7. Circular Knitting Machines

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Hand-powered Circular Knitting Machines

The first circular knitting machines were small French and English hand-powered machines which were usually used for the production of circular stocking lengths. The earliest models are from the 1860's, and they were powered by hand with the use of a crank. These early models could only be used to produce narrow, uniform tubular goods. Resourceful inventors soon added improvements, and the machines were perfected so that whole seamless stockings could be produced with them.

Hand-powered circular knitting machine, app. 1870.

In 1866, Mac Nary patented a circular knitting machine in Saxony. This machine was the first to use a special method which paved the way to the production of a seamless stocking with the toe and heel incorporated.

In 1867, D. Bickford's hand-powered circular knitting machine appeared on the market.

Hand-powered circular knitting machine of the Chemnitz-based "Strumpfmaschinenfabrik" (Stocking Machine Factory) for the production of stockings with toes and heels, app. 1880.

All of these circular knitting machines, which were primarily hand-powered, were widely circulated foremost in the U.S.A. and England, and later in Germany as well. The machines were built with very small cylinders for the production of cheap, seamless stockings and socks, and could only produce plain, unpatterned articles.

Hand-powered circular knitting machine for the production of patterned, striped or ribbed stockings, app. 1880.

Beginning in 1878, it became possible to produce patterned goods, especially one-by-one rib knitted stockings or ribbed goods (e.g. socks with an attached rib border) with a machine invented by D. Griswold. The machine even made it possible to knit continuous tubes of stockings.

These handy and practical little hand-powered machines were sold under marketing-oriented names such as "Rekord", "Express" or "Rapid".

Mechanically-powered three-headed French circular knitting machine for the production of knit cotton caps and stockings, mid-19th century.

Mechanical Circular Knitting Machines

Since about 1870, socks could be produced semi-automatically and continuously on circular knitting machines. The knitted pieces had to be separated by hand and the toes were sewn together. A few years later, fully automatic machines for the production of socks appeared on the market. These machines could produce stockings and socks with closed heels and attached toes - merely the toe section had to be closed. This was done either by a separate machine, called the linking machine, which sewed together the toe section loop by loop, or for lower-quality products, with a sewing machine.

The mechanizing and automating of circular knitting machines occurred at the end of the 1880's. Automatic fabric take off, adjusting of cams, changing stitch sizes and the switching from one stitch type to another was most avidly pursued by the Americans. Little by little, automated circular knitting machines emerged, so-called "Hosiery Machines".

In 1892, the Stuttgart-based company C. Terrot Söhne built the first fully-automated circular knitting machine - "Boas King" - in which the needle cylinder could be exchanged with another gauge.

First fully-automatic circular knitting machine "Boas King", manufactured by the Stuttgart-based company C. Terrot Söhne, app. 1892.

Beginning in 1900, automated striping devices on single-cylinder circular knitting machines enabled the production of tubular goods with colored patterns. Single-cylinder machines are machines for the production of circular single-knit goods and hosiery with limited design possibilities.

Catalog of the English hosiery machine manufacturer Wildt & Co., app. 1900.

Circular knitting machine "Record" by the English company Wildt & Co., app. 1900.

The production of ribbed tubular goods and athletic socks became possible for the first time with the "Simplex" machine, manufactured by the English company Wildt & Co.

In 1920, the English company William Spiers in Leicester launched the first double-cylinder knitting machine with several operating systems for patterned purl-knit goods. Double-cylinder knitting machines are a special type of circular knitting machines which work with two needle cylinders. The machine produces double knit purl fabric or, depending on the production step, single knit plain jersey fabric.

In a circular knitting machine, the position where a stitch row is formed is called the "system". The work speed and use of different colored yarns is dependent on the number of systems in the machine. A "triple-system" circular knitting machine, for example, allows the use of up to three different colored yarns in a single stitch row.

The "Autoswift" knitting machine was met with great interest by the hosiery industry. This was the first rib circular knitting machine for the fully-automated production of ribbed and patterned stockings and socks.

Multi-system circular knitting machine "Autoswift" of the English company William Spiers, "Model R. P." for the production of multi-colored, patterned and ribbed stockings, 1932.

Multi-system circular knitting machine "Standard" with a jacquard attachment of the company G. Hilscher, Chemnitz, 1920's - 1930's.

Since about the 1920's, the English-made double-cylinder machines for the fully-automated production of ribbed and multi-colored patterned hosiery began to assert themselves in Germany. Around the same time, the Saxony-based mechanical engineering industry began producing these automatic double-cylinder machines. This new generation of equipment was called "hosiery machines".

Instruction manual of the English knitting machine manufacturer Bentley, 1934.

Knit hosiery machine "Komet" of the English company Bentley, 1934.

Circular Knitting Machines for the Production of Fine Hosiery

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In the early years of circular knitting machines, plain stockings and socks in coarse and semi-fine quality were usually produced. Continuous improvements to the machine soon made it possible to produce relatively fine lady's hosiery as well. However, the mesh structure was more uneven than in Cotton patent stockings, and circular-knit "fine hosiery" made of silk or synthetic silk tended to streak. In contrast to flat-bed knitting machines, circular knitting machines were very limited in regard to producing form-fitting goods - this could only be achieved by enlarging or minimizing the stitches. The goal in the production of circular-knit hosiery, though, was to get as close as possible to the fit of the Cotton patent stocking.

"Maxim"- Automatic single-cylinder circular knitting machine of the English company G. Stibbe & Co., Leicester, for the production of seamless socks and stockings, app. 1920.

In 1910, one attempted to imitate the process of narrowing with the help of a device which automatically produced a mock seam.

In 1915, the circular knitting machine "Model K", made by the American company Scott & Williams, was able to produce lady's fine hosiery from the waistband to the fashioned heel including the sole and toe in a single production step. Merely the sealing of the toe tip had to be done in a separate step. A special feature of this production method for lady's hosiery was that the in-turned welt was automatically fashioned.

"Model K" of the American company Scott & William - the first circular knitting machine for the production of seamless lady's fine hosiery, app. 1915.

In 1930, hosiery with a fineness of 30 Denier could be produced with a capacity of 300 stitch rows per minute.

"Corona"- Stocking machine of the Chemnitz-based engineering company Schubert & Salzer, app. 1930.

Selection of lady's stockings and men's socks, which could be produced on the "Corona" stocking machines, app. 1930.

High-quality seamless fine stockings could not be produced until after World War II. when plasticizing chemical fibers such as Nylon or Perlon appeared. The production of these stockings began in approximately 1952, and by the end of the 50's, they displaced the fine stockings with seams which were almost exclusively produced on Cotton patent machines until that time.

Until World War II., almost all well-known German manufacturers of warp-knitting machines and knitting machines were located in Saxony. After the division of Germany, there was practically no hosiery machine industry in West Germany. At first, when financial means became available, used machines were imported from England or the U.S.A. The first mechanical engineering companies were not established in West Germany until after the monetary reform in 1948/1949. The Göppingen-based company Boehringer, which began manufacturing Cotton patent machines in 1952, became the most well-known company.

Re-imported American Cotton patent machine during unloading, 1949.

Cotton patent machine made by the Augsburg-based mechanical engineering company Boehringer, app. 1952.

After World War II., double-cylinder hosiery knitting machines were being manufactured by the companies Eppinger in Denkendorf, Keller & Knappich in Augsburg and Merz in Hechingen to meet the great demand of a just emerging West German knit hosiery industry. Single-cylinder machines for the production of circular-knit lady's fine hosiery - which began appearing in the mid-1950's - were being manufactured by the companies Merz in Hechingen and Krenzler in Wuppertal.

Catalog of the Denkendorf-based mechanical engineering company Gottlieb Eppinger

Brochure of the Hechingen-based hosiery machine factory Merz advertising its circular knitting machine "Mondial R3", app. 1954.

Many alterations related to speed, needle technology and especially new control engineering took place in the circular knitting machine manufacturing industry.

Machinery brochure of a fully-electronic hosiery machine of the Italian company Lonati, 1987.

With the triumph of seamless fine stockings in the 1960's, Italy not only grew into becoming a mass producer of fine stockings and tights, but also into one of the main suppliers of single cylinder fine hosiery machines.

Transportable computer-aided development set for designing hosiery patterns, 1987. After the design is completed on the computer, the computer steers the fully-electronic hosiery knitting machine.

Japanese mechanical engineering companies, which were market leaders in the area of fully-automatic and computer-aided machines, also became an important supplier for the hosiery industry.

Brochure of the Japanese hosiery machine manufacturer Daito Seiki, 1970's.

A detailed account of the development from mechanical to semi-automatic to fully-automatic hosiery machinery will soon be available in the Machinery Halls for fine and knit stocking production found on the Ground Floor.