Patent Application
20080017091
In order to manufacture a textile sample in accordance with a preferred embodiment hereof, standard carpet yarns are tufted by a tufting machine into a non-woven substrate which can be stored, e.g., rolled and stored in roll form. For example, as illustrated in
The tufting is such that exposed loops of yarn are formed on one side of the backing 14, and the back stitches of yarn on the other side of the backing extend along the opposite/other side of the backing between the exposed loops on the one side. A quantity of yarn on a per unit length of backing is thus known.
The tufting machine 12 is preferably ⅛th gauge, 1/10th gauge, 5/64th gauge, 1/12th gauge, 1/16th gauge, or 1/20th gauge. The tufted product resulted from tufting machine 12 has the following preferred characteristics: the pile height (PH) preferably ranges from about 4/32 to about 20/32 with a nominal preferred height of about 13/32, the stitches per inch (SPI) preferably range from about 5 SPI to about 20 SPI with a nominal preferred SPI of about 15, and yarn deniers preferably range from about 600 denier to about 5000 denier. All conventional yarn systems can be used, e.g., twisted or air entangled, for creating the resulting tufted non-woven backing 14. However, the tufted construction must be 100% loop.
When a request for a textile, e.g., carpet sample, is made and forwarded to a textile manufacturer to make a particular sample textile or carpet product from standard yarns, the appropriate stored tufted backing 14 is selected among the many stored tufted backings having the selected yarn. A selected length of the tufted backing based on the known amount of yarn in the backing for that length and needed for the sample is then cut from the roll. The ends of the yarns in the intermediate tufted substrate 16 are then attached to yarns entering the needle bar 20 of the tufting machine 22. That is, the ends of the yarns of the tufted intermediate substrate 16 are tied, e.g., at 18 in
It will be appreciated that the tufted intermediate substrate 16 must have uncut or closed loops in order for the yarns to be pulled through and from the intermediate substrate by the tufting machine. The intermediate substrate 16 that formerly held the yarns can then be discarded or reused as indicated at 24. Alternatively, after tying the ends of the yarns that had been tufted into the intermediate substrate, the intermediate substrate 16 may be pulled from the yarns prior to or during tufting of those yarns by the tufting machine 22 to form the sample.
The tufting machine 22 is preferably ⅛th gauge, 1/10th gauge, 5/64th gauge, 1/12th gauge, 1/16th gauge, or 1/20th gauge. The sample tufted product 28 resulting from tufting machine 22 has the following preferred characteristics: the pile height (PH) preferably ranges from about 4/32 to about 20/32 with a nominal preferred height of about 13/32, the stitches per inch (SPI) preferably range from about 5 SPI to about 20 SPI with a nominal preferred SPI of about 15, and yarn deniers preferably range from about 600 denier to about 5000 denier. All conventional yarn systems can be used, e.g., twisted or air entangled, for creating the resulting sample tufted product. The resulting sample tufted product construction can be 100% loop, 100% cut loop, or combinations thereof.
The sample 28 is accordingly made from the intermediate substrate 16 without the necessity of passing the yarns through a creel. Moreover, the lengths of yarns needed to form the required sample are readily ascertained, accurate and applied to the tufting machine. In this manner, the length of time to form the sample is substantially reduced, i.e., the time is reduced approximately 85% as compared with the time necessary to produce a sample using a creel. Additionally, typical process waste, i.e., the yarn waste associated with typically processing sample yarns through a creel to form a sample, has also been reduced by about 85% using the foregoing preferred method.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
