Abstract: Spring jacks are supported for vertical movement in the grooves of the needle cylinder below the needles and select the needles for the control cam to move from the welting position to the knitting or tucking position and to return the needle to the welting position. Jack actuating cams move the spring jacks upwardly to move the needles into operative position with respect to the control cam. The spring jacks are resilient and deflect from an active position to an inactive position out of operative association with an actuating cam. A pattern mechanism selects individual spring jacks in accordance with a predetermined pattern. A selector jack is mounted in each groove in the needle cylinder below the spring jack for limited inward and outward movement and an upper end portion engages a lower end portion of the spring jack. A stack of selector slides operate with the pattern mechanism and each of the selector slides is mounted for individual movement from inactive positions to active positions.

Abstract: Device for controlling the thread guides in a circular knitting machine, particularly for manufacturing hosiery and similar goods. The machine has a grooved needle cylinder, the grooves containing needles and needle jacks. The machine also has a control drum which controls the needle jacks by selectively tipping them by control elements mounted upon the cylindrical surface of a control drum. The thread guides of the knitting machine are controlled by programming elements mounted on an outer end surface of the control drum, the thread guides being selectively driven by programming elements mounted upon the outer end surface of the control drum.

Abstract: The present unitary needle selection device is operable to selectively position the knitting needles of a circular knitting machine in either knit, tuck or welt positions. The needle selection device includes a pair of side-by-side stacks of selector slides or cams supported for individual horizontal sliding movement between innermost active and outermost inactive radial positions. The inner ends of the selector slides are aligned with selector butts of selector jacks and a pattern drum is supported for indexable rotation adjacent the outer ends of the selector slides. Pairs of vertically aligned rows of pattern combs are supported in spaced-apart relationship on the pattern drum and the pattern butts are vertically aligned and movable into engagement with the outer ends of the corresponding side-by-side stacks of selector slides.

Abstract: A single or double cylinder circular knitting machine is adapted to effect renewal of a needle selection at one or more successive yarn feeds without requiring a respective pattern selection device therefor. The pattern jacks which have been selected, by a preceding pattern selection device, not to bring their respective needles to knit are moved radially inwards by a guiding cam, and are held separated from the other jacks even after the latter have brought their respective needles to knit. The cam may have a first movable part and a second fixed part. At one position of the movable part, the inoperative jacks are moved radially to the inside of the fixed part, and at the second position thereof, radially to the outside thereof, thereby they are restored to the selection position. This allows operation with a programmed selection even where the selection was formerly just reiterated.

Abstract: A knitting machine for knitting tubular knitted wear such as socks, which includes a needle knitting cylinder, yarn cutters, a number of pattern drums, a number of needle selector bars adapted to be operated by the pattern drums and in turn being adapted to operate needles in the knitting cylinder, a number of yarn feeder control drums controlled from a timing chain, and yarn feeders for each yarn feeder control drum, the yarn feeders being adapted to supply yarn to the needle knitting cylinder. The machine further includes an additional yarn feeder control arrangement. This arrangement comprises a control member for controlling each yarn feeder separately from its yarn feeder control drum, movement device adapted to be moved by the associated pattern drum, and coupling member adapted to be operated by the movement device and being adapted to transmit such movement to the control member for causing a particular control to be effected on its associated yarn feeder.

Abstract: An improvement for knitting pattern areas with hosiery knitting machines having a rotatable cylinder carrying latch needles therein, a knitting station at which a plurality of yarn feed fingers are independently movable into and out of yarn feeding positions for feeding background yarn at a basic level and pattern yarn at a higher level above the cylinder, and means for selectively positioning the needles at either a basic position for receiving only background yarn or an extended position for receiving both background and pattern yarn, the improvement being an auxiliary feed finger for feeding background yarn at a level more closely spaced from the cylinder than the basic level to needles at the basic position and below the latches of needles at the extended position for floating of the background yarn in knitted pattern areas behind loops of pattern yarn formed by extended position neeldes.

Abstract: For stepwise advancing a pattern drum in a circular knitting machine there is provided a device comprising a peripheral tooth formation on the pattern drum, a pawl capable of engaging the tooth formation and pivotally supported on a support which is caused to swing at each revolution of the needle cylinder under the action of a cam rigid with the needle cylinder. The cam has a first radially increasing part extending preferably for a half of a circle, a following second radially increasing part considerably steeper than the first part, and a progressively radially decreasing part. The cam causes the pawl to advance the pattern drum by two steps. When the pattern drum is to be advanced by a single step the pawl is disengaged from the tooth formation by an angle lever which is controlled by control pegs arranged on the pattern drum according to a control pattern.