Patent Grant
6895877
This invention relates to textile machinery and its use, and more particularly to textile manufacturing machines such as tufting machines, warping machines and the like utilized with a creel or other yarn or yarn-type supplies which provide a plurality of yarn strands fed through a single yarn guide such as an eye of a needle in textile machinery.
In textile machines, such as tufting machines, yarn is normally fed to the machinery either directly from a creel or from a warper. A creel is a frame having an array of vertical and horizontal support members including a multiplicity of yarn cone holders. A yarn cone is a spool about which yarn is wound. There are a multiplicity of yarn cone holders provided in horizontally and vertically disposed pairs, one cone holder of the pair mounting the active yarn cone and the other mounting a reserve or magazine cone used after the active cone is emptied. Each cone holder pair normally has its own yarn guide tube through which yarn on each holder of the pair may be fed. While this is the standard arrangement for creels, other creel configurations could also be utilized for tufting machines.
A warper is normally a machine having a large spool, known in the art as a beam, on which yarn is wound and which subsequently supplies the yarn to a tufting machine. These may have more than one yarn wound thereabout and even a plurality of beams may be utilized such as mini-beams as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,069.
In the art of tufting, generally a strand of yarn is fed through each needle. However, there are some occasions when it may be desired to feed a plurality of fine yarn strands to each needle for providing tufted fabrics having unique patterns. Presently, when such need arises, and in order to supply more than one yarn strand to a needle of a tufting machine, the yarn strands are cabled together onto a single yarn cone or to reserve a magazine position as used for mounting an active cone. Cabling involves winding the plural yarns onto a single yarn cone, but yarn manufacturers typically merchandise yarn cones with but a single yarn wound thereon. Thus, cabling requires unwinding the yarn cones from several cones and rewinding the yarns as a group on the multi-yarn cones. Cabling is therefore believed to be inconvenient and time consuming. Magazining, on the other hand, would appear to limit to two the number of yarn strands capable of being used and thus limits the pattern potential.
In an effort to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,392 and 5,613,643, incorporated by reference, are directed to providing multiple yarn strands to a single yarn guide tube. This is believed to be a huge advance over the prior art. Where multiple yarns are provided through the method and apparatus taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,392 and 5,613,643, they often result in a relatively random pattern of yarn color as the multiple yarns can be twisted during the feeding process to the tufting or other textile machine. Normally this is a desirable effect. However, if the manufacturer desires to have more control on the colors displayed on a finished product such as a repeating pattern or design, the current technology provides no solution. Control of which textures and/or colors of multiple yarns passing through a particular needle is predominantly displayed is currently not believed to be possible utilizing any of the currently known methods to the applicant.
Consequently, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a yarn supply such as a creel or plurality of beams which feed a plurality of yarn strands for use by a needle of a tufting machine or other textile machinery either directly or indirectly wherein at least one of the yarn strands may be selectively elevated in the finished product.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a yarn supply which provides a plurality of yarns to a single needle wherein the at least one of the plurality of yarns is provided at a tension which differs from the tension from others of the plurality of yarn strands.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a yarn supply which feeds yarns to a tensioning apparatus such as a servo scroll, scroll device, or other device so that at least one of the plurality of yarn ends can be selectively fed at a tension which differs from the remainder of the others of the plurality of yarn strands.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a yarn supply for feeding yarn to a textile machine such as a tufting machine wherein a plurality of yarn ends are fed to a single needle of the textile machine. Intermediate the yarn supply and the needle is a tension apparatus such as a scroll, servo scroll, or other tensioning device which preferably is configured to selectively and separately apply tension to each of the plurality of strands proceeding to the needle.
Accordingly, depending on the tension of each of the plurality of yarn strands proceeding to a particular needle, a higher or lower loop may then be created. A looper such as a cut/loop looper may be useful in some applications. A tension controller such as a yarn feed attachment or other textile machine accessory can then preferentially dictate the uppermost of the plurality of yarn strands visible from above to thereby allow the creation of a finished product so that patterns and/or designs may be created by the selective tensioning and looping and/or cutting of yarn ends provided from a single needle to produce a desired finished effect.
The particular features and advantages of the invention as well as other objects will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
The bed includes a base plate 16 across which a fabric F is adapted to be fed by a pair of feed rolls 18 and take-off rolls 20. Mounted in the head 14 for vertical reciprocation is one of a plurality of push rods 22 to the lower end of which a needle bar 24 is carried, the needle bar being mounted for lateral or transverse sliding movement relative to the direction of reciprocation of the push rods and transverse to the direction of feed of the fabric F. The needle bar 24 carries a plurality of needles 26 that are adapted to penetrate the fabric F on the bed plate 16 upon reciprocation of the needle bar 24 to project loops of yarn therethrough. End wise reciprocation is imparted to the push rods 22 and thus the needle bar 24 and needles 26 by, for example, a link 28 which is pivotably connected at its lower end to the push rods 22 and at its upper end to an eccentric 30 on a driven rotary mainshaft 32 journally mounted longitudinally in the head 14. Journalled beneath the bed plate 16 is an oscillating hook or looper shaft 34 which is arranged parallel to the mainshaft 32 and which carries a plurality of hooks or loopers 36. Each hook or looper 36 cooperates with a respective needle 26, the particular needle cooperating with a particular hook or looper being determined upon the lateral or transverse position of the needle bar 24. While, to simplify the disclosure, only a single needle 26 and single hook or looper 36 is shown, it is understood that a multiplicity of such elements are provided laterally across the machine, and that the number may be upwards of 1,000 of such elements. Furthermore, the looper 36 may also be a cut/loop looper so that the tension of inserted yarn affects the height of the loop and/or whether the loop is cut as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,364, incorporated by reference, or other such device.
While the applicant has successfully marketed and sold carpet designs manufactured using the creels of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,392 and 5,613,643, a need has arisen to selectively elevate at least one of the plurality of yarn strands relative to the others which proceed through a single needle 26.
The applicant has discovered that it is possible to select the tension of any of the plurality of yarn ends 40,42,44 proceeding to a particular needle 26. This can be done by providing yarn ends 40,42,44 from separate members 48,50,52 of a yarn tensioning apparatus 54 such as from separating controlled clutches on a scroll yarn feed attachment. In this configuration a repeat will be established (i.e., such as with a Velvaloop(™) or Forenzi(™) attachment), but if a CMC(™), Infinity(™) or other individual yarn end tension control type device were selected, then a design rather than a repeating pattern could be created as will be explained in further detail below.
The yarn ends 40,42,44 are provided to the yarn tension control device 54 from a yarn supply 56. The yarn supply 56 could be a creel, warper or other supply.
In accordance with the new method of the applicant, a plurality of yarn ends 40,42,44 illustrated as three yarn ends, but understood to be at least two, are provided to a yarn tension control device 54 having the capability of selectively providing a different tension to at least one of the plurality of yarns 40,42,44. This is done in the preferred embodiment by varying the speed of at least one of members 48,50,52 relative to the others of the members 48,50,52 which are providing yarn ends 40,42,44 to a particular needle 26.
For example, member 48 may provide a high speed yarn end 40 to the needle 26 while members 50,52 provide slower speed yarn ends 42,44. When caught by a looper attachment 36 the result can resemble FIG. 3. The respective tensions of yarn ends 40,42,44 result in loops 58,60,62 with loop 58 created by yarn end 40 and loops 60,62 created by yarn ends 42,44.
When the color or other physical characteristic of yarn end 40 differs from any of yarn ends 42,44, a design and/or repeat can be created. For instance, if yarn end 40 is red, yarn end 42 is blue and yarn end 44 is white, upon tufting a fabric F, red from loop 58 would be predominant on the stitch of
Depending upon the sophistication of the yarn feed attachment or tension device, the elevated yarn ends 40,42,44 and thus color or colors relative to others passing through needle 26 can be selected for a design and/or pattern. While only one loop 58 is illustrated elevated relative to the other loops 60,62, it is possible to elevate more than one loop 58 and/or provide a plurality of elevations with at least one loop 58 being the relatively most elevated compared to others of the plurality, proceeding through needle 26.
Although only one yarn end 40 is illustrated in lower tension than yarn ends 42,44 in
Repeats can be established by providing a member 48 which provides yarn ends 40 to a plurality of needles spaced from one another across the width of a tufting machine 10. Non-repeating designs may be created especially when utilizing yarn feed attachments which individually control yarn tension.
Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to the preferred embodiment of the invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5094178 | Watkins | Mar 1992 | A |
| 5383415 | Padgett, III | Jan 1995 | A |
| 6446566 | Bennett et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
