System and method for formation of woven style tufted cut/loop fabrics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11214921-B2
Application number	US-202016841783-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2020
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A system and method for forming patterned tufted fabrics such as carpets, including the formation of patterns having cut pile and loop pile tufts therein. The system includes a pair of needle bars each carrying a series of needles to which a plurality of yarns are fed. Cut pile hooks are arranged along a cut pile side of a tufting zone, in a position to engage the needles of one of the needle bars, while loop pile loopers are arranged along the opposite loop pile side of the tufting zone, in a position to engage the needles of the other one of the needle bars. A backing material is fed through the tufting zone, and as loop pile tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material, the needles mounted along a needle bar extending along the cut pile side of the tufting zone can be shifted to an off-gauge position, with the yarn feed to these needles further being controlled, to substantially prevent engagement and pick-up of the yarns carried by such needles by the cut pile hooks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of forming a patterned tufted article, comprising:
moving a backing material through a tufting zone;
reciprocating a first needle bar and a second needle bar, each carrying a series of spaced needles, into and out of the backing material;
feeding a series of yarns to the needles of the first and second needle bars as the needle bars are reciprocated to deliver the yarns into the backing material;
as the needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material, engaging the needles with a series of gauge parts and forming tufts of yarns in the backing material;
shifting at least one needle bar of the first and second needle bars by an amount sufficient to move the needles carried thereby to an off-gauge position sufficient to be substantially aligned with gaps between corresponding ones of the gauge parts so as to substantially avoid pick-up of yarns carried by the needles of the at least one needle bar shifted to the off-gauge position; and
controlling the feeding of yarns to the needles of the at least one needle bar shifted to the off-gauge position such that the yarns carried thereby are substantially maintained with the needles of the at least one needle bar as the needles of the at least one needle bar are reciprocated into and out of the backing material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the feeding of the yarns to the at least one needle bar comprises substantially minimizing the feeding of the yarns to the needles of the at least one needle bar when the needles of the at least one needle bar are shifted to their off-gauge position such that the yarns are substantially retracted from the backing with the reciprocation of the needles out of the backing.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein shifting the at least one needle bar comprises shifting the needle bar by approximately one-half of a gauge spacing between the gauge parts.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein engaging the needles with a series of gauge parts comprises engaging the needles of the first needle bar with a series of loop pile loopers to form loop pile tufts in the backing material and engaging the needles of the second needle bar with a series of cut pile hooks to form cut pile tufts in the backing material.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein shifting at least one needle bar to an off-gauge position comprises shifting the second needle bar to a position wherein at least a portion of the needles carried thereby are substantially prevented from being engaged by the cut pile hooks.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein controlling the feeding of the yarns to the needles of the at least one needle bar comprises substantially minimizing the feeding of the yarns to the needles of the second needle bar when the second needle bar is shifted to its off-gauge position such that the yarns fed to the needles of the second needle bar are substantially removed from the backing material and enabled to float on a rear side of the backing material.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein shifting at least one needle bar to an off-gauge position comprising shifting the first needle bar to a position wherein at least a portion of the needles carried by the first needle bar are moved substantially out of alignment with the loop pile loopers to avoid engagement thereby.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling the feeding of the yarns to the needles of another needle bar of the first and second needle bars to selectively remove loops of yarns from the backing material.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising arranging the needles of the at least one needle bar at a first gauge spacing, and arranging the gauge parts engaging the needles of the at least one needle bar at a second, different gauge spacing.

10. A tufting machine, comprising:
a first needle bar carrying a first series of needles, and a second needle bar spaced from the first needle bar and carrying a second series of needles;
backing feed rolls feeding a backing material along a path of travel though the tufting machine, wherein the needles of the first and second needle bars are reciprocated into and out of the backing material as the backing material passes therebeneath;
at least one shifter connected to at least one of the first and second needle bars and configured to shifting the at least one of the first and second needle bars transversely with respect to the backing material passing therebeneath;
first and second yarn feed mechanisms mounted on opposite sides of the tufting machine, the yarn feed mechanisms feeding yarns to selected ones the needles of the first and second series of needles carried by the first and second needle bars; and
a series of gauge parts mounted below the backing material and reciprocated into engagement with the first and second series of needles of the first and second needle bars when the first and second series of needles are reciprocated into the backing material for pick-up of yarns carried by the needles;
wherein the gauge parts are spaced apart so as to define a series of gaps therebetween, and wherein the shifter is operable to shift the at least one of the first and second needle bars by a distance sufficient to shift the first or second series of needles carried thereby to an off-gauge position whereby the shifted first or second series of needles are substantially aligned with the gaps defined between associated ones of the gauge parts located below the shifted first or second series of needles sufficient to substantially avoid engagement and pick-up of the yarns from the shifted first or second series of needles by the associated ones of the gauge parts.

11. The tufting machine of claim 10 , wherein the gauge parts comprise a plurality of cut pile hooks located along a downstream side of the tufting zone and adapted to engage the second series of needles carried by the second needle bar to form cut pile tufts in the backing material, and a plurality of loop pile loopers located along an upstream side of the tufting zone and adapted to engage the first series of needles carried by the first needle bar to form loop pile tufts in the backing material.

12. The tufting machine of claim 11 , wherein the first and second series of needles are arranged along the first and second needle bars at a first gauge spacing and the cut pile hooks are spaced at a second gauge spacing that is a multiple of the first gauge spacing.

13. The tufting machine of claim 12 , wherein the second gauge spacing between the cut pile hooks is approximately twice the first gauge spacing between the second series of needles of the second needle bar.

14. The tufting machine of claim 12 , wherein the second spacing between the gauge parts is at least 1.5 times the first spacing between the first and second series of needles of the first and second needle bars, and the gauge parts comprise a series of cut pile hooks arranged below the needles of the second needle bar, and a series of loop pile loopers arranged below the needles of the first needle bar.

15. A tufted carpet having cut and loop pile tufts formed according to the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Card Monroe Corp

Inventors

• Hall Wilton

Classifications

• D06N7/0065 Primary

  characterised by the pile · CPC title

• Y10T428/23957

  Particular shape or structure of pile · CPC title

• D05C15/12

  in more than one row · CPC title

• D05C17/02

  Tufted products · CPC title

• D05C15/30

  by moving the tufting tools laterally · CPC title