US3500776A

US3500776A - Yarn guide for a tufting needle

Info

Publication number: US3500776A
Application number: US660802A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy T Card
Original assignee: LEWIS CARD AND CO Inc
Current assignee: LEWIS CARD AND CO Inc
Priority date: 1967-08-15
Filing date: 1967-08-15
Publication date: 1970-03-17
Anticipated expiration: 1987-03-17

Description

March 17,1970 R. T. CARD 3,500,776

YARN GUIDE FOR A TUFTING NEEDLE Original Filed Jan. 7, 1965 5a Z8 57 i z 11 20 17- f 14 Z? 30 12 Q l INVENTOR. for 7? (men firroe/vey Patented Mar. 17, 1970 3,500,776 YARN GUIDE FOR A TUFTIN G NEEDLE Roy T. Card, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to Lewis Card & Co., Inc., Chattanooga, Tenn., a corporation of Tennessee Original application Jan. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 423,925. Divided and this application Aug. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 660,802

Int. Cl. Dc 15/00; D05b 87/00; B65h 57/00 U.S. Cl. 11279 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An angular plate member including a mounting flange and a guide flange, the mounting flange being fixed to a front sloping surface of a needle bar, while the guide flange, including an aperture for each needle depending from the needle bar, depends proximately adjacent the upper portion of the needle to guide yarn through the aperture and downwardly along the needle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division of the patent application of Roy T. Card, S.N. 423,925 filed Jan. 7, 1965, for Yarn Guide for a Tufting needle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a yarn guide for a tufting U needle, and more particularly to a device for guiding the yarn substantially along the length of the needle.

Heretofore, the yarn fed to a needle in a tufting machine has been supported in yarn guides whereby the yarn is fed at an angle to the needle and directly to the needle eye. Some of these conventional yarn guides are mounted on a needle bar, but laterally spaced from the needle axis to provide a. diagonal yarn path to the needle eye. Thus, as the needle penetrates the base fabric, the needle pulls the yarn downwardly, but simultaneously laterally toward the needle, so that both the needle and the yarn can pass through the same hole in the base fabric punctured by the needle. If the yarn is taut between the needle eye and the yarn guide, the yarn must be pulled or fed faster than the speed of the needle on its downward stroke. If the yarn is not taut so that there is ample slack to be pulled through the hole in the base fabric with the needle, then such extra slack has a tendency to knot, tangle or obstruct the operation of adjacent needles.

Since yarns are formed of twisted strands or fibers of natural or synthetic materials, it has been found that there is a tendency for the yarn to twist or untwist, depending upon the direction of yarn feed, as the yarn reciprocates with the needle and as the yarn is fed directly to the needle eye at an angle to the needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a yarn guide member of simple construction which may be fixed to the needle bar of a tufting machine to guide the yarn as close to the upper portion of the needle as possible, so that the yarn will be disposed substantially parallel to and against the needle substantially throughout its length.

Another object of this invention is to provide a combination needle bar and yarn guide plate member which will guide the yarn from the yarn supply means to the upper portion of the needle without obstructing the yarn feed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member having a sloping mounting plate and a depending guide plate including a plurality of yarn receiving apertures, the sloping mounting plate being fixed to a sloping portion of the needle bar.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member which is easily adapted for use in duplicate on opposite sides of a needle bar supporting staggered rows of needles fed by yarn from opposite sides of the tufting machine, the yarn guide members guiding the yarns closely adjacent the upper portions of both transverse rows of needles to minimize the tendency of the yarns to twist and untwist.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member that will guide the yarn as close to the upper portion of the needle as possible so that the length of yarn carried through the base fabric by the penetration of the needle will approximate the length of the needle portion penetrating the base fabric.

A further object of this invention is to provide a yarn guide member formed of a single angular plate member which is easily adapted for mounting on new or existing tufting machines.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the lower portion of a narrow gauge tufting machine having two rows of staggered needles and a dual yarn feed, incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of a portion of the apparatus disclosed in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2--2;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the needle bar, needles and yarn guide members of FIG. '1, with the yarns relaxed;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modified form of the invention with the yarn taut.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings in more detail, FIG. 1 discloses the lower portion of the housing 10 of a conventional narrow gauge, multiple needle tufting machine having a plurality of vertically reciprocating push rods 11, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1. The bottom ends of the push rods 11 support an elongated needle bar 12 extending transversely of the machine. The particular needle bar 12 dsiclosed in FIG. 1 supports a plurality of needles in two staggered rows to accommodate a narrow gauge of stitching. The front row is represented by the needles 14, while the rear row is represented by the needles 15.

Front yarns or yarn threads 17 are supplied or fed from any conventional source, such as creels or pattern feeding attachments, not shown, downwardly through a front sta tionary yarn guide member 18, affixed to and depending from the front of the housing 10, and including an aperture 19 for each front yarn 17. Each front yarn 17 then passes rearwardly through a corresponding aperture 20 in a vertically movable yarn guide member 21 fixed to the upper end of a forwardly extending arm 22 on a yarn or thread jerker 23. The yarn jerker 23 is fixed on top of the needle bar 12 by any convenient attaching means, not shown.

Rear yarns 25 are supplied or fed from another yarn source, such as a creel or pattern attachment, located generally in or on the rear of the housing 10, not shown, downwardly through a rear stationary yarn guide member 26. The rear guide member 26 is fixed to and depends from the rear of the housing 10 and also includes an aperture 27 for each yarn 25. Each rear yarn 25 then passes forwardly through a corresponding aperture 28 in a vertically movable yarn guide member 29 fixed to the upper end of a rearwardly extending arm 30 forming a part of the yarn jerker 23.

The base fabric 32 upon which the

needles

14 and 15 operate is fed in the direction of the arrow, by conventional means not disclosed, across the needle plate 33 and beneath the rear presser foot 35 and the front presser foot 34. Front and rear loop hooks 36 and 37 are mounted on hook shaft 38 to reciprocate in synchronism with the

needles

14 and 15 to form loop tufting in the base fabric 32.

The parts of the machine thus far described have been previously disclosed in the application of Roy T. Card, S.N. 644,609, filed June 8, 1967, for Dual Yarn Control Apparatus for a Tufting Machine, and thus, form no part of the present invention.

According to this invention, the needle bar 12 has a bottom surface 40, a front surface 41, and a rear surface 42. The forward portion of the bottom surface 40 slopes upward and forward, intersecting the front surface 41 to form a front mounting surface 43. In like manner, the rear portion of the bottom surface 40 slopes upward and rearward, intersecting the rear surface 42 to form the rear mounting surface 44.

The front yarn guide member 45 comprises an elongated, bent, angular plate having a mounting flange 46 and a guide flange 47 disposed at an obtuse angle. The guide flange 47 is provided with a plurality of front yarn apertures 48 having the same longitudinal spacing as the front needles 14, there being one aperture 48 for each corresponding front needle 14.

The mounting flange 46 is fixed flush against the front mounting surface 43 by any convenient means, such as screws 49, so that the guide flange 47 depends very close to the upper portions of the front needles 14 and generally parallel to the needle axes. In this manner, each front aperture 48 is spaced proximately adjacent the upper porof the correspondent front needle 14 so that a yarn 17 passing through the aperture 48 extends along and against the corresponding front needle 14 substantially throughout its length to the needle eye 50.

Furthermore, each front aperture 48 is spaced sufficiently below the mounting flange 46 that the corresponding front yarn 17 being fed in the path between the corresponding yarn guide aperture 20 and the guide flange aperture 48 will normally not engage any portion of the needle bar 12 or the mounting flange 46 for any reciprocable position of the front needle 14 during the tufting operation.

In a similar manner, an elongated, angular, rear guide plate member 55, having a rear mounting flange 56 and a depending guide flange 57, is mounted on the rear of the needle bar 12. The construction of the rear angular guide plate is identical to the front angular guide plate 45, except the rear mounting plate 56 is disposed upwardly and rearwardly and fixed flush against the rear mounting surface 44 of the needle bar 12. The rear guide flange 57 is provided with a plurality of rear yarn apertures, 58 having the same longitudinal spacing as the rear needles 15, there being a rear aperture 58 for each corresponding rear needle 15.

The rear mounting flange 56 is fixed to the rear mounting surface 44 by any convenient means such as mounting screws 59. The

rear flanges

56 and 57 have substantially the same obtuse angle as the

front flanges

46 and 47. The rear guide flange 57 is disposed approximately adjacent the corresponding rear needle 15 so that the corresponding rear yarn 25 passing through the rear aperture 58 is guided against the rear needle 15 substantially throughout its length from the rear aperture 58 to the needle eye 60.

The path of each rear yarn 25 between the corresponding movable guide member aperture 28 and the rear aperture 58 of the guide flange 57 is such that the rear yarn 25 will normally avoid contact with any portion of the needle bar 12 or the rear mounting flange 56.

Thus, during the tufting operation of the

needles

14 and 15, the portions of the front and

rear yarns

17 and 25 guided between the

apertures

48 and 58 and the

respective needle eyes

50 and 60 will lie close along the

corresponding needles

14 and 15 at any reciprocable position of the

needles

14 and 15, so that the speed of the yarn feed and the amount of yarn required for each tufting stitch will approximate the speed of the needle reciprocation and depth of needle penetration through the base fabric 32. In this manner, the yarn feed will be more regular, less jerky and less strained than in previous yarn feeding and guiding mechanisms for tufting machines. Furthermore, in this particular employment of a pair of

yarn guide members

45 and 55 in a dual yarn control apparatus for a narrow gauge tufting machine, the tendency of one yarn, such as 17, to twist and the opposite yarn 25 to untwist, as the yarns are fed to the needles, is minimized by maintaining the yarns as close as possible to their

corresponding needles

14 and 15.

FIG. 4 discloses a modified form of the invention in connection with a tufting machine having a single transverse row of needles, such as the transverse row of needles 62. Since there is only a single row of needles 62, the needle bar 63 need have only the forward portion of its bottom surface 64 sloping upward and forward to intersect the front surface 65 and form a sloping mounting surface 66. Moreover, only a single angular guide plate 68 is required, of identical construction to either the front or

rear guide plates

45 or 55 of FIGS. 1-3. The angular guide plate 68 has the upper mounting flange 69 and the lower depending guide flange 70 disposed at an obtuse angle. The guide flange 70 includes a plurality of yarn apertures 71 having the same spacing and the same number as the corresponding needles 62. The upper mounting flange 69 may be fixed flush against the mounting surface 66 by screws 72, so that the guide flange 70 depends generally parallel to the needles 62 and closely adjacent the upper portion of the needles 62. In this manner, the yam apertures 71 have the same relative position to the needles 62 and needle bar 63 as the apertures 48 of the front yarn guide member 45 in FIG. 3.

Except for the fact that the angular guide plate 68 of FIG. 4 is designed for a single row of needles 62, the function of the angular plate 68 and the needle bar 63 are identical to the function of the

guide plates

45 and 55 and the needle bar 12 disclosed in FIGS. l3. The yarn 74 is fed from the yarn aperture in a movable guide member on a jerker mechanism similar to the yarn jerker 23 without the rear arm 30 and rear guide members 29. The movable jerker guide employed with the needles bars 63 of FIG. 4 will have the same relative position, so that the yarn 74 will be guided from the aperture in the movable yarn guide member to the aperture 71 in the guide flange 70 without touching any portion of the needle bar 63 or the mounting flange 69 during the tufting operation. Moreover, the yarn 74 is fed through the aperture 71 proximately adjacent the upper portion of the needle 62 so that the yarn 74 will extend along and against the needle 62 substantially throughout its length to the needle eye 75.

As disclosed in FIG. 2, each yarn aperture 48 is staggered transversely with respect to its corresponding needle 14, so that the corresponding yarn 17 will be guided directly along one side of the needle 14 to the needle eye 50. The relative positioning of the

yarn apertures

58 and 71 and their corresponding needles 15 and 62 is the same as the apertures 48 and needles 14.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tufting machine having yarn supply means and a needle, yarn guide means comprising:

(a) a needle bar having a bottom surface and a front surface,

(b) a portion of said bottom surface forming a mounting surface sloping upward and forward and intersecting said forward surface,

(c) said needle depending from said bottom surface adjacent said mounting surface,

(cl) an angular plate member comprising a mounting flange and a guide flange, said flanges forming an obtuse angle,

(e) means fixing said mounting flange flush against said mounting surface so that said guide flange depends proximate to the upper portion of said needle, closer to said needle than said mounting flange, and generally parallel to said needle,

(f) said guide flange having an aperture therethrough for receiving the passage of yarn from said yarn supply means,

(g) said aperture being spaced below said mounting flange sufliciently that a yarn passing therethrough from said supply means normally will not engage said mounting flange during the operation of said tufting machine,

(h) said aperture also being spaced proximate to the upper portion of said needle to guide said yarn downwardly against said needle substantially throughout its length from said aperture to the needle eye.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said yarn supply means comprises a yarn guide member, means fixing said yarn guide member to said needle bar in front of and above said angular plate member so that the yarn path from said guide member to said aperture is spaced in front of said mounting flange.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which the aperture is a circular hole slightly larger than the crosssection of said yarn.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which said needle bar is elongated and extends transversely of said yarn path, said needle comprising a plurality of needles spaced longitudinally of said needle bar, said angular plate member is elongated and also extends transversely of said yarn path, said aperture comprising a plurality of apertures spaced longitudinally in said guide flange, each aperture being spaced in front of and slightly to one side of each corresponding needle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,411,267 11/ 1946 Hamrick 112-79 2,842,079 7/1958 Rice 112-79 2,889,791 6/ 1959 Fedevich 112-79 3,093,100 6/1963 Thompson 112-79 3,203,387 8/1965 Fedevich 112-218 JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.