Method and apparatus for producing tufts from different yarns in longitudinal lines

• US 5,706,744 A
• Filed: 02/23/1996
• Issued: 01/13/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Card-Monroe Corporation
• Original Assignee: Card-Monroe Corporation
• Inventors: Card, Roy T., Hall, Wilton
• Primary Examiner(s): LEWIS, PAUL
• Application Number:
  US08/604,817
• Time in Patent Office: 690 Days
• Field of Search: 112/80.41, 112/80.01, 112/80.52, 112/80.55, 112/475.23
• US Class Current: 112/80.41
• CPC Class Codes: D05C 15/30 by moving the tufting tools laterally

Abstract

Front and rear needle bars are provided with front and rear needles for inserting yarns into a backing material. An excess of front loopers are provided for the front needles and an excess of rear loopers are provided for the rear needles. The front loopers respectively face the rear loopers and are respectively aligned with each other. The needle bars are shifted laterally so as to provide longitudinal rows of tufts formed by the front needles providing spacing between the tufts of a longitudinal row which space is filled in by the tufts of rear needles.

Claims

1. A tufting machine, for tufting yams in a backing material passing longitudinally in a downstream direction through said tufting machine, comprising:

a plurality of front loop pile loopers transversely arranged across a width of said tufting machine with each of said from loop pile loopers spaced from an adjacent front loop pile looper by a predetermined distance;

a plurality of rear cut pile loopers transversely arranged across said width of said tufting machine with each of said rear cut pile loopers spaced from an adjacent rear cut pile looper by said predetermined distance so that said front loop pile loopers are longitudinally aligned with said rear cut pile loopers, said rear cut pile loopers being spaced from said front loop pile loopers in said downstream direction;

a first set of front needles aligned with each other across said width of said tufting machine between said front loopers and said rear loopers, said first set of front needles being fewer in number than said plurality of front loopers; and

a second set of rear needles aligned with each other across said width of said tufting machine between said front needles and said rear loopers, said second set of rear needles being fewer in number than said plurality of rear loopers.

2. The tufting machine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a shifting mechanism for shifting said first set of front needles across said width of said tufting machine.

3. The tufting machine as set forth in claim 2, wherein said shifting mechanism shifts said first set of front needles in multiples of said predetermined distance.

4. The tufting machine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a shifting mechanism for shifting said second set of rear needles across said width of said tufting machine.

5. The tufting machine as set forth in claim 4, wherein said shifting mechanism shifts said second set of rear needles in multiples of said predetermined distance.

6. A carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material longitudinally in a direction of feed and for placing yams in said backing material in longitudinal tuft rows, including a support frame having a bed, push rods supported by said frame and disposed over said bed, transversely shiftable front and rear needle bars suspended by said push rods over said bed, front needles arranged in a row carried by said front needle bar;

rear needles arranged in a row carried by said rear needle bar, shifting mechanisms cooperating with said needle bars for moving said needle bars transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction of feed, a first yam source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying first yams to said front needles and a second yam source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying second yams to said rear needles, front and rear loopers disposed below said bed, and arranged in transverse rows of loopers to cooperate with said needles, the improvement comprising;

said front loopers being loop pile loopers and said rear loopers being cut pile loopers, said front loopers extending in the direction of feed of said backing material and said rear loopers extending opposite the direction of feed of said backing material, and wherein each of said loopers being spaced from a transversely adjacent looper a prescribed gauge such that the number of said loopers are at least twice the number of said needles, said front loopers and said rear loopers being in sufficient longitudinal alignment and said front needles being spaced from said rear needles a sufficient distance to permit said first yams to be tufted in a first longitudinal tuft row and said second yams also to be tufted in said first longitudinal tuft row upon shifting of said front and rear needle bars, said front needles and said rear needles being arranged in spaced groups.

7. A carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material longitudinally in a direction of feed and for placing yarns in said backing material in longitudinal tuft rows, including a support frame having a bed, push rods supported by said frame and disposed over said bed, transversely shiftable front and rear needle bars suspended by said push rods over said bed, front needles arranged in a row carried by said front needle bar;

rear needles arranged in a row carried by said rear needle bar, shifting mechanisms cooperating with said needle bars for moving said needle bars transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction of feed, a first yam source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying first yarns to said front needles and a second yam source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying second yarns to said rear needles, front and rear loopers disposed below said bed, and arranged in transverse rows of loopers to cooperate with said needles, the improvement comprising;

said front loopers being loop pile loopers and said rear loopers being cut pile loopers, said front loopers extending in the direction of feed of said backing material and said rear loopers extending opposite the direction of feed of said backing material, and wherein each of said loopers being spaced from a transversely adjacent looper a prescribed gauge such that the number of said loopers are at least three times the number of said needles, said front loopers and said rear loopers being in sufficient longitudinal alignment and said front needles being spaced from said rear needles a sufficient distance to permit said first yarns to be tufted in a first longitudinal tuft row and said second yarns also to be tufted in said first longitudinal tuft row upon shifting of said front and rear needle bars, said from needles and said rear needles being arranged in spaced groups.

8. A carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material longitudinally in a direction of feed and for placing yarns in said backing material in longitudinal tuft rows, including a support frame having a bed, push rods supported by said frame and disposed over said bed, a drive mechanism for driving said push rods, transversely shiftable front and rear needle bars suspended by said push rods over said bed, front needles arranged in a row carried by said front needle bar, rear needles arranged in a row carried by said rear needle bar, shifting mechanisms cooperating with said needle bars for moving said needle bars transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction of feed, a first yarn source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying first yarns to said front needles and a second yarn source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying second yarns to said rear needles, from and rear loopers disposed below said bed, and arranged in transverse rows of loopers to cooperate with said needles, the improvement comprising:

said front loopers being loop pile loopers and extending toward said rear loopers in the direction of backing material feed, said rear loopers being cut pile loopers and extending toward said front loopers opposite the direction of backing material feed, said needles of said front needle bar and said rear needle bar being arranged in spaced groups, said shifting mechanism for said rear needle bar being selectively controllable to impart a delay in shifting said rear needle bar, and said yarns being placed in said backing in spaced, adjacent tufts in said longitudinal tuft rows, said longitudinal distance between adjacent tufts equal to the longitudinal distance between said row of needles along said front needle bar and said row of needles on said rear needle bar divided by the stitch delay per revolutions of said main shaft to permit tufts of said second yarns to be placed in the same longitudinal row as said tufts of said first yarns.

9. A carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material longitudinally in a direction of feed and for placing yarns in said backing material in longitudinal tuft rows, including a support frame having a bed, push rods supported by said frame and disposed over said bed, transversely shiftable front and rear needle bars suspended by said push rods over said bed, front needles arranged in a row carried by said front needle bar, rear needles arranged in a row carried by said rear needle bar, shifting mechanisms cooperating with said needle bars for moving said needle bars transversely with respect to said longitudinal direction of feed, a first yarn source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying first yarns to said front needles and a second yarn source disposed adjacent to said frame for supplying second yarns to said rear needles, front and rear loopers disposed below said bed, and arranged in transverse rows of loopers to cooperate with said needles, the improvement comprising:

said front loopers being longitudinally in line in the direction of feed with said rear loopers, said front loopers comprising loop pile loopers and said rear loopers comprising cut pile loopers, said row of front loopers being more in number than said number of said front needles and said row of rear loopers being more in number than said rear needles, and the bills of said front loopers extending in the direction of feed and the bills of said rear loopers extending opposite the direction of feed, and wherein said needles are arranged in spaced groups.

10. A carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material along a longitudinal path in a direction of feed and for placing tufts of first and second yarns spaced in longitudinal tuft rows in said base fabric comprising:

(a) a frame;

(b) a bed supported by said frame;

(c) push rods journeled by said frame for reciprocation upwardly and downwardly;

(d) a front needle bar and a rear needle bar supported by said push rods for separate!reciprocation with said push rods;

(e) a drive mechanism carried by said frame for driving the reciprocation of said push rods and said needle bars;

(f) a front shifting mechanism cooperating with said front needle bar and a rear shifting mechanism cooperating with said rear needle bar;

(g) front loop pile loopers disposed in a transverse front row of loopers below said bed for cooperating with said front needles and the bills of said loop pile loopers extending in said direction of feed of said backing material;

(h) rear cut pile loopers disposed in a transverse rear row of loopers below said bed for cooperating with said rear needles and the bills of said cut pile loopers extending opposite said direction of feed of said backing material;

(i) said needles in said front row of needles being fewer in number than said loopers in said front row of loopers;

(j) said needles in said rear row of needles being fewer in number than said loopers in said rear row of loopers;

(k) said loopers in said from row of loopers being in line in the direction of feed of said base fabric with the said loopers in said rear row of loopers; and

(l) said needles being selectively arranged in spaced groups to permit tufts of said first yarns to be intermixed with tufts of said second yarns in the same longitudinal tuft rows in a predetermined pattern.

11. The tufting machine defined in claim 10, and the number of loopers in said front row of loopers substantially exceeding the number of needles in said front row of needles.

12. The tufting machine defined in claim 11, and the number of loopers in said rear row of loopers substantially exceeding the number of needles in said rear row of needles.

13. The tufting machine defined in claim 10, and the number of loopers in said rear row of loopers substantially exceeding the number of needles in said rear row of needles.

14. The tufting machine defined in claim 10, and the loopers in said front row of loopers being spaced at a more narrow gauge than the gauge of the needles in said front row of needles.

15. The tufting machine defined in claim 10, and the loopers in said rear row of loopers being spaced at a more narrow gauge than the gauge of the needles in said rear row of needles.

16. The tufting machine defined in claim 10 and the loopers in said front row of loopers being of a more narrow gauge than the gauge of the needles of the front row of needles and the loopers of the rear row of loopers being of a more narrow gauge than the gauge of the needles of the rear row of needles.

17. Method of tufting carpet in which a longitudinal tuft row is created in a backing material, said longitudinal tuft row comprising mils of first yarns and of second yarns, comprising the steps of:

(a) feeding said backing material in a longitudinal path;

(b) disposing a front needle bar and a rear needle bar each having needles in spaced groups above said backing material

(c) disposing front loop pile loopers and rear cut pile loopers below said backing material, the total number of said front and rear loopers being at least twice the total number of said needles in said front and rear needle bars;

(d) inserting a first yarn into said backing material by moving said from needle bar toward said backing material so that the spaced groups of needles of said front needle bar penetrate said backing material;

(e) creating a loop from said first yarns;

(f) repeating steps (a)-(e) until a first longitudinal row of looped tufts is created;

(g) shifting said rear needle bar;

(h) inserting a second yarn into said backing material in said first longitudinal row by moving said rear needle bar toward said backing material so that the spaced groups of needles of said rear needle bar penetrate said backing material;

(i) creating a loop from said second yarn;

(j) cutting said loop of said second yarn; and

(k) repeating steps (h)-(j), wherein said longitudinal row is comprised of looped tufts of said first yarns intermixed with cut tufts of said second yarns.

18. Method of tufting carpet in a carpet tufting machine for passing a backing material along a longitudinal path and inserting first and second yarns into said backing material, said tufting machine having a frame, a drive mechanism carried by said frame, push rods attached to and driven by said drive mechanism, a front needle bar and rear needle bar carried by said push rods for reciprocating movement, a bed supported by said frame below said needle bars, front loop pile loopers disposed below said bed and extending in the direction of said longitudinal path, rear cut pile loopers disposed below said bed and extending opposite said longitudinal path and shifting mechanisms for shifting said needle bars, comprising the steps of:

(a) feeding said backing material along said longitudinal path across said bed;

(b) inserting said first yarns in spaced groups into said backing material by reciprocating said from needle bar toward said bed;

(c) creating loops of said first yarns in said backing material in longitudinal rows by moving said loop pile loopers toward said needles of said front needle bar and reciprocating said front needle bar away from said bed;

(d) shifting said rear needle bar transversely;

(e) inserting said second yarns in spaced groups into said backing material by reciprocating said rear needle bar toward the bed;

(f) creating loops of said second yarns in said backing material in longitudinal rows by moving said rear row of loopers toward said rear row of needles and reciprocating said rear row of needles away from said bed;

(g) cutting said loops of said second yarns; and

(h) repeating steps (a)-(g) so that longitudinal tuft rows are created in said backing material, said tuft rows including looped tufts created from said first yarns and cut tufts created from said second yarns.

19. The method of tufting carpet defined in claim 18, wherein the total number of loopers are at least twice the total number of needles in the front and rear needle bars.

20. The method of tufting carpet defined in claim 18, wherein the total number of loopers is at least three times the total number of needles in the front and rear needle bars.