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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9909254-B2
Application number	US-201414560505-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 4, 2014
Priority date	Dec 5, 2013
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

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 pair of needle bars, 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 by an amount sufficient to move the needles carried thereby to an off-gauge position out of alignment with corresponding ones of the gauge parts to prevent pick-up of yarns carried by the needles of the at least one needle bar; and
controlling the feeding of yarns to the needles of the at least one needle bar such that the yas carried thereby are selectively pulled low or are retracted from the backing material as the needles are reciprocated 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 stopping 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.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein shifting 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 a first one of the needle bars with a series of loop pile loopers to form loop pile tufts in the backing material and engaging the needles of a second one of the needle bars 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 one of the needle bars to a position wherein at least a portion of the needles carried thereby are preventing the needles of the second one of the needle bars 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 in its off-gauge position such that the yarns fed to the needles of the second needle bar are enabled to float on a rear side of the backing material when the loop pile tufts are to be shown in 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 one of the needle bars to a position wherein at least a portion of the needles carried by the first one of the needle bars are prevented from being engaged by the loop pile loopers.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising controlling the feeding of the yarns to the needles of the first needle bar to selectively pull low or remove loop pile tufts of yarns from the backing material when the cut pile tufts are to be shown in 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 tufted carpet having cut and loop pile tufts formed according to the method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Card Monroe Corp

Inventors

• Hall Wilton

Classifications

• D05C17/02

  Tufted products · CPC title

• D05C15/12

  in more than one row · CPC title

• Y10T428/23957

  Particular shape or structure of pile · CPC title

• D05C15/18

  Thread feeding or tensioning arrangements · CPC title

• D05C15/30

  by moving the tufting tools laterally · CPC title