Patent ID: 9663885
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: D05C

Claim:
1. A method of operating a tufting machine of the type having front and rear rows of spaced needles disposed transversely across the width of the machine, a pattern yarn feed control for supplying yarns to the needles, a needle bar shifter for shifting for the transverse rows of needles, loopers operable to seize yarns from the needles, a control system for providing pattern information to the pattern yarn feed control mechanism and the needle bar shifter comprising the steps of: threading the front and rear transverse rows of needles with a plurality of different yarns forming a repeat; feeding a backing fabric through the tufting machine and reciprocating the front and rear transverse rows of needles to cause the plurality of yarns to penetrate the backing fabric; seizing the yarns penetrating the backing fabric with loopers; laterally shifting the front and rear transverse rows of needles; controlling the feeding of yarns to the transverse rows of needles in accordance with the pattern information and in accordance with a pattern stitch offset between the front and rear rows of needles to form relatively high tufts of yarns to be displayed and relatively low tufts of yarns to be hidden; wherein the backing fabric is advanced by approximately one-fourth length of the composite gauge of the two rows of needles for each reciprocation of the needles when the needles are threaded with four colors of yarn.