US2618948A - Welt turning apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 25, 1952 BROWN ET AL WELT TURNING APPARATUS s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 17, 1950 l nv entors I wol nm M801 QMMQLQ Nov. 25, 1952 L. BROWN ETAL 2,618,948

WELT TURNING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/GB.

I nventors Nov. 25, 1952 BROWN ET AL 2,613,948

WELT TURNING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 AMA 3 WWW:

W I Q cfl Patented Nov. 25, 1952 2,618,948 WELT TURNING APPARATUS Leonard Brown, Nottingham, and John Edward Lyna n,'Mapperley, Nottingham, England, assignors to William Cotton Limited, Loughbor- 61 51 En a Ainsl eM e Ma 9 -Se a .N 62A In Great Britain May 18, 1949 (01. sa es) '8 Claims.

1 This invention concerns ,WQU' turning ap ratus, of Cottons patent' orlother straight bar knitting machines,. qf thetyp.e comprising aseries of hooked welting'instruments which receive thread loops or kinks of an initial welt course, are m v aw -f o th need es .a lth p ain s d thereof d n the n oduct pno atleas a I Portion of the Walt fab c a d are subse uentl advanced to the needles to permit the initial course to be applied to the latterin the act of turning the welt, a bight of the welt fabric being tensioned beneath the instruments at an .intermediate stage in the prgduction of the welt by means .of a welt stick (or its equivalent) and suitable attached tensioning gneans so that the loops or kinks held by the instruments are tensioned away irom the needles against stops or catches provided on or in association with the instruments. lncertainiorms of automatic welt turning apparatus on a Cottons patent or other straight barknitting machine, it is usual to leave the welting instruments or welt hooks engaged with the fabric after the initial course has been restored-to the needles, until at a convenient time the operative disengages -thern'-' by hand. In the design and construction of automatic welt-turning apparatus, this disengag ment is one of the features presenting the greatest difiiculty.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for disengaging welting instruments from the fabric after the welt has been turned. The invention is applicable'to the machine and apparatus forming the subject of patent application, Serial-No. 162,447, filed May 17, 1950.

-With the above object in view :the invention provides'in'a Cottons' patent or other straight bar knitting machine employing a welt bar equipped with hooked welting instruments, of mechanism for producing the disengagement of said instruments'irom the fabric after the welt and permitting it to swing further in the u nhooking direction. The welt Joar may come to rest with the welting instruments pointing away from" the needle line and Whereas thevbar maybe reversed to' its initialiattitude by hand if desired, .a further feature of the invention resides in effecting ther'eversalautomatically.'

The above and other ieatures of the invention are set jforth in'the appended claims and are dis- "closed i he .s e ailed d sqr pt qmz i eni Wa of example, .of the particular embodiment illustrated inthe acco npanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is ageneralsectional view of welt her control mechanism according to the invention and showing sutficient of the adiacent parts of a kni ting m ne t perm t the a te t be identified;

Figures ;2 to 6 are detail ,viewson a-larger scale of certain of said parts at different stages;

Figures "7 and 8 are similar views to Figures 2 to 6*butshowing the welt bar being restored to its initial attitude;

Figure 9 is a plan view of Figure 1.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown as being incorporated in a straightbar knitting machine according to copending patent application, No.1l6-2A4'7, filed May 1'7, 0. Only suificient of the-knitting machine is shown to permit-it to beidentified' but attention is directed tothe table-2t, frame-member 21 ,maincam shaft 2-2,-needles l and sinkers'z, these elements bein of conventional kind. In conventional manner the machine may com rise a plurality of divisions each arranged" to knit a selvedged blank (a1- thoughtheinventionis of course applicableto a simple unit machine having a single division of e dle o ikn i n a in b n an v I. i=ru r .1 we i shqw them iqritro h ow tb s trol nriechanism tor a representative division; certainelements of mechanism {c.g. shafts) will extend .along plurnli iy of divisions as will be o v ous t Qne, ski ls si t ar ,Qqns d ri i new .th ch nism o a r p esentative division, and referring especially to Figural, aflwelt bar; ,3 is provided having welting instruments Sand endpegs i; the instruments 5 may bejasdescribe'd in, the aforesaid patentapplication. .There is also. provided at eachv end of the divisionfof needlesaforked armfi havinga cleft 'i forreceiving the pegsfi at each end ofthedivisio'ni of needles. These forked 'ar'i'nstimay be empleyed for advaneing and retractingthelweit bar in the production andturning of the welt Kie :.wh t r eisren el v ab mad to abni a iqn ,N.o. 1;162a4 7 ,fidlednay 1?, 1.95m, 'T

according to the present invention they are also utilised to assist in releasing the welt hooks 5 from engagement with the fabric and this operation is carried out conveniently whilst said arms 6 are stationary in the position indicated in the drawings. For further assisting in the welt hook releasing operation, there are provided lifting levers 8 at each end of the division of needles; these levers 8 may have stops 9, 9 for the purpose of controlling the aforesaid retraction and advancement of the welt bar 3 if desired, and for the purpose of the present invention each lever 8 has a forward ledge or part 21 for engaging the pegs 4 of the welt bar 3. Any suitable mechanism may be provided for raising and lowering said lifting levers 8 at desired times; conveniently as shown the levers 8 are fixed on a rotating shaft 23 which is rocked through the medium of arm 2%, rod H) and tappet ll which is operated by bits on a pattern disc l2 fixed on a pattern control shaft 13.

Welt straps I 4 are also provided having at least one hook 15 for hooking onto the ends of a welt stick 26. The straps M are attached to the usual draw off roller [6 biased in the winding-up or draw-off direction by weighted cords or the like 19.

In operation it will be assumed that the welt has been produced (conveniently as described in the specification of said Patent application No. 162,447, filed May 17, 1950) and that the welt bar 3 has been retracted to a certain extent by the forked levers 6 (if such levers are employed for the purpose as before mentioned) and by the being-produced fabric F with which the welting instruments 5 are still engaged. At this stage the fabric is being drawn-off by the welt straps and (again if the forked levers are employed as aforesaid) suitable means such for example as a catch 28 cooperating with a notch 29 in a collar or the like, (on a rocking shaft 30, through the medium of which the forked levers 6 may be operated as aforesaid) may be provided for holding the forked levers in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 i. e. whereat the pegs 4 are above the ledges or parts 21 of the lifting levers 8. The lifting levers 8 now rise and engage the pegs 4 of the welt bar 3 to raise them upwardly along the clefts l in the forked levers 6 (Figure 3), and the result is that because the hooks 5 are still engaged in the fabric F the welt bar becomes tilted as shown into an attitude whereat the welt hooks extend substantially vertically downwards from the welt bar. As shown in Figure 4, continued production of the fabric results in a swinging movement of the welt bar 5 about the axis of the trunnion-like legs 4 (which rest on the ledges 21 and are positioned in clefts 7) until the welting instruments I incline downwards towards the front of the machine. While in certain constructions this swinging movement may of itself be adequate to unhook the instruments from the fabric, it will usually be found that the hooks of the instruments require to be at such a length that additional unhooking movement must be imparted. For this reason, at an appropriate stage in the rearward swing of the welt bar 3, the lifting levers 8 are lowered to their inoperative position (Figure 5) with the result that the welt bar 3 is lowered until a shoulder part I! thereof engages guide rails [8; this shoulder l! thereupon acts as a pivot about which the welt bar rolls or rocks in the unhooking direction so as to raise the hooks of the welting instruments 5 through comparatively small are such that the hooks become disengaged from the fabric. Finally the welt bar 3 comes to rest upside-down on said guide rails I8 with the welting instruments 5 extending substantially horizontally, away from the needles I, towards the front of the machine as shown in Figure 6 and with the pegs 4 still engaged in the clefts 1 of the forked levers 6.

While it is within the scope of the invention to invert welt bar 3 by hand so as to place it in condition for the next welt turning operation, this inversion is preferably efiected mechanically. For this purpose the lifting levers 8 are again raised at an appropriate time, and desirably this raising takes place when sufficient of the fabric has been produced for the joint of the welt to be located forwardly of the welting instruments as shown in Figure '7. The levers 8, when raised, engage the pegs 4 and raise them in the clefts 1 of the forked levers 6. As a result the welt bar 3 is again suspended with the instruments 5 pointing downwardly as shown in Figure 7; the balance of the welt bar 3 and instruments 5 however is such that the instruments 5 automatically incline towards the needle line as shown. Consequently, upon the lifting levers 8 being next lowered the welt bar 3 automatically lowers until the shoulder or front edge 31 (Figure 7) of the welt bar 3 engages the guides 24 whereupon the welt bar comes to rest with the instruments 5 pointing towards the needles H in the desired manner (Figure 8).

If the forked levers 6 are employed as before stated for moving the welt bar to and from the needle line, catch mechanism such as that described above may be employed for preventing (at appropriate time) further rocking of the rocking shaft 33 to take off the tension applied to the fabric by the fork levers 5 and welting instruments 5. The rock shaft 30 may therefore have to be stopped at two different positions in its rotation, and for this purpose there may be provided a pair of the notches 29 at circumferentially spaced locations, and means such for example as a hand lever 3| may be provided for turning the shaft from one position to the other.

We claim:

1. In a straight bar knitting machine having needles and a welt bar equipped with hooked welting instruments for use in turning a. welt, mechanism for producing the disengagement of the instruments from the fabric after the welt has been turned, which mechanism comprises the combination of trunnion-like pins on the ends of the welt bar, supports on which the welt bar normally rests, upwardly-extending guide slots along which the pins are movable, lifting devices for engaging beneath the pins to raise and lower the welt bar, means for raising the lifting devices and for thereby lifting the pins in their slots to a position in which the bar hangs pendulously with the instruments pointing downwards and engaged with the fabric and free to swing in the unhooking direction and lowering the lifting devices to lower the pins in their slots and to bring the bar onto the supports and for thereby carrying the latter to fulcrum on the supports in the unhooking direction until upside down.

2. In a Cottons patent or other straight bar knitting machine employing a welt bar equipped with hooked instruments, a plurality of needles, means for automatically advancing and retracting the welt bar to and from said needles, lifting mechanism for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwards and engaged in the fabric, means for oper- 'ating the lifting mechanism to support the welt bar in said manner during retraction of the welt bar and means whereby "the 'we'lt bar -'is then supported by the lifting mechanism In a freely pivotal or 'pendulous'manner so'thatthe instruments are swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from the needles 'to effect Tpa'rtial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric.

3. In aCo'ttons patentorother straight bar knitting machine'employing a'welt bar'equipped with hooked instruments,'aipliirality of needles, means for automatically advancing and retracting the welt bar to andfroih'said'needles, -lifting mechanism for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwards and engaged in the fabric, means for operating the lifting mechanism to support the welt bar in said manner during retraction of the welt bar, means whereby the welt bar is then supported by the lifting mechanism in a freely pivotal or pendulous manner so that the instruments are swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from the needles to effect partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, and means for then lowering the welt bar thus permitting the instruments to swing further from the needles and partially turn over into a reversed attitude to effect further partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric.

4. In a Cottons patent or other straight bar knitting machine employing a welt .bar equipped with hooked instruments, a plurality of needles, means for automatically advancing and retracting the welt bar to and from said needles, lifting mechanism for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwards and engaged in the fabric, means for operating the lifting mechanism to support the welt bar in said manner during retraction of the welt bar, means whereby the welt bar is then supported by the lifting mechanism in a freely pivotal or pendulous manner so that the instruments are swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from the needles to effect partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, and means for then lowering the welt bar, thus permitting the instruments to swing further from the needles into a reversed attitude to effect further partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, and supports onto which the welt bar is then lowered and on which it fulcrums to complete the'reversing of the welt bar and unhooking of the instruments from the fabric.

5. In a Cottons patent or other straight bar knitting machine employing a welt bar equipped with hooked instruments, a plurality of needles, means for automatically advancing and retracting the welt bar to and from said needles, lifting mechanism for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwardly and engaged in the fabric, means for operating the lifting mechanism to support the welt bar in said manner during retraction of the welt bar, means whereby the welt bar is then supported by the lifting mechanism in a freely pivotal or pendulous manner so that the instruments are swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from the needles to effect partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, means for lowering the welt bar thus permitting the instruments to swing further from the needles and partially turn over into a reversed attitude to effect further partial unhook- 6 ing of "thein'struments from the fabric, supports onto which the welt bar {is lowered and on which it fulcrums to complete -the reversing-of thewelt bar and unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, and means for inverting the welt bar back to its correct attitude.

6. In -a "("Jottons patent or other straight bar knitting ma'chin'e employing a welt bar equipped with hooked instruments, a plurality of i needles, means for automatically advancing and i retracting the welt-bar to andfro'm s'aid needles, lifting mechanism comprising lifting devices engaging ivot :pins on the ends of the 'welt bar for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments h'an'ging downwards and engaged :in the fabric, "r'n'eans for operating said lifting devices'to supportthepivotpins (and consequently to support the welt bar in said manner) during retraction of the welt bar, and means whereby the welt bar is then supported by the lifting mechanism in a freely pivotal or pendulous manner so that the instruments are swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from the needles to effect partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric.

7. In a Cottons patent or other straight bar knitting machine employing a Welt bar equipped with hooked instruments, a plurality of needles, means for automatically advancing and retracting the welt bar to and from said needles, lifting mechanism comprising lifting devices engaging pivot pins on the ends of the welt bar for lifting the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwards and engaged in.

the fabric, means for operating said lifting de-- vices to support the pivot pins (and consequently knitting machine employing a welt bar equipped with hooked welting instruments, a plurality of needles, mechanism for producing the disengagement of the instruments from the fabric after the welt has been turned, comprising pivoted upstanding arms having upwardly extending slots, and pivot pins on the ends of the welt bar for engaging in said slots; cam operated truck arm and chain means for operating said arms to advance and retract the welt bar through the medium of said pins; substantially horizontal lifting arms for engaging said pins to lift the welt bar to an elevated attitude with the instruments hanging downwards and engaged in the fabric; cam and truck arm means for raising the lifting arms to support the welt bar in said manner during retraction of the welt bar by the upstanding arms, so that the welt bar is then supported on said lifting arms and in said slots in a freely pivotal or pendulous manner and may be swung by the fabric, during its production, in a direction away from said needles to effect partial unhooking of the instruments from the fabric, and for lowering the welt bar and permitting the instruments to swing further from the needles to turn over into a reversed attitude to effect further partial unhooking of the instrument from the fabric; station'ary bar members onto which the welt bar is lowered and on which it fulcrums to complete the reversing of the welt bar and unhooking of the instruments from the fabric; and the pivot pins being at such locations on the welt bar that when the bar is supported pivotally or pendulously without the instruments engaging the fabric, the instruments incline towards the needles and said cam and truck arm means being arranged to raise the lifting arms (and consequently the pins and welt bar) at an appropriate stage after release of the instruments from the fabric, and then to lower them so that the welt bar fulcrums on the stationary members and is inverted thereby to the correct attitude.

LEONARD BROWN.

JOHN EDWARD LYNAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,036,143 Howie Mar. 31, 1936 2,162,121 Ruedt June 13, 1939 10 2,396,263 Hofmann Mar. 12, 1946 2,431,160 Bitzer Nov. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 509,962 Germany Oct. 15, 1930

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