Tufting machines

• US 4,370,937 A
• Filed: 08/01/1980
• Issued: 02/01/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Firth Carpets Limited
• Original Assignee: Firth Carpets Limited
• Inventors: Denny, Jon P. M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, H. Hampton
• Application Number:
  US06/174,665
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 112/79 R, 112/79 A, 112/79 F, 112/98, 112/83, 112/84, 112/78
• US Class Current: 112/80.3
• CPC Class Codes: D05C 15/00 Making pile fabrics or articles having similar surface features by inserting loops into a base material layered products B32B; non-woven pile fabrics D04H11/00

Abstract

A tufting machine having two rows of needles 1,2 which depend from a respective needle bar 3a, 3b carried by a support member 3. Support member 3 is slidably mounted in a carrier 4 which is vertically reciprocal by a mechanism 5. Yarn is fed from a creel through the needles 1,2 and is engaged by loopers 7,8 where it is held while the needles withdraw from the primary cloth 15.

In order to change the design imparted by the machine there is provided a mechanism for increasing or decreasing the warpwise length of the backing cloth or fabric between the two rows of needles. The mechanism includes a roller 13, which is displaceable in a direction transverse to the axis of the roller, and two retaining bars 11, 12, the fabric passing around the roller and retaining bars to define a loop.

Claims

1. A tufting machine for operating on an elongate workpiece web displaced lengthwise through the machine, comprising a pair of needle bars, a respective row of needles carried by each needle bar, means mounting said two rows of needles transversely in relation to the direction of workpiece movement with a space between the two rows in said direction of movement, a device mounted in said space between the two rows of needles and adapted to engage the workpiece web and means for adjusting said device to enable the length of said workpiece web disposed between the two rows of needles to be selectively increased or decreased.

2. A tufting machine according to claim 1, wherein the web-engaging device comprises a roller around which the workpiece web passes to define a loop therein.

3. A tufting machine according to claim 2, including bearings carrying said roller and set screws to displace the roller in a direction transverse to the roller axis.

4. A tufting machine according to claim 2, including bearings carrying said roller and cam means to displace said bearing and said roller carried thereby to increase the length of the workpiece web between the two rows of needles.

6. A tufting machine as claimed in claim 4 or 5 including two retaining bars, which are aligned in parallel with the axis of the roller and which are mounted on opposite sides of the roller in the lengthwise direction.

7. A tufting machine according to claim 1 or claim 5, further comprising reed plates and retaining bars, means mounting said reed plates on opposite sides of the web-engaging device and said reed plates incorporating said retaining bars, the workpiece passing around said retaining bars and said web-engaging device to define a loop in the workpiece.

5. A tufting machine for operating on an elongate workpiece web displaceable lengthwise through the machine, comprising a pair of needle bars, a respective row of needles carried by each needle bar, means slidably mounting said two rows of needles for movement in a direction transverse to the lengthwise direction of the workpiece web, a roller adapted to engage said workpiece web, and means adjustably mounting said roller in a space between the said two rows of needles to permit the length of workpiece between the needles to be increased or decreased.

8. A tufting machine for operating on an elongate workpiece web displaceable lengthwise through the machine, comprising a frame, a pair of needle bars, a respective row of needles mounted on each needle bar with a space between the two rows of needles in the lengthwise direction, means displaceably mounting said needle bar in said frame, means adjustably mounting bearings in said frame and a roller carried by said bearings, and two retaining bars mounted in the frame on opposite sides of the roller in the lengthwise direction and around which the workpiece web passes to define a loop whose length is selectably adjustable.

9. A tufting machine for operating on an elongate workpiece web displaceable lengthwise through the machine, comprising a pair of needle bars, a respective row of needles carried by each needle bar, means mounting said two rows of needles transversely in relation to the direction of workpiece movement with a space between the two rows in said direction of movement, a non-rotatable bar in said space between the two rows of needles and adapted to engage the workpiece web, and means adjustably mounting said non-rotatable bar to adjust selectively the warpwise length of said workpiece web disposed between the two rows of needles.