidly secured to the supports, two of these elements being provided to cooperate with each hook. In the operation of the machine, the hooks are projected from between the transfer elements in the carrier which is then advanced and positioned to register the hooks between the needles to receive the loops of the setting-up course of yarn. The carrier is then retracted under a suitable tension to draw the loops of the succeeding courses in the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric to the backs of the needles. At a later point in the knitting of the welt, a take-up bar, placed across the welt and attached by suitable straps to the fabric take-up, is rendered operative so that with the continued knitting, the fabric is drawn beneath the carrier and the loops held on the welt hooks are drawn rearwardly onto the transfer elements. The hooks are now moved to a retracted position in the carrier which is again advanced and positioned laterally to place the loops which are now held on the transfer elements over the needles.

In carrying out the several features of the present invention, a simple and efficient welt turning mechanism of the general description outlined above has been devised which is more fully automatic in operation and is further constructed and arranged to permit the turning of the welt and the subsequent knitting of the leg portion of the stocking without interrupting the continued knitting on the machine.

In a flat full-fashioned machine of the type herein disclosed, a fabric tension is employed to clear the old loops to the backs of the needles during the knitting of each successive course. During the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric while the initial loops are held on the welt hooks, this tension is provided, in the present construction, by means of a tensioning device which acts on the welt hook support to move the welt hooks yieldingly away from the needles. Due to the fact that the support must necessarily move back and forth to some extent with the needles as they are moved toward and away from the fixed pressing surfaces, considerable diiliculty has been encountered in adjusting the tension to overcome the weight of, the support and its cooperating elements and still maintain the tension within the required limits. With a view to overcoming this diiilculty, in the present construction, the carrier has been made of the lightest possible materials to reduce so far as possible the strain on the needles due to the inertia of the carrier, and has been mounted on its supports in a manner to eliminate, so far as possible, any frictional resistance to the movement of the carrier with the needles in their lateral movements toward and away from the pressing surface in knitting the welt.

In order to leave the carrier as free as possible to move under the influence of its tension, the mechanism for advancing and positioning laterally the carrier, with its welt hooks and transfer elements to take the initial course of loops from the needles and for again advancing and positioning the carrier at the end of the welt turning operation to complete the turning of the welt, is constructed and arranged to be normally out of contact with the carrier and to engage therewith only when rendered operative to advance the carrier.

With the present construction, the welt turning mechanism is further constructed and arranged to permit the regular take-up or fabric tension to be hooked to the take-up bar positioned across the fabric and put in operation by the operator along each section of the machine during the continued knitting of the welt portion of the fabric. To enable the operator more readily to hook the take-up straps to the take-up bars on the fabric, the clearance space between the machine and the under side of the carrier through which the fabric is drawn by the take-up is extended laterally to each side of the carrier and enlarged to afford ample room for the operator to reach in and hook the straps to the ends of the take-up bars. With the use of a tensioning device for the carrier which is separate from the regular take-up of the machine and with the general construction and arrangement of the partsherein disclosed, the regular take-up is substituted for the carrier take-up during the continued operation of the machine without interfering with the proper tensioning of the fabric. It is further possible to cast of! the old fabric and immediately to set up a new fabric on the machine without the necessity of first removing the finished fabric from the regular take-up, thus effecting an important saving of time and materially speeding up production on the machine. After the machine is again in operation, the operator has time to remove the old fabric, extract the take-up bars therefrom, and again to hook up the regular fabric take-up while the new fabric is still held on the welt hooks and tensioned against the carrier take-up.

Referring more specifically to the drawings which illustrate twosections of a multiple-section full-fashioned fiat knitting machine, the frame of the machine comprises the stanchions or side frames 22 which are spaced one section apart along the length of the machine, the table 24, the support 26 on which the sinkers are carried, the back rail 28, and the front rail 30, these parts being similar to those usually found in machines of this description. The needles are in-. dicated at 34 rigidly held in a needle bar 36 by means of a clamp 38. The needle bar 36 consists of a frame which extends across two sections of the machine and is pivotally mounted at 40 on the ends of laterally extending supporting levers 42 which are rigidly secured to a rock shaft 44. In order to impart the required vertical movements to the needles to draw down new loops, the rock shaft 44 is provided with a downwardly extending lever arm 46 which is provided with a cam roll 48 adapted to ride on a cam 50 secured to the cam shaft 52 and is held in engagement therewith by means of a tension spring 54 secured at one end to a hook on the downwardly extending projection of the lever 46 and at its other end to a point on the back rail 28. In order to impart the required lateral oscillatory movements to the needles toward and away from the fixed pressing surfaces 56, the needle bar or frame 36 is provided with a downwardly extending lever arm 58 which is actuated by means of a lever arm 60 secured to a rock shaft 62 through a connecting link 64. The shaft 62 is rocked to impart the required lateral movements to the needles by means of a downwardly extending cam lever arm 66 which is provided with a cam roll 68 adapted during the normal knitting to ride on a cam 70 secured to the cam shaft 52 and held in engagement therewith by the tension spring 72 which is secured at one end to the lower end of the cam lever 66 and at its other end to a point on the machine frame.

Independently movable sinkers indicated at 74 are provided to cooperate with the needles and are mounted to slide in grooves on the support 26. The sinkers are moved forward to sink yarn around the needle shanks by means of the usual sinker cam and slur cock construction not here described. A catch bar of ordinary construction is shown at 78 provided with a slot to engage the sinker butts. The catch bar is also provided at intervals along its length with rearwardly extending members 80 such as those shown in Fig. 2, which are pivotally secured to the upper ends of the vertically arranged actuating levers 82 pivotally mounted at 84 on the machine frame. These levers are actuated from the cam shaft of the machine through mechanism of ordinary construction not here disclosed. The knockover bits for the machine are indicated at 86 and are mounted in slotted portions of a supporting bar 88.

The machine is further provided with the usual fabric take-up which comprises a shaft 90 which runs the length of the machine and is mounted to turn on brackets 92 spaced at intervals along the length of the machine. The shaft 90 is provided at one end with a pulley 94 over which runs a tensioning cord 96 which is attached at its other end to a counterweight, not shown. The pulley is connected to turn the shaft to tension the fabric when it is rotated in one direction under the influence of the tensioning tape 96 but is free to rotate with relation to the shaft in the opposite direction. A small crank 97 is provided on the pulley 94 to enable the operator by winding the tape 96 onto the pulley to apply a tensioning strain to the shaft 90. A series of fabric takeup rolls are formed on the shaft 90 corresponding to each section of the machine onto which the fabric is wound. Take-up suspenders or straps 99 are attached to the take-up rolls and are adapted at their free ends to be connected to take-up bars laid on the welt portion of the fabric as hereinafter described.

The welt turning mechanism comprises a series of welt hooks 98 which are mounted to slide in slots formed in a carrier support or carrier 100, one carrier being provided for each section of the machine, and a series of transfer elements or cheeks 102 cooperating with the hooks and fixedly secured in the carrier. The welt hooks 98 are held in their slots by cover bars indicated at 104 and 106 respectively, which are rigidly mounted on the carrier by means of bolts 108. The transfer elements or cheeks 102 of which there are two provided to cooperate with each hook, are mounted in slots formed in a flange 110 on the cover bar 104. Each cheek is provided with a rearwardly and downwardly extending V-shaped locking portion which fits tightly into the notch formed between the flange and the body portion of the cover bar 104. A bar 112 overlying the tops of the transfer members locks the members rigidly in position. The cheek members are formed with pointed tips which are bent to bring each pair of points cooperating with the corresponding welt hook yieldingly together. When the welt hooks are projected from the carrier, the tips of the transfer members are spread to allow the welt hook to pass between them and are adapted to ride in corresponding grooves formed in each side of the shank of the welt hook. The welt hcfaoks 98 are projected from and are retracted into the carrier as a unit by means of a cam bar 114 which is fitted into corresponding notches formed in the shanks of the welt hooks. In order to move the bar with relation to the carrier to advance or retract the welt hooks, a cam plate 116 is mounted to slide laterally of the carrier on ways formed by the front and rear cover members 104 and 106 andis provided with diagonal slots 118 which engage with pins 120 mounted in the cam bar 114.\ The cam plate 116 is moved manually to advance and retract the welt hooks by means of a hand lever 122 which is mounted to turn on a pivot 124 on the carrier and is provided at its forward end with a pin 126 which engages with a corresponding slot 128 in the cam plate 116. With this construction and arrangement of parts, it will be noted that the hand lever is swung by the operator in an are which is substantially lateral to L the movement of the carrier toward and away from the needles so that no additional strain is placed on the carrier tending to disturb its position with relation to the needles in advancing or retracting the welt hooks with relation to the transfer elements. For a more complete disclosure of the construction and mode of operation of the welt hooks and transfer elements herein described, reference may be had to the applicants pending application Serial No. 351,997 above referred to.

In order to provide supports for the welt takeup bar 132 so that this bar may be readily placed in operation by the operator during the continued knitting of the welt portion of the fabric, a supporting member 134 is pivotally secured at 136 to each end of the carrier 100 and is provided on its upper side with a grooved portion 138 to receive the welt take-up bar 132. During the normal operation of the machine, the support members 134 are held in a raised' position shown in Fig. 16 by means of a leaf spring 140 rigidly secured at 142 to the carriage and adapted to bear against the under side of the supporting member 134. The downward movement of each member 134 against the pressure of its spring 140 is limited by the engagement of a flange 144 formed on the upper edge of the supporting member 134 with a portion of the carrier. During the welt turning operation, the supporting members 134 are held in low position as shown in Fig. 10 by means of spring pressed plungers 146 which are mounted on a horizontal plate on the carrier as best shown in Fig. 3 to project over the upper edge of the supporting members 134 to latch these parts in their low position. Each plunger 146 is mounted in a casing 148 and is further provided with an upwardly extending knob or pin 150 which projects through a slot in the top of the casing 148 and limits the projecting movement of the plunger under the influence of its spring. After the knitting of the welt fabric has been started, the operator depresses the supporting members 134 to the low position shown in Fig. 10 and places the welt take-up bars in the grooved portions 138. At a later point in the knitting of the welt, the operator carries the take-up bar 132 forward around the supporting members 134 and places it in a groove 154 formed on the under side of the supporting member 134 where it is held by the tension of the fabric between the needles and the welt hooks. A suspender or take-up strap is secured to each end of the take-up which is gradually retracted beneath the carrier, as shown by the dotted line positions in Figs. and 16. The operator now manually retracts the spring plungers 146 to unlatch the supporting members 134 which are permitted to swing upwardly to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 16, under the pressure of their springs 140.

In order to permit the take-up straps to be attached to the take-up bars and the take-up bars to be placed in operative position during the continued knitting of the welt portion of the fabric, the welt carrier is mounted in such a manner as to give free access to the operator to perform this operation. For this purpose, the carrier 100 is mounted to reciprocate on ways 156 which are located above the carrier and the track is in turn mounted on brackets 158 which are shaped to allow the operator sufficient room to insert his hand so that he may readily attach the take-up straps to the takeup bar.

A tensioning device is provided which tends at all times to move the welt hook carrier to its retracted position away from the needles. Straps 180 attached to each carrier pass over and are secured to take-up rolls 162 on a shaft 164 which extends throughout the length of the machine, and is mounted to turn in the supporting brackets 185. In order to secure the desired tension on the welt hook carries, a steel tape 166 is provided which extends over a pulley 168 mounted at one end of ths'shaft 164 and is attached to a counterweight not shown.

The welt hook carrier herein illustrated as embodying certain features of the present invention has been constructed and mounted in a manner to permit the use of a tensioning device for the carrier which is adapted to maintain a constant tension on the fabric during the knitting of the successive courses of the welt portion of the fabric while the loops are held on the welt hooks. Since the fabric tension exerted to clear the needles must necessarily be adjusted within comparatively narrow limits to draw the cast-oil! loops back of the needles at the knockover level without at the same time causing excessive strain to be placed on the needles at other points in the knitting operation, more particularly during the pressing and sinking operations, difficulty has been experienced in adjusting the tension on the carrier to overcome the frictional resistance and weight of the carrier to clear the needles without causing an excessive strain to be brought on the needles during the sinking and pressing operations. with the present construction, the carrier is made of aluminum to reduce so far as possible the strain produced by the movement of the carrier in the fabric back and forth with the needles as these are moved toward and away from the fixed pressing surfaces to close the needle beards. In order to reduce the frictional resistance to the movement of the carrier, the carrier is suspended from four rollers 172 which are adapted to ride freely on the track 174, provision being made for a certain amount of lateral play for the carrier and rollers to prevent any unnecessary frictional resistance to the movement of the carrier.

Mechanisms are provided for automatically advancing the carrier and for positioning the carrier laterally to register the welt hooks accurately between the needles and to position the transfer elements over the needles at the end of the welt turning operation to return the loops to the needles. These mechanisms are constructed and arranged to engage with the welt hook carrier only when the carrier is to be advanced to bring the welt hooks or transfer elements into cooperative relationship with the needles so that the carrier during the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric will-be free to move back under the influence of its take-up. In order to register the welt hooks accurately between the needles when the carrier is advanced to cause these elements to take the loops of the initial course of the welt portion of the fabric from the needles, corresponding cam surfaces indicated at 176 are formed on the inner edges of the tracks 174 and are adapted to be engaged by corresponding surfaces on the carrier so that the carrier will be positioned laterally with a high degree of accuracy with relation to the needles when moved to its advanced position. In order to permit an adjustment of the carrier laterally to register the hooks and transfer elements properly with the needles, the surfaces in engagement with the cam surfaces 176 take the form of set screws 178 which are mount ed on brackets 160 formed'olrthe carrier. At the end of the welt turning operation, the carrier is again advanced to register the transfer elements over the tops of the needles. Since the carrier at this time is advanced to a point somewhat nearer the needles than is required to project the welt hooks between the needles to take the initial loops of the welt fabric and must also be moved laterally to register the transfer elements over the needles, a second pair of cam surfaces 182 are formed on the track 174 in advance of the cams 176 and are adapted to engage with the set screws 178 to position the carrier laterally in its advanced position to transfer the loops back to the needles.

The mechanism for advancing the welt hook carrier into the several operative positions above described with relation to the needles comprises a pair of thrust members 184 one at each end of the carrier which are pivotally secured at their rear ends to corresponding lever arms 186 rigidly secured to a rock shaft 188 which extends the length of the machine. The forward ends of the thrust members are provided with shoulders which are adapted to engage with corresponding abutments 190 in the plate 192 secured to each end of the carrier and are supported on pins 194 which ride on the top rail of the track 174.

The shaft 188 is rocked to bring the thrust members of latches 184 into engagement with the abutments 190 to advance the carrier through mechanism which comprises the downwardly extending lever 196 which is rigidly secured to the rock shaft 188. In order to permit the use of relatively small advancing cams for the carrier, the lever 196 is adapted to cooperate with a second lever 198 which is loosely mounted on the rock shaft 188 and at its lower end is forked to provide a support for the drums 200 which carry the cam rolls 202 and 204. The cam lever 198 is yieldingly urged in a direction to cause the cam rolls 202 and 204 to be held in engagement with their operating cams by means of a tension spring 206 which is connected at one end to an extension of the cam lever 198 and at its other end to a point on the machine frame. The movement of the cam lever 198 under the tension of its spring toward the cam shaft 52 is limited by the engagement of a stop 205 formed on the lever with the shaft 62. During the normal operation of the machine when the carrier is held retracted in inoperative position, the lever 196 will assume the inoperative position shown in Fig. 2. When, however, it is desired to operatively connect the carrier to the cam lever 198 prior to the placing of the initial course of loops on the welt hooks or transferring these loops back to the needles at the end of the welt turning operation, the shaft 188 carrying the lever arms 186 and thrust member 184 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction by the operator to bring the carrier to a point in close proximity to the needles where it is held by the engagement of an abutment 207 formed on the shaft 188 with one of two notches formed in a latch 208 which is loosely mounted to turn on the shaft 90. Prior to the starting of the machine, the carrier is advanced to a. point illustrated by the position A of the shaft 188 and arms 186 in dotted lines where it is held by the engagement of the abutment 207 with the inner notch of the latch 208. When the carrier is again advanced during the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric to connect the carrier operatively to its actuating cam lever 198 prior to the transferring of the loops back to the needles, the abutment 207 is engaged with the outer notch of the latch 208 to maintain the carrier at a point corresponding to the dotted line position of the shaft 188 and arms 186 indicated at B in Fig. 4.

In order to permit the shaft 188 to be rocked to advance the carrier into operative position manually, the lever 196 is further provided with a handle 214 which projects outwardly toward the front of the machine. At the same time that the carrier is advanced manually as above described, the lever 196 is moved past a position In alignment with the cam lever 198 where it is .held by the engagement of a spring pressed plunger 210 mounted in the end of the lever 196 with a corresponding recess 211 formed in the cam lever 198. The plunger 210 is provided with a beveled edge to permit the lever 196 to be readily moved into locking position. It will readily be seen that when the lever 198 is moved outwardly under the influence of its operating cams, the lever 196 will be carried with it to advance the carrier in timed relation to the rotation of the cam shaft 52 of the machine. The plunger 210 at its rear end is connected to one end of a short hand lever 212 which is pivotally mounted on the lever 196 so that the lever 196 may be readily disconnected from the hand lever 198 to permit.

the carrier to be retracted again to its inoperative position.

The cam lever 198 is operated to advance the carrier to position the welt hooks between the needles at the beginning of the welt turning operation and is again advanced to another position to bring the transfer elements over the needles at the end of the welt turning operation by means of two cams 224 and 226 which are mounted on a sleeve 228 keyed to turn with the cam shaft 52. During the normal operation of the machine, the sleeve 228 carrying the actuating cams 224 and 226 is held in a neutral position as shown in Fig. 1 intermediate the limits of its lengthwise movement of the cam shaft 52. At the beginning of the welt turning operation, the cam sleeve is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 1 to cause the cam 224 to engage with the cam roll 204 to move the cam lever 198 to bring the welt hooks between the needles, and is then returned to its intermediate or neutral position. At the end of the welt turning operation, the sleeve is moved to the left to bring the cam 226 into engagement with the roll 202 to move the carrier to a still more advanced position to transfer the loops held on the transfer elements back to the needles. The cam sleeve 228 is then returned automatically to its neutral position.

Mechanism is provided which acts automatically when thrown into operation to move the cam sleeve 228 into and out of operating position, as above described, to advance the carrier into operating position at the beginning of the welt turning operation and again after a sufficient amount of welt fabric has been produced, to return the loops to the needles. This mechanism comprises the shifting lever 230 which is rigidly secured to a sleeve 232 on the rock shaft 234 and extends upwardly behind the cam shaft A pin 235 is formed on the shifting lever 230 to engage with corresponding shifting cams formed on the left-hand end of the sleeve 228 as shown in Fig. 5. A second shifting lever 236, also secured to the sleeve 232, extends upwardly in front of the cam shaft 52 and is provided with a pin 238 adapted to engage with corresponding shifting cams formed on the right-hand end of the sleeve 228 as viewed in Figs. 1 and5. With this construction of the parts, it will be seen that the rotation of the sleeve 232 in one direction will bring one shifting lever into closer proximity with the shifting cams on the sleeve 228 while the other lever 236 is at the same time moved away from the sleeve, whereas a rotation of the sleeve 232 in the opposite direction will bring the shifting lever 236 into operative relation with the shifting cams on the sleeve 228. A spring 240 connected at one end to the shifting lever 230 and at its other end to the machine frame, tends to rock the shifting levers 230 and 236 on the sleeve 232 in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. The shifting levers 230 and 236 are normally held in neutral position against the pressure of the spring 240 by the engagement of the outer of two notches formed in a latch 242 loosely mounted on the shaft 244 with the upwardly extending tip of the shifting lever 230.

The sleeve 232 is rocked to move the shifting levers 230 and 236 into operative position to shift the cam sleeve 228 by means of connections which include a bracket 246 rigidly secured to the rock shaft 234 and provided with a set screw 248 adapted to engage with an abutment 250 on the sleeve 232 so that a clockwise rotation of the shaft 234 as shown in Fig. 2 will carry with it the sleeve 232, whereas a movement of the rock shaft 234 in a counter-clockwise direction will permit a similar movement of the sleeve 232 under the pressure of the spring 240. The rock shaft 234 is further provided with the cam lever 252 which carries a cam roll 254 adapted to engage with a corresponding cam 256 formed on a sleeve 258 which is keyed to slide on the cam shaft 52. During the normal operation of the machine, the sleeve 258 is held in a position to the left as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 so that the cam 256 is held out of operative relationship with the roll 254 by the engagement at one point in each revolution of the cam shaft of a cam 264 secured to a flange 266 formed on the sleeve 258 with a fixed cam 260 which is mounted on a bracket 262 on the machine. The sleeve 258 is also provided with a groove 268 adapted to receive a cam roll 270 formed on the hand lever 272 which is pivotally secured on the rear rail 28 and extends toward the front of the machine over the sleeve 258. In order to throw the welt turning mechanism into operation upon starting the machine, the hand lever 272 is shifted to the right by the operator, as shown in Fig. 1, carrying with it the cam sleeve 258 so that the cam 256 is brought into operative engagement with the roll 254 to throw into operation the mechanism for advancing the carriage as above described.

Cams are provided on the cam sleeve 228 which cooperate with the shifting levers 230 and 236 when rendered operative to move the sleeve in one direction or the other into operating position and then at the end of one revolution of the cam shaft to return the sleeve to its neutral position. When the shifting lever 230 is moved into close proximity to the cam sleeve 228 upon starting the machine as above described, bringing the tip of the lever 230 into engagement with the inner notch of the latch lever 242, the pin 235 formed on the lever is brought into the path of a cam 2'13 formed on the sleeve and immediately engages with the inclined surface 2'14 best shown in Fig. '1, causing the sleeve 228 to be moved to the right, as viewed in Fig. 5. At the end of one revolution of the cam shaft 52 and the sleeve 228 during which period an initial course of loops will have been set up on the needles and taken by the welt hooks as above described. the shifting levers 230 and 236 are again returned to their neutral position by the engagement of a cam 2'15 on the sleeve 228 with the latch 242 which causes the latch 242 momentarily to be raised, allowing the shifting lever 230 to move outwardly under the pressure of its spring 240 into contact with the outer notch of the latch lever 242. This movement of the shifting lever 236 to its intermediate position is timed to bring the pin 238 formed thereon into engagement with the inclined surface of a cam 2'16 formed on the sleeve, thus causing the sleeve 228 to be moved to the left to its neutral position.

Cams are also provided on the sleeve 228 which are adapted to cooperate with the shifting levers 230 and 236 to move the sleeve 228 to the left from its neutral position at the end of the welt turning operation so that the cam 226 is brought into the path of the cam roll 202 on the lever 198 to advance the carrier with the transfer elements into operative relationship to the needles. To this end, the latch lever is raised by mechanism which will hereinafter be more fully described to allow the shifting lever 236 to move under the influence of the spring 240 into close proximity to the sleeve 228. This movement of the lever 236 causes the pin 238 to be brought into the path of a shifting cam 277 to move the sleeve 228 to the left, as shown in Fig. 5. In order to bring the sleeve 228 back to its neutral position at the end of one revolution of the cam shaft during which the loops held on the transfer elements are returned to the needles, a cam 278 is provided to engage with the pin 238 and force the lever 236 upwardly to its intermediate position where it is held by the engagement of the latch 242 with the top of the shifting lever 230, thus bringing the pin 235 on the lever 230 into engagement with a shifting cam 2'19 adjacent the left hand end of the sleeve 228 as viewed in Pig. 5, to move the sleeve 228 back to its neutral position.

In order to space the needles properly from center to center and to align these elements socurately with relation to the welt hooks and transfer elements at the beginning and at the end of the welt turning operation, the illustrated machine is provided with especially constructed knockover bits similar to those described in the applicant's pending application Serial No. 397,- 424, filed October 4, 1929. These knockover bits are provided with end portions 280 which are thickened to substantially fill the entire space between the needles and are further constructed tobeoutoflinewiththe'needlesduringthenormal knitting of the machine. when the welt turning mechanism is thrown into operation, the needles are given an unusually wide lateral movement away from their pressing surfaces to bring them into line between the thickened portions 280 of the knockover bits to accurately space the needles at this time from center to center. The mechanism for advancing the carrier is therefore adapted to advance the welt hooks and the transfer elements to cooperate with the needles while held in this special position. The knockover bits are further provided with knockover surfaces which at the tips of the knockover bits are inclined downwardly away from the backs of the needles so that when the needles are retracted in this special position to draw down the fabric loops prior to transferring the loops held on the transfer elements back to the needles, the said fabric loops will be knocked over these inclined surfaces, thus bringing the fabric loops to a level considerably beneath the ordinary knockover level, and causing the fabric to be held in a correspondingly low position to give a comparatively wide clearance for the advancing transfer elements.

With the present construction, therefore, mechanism is provided for imparting to the needlu an unusually wide lateral movement at the beginning and at the end of the welt turning operation to bring these elements into alignment with the thickened portions of the knockover bits to cooperate with the welt hooks and transfer elements of the carrier. For this purpose, the cam roll 68 is mounted to slide on its pivot and may be moved laterally to engage with a cam 281 formed on the cam shaft 52 adjacent to the knitting cam '10. The position of the roll 68 is controlled by means of a shaft 282 which carries loosely mounted thereon a forked lever 283 which is adapted to engage with a groove formed in the hub of the cam roll 88. Two collars 284 rigidly secured to the shaft 282 on each side of the lever 283 cause the lever 283 and the roll 88 to be moved lengthwise with the shaft 282. During the normal operation of the machine, the shaft 282 is held in a position to the left to hold the cam roll 68 in operative engagement with the normal knitting cam '10, as shown in Fig. l, by means of a compression spring 286 which is inserted between one of the bearings 286 and a collar 288 on the shaft. The shaft 282 is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 1 to bring the cam roll 68 into operative engagement with the earn 281 when the welt turning mechanism is thrown into operation by the engagement of a stop 290 formed on the shaft 282 with the hand lever 2'12 as it is moved to the right by the operator. The shaft 282 is held in its position to the right through one cycle of knitting operations by the engagement of a latch lever 292 which is loosely mounted to turn on a shaft 244. between two collars 296 fixed to the shaft and is adapted to engage with .a corresponding notch formed in the bar 282.

In order to permit the return of the bar 282 and the cam roll 88 to normal operating position after one cycle of knitting operations, the latch 292 is adapted to engage with one of two cams 298 or 300 on the sleeve 228 depending on whether the sleeve 228 has been shifted to the left or the right of its neutral position.

As it is necessary ,when knitting the ttingup course to sink more than the usual am t of yarn, the needles at this time are advanced toward the sinkers prior to the sinking of the yarn to cause more yarn to be sunk about the needle shanks. With the present construction, this movement of the needles is caused to take place automatically in timed relation to the operation of the other parts of the machine by means of a lever 302 which is secured to the rock shaft 234 and is provided with a set screw 304 which is adapted to engage with the depending end of the cam lever 66. The rocking of the shaft 234 by the engagement of the cam 256 with the roll 254 on the lever 252 when these are brought into operative engagement in starting the machine, causes the set screw 304 to engage with and lift the cam lever 66 away from its actuating cams to move the needles toward the sinkers as required. When the sleeve 258 is again moved to the left by engagement of its cam 264 with the fixed abutment 260, the lever 2 52 and shaft 234 are again permitted to rotate in a direction to release the lever 66 and roll 68 which are now permitted to return into engagement with the special cam 281.

At the end of the welt turning operation, the carrier is automatically advanced in timed relation to the operation of the machine to bring the transfer elements into operating position, and the cam roll 68 on the needle actuating lever 66 is again moved into position to cooperate with the special cam 281 to impart an abnormal lateral movement to the needles away from the pressers to cooperate with the transfer elements on the carrier. In order to enable this operation to take place without requiring any attention on the part of the operator, a bump is located on the pattern chain 306 to engage with and release a depending arm on the latch lever 242 secured to the rock shaft 244 after a suflicient amount of fabric has been knitted to form the welt. This movement of the latch lever 244 permits the shifting lever 236 to be moved into operating position under the influence of the spring 240 as above described, to shift the cam sleeve 228 to the left as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, so that the cam 226 is brought into operative engagement with the cam roll 202 on the lever 198 for advancing the carrier. At the same time, mechanism is thrown into operation by the rocking of the shaft 244 which acts automatically to move the shaft 282 and cam roll 68 to the right, as shown in Fig. 1, to bring the needle actuating lever 66 into operative relation to the special cam 281.

The mechanism for moving the rod 282 and cam roll 68 to the right comprises a lever 308 loosely mounted on the'hand wheel shaft 310 of the machine and fitted at its lower end with a cam roll 312 which is forced yieldingly into engagement with a cam 314 on the cam shaft 52 by a tension spring 316 secured to the lower end of the lever 308. The lever 308 is normally held in retracted position out of engagement with the cam 314 by means of a latch lever 318 which is loosely mounted on the rock shaft 244 and is held in a raised position to engage 2. corresponding abutment 320 on the lever 308 by means of a small tension spring 322. When the latch lever 242 and the rock shaft 244 are rocked in a clockwise direction by the engagement of the depending arm of the lever with a bump on the pattern chain 306 as above described, a member 324 fixedly secured to the rock shaft 244 is caused to engage with and depress the latch lever 318 so that the cam lever 308 is released and permitted to fall into engagement with its actuating cam 314. With the continued operation of the machine, the lever is now moved outwardly under the influence of its cam 314 until the latch 318 is again permitted to engage with the abutment 320 to hold the lever 308 again in its inactive position. This retracting movement of the lever 308 is utilized to move the bar 282 and cam roll 68 to the right. To this end, the lever 308 is provided with a short lever 330 which is adapted for the innermost position of the lever 308 to snap into engagement with a corresponding notch formed in the shaft 282 and acts during the retracting movement of the lever 308 to move the shaft 282 to the right where it is held by the engagement of the latch 292 with the corresponding notch in the bar 282 as above described. As the lever 308 completes its movement outwardly under the influence of its cam 314 to its inoperative position, the cam surface formed on the lever 330 rides out of contact with its corresponding notch in the shaft 282.

After the needles have been advanced between the transfer elements positioned as above described by the engagement of the cam 226 with the cam roll 202 to advance the carrier into operating position, the roll 202 rides off the high portion of the cam 226 to free the carrier from its operating connections and allow it to be moved away from the needles under the influence of its take-up 160. It has been found, however, that the tension provided by the take-up is insuificient to cause the transfer elements engaging with all the needles in the series to be simultaneously snapped off the needle shanks. In order to force the carrier rearwardly to snap the transfer elements past the needle shanks, two members 332 are rigidly formed as integral parts of the end plates 192 on each carrier and are adapted to be engaged by the catch bar 78 in its advancing movement so that the carrier and transfer elements are positively retracted to carry the tips of the transfer elements past the needle shanks.

At the end of the cycle of knitting operations during which the loops are transferred to the needles, the cam sleeve 228 is automatically returned again to its inoperative position and the rod 282 and cam roll 68 are permitted to return under the pressure of the spring 285 to their normal operating position. To this end, the latch 292 is raised by contact with the cam 300 to release the bar 282 and the pin 238 comes into contact with the lifting cam 278 which acts to move the shifting levers 230 and 236 to their intermediate position where they are held by the engagement of the latch 242 with the tip of the shifting lever 230. The pin 235 on the shifting lever 230 is by this movement of the shifting levers brought into the path of the shifting cam 279 to move the sleeve 228 to the right to its neutral position.

The operation of the machine to knit a turn welt stocking will now be described. In Fig. 2,

the various operating parts of the machine are shown in the positions taken at the starting of the machine after the previous fabric has been cast from the machine with the needles and sinkers in position for the feeding of the yarn for the initial course of loops of the new fabric. Prior to starting the machine, the welt hooks are projected from the carrier by a movement ofthe hand lever 122, and the shaft 188 is rocked by means of the hand lever 214 to advance the latch levers 184 and the carrier to the position shown at A in Fig. 4 where they are held by engagement of the arm 207 with the inner notch on the latch lever 208. This movement of the rock shaft 188 causes the lever 196 to be brought into operative engagement and latched to move with the carrier operating cam lever 198. In order to throw the welt turning mechanism into operation, the operator moves the hand lever 272 to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, thus causing the cam sleeve 258 to be moved along the cam shaft 52 to bring the cam 256 into operative position, and also causing the bar 244 to be moved to the right where it is held by the engagement of the latch 292 with the notch cut for this purpose in the bar. This movement of the bar acts to position the cam roll 68 on the needle actuating lever 66 opposite the special cam 281 to impa t to the needles the special lateral movement awa from the pressers to cooperate with the carrier in transferring the initial course of loops to the welt hooks.

The machine is now put in operation. The rotation of the cam shaft 52 immediately brings the cam 256 on the sleeve 258 positioned as above described prior to starting the machine, into engagement with the cam roll 254 to rock the cam lever 252 and rock shaft 234 to cause the needles and welt turning devices to cooperate during the first cycle of operations of the machine to place the initial course of loops on the welt hooks. The rocking of the shaft 234 causes the arm 302 secured thereto to engage with and move the needle actuating lever 66 away from its cams, thus bringing the needles abnormally close to the sinkers so that these elements in sinking the yarn about the needle shanks act to draw abnormally long loops. At the same time, the sleeve 232 and shifting levers 230 and 236 on the rock shaft 234 are rocked by the engagement of the arm 246 fixed on the shaft 234 with the abutment 250 to bring the shifting lever 230 into close proximity to the cam sleeve 228 where it is held by the engagement of the tip of the shifting lever 230 with the inner notch of the latch lever 242. The pin 235 formed on the shifting lever 230 is thus brought into the path of the shifting cam 2'74, causing the cam sleeve 228 to be shifted to the right, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5, to bring the cam 224 into operative engagement with the roll 204 of the cam lever 198 for actuating the carrier to move the welt hooks between the needles.

With the continued operation of the machine after the yarn has been sunk about the needles, the cam sleeve 258 is returned to its original inactive position carrying with it the hand lever 272 by the engagement of the cam 264 with the fixed abutment 260, and the cam lever 252 and shaft 234 are permitted to rock back to their original position while the needle actuating lever 66 moves into engagement with the cam 281 under the pressure of its spring 72. The carrier is now advanced by the action of the cam 224 on the cam roll 204 carried on the carrier actuating lever 198 to project the welt hooks between the needles, the pin 178 on the carrier being brought by this advancing movement of the carrier into contact with the cams 1'76 to position the welt hooks accurately between the needles. At the same time, the needles are given an abnormal movement away from the pressers by the action of the special cam 281 to bring the needles into line with the thickened portions of the knockover bits to cooperate with the welt hooks.

At the completion of the knitting of the first course of loops, the latch lever 242 is momentarily lifted by the engagement with the cam 275 on the cam sleeve 228 to release the shifting lever 230 so that the shifting levers 230 and 236 are permitted to move under the influence of their spring 240 to neutral position where they are held by the engagement of the outer notch in the latch 242 with the end of the shifting lever 230. At the same time, the latch 292 is raised by the contact with the cam 298 on the sleeve 228, allowing the rod 244 to move to the left under the influence of its spring 285 so that the cam roll 68 is returned to its normal operating position in contact with the needle actuating cam 70. The cam 276 now engages with the pin 238 on the shifting lever 236 to move the sleeve 228 to neutral position and thus to render the carrier lever 198 inoperative in its retracted position. During the continued operation of the machine, the operator now actuates the lever 212 to release the lever 196 from operative engagement with the lever 198 and permit the pawls 184 to be fully. withdrawn so that the carrier is now free to move rearwardly to the full extent of its travel on the track 1'14 under the influence of its take-up 160 to tension the fabric during the continued knitting of the welt.

While the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric progresses, the operator has sufficient time to attach the suspenders 99 to the ends of the take-up bar 132 loosely held in the grooves 138 and to place the welt take-up bars 132 under the levers 134 where they are held in slots 152 by the pressure of the fabric as best shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10. The tension can now be applied to all the take-up bars by winding up the tape 96 on the pulley 94 to tension the shaft 90 in the usual manner. As the knitting of the welt portion of the fabric continues, the welt take-up bars are gradually drawn beneath and to the rear of the carrier.

As soon as the take-up bars are under the tension of the regular take-up band 99, the operator again raises the hand lever 214 to rotate the shaft 188 and the pawls 184 to engage with and advance the carrier to the position shown at B in Fig. 4, where it is held by the engagement of the latch 216 with the abutment 222 on the shaft 188. The depending lever arm 196 with the spring plunger 210 at the same time will be moved past the carrier actuating lever 198 to bring these parts into operative engagement. At the completion of this operation which is performed by the operator preferably while the slur cock is advancing the sinkers to kink yarn about the needle shanks, the hooks will occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 10 in dotted lines.

The movement of the welt take-up bars 132 beneath and to the rear of the carrier causes the loops held on the welt hooks to be drawn along the shanks of the hooks onto the transfer elements 102. The operator may now position the lever 122 in each carrier in turn along the length of the machine to move the slide 63 to the left as shown in Fig. 3 and move the welt hooks to their retracted position in the carrier as shown in Figs. 2 and 15.

After a suflicient amount of welt fabric has been knitted bringing the welt take-up bars approximately to the position illustrated at 2: in dotted lines in Fig. 10, the mechanism for transferring the loops back to the needles is automatically thrown into operation to complete the turning of the welt. To this end, a bump located on the pattern chain 306 is adapted at this time to engage with and move inwardly a depending arm of the latch lever 242, causing the latch lever 242 to be momentarily raised to reease the shifting levers 230 and 236 which are then permitted to swing under the pressure of their spring 240 to bring the pin 238 on the shifting lever 236 into the path of the cam 277 on the sleeve 228. The sleeve 228 is moved to the left, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, to bring the cam 226 into operative engagement with the cam roll 202 on the carrier advancing lever 198. The slight rocking movement imparted to the shaft 244 by the actuation of the latch lever 242 causes the abutment 326 to engage with and release the latch 318 from the cam lever 308 which is permitted to swing inwardly into contact with its actuating cam 314 so that the cam surface 330 is permitted to engage with the corresponding slot in the shaft 282. As the lever 308 rides outwardly on its cam 314, the cam surface 330 riding in the slot causes the shaft 282 and the cam roll 68 on the needle actuating lever 66 to be moved to the right to bring the needle actuating levers 66 under the influence of the special cam 281. The shaft 282 and cam roll 68 are then held in this position against the pressure of the spring 285 by the engagement of the latch 292 with the corresponding notch in the shaft 282. The cam lever 308 having now been moved to its outermost position riding on the high portion of the cam 314, the latch 318 again engages with the abutment 320 to hold the lever 308 out of operation, the cam surface 330 having at the same time moved out of operative engagement with the bar 282.

The cam 281 acts after the needles have been pressed and retracted to draw down the new course of loops, to move the needles laterally still in their retracted position to the position illustrated in Fig. 15, so that they will be accurately spaced from center to center between the thickened portions 280 on the web holders. At the same time, the cam 226 acting on the carrier actuating lever 198 causes the carrier to be advanced and positioned laterally by the engagement of the set screws 178 on the carrier with the cam surfaces 184 to register the transfer elements accurately over the needles as shown in Fig. 15. The needles are now advanced between the transfer elements or the cheeks to take the loops from the transfer elements. The roll 202 on the carrier actuating lever 198 will by this time have ridden off the high portion of the cam 226 so that the carrier may be withdrawn to move the transfer elements away from the needles. In order to assist in the action of the carrier take-up 160 to withdraw the carrier at this time, the sinker catch bar 78 is\ adapted in its advancing movement to engage with the members 332 on the carrier so that the carrier is positively retracted to snap the transfer elements past the needle shanks.

At this time, the latch 292 is raised by engagement with a cam 300 on the sleeve 228 to permit the shaft 282 and cam roll 68 on the needle actuating lever 66 to be returned to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, to their normal operating positions. The cam sleeve 228 is returned to its neutral position to move the cam roll 202 on the carrier actuating lever 198 out of the path of the carrier advancing cam 226 by the engagement of a cam 2'78 on the sleeve 228 with the pin 238 on the shifting lever 236 which acts to move the shifting levers 230 and 236 to neutral position against the pressure of the spring 240 where they are held by the engagement of the latch 242 with the end of the shifting lever 230.

This movement of the shifting levers causes the pin 235 on the shifting lever 230 to be brought into contact with the shifting cam 279 on the cam sleeve 228 to move the sleeve to its neutral position as shown in Fig. 1.

In the manner above described, the loops held on the transfer elements have been returned to the needles without interrupting the continued operation to form the leg and foot portions of the fabric. Each carrier may now be released from operative engagement with its actuating lever 198 by the disengagement of the spring plunger 210 on the lever 196 from the carrier actuating lever 198 so that the carrier advancing pawls 184 may be moved to their retracted position by the actuation of the hand lever 214. The carrier is moved to its retracted position in contact with a fixed stop at the rear end of the track 174 by the action of its take-up 60. The operator at this time may advance the welt hooks from between the transfer elements in each carrier preparatory to the setting-up of a new fabric on the machine.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and one embodiment of the invention having been described and illustrated, what is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a support on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, means adapted when rendered active to engage with and advance the carrier and welt turning elements supported thereon into operative engagement with the needles, and means engaging with the carrier in its advanced position to register the carrier laterally with relation to the needles.

2. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, means adapted when rendered active to engage and advance the carrier and welt turning elements supported thereon into operative engagement with the needles, and means to engage the carrier in its advanced position to register the carrier laterally with relation to the needles.

3. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a support on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, a tensioning device for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, means for advancing the carrier to one position to take the initial loops of the welt fabric from the needles and to a second position to return the loops to the needles at the end of the welt turning operation, and means adapted to engage with the carrier in each of its advanced positions to register the carrier laterally with relation to the needles.

4. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needies and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier freely movable toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needla, mechanism including cam means and actuating connections for advancing the carrier and welt turning elements supported thereon into operative engagement with the needles adapted to permit free movement of the carrier laterally with relation thereto, and means to engage the carrier in its advanced position to register the carrier laterally with relation to the needles.

5. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a support on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, means for advancing the carrier to bring the elements supported thereon for tuming the welt into operative relationship to the needles, and means to engage the carrier in its advanced position to position the carrier and said elements laterally with relation to the needles.

6. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier and a series of welt hooks and transfer elements mounted to move relatively to each other on the carrier, a support on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, cam means for advancing the carrier to one position to cause the welt hooks to take the initial loops of the welt fabric from the needles and to a second position to cause the transfer elements to return the loops to the needles at the end of the welt turning operation, and fixed cams adapted for the first position of the carrier to register the welt hooks between the needles and for the second position of the carrier to register the transfer elements in line with the needles.

'7. In a knitting machine for producing tum welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a track on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, means for advancing the carrier to bring the elements supported thereon for turning the welt into operative relationship to the needles, oppositely situated cam surfaces formed on a fixed portion of the machine, and adjustable contact members formed on the carrier and adapted for the advanced position of the carrier to engage the cam surfaces to position the carrier laterally on the track to register the said welt turning elements accurately with relation to the needles.

8. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with pressing surfaces, of a series of needles adapted for vertical movements to draw down new loops and lateral movements toward and away from the pressing surfaces, a welt turning mechanism comprising a series of transfer elements cooperating with the needles to turn aie welt, means for advancing the transfer el ents into cooperating relationship with the needles, and means acting in timed relation thereto for imparting a lateral movement to the needles away from the press greater than during normal knitting, and thereafter for advancing the needles in said abnormal position into operative engagement with said transfer elements to turn the welt.

9. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of cam means for actuating said needles and coopcrating elements to form a continuous knitted fabric, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles substantially in a plane at right angles to the needle shanks, elements mounted on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, cam means for advancing the carrier and for imparting a cooperating abnormally wide lateral movement to the needles away from the press, and thereafter for advancing the needles in said abnormal position lnto operative relationship to said elements to turn the welt, and means acting automatically after the knitting of a predetermined amount of welt fabric to render said cam means operative to turn the welt.

10. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier adapted for movement toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier adapted to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, means tending to move the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, a cam actuated lever for advancing the carrier to bring the said elements into operative relationship to the needles to turn the welt, and means acting arranged to establish an operating connection between the lever and the carrier only during the operation of said lever to advance the carrier.

11. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a cam shaft for actuating the needles, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier for turning the welt, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, a cam actuated lever normally disconnected from the carrier adapted when rendered operative to advance the carrier to bring said elements into operative relationship with the needles, a cam acting when rendered operative to engage with said lever to advance the carrier, and means acting automatically at the end of the welt fabric knitting operation to render said cam operative to advance the said elements into operative position to complete the turning of the welt.

12. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier adapted for movement toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier adapted to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a track on which the carrier is mounted to move, means tending to move the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, latch levers adapted to engage with and advance the carrier, a cam actuated lever for advancing the carrier to bring the said elements into operative relationship to the needles, and means controlled by the operator for operatively connecting the said latch levers to the cam lever.

13. In aknitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a support on which the carrier is mounted to move freely toward and away from the needles, a tensioning device for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, and means normally out of engagement with the carrier acting when rendered active to engage with and advance the carrier into operative relationship to the needles to turn the welt.

14. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements of a cam shaft from which the needles are driven, welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier adapted to take the initial loops of the welt portion of the fabric from the needles, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, mechanism normally out of engagement with the carrier actuated upon starting the machine to engage with and advance the carrier in timed relation to the operation of the needles to bring said elements into cooperative relationship to the needles to engage with the initial course of loops of the welt portion of the fabric, and mechanism normally out of engagement with the carrier rendered operative automatically at the end of the welt turning operation during the continued knitting of the fabric to engage with and advance the carrier in timed relation to the operation of the needles to cause said loops to be returned to the needles.

15. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements supported on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a guideway, rollers on the carrier to engage the guideway on which the carrier is permitted to move freely toward and away from the needles, a tensioning device for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, and means normally out of engagement with the carrier acting when rendered active to engage with and advance the carrier into operating relationship with the needles.

16. In a fiat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements mounted on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a table, a track on which the carrier is mounted to slide freely toward and away from the needles suspended above the table to permit a free passage for the knitted fabric between the table and the carrier, and means normally disconnected from the carrier acting when rendered operative to engage with and advance the carrier into operative relationship to the needles to turn the welt.

17. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements mounted on the carrier to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a table, and a track on which the carrier is mounted to slide freely toward and away from the needles suspended above the table to permit a free passage for the knitted fabric between the table and the carrier, the parts being further arranged to leave at each end of the carrier a substantially enlarged space extending from the front to the rear of the carrier and forming a continuation of the aperture between the carrier and the table.

18. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination\ with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier adapted for movement toward and away from the needles, a series of hooks slidably mounted to be advanced and retracted in the carrier, a series of transfer elements mounted on the carrier to cooperate with the hooks, and means movable laterally with relation to the movewelt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier adapted for movement toward and away from the needles, a series of hooks mounted to move as a unit in the carrier, a series of transfer elements mounted on the carrier to cooperate with the hooks, and means for advancing and retracting the hooks with relation to the carrier including a hand lever pivotally secured to move in an are substantially laterally to the movement of the carrier to advance and retract the hooks.

20. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier adapted for movement toward and away from the needles, a series of hooks slidably mounted in the carrier, a series of transfer elements formed on the carrier to cooperate with the hooks, a bar for moving the hooks as a unit in the carrier, a plate movable laterally with relation to the direction of movement of the carrier, a hand operated lever pivotally secured to move in an are substantially laterally to the movement of the carrier for reciprocating the said member, and cam connections between the said bar and member for causing a movement to be imparted to the bar to advance and retract the hooks in the carrier by the recip- -rocatory lateral movement of the member.

21. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and cooperating knitting elements, of a series of hooks adapted to engage with and tension fabric held on the needles, a carrier on which the hooks are mounted, a track from which the carrier is suspended to move toward and away from the needles, a welt tensioning bar, means for supporting the bar on the carrier when inactive, suspenders adapted to be connected to each end of the bar to draw the bar and fabric engaged thereby beneath the carrier, and supports for the track adjacent each end of the carrier shaped to allow suflicient clearance between the supports and the ends of the carrier for the insertion of the suspenders to be connected to the endsof the welt tensioning bar.

22. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination withpressing surfaces, of a series of needles adapted for vertical movements to draw down the loops and lateral movements toward and. away from the pressing surfaces, a series of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a catch bar for operating the sinkers, a welt turning mechanism cooperating with the needles comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, a series of welt hooks mounted on the carrier, and a series of transfer elements on the carrier movable relatively to the hooks, means for advancing the carrier to position the transfer elements over the needles to transfer the loops at the end of the welt turning operation back to the needles, and means for causing the advancing movement of the catch bar on the next succeeding knitting cycle to retract the carrier to force the transfer elements to the rear of the needles.

23. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with pressing surfaces, of a series of needles adapted for vertical movements to draw down the loops and lateral movements toward and away from the pressing surfaces, a series of sinkers cooperating with the needles, a catch bar for operating the sinkers, a welt turning mechanism cooperating with the needles comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles substantially in a plane at right angles to the needle shanks, a series of transfer elements on the carrier, means for advancing the carrier to position the transfer elements over the needles to transfer the loops at the end of the welt turning operation back to the needles, and means for causing the advancing movement of the catch bar on the next succeeding knitting cycle to retract the carrier to force the transfer elements to the rear of the needles.

24. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with pressing surfaces of a series of needles adapted for vertical movements to draw down new loops and lateral movements toward and away from the pressing surfaces, a welt turning mechanism comprising a series of welt hooks, means for advancing the welt hooks to engage with the fabric loops, a cam lever from which lateral reciprocating movements are imparted to the needles, a cam shaft, a cam mounted thereon to control the movements of the lever and the needles during ordinary knitting, a subsidiary cam adapted to cooperate with the cam lever to vary the lateral movement of the needles to cooperate with the welt hooks to take the fabric loops, a cam roll slidably mounted on the cam lever to engage alternatively with the said cams, means for shifting the cam roll into contact with the subsidiary cam prior to the advancing movement of the welt hooks between the needles, and means acting automatically thereafter to return the cam roll to normal operating position.

25. In a flat knitting machine, the combination of a series of needles, a corresponding series of knockover bits having thickened portions substantially filling the spaces between the needles, means for collectively operating the said needles relativeLv to the knockover bits to form fabric loops while maintaining the said thickened portions out of line with the needles, means acting when rendered operative to position the needles relatively to the knockover bits with the thickened portions in line between the needles to accurately space the needles from center to center, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier for taking from and returning a course of loops to the needles to turn the welt, and means foradvancing the carrier to bring said elements into operative relationship with the needles while the needles are positioned between the said thickened portions.

26. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles, of a corresponding series of knockover bits, each knockover bit being provided with a loop engaging surface having one portion in-,

clined downwardly toward the backs of the needles, means for collectively operating said needles relatively to the knockover bits to form fabric loops while maintaining the said inclined surfaces out of line with the needles, means acting when rendered operative to position the needles relatively to the knockover bits with the inclined surfaces in position to receive the loops drawn down by the needles, welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, elements supported on the carrier for taking from and returning a course of loops to the needles to turn the welt, and means for advancing the carrier to bring said elements into operative relationship with the needles while the needles are positioned to hold down the newly formed loops on the inclined portion of the knockover bits.

27. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with pressing surfaces of a series of needles adapted for vertical movements to drawn down to the loops and lateral movements toward and away from the pressing surfaces, a series of knockover bits having thickened end portions adapted to substantially fill the spaces between the needles and arranged to remain during the normal knitting operation out of line with the needles, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, and elements mounted on the carrier tocooperate with the needles to turn the welt, means for moving the needles laterally between the thickened portions of the knockover bits, and means for advancing the carrier to bring the elements into operative relationship with the needles while the needles are positioned between said thickened portions.

28. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a cam shaft for actuating the needles, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, a series of welt hooks mounted on the carrier, and a series of transfer elements on the carrier movable relatively to the welt hooks, a cam sleeve keyed to rotate with the cam shaft, a cam mounted on the sleeve for advancing the carrier to cause the welt hooks to take the initial course of loops of the welt portion of the fabric, a second cam on the sleeve adapted to advance the carrier to cause the transfer elements to return the said loops to the needles, and means for moving the sleeve on the cam shaft to render said cams operative alternatively toadvance the carrier.

29. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a cam shaft for actuating the needles, a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier movable toward and away from the needles, a series of welt hooks mounted on the carrier, and a series of transfer elements on the carrier movable relatively to the welt hooks, means tending to move the carrier yieldingly away from the needles, latch levers adapted to engage with and advance the carrier, a cam lever for advancing the carrier, means for ranged for movement toward and away from the r opcratively connecting said latch levers to the mid cam lever, a sleeve keyed to turn with the cam shaft, a cam on the sleeve adapted to engage with the cam lever to advance the welt hooks in the position to take the initial course of loops of the welt portion of the fabric, a second cam on the sleeve adapted to engage with the said cam lever to advance the transfer elements to return the loops to the needles at the end of the welt turning operation, and means for positioning the cam sleeve to cauze the said cams alternatively to actuate the said cam lever.

30. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a carrier, elements on the carrier adapted for taking from and returning to the needles the initial course of the welt portion of the fabric to turn the welt, means for moving the carrier yieldingly away from the needles to tension the fabric held by the said elements, and means normally disconnected from the carrier rendered operative upon starting the machine to engage with and advance the carrier in timed relation to the operation of the needles to bring the saidelements into operative relationship to the needles to take the loops and rendered operative automatically after the knitting of the predetermined amount of welt fabric to again engage with and advance the carrier to bring the said elements into operative relationship to the needles to return the loops to the needles.

31. In a flat knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of cam means for actuating said needles and cooperating elements to form a continuously knitted fabric, a welt turning mechanism comprising elements arneedles substantially in a plane transversely of the needle shanks to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, cam actuated means for imparting the required movements to said mechanism and cooperating movements to the needles to return an initial course of loops of the welt fabric held by said mechanism to the needles at the end of the welt turning operation, and pattern mechanism for controlling the operation of said cam actuated means acting automatically after the knitting of a predetermined amount of welt fabric to complete the turning of a welt.

32. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating knitting elements, of welt turning mechanism comprising a carriage, elements supported on the carriage cooperating with the needles to turn the welt, a support on which the carriage is adapted to move freely toward and away from the needles, means including operating connections normally disconnected from the carriage acting when rendered operative to advance the carriage toward the needles to cause the elements supported thereon to take the initial course of the welt portion of the fabric, means for again advancing the carriage toward the needles to cause said course to be knitted into the fabric by the needles to complete the turning of the welt, and pattern mechanism arranged after the knitting of a predetermined amount of welt fabric to render said means operative to complete the turning of the welt.

33. In a knitting machine for producing turn welt fabric, the combination with a series of needles and their cooperating elements, of a welt turning mechanism comprising a series of welt hooks for receiving the initial course of the welt portion of the fabric and adapted for movement in a plane substantially at right angles to that of the needles, a series of transfer elements cooperating therewith movable substantially in the same plane to transfer the loops held on the welt hooks back to the needles, and a pattern mechanism for controlling the operation of said welt turning mechanism to complete the turning of the welt after the knitting of a predetermined amount of welt fabric.

34. In a knitting machine, the combination of a series of needles, a series of transfer elements arranged to cooperate with the needles to turn the welt, a series of knockover bits extending between the needles having knockover surfaces about which the needle loops are drawn down by the needles during normal knitting, and additional surfaces below the level of the knockover surfaces located out of the path of the needles during normal knitting against which the loops are held by the needles for one position of the needles with relation to the knockover bits during the transfer operation to clear the fabric from the path of saidtransfer elements.

35. In a knitting machine, the combination of a series of needles, a series of transfer elements supported to move at substantially right angles to the needle shanks toward and away from the needles to turn the welt, means for imparting to the needles an abnormal lateral movement to cooperate with the transfer elements during the welt turning operation, and a series of knockover bits extending between the needles having knockover surfaces about which the needle loops are drawn down by the needles, and additional surfaces below the level of the knockover surfaces and out of the path of the needles during normal knitting against which the loops are held by the needles during said lateral movements of the needles to permit the advance of the knockover hits over the tops of the needles and the said loops held thereon.

36. In a knitting machine, the combination of a series-of needles, a series of transfer elements arranged to move laterally into operative engagement with the needles to turn the welt, means for imparting to the needles an abnormal movement laterally of the needle shanks and for retracting and advancing the needles during said lateral movements to cooperate with said transfer elements, and a series of knockover bits extending between the needles having knockover surfaces about which the needle loops are drawn down by the needles during normal knitting, and additional surfaces inclined towards the backs of the needles and out of the path of the needles during normal knitting to knock over the loops to the backs of the needles during said movements of the needles to cooperate with said transfer elements.

37. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles and cooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of a series of transfer elements and a series of members having portions substantially equal in thickness to the spacing between the needles, said needles and members being movable relatively to cause said portions to engage between and accurately space the needles only during the transfer operation.

38. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles and cooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of a series of transfer elements and a series of members having portions substantially equal in thickness to the spacing between the needles at the knockover level, said needles and members being movable relatively to cause said portions to engage between and accurately space the needles at substantially the knockover level only during the transfer operation.

39. In a knitting machine, the combination of a series of needles, a series of transfer elements, means for automatically actuating said transfer elements to turn the welt, means for imparting to the needles an abnormal movement laterally oi the needle shanks and for retracting and advancing the needles during said lateral move-' ments to cooperate with the transfer elements,

and a series of knockover bits extending between the needles having thickened portions substantially filling the spaces between the needles arranged to engage between and align the needles only during said lateral movements of the needles to cooperate with the transfer elements.

40. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series 01! needles and their cooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of an additional series of loop engaging elements arranged at times to cooperate with the needles to perform a special operation, and a series of knockover bits extending between the needles having thickened portions substantially filling the spaces between the needles arranged to engage between and accurately space the needles only during the operation of said additional elements.

. MAX C. MILLER.

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