GB2063772A - Production of tassels - Google Patents

Abstract

A tassel comprising a plurality of side by side loops which are attached to one another to define a row of said loops, each loop being composed of a group of fibres, and contraction means extending along one side of the row and being connected to the loops so that on contraction of the contraction means the row of loops is caused to curl to form a tassel.

Description

SPECIFICATION Production of tassels The present invention relates to production of tassels, in particular tassels for trimmings as used on furnishings such as lamp shades, chairs, pelmets, blinds, etc.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a tassel comprising a plurality of side by side loops which are attached to one another to define a row of said loops, each loop being composed of a group of fibres, and contraction means extending along one side of the row and being connected to the loops so that on contraction of the contraction means the row of loops is caused to curl to form a tassel.

Preferably the contraction means has elastic properties and is applied to the row of loops under tension. Preferably the contraction means comprises a yarn having elastic properties which is formed into at least one row of stitches extending along the row of loops. The yarn may be formed of an elastomer such as rubber or an elastomeric plastics material.

Conveniently the row of stitches of the elastic yarn additionally serves to secure the loops to one another to form said row.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a tassel defined above comprising forming a plurality of side by side loops of groups of fibres, securing the loops together to form a row of said loops and connecting contraction means to the row of loops so that on contraction of the contraction means the row of loops is caused to curl to form a tassel.

Preferably securing the loops together and connecting the contracting means to the row is carried out simultaneously by stitching the loops together with the yarn having elastic properties.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a trimming including tassels as defined above.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a length of trimming having tassels according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view similar to Fig. 1 showing another tassel according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a part perspective view of a crochet knitting machine arranged to produce trimming having tassels according to the present invention.

Referring initially to Fig. 1 a trimming or fringe is generally shown at 10 and includes a heading 11 which may be of any desired design. The heading 11 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a cord 12, for example, in the form of a knitting tube, which is arranged in zig-zag fashion and held together by four rows of stitches 14, 15, 16 and 1 7 respectively. The row of stitches 1 7 is intended to be removed after completion of the fringe. A second cord 18 is provided which is secured to the heading 11 by the row of stitches 1 6 and which extends beyond the heading 11 to define tassel receiving loops 20. A bundle of fibres 21 is arranged in a zig-zag fashion adjacent to the heading 11 so as to form a discrete zigzag formation 23 located next to each tassel receiving loop 20.Two rows of stitching 24, 25 are provided for attaching the loops of the zig-zag formations to one another and to each tassel receiving loop 20. Preferably both rows of stitches 24, 25 are formed using a yarn having elastic properties as mentioned hereinbefore. Two further rows of stitches 28, 29 are provided which serve to hold the bundle of fibres 21 together during cutting along line 30. Cutting along line 30 transforms each zigzag formation 23 into a row of loops of bundles of fibres.

In order to form individual tassels the rows of stitching 24, 25 are severed or cut at locations c between each row of loops thereby enabling the elastic yarn to contract and curl each row of loops to form a tassel. Finally the row of stitches 28 is removed to free the terminal ends of the tassels.

It will be appreciated that the second cord 1 8 may be dispensed with and selected loops of the heading may be used as tassel receiving loops. If desired the selected loops may be extended beyond the edge of the heading to receive a tassel.

A modified tassel according to the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 parts which are similar to those in Fig. 1 have been designated by the same reference numerals. The trimming illustrated in Fig. 2 includes an additional thread 80 which is an elastomeric thread. Thread 80 is laid in a zigzag manner across the rows of stitches 24 and 25 where they extend between each zigzag formation 23 and is floated across the rear side of each formation 23 to form a float 81. The thread 80 is laid in under high tension so that after severing the rows of stitching 24, 25 the thread 80 contracts.

Contraction of thread 80 serves the purpose of resisting unravelling of the severed rows of stitches 24, 25 and additionally supplements the curling of each row of loops by virtue of each float 81 contracting.

Referring now to Fig. 3, there is shown a crochet knitting machine 40 which is arranged, for the purpose of illustration, to knit the trimming of Fig. 1. The machine 40 has a bed of needles 41, co-operating loopers 42 which co-operate with individual needles 41 to form individual rows of chain stitches and traversing feeders 43 which traverse across the needles 41 to feed cord 12, 1 8 thereto for forming the heading 11 and bundle of fibres 21 for forming the tassels. The needles 41 and traversing feeders 43 are arranged to form the heading 11 and zig-zag formations 23 as shown in Fig. 1. The heading 11 and zig-zag formations 23 are fed past a shearing mechanism 50 which is operated by a drive shaft of the knitting machine to cut the zig-zag formations 23 along line 30 (Fig. 1). The heading 11 and the thus formed rows of loops are fed over a pair of rollers 50, 51, 52 between which is arranged a severing device 60 for severing the rows of stitches 24, 25 at locations C. The severing device 60 shown comprises a head 61 having a heated wire 62. The head 61 is intermittently raised to bring the wire 62 into contact with rows of stitches 24, 25 at locations cto sever the elastic yarn.

Once the fringe has been removed from the machine, the yarn making up row of stitches 28 is removed to free the ends of the tassels.

It will be appreciated that cutting means in the form of a knife or shears may be used instead of severing device 60 for cutting rows of stitches 24, 25.

Claims (11)

1. A tassel comprising a plurality of side by side loops which are attached to one another to define a row of said loops, each loop being composed of a group of fibres, and contraction means extending along one side of the row and being connected to the loops so that on contraction of the contraction means the row of loops is caused to curl to form a tassel.

2. A tassel according to Claim 1 wherein the contraction means has elastic properties and is applied to the row of loops under tension.

3. A tassel according to Claim 2 wherein the contraction means comprises a yarn having elastic properties which is formed into at least one row of stitches extending along the row of loops.

4. A tassel according to Claim 3 wherein the yarn additionally serves to secure the loops to one another to form said row.

5. A tassel according to Claim 2 or 3 wherein the contraction means further comprises an elastomeric thread which is floated under tension across said row of loops.

6. A tassel substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

7. Trimming including a plurality of tassels according to any preceding claim.

8. A method of producing a tassel comprising forming a plurality of side by side loops of groups of fibres, securing the loops together to form a row of said loops and connecting contraction means to the row of loops so that on contraction of the contraction means the row of loops is caused to curl to form a tassel.

9. A method according to Claim 8 wherein securing the loops together and connecting the contraction means to the row is carried out simultaneously by stitching the loops together with a yarn having elastic properties.

1 0. A method according to Claim 9 wherein elastomeric thread is laid across the stitches either side of the said row of loops and which is floated across said row under high tension.

11. A method of producing a tassel substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.