High speed tufting machine

• US 4,665,845 A
• Filed: 02/03/1986
• Issued: 05/19/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1985
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Card-Monroe Corporation
• Original Assignee: Card-Monroe Corporation
• Inventors: Card, Roy T., Card, Joseph L.
• Primary Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US06/825,474
• Time in Patent Office: 470 Days
• Field of Search: 112/79 R, 112/220, 112/221, 74/44
• US Class Current: 112/80.4
• CPC Class Codes: D05C 15/20 Arrangements or devices, e.g. needles, for inserting loops; Driving mechanisms therefor

Abstract

The head of a tufting machine frame journals a plurality of transversely spaced push rods, the lower end of which carries a needle bar and its needles. The upper end of each push rod has an individual drive assembly which includes a sidewise extending drive pin pivotally connected to a connecting rod reciprocated by an eccentrically mounted pivot pin protruding from the face of a crank member which is removeably mounted on a driven wheel carried by a stub shaft. A timing belt, connected over the driven sprocket, is itself driven by one of a plurality of drive wheels on a main drive shaft.

Claims

1. Process of tufting wherein a needle bar, carried by piston rods holding a plurality of needles carrying yarns, repeatedly inserts the needles and yarns simultaneously into backing material to form successive rows of loops of said yarns in said backing material and wherein the needle bar is supported and reciprocated by a plurality of spaced piston rods which, in turn, are reciprocated by spaced individual crank members;

and wherein the improvement comprises the follows steps;

(a) supporting said crank members for rotation about a fixed common axis;

(b) driving said individual crank member by a like number of endless flexible members; and

(c) driving said flexible members from a common drive shaft to thereby reciprocate said piston rods in synchronization with each other.

2. The process defined in claim 1 wherein the step of driving said flexible members include:

(a) disposing a drive shaft generally parallel to said needle bar and adjacent to said crank member;

(b) fixing a plurality of axially spaced wheels on said shaft for rotation by said shaft; and

(c) respectively driving said flexible members from said wheels.

3. A tufting machine of the type having a frame provided with a head, a plurality of space push rods extending to said head along spaced parallel axes and a needle bar carried by the ends of said push rods externally of said head, the improvement comprising:

a plurality of crank members respectively disposed within said head adjacent to the inner ends of said push rods, push rod pins respectively protruding in counterlever fashion sidewise from said push rods, drive pins protruding respectively in counterlever fashion sidewise from said crank members, connecting rods, each of which journals, by one of its end portions a push rod pin and journals, by the other of its end portions, a drive pin, each of said connecting rods being removeable sidewise from its associated push rod pin and drive pin, means for supporting for rotation said crank members, and means from imparting rotation to said crank members.

4. The tufting machine defined in claim 3 including means removeable from said drive pins for retaining said connecting rods thereon.

5. The tufting machine defined in claim 3 wherein said means for supporting for rotation said crank members includes an individual support shaft for each crank member, journal means for supporting each support shaft for rotation, said support shaft protruding sidewise from said journal means and said crank member being connected to the end of its associated support shaft.

6. The tufting machine defined in claim 5 wherein said journal means are supported by said head and spaced from each other support so that the end of one support shaft is spaced from the crank member of the next adjacent support shaft.

7. The tufting machine defined in claim 3 wherein said support members are supported by said head and are spaced from each other and including support shafts aligned with each other along a common axis and respectively supporting said crank members, the end of one support shaft is spaced from the crank member supported by the next adjacent support shaft.