Patent GB-1167751-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to Methods of and Machines for Manufacturing Pile Fabrics
Inventor: TOLLEY RONALD FREDERICK
IPC: D05C15/10
Filed: 1966-03-04
Abstract: 1,167,751. Tufting machines. BOND WORTH Ltd. 26 April, 1967 [4 March, 1966], No. 9471/66. Heading D1G. A patterned tufted fabric is made by advancing in turn to a tufting station a succession of yarn carriers the number of which is sufficient to form a repeat of the pattern and each of which holds a supply of yarn arranged in a laterally-extending row of respective selected colours, inserting into a backing fabric tuft lengths of yarn at the tufting station by means of a row of needles thereat, retaining said tuft lengths during withdrawal of the needles, and severing said tuft lengths from the supply preparatory to moving the carrier concerned out of the tufting station. As shown, a frame 10 is formed with a guideway 11 slidably receiving a hollow beam 13 adapted for vertical reciprocation by means of a connecting rod 36b driven by an eccentric 36 on a shaft 36a. Beam 13 carries a work-supporting plate 32 having at its free edge a series of spaced-apart fingers 38 formed with respective depending webs 47. A plate 39, arranged for lateral reciprocation under plate 32, carries a series of vertical webs 40 each of which engages a pair of adjacent webs 47 successively at each reciprocation of plate 39. Backing fabric 19 form a supply roll 25 is drawn over the upper surface of frame 10 by feed rollers 20, 21. Above frame 10 and at each end thereof is a fixed channel 33 affording a guide for members 29 rigid with the adjacent ends of respective support members 27a. Each of the latter supports a row of needles 30, and journals a brakecontrolled spool 28 carrying side-by-side windings of individual yarns of respective colours, the free ends of which yarns are threaded through respective needles 30. The carriers 27a are fixed to a conveyor chain 34 driven by sprockets 35 for positioning the carriers in succession at a tufting station 31, where they are respectively held by a brake 48. In operation, the needles at the tufting station pass through the fabric 19 and the spaces 38a between the fingers 38 when beam 13 ascends. On descent of the beam the webs 40 move laterally to clamp the free ends 41 of the yarns against the adjacent webs 47. The fabric 19 is then advanced, and, on the next ascent of beam 13, loops of yarn are formed under fabric 19, said loops being held, as beam 13 descends, 'by oscillating loopers 15 mounted within beam 13. The held loops are then severed on the loopers by oscillating knives 16, and the spool 28 is braked to withdraw the newly-formed free ends of the yarn. Fabric 19 is then again advanced, the next carrier 27a is moved to the tufting station, and the tuft-forming cycle is repeated. It is stated that, alternatively, the needles and associated carriers may be raised and lowered, so that each carrier may be associated with a needle bar reciprocated relatively thereto, or that a single row of stationary needles may be provided at the tufting station for rethreading by the yarns from each successive carrier. As a further alternative, the free ends of the yarn may be retained above the backing fabric when the needles pass therethrough, the yarn being severed above the backing fabric to enable uncut tuft loops to be produced.