Fabric produced by hollow needle tufting apparatus

• US 5,267,520 A
• Filed: 01/07/1993
• Issued: 12/07/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Frontier Bank (Everett, Washington) (US Bancorp)
• Original Assignee: Tapistron International, Inc.
• Inventors: Ingram, Gary L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Crowder, Clifford D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS, PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/001,186
• Time in Patent Office: 334 Days
• Field of Search: 112/410, 112/411, 112/266.2, 112/80.01, 112/80.31, 112/80.41, 112/80.32, 112/401, 112/405, 428/85, 428/92, 428/93, 156/72
• US Class Current: 112/410
• CPC Class Codes: D05C 15/28 by moving the base material laterally

Abstract

A method for producing tufted fabric in a hollow needle tufting machine having transversely spaced apart needles including apparatus for shifting a backing material into which the tufts are inserted by the needles. The backing material is fed continuously in the feed direction longitudinally through the machine and is fed a number of steps laterally between adjacent needles and penetrated by the needles after each shift. The sequencing of the shifting and the feeding of the backing is such as to provide a row of tufts in the backing material along a line inclined relative to the direction the backing material is fed to the machine. The nominal number of tufts inserted between lateral ends of each row of tufts is equal to the spacing between adjacent needles divided by the selected stitch gauge. The sequencing of the shifting is such that certain rows of tufts have a number of tufts equal to the nominal number while alternate rows have more than the nominal number of tufts so that the lines of tufts have ends transversely offset relative to the adjacent lines of tufts. The sequencing additionally is such that the rows of tufts produced by each needle forms a chevron pattern which is repeated periodically. In this manner streak lines between adjacent needles are substantially eliminated.

Claims

1. A tufted fabric comprising a plurality of tufts and backstitches disposed in respective rows defining a plurality of tuft lines, each line commencing with a first tuft at a first point and terminating with a second tuft spaced from said first point by a plurality of tufts and backstitches, said first and second points defining lateral ends of respective lines, each line of tufts and backstitches extending at an inclination to adjacent lines of tufts and backstitches and commencing at one of said first and second points common with said adjacent lines, the other of said first and second points being spaced from said adjacent lines, the number of tufts and backstitches in substantially all of said lines differing from the number of tufts and backstitches in adjacent lines and being equal to the number of tufts and backstitches in alternate lines.

2. A tufted fabric as recited in claim 1, wherein an imaginary line connected to the lateral end points at one lateral end of each tuft line and an imaginary line connected to the lateral end points at the other lateral end of each tuft line forms a chevron.