US1998286A - Knitting machine - Google Patents

Description

April 16, H MUR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvamon John H.MUYphH BY W & ATTORNEYS Fig. 1

April 16, 1935.

J, H. MURPHY KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 l T i INVENTOR John H. Murphg D Q BY & W

ATTO R N EYS April 16, 1935. J H. MURPHY ,2

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 23, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR John H. Murph BY m 2 W ATTO R N EYS April 16, 1935. J. h. MURPHY KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25,

1934 4 SheetsSheet 4 9 INVENTOR John H. Murphm BY & W v

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 1c, 1935 UNITED stares KNITTING 'MACHINE John H. Murphy, Cohoes, N. Y., assignor to Putnarn Knitting Company, (Echoes, N. Y.', a corporation of New York Application January 23, 1934, Serial No. 707,939

4 Claims. (Cl. 66-12) This invention relates to knitting machines and particularly to circular knitting machines having vertically operating knitting needles.

Thepurposes of my present invention are; to

5 provide a new and improved form of knitting machine of the type mentioned. and particularly to provide a circular knitting machine where the vertically operating knitting needles are arranged in two independently operated sets preferably operated at successive feeds and to have the machine provided with further mechanism and the said needles so located and operated as to insert in the basic web a heavy proportion of terry threads and also to insert into the fabric as it is being knitted weft threads that will be so silghtly curved in the fabric as knitted that after the fabric is washed and finished the weft threads will be so nearly straight as to render the completed fabric practically inelastic transversely of the wales; to provide a machine of the class described that not only has two sets of alternately operating needles so as to make a basic web formed really of two plain knitted structures independent of each other though caught or meshed together, but to have the machine also so constructed that the two sets of vertically operating needles are mounted concentrically but in circles of slightly different diameter whereby room and opportunity is afforded for not only putting in a terry thread at each feed but for accomplishing the much more difficult operation of putting a substantially straight weft thread into certain of the feeds that are also being provided with terry threads; to provide in such a machine for such an arrangement and proportion of the parts and such adjustment and combination and cooperation of the mechanism of the machine as will provide for the knitting of the saidtwo-part basic web of sufiiciently open structure and to provide for the insertion preferably in every feed thereof, (that is at each stitch of the fabric) of a terry thread havinglong loops drawn to one side of the fabric and to have the machine place into the fabric at all or at certain feeds and even into the same feeds Where the terry threads are placed, a third set of threads called weft threads, which weft threads extend transversely of the wales with very slight curvature so that after the washing and other finishing and lateral stretcln'ng operations have been completed upon the knitted fabric the said knitted fabric will be practically free from distortion; that is practically unstretchable transversely of the wales of the stitches, notwithstanding the openness of the body of the fabric and the looseness of the terry threads;

to provide a machine of the sort described which will make not only the two-part intermeshed basic fabric but will place therein at each of the two separate sets of needle-feeds a terry 5 thread so that a terry loop will project from each mesh of the basic web at the back of the fabric but with the terry loops of any given terry thread projecting only from alternate meshes of the fabric whereby the appreciable length of the 10 many terry threads that are in the body of the fabric between the projecting loops will help to hold the loops of terry threads premanently in place; and further to have the construction of the machine and the cooperation of its parts 15 such that the weft threads will be placed in the fabric as nearly straight as the character of the fabric and the operation will allow, sothat as the fabric is removed from the machine and the initial contraction of the fabric takes place the 26 weft threads will be in the form of gently undulating lines but after the finishing and lateral stretching processes have taken place the weft threads willbe practically without curves and will extend transversely of ,the rows of stitches 25 so as to be practically unstretchable and yet so strongly held tothe body of the fabric as to make the fabric unstretchable or practically inelastic lengthwise of the weft threads; and finally to provide a machine of the construction above out- 30 lined that is durable and mechanically eflicient in construction and not liable to get out of order and that will operate with regularity and effectiveness.

Further purposes and advantages of the in- 35 vention will appear from the specifications and claims herein. I

Fig. l is avertical, radial, sectional View through one side of a knitting machine embodying this invention, parts of the cylinder and dials being 40 broken away and the supporting means being largely omitted and the yarn cops and cop-supporting frame being omitted in order to allow the knitting mechanism proper to be shown practically full-sized. 45

Fig. 2 is a top or plan View of a small portion of the needle cylinder showing the alternately arranged shallow and deep needle grooves in the upper portion of the cylinder.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of a small 50 part of the cylinder as on line 3-3 of Fig. 4, showing the deep grooves for all needlesin that zone of the needle cylinder.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View on line 4 of Fig. 2, viz: of the cylinder on the line of a groove that is shallow at the top of the cylinder and contains a short and outwardly-located needle.

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the cylinder but through a needle groove that is deep at the upper part of the cylinder as on line 55 of Fig. 2 and containing a long and inwardly-located needle.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the long needle in the foreground and depressed and the short needle in the next groove raised.

Fig. 7 is a developed front view partly diagrammatical of two feeds of the machine, one feed at the right where a weft thread as well as a terry thread and a needle thread are provided for the same feed and the second feed at the left where the other set of needles receive a needle thread and a terry thread but no weft thread.

Fig. 8 is a top and largely diagranimatical view showing the position of the hooks at two feeds and the tops of the two circles of needles and the position of the terry threads and the weft thread of Fig. 7 but omitting the needle threads.

Fig. 9 is a View on a greatly enlarged scale of the rear or loop side of a piece of fabric of the preferred form which this machine is designed to knit. The drawings show the fabric on a greatly enlarged scale and with the vertical rows of stitches and the lateral courses of stitches shown even more extended and the threads separated so as to more closely and definitely show the construction of the fabric.

Fig. 10 is a View similar to Fig. 9 but with all the terry threads removed in order to show more closely the construction of the basic fabric and the location and arrangement of the weft threads.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts as. located at the introduction of a terry thread.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description it will be seen that the knitting machine is provided with a strong bed ring l5 rigidly supported in raised position by suitable supporting means (not shown) and that this bed ring rigidly supports thereabove in vertical and stationary position the needle cylinder I6 as by a projecting flange IT on said ring receiving therewithin the lower end of said needle cylinder. Outside the flange l! the bed ring l5 supports in rotatable fashion the carrier ring l8 which is rotated by means of its downwardly extending circle of teeth I!) being engaged by the teeth of gear suitably mounted in an aperture of the bed ring l5 and driven by conventional means.

Resting upon the inner portion of the carrier ring l8 and fastened to rotate therewith there is provided the upstanding cam ring 2!. On its inner side this cam ring is provided with suitable cams 22 providing upper and lower cam paths respectively 23 and 24 to cooperate with the heels 25 of the short needles 26 and the heels 25 of the long needles 2'! respectively mounted in the alternate grooves of the needle cylinder as will be hereafter more particularly described.

From. an overhead frame member of the machine (not shown) there depends a strong column 28 upon which adjacent its lower end there is supported within the upper part of the cylinder lit a dial holder 29 supporting at its upper outer edge the dial ea. This dial is in the form of a fiat ring having in its upper surface, upwardly opening and radially arranged slots 3i in which are slidingly mounted the hooks 32. In the outward position of the hooks their outer ends project beyond the dial 30 between the upstanding shanks of the long needles El or of the short needles and at their outer ends the downturned hooks 33 are attached to engage the terry yarn or thread 55 or 5% for the purpose of drawing loops of said terry thread inwardly between said up raised needles.

Upon the carrier ring l8 outside of the cylinder cam ring 2i there are provided a plurality of upstanding, rigidly attached strong posts 35 upon the upper ends 36 of which there are mounted and secured the outer ends of the arms 3'! of a spider-like frame 38, the center of which is vertically apertured to receive therewithin the hollow hub 39 of the dial'cam holder =29. The central aperture of the hub 33 and of the dial holder 49 is mounted upon the depending stationary column 23 rotates thereabout in unison with the cylinder cam 21 due to said dial cam plate 45! being carried by said spider member 38 which in turn is rotatably carried upon the upper ends of the posts 35, which are rigid with the ring carr er 58, which in turn as already mentioned carries the cylinder cam ring 2 i On. the lower horizontal surface of the plate M? is provided and si tably secured the dial cam t! having a cam path 42 opening downwardly to receive the up tanding butts d3 of the hooks 32 already mentioned as being slidably mounted in the dial 36.

From the upper 61161535 of the upstanding posts there extend inwardly a plurality of brackets Mi which at their ends carry the yarn ring spaced just outside the circle of the upper ends of the short needles 2% and the long needles 2'! when in raised posit on. This mounting of the yarn ring causes said ring to be rotated in unison with the cylinder cam ring 2! and the dial cam 4i so that the different yarn or thread guides which are mounted upon said yarn ring carry the said guides forward always at the proper relative position for the different threads of yarn to be supplied at each feed in the manner well known in this general type of circular knitting inachine- The needle cylinder and the two sets of needles are so constructed and arranged that the upper part ofthe shanks of one set of needles,

preferably the long needles 2'5 will be slightly nearer the center of the cylinder than the corresponding upper part of the shanks of the other set of needles, that is the short needles 26. This allows the weft thread 46 to be laid against the outer edges of the upper part of the shanks of the up-raised long needles 2'! (see Fig. l) and yet allows the shanks of the short needles to thereafter ascend to upper position without cutting or breaking the weft thread located then immediately in front of the shanks of the long needles.

The needles of the two sets of needles alternate upon the cylinder and the machine is arranged to have the needles of the two sets brought into operating or knitting position and receive a stitch thread at alternate feeds, and this I accomplish by having the needles of the two sets operated each by its own separate cam path as by having the heels 25 of the short needles 2E operated by upper cam path 23 in a zone farther up than the zone of lower cam path it controlling the heels 25 of the long needles. The two cam paths of course are entirely separate and the width of the cam zone,

that is the vertical height of the zone on the cam ring, is such as to allow for the independent operation of the two sets of needles at alternate feeds. It follows from this that the short needles 26 at their operating feeds will receive one needle thread, while the other or long needles 27 at their feeds will receive the other needle thread.

V The basic fabric thus knitted is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings by the fabric composed of the two needle threads t! and 48. Fig. 10 of the drawings shows most plainly the construction of this basic web in that the needle thread 41 shown in Figs. 9 and 10 as the more lightly shaded thread of yarn forms vertically extending rows of stitches having wales 49 connected by connecting legs 59 and the other needle thread 48, being the more darkly'shaded needle thread, forms vertically extending rows of stitches having wales 5i connected by connecting legs 52 of said thread. The wales formed by either thread will alternate, that-is as seen in Fig. 10, the wales 69 from thread 47! will be in the first and third rows counting from the right while the wales 5i from needle thread 38 will be in the second and fourth rows. Due to the knitting of the two needle threads at their separate alternate feeds neither thread will be drawn into the loops of the stitches of the other needle thread but the connecting legs of each thread will be caught into the junction points of the stitch loops of theother thread and so each connecting leg between the stitch loops of one needle thread will be drawn out of a straight line upwardly at its center by being caught into'said connecting point of the other needle thread. There is thus formed by the connecting leg the diamond or lozenge shaped meshes 53 back of the stitch loops of the needle thread ll and similar meshes 5 back of the stitch loops of the needle thread 48.

It will be seen that the wales of the stitches from both sets of needles and both sets of needle threads are upon the front of the, fabric, that is the farther side as the fabric is shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and that all of the connecting legs of both sets of stitches are at the rear or loop side of the fabric.

In the preferred arrangement of this machine and in the arrangement proper to obtain the full fabric shown in Fig. 9 a loop or terrythread is fed into the fabric at each feed so as to provide a loop'o-f the terry thread projecting out from the fabric at therear side from each mesh. It is to be noted however that the same terry thread is not carried into all of the feeds but that one terry'thread as 55 is fed in at the feeds of one set of needles and another terry thread 56, being the more darkly shaded terry thread shown in Fig. 9, is fed into the feeds of the other set of needles. These terry threads are led towards the needles by a guide 5? depending from the yarn ring so as to dispose the terry thread at the front of the set of needles that is up raised at that particular feed, it beingunderstood that the other set of needles is at this time depressed. Immediately after the terry thread is thus placed in front of the upstanding needles at that feed the said terry thread is drawn back in loops between the shanks of the up-raised needles by the hooked ends 33 of the hooks 32 being drawn inward by the rotation of the dial cam M. It-

will be noted that the drawing in of these long loops of terry thread by said hooks is done close enough to the feeding-in position of said terry thread by yarn guide 5's as to draw the said terry thread through said guide in sufficient quantity to make the long loops of terry thread without unduly straining or stretching said terry thread. It will be understood that there is a drawing-in motion of the hooks 32 at each feed. The diagrammatic drawings Figs. 7 and 8 show most clearly the position of the terry threads as thus drawn in in loops between the up-raised needles at two. feeds. In these views the righthand feed shows the long or inwardly-located needles raised high and the short or outwardlylccated needles depressed. At the succeeding feed or left hand feed of Figs. 7 and 8 the short needles will be in raised position and the'longer needles in the lowered position and the other terry thread will be. fed into that feed of the machine and drawn into loops between the shanks of the up-raised short needles in a similar way by the hooks 32. At the thirdfeed the operation of the first feed will be repeated and at the fourth feed the operation of the second feed will be repeated. It follows from this that the terry thread 35 will have its loops 58 project out from the meshes 53 at the back of the stitches formed by the needle thread 4'! and back of the vertical row of wales 9. Similarly the terry thread 56 willhave its loops 59 projecting from the back of the fabric and from the other meshes Ed by the meshes back of the other needle thread 48 and its vertical chain of wales 5i.

As already suggested the long needles 2! are so shaped and so mounted in the needle cylinder as to have the upper part of the shanks or" these long needles nearer the center of the cylinder than the upper parts of the shanks of the short needles 2%. The purpose of this is to allow the weft thread 5% to be laid against the outer side of the upper part of the shanks of the Lip-raised long or inwardly-located needles at the feed where the weft thread is to be introduced and still-allow the short needles to be raised in front'of said weft thread without cutting or breake ing or displacing the weft thread. This slightly inward location of the upper parts of the shanks of thelcng needles is preferably and advantageously obtained by the construction which will now be described.

The outer face of the needle cylinder is provided with two different sets of needle grooves fill and 6!, with the grooves alternately arranged and shaped to house therein respectively the short needles 2t and the long needles 21. Both the shcitneedles Eli and the long needles 2? used with this machine are preferably of the type where the lower half of the shank is of double width or depth, as by doubling the material from which the needles are made back upon itself so as to have a back or extra portion 62 upon the short needles and 163 uponthe long needles and a front portion 6d upon the short needles and upon the long needles. The front portion (iii of each short needle has the forwardly projecting heel '25 preferably conveniently formed by a forwardly projecting loopmade'integral with the said front portion Ed. Similarly the front portion fit of the shank of the long needles has preferably integrally formed therewith its forwardly projecting heel th formed by a short compact loop bent into the material from which the needle is made. The upper portion 5 of the shank of the short needles is in line with the front portion 6 of the lower part of these needles. On the other hand the upper portion Bl of the shank of the long needles is offset rearwardly to be in line with the rear or extra part ed of the lower part of the shanks of the long needles.

A short distance down from the upper outer edge of the needle cylinder It the outer face of the cylinder has an inwardly extending depression or channel 63 deeper than the needle grooves which channel divides the needle grooves 66 and El into two horizontal zones, a narrow upper zone 63 and a lower, and wider or deeper zone "Ill. The deeper zone begins near the top of the cylinder cam 22 and extends to the bottom of the needle cylinder. The portion of both sets of needle grooves ED and GI which is in this lower and wider zone "if! is deep, that is it has enough depth to house the lower double-width portions of said needles with only the heels thereof projecting outside the needle cylinder into their respective cam paths in the cylinder cam 22. In the upper zone 51 of the cylinder the needle grooves are alternately deep and shallow to fit respectively the inwardly offset portion 67 of the long needles and the straight or non-offset portion 66 of the short needles. That is the portion of the needle groove 60 that is above the channel 68 is shallow or only deep enough to house the depth of the single thickness and non-offset portion 66 at the upper part of the short needles 26. On the other hand the portion of the groove 6! for the long needles, that is above the interrupting channel 68, is cut or formed deeper in the face of the cylinder so as to receive the inwardly offset part 6'! of these long needles 2?. It will be obvious that the upper portion 61 will not occupy the whole of the depth of the needle groove in this upper zone 69 but the needle will be slidingly mounted in the rearward part of said groove.

Fig. 2 of the drawings, which is a top view of a part of the needle cylinder, clearly shows the shallow portion of the needle grooves 60 and the deep portion of the needle grooves 6| in the upper zone 69 of the needle cylinder.

Fig. 3, which is a sectional view through a part of the needle cylinder below the interrupting channel 68 and so through a part of the lower zone 10 of the needle cylinder shows that both the needle grooves 68 and GI are deep through this part of the needle cylinder.

Fig. 4 shows the shape in side elevation of a short, viz. outwardly-located needle 26 and the housing of the doubled lower portion of its shank in the deep lower portion of its needle groove 60 and the housing of the narrow, single-thick-, ness, straight portion S5 of its shank in the shallow part of the groove in zone 69 of the cylinder above the channel 68. In said view 4 the short needle is shown in its depressed position.

Fig. 5 shows a side elevation of a long needle and the housing of its doubled lower portion of the shank in the deep portion of its needle groove (H in the lower zone "ill of the needle cylinder and also the location of the inwardly offset single thickness part 6?, being the upper portion of the shank of the needle in the inner half of the deep upper portion of the needle groove Bl for these long needles. In Fig. 1 there is combined the showing of both Figs. 4 and 5 in that the short outwardly-located needle is shown depressed as in Fig.- 4 in the immediate foreground and the long or inwardly located needle 27 is shown in raised position and in the next needle groove. The position of the needles and hooks in Fig. 11 is the position they occupy at the terry thread receiving point of a feed where a weft thread 46 is to be introduced. Accordingly the long inwardly-located needles 2! are in raised position and the short outwardly-located needles 26 are in depressed position so that the terry thread that is to be introduced at this feed can be brought to a line in front of the up-raised shanks of the said long inwardly-located needles 2'! on a line below the hooks 32 so that the immediately following inward movement of the hooks 32 will cause the outer hooked ends 33 of said hooks to draw the said terry thread directly against the outer edges of the shanks of the needles 2'! and draw suflicient yarn of said terry thread from the feed thereof so as to produce loops extending inwardly between each adjacent pair of raised needles 21. The inward projection of these loops from the raised needles and the relative position of the retracted hooks is shown in Figs. 1 and 8. At this same feed and while the inwardlylocated long needles 2'! are still raised and while the outwardly located short needles 26 are still in depressed position and particularly while the hooks 32 are still holding the loops of the terry thread projecting inwardly of the raised needles 21, the weft thread 46 is introduced and laid straight against the up-raised shanks of needles 21 as shown in Fig. 1. The relative position and shape of this weft thread 46 is shown in the diagrammatic view Fig. 8. It will be noted that this weft thread is laid in and stays in in practically a straight line, that is on a large curve following the periphery of the circle of the needles 21 as distinct from a serpentine formation that would result were both sets of needles operating on one and the same circle.

Very soon after the weft thread is thus laid against the up-raised shanks of the inwardly located needles 2'! the other or outwardly-located and herein called short needles 28 begin to ascend.

Fig. 1 is a detailed sectional view of the parts adjacent the knitting point of the machine taken at a point soon after the short and outwardlylocated needles begin to rise and when the hooks are holding the loops of terry thread inward. This. view illustrates the important feature that the weft thread is on the outside of the inwardly located needles 2! and that due primarily to the different radial location of the long needles 2'! and the short needles 25 aided somewhat by the slight outward slant of the head of the short needles, that is the part immediately above and below the needle latch 'l'l the said outward short needles can ascend outside of the said weft thread without breaking, straining, distorting or dislocating said weft thread. Preferably the weft thread is relatively small and is laid in with sufflcient tension to place and hold it straight against the shanks of the up-raised inner long needles 21. Accordingly any sliding contact of the back of the head or of the back of the shank of the short needles while they are going up will not break, distort or strain the said weft thread. It will be understood that the needles are of such size and the inwardly located needles 2! have their upper portions located sufficiently inward of the circle to be occupied by the upper parts of the shanks of the outwardly located or short needles 26 and the size and tension of the weft thread of yarn will be such as to allow the outwardly located needles to be raised in front of the weft thread without injuring or materially displacing the weft thread.

It will be seen that the operation of the machine and its several parts has been to a considerable extent described incident to the de- Fig. '7 is a developed front view of the needles and hooks at two feeds of the machine and Fig. 8 is a top or plan view of the hooks and needles forthe same two feeds; The two views are to be considered together in that any given hook and any given needle is in alignment as nearly as may be in the two views. In both views the right hand half of the view indicates what I will call'for convenience the first feed, being a feed where a weft thread 35 is introduced as well as aqneedle thread as 47 and-a terry thread as 55. About the left hand half of both Figs. 7 and 8 shows the position of the needles and hooks at the succeeding or what I will call second feed where the other needle thread 48 and the other terry thread 56 is introduced but without the introduction of a weft thread. I

It will be understood thatv in this machine the partsareorganized and assembled to have the needle-operating cams and the hook-operating cams and the various thread or yarn guides all rotating to the right past the non-rotating needles and hooks.

At the extreme right hand portion of Fig. 7 which represents the part'of the machine just before the first feed it will be seen that both the long or inwardly-located needles 2! and the short outwardly-located needle's2ii are in the extreme upward position. By reference to the corresponding'part of Fig. 8 it will be seen that the hooks 32 are in inward position'with their extremities relatively close to the hook dial 3!) and inside of even the inwardly-located needles 21.

Throughout this first feed as will be seen in Fig. '7 the long inwardly located needles 21 remain at their extreme upward position and do not perform a knitting operation, but of course are retaining about their shanks approximately at the level of the upper edge of the needle cylinder the loops from the last preceding stitches made by theseneedles 21. On the other hand the short or outwardly-located needles 25 at the beginning of this first feed begin to descend and soon receive as at point 72 the'needle thread 41 supplied by the conventional thread guide therefor. Further downward movement of these short needles 26 carries downwardly the said needle thread 4'! caught in the hooks or eyes of the said short needles until as the short needles descend far enough the new loops of the needle thread 41 are drawn through thev old loops upon these short/needles and the old loop is cast off in the manner common to this type ofknitting machines and not necessary to be further described herein. Meanwhile as will be seen by reference to the corresponding part of Fig. 8, the hooks 32 have been pushed forward between the up-raised inward needles 2'! and past thenow depressed short outward needles until a hook is at its outward limit of movement. At about this point as at thread outlet 13 in Figs. 7 and 8 provided in the terry thread guide 51 the terry thread-55 isintroduc'ed as most clearly shown in Fig. 11 at a point below the shank of the outwardly-thrust hook but within the down-turned hook-end of said hook. Immediately thereafter the inward travel of the hooks is brought about as appears most plainly from Fig. 8 and this draws back the said terry thread 55 not only against the upstanding shanks of the long up-raised needles 2! but ultimately draws loops of said terry thread 58 projecting inwardly from the shanks of adjoining long inwardly-located needles 21.

At about the time when the hooks have withdrawn to-inward position each carrying aloop of the terry thread therewith as just mentioned, the weft thread 45 is introduced. The position of the parts at this time is indicated clearly in the main drawing Fig. 1. It will be seen that through eyelet M on the weft thread guide 15 the said weft thread is delivered to 'a point closely in front of the upraised shanks of the inward needles 721. 'At this point as seen in Figs. 1 and 8 the loops of the terry thread are shown slightly farther downon the needles- 27 as still held inwardly by the hooks 32. This weft thread is laid in with sufficient tension to hold it practically straight across the said upraised needles 2'! so that as the short needles 26 which are the outwardly-located set'of needles, commence and continue their upward movement, the heads of the said short needles will not push said weft thread upwardly butwill rise closely in front of said weft thread'andleave the said weft thread in practically a straight line, that is, in one long curve corresponding to the diameter ofthe circle of needles, but with the weft thread between the up-raised short needles on the outside and the up-raised long needles on the inside. If the outer set of needles 26 have their inner edges only about in line with the outer edges of the inner needles 21 and the weft thread is of small size, this straight line or long curve of the weft thread will be interrupted with only slight curves as it goes between the two sets of needles. Obviously if the two sets of needles are not separated so far or if the'weft thread is of considerable size the said thread will have a more undulating'or serpentine shape, but the machine should be so constructed as to put a minimum of undulations in this weft thread in order to allow the machine to work as outlined and also in order to allow the weft thread to have so little slack or curve when placed in the fabric as to render the fabric practically inelastic transversely of the wales after the finishing stretching operations have been performed the portion represented in the left hand part of Figs. '7 and 8. Soon after the outward or short needles 26 have risen to this upward position the long needles 2? begin their descent and receive as at feed eyelet It the needle thread 48. these inner long needles descend the forward or outwardinclination of their heads catch this needle thread it and draw. loops therein which by the time the long needles come to their lowermost position have drawn these new loops through the old loops upon the shanks of the said long needles and have cast off the oldloops. Before this casting off operation has occurred, however, the weft thread 46 and the terry thread 55 carried along from the previous feed have been cast over the tops of the descending long needles without going into thejeyes of said needles and thus have completed the laying of the said terry thread 55 and the weft thread 46 into the fabric without its being knited' into the stitchesof the fabric.

By the time the long inner needles 21 have reached their lower position the hooks 32 have been again extended so as to bring a hook to its extreme outward position and engage the terry thread 56 introduced at this feed from feed eyelet TI. The needles are then in the relative position as shown in Fig. 6 and therefore the immediately following inward movement of the hooks 32 carry this terry thread back against the front of the shanks of the short outer and up-raised needles 26 and on the further withdrawal of the hooks draw terry loops extending backward or inwardly from the shanks of said raised needles. Due to the fact that no weft thread is placed into the machine at this feed it will be seen that the long needles 2'! can thereafter commence and complete their upward movement without disturbing the terry loops since the said loops are drawn taut against the front of the said "up-raised short,

needles and between each adjacent pair of short needles the terry loops are still held back by the hooks 32 so that space is provided for the upward movement of the long needles. At the third feed the terry thread introduced at the second feed gets permanently placed into the fabric and otherwise all the operations mentioned for the first feed are repeated at the third feed. The fourth feed repeats the operations of the second feed and so on indefinitely.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a circular, independent-needle knitting machine the combination of a vertically arranged stationary needle cylinder having alternate needle grooves adapted to carry the needles therein and their upwardly projected shanks in two spaced concentric circles, two sets of needles having their several needles independently and reciprocatingly mounted in said respective sets of grooves, each needle carrying its upwardly projecting shank at a fixed distance from the axis of the cylinder at all vertical positions of the needles, means for knitting with the alternate set of needles at alternate feeds, means for raising the non-knitting needles at a given feed up to have their shanks above the heads of the needles knitting at that feed, a dial stationarily located within the upper part of the cylinder and having radially arranged slots at its outer part, hooks having down-turned outer ends slidingly mounted in said dial slots, means for projecting and withdrawing said hooks between the shanks of said upraised non-knitting needles, means for guiding a terry thread into place in front of the shanks of the said upraised needles, and below the projected hooks whereby the inward movement of the hooks draws said terry thread into loops projecting inwardly between the upraised shanks of the needles, means at the feeds where the inner set of needles have their shanks raised above the heads of the other, set of needles for laying a weft thread substantially straight against the shanks of saidupraised inner needles and means for then raising the outwardly-located needles in front of the said straight weft thread with no substantial distortion thereof.

2. In a circular independent-needle knittingmachine the combination of a vertically arranged stationary needle cylinder having the needle grooves alternately shallow and deep to carry the needles therein and their upwardly projecting shanks in two spaced concentric circles, two sets of needles having their several needles independently and reciprocatingly mounted in said respective shallow and deep sets of grooves, each needle carrying its upwardly projecting shank at a fixed distance from the axis of the cylinder at all vertical positions of the needles, means for knitting with the alternate set of needles at alternate feeds, means for raising the non-knitting needles at a given feed up to have their shanks above the heads of the needles knitting at that feed, a dial stationarily located within the upper part of the cylinder and having radially arranged slots at its outer part, hooks having down-turned outer ends slidingly mounted in said dial slots, means for projecting and withdrawing said hooks between the shanks of said upraised non-knitting needles, means for guiding a terry thread into place in front of the shanks of the upraised nonknitting needles, and below the projected hooks whereby the inward movement of the hooks draws said terry thread into loops projecting inwardly between the said upraised shanks of the needles, means at the feedswhere the inner set of needleshave their shanks raised above the heads of the other set of needles for laying a weft thread substantially straight against the shanks of said upraised inner needles and means for then raising the outwardly-located needles in front of the said straight weft thread with no substantial distortion thereof.

3. In a circular, independent-needle knitting machine the combination of a vertically arranged stationary needle cylinder having vertically arranged needle grooves, needles independently and slidingly mounted in said grooves, the alternate needles forming two independently-operable sets of needles having their upwardly projecting shanks in two spaced concentric circles, each needle carrying its upwardly projecting shank at a fixed distance from the axis of the cylinder at all vertical positions of the needles, the needles of the first set having the part of their shanks that is above the cylinder when the needles are raised, located inwardly relative to the same part of the shanks of the second set of needles when raised so that a weft thread can be placed in front of the upraised inwardly-located needles and remain there without injury or substantial displacement when the outwardly located needles are raised, means for knitting with the alternate set of needles at alternate feeds, means for raising the non-knitting needles at a given feed up to have their shanks above the heads of the needles knitting at that feed, a dial stationarily located within the upper part of the cylinder and having radially arranged slots at its outer part, hooks having down-turned outer ends slidingly mounted in said dial slots, means for projecting and withdrawing said hooks between the shanks of said upraised non-knitting needles, means for guiding a terry thread into place in front of the shanks of the said upraised needles, and below the projected hooks whereby the inward movement of the hooks draws said terry thread into loops projecting inwardly between the upraised shanks of the needles, means at the feeds where the inner set of needles have their shanks raised above the heads of the other set of needles for laying a weft thread substantially straight against the shanks of said upraised inner needles and means for then raising the outwardly-located needles in front of the said straight weft thread.

4. In a circular independent-needle knittingmachine the combination of a vertically arranged stationary needle cylinder having vertically arranged needle grooves, the lower part of said grooves being deep and the upper parts of said grooves being alternately deep and shallow,

- needles independently and slidingly mounted in of the needles, the needles of the first set having their intermediate and upper portions mounted in the said upper deep cylinder grooves, the needles of the second set having their intermediate and upper portions farther front than the first set and fitting said shallow upper grooves so that a weft thread can be placed in front of the upraised inwardly-located needles and remain there without injury or substantial displacement when I the outwardly-located needles are raised, means for knitting with the alternate set of needles at alternate feeds, means for raising the non-knitting needles at a given feed up to have their shanks above the heads of the needles knitting at that feed, a dial stationarily located within the upper part of the cylinder and having radially arranged slots at its outer part, hooks having down-turned outer ends slidingly mounted in said dial slots, means for projecting and Withdrawing said hooks between the shanks of said upraised non-knitting needles, means for guiding a terry thread into place in front of the shanks of the upraised non-knitting needles, and below the projected hooks whereby the inward movement of the hooks draws said terry thread into loops projecting inwardly between the said upraised shanks of the needles, means at the feeds where the inner set of needles have their shanks raised above the heads of the other set of needles for laying a weft thread substantially straight against the shanks of said upraised inner needles and means for then raising the outwardly-located needles in front of the said straight weft thread.

JOHN H. MURPHY.

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