Flat Machine Knitting and Fabrics

by H. D. Buck

Now to get an insight into the principle of the method of making this purl stitch we will first give our attention to Fig. 63, which is a line drawing of a needle and the two jacks which are required for each needle in their proper relative positions.

How Needles Are Operated

As will be surmised after looking at the drawing, the jacks are moved forward and backward by cams operating on the butts a and a, which project above the surface of the needle plate in the same manner as the cams operate on the needle butts in the ordinary flat machine. The jacks operate the needles by catching the hook of the needles in the clutches b and b of the jacks. These needles are simply passed, so to speak, back and forth across the throat, between the needle plates, from one jack to the opposite one on each course, and in that way they reverse the direction of the draw of the loop on each course.

Fig. 60.
Looking Down at Top of Purl Stitch Machine.

We will now give our attention to Fig. 62, which shows the under or cam side of the carriage. It is understood, of course, that lengthwise of the carriage, or the direction of movement, would be what is crosswise or right and left in the illustration. It will be noted that the locks or stitch cam arrangement are, on the whole, practically the same as in the ordinary flat machine. This would apply to the cams and locks including a, h, k and g, also b, i, l and j. The bridges c and d are for another purpose.

Fig. 61.
Top of Carriage. Dubied Purl Stitch Machine.

It will be noted that while the stitch cams h and i, also g and j, are exactly opposite one another, the cams a and b are not. The bridges c and d have perfectly flat smooth surfaces except at points e and f, and here they have a concave portion about one-eighth of an inch deep. The space between bridge c and cam k, also between bridge d and cam 1, is filled by the needle gib 1, Fig. 60, and its mate on the back, which cannot be seen, when the carriage is on the machine. The reader should carefully study the points just gone over, that is, the location of the cams a and b in relation to each other, and the bridges c and d with their concave spots e and f, in order to fully grasp their relation to the jacks and needles in the operation of the machine.