Flat Machine Knitting and Fabrics

by H. D. Buck

Fig. 45.
Dubied Automatic Single Lock Machine.

Fig. 45 shows an automatic single-lock machine built by Dubied & Co. in Switzerland, designated as Type VD, which is a very good example of the automatic machine. It is operated by the belt A, Fig. 46, which runs it by a pulley of the clutch type which is located back of the machine. The proper movement is conveyed to the carriage through a pair of sprockets and chain as shown in Fig. 46, at m. The carriage is connected to the driving chain at point m, by the connection rod n, which obviously must follow the chain back and forth around the sprockets. This arrangement gives the carriage a uniform movement during the time it is operating the needles and is generally conceded as superior to the crank system of driving.

The letter G, Fig. 45, indicates the lever for throwing in the clutch to start the machine, and F is the crank for turning the machine by hand. This crank does not turn when the machine is run by power but hangs in the position shown. The letter S shows the main or controlling chain and 1 and 2 indicate the racking chains. These will be taken up in more detail later. Letter B indicates an ingenious counter arrangement for counting the rounds, which permits the use of very short chains and will be explained in due course. H and K are yarn carriers, of which there are five altogether. The others are on the back and cannot be seen plainly. T is the yoke or bridge which holds the two sides of the carriage together. There is no physical connection between the two sides of the carriage at the point where the locks are attached, but the connection is made through extensions which can be seen, and through this yoke.

On these machines the fabric is not held down by weights, hanging thereon, as in the hand machines, but by what is called a take-up roller which has means provided for adjustment to keep the desired strain on the fabric at all times. The weights which are in plain view are to hold the fabric up to and in close contact with the take-up roller through a frame with a small roller on the fabric side of the frame and the weights on the outside, which work on the lever and fulcrum principle.

An automatic machine must have a pattern chain of some kind or character to operate its automatic functions. Means provided which will be explained in what follows cause the desired change to be made at the proper time and place. The machine under discussion has a main or controlling chain made up from wire links which may be taken out or added to at will, each link measuring about 6 inches crosswise of the chain and about one-half inch lengthwise of the chain. This chain is carried by a sprocket roller at the top and is held down on this roller by its own weight, though there are guards over each end to keep it from jumping off in case of emergency. This sprocket roller is turned the distance of one full link by the carriage depressing the lever J, and through this medium acting on the rocker shaft I (Fig. 45) which extends the length of the machine to the sprocket roller. The latter is in turn moved the distance of one link by a pawl and ratchet.

Fig. 46.
Automatic Mechanism, Dubied Machine.

In Fig. 46 we have a view of this main chain at S, with the levers on which it acts shown at a to h. These levers swing on a small shaft, at the point where they appear to end, near the center of the machine. Instead of ending there, each has an extension on the other side of this shaft which extends at an angle and reaches quite close to the chain. These levers, though only about three-eighths of an inch wide, are arranged so the angular extensions underneath come in line laterally with each other and crosswise of the chain, or lengthwise of the machine, and they, together with the space between, cover practically the whole width of the chain. These levers swing freely crosswise of the machine, but are fixed lengthwise, therefore the positions of the upper ends can be very easily moved toward the front or back of the machine, but are stationary in the direction in which the carriage moves.

Keeping this in our mind, we will now refer to the main chain shown in Fig. 46 at S. It will be noted that there are a number of studs affixed to the chain which project up above the chain proper. These studs may be put on at any desired spot and taken off at will. It is quite obvious that if we fix a stud on this chain at a spot in line with one of the levers, let us say at lever a, when the chain has moved forward to the point where this stud comes under the angular extension of the lever the position of the top of the lever would be changed. And this new position would be fixed until the carriage has been moved to the other end of the machine and turned the chain one more link. Then the lower end of the lever will drop off the stud and be returned to its former position by a spring.