US2423606A - Tufting machine - Google Patents

Description

1947- J. K. MOCUTCHEN 2,

TUFTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ivfh' K. 71a; Wen,

July 3, 1947. J. K. wuTHEN 2,423,606

' 'I'UFTING MACHINE I Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2' July 8, 1947. I J. K. MQCUTCHE' 2,423,606'

'IUFTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 8,1947.

J.-K. MCCUTCHEN 2,423,606

TUFTING lmdnmia Fild Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 8, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUFTING MACHINE Joseph K. McGutchen, Ellijay, Ga. Application November 24, 1944, Serial No. 564,938

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined looping and tufting machine and more especially to a machine having means for forming loops on the underneath side of a fabric and extending said loops downwardly and depositing them onto a looper bill where the loops are cut to form tufts.

It is an object of this invention to provide in a sewing machine, a needle bar equipped with a plurality of needles for sewing a plurality of rows of stitches in a fabric with looper members adapted to pass between the needles and the yarn carried thereby after the needles have penetrated the base fabric to engage the yarn and form loops and then to extend these loops downwardly to any desired length and then transfer these loops from the loopers onto a looper bill which has associated therewith a cutting knife so that some, but not all, of the loops on the looper bill will be out upon each up and down movement of the needle to retain on the looper bill some of the loops in uncut condition to prevent the yarn from being pulled out of the fabric.

It'is another object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having a plurality of needles and a plurality of loopers, there being one looper associated with each needle for engaging the yarn carried by the needle after the needle has pierced the fabric and extending the yarn downwardly to form an elongated loop together with an oscillating looper bill associated with each needle and adapted to pass into the loop while held by the loopers and to receive the same and the lo-opers will then move out of the loops and be ready to engage another set of loops being formed by the downwardly descending needles, while at the same time, the looper bills which have knives associated therewith will out some, but not all of the loops held on the looper bills to thus form elongated tufts Which is especially adaptable for making what is known as shag type of chenille bedspreads, rugs, and the like.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved sewing machine, showing certain parts broken away for sake of clearness and showing the presser foot in raised position;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along a line 2-2 in Figure 1 and showing the inter-connecting means between the shaft carrying the looper bills and the shaft carrying the knives for cutting the loops carried by the looper bills;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Figure 4;

Figure '6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 65 in Figure 4 and omitting the knife;

Figure '7 is a View taken along the same line as Figure 4, but showing the parts in a different position;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 88 in Figure '7.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral It indicates the uprising portion of a conventional sewing machine which has a conventional bed .plate I I and a goose-neck I2 which is an extension of the upriser I0 and on the free end of the goose-neck I2 there is a head portion I3 which houses a vertically reciprocating needle bar I4 and a presser bar I5. The needle bar [4 has a transversely disposed bar I6 secured on the lower end thereof in which a plurality of needles I! are disposed, said needles having an eye I8 in the lower end thereof through which a strand of yarn 23 passes.

The needle bar I4 is reciprocated vertically in a conventional manner and the pressure bar [5 is of conventional design and has a conventional pressure foot member 20 secured on its lower end to which presser foot 2| is pivotally secured as at 22.

There is one strand of yarn for each needle which strands are omitted in Figure 1 for sake of clearness. These strands pass through conventional tension mechanisms 25 secured on a plate '26, which, in turn, is secured to the head I3 of the sewing machine. The head I3 of the sewing machine also has a bar 21 secured thereon having a plurality of holes therethrough, through which the yarn passes after passing through the tension means 25 on its way to the needle eye I8 of the needles H.

The sewing machine has a drive shaft 30 mounted in a conventional manner and having a hand wheel 3i thereon, and also a pulley 32 which is adapted to receive a suitable belt, not shown, which is connected to a suitable prime mover, such as an electric motor, not shown, for driving the machine.

The shaft 30 has an eccentric portion 33 secured thereon on which the forked upper end of a connecting rod 34 has sliding movement and this eccentric 33 gives a swinging movement to tothe fact that to rod 34 there is pivotally conconnecting rod 46, whose lower end is connected to the free end of an arm 4'! fixed on front feed dog rod 48. The front feed dog rod 48 is mounted for oscillation at its ends on pivot screws .49 and 5B and has adjustably secured thereon arm 52 and 53 which project upwardly and rearwardly' and have pins 51 therein which are adapted to have sliding movement in slotted portions 55 on the front end of a feed dog member 55. The rear end of the feed dog member 55 is pivotally secured as at 54 in arms 58 projecting upwardly from the rear feed dog rod 4|. This feed dog member 55 has upwardly projecting portions 60 which are notched in their upper surfaces and are adapted to extend through suitable slots in a throat plate 6| fixed on top of the bed plate l0, and a suitable fabric 62 is adapted to pass between the presser foot 2| and the throat plate 6| for penetration by the needles when the presser foot 2| is in lowered position, however, the presser foot for sake of clearness is shown in raised position in all figures of the drawings.

Pivotally mounted on pivot screws 65 and 65 is a looper shaft '61 which has an arm 68 extendlink 91 whoseother end is pivoted as at 92 to a lever 93 adjustably mounted on a cutter shaft 94 mounted at its ends for oscillation on pivot screws 95 and 95. This cutter shaft 94 has mounted therein a plurality of rods 91, each of which has a slot 98 therein for receiving the lower end of a cutter knife 99 and surrounding the rods 99 are sleeves 55 which are adapted to be pressed against the edge of each cutter member 99 to confine it to an adjusted position by means of a screw lei being threadably mounted in the free end of the rods 99. It is to be observed that the upper end of the cutter member '99 is sharpened and is flexed to have a rubbing engagement with the shank 81 and a portion 01' the'looper bill 88 to cut the rearmost loops on the looper bill 88, but to fail to cut the foremost ing therefrom to which the lower end of a con- '52 of the looper H is shown entering between th needle and the strand carried thereby, whereas in Figure 4 the needle has moved downwardly to a position to where the looper bills, to be presently described, can pass into the'loop so that the looper H can move upwardly and backwardly to its original position out of the loop.

Also fixed on shaft 36 is a suitable eccentric 15 which is surrounded by the upper end of a connectin rod 15 which has its lower end piv-,

otally connected as at 1! to a lever 18 adjustably secured on looper bill shaft 80 Which is mounted at its ends for oscillation on pivot screws BI and 82. This looper bill has adjustably mounted-thereon a plurality of members 83, these members being split and held in clamping relation on the shaft 85 by means of screws 84. Also adjustably mounted in members 83 is a rod 85 by means of a set screw 86 which extends upwardly and, as will be observed in Figure 8, has welded or otherwise secured to its upper end, a

looper bill shank 8'1 which has a forwardly projecting looper bill 88 which hasa downturned end for engaging and holding the loops transferred thereon by the looper members II. 'The looper bill shaft 80 has fixedly secured thereto an arm Qi'iwhich has pivoted at its free end a loops on the looper bill at all times.

' Method of operation The operation of the machine is as follows:

As the needles approach lowermost position the looper hooks 12 start moving downwardly and rearwardly in between the needles and the strand carried thereby, and the looper bills 33 are moving rearwardly and the knives 99 ar moving upwardly to cut the loops on the looper bills 83. By the time the needles have reached uppermost position the loopers H will have reached lowermost position slightly below the path of the looper bills 88, and the looper bills 88, as the needles reach uppermost position, start moving forwardly above the hooks 12 of the loopers to engage the loops as shown in Figure 4 and the looper bills 88 continue moving forwardly while 0 the loopers 72 start moving upwardly as the needles start descending. The looper bill 88 continue their rearward movement until the needles have reached lowermost position and continue such rearward movement until the needles have reached uppermost position and the looper bill '12 have reached lowermost position, at, which time the looper bills 83 start moving forwardly a ain.

Especial emphasis is placed on the fact that all of the shafts 4|, 18, 61, 8D and 94 are driven directly from the main drive shaft 39.,In previous machines of this type the feed shafts 4| and 48 have been driven from the main shaft and the looper and cutter mechanism has been driven either from the feed shafts or; complicated power take-offs from tliemain shaft or a separate source of power hasbeen used to drive the looper and cutter shafts. I eliminate all these complicated and Luisatisfactory driving means by having eccentrics on the main shaft and connecting rods extending from the eccentrics to the looper and cutter shafts for operating the same positively and without any lost motion.

In the drawings and specification, there-has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are em.- ployed, theyare used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim: 7

1. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillating looper adapted to pass between'the needle and the strand carried thereby for forming a loop on the lower surface of the fabric as the needle moves upwardly through the fabric, an oscillating loo-per bill pointing in the opposite direction from the looper andadapted to pass into the loop while it is held on the looper while the looper is in lowered position and to hold the same while the looper moves upwardly and out of the loop, and cutting means associated with the looper bill for cutting some but not all of the loops held on the looper bill upon each complete oscillation of the looper bill.

2. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand through a base fabric, an oscillating shaft mounted below the fabric and in front of the needle, and having a looper arm mounted thereon for swinging downwardly and rearwardly between the needle and the strand carried thereby while the needle is in lowered position for forming and elongating a loop from the strand carried by the needle, an oscillating looper bill disposed below and rearwandly of the looper for passing into the loop held by the looper while the looper is in lowermost position, and cutting means associated with the looper bill for cutting some but not all of the loops on the looper bill upon each oscillation of the looper bill.

3. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle bar carrying a plurality of vertically disposed laterally spaced needles, each needle being adapted to carry the strand through a base fabric, an oscillatable shaft disposed below the fabric and in front of the needle, said shaft having a plurality of looper arms mounted thereon each having a hook on their rear ends adapted to pass between the needle and the strand carried thereby while the needle is in lowered position, said looper arm being adapted to move the loops downwardly to a further elongated position than the depth to which the needle eye descends below the fabric, a second oscillatable shaft disposed below and rearwardly of the first oscillatable shaft and having a plurality of looper members mounted thereon, the looper members having a looper bill on their upper ends pointing in the opposite direction to that of the looper arms and adapted to swing forwardly into the loops while they are held by the looper arms in their lowermost position to engage the loops and hold the same while the looper arms move upwardly and forwardly out of the loops, a third oscillatable shaft having a plurality of cutter knives mounted thereon, there being one cutter knife for each of the looper bills, and the upper end of the cutter knives having sliding engagement with the looper bills for cutting some but not all of the loops off of the looper bills upon rearward oscillation of the looper bills.

4. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle for penetrating a base fabric and carrying a strand therethrough, an oscillating looper member disposed below the fabric and adapted to pass between the needle and the strand carried thereby and engage the strand and form a loop as the looper member moves downwardly and as the needle moves upwardly through the fabric, said oscillating looper being adapted to move downwardly below the lowermost point to which the needle descends to further elongate the loop, an oscillating looper bill adapted to pass into the loop while it is held by the looper member in its lower most position and to hold the loop while the looper member moves upwardly out of the loop, and cutting means associated with the looper member for cutting some but not all of the loops held on the looper bill during each oscillation of the looper bill.

5. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle bar carrying a plurality of vertically disposed laterally spaced needles, each needle being adapted to carry the strand through a base fabric, an oscillatable shaft disposed below and in front of the needle, said shaft having a plurality of looper arms mounted thereon having a hook on their rear ends adapted to pass between the needle and the strand carried thereby while the needle is in lowered position, said looper arm. being adapted to move the loops downwardly to a further elongated position than the depth to which the needle eye descends below the fabric, a second oscillatable shaft disposed below and rearwardly of the first oscillatable shaft and having a plurality of looper members mounted there on, each of the looper members having a forwardly directed looper bill on its upper end adapted to swing forwardly into the loops while they are held by the loo-pers in their lowermost position to engage the loops and hold the same while the looper members move upwardly and forwardly out of the loops, a third oscillatable shaft having a plu rality of cutter knives mounted thereon, there being one cutter knife for each of the bills, and the upper end of the cutter knives having sliding engagement with the looper bills for cutting some but not all of the loops off of the looper bills upon rearward oscillation of the looper bills, the first two oscillatable shafts each having an arm fixed thereon, a connecting rod having its lower end connected to an arm, a main drive shaft having a plurality of eccentrics thereon, the upper end of each connecting rod being mounted on one of said eccentrics for imparting oscillation to the first two named oscillatable shafts.

6. A sewing machine having a feed side and a discharge side and a vertically reciprocating needle for carrying a strand, through a base fabric, an oscillatable shaft disposed below the fabric, and having a looper thereon extending towards the discharge side of the machine for passing between the strand and the needle when the needle is in lowered position for forming loops on the lower side of the fabric, a second oscillatable shaft having a looper bill mounted thereon and extending towards the feed side of the machine, and adapted to pass into the loop held by the looper while the looper is in lowered position to engage and hold the loop while the looper moves upwardly out of the loop, a third oscillatable shaft mounted below the fabric and having a cutter member mounted thereon which is adapted to cut some but not all of the loops on the looper bill as the looper bill oscillates toward the discharge side of the machine, away from the looper from which it received its loop.

JOSEPH K. McCUTCHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 1,902,704 Kadlec Mar. 21, 1933 2,352,153 Patey June 20, 1944 438,427 Riehfuss et al. Oct. 14, 1890 1,922,131 Heidel Aug. 15, 1933 2,280,212 Boyles Apr. 21, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 12,811 Great Britain 1898

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