US2624390A - Method and apparatus for making pile fabrics - Google Patents

Description

Jan- 6, 1 53 F. P. GROAT 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 50, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 si Q 3 3 INVENTOR. 5 fl' anga's 1? Great i 53 -F. P. GROAT 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING FILE FABRICS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 50, 1950 m M H u m w w W @p w w w uw INVENTOR. F7-angas 1? Great BY Z fiTTORNEY.

Jan. 6, 1953 F. P. GRoAT v 2,624,390

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 50, 1950 3 Sheetg-Sheet 3 'lllllllllllflllllllllill INV ri-an zjs EGroa Patented Jan. 6, 1953 mast IVIETHQD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PILE FABRICS Francis P. Groat, Bloomsburg, Pa, assignor to The Magee Carpet Company, Eloomsburg, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application .l'anuary 30, 1950, Serial No. 141.292

22 Glairns. 1

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making pile fabrics and is particularly adapted for use in making carpets and rugs.

i-ieretoiore, machines have been devised for making carpets and rugs bydepressing portions of pile warps between spaced members to form loops and then securing the loops thus formed to a backing by an adhesive or cement coating, the loops being cut to produce pile tufts.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently and economically producing tuft pile fabrics by extending a series of pile warps over a series of U-shape wires, depressing the portions of the pile warps between, the wires to embed them in the adhesive coating of a fabric backins material extending beneath the wires and then moving cutters longitudinally of the U-shape wires to cut the portions of the pile warps stretched over the wires.

A further object of the invention resides in a method which comprises drawing a plurality of pile yarns over a series of spaced U-shape members disposed above an adhesive coated backing material, successively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the U-shape members to embed them in the adhesive coating of the. backing material and then cutting the portions of the pile yarns stretchedacross the U-shape members while the depressed portions of the pile yarns are held embedded in the coating of the back- A further object of the invention resides in providing apparatus for carrying out the method which includes a table supporting the adhesive coated backing material, a grid of spaced U shape members disposed above the table-for supporting a series of pile yarns, the table and grid being mounted for vertical movement towards and from each other, a series of blades mounted above the grid and independently movable between the U-shape members for depressing portions of the pile yarns into the adhesive coating of the backing, mechanism for successively depressing the blades and cutters movable longitudinally in the channel of the U-shape members for cutting the portions of the pile yarns stretched across the U-shape members.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part or" this specification and in which; like numerals are employed. to designate like: parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing generally the position of the backing material and pile yarns at the start of the process,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the manner of depressing portions of the pile yarns into contact with the backing,

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the pile yarns in position for cutting the portions stretched over the U-sha-pe members,

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line l-d of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the out pile yarns,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the position of the blades, pile wires and table after the pile yarns have been secured to the backing and out to form tufts,

Fig. 7 is alongitudinal sectional View through one of the pile wires with the cutter in cutting position,

Fig. 8 is an end elevation view of the blade depressing mechanism,

Fig. 9 is a front elevation view of the blade depressing mechanism,

Fig. 10 is a front elevation view of the apparatus showing the mechanism for elevating and lowering the grid and table, and,

Fig. 11 is an end view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration a preferred embodiment of. the invention is shown, the numeral 5 denotes a roll of backing material which is trained around rolls ii and I, over an adhesive applying roll 8 mounted in a container 9 holding a supply of rubber latex or other suitable adhesive. After the adhesive coating is applied to the backing material, the material is trained around a roll Iii and extends horizontally across a plate or table II which is mounted for vertical movement. A series of U-shape pile wires [2 are disposed above table being mounted in a vertical movable frame i3. A series of pile warps or yarns l i, wound on abeam [5, are drawn across the. series of pile wires l2 and. above the yarns at points intermediate the wires. are mounted a series of independently movable blades It. Table ll with the backing material thereon and the pile wires l2 are moved towards each other to bring the wires into closev proximity to the. coating on. the backing material. Ifhe. blades It, arethen successively lowered, as shown in Fig. 2, which depresses portions of the pile yarns hi between the pile wires l2 so they are embedded in the adhesive coating of the backing. After the series of blades have been lowered, as shown in Fig. 3 a

clamp I1 is applied to the series of yarns at the forward end of the table to hold them in position while the yarns stretched across the pile wires are cut by cutters H3 movable longitudinally of the U-shape wires. When the yarns have been cut the blades [6 are raised upwardly, as shown in Fig. 5 and then the frame l3, supporting the wires, and table I l are moved apart, as shown in Fig. 6, so that the backing material and tufts l9 formed by cutting the yarns is free to be moved forward and bring the next section of the backing material beneath the wires.

The mechanism for successively depressing the blades I6 is shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and includes a pair of parallel shafts 2i) and 2! mounted in vertical spaced relation on frame l3 above blades 16. The drive shaft has a gear Wheel 22 at one end in mesh with a gear wheel 23 on the end of shaft 2|. Gear 23 is releasably connected to shaft 2! by a clutch pin 24 carried by a collar 25 fixed on the shaft 2|. Movable along the shafts 20 and 2| is a cam housing 26 having parallel walls 21 connected in spaced relation by plates 28. The shafts extend through openings 29 and 39 in the walls 21, and the opening 351 has threaded engagement with the screw thread 3| of shaft 2i! whereby rotation of the shaft 20 moves the cam housing longitudinally along the shafts. A gear Wheel 32 disposed between the walls 2? is keyed on the shaft 2| in the keyway 33, and this gear is in mesh with gear wheel 34 loosely journaled on shaft 20 and attached to the face of gear 34 is an eccentrically mounted cam 35 which upon rotation of gear 34 engages the upper edge of a blade l6 and depresses the same. Rotation of drive shaft 20 moves the cam housing 26 longitudinally of the shafts 20 and 2| thus bringing the cam 35 into successive engagement with each of the blades it which are depressed by action of the cam. The blades l6 are normally held in raised position by coil springs 36 at each end thereof and to hold the blades in depressed position spring fingers 31 are provided for engagement with the upper edges of the blades. lhe fingers 31 depend from a rotatable bar 38 mounted on the front and rear of frame 13 and at each end of the bar are laterally extending arms 39 having weights 40 suspended therefrom. Under action of the weights the fingers are held against the ends of blades l6 and spring into engagement with the upper edge when the blades are depressed. After all the blades are depressed, the rotation of shaft 20 is reversed to return the cam housing 26 to its starting position. To release the blades, the fingers 3'! are swung from engagement with the blades by rotating the bar 38, allowing springs 36 to raise the blades.

The yarn cutting mechanism is shown in Figs. 4 and 7 and includes a series of cables 41 attached at opposite ends to drums 42 and 43 mounted to the front and rear of the machine. There is one cable for each of the U-shape wires H which extend longitudinally of the wires in the channel thereof. Attached to each cable is a cutting blade l8 having an inclined cutting edge 65 adapted to engage and sever the yarns stretched across the wires [2 when the cutting blades are moved longitudinally of wires !2 by winding the cables 4| on drum 43. After severing all the yarns stretched across the wires 12, the cutting blades are returned to a starting position by winding the cables 4! on drum 42 which may be actuated by a weight 46 suspended by a cable at from pulley 48 attached to drum 42.

frame l3 and table I l is shown in Figs. 10 and 11 and includes pairs of cam wheels 49 eccentrically mounted on shafts 50 beneath each end of the frame 13. Similar cam wheels 5i are mounted on shafts 52 beneath the ends of table H and by suitable chain gearing 53 between the shafts EU and 52 and the shafts at opposite ends of the machine, the cam wheels 45 are operated to lower frame I3 while cam wheels 5% are raising table I I and vice versa.

From the foregoing it will be seen that with the backing material 5 extending across the table II and the pile yarns l4 extending across the wires [2, as shown in Fig. 1, the wires and table are moved vertically towards each other until the wires are in close proximity to the coating of the backing material, as shown in Fig. 2. With the wires and table in the position shown in Fig. 2, the blade depressing mechanism comes into operation and causes the blades It to be successively depressed. As the blades move downwardly between the wires, portions of the yarns M are depressed and embedded in the adhesive coating of the backing material. After all the blades have been depressed, as shown in Fig. 3, the clamp I1 is applied to the yarns prior to the cutting operation. The blades it are held in their depressed position by the spring fingers 37 during the cutting of the yarns. As the cables 41 are wound on the drum 43 the cutters l8 move longitudinally of the channels of wires f2 and the cutting edges 45 sever the portions of the yarns bridging the channel of the wires, as shown in Fig. 5. After the cutting operation the blades l6 are released and the wires and table are moved apart, as shown in Fig. 6, thus completing the formation of the pile tufts 19 which are secured to the backing by the adhesive coating; The

fabric is then moved forward to bring the next all The mechanism for raising and lowering the section of the backing beneath the wires and the yarns [4 held by the clamp I! are pulled across the wires and the process is repeated to complete the next tufted section of the fabric.

It is to be understood suitable mechanism may be provided for driving the blade depressing mechanism, cutters and the raising and lowering mechanism for the grid and table to carry out the steps of the process in proper sequence.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backing material with adhesive, progressively depressing portions of pile yarns over loop forming wires and embedding the depressed portions in the coating of the backing material and cutting the portions of the pile yarns stretched over the loop forming wires while retaining the depressed portions of the yarns embedded in the coating.

2. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backing material with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns longitudinally of and above the backing material, progressively depressing portions of said yarns in spaced relation and embedding the depressed portions in the coating of the backing material and cutting the portions of the pile yarns between the depressed portions while holding thedepressed portions embedded in the coating.

3. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backing material with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns longitudinally of and above the backing material, progressively depressing portions of said yarns at spaced intervals into contact with the coating of the backing 4. Apparatus for the production of: pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the wires of the grid into contact with the adhesive backing, and means for cutting the portions of the pileyarns stretched over the U- shape wires.

5. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U -shape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, means progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backing and means for cutting the portions of the pile yarns stretched over the wires.

6. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-shaped wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backing and stretching the intermediate portions of the yarns over the wires, and means movable longitudinally of the wires for cutting the intermediate portions of the pile yarns.

7. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the wires of said grid into contact with the adhesive backing and cutters movable in th channel of the U-sh-ape wires for cuttingthe portions of the pile yarns extending over the wires.

8. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-shape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, blades mounted above said grid movable to progressively depress portions of the pile yarns between the wires into contact with the adhesive backing, means for holding said blades depressed, and means for cutting the portions of the pile yarns extending over the Wires.

9. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-sha'pe Wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, a series of blades above said grid for depressing portions of the pile yarns between said wires into contact with said adhesive backing, means for progressively depressing said blades, and means for cutting the portions of pile yarns extending over the wires of the grid.

10. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid element having a series of spaced U-sha'pe wires for supporting a series of pile yarn-s, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, a series of blades above said grid for depressing portions of the pile yarns between said wires into contact with said adhesive backing, means for progressively depressing said blades, means releasably holding said blades deposition to form loops and cut pressed dmee q c i ns. th o tisn Qi h p e ams rten i g aver ther s fsa s ide 11. Apparatus for the production ofpile fabrics comprising a gridhavi-ng -a seriesof spaced U- shape wires for supporting aseries of pile; yarns, means for supporting an; adhesive backing ben ath said grid, a series of'blades above said grid for depressing portions of the pileyarns between said wires into contact with said adhesive backing, means for progressively depressing said blades, and cutters movable longitudinally in the U-sh-ape wires for; cutting the portions of the pile yarns extending over the wires 12. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a gridhaving aseries of spaced; U-

shape wires forsupp o-rting ascriesof pile yarns,

backing to form loop portions over the wires,and

means for cutting the loop portions while on the wires.

14. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid having a series of U-sh-ape wires for supporting a series of pile yarns, a table beneath said grid for supporting an adhesive backing, means for moving said grid and table to and from each other, a series of blades above said grid intermediate the wires, means for progressively depressing said blades to depress portions of the pile yarns into contact with adhesive backing, releasable means for holding said blades depressed, cutters movable longitudinally in the: U-shape wires, and means for moving said outters to cut the portions of the pile yarns extending over the wires.

15. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backing material with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns above and longitudinally of the coated backing, progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns over loop forming wires and embedding the depressed portions in the coating of the backing, and moving cutters longitudinally of the loop forming wires to sever the loops of the pile yarns formed thereon.

16. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising coating a backing material with adhesive, extending a series of pile yarns above and longitudinally of the coated backing, progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns and embedding the depressed portions in the coating of the backing, supporting the portions of the pile yarns intermediate the depressed portions in a raised horizontal plane and severing the raised portions of the pile yarns.

17. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising extending a series of pile yarns above an adhesively coated backing material, progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns in spaced relation into adhering contact with the adhesive coating of the backing material, supporting the portions of the pile yarns intermediate the depressed portions in a taut horizontal plane, and

severing the supported portions of the pile yarns.

18. A process for producing a pile fabric comprising extending a series of pile yarns above an adhesively coated backing material, progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns at spaced intervals into adhering contact with the adhesive coating of the backing material while maintaining the intermediate portions in a raised horizontal plane and then severing the intermediate portions.

19. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a grid having a serie of spaced loop forming members for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for supporting an adhesive backing beneath said grid, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns between the loop forming members into adhering contact with the adhesive backing and stretching the intermediate portions of the pile yarns in spanning relation to the loop forming members beneath the same, and means for cutting the intermediate portions of the pile yarns.

20. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a support for an adhesive backing, a series of spaced loop forming wires above said support for supporting a series of pile yarns, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns into adhering contact with the adhesive backing and stretching the intermediate portions of the pile yarns in spanning relation to the loop forming wires supporting the same, and means for cutting the stretched portions of the pile yarns.

21. Apparatus for the production of pile fab rics comprising a support for an adhesive backing, spaced members for supporting a series of pile yarns above the adhesive backing in a horizontal plane, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns into contact with the adhesive backing with the portions of the pile yarns between the depressed portions being stretched across the supporting members, and means for cutting the stretched portions of the pile yarns.

22. Apparatus for the production of pile fabrics comprising a support for an adhesive backing, spaced members for supporting a series of pile yarns above the adhesive backing, means for progressively depressing portions of the pile yarns into contact with the adhesive backing and stretching the'intermediate portions of the yarns in spanning relation to the members supporting the same and cutters movable longitudinally of said supporting members for severing the intermediate portions of the yarns.

FRANCIS P. GROAT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 54,870 Crossley May 22, 1866 1,822,510 Smith Sept. 8, 1931 1,863,912 Robertson et al. June 21, 1932

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