Patent ID: 8776703

Claim:
A tufting machine for forming patterned tufted articles including different color yarns therein, comprising: at least one needle bar having a series of needles mounted at a spacing based on a gauge of the tufting machine therealong; backing feed rolls for feeding a backing material through a tufting zone of the tufting machine; a pattern yarn feed mechanism for feeding a series of yarns to said needles; at least one needle bar shifter for shifting said at least one needle bar transversely across the tufting zone; a series of gauge parts mounted below the tufting zone in a position to engage said needles of said at least one needle bar as said needles are reciprocated into and out of the backing material to form tufts of yarns in the backing material; and a control system for controlling said yarn feed mechanism in cooperation with said at least one needle bar shifter shifting the at least one needle bar in accordance with a series of transverse pattern shift steps received by the control system, to control feeding of the yarns to said needles as the needles are reciprocated and as the needle bar is shifted in accordance with the transverse pattern shift steps as needed to form selected tufts of yarns of a desired height and to pull non-selected ones of the yarns low or out of the backing material for each pattern step; wherein the control system is linked to and controls the backing feed rolls for feeding the backing material such that the tufts of yarns are formed in the backing material at an effective stitch rate that is determined by increasing a prescribed stitch rate of the patterned tufted article that is based on the gauge of the tufting machine by a selected amount so as to form the patterned articles with the selected tufts of yarns having an appearance of being formed at the desired stitch rate.