Cotton's Patent Machine

a machine for making full-fashioned knitted outerwear, whose garment segments are formed automatically by preprogramming the number of working needles and transfer of the stitches from one set of needles to another. The garment segments do not need to be cut after they are knitted, and the selvages do not come undone.

The primary working elements of the flat-knitting machine are the spring-beard needles and sinkers. Knock-over bits transfer the stitches. The machines have four, six, eight, 12, or more heads that produce simultaneously the same number of garment segments. There are one-bed and two-bed Cotton’s Patent machines (according to whether there are one or two moving needle cylinders in each head). The automatic control permits the production of a complete set of parts for a garment of predetermined shape and size (for example, the back, front, and sleeves), with each segment being produced one after the other on each head of the machine. The control program is marked on a perforated tape or circuit with a set of cams.

The Cotton’s Patent machine has low productivity, forming 30 to 100 rows of stitches per minute. However, its high degree of automation reduces material waste (0–4 percent) and labor expenditure to a minimum. Its use is most effective for knitting outerwear made from such expensive material as pure wool.