US3229484A - Needle for method of fabricating pleated rugs and the like - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 18, 1966 G. B. STANDART 3,229,484

NEEDLE FOR METHOD OF FABRICATING PLEATED RUGS AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.5

2a /a m 30 30 33 24 J8 3a A? 22 /4 M I I I A5 /0 20 24 33 26 7 30 36 j Z4. /4 1 7 a INVENTOR. F GARY B. STANDART F I 7 ATTORNEYS Jan. 18, 1966 G. STANDART 3,229,484

NEEDLE FOR METHOD OF FABRICATING PLEATED RUGS AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. GARY B. STANDART BY Z &a& Fm,

M /rww ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofitice 3,229,484 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 3,229,484 NEEDLE FOR METHOD F FABRICATIYG PLEATED RUGS AND THE LIKE Gary B. Standart, 9500 Buena Vista, ()verland Park, Kans. Filed Mar. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 349,817 13 Claims. (Cl. 66118) The present invention relate to a method of fabricating pleated rugs and the like and to a needle for use therewith.

In the hand fabrication of pleated rugs, a needle is used to pleat and manipulate strips of material of various thicknesses. The pleats in the strips of material must be uniform, and this has heretofore required considerable experience and skill. Moreover, a substantially constant thickness of pleats is necessary to properly form the rug, and the counting and segregation of the required number of pleats has also required considerable experience and skill. More particularly, a crochet needle having a sharpened point at one end and crochet hook at the other end, has been used to successively pierce a strip of fabric to form pleats on the needle, and a particular number or thickness of pleats is then slid off the crochet hook end of the needle and this unit of pleats is next crocheted or chain-stitched until a succession of units of pleats has been formed. Assuming that a circular or oval rug is to be made, the chain of pleat units is then formed into a circular or oval configuration with successive loops of the pleated material being crocheted to the previous loop of material until a rug of the desired size has been formed. In fabricating the rounded portions of the rug, it is necessary to secure the loops together in such a fashion that the rug will lie flat. Where the successive loops are crocheted together, this has required that the pleat units at the rounded portions of the rug include additional pleats to provide the extra length necessary.

In any event, an attractive rug of uniform dimensions and adapted to lie fiat requires careful attention to formation of pleats of uniform size by the crochet needle, and further requires counting the number of pleat for each pleat unit. This alone requires considerable skill and painstaking attention, and the problem is made doubly difiicult when a number of different materials are used in making the rug. Some of these materials may be light, such as discarded nylon stockings, or may be quite heavy, such as remnants of mens suits. The rug fabricator must be capable of determining the proper number of pleats of each to use to provide pleat units of uniform thickness. These difficulties have discouraged many from undertaking the fabrication of pleated mgs.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a needle for use in making pleated rugs and which is adapted to indicate the proper length of material to be fed onto the shank of the needle between piercings of the material by the point of the needle whereby pleats of uniform depth are provided.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle of the aforementioned character wherein the needle takes the form of a crochet needle which is provided with a pleating gauge longitudinally spaced from the point of the needle a predetermined distance equivalent to half the depth of the pleat desired and which is adapted to permit pierced material to pass therepast in a direction away from the point and yet which is adapted to engage and constrain the material from passing therepast in a direction toward the point. In this manner the distance between the point of the needle and the pleating gauge establishes the amount of material necessary to form half the depth of pleat desired, the material being successively pierced from opposite sides to form an undulating or serpentine pattern of pleats. Of course, the crochet needle need not necessarily be straight, but may include offset portions or bends, if desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle of the aforementioned character wherein a plurality of pleating gauges are utilized, the gauges being spaced at different distances from the point of the needle so that there is automatically aiforded an indication of the depth of pleat which will be produced, according to the wishes of the user. The pleating gauge closest to the needle point produces pleats of lesser depth, and the gauge spaced farther away from the needle point provides pleats having a greater depth. The user thereby has a choice of two pleat depths, the first selected normally being used throughout the fabrication of the rug.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a needle of the aforementioned character which includes a material gauge located adjacent the crochet hook end of the needle, which gauge is adapted to accommodate only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material. Thus, the material gauge automatically apprises the user of the proper number of pleats necessary to form a pleating unit of a predetermined thickness, regardless of the thickness of the various materials used. In this way each pleating unit is made of substantially the same thickness or body as all the others. That is, the material gauge accommodates more pleats of the thinner materials and less of the thicker materials so that the gauge provides the user with a pleating unit of uniform thickness regardless of the weight or bulk of the material being pleated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle of the aforementioned character having a material gauge, and which is provided with an additional material gauge constituting an increase gauge which has the same function as the material gauge but which accommodates more pleats so that round or oval rugs can be made which will lie flat, the increase gauge being used when the rug is to be crocheted together. That is, the increase gauge automatically apprises the user of the additional number of pleats necessary to form the pleating units adjacent the rounded portions of the rug being made.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle of the aforementioned character which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and simple to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fast, simple and inexpensive method of fabricating a pleated rug, and particularly a method of fastening together the pleats by a novel lacing technique. Present crocheting or chain stitching techniques utilized for the securement of pleats are complex, time consuming, and discouraging to novice rug makers.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a needle according to the present invention, a strip of pleated material being illustrated in phantom outline;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the needle of FIG. 1, a portion thereof being broken away for brevity;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the needle of FIG. 1, a portion thereof being broken away for brevity;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating a strip of pleated material in position upon the pleating and material gauges of the needle;

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are other embodiments of pleating or material gauges according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the needle of FIG. 1, illustrating the manner in which the pleated material is drawn off the needle for use;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the pleated material partially laced together in an arrangement productive of an oval rug; and

FIG. is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the showing in FIG. 9 and illustrating the manner of lacing together adjacent sections of pleated material.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 through 4 thereof, there is illustrated a needle 10 which includes an elongated shank 12 having a point 14 at one end for piercing a strip or length of material 16, and further having a pair of pleating gauges 18 and 20 longitudinally spaced from the point 14. The shank 12 also includes a crochet hook 22 at its opposite end and a pair of material gauges 24 and 26 located between the pleating gauges 18 and 20 and the hook 22.

The needle 10 may be made of metal, plastic, or other suitable material and the point 14 is sharpened to facilitate piercing of the material 16. The point 14 is used to successively pierce the strip of material 16 from opposite sides as the material 16 is loaded upon the needle 10 in undulating form, the pleating gauges 18 and 20 aitording a means of insuring uniformity of depth of these pleats, as will be seen.

More particularly, the pleating gauge 18 is constituted by a notch 28 having an abrupt shoulder 30 which terminates in a rounded depression extending rearwardly away from the point 14 and rising to form a tapering section 32 which merges with the curvilinear outer surface of the shank 12. The pleating gauge 20 is constituted by an identical notch 34, but the notch 34 is spaced a greater distance from the point 14 than is the notch 28. With this arrangement, the distance between the notch 28 and the point 14 determines the depth of the pleat formed when gauge 18 is used, and the distance between the notch 34 and the point 14 determines the depth of pleat formed when gauge 20 is used.

As best illustrated in FIG. 4, the notch 28 permits the pierced material to pass therepast in a direction away from the point 14, and the shoulder 30 thereof engages and constrains the material 16 from passing therepast in a direction toward the point 14. The notch 34 operates in identical fashion. Thus, the pleating gauges 18 and 20 each serve as a form of anchor or holding means which holds one end of the material 16 while the free end thereof is extended in alignment with the point 14 for piercing.

The pleating gauge 18 is utilized in forming deeper pleats of remnants of mens suits, for example, and gauge 20 is utilized in forming pleats of substantially the same body or bulk with a lighter material, such as strips of discarded nylon stockings. That is, the length of material extending between the shoulder of the notch 34 and the point 14 is greater than the length of material which is measured by the distance between the notch 28 and point 14 so that the thinner material is thus characterized by wider pleats.

After the narrow strip of pleated material 16 is formed on the needle 10, it is slid or moved past the two pleating gauges 18 and 20, whose tapering sections 32 facilitate such movement. The pleats are then slid into the material gauge 26 until it is filled, it being apparent that the weight of the material 16 determines the number of pleats that the material gauge 26 will hold. The light material requires more pleats than the heavier material to fill the gauge 26, but the thickness of each unit of pleats in the material gauge 26 is substantially the same regardless of the weight of material. In this manner different kinds and different weights of material can be used for the same The material gauge 26 is constituted by an elongated notch 40 terminating in inclined or tapered shoulders 38 so that the material 16 can be moved into and out of the notch 40 without difiiculty.

The increase gauge 24 is substantially identical to the material gauge 26, but the elongated notch 36 thereof is longer than the notch 40 so that the increase gauge 24 accommodates an increased number of pleats. This is for the reason that the. rug makermust increase the numher of pleats on the curved part of the rug in order for the finished rug to lie flat. However, the increase gauge 24 is used only by those who Wish to crochet the rug together, as will be seen, and is not used when the rug is to be laced together by the technique or method of the present invention.

Although the gauges 18, 20, 24 and 26 are preferably constituted by notches which are formed in or out of the material of the needle 10, the gauges may also be a raised portion such as would be constituted by a wire 42 or the like, as best viewed in FIG. 5. The wire 42 is secured in position about the periphery of the needle shank 12 at the proper location, as will be apparent, only one wire 42 being used in the case of each of the pleating gauges 18 and 2t), while a pair of such Wires are used in the case of the material gauges 24 and 26. The wires 42 of each pair are spaced apart sufiiciently to provide the length of gauge desired, as will be apparent.

FIG. 6 illustrate another arrangement for providing a gauge structure, the gauge structure in this case being constituted by a raised portion in the form of a shoulder 44 formed integral with the material of the needle shank 12. One shoulder 44 is sufficient to provide a gauge 18 or a gauge 20, while a pair of such shoulders 44 are used to form a material gauge 24 or 26. FIG. 7 illustrates yet another gauge structure in which a painted line 46 or other indicia is formed on the needle shank 12 to indicate the proper depth of pleat, the user merely placing a thumb, as shown at 48, adjacent the line 46 to halt the advance of the material up the needle shank 12 during pleating. Two lines 50 could be used to define the limits of each of the material gauges as well, as will be apparent.

A rug can be formed with the needle 10 by the Well known crocheting method. This is done by inserting the crochet hook 22 into a loop at one end of a length of waxed rug warp (not shown), drawing the loop through a group or unit of pleats, as measured by one or the other of the gauges 24 or 26, and making a chain stitch to hold the pleat unit together. This is repeated until a chain stitch has been made between each unit or group of pleats.

Assuming that an oval rug is to be formed by crocheting, a length of the chain-stitched material is doubled to form the center and then crocheted together. A subsequent length of chain-stitched material is then circumferentially disposed about the first length and crocheted thereto. When going around the curved part of the rug, the thickness of pleats in a pleat unit or group must be greater and the increase gauge 24 is used for this purpose, as previously described. Thus, when coming to a curved part of the rug, each inside group of pleats is crocheted to an outside group of pleats of greater thickness, the greater length or thickness of the outside pleat unit permitting the rug to lie flat.

A much simpler and easier method of fabricating a rug with the needle 10 forms a part of the present invention. According to this method, pleats are formed along the length of the needle 10 as previously described, but groups or units of such pleats are not crocheted together as was the case with the crocheting method. Instead, as best viewed in FIGS. 8 through 10, one extremity of a length of waxed 111g thread or warp 50 is formed into a loop 52 and the crochet hook 22 inserted into the loop. The length of pleated material 16 is then slid like a string of beads off the needle shank 12 onto the warp 50. The material gauges 24 and 26 are not used. Pleating with the needle 10 is continued until a substantial length of pleated material is formed, and a knot is then made in the ends of the warp 50 to keep the pleats from sliding off.

The end portion of the pleated material 16 on the warp 50 forms the center of the pleated rug and is measured ofi according to the size and shape of rug which is desired. The rug illustrated is an oval rug. The subsequent portion of the length of pleated material is then wound upon the center or measured portion of the pleated material, and secured thereto by a lacing method which utilizes a lacer 52. Successive turns of pleated material are secured in the same fashion, as will be seen.

The lacer 52 is elongated, preferably slightly bowed from end to end, and includes a point at one end and an eye at the opposite end. A length of waxed rug warp 54 is secured to the pleated material 16 and looped through the eye of the lacer 52, and the lacer 52 then threaded under the warp 50 to lace together adjacent portions of the spiral of pleated material 16.

More particularly, as best viewed in FIG. 10, the lacer 52 is passed back and forth between the adjacent portions or rows of pleated material 16, like lacing a pair of shoes. The lacer 52 is threaded under and over the warp 50 located between a pair of pleats in one row, similarly threaded about the warp 50 of a pair of pleats in the adjacent row, and then threaded back to the first row, but this time about the warp 50 between the next pair of pleats in that row. The lacing is continued in this manner until the rug size desired has been fabricated.

When going around a curved part of the rug, the warp 54 is threaded under more pleats on the outside row, compared to the pleats on the inside row, so that the rug will be flat, as for example, two pleats on the outside row and a single pleat on the inside row.

The abovedescribed lacing method of fabricating a rug with the needle 10, using a string of single pleats, can also be used with a string of pleat units which are crocheted or chain-stitched together. As previously described, a pleat unit or group of individual pleats is crocheted by inserting the crochet hook 22 into a loop at one end of a length of waxed rug warp. The loop is then drawn through a plurality of pleats, constituting the pleat unit or group, and the unit of pleats is then crocheted or chain-stitched together. This is repeated until a chain stitch has been made between each unit or group of pleats to form a string.

The lacing method may be utilized to form the string of pleat units into a rug by passing the lacer 52 back and forth between adjacent rows of chain-stitched pleat groups. That is, instead of passing it back and forth between each individual pleat, as previously described, the lacer is passed between each unit or group of pleats.

The term pleat unit is used in the claims hereinafter set forth to include both a single pleat and a plurality of pleats secured together in a unit or group.

From the foregoing, it Will be apparent that the present needle permits an inexperienced person to make attractive rugs out of a variety of materials of different thicknesses, the gauges eliminating guesswork on the part of the rug maker as to pleat depth and number of pleats per pleat unit for rug uniformity. In addition, a gauge is also provided to determine the number of extra pleats necessary per pleat unit when rounding the curved portion of a rug, thus insuring that a crocheted rug will lie Various modificatons and changes may be made with regard to the foregoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length of material, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removal of said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and further having a pleating gauge longitudinally spaced from said point a predetermined distance equivalent to half the depth of pleat desired, and thereby being adapted to indicate the proper length of material to be fed onto the shank between piercings of said material by said point.

2. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length of material, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removal of said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and further having a pleating gauge longitudinally spaced from said point a predetermined distance equivalent to half the depth of pleat desired, and adapted to permit pierced material to pass therepast in a direction away from said point and adapted to engage and constrain said material from passing therepast in a direction toward said point. 3. A crochet needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a hook at one end to facilitate removal of material from said shank and onto a rug thread, and a point at the other end for piercing a length of material, said shank further having means longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to allow pierced material to be slid therepast from the point side to the hook side of said means, and further adapted to engage said pierced material and otter noticeable constraint against movement of said material from the hook side to the point side of said means. 4. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length of material, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removal of said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and further having a notch longitudinally spaced from said point and including an abrupt shoulder for constraining material against movement out of said notch and toward said point. 5. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length of material, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removal of said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and further having a wire longitudinally spaced from said point and disposed about said shank for constraining material against movement over said wire and toward said point. 6. A needle for providing pleats of a particular depth for fabricating a rug, said needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a point at one end for piercing a length of material, further having a hook at the other end to facilitate removal of said material from said needle and onto a rug thread, and further having a raised portion longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to engage and constrain said material against movement over said raised portion and toward said point. 7. A crochet needle comprising: an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other end for piercing a length of material, said shank further having pleating gauge means longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to allow pierced material to be slid therepast from the point side to the hook side of said means, and further adapted to engage said pierced material and oifer noticeable constraint against movement of said material from the hook side to the point side of said pleating gauge means, said shank further including material gauge means located between said pleating gauge means and said hook and adapted to accommodate only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material. 8. A crochet needle comprising: an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other end for piercing a length of material, said shank further having pleating gauge means 7i longitudinally spaced-from said point and adapted to allow pierced material to he slid therepast from the point side to the hook side of said means, and further adapted to engage said pierced material and ing .gauge notches and said hook, and each adapted for accommodating only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material and each terminating in inclined shoulders adapted to noticeably constrain pleats of ofier noticeable constraint against moveme t f id material from sliding out of the associated material material from the hook side to the point side of said gauge notch, one Of Said material gauge notches pleating gauge means, said shank further including constituting a larger increase gauge notch adapted material gauge means located betw id pleating to accommodate a larger predetermined thickness of gauge means and said hook and comprising an elonpleats of materialgated notch terminati g in incli d h u1d 10 11. A crochet needle according to claim 7 Wherem said adapted to noticeably constrain pleats of material from sliding out of said notch, said notch being adapted to accommodate only a predetermined thickness of pleats of material.

pleating gauge means comprises:

a notch having an abrupt shoulder for constraining material against movement out of said notch and toward said point.

12. A crochet needle according to claim 7 wherein said pleating gauge means comprises:

a wire disposed about said shank for constraining material against movement over said wire and toward said point.

13. A crochet needle according to claim 7 wherein said pleating gauge means comprises:

a raised portion for constraining said material against movement over said raised portion and toward said 9. A crochet needle comprising:

an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other end for piercing a length of material, said shank further having a pleating gauge notch longitudinally spaced from said point and adapted to permit pierced material to pass therepast toward said hook and including an abrupt shoulder for constraining the pierced material from passing therepast toward said point, said shank further including an elongated material gauge notch located between said F P pleating gauge notch and said hook for accommodating only a predetermined thickness of pleats of mate- References Clted by the Examiner rial, said material gauge notch terminating in in- UNITED STATES PATENTS clined shoulders adapted to noticeably constrain 1,751,796 3/1930 Dennar pleats of material from sliding out of said material 2,279,662 4/1942 Denner X ig i ggfiz p 2,443,358 6/ 1948 Michaelis l12262 i 1 g: an elongated shank having a hook at one end and a point at the other end for piercing a length of material, said shank further having a plurality of pleating FOREIGN PATENTS gauge notches located at different distances from said 2,027 1890 Great Britain.

point and each adapted to permit pierced material 71,775 3/1947 Norway.

to pass therepast toward said hook and each including an abrupt shoulder for constraining the pierced material from passing therepast toward said point, said shank further including a plurality of elongated material gauge notches located between said pleat- ROBERT R. MACKEY, Acting Primary Examiner.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, RUSSELL C. MADER,

Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A NEEDLE FOR PROVIDING PLEATS OF A PARTICULAR DEPTH FOR FABRICATING A RUG, SAID NEEDLE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED SHANK HAVING A POINT AT ONE END FOR PIERCING A LENGTH OF MATERIAL, FURTHER HAVING A HOOK AT THE OTHER END TO FACILITATE REMOVAL OF SAID MATERIAL FROM SAID NEEDLE AND ONTO A RUG THREAD, AND FURTHER HAVING A PLEATING GAUGE LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FROM SAID POINT A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE EQUIVALENT TO HALF THE DEPTH OF PLEAT DESIRED, AND THEREBY BEING ADAPTED TO INDICATE THE PROPER LENGTH OF MATERIAL TO BE FED ONTO THE SHANK BETWEEN PIERCINGS OF SAID MATERIAL BY SAID POINT.

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