US2249780A - Knitting needle latch - Google Patents

Description

July 22, 1941. c. 1. PAGE KNITTING NEEDLE LATCH Filed April 10, 1940 (Zarks lp linveutor I O I I attornegs'.

Patented July 22, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 10, zit-121:0. 328,942

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in knitting needle latches, and more particularly relates to the structure of the spoon which cooperates with the hook of the needle.

Heretofore the standard spoon is formed with a rather shallow depression which is intended to close upon the hook ofthe needle, but, due to variations in manufacture and other causes, this ideal condition is often prevented in practice by the rim of the depression which lies at the extremity or free tip of the spoon, thispart of the rim often encountering the rounded part of the hook and interfering with that final ideal seating of the depression over and upon the hook.

As the result of this imperfect mating between spoon and hook, the latch is very often thrown laterally out of alinement, as by knots or slubs in the yarn, to such an extent that there is such a misalinement of spoon and hook as to cause the spoon to be pushed to one side of the hook. This condition is attended by a distortion or bending of the latch and often results in breakage at its weakest point which lies in the zone between the spoonand the blade. The loss and expense of the latch is not the only difficulty because of this failure in practice because the yarn and the fabric often both sufler when such a failure occurs.

It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the above enumerated difficulties and to this end the invention proposes to proment of the latch at certain critical points occa-. sioned by the new formation given the latch in the particulars noted in the preceding paragraph.

The invention also aims to correct the prior maladjustment of parts and the difliculties incident thereto by simple rearrangement of latch parts without entailingany radical changes in the latch which would demand new manufacturing equipment or a new form of needle.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and more particularly pointed out in the I subioined claims.

In the drawing, in which like parts are denoted by the same reference characters throughout the several views, v

Figure l is a partial side view of a knitting needle showing the improvedlatch in the closed position.

Figure 2 is a similar view with the latch open. Figure 3 is a top plan view of the improved latch.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the same. Figure 5 is a side view with parts broken away and shown in longitudinal section along the line .55 in Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 6-6 in Figure 4,

and

Figure 7 is a perspective view Of the-improved latch.

Referring more particularly to the drawing i0 designates the shank of a conventional knitting needle in which the cheek is indicated at H and the hook at l2. The usual slot I3 is formed in the cheek and shank and is adapted to receive the blade 14 of thelatch which is pivoted in the slot II of the cheek II in the.customary manner as by the rivet IS. The blade it carries a spoon l6 which, together with the blade, is the subject of the present invention.

I first propose to eliminate the rim which lies at the free tip of the spoon so that the depression I1 is free, unimpeded and open at this point being bounded only by the bottom wall l8, whereby this bottom wall It may move toward and.

from the hook l2 and the bottom wall iii of the latch may always seek, without interference, the hook l2.

The side walls I8 of the spoon are made of a greater depth in comparison with the standard side walls, the overall depth of the spoon being in excess of that of the depth of the standard spoon. Moreover these side walls are substantially parallel and then run straight or substantiaily straight down the sides of the depression in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal As shown in Figures 4 and 5 the outer edges of the side walls or wings i9 gradually slope downwardly as indicated at 2| toward the bottom wall I8. The top edges 22 of the side walls or wings l9 are tapered outwardly and downwardly from the upper edges of the flat inner faces 20 to the outer sides 23 of the spoon. The formation of the side walls i9 deeper over standard practice gives rise to a further problem in the open position of thelatch in that this deeper wall portion i9 would ordinarily stand out from the shank ID a greater distance than normal which would result instraining the stitches as the needle moved up through the fabric. To counteract this tendency I remove portions of the bottom wall of the spoon adjacent the blade H, such removed portions being indicated at 24 so that the thin cross section of the blade l4 along the bottom of the blade and for a distance into the bottom portion of the spoon is continued to constitute a thin spoon bottom portion 25. Otherwise stated blade I4 is continued into the spoon; or the bottom walls of the spoon represented at 26 have been raised preferably along the sloping line as shown in Figure 4.

It will be noted that the removed portions 25 of the bottom of the spoon at opposite sides of the blade it are counteracted in any weakening tendency by virtue of additional bodies of material 21 added between the spoon and the upper side portions of the blade ll, which material is the usual material out of which the latches are made. The bottom sloping walls 28 also define the lower limit of. these additional bodies of material 21 which serve to reinforce and strengthen the latch at the aforesaid weakest part between the spoon and blade and particularly overlapping the removed portions 25 at the bottom part of the spoon.

Figure 3 shows in top plan view the open tip edge of the depression II as well as the straight character of the inner faces 20 of the side walls or wings and also the large bodies 21 of additional reinforcingmaterial at the inner edge of the spoon and of the gently sloping external boundary lines 28' of these bodies which gently slope into the sides of the thin portion oi the blade l4.

Figure 4 shows how the bottom edges of the reinforcing bodies 21 are undercut on the sloping line 28 at opposite sides of the blade ll, thus permitting the blade to continue into and under the spoon but at the same time reinforcing this blade and the spoon above the portion where the removed portions 24 have been withdrawn. Figures 1 and 2 show the two positions of the latch. In Figure 1 the spoon is shown closed against the hook l2, indicating that the open tip of the depression permits the bottom wall I. to at all times seek a position flat against the end extent than any part of the spoon in the standard construction tends to reinforce the blade against any bending stresses, at least to a .further point along its length toward its pivot 15 than. has been the practice heretofore.

As shown in Figure 6, the flat side faces 2| engage the sides of the hook l2. These side faces 20 are therefore at right angles to any strain or any force acting laterally tending to distort the latch out of its mating alinement with the hook After the needle has drawn the stitch and is again rising on the side cam the latch is opening, that is descending, and inasmuch as such latch may have any tendency to get across the sinkers, the tapering bottom walls 28 will engage the sinkers' and exert a gentle tendency on the latch to return to its normal vertical path of movement between adjacent sinkers; and in this way the walls '26 cooperate with the sinkers in maintaining correct alinement and operation 0 the latches.

- The language used in the claims refers to the invention when in the position illustrated in Figure 1.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modiflcations being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a knitting needle having a hook and a slotted cheek, an improved latch comprising a blade and a spoon, said blade pivoted to the needle cheek within said. slot, said spoon having a depression adapted to receive said needle hook in the upper closed position'of the latch, said spoon having deep side walls at the sides of said depression for flanking the sides,

the material below said bodies and below the adjacent portion of the spoon being removed at opposite sides of said blade to permit the blade to enter the slot in the needle cheek down to a of the hook l2. In this figure also the deep side walls 19 are shown as extending well beyond the center line of the hook i 2 in which position it would be difficult for any sidewise motion*im posed on the latch to enable the spoon to disengage the hook. Moreover the depth of the side walls 19 causes the leading edges 2| and 22 of the side walls to overlap the sides of hook l2 "at an earlier point in the rotational, closing movement of the latch, which is also eflicacious in tending to avoid lateral torsional movement of low point on the spoon to compensate for the increase in the height of said side walls, the undersides of said additional bodies and of said walls being tapered lengthwise of the blade and spoon and at the same timerounded transversely to coact with adjacent sinkers in the downward swinging motion of the latch to preserve the center alinement of the latch.

2. In combination with a knitting needle having a hook and a slotted cheek, an improved latch comprising a blade and a spoon, said blade pivoted to the needle cheek within said slot. said spoon having a depression adapted to receive said needle hook in the upper closed position of the latch out of alinement with the hook l2 in the closing action of the spoon upon the hook. Moreover the presence of the reinforcing bodies the latch, said spoon having deep. side walls at 2'Iwhich extend along the blade ll to a greater 76 of Mid blade adjoining and merging with the portions of the spoon side walls adjacent said upper line, the material below said bodies and removed at opposite sides of said blade to permit the blade to enter the slot in the needle cheek down to a low point on the spoon to compensate for the increase in the height of said side walls, the undersides of said additional bodies and of said walls being tapered lengthwise of the blade and spoon and at the same time rounded transversely to coact with adjacent sinkers in the downwardswinging motion of the latch to preserve the center alinement of the latch.

3. In combination with a knitting needle having a hook and a slotted cheek, an improved latch comprising a blade and a spoon, said blade pivoted to the needle cheek within said slot,

said spoon having a depression adapted to receive said needle hook in the upper closed position of the latch, said spoon having deep side walls at the sides of said depressionior flanking the sides of the'needle hook and appreciably overlapping the end of the needle hook, said side walls terminating short of the tip end of the spoon and being separated and spaced apart to provide an open tip end with a projecting bottom portion, the upper line said blade and spoon walls being substantially coincident, additional bodies of material on the sides of said blade adjoining and merging with the portions of the below the adjacent portion of the spoon being spoon side walls adjacent said upper line, the

material below said bodies and below the adjacent portion of the spoon being removed at opposite sides oi said blade to permit the blade to enter the slot in the needle cheek down to a low point on the spoon to compensate for the increase in the height of said side walls, the

undersides of said additional bodies and of said spoon having a depression adapted to receive said needle hook in the upper closed position of the latch, additional bodies of material on the sides of said blade adjoining and merging with the portions of the spoon adjacent the upper part only of the spoon, the undersides of said additional bodies and said spoon being tapered lengthwiseof the-blade and spoon and at the sametime rounded transversely to coact with adjacent sinkers in the downward swinging motion of the latch to preserve the center alinement of the latch.

, CHARLES L. PAGE.

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