US2850994A - Tufting machine with pattern control - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 9, 1958 A. H. CRAWFORD TUFTING MACHINE WITH PATTERN CONTROL Filed March 19, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY;

Sept. 9, 1958 A. H. CRAWFORD 2,350,994

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c M MA r ATTORNEYS United States Patent TUFTING MACHINE WITH PATTERN CONTROL Allan H. Crawford, Amsterdam, N. Y., assignor, by theme assignments, to Mohasco Industries, Amsterdam, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 19, 1954, Serial No. 417,366

7 Claims. (Cl. 112-79) Thisinvention relates to the production of pile fabrics by the passage of loops of yarn through a foundation or backing material by means of needles in a tufting machine. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a novel tufting machine of the multiple needle type provided with means, by which the height of each of the pile loops in the fabric being produced may be varied in accordance with a selected pattern.

Multiple needle tufting machines have been used for many years in the production of pile fabricsused, for example, as bath mats, and, more recently, such machines have been used in the manufacture of floor covering fabrics suitable for use as carpets and rugs. Pile carpeting made on tufting machines has heretofore been at a commercial disadvantage with respect to conventional woven pile carpets, because the height of the pile elements produced in the tufting operation was the same throughout the fabric, so that the fabric had a somewhat monotonous appearance, whereas, in woven pile fabrics, a great variety of surface effects is obtainable by the use of pile elements of different heights arranged in accordance with a design. Some attempts have been made vto modify tufting machines to enable them to insert pile elements of different heights, but no tufting machine aifording a wide choice of pile heights or the control of the height of the individual pile elements throughout the fabric has heretofore been developed, so far as I am aware.

The present invention is directed to the provision of a tufting machine of the multiple needle type, in which the height of the individual pile elements in the fabric produced can be'controlled in accordance with a selected design, so that an unlimited variety of surface effects may be obtained in the finished material. A typical machine constructed in accordance with theinvention includes a plurality of needles for inserting loops of pile yarn through a backing material and a looper associated with each needle and operating to engage each loop inserted by the needle and hold the loop, as the needle is retracted. The loopers are mounted for movement generally parallel to the path of travel of their respective needles and, after a looper enters an inserted loop, it is moved in a direction such that it tends to lengthen the loop. The length of such movement of the loopers, and thus the length of the respective loops held thereby, is determined by a pattern mechanism, which includes elements engaged by the loopers and brought successively into position to control their action during the formation of each row of pile loops across the backing. The pattern elements may be a series of wires which vary in profile in accordance with the pattern and can be interchanged, as desired.

For a better understanding of the. invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a fra mentary side elevational view, with parts broken away, of the essential parts of a tufting machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2--2 of Fig. l with parts omitted;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a partial top plan view with parts broken away of the loopers and related parts;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front elevational view of parts of the device shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a view in section on line 9-9 of Fig. 10;

Figs. 10-14, incl., are fragmentary vertical sectional views showing successive stages in the operation of the needles and loopers under the control of the pattern mechanism; and

Fig. is an elevational view on the line 15-15 of Fig. 10 with parts broken away.

The tufting machine illustrated in the drawings is to a large extent of conventional construction and it has a frame made up of sides 10 connected by girts, two of which are indicated at 11, 12. The backing fabric or sheet F to be tufted is supplied in the usual way from a roll mounted on a shaft cradled in hearings on the frame sides, and the fabric passes over a back spike roll of ordinary construction and is kept under tension by the usual brake controlling the rotation of the spike roll. A backing sheet support such as a reed 14, having a surface along which the backing sheet is advanced and supported, is made of a plurality of closely spaced metal strips and is mounted to span the space between girts 11, 12 and the fabric passes, in a direction longitudinally of the machine, from the back spike roll in contact with the tops of the girts and the reed to an idler roll 15 supported in brackets on the sides 10. From the roll 15, the fabric passes around a front spike roll 16 journaled in hearings on the sides and having a gear 17 engaged by a pinion 13 On a stud 19 attached to one of the sides 10. Pinion 18 is secured to a ratchet wheel 20 operated by a spring-pressed pawl 21 on an arm 22 pivoted on stud 19, and the ratchet wheel is prevented from rearward movement by a spring-pressed pawl 23 mounted on sidell). Arm 22 is oscillated by the cam shaft of the machine, so

that the fabric is advanced with a stepwise motion, as will frame sides and then goes to'a conventional take-up unit not shown.

During each period of rest in the advance of the fabric, loops of pile yarn Y are passed through the fabric by needles25 extending in a row transversely of the machine and having their shanks secured to a plate 26, which is attached to the under surface of a frame member 27. Member 27 extends across the machine and is attaehed at its ends to brackets 28 on slide boxes 29 mounted for reciprocation on vertical guides 30 mounted on top of sides 10. Member 27 carries a bar 31 for guiding the yarns Y from the yarn packages to respective needles and the needle plate 26 is provided with guide eyes for the yarns. The slide boxes 29 are provided with outwardly projecting studs 32, to which are connected the upper ends of connecting rods 33 including turn-buckles 34 for adjustment in their length. The lower ends .of rods 33 are connected to eccentric pins 35 onthe outer faces of discs 36 fast on a cam shaft 37 mounted in bearings in the sides 10 and driven in any suitable way, as by a reduction gear motor (not shown) driving V-belts 38 trained about pulleys 390m the shaft.

The lever 22 for operating the front spike roll is connected by connecting rod 40'to one arm 41a. of a :bell crank lever 41 mounted on the side 10, and the other arm 41b of lever 41 carries a roller 42 which engages the peripheral cam surface 36a on the disc 36. The connecting rod includes a turn buckle 40a for adjusting the length of the rod, and a spring 43 connected to arm 41a of lever 41 and to the frame maintains the roller in contact with the arm. On each rotation of the cam shaft 37, the needle plate assembly is moved up and down by the rods 33 and the cam 36 causes lever 22 to advance ratchet wheel and the spike roll 16 to shift the fabric F one step each time the needle plate is moved upwardly.

When the needle plate assembly is moved downwardly, the needles pierce the fabric and insert loops of pile yarn therethrough. The loops are held in place after their insertion and thus prevented from being pulled out of the fabric, when the needles are retracted, by means of loopers 44 extending in a row transversely of the machine and cooperating with respective needles. The loopers have shanks mounted for endwise movement in openings in the horizontal flanges 45a, 45b of a carrier frame or looper support 45. The frame extends across the machine and its ends are secured to ends of levers 46 pivotally mounted on a shaft 47 journaled in bearings 48 on brackets 49 secured to the sides 10 for vertical adjustment by slot and bolt connections. levers carry cam rollers 46' which engage rotary cams 50 on the cam shaft 37, and, on each rotation of the shaft, the frame 45 is swung, so that each looper enters the loop of yarn inserted through the fabric,by its associated needle.

The height of each loop of pile yarn is determined by the vertical displacement of each looper in accordance with a selected pattern, prior to the retraction of the needles. The looper control mechanism includes a series of horizontal pattern elements 51 having varying contours as shown in Fig. 2, which take the form of bars 51a secured at their opposite ends by lugs 52 to a pair of endless roller chains 53 and carrying profiled flat wires 51b. The chains are trained about a pair of front sprocket wheels 54 on shaft 47 and a pair of rear sprocket wheels (not shown) on a shaft 55 supported in bearings 56 (Fig. 3) secured to the brackets 49. Bearings 56 are attached to brackets 49 by bolts 57 extending through horizontal slots 58, so that the spacing between the front and rear sprocket wheels can be varied to handle chains of different lengths, as may be required to carry different numbers of pattern elements for pattern repeats of different length.

On each insertion of the needles, the chains are advanced stepwise so as to place one of the pattern wires beneath the row of loopers, and this movement of the chains is effected by pawls 59, which engage ratchet Wheels 60 fast on shaft 47. Each pawl is pivotally mounted on one arm of a bell crank lever 61 loosely supported on the shaft 47 and the other arm of the lever carries a cam roller 62 engaging the rotary cam 63 on cam shaft 37. Over-travel of the sprocket wheel is prevented by spring-loaded stop pawls 64, which are pivoted on a bracket attached to side 10 and engage respective ratchet wheels 65. The ratchet wheels 65 are mounted I on shaft 47 and connected to respective ratchet wheels 60, the connected wheels having teeth pointing in opposite directions. Each stop pawl 64 has a pin 66 lying within a slot 67 formed in one end of a link 68 pivoted at its other end on a lever 61. When levers 61 are in their retracted positions relative to ratchet wheels 60, links 68 hold the stop pawls 64 out of engagement with their ratchet wheels 65. When levers 61 are swung to advance ratchet wheels 60, the links are moved with the levers and permit the stop pawls to engage ratchet wheels 65, when the levers are at the end of their forward stroke. Such engagement of pawls 64 with ratchet wheels 65 holds shaft 47 against movement.

The shank of each looper projecting below flange 45b of the carrier frame 45 is bent back upon itself to form an abutment at 44a for engagement with the pattern wires and the end of the shank is turned outwardly above the abutment to provide a tail 44b. The loopers are arranged in frame 45 in two transverse rows and the tails of the loopers in the two rows extend outwardly in op- The other ends of the posite directions. The hooks 44c of the loopers in the two rows are of different length, so that the hooks may terminate in a line, and, in forming the loopers, the shanks are inserted through the aligned openings in the flanges of frame 45 and the hooks are then secured to the shanks by soldering. The shanks extend downwardly below frame 45 into a space between a pair of lifting plates 69 mounted on respective angle irons 70. The plates have slots 69a extending downwardly from their tops for receiving the tails 44b of the individual loopers and the shank of each looper between flanges 45a, 45b on frame 45 is encircled by a spring 71, which bears against the undersurface of flange 45a and against a disc 72 fast on the shank above flange 45b. The springs urge the loopers downwardly, so that their tails 45b tend to engage the bottom of the slots in the plates 69. The angle irons are secured at their ends to slides 73 mounted on the upper arms of levers 46 and each slide has an outwardly projecting stud 74 carrying a roller 75, which rides upon a cam surface 76 on a lever 77 pivotally mounted on shaft 47. Lever 77 has a cam follower roller 78 running on a rotary cam 79 on cam shaft 37.

The operation of the machine may be understood by reference to Figs. 10-14, inclusive, which show a cycle of operations. In Fig. 10, the needle assembly, consisting of the needles 25, plate 26, and member 27, is shown as having been raised and such movement has been effected by the raising of slide boxes 29 on guides 30 by connecting rods 33 and eccentric pins 35 on discs 36 on cam shaft 37. The levers 46 have been swung to move their upper ends toward the back of the machine, that is, toward the end from which the fabric is beingfed, and such movement of the levers has moved the looper carrier frame 45 to withdraw the loopers from the loops L of pile yarn in the last row inserted by the needles. At this stage,,levers 77 have been swung to raise the slotted looper lifting plates 69, so that the tails of the loopers are in engagement with the bottoms of the slots in the plates and the abutrnents on the loopers are out of contact with the pattern units 51. While the parts are in the positions described, the lever 41 is swung by its cam 36 to advance ratchet wheel 20 one step and advance the front spike roll 16 a corresponding amount. This brings an untufted portion of the fabric beneath the needles.

In the next step in the cycle, shown in Fig. 11, the needle assembly is lowered, so'that the needles penetrate the fabric and carry the yarns Y with them to form the next row of loops. During such downward movement of the needles, the looper carrier frame 45 begins to swing to move the loopers toward the path of travel of the needles and, at the same time, the ratchet wheels 60 are advanced one step to advance shaft 47 and the front sprocket wheels 54 and chains 53 by one step. This removes a pattern unit from beneath the abutments 44a on the shanks of the loopers and brings the next unit on the chains into effective position beneath the abutments.

The swinging of the looper carrier frame proceeds until, as shown in Fig. 12, the hooks on the loopers enter the loops L of pile yarn carried through the fabric by respective needles. As soon as the hooks have entered the loops, the frame 45 comes to rest and the looper lifting'plates and their supporting members 70 then move down toward the pattern elements. During such movement of the lifting plates, the loopers are moved with them by springs 71 to keep the tails 44b of the loopers against the bottom of the slots in the plates. The downward movement of the lifting plates continues until the abutments 44a on the loopers engage the pattern wire 51a in effective position and the tails 44b of certain loopers are out of contact with the bottom of the slots 69a in the lifter plates 69. At this stage, as shown in Fig. 13,

the position of the individual loopers is determined entirely by the height of the portions of the pattern wire 5111, with which the looper abutments are in contact.

During such movement of the looper carrier frame 45 and the lifting plates 69, the needles have reached the bottom of their downward travel and begun to move up- Wardly. In such movement, the needles tend to carry with them the loops L of yarn last inserted, but these loops have been entered by respective loopers and are thereby prevented from being pulled out of the fabric. Each loop so retained by its looper extends downwardly from the fabric a distance determined by the height of the portion of the pattern wire, on which the looper rests and, in the finished fabric, the loops in each transverse row have heights above the backing fabric determined by the shape of the pattern Wire in effective position during the formation of the row of loops. When the needles have reached their upper position, the looper carrier frame 45 is swung back to free the loopers from the loops of yarn and the looper lifting plates 69 are moved upward to raise the loopers out of contact with the pattern wire and to place the loopers in the position shown in Fig. 10. The cycle of operations of the machine is then complete.

It will be apparent that, in the machine, it is possible to produce a fabric, in which the height of each loop in the pile can be determined in advance and may vary within a considerable range. By vertical adjustment of the brackets supporting the bearings for the sprocket wheel shafts, the vertical position of the pattern-chains and the elements thereon can be varied, so that an overall variation in the height of the pile loops in the fabric can be effected. The number of rows in a repeat of the pattern determines the number of pattern elements on the chains and the bearings 56 for the rear sprocket wheel shaft may be adjusted along brackets 49, so that chains of different length may be employed.

I claim:

1. In a tufting machine, the combination of a support having a surface along which a backing sheet is advanced and supported, means for stepwise advancing the backing sheet along said surface of the backing sheet support, a needle reciprocable to insert loops of pile yarn through the sheet, means for reciprocating the needle, a looper cooperating with the needle to hold loops inserted through the sheet by the needle, a movable looper support on which the looper is mounted for movement both with and relative to said looper support, means for moving the looper support to cause the looper to enter each loop inserted through the backing sheet by the needle, means urging the looper away from said surface of the backing sheet support, a stop movable with the looper support for arresting movement of the looper away from said surface of the backing sheet support, means for moving the stop out of the way of the looper after the looper has entered each loop, and pattern mechanism including a plurality of design elements of different heights for limiting said movement of the looper away from said surface of the backing sheet support and thereby controlling the maximum distances which the looper moves from said surface of the backing sheet support as the tufting operation proceeds, said pattern mechanism including means for successively moving said design elements into position to be engaged by the looper as the looper is moved away from said surface of the backing sheet support, whereby loops of different lengths may be formed.

2. In a tufting machine, the combination of a support having a surface along which a backing sheet is advanced and supported, a plurality of needles extending in a row transversely of the machine and reciproca'ole to insert loops of pile yarn through the sheet, means for reciprocating the needles to insert loops of pile yarn through the sheet, a plurality of loopers extending in a row transversely of the machine and cooperating with respective needles to hold loops inserted by the needles through the sheet, a movable looper support on which said loopers are mounted for movement together with and independently relative to said looper support, means for moving the looper support to cause the loopers to enter the loops inserted by their respective cooperating needles, means for moving said loopers away from said surface of the backing sheet support, and a pattern element extending transversely of the machine and having areas of different heights along its length in a position to be engaged by the loopers and limit their movement away from said surface of the backing sheet support, whereby the loopers are moved different maximum distances from said surface of the backing sheet support, and loops of different lengths may be formed.

3. In a tufting machine, the combination of a support having a surface along which a backing sheet is advanced and supported, a needle plate, a plurality of needles mounted on the plate, means for reciprocating the plate to cause the needles to insert loops of pile yarn through the backing sheet, a rocking mounting on the side of said support opposite from said needle plate, a looper support carried by the rocking mounting, a plurality of loopers mounted to move together with and independently relative to said looper support, means for rocking said mounting to cause the loopers to enter the loops inserted through the backing sheet by their respective cooperating needles, means urging the individual loopers to move independently relative to the looper support in a direction away from the backing sheet support, a stop bar movably carried by the rocking mounting and arresting movement of the loopers away from said backing sheet, means for moving the stop bar out of the way of the loopers after the loopers have entered their loops, and pattern mechanism for limiting the movements of individual loopers relative to the looper support, said pattern mechanism including a plurality of design elements of different heights movable into position to be engaged by the loopers to limit their movement away from said surface of the backing sheet support, and means for advancing the design elements successively into a posi tion to be engaged by the loopers, whereby the loopers may be moved different maximum distances from said surface of the backing sheet support and loops of different lengths may be formed.

4. In a tufting machine, the combination of a support having a surface along which a backing sheet is longitudinally advanced and supported, a plurality of needles extending in a row transversely of the machine and reciprocable to insert loops of pile yarn through the sheet, means for reciprocating the needles to insert loops of pile yarn through the sheet, a movable looper support, a plurality of loopers extending in a row transversely of the machine and mounted to move together with and independently relative to said movable looper support, means for moving the looper support to cause the loopers to enter the loops inserted through the backing sheet by their respective cooperating needles, means for moving the loopers independently relative to said looper support in a direction away from said backing sheet support, a series of pattern elements, each extending transversely of the machine and successively movable into position to be engaged by the loopers and limit their movement away from said surface of the backing sheet support, the pattern elements having areas of different heights along their individual lengths and positioned longitudinally of the machine so that the portions of successive pattern elements engaged by an individual looper have different heights to (1) limit the maximum distances which the loopers move from said surface of the backing sheet support when the loopers engage a single pattern element, and (2) limit the maximum distances which an individual looper moves from said surface of the backing sheet support when engaged by portions of successive pattern elements as the tufting operation proceeds, whereby loops of different lengths, both transversely and longitudinally of the machine, may be formed.

5. In a tufting machine, the combination of a support having a surface along which a backing sheet is advanced and supported, a plurality of needles substantially aligned I l transversely of the machine and reciprocable to insert loops of pile yarn through the backing sheet, means for reciprocating the needles, a looper cooperating with each needle to hold the loops inserted through the backing sheet by the needles, means for moving each looper to enter each loop formed by its cooperating needle,

means for moving each looper away from said surface of the backing sheet support, and pattern mechanism advanced in synchronism with the backing sheet, said pattern mechanism including an endless support and pattern elementsof different heights carried by said endless support and extending in a row transversely of the machine, means for moving said endless support to bring said, pattern elements into position to coact with the loopers, said pattern elements having portions limiting the maximum distances which the loopers move from said surface of the backing sheet support as the tufting operation proceeds, whereby loops of different lengths may be formed.

6. In a tufting machine as described in claim 5, the further improvement in which the pattern elements comprise wires projecting outwardly from the endless support and having areas of different heights along their length.

7. In a tufting machine as defined in claim 6, the further improvement in which the endless support for the pattern mechanism is a pair of spaced chains and the pattern wires are carried by said chains.

References Cited'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 486,253 Hofbauer Nov. 15, 1892 1,772,993 Grutter Aug. 12, 1930 1,909,531 Gladish May 16, 1933 1,970,703 Loos Aug. 21, 1934 1,984,330 Boyce Dec. 11, 1934 2,411,268 Hamrich Nov. 19, 1946

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