PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RUGS, CARPETS AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS TEXTILE PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY THIS PROCESS

Abstract: A process for the manufacture of rugs and carpets, or similar products, characterized by the fact that a first application of threads is inserted by a bank of needles over a prewoven base then over which a second application of threads is made in a different direction from the first, forming a double directional tufted structure; the process can produce carpets in any size and shape without joints, and results in self-supporting threads. It also manufactures other textile products through the double and triple processes.

Description: Title: "PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RUGS, CARPETS AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS TEXTILE PRODUCTS MANU¬ FACTURED BY THIS PROCESS". The present invention refers to a process for the manufacture of rugs- carpets and similar products to be used mainly as floor coverings. Such products have their origin in man's manual dexterity and have, therefore, been known since the remotest times. The most ancient machines used manual labor. Over the ages constant and gradual development has led to the machines and processes presently known and employed for the manufacture of rugs. Such products are made of felt, tapestry, shuttle- woven material, or of nappy fabric of natural or synthetic fibres. The methods well-known at present for the industrial manufacture of rugs, carpets and similar products can be clas¬ sified along with those used for the manufacture of velvet, Wilton, Ax inster, Chenille, tufted and knitten carpets. Velvet: The velvet loom laces strips of threads abraded on their upper surface in order to form the pile of the carpet. The strips are inserted through the loom in groups of fifteen or more, with slipknots being formed on one, two or three strips. When each row of knotted pile is completed, the wire strip at the front part is removed or partly withdrawn, and reinserted in the back part of the next row of slipknots. If the wire has a sharpened edge that can cut the knot in the pile, it will form a tuft or a cut pile velvet. If the wire is smooth and the knot is not cut, there will be formed an uncut tuft, or knotted and tufted velvet. Most carpet known as laced carpet is created by using this method. Usually, two or three loom cylinders of warped threads are used. One cylinder feeds the basic warp yarn that binds the carpet to¬ gether; another loom cylinder supplies the pile thread and the third loom cylinder may be used for the padding thread. The velvet loom is mostly used for carpets of strong colors, but it can be used to weave carpets of any color. One method consists of forming the pile thread by twisting one or more theads of different colors. These are known as "moresque" threads and they produce the effect of a blending of colors. Another method uses two sets of leng¬ thened threads instead of one. This supplies an additional division through which a thread of a second color may be woven. Wilton: The Wilton loom works on the same basic principle as the velvet loom but it has greater versatility owing to its use of the Jacguard mechanism. More than six different colors can be used and the presence of each on the surface of the carpet can be controlled to create the desi- red design. When a given color is not to appear on the suf- face, the threads of that color are laced into the base of the carpet. In addition to varying the color patterns, the Jacquard mechanism can regulate the thickness of the texture. The height of the pile can be adjusted to form knots and other patterns, allowing for cut and uncut surfaces. The Jacquard mechanism is controlled by means of perforated ropes or paper ribbons that determine which threads are to be moved in position to the wires hung in loops. Another form of the Wilton weave is the double-face Wilton in which two fabrics are woven simultaneously, with the pile thread passed behind and in front of the fabric. A knife, moving the pile up to and through the front part of the loom, cuts the.pile threads between the two fabrics, producing two separate carpets. Axminster: Axminster carpets can be woven on three different looms; the Axminster loom with shuttle; the Axmin¬ ster loom with pincers; or - a combination of the first two - the Axminster loom with shuttle-pincers. The Axminster loom with shuttle, unlike the velvet and Wilton looms, forms its pile threads by means of small shuttles. The Axminster is the only weaving method that can produce a different coloration for each individual tuft in a repeated pattern, and it can creat designs of any complexity. However, since this method does not lend itself to the production of a series of carpets with the same design, the preparation of the pre-weave for complex designs is tiresome and time-consuming. Chenille: Chenille carpets are produced with two looms. The surface of the thread is woven into the interior of a cover or blanket in one loom and then it is cut into long strips of lining. The second loom weaves the back of the carpet and at the same time forms an opening or shed through which the pre-woven strips are inserted, brushed in¬ to place and secured. Tufted carpets: The tufting process differs from other basic methods of carpet production both because it uses a needle instead of a weave action to form the pile of the carpet and because it uses a pre-woven base for the basic con¬ struction. When the base moves through the tuft application machine, a bank of needles as wide as the carpet inserts in- dividual tufts of pile thread into the base. The needle mech¬ anism inserts the tufts into the base, and later latex is ap--. plied to the surface of the base in order to hold the tufts in place. The thread can be supplied to the needles through tubes that lead out from cones containing sets of threads, arranged in a large shelf (cage) or basket located behind the machine. Each needle is fed by an individual cone, which is connected to a "magazine" or "feeder" roll. Subsequently, electronic and mechanical controles were developed that make it possible to produce carpets of different fibre length and texture designs. In this process, since the bank of needles is of a fixed and predetermined width, and since, therefore, the car¬ pets are produced with that width, there is the great disad¬ vantage that when it is necessary to cover large or irregu- larly shaped areas, which is what normally happens in pract¬ ice, several sections of the carpet must be recut and/or joined in order to make a single carpet with the desired di¬ mension. Many large scraps are left over, which increases the Lυ LO t _ t_ H H Ui O Ol o cn O _π tr*- 3 rt tr P ft P rt tr b*- li Pi P TJ TJ b-* H- Ω P rt b*- o 3 o Ml rt p- li Φ P Pi 01 H- 01 3 P P. Φ H- 3 P Pi H- li Φ Ω rt H- o 3 different from those of said doubt tufting, thus forming a triple directional tufted structure. An additional embodiment of the invention is that the rows of stitches forming the said double directional tuf- ting are perpendicular to each other and the directions of the rows of stitches which form the said triple directional tuf¬ ting is diagonal in relation thereto. Preferably the loops of the stitches overlap each other over a single point. The process proposed by the invention results in a tufted textile with a completely new construction; it does not present the disadvantages of the similar, more traditional pro¬ ducts, since the pile threads are self-supporting, the finished product is highly resistant to compaction, setting a new stan¬ dard of quality for rugs and carpets. The textile product, resulting from the process of a double directional tufting on a pre-woven base, excels be¬ cause it presents a structure where the first set of rows form¬ ed by slip-knot of threads applied over a pre-woven base and cut in the form of a U, whose central parts are placed on one side of the base, while their legs cross the base and extend out from the other side; the said threads in the form of a U are placed on a single plane, in order that the second set of rows of similar threads will have their central parts over¬ lapping the central parts of the threads of the first set of rows, but in a different direction from those of the first rows. In another variation of the invention, the tufted textile product results from a triple directional tufting pro¬ cess, in which a third directional tufting is made over a dou- ble directional tufting, presenting a structure with a third set of rows of threads, having their central parts overlapping the central parts of the threads of the second set of rows, but in a different direction from both the first and second rows. T e process will be explained in more detail by reference to two examples of the limitless possibilities of the invention, illustrated by the attached. drawings, where Figure 1 is an illustration of the principle behind the invention's double directional tufting process, and Figure 2 is an illustration of the principle be¬ hind the invention's triple directional tufting process. Figure 1 represents aspects of the double direct- ional tufting. The double tufting is made over a pre-woven base 1. The pre-woven base 1 is placed in a loom (not shown in the drawing) which presents a bank of needles that inserts the threads 2 into base 1, in order to form a row of stitches running the length of the carpet. After finishing the tufting in one direction, the process is repeated in another direction over the base 1, forming a double directional tufting. In said double directional tufting the. directions between the first tufting and the second are different. The structure of the tufting thus created yields a structure of threads 2 that ex- eels, not only for rows of parallel threads 2, but also for rows of threads 2 inserted in an arrangement where there is a central thread in each square or rectangular cell with four more threads applied at each vertex. This yields a denser texture, in which, as mentioned above, the threads are self- supporting. The triple tufting process, which can also be ex¬ tended to more than three tuftings, as can be seen in Figure 2, consists of repeated applications of threads 2 over a pro¬ duce of the double tufting process. Thus, another applica- tion of threads is made over the double tufting, but in a difference direction than that of the double tufting. The cell of structure of the product thus tufted is extremely den¬ se. The self-supporting effect is even greater than in the double tufting product. Latex is applied to the back of the carpet in or¬ der to hold the pile 2 firm. Other finishing πiaterial can eventually be applied over the latex layer, the product being then finished. This process of double, triple or multiple direct¬ ional tufting of the invention allows infinite combinations, because the threads or piles 2 can be tufted in any direction, stripes can intersect in various directions, allowing for the formation of single- or multi-colored decorative patterns. It should be understood that the invention is appli¬ cable to all kinds of tufted materials, producing a great va¬ riety of colors and patterns. Furthermore, the process allows for innumerable modifications in the forms of operation here described, so long as such modifications do not depart from the invention's basic features.


Inventors: GIRALDI JOAO MIGUEL, GIRALDI, JOAO, MIGUEL
Applicants: IND E COMERCIO TEXTIL AVANTI L, AVANTI TEXTIL IND COM LTDA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: D05C15
IPC codes: D05C17