At L arc two 'milks or wheels, of different diame ters, moving upon a common centre, by' which the jack sinkers are relieved from the back springs, and thrown downwards to form the loops upon the needles. About the larger wheel is a band of whip cord passing twice round, the extremities of which are attached to what is called the slur, which disengages the jacks from the back springs. The smaller pulley, by another band, communicates with the right and left treddle ; so that these treddles, when pressed alternately, turn the pul lies about in an inverted order. The directions of these bands also appear more plainly in the front elevation, Fig. 5. The construction of the slur, and its effect upon the jacks, will also be rendered apparent by' Fig. 4. In this Figure eight jacks are represented in section, the tail part of three of which, 1, 2, 3, are thrown up by the slur in its progress from left to right ; the fourth is in the act of rising, and the remaining four, 5, 6, 7, and 8, are still unacted upon, the slur not yet reached them. As the slur acts in the direction of the clotted line XX, (Fig. 2.) behind the centres of the jacks, it is hardly necessary to remark, that thus forcing up the tails must of course depress the joints by which the sinkers in front are suspended. Tile jack sinkers fall ing successively from loops on every alternate needle, in the way represented in Fig. 6. where both kinds of sinkers appear in section, the light part expressing what is above the point at which the throat of the sinker ope rates upon the thread, and the dark part what is below. The second sct, or as they arc called the Iced sinkers, front the manner of jointing them, and suspending them from the bar above, appear still elevated ; the position of the bar being represented by the line AB. But when these are pulled down to the level of the former by the operator's hands, the whole looping will be completed, and the thread CD, which is still slack, will be brought to its full and proper degree of tension, which is regu lated by stop screws, so as to be ten.pered. or altered at pleasure. The sinking of this second set of sinkers, may be easily explained by Fig. 8. The direction of the sinkers is expressed by the line E ; the bar from which they arc suspended will be at A ; the top frame is in the direction from A to B ; the back standards at D, and the joint at B, is the centre of motion. If IL is pulled per pendicularly downwards, the spring C will be contract ed, and its upper extreme point G, will be brought nearer to its lower extreme point F, which is fixed. Again, when the force which has depressed E is re moved, the spring C will revert to its former state, and the sinkers will rise. The raising of the jack sinkers and jacks takes place at the same time, by the hosier raising his hands ; and for the cause of this we must re vert to Fig. 2. The lead sinkers in rising, lay hold of notches which raise the extreme parts of the set of jacks ZZ, which are called half jacks. Between the extre mities of these, at ZZ, is a cross bar, which, in descend ing, presses all the intermediate jacks behind the com mon centre, and restores them to their original posture, where they are secured by the back springs, until they are again relieved by the operation of the slur recrossing at the next course.
Working of the Frame.
In order to work a frame, the whole apparatus being previously put into complete order, the hosier places himself on the seat in front, and provides himself with a bobbin of yarn or stuff. This bobbin he places loosely on a vertical pin of wire, driven into one side of the frame contiguous to the needles, so that it may turn freely as the stuff is unwound from it. Taking the thread
in his hand, he draws it loosely along the needles behind the barbs and under the throats of the sinkers. He then presses down one of the treddles to pass the slur along, and unlock the jacks from the back springs, that they may fall in succession. When this is done, the number of loops thus formed is doubled by bringing down the lead sinkers, and the new formed loops are lodged un der the barbs of the needles by bringing forward the sinkers. The preceding course, and former fabric, be ing then again pushed back, the barbs are shut by de pressing the mid treddle, and forcing down the press er upon the needles. The former work is now easily brought over the shut needles, after which, by raising the hands, both sets of sinkers are raised ; the jacks are locked by the back springs, and the hosier goes on to another course.
From this, it will be apparent, that the remark made in the outset is well founded, that there are, in reality, no complicated or difficult movements in the stocking frame. Almost the whole ate merely those of levers moving in their respective fulcra, excepting that of the carriage which gives the horizontal motion to the sinkers, and that is merely an alternate motion on four wheels. Vet the frame is a machine which requires considerable experience and care, both to work it to ad vantage and also to keep it in good order. This cir cumstance arises greatly from the small compass in which a number of moving parts must be included. Owing to this, the needles, unless cautiously and deli cately handled, are easily bent or injured. The same circumstance applies with equal or greater force to the sinkers, which must be so very thin as to be easily in jured. But as these must work freely, both in a per pendicular and horizontal direction between the needles, in a very confined and limited space, the slightest va riation in either, from being truly and squarely placed, unavoidably injures the others. When a hosier, either ignorant of the mechanical laws of their relation to each other, or too impatient to wait for the assistance of ano ther, attempts to rectify defects, he in most cases in creases them tenfold, and renders the machine incapable of working at all, until repaired by some more expe rienced person. This circumstance has given rise to a set of men employed in this trade, and distinguished by the name of upsetters; and these people, besides setting new frames to work, have frequently more em ployment in repairing old ones injured by want of care or skill, than many country apothecaries, who live in healthy parishes, can find in curing the disorders of mankind.
It seems unnecessary to go further into detail respect ing a machine so well known, and which requires prac tical attention, even more than most others. It may therefore be sufficient to describe shortly some of its va rieties, the most simple and common of which is the rib stocking frame.
Rib Stocking Frame.
This frame, which, next to the common frame, is most extensively in use, is employed for working those striped or ribbed stockings, which are very common in all the different materials of which hosiery is formed. In prin ciple it does not differ from the common frame, and not greatly in construction. The former general description will nearly apply to this machine with equal propriety as to the former : that part, however, by which the ribs or stripes are formed, is entirely an addition, and to the ap plication of this additional machinery it may be proper to pay the chief attention, referring chiefly to Fig. 5, which is a front elevation.