Flat Machine Knitting and Fabrics

by H. D. Buck

The cams a-1, a-2 and a-3 are attached to the carriage b, b, b, b, Fig, 17, at a point just below a-1, a-2 and a-3 and the carriage, together with the cams, rests and slides freely back and forth on the ways c, c, while the plate and needles remain stationary. The cams are secured to the carriage in a position so that they come very close to the needle plates. They should be set as close as possible and not rub the plate as they are moved back and forth.

It may be well to explain here that a cam in any machine is a piece of hardened steel of the proper shape and construction to cause some other part of the machine to make the proper movements to perform its functions. In this instance they actuate the needles by coming in contact with the butts.

It will be noted that each one of the needles from e to e, Fig. 16, has a loop in the hook except from the point where they are rising over the cam a-3, and on these the loops rest on the shank. It should be understood that the fabric back of the needle plate has a weight on it, thereby giving to each loop a downward pull. The fabric and weights may be seen in Fig. 18.

Fig. 16.
Principle Used to Form Loops on a Machine.

Now bear in mind that the cams a-1, a-2 and a-3, Fig. 16, are attached to the carriage b, b, b, b, Fig. 17, at points underneath a-1, a-2 and a-3. These cams are moving from right to left and as the lower left hand corner of a-3 is below the line of the butts of the needles from e to e, they, the needles, must of necessity slide upward in the slots along the edge of this cam. When they get to the top it will be noted that the latches of the needles are above and clear of the loops. As the cams move farther along, the cam a-2 comes in contact with the butts and slides them down again. As the needles move downward the hooks catch the thread i which lies in their path, and as at l the stitch that is on the needle closes the latch as the needle slides downward. As the needle moves farther down the hook draws a new loop through the old one, while the latch closing up the hook allows the old loop to slip over the end (needle m), and the pull of the fabric draws it down on to the new loop.

Fig. 17.
Top Side of Carriage, Over Cams.

The thin portions of the needle plate indicated by the letter h in Fig. 16, which extend upwards, are called jacks and these hold that part of the stitch called sinker loops while the needle is drawing through the new needle loop.

Below each needle is a U-shaped spring, j, j, and k, k, Fig. 16, which holds the needles up in the working position. They extend down to and around the bottom of the plate and up against the under side of the plate. The end that is under the plate is a little longer than the end that slides up in the slot below the needle. These U-springs are made so that before they are put in their places on the plate, the ends come together, so when they are spread and pushed on to the plate they act as a clamp to hold the needles in position. They are not attached to the needles, but simply clamp the plate with tension enough to hold them up or down, as the case may be, and the bottom end of the needles rests on them. This construction leaves the knitter in a position to pull d own out of working position as many needles as he may wish, therefore he may make his fabric any desired width by pulling needles down out of the working line or pushing them up into the working line, thereby adding to or taking away stitches.