Yarn color placement system
DCFirst Claim
1. A tufting machine for forming patterned tufted articles including different color yarns therein, comprising:
- at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted at a spacing based on a gauge of the tufting machine therealong;
backing feed rolls for feeding a backing material through a tufting zone of the tufting machine;
a pattern yarn feed mechanism for feeding a series of yarns to said needles;
at least one needle bar shifter for shifting said at least one needle bar transversely across the tufting zone;
a series of gauge parts mounted below the tufting zone in a position to engage said needles of said at least one needle bar as said needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material to form tufts of yarns in the backing material; and
a control system for controlling said yarn feed mechanism in cooperation with said at least one needle bar shifter shifting the at least one needle bar in accordance with a series of transverse pattern shift steps received by the control system, to control feeding of the yarns to said needles as the needles are reciprocated and as the needle bar is shifted in accordance with the transverse pattern shift steps as needed to form selected tufts of yarns of a desired height and to pull non-selected ones of the yarns low or out of the backing material for each pattern step;
wherein the control system is linked to and controls the backing feed rolls for feeding the backing material such that the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at an effective stitch rate that is determined by increasing a prescribed stitch rate of the patterned tufted article that is based on the gauge of the tufting machine by a selected amount so as to form the patterned articles with the selected tufts of yarns having an appearance of being formed at the desired stitch rate.
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Abstract
A yarn color placement system for a tufting machine including a series of different color yarns being fed to the needles of the tufting machine by yarn feed mechanisms. A backing material is fed through the tufting machine at an increased stitch rate as the needles are shifted according to the programmed pattern steps. A series of level cut loop loopers or hooks engage and pick loops of yarns from the needles, with the clips of the level cut loop loopers or hooks being selectively actuated to form cut pile tufts, while the remaining loops of yarns can be back-robbed so as to be hidden from view in the finished patterned tufted article.
193 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A tufting machine for forming patterned tufted articles including different color yarns therein, comprising:
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at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted at a spacing based on a gauge of the tufting machine therealong; backing feed rolls for feeding a backing material through a tufting zone of the tufting machine; a pattern yarn feed mechanism for feeding a series of yarns to said needles; at least one needle bar shifter for shifting said at least one needle bar transversely across the tufting zone; a series of gauge parts mounted below the tufting zone in a position to engage said needles of said at least one needle bar as said needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material to form tufts of yarns in the backing material; and a control system for controlling said yarn feed mechanism in cooperation with said at least one needle bar shifter shifting the at least one needle bar in accordance with a series of transverse pattern shift steps received by the control system, to control feeding of the yarns to said needles as the needles are reciprocated and as the needle bar is shifted in accordance with the transverse pattern shift steps as needed to form selected tufts of yarns of a desired height and to pull non-selected ones of the yarns low or out of the backing material for each pattern step; wherein the control system is linked to and controls the backing feed rolls for feeding the backing material such that the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at an effective stitch rate that is determined by increasing a prescribed stitch rate of the patterned tufted article that is based on the gauge of the tufting machine by a selected amount so as to form the patterned articles with the selected tufts of yarns having an appearance of being formed at the desired stitch rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of tufting articles including tufts of multiple different color yarns, comprising:
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feeding a backing material through a tufting machine at a prescribed stitch rate for a pattern of the tufted article; reciprocating a series of needles to deliver the yarns into the backing material to form tufts of yarns therein; engaging the yarns delivered into the backing material by the needles with a series of gauge parts to pull loops of yarns from the needles for forming the tufts of yarns in the backing material; shifting at least some of the needles transversely according to a desired shift profile of the pattern for the tufted article; controlling feeding of the yarns to the needles in accordance with the shift profile of the pattern for the article to selectively form high tufts of yarns and to selectively pull back loops of yarns to form the pattern; wherein the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at an increased effective stitch rate that is equivalent to the prescribed stitch rate for the pattern of the tufted article times a number of colors formed in the pattern so as to form the patterned article with an appearance of an increased density. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of operating a tufting machine to form patterned tufted articles having multiple colors, comprising:
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feeding a backing material through the tufting machine; feeding a plurality of yarns to a series of needles carried by a shiftable needle bar; shifting the needle bar transversely according to a programmed shift profile for the pattern of the tufted article; controlling the feeding of the yarns to the needles in accordance with programmed pattern instructions so as to feed desired amounts of the yarns to the needles as needed to form rows of high and low tufts of yarns in the backing material; forming the tufts of yarns at an increased effective stitch rate determined by multiplying a number of colors being formed in the patterned tufted article by a desired stitch rate that comprises a number of stitches per inch desired for the patterned tufted articles; and wherein the feeding of the yarns to form the high and low tufts tracks the shifting of the needles so as to maintain a density of the tufts of yarns being formed in the backing material in a direction of the rows of tufts and location of the high tufts of yarns at desired positions across the backing material to form the patterned tufted articles. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of forming tufted articles including tufts of multiple different color yarns, comprising:
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feeding a backing material through a tufting machine; reciprocating a series of needles to deliver the yarns into the backing material to form tufts of yarns therein; engaging the yarns delivered into the backing material by the needles with a series of gauge parts to pull loops of yarns from the needles for forming the tufts of yarns in the backing material; shifting at least some of the needles transversely, wherein the needles are shifted by single shift steps, double shift steps, or a combination of single and/or double shift steps according to a shift profile based upon a number of colors of yarns of the pattern for the tufted article; controlling feeding of the yarns to the needles in accordance with the shift profile of the pattern for the article to selectively form tufts of yarns of a desired pile height and to selectively pull back loops of yarns to form the pattern; wherein the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at an increased effective stitch rate that is at least two times a prescribed stitch rate based upon a gauge of the tufting machine, for the feeding of the backing material for the pattern of the tufted article so as to form the patterned article with an appearance of an increased density.
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29. A method of forming tufted articles including tufts of multiple different color yarns, comprising:
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feeding a backing material through a tufting machine at an effective stitch rate that is increased over a desired stitch rate for the tufted article that is based on a gauge of the tufting machine; reciprocating a series of needles to deliver the yarns into the backing material to form tufts of yarns therein; engaging the yarns delivered into the backing material by the needles with a series of gauge parts to pull loops of yarns from the needles for forming the tufts of yarns in the backing material; shifting at least some of the needles transversely according to a desired shift profile based upon a number of colors of yarns of the pattern for the tufted article; controlling feeding of the yarns to the needles in accordance with the shift profile of the pattern for the article to selectively form a number of high tufts of yarns and to selectively pull back loops of yarns to form the pattern; wherein the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at the effective stitch rate, so as to form the patterned article with the number of high tufts formed substantially matching the desired stitch rate of the tufting machine and with the loops of yarns selectively pulled back being substantially hidden by the high tufts of yarns.
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Specification