US Patent No. 552,806, granted January 7, 1896 to Louis N. D. Williams of Ashbourne and Harry Swinglehurst of Philadelphia, for an automatic circular knitting machine that makes socks and stockings. Twelve sheets of drawings show the needle cylinder, cam box, needle lifters, thread-feeding mechanism, pattern chain and clutch and belt-shifting gear. The specification explains how the machine switches between rotary and reciprocating motion to form the heel and toe pocket, shapes the leg by varying needle draft, and adds a reinforcing thread at intervals. It ends with numbered claims.