US2157546A - Needle bed - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED STATES 4 Claims.

This case concerns needle beds, more particularly such beds for circular knitting machines of the type wherein needles reciprocate in slots or tricks. The construction includes strips which go to make up the walls of said slots, these strips being inserted in shallow grooves in a cylinder and being so constructed that they retain said cylinder in more or less permanent relationship to its support. It is a special feature of the construction involved that an extremely thin cylinder can be employed so that in small sizes a maximum of space is available within the cylinder.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a section showing the invention as applied to a cylinder of the rotary type;

Fig. 2 is a section showing about half of the cylinder and illustrating the clamping member which secure the entire assembly in position as a unit;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the means employed to prevent relative movement between the cylinder and its driving gear; and

.Fig. 4 is a detail of one wall strip or insert.

In knitting machines of the type described, especially in hosiery machines of the smaller sizes there has been very little room within the cylinder itself, this being a distinct handicap in working take-ups and the like which have to be attached to the fabric within that space in the cylinder. In cylinders as previously constructed, whether of solid one piece type or built up with walls formed as inserts, the cylinder section itself had to be of considerable thickness to accommodate bolts or screws which were employed to attach the cylinder to a base or to a driving gear such as that shown in this case. In the construction herein illustrated the inserts which act as walls between which needles reciprocate act to retain the cylinder portion in permanent engagement with a base or driving gear as the case may be. Referring to the figures of drawing, a cylinder I is made up with shallow slots cut therein within which are assembled the wall strips 2, these wall strips being formed in a particular manner. The tricks or slots within said cylinder do not extend to the upper end of the same but terminate beneath a circumferential groove 3 within which projections 4 engage. These strips are preferably a tight fit in the cylinder slots and may be formed in the general manner indicated in Lawson et al. Patent No. 1,899,278 or in any other suitable way so as to provide parallel sided slots between which needles reciprocate.

Said cylinder rests upon driving gear 5 of any 55 convenient type, or might rest upon the base of PATENT OFFICE" NEEDLE BED Robert H. Lawson, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, It. 1., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 14, 1936, Serial No. 59,106

machine in the event that said cylinder were stationary instead of rotating. Each strip has at its lower end a notch 6 which provides a projecting shoulder l on which segments of a clamping ring 8 engage. These segments are drawn down toward gear 5 by means of a series of screws or other attaching means 9 so that when all the said clamping members are tightened down on a shoulder 1, these strips will draw cylinder l permanently into engagement with the gear 5. The projections 4 on the strips are downwardly inclined to engage with the correspondingly inclined edge of groove 3 so that they will tend to lock themselves in position in slots in the cylinder.

The cylinder and inserts will be centered relative to the gear 5 since the cylinder fits within counterbore l0 and the lower ends of strips seat Within a slightly larger counterbore H. For the purpose of assuring that the entire assembly rotates as a unit, an angular piece 52 attached by one of the clamping screws 9' which is slightly longer than the other projects upwardly in a slot 13 in the gear and into another slot I4 in the cylinder; this is shown in detail in Fig. 3.

A stitch ring l5 having sinker slots cut therein as shown rests on the top of cylinder l and would be of correspondingly thinner section so as not to restrict the enlarged opening now provided within the cylinder. The usual ring l6 which supports the sinker assembly rests upon the shouldered part Ill at the upper ends of the strips and is clamped in position by the usual set screws It]. It is to be understood that each of the strips is to be formed of suitable hardened material and that it will not be necessary to harden the cylinder itself since all wear will be between needles and strips so that the cylinder itself need be of no hardened material. The thickness of the cylinder need be no more than suflicient to provide adequate strength and rigidity and does not have to accommodate any bolts or screws threaded into the same which have necessitated additional thickness as previously mentioned.

The invention has been described relative to a circular machine of a particular type, but may be of use in any machine wherein needles reciprocate in slots or tricks and wherein it is of advantage to conserve space as before described. The invention is not to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A needle bed having a support, a cylinder centered within said support and having grooves therein within which strips are inserted to form needle walls, interengaging means between said strips and cylinder and clamping means at the lower ends of strips for securing them to said support, said interengaging means being so constructed that when strips are clamped at their lower ends they will be held within the cylinder and the cylinder will be held in fixed position on said support.

2. A needle bed for knitting machines having a support constructed as a rotating driving element, a cylinder centered within said support and means for preventing rotation between said 'cylinder and support, strips within grooves in said cylinder, said strips having shoulders adja cent their lower ends and hooked projections engaging a complementary part of said cylinder at the upper ends, clamping rings attached above said support for engaging said shoulders whereby the strips, cylinder and support will be maintained and driven as a unit.

3. A needle bed including a cylinder, a support and inserted walls maintained in grooves in said cylinder, said walls having interengaging portions thereon for engagement with a cooperating part of said cylinder and a shoulder at their lower ends whereby they are retained downwardly against a support, the construction being such that the cylinder is not directly attached to the support but is retained in working engagement therewith as said strips are clamped downwardly against the support.

4. A strip for insertion in a needle bed of the type described comprising an elongated needle guiding portion, a shoulder projecting from one edge of the strip adjacent to its lower end and constructed to be engaged by a retaining element for holding the strip downwardly against a support and within the needle bed, and another projection' adjacent to the other end of the strip and projecting from the opposite edge thereof for engaging the needle bed constructed in a manner to prevent withdrawal of the strip and to hold the cylinder in engagement with a support substantially as described.

ROBERT H. LAWSON.

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