US3017847A - Tufted fabrics and methods of making same - Google Patents

Description

Jan. '23, 1962 w. R. KEEN TUFTED FABRICS AND METHODS OF MAKING SAME Filed March 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I/i2 5 9 B I ma: TING CHAMBER TUFT/NG MACH/NE BACK/N6 MATERIAL INVENTOR. Willa/71?. flfe lz BY ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 23, 1962 w. R. KEEN 3,017,847

TUF'TED FABRICS AND METHODS OF MAKING SAME Filed March 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. .Wl [1mm 15. A2617,

A TTORNEYS.

United Stes This invention relates to a tufted pile fabric and a method of making such a fabric which will produce a greater pile density than has heretofore been possible.

The known methods of forming a tufted pile fabric normally comprise tufting the pile yarn woven backing by means of tufting needles. The pile density in such fabrics is normally limited by the weight of the yarn and the number of needles per inch which can be used. Due to the limitation of the number of needles per inch, a tufted pile fabric employing a fine pile yarn has a poor pile density and shows the backing material through the pile. Even with heavier yarns which tend to spread to cover the backing, the pile density is limited by the tufting means and the pile has a relatively soft hand.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tufted pile fabric having a high pile density.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a tufted pile fabric having a fine pile yarn in which the pile yarn closes on the backing material.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a method of tufting pile fabrics in which the pile density is not limited by the fineness of the pile yarn or by the number of tufting needles per inch.

The above objects are achieved by tufting the pile yarn in the backing material while the width-wise ends in the backing are in an expanded condition so that the widthwise spacing of the openings in the backing material is larger during the tufting operation than when the finished fabric is removed from the tufting machine. This may be accomplished by the method of the invention as shown in the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the method of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a fabric being tufted in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fabric of FIG. 2 after a shrinking treatment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the line IV--IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation showing another embodiment of the method of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 6.

In accordance with the invention, the backing material may be knitted or woven or in any other known form for tufting purposes having only the essential requirement that the widthwise ends are expandable or contractible.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. l-5. The backing material 20 is woven with normal warp yarns 22 of jute, cotton, viscose or the like, with a filling 21 of highly shrinkable yarns or filaments such as polyethylene, oriented polymerized vinyl chloride with vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride with vinyl chloride, or an oriented polyester of terephthalic acid with ethylene glycol. It is to be understood, of course, that the woven backing 20 is only by way of an example, and other forms of backing material may be used. The backing 20 is tufted with a pile-forming yarn 19 which may be of any atent ice suitable textile yarn material tufted by known methods. The tufted fabric is shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The shrinkable ends 21 are placed width-wise as the fabric passes through the tufting machine 23. When the fabric has been tufted, the material is subjected to whatever treatment is necessary to produce the desired amount of shrinkage in the width-wise ends such as wet or dry hot treatment schematically illustrated at 24 in FIG. 1. The resulting tufted pile fabric is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The backing material 10 is a knitted fabric of cotton or other suitable yarns which have been knitted on a circular knitting machine. The fabric 10 is shown in a stretched condition and is held in place in the stretched condition by means of chains 12 and 13, which hold the edges of the fabric out to the desired width and advance it at the same speed as the tufting machine 11. The chains 12 and 13 are spaced outside the needles 14 of the machine 11. Additional chains 15 and 16 are provided to insure an even stretch in the fabric 10 across its entire width. The intermediate chains 15 and 16 are continuously removed as the fabric approaches the needles 14. After the fabric 10 is tufted with pile yarn 17 and passes the tufting needles 14-, the outside chains 12 and 13 are removed permitting the fabric 10 to relax to its normal width whereupon the backing is; coated with suitable coating material such as latex or resins to retain width-wise dimensional stability of the fabric 10. It will be apparent that the resultant tufted fabric will have a greater pile density than would be possible if it were tufted in the relaxed condition.

A great number of variations are possible in the fabrics produced by the invention. Thus, in the woven backing material of FIG. 2 employing width-wise shrinkable ends, maximum shrinkage may be obtained by spacing the nonshrinkable warp yarns so that when the filling is shrunk, they will lie side by side without overriding one another. By reducing the spacing of the warp yarns prior to and during tufting, the degree of shrinkage will be lessened and the pile will not be so dense.

By means of the invention, it is possible to produce tufted pile fabrics of greater pile density than is possible with any known methods. Even the heaviest pile density now possible with present machines using the greatest possible number of needles per inch can be improved beyond the capacity of the machine by tufting while the width.- wise ends of the backing material are in an expanded condition as compared to their condition in the finished fabric. Conversely, the invention reduces the number of needles presently required to produce a tufted pile fabric of a given pile density. It has been found that by employing the method of the invention, it is possible to produce up to 50%-75% or even more tufting in a given width of finished fabric.

Many variations within the scope of the invention may be employed without departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the following claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A method of forming a tufted pile fabric comprising forming a backing material having highly shrinkable yarns extending in one direction, continuously needle tufting pile yarns in said backing and continuously subjecting said tufted backing material to shrinking treatment to shrink said shrinkable yarns and to reduce the dimension of said fabric in the direction of said shrinkable yarns so as to bring said tufts closer together.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Bradshaw Apr. 15, 1941 Brown Nov. 6, 1945 Miller Nov. 1, 1949 Kinzinger et a1. Apr. 12, 1955 Hopkins Dec. 13, 1955 Ebersold Mar. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS France Oct. 11, 1945

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