Start

All texts and graphics are subject to applicable copyrights. Use of the texts only by express written consent.

4. About the History of the Mechanical Flat Knitting Frame

Enlarged graphics open in a new window.

As opposed to hand-knitting, where stitches are formed one-by-one with moving latch needles, machine-knitting produces a row of stitches with the help of bearded needles and hooks. (Machine-knitting procedure).

Knitting Process

The construction of mechanical knitting frames can be retraced into the 18th century - the hand knitting frame was the basis. At first, the hand knitting frame was furnished with a revolving shaft and fitted with levers and cams - the whole contraption was then built into the base of the knitting frame. The machine was powered using a crankshaft, which was operated either by hand or through transmittal of elemental power. With the availability of water and steam power, the factory production of warp-knit and later knit stockings began.

Steam machine facility of the stocking manufacturer LBO (Louis Bahner Oberlungwitz), which later became ELBEO, app. 1930.

At first, only products with uniform widths could be produced using mechanical knitting frames. Single pieces of the basic commodity had to be cut out from the produced piece goods and then sewn together. Stockings produced by this method were cheaper, but the fit was not optimal. Therefore, stockings produced with the hand knitting frame - where stockings were narrowed according to the leg shape - were considered the better product in comparison to machine-knit stockings for a long time.

Small enterprises and the cottage industry used hand knitting frames to produce flat-knit hosiery goods up until the 1940's.

In 1769, the Englishman Samuel Wise patented a flat-bed rotary-driven machine with a revolving shaft built into the base frame. The shaft was set into motion by an elemental power source. Unless one preferred to produce a knitted good with a uniform width, the narrowing of stitches still had to be done manually with a hand narrowing device on this machine.

This machine is the predecessor of the mechanical rotary frame machine which were fashioned from hand knitting frames mainly in Saxony until the end of the 19th century.

In 1832, Egbert Egberts and Timothy Baley from Albany, New York, invented a hand knitting machine which was powered by a water wheel. At first, this machine could manage 32 revolutions e.g. 32 rows of stitches could be produced per minute.

In 1834, the Frenchman J. A. Delarothière developed an automatic narrowing mechanism for knitting frames. This method was improved so that in 1836, two stockings could be produced at the same time.

Automatic narrowing mechanism of the French inventor J. A. Delarothière for hand and mechanical flat knitting frames, 1834.

In 1837, the Englishman Coltmann invented a rotary frame machine which was steam-powered.

The mechanical flat knitting frame could not be used productively until a mechanical narrowing device was added to it. This enabled the production of stockings which were fitted to the leg form, such as those produced with a hand knitting frame.

In 1838, Luke Barton received a patent in Nottingham for the invention of the steam or water-powered wide rotary frame machine. This knitting machine could automatically produce tubular cloth and had several workplaces side by side. By dividing the labor, the makers strove for a more profitable use of the knitting machine. Using the lengthening machine, the heel was attached to the length of the stocking, and then the foot top and sole were attached to the heel and length of the stocking with a hand-powered footing machine. With these over-length machines, which were especially useful in manufacturing companies, one hoped to increase the production capacity of stockings.

In 1839, Bauer and Jahn received a patent for a mechanical flat knitting frame in Saxony. This machine enabled the production of 5 stocking lengths in a single working step and was very suitable for industrial stocking production.

Also in 1839, the Frenchman Jules-Nicholas Poivret built a hand-powered knitting frame which enabled the production of two stockings with automatic narrowing.

French flat knitting frame, Jules-Nicholas Poivret, 1839.

In 1856, the Frenchman A. Simon introduced a mechanically-powered machine for the production of narrowed stockings at a trade show in Troyes. By 1860, this machine evolved into a model with 4 needle rows, or knitting heads, with which 4 stockings could be produced simultaneously.

Mechanical knitting frame with an automatic narrowing device, invented by the Frenchman A. Simon, 1856. With this knitting frame, which had one needle row, merely one stocking length could be produced at a time.

Mechanical knitting frame with four needle rows. The company A. Simon displayed their improved mechanical knitting frame with four needle rows at an industrial fair in Troyes in 1860. With this knitting frame, the simultaneous production of 4 stocking lengths became possible.

In 1857 in Loughborough, Arthur Paget invented the movable bar frame in hopes of aiding hand-knitters and the cottage industry - who were worried about their livelihood - to compete against England's emerging hosiery industry. The first English hosiery factories were founded in 1853 and 1854.

The Paget Frame - as opposed to the time-consuming operation of the hand knitting frames by foot or hand - could be worked using a crank. The first generation of the Paget Frame could produce only one stocking at a time, but much faster than before.

Oldest form of the Paget Frame (with an automatic narrowing device), 2nd Half of 19th Century. The first Paget Frames had one needle row.

Improvements were made to the Paget Frame in 1858 and 1860. The strength of the Paget system was its work division - in the production of stockings, different machine widths were used to produce the length of stocking, the heel parts or the front and toe part of the stocking. This method decreased the cost of producing regularly fashioned stockings. For hosiery production, a set of machines was required. The set consisted of three machines for fashioning the lengths, one heel and one toe (or footing) machine.

The water or steam-powered Paget Frame displaced Lee's hand knitting frame. The Paget Frame was improved by C.G. Mosig in 1869, and was then able to produce two, then three and later four fashioned stockings simultaneously. By using a special yarn guide in the Paget Frame, it became possible to automatically narrow stockings without interrupting the fashioning process. Although Paget Frames were very efficient, their set-up and use was complicated. The Paget Frame continued to be improved by French and German manufacturers, e.g. the French company Poron Frères in Troyes or the Chemnitz-based machine construction company Hilscher, which received the patent for the Paget Frame.

Knitting frame with three needle rows produced by Hilscher in Chemnitz (Saxony), based on the Paget system.

In 1868, the Frenchman Linard Hubert again improved the Paget Frame. He introduced "French Narrowing" which allowed the foot part to be produced automatically with the stocking. The seam was situated at the middle of the sole and connected to the rear vertical seam of the stocking. Fine and Cotton patent stockings narrowed using this method can be found until the late 1950's.

In 1875, the company Brauer und Ludwig in Chemnitz received patents for the production of multi-colored striped patterns and simple press patterns on the Paget Frame.

Also in 1875, the factory Poron Frères in Troyes received a patent for the Paget Rib-top Frame, which could produce ribbed stockings with so-called patent edges. They also set up the Paget Frame to produce the Petinet pattern.

Single needle row Paget Frame (machines based on the Paget system were constructed by numerous manufacturers. The Paget knitting frame with one needle row was used to produce ribbed goods and Petinet patterns, Poron Frères, Troyes, 1878).

Numerous improvements to the Paget Frame were made during the 1870's by the knitting machine factory Gottfried Martin Hilscher in Chemnitz. At first, they expanded the one and two needle row Paget machines, and then later specialized in building machines with four needle rows. Until app. 1915, flat knitting frames were produced according to the Paget system, but these were later displaced by the more productive Cotton patent frames.

Paget Frame with two needle rows, Hilscher, Chemnitz, app. 1870.

Paget Frame with four needle rows, Hilscher, Chemnitz, app. 1875.

Between 1860 and 1864, the Englishman William Cotton constructed and patented a powered knitting machine - which was based on Lee's flat knitting frame - with a vertical movable needle bar. This machine later became known as the Cotton patent machine. As opposed to the Paget Frame, the invention of the Cotton patent machine had a major impact on manufacturing because with the machine, first 8, then 12 and later up to 36 automatically narrowed stocking lengths could be produced. This made the Cotton patent machine extremely suitable for mass production. Shortly after the machine was patented, the machine manufacturer Hermann Stärker from Chemnitz acquired the license rights for the entire European continent. Around the turn of the century, 5 machine manufacturers in Chemnitz, Oberlungwitz and Hohenstein-Ernstthal were producing 75% of the world production of Cotton patent machines.

William Cotton (1817-1887), inventor of the Cotton patent machine for the industrial mass production of fashioned stockings, or the so-called Cotton patent stockings.

Cotton patent stockings with a pattern in the clock of the stockings, app. 1880.

Patterned Cotton patent stockings, app. 1900.

When William Cotton's patent expired in 1888, numerous machines were built according to his system. The most prominent company to continuously improve the Cotton patent machine was G. Hilscher in Chemnitz. Starting in 1885, even before the patents expired, the company became specializing in the construction of Cotton patent machines. In 1888, they marketed their own, very powerful Cotton patent machine with six knitting heads, called "System Hilscher". Shortly thereafter, machines with 8 and 12 knitting heads were produced, enabling the simultaneous production of up to 12 stocking lengths.

Cotton patent machine with 8 needle rows, System Hilscher, app. 1890.

Cotton patent machine with 12 needle rows, System Hilscher, app. 1895.

In 1892, with the automatic dropping of single stitches on the Cotton patent machine, stocking "run" patterns could be produced.

In 1912, the company G. Hilscher in Chemnitz succeeded in constructing a Cotton patent machine which could produce fine-knit, smooth and circular stockings, which was a difficult process for a long time. However, this method did not attain much popularity.

In 1917, G. Hilscher Chemnitz began constructing high-performance Cotton patent machines (Model "Tandem") for lady's stocking lengths, foot parts and socks with 24 knitting heads.

In 1922, a device and a method for inserting an elastic band in ribbed goods was invented.

In 1925, the company Hilscher in Chemnitz began producing the so-called rib-top frame, which was used in the fashioning of ribbed borders for ribbed goods. In each row, a right stitch alternates with a left stitch. Both sides of the knitwear are identical. Goods produced with this method have a high degree of cross elasticity and can be stretched by 100%.

Flat mechanical rib-top frame for the production of rib-patterned stockings and ribbed borders for stockings, app. 1925.

The Cotton patent machine was particularly suitable for the production of fine lady's hosiery. Beginning in 1860, cotton or silk stockings were produced on Cotton patent machines. Later, when synthetic silks for hosiery production began appearing, the machines were primarily used for the production of Nylon and Perlon stockings. After World War II., 45 gg, 48 gg, 51 gg, 60 gg and 66 gg machines became available, and the finest yarn available was 15 Denier Nylon or Perlon. In 1953, the finest stitches produced with the Cotton patent machine was 75 gg; in 1956, this increased to 90 gg. The finest stockings produced were with 12 Denier yarn, which meant that 9,000 meters of this yarn type weighed 12 grams.

The Cotton patent machine underwent numerous improvements, so that by the end of the 1950's, it remained the most important machine for the production of lady's fine stockings with seams. With the emerging of fully-automatic circular knitting machines for the production of seamless lady's fine stockings around 1952, the Cotton patent machines were eventually replaced. Most Cotton patent machines became obsolete by the end of the 1950's.

5. About the History of the Mechanical Circular Frame