Modular hook bar with gauge insert for tufting machine

• US 4,448,137 A
• Filed: 01/26/1983
• Issued: 05/15/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1983
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Tuftco Corporation
• Original Assignee: Tuftco Corporation
• Inventors: Densmore, John C., Curtis, Kenneth C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feldbaum, Ronald
• Application Number:
  US06/447,974
• Time in Patent Office: 475 Days
• Field of Search: 112/19 R, 112/79 FF, 112/79 R
• US Class Current: 112/80.53
• CPC Class Codes: D05C 15/22 Loop-catching arrangements, e.g. loopers; Driving mechanisms therefor

Abstract

A modular looper apparatus for a multiple-needle tufting machine including a modular hook bar made of solid material and including a transversely extending recess opening through the front face of the hook bar. Transverse gauge bars or members having transversely spaced vertical hook slots opening through the front and bottom portions of the gauge bar are inserted within the recess for receiving the shank portions of the corresponding looper hooks, in operative position. The looper hooks are locked in their operative positions by set screws extending upward through the bottom portion of the hook bar, into the recess and in vertical alignment with the corresponding hook slots.

Claims

1. A looper apparatus for a multiple-needle tufting machine including looper hooks, each hook comprising a neck portion having an upright rear shoulder, a shank portion projecting rearward from the neck portion, and a bill projecting forward from the neck portion, comprising:

(a) a hook bar of solid material having a front face, a rear face, a bottom surface, and a transverse dimension,

(b) an elongated recess opening through the front face of said hook bar, projecting rearward into said hook bar, and extending transversely of said hook bar,

(c) said recess having a top surface and a bottom surface,

(d) an elongated unitary gauge member having front, rear, upper and lower portions, and received within said recess, the longitudinal axis of said gauge member extending transversely of said recess,

(e) a plurality of transversely spaced hook slots in said gauge member having the same gauge as the needles in the multiple-needle tufting machine,

(f) said hook slots being disposed vertically and extending front-to-rear through said gauge member and opening through the front and lower portions of said gauge member, each of said hook slots being adapted to receive the shank portion of a corresponding looper hook projecting rearwardly into said recess,

(g) said gauge member comprising an elongated continuously extending transverse top wall portion having a continuously solid, uninterrupted top surface and defining the closed upper surface of each of said hook slots, the upper surfaces of said hook slots being spaced from the bottom surface of said recess a height slightly greater than the height of the shank portion of the corresponding looper hook received in said corresponding hook slot in operative position; and

(h) a set screw means for each hook slot, a threaded hole for each set screw extending at an angle upward from front-to-rear through the bottom portion of said hook bar, each threaded hole being in the same vertical plane as each of said hook slots and intercepting the bottom surface of said recess, so that a set screw threaded through each corresponding hole may be adjusted to bear against the bottom edge of the shank portion of a looper hook in the operative position for holding the top edge of the shank portion against the top surface of the corresponding hook slot within said guage member.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which the front-to-rear dimension of said recess is greater than the front-to-rear dimension of the shank portion of a corresponding looper hook, said front face of said hook bar comprising a front vertical bearing surface above the recess for engagement by the upright rear shoulder of the corresponding looper hooks, in operative position.

3. The invention according to claim 2 further comprising a plurality of transversely spaced lands projecting forward from said front bearing surface to extend between opposite sides of the neck portions of the corresponding looper hooks in operative position, said lands defining vertical grooves in the same vertical planes as said corresponding hook slots.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which the vertical dimension of said gauge member is slightly less than the vertical dimension of said recess.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which the front-to-rear dimension of said gauge member is approximately equal to the front-to-rear dimension of said recess.

6. The invention according to claim 1 in which the multiple-needle tufting machine incorporating said looper apparatus has means for supporting a base fabric for longitudinal movement in a tufting direction through said machine, a plurality of transversely spaced reciprocal needles for introducing yarns through said base fabric to form loops, and further comprising means mounting said hook bar transversely below the plane of the base fabric for longitudinal reciprocal movement between an operative position below the needles and an inoperative position, a plurality of said looper hooks, the shank portion of each looper hook being received in a corresponding hook slot within the recess of said hook bar in said operative position.

7. The invention according to claim 1 in which the bottom surface of said hook bar comprises an angular surface inclining forward and upward and intersecting said front face, said threaded holes being formed through said angular surface.