| WO/1995/014804 | A MECHANICAL TUFTING HEAD |
| JP07119017 | PRODUCTION OF PILED CARPET |
| JP2585185 | PRODUCTION OF PILED CARPET |
| 1. | A handheld tufting machine comprising a tubular member mounted in a body for reciprocating motion therein, drive means for the tubular member, a support for a supply of yarn and rotatable means for releasing, in use, yarn from a supply of yarn mounted on the support such that the yarn, in use, passes through the support and the tubular member substantially free from tension. |
| 2. | A tufting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotatable means is removable to provide access to the support for removal or replacement of a supply of yarn. |
| 3. | A tufting machine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the support and rotatable means are adapted to receive a bobbin of yarn therebetween by means of pushfit joints. |
| 4. | A tufting machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rotatable means comprises a roller bearing upon which a yarn guide is free to rotate. |
| 5. | A tufting machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the yarn guide comprises a loop radially separated from the roller bearing. |
| 6. | A tufting machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the yarn guide comprises a disc mounted on the roller bearing, which disc has either a guide hole therein or a circumferential guide groove,, or both. |
| 7. | A tufting machine as claimed in claim 4, claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the yarn guide, in use, is at a radius from the axis of a yarn bobbin which is greater than the radius of the yarn bobbin itself. |
| 8. | A tufting machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tubular element is adapted to receive a hollow needle for piercing a sheet of fabric during use. |
| 9. | A tufting machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a handle is provided for holding the machine during use, which handle contains the drive means for the tubular member. |
| 10. | A tufting machine as claimed .in any preceding claim, wherein the drive means includes a nub, driven by a motor, which slides in a groove integral with, and perpendicular to the axis of, the tubular member. |
| 11. | A tufting machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a nozzle is provided having an adjustable effective length to enable, in use, the size of yarn loop produced by the machine to be varied. |
| 12. | A tufting machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support is adapted to receive yarn bobbins having axial holes of different diameter. |
| 13. | A handheld tufting machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing. |
This invention relates to hand-held tufting machines.
Hand-held tufting machines designed by the present inventor are disclosed in published U.K. Patent specifications 2129453A and 2215744A. These known tufting machines utilise the action of a piston within a cylinder to insert yarn into a fabric via a hollow needle attached to the end of the piston. The yarn is prevented from being pulled back out of the fabric by virtue of the yarn (which passes out of the side of the piston) being trapped between the piston and the cylinder as the piston withdraws
Such prior art tufting machines are, in theory, simple to use and produce a good result; in practice, however, they have not proved successful. In this regard, the complexity of the equipment has made the cost of the product expensive and difficult to manufacture, and the precise tolerances required between the piston and the cylinder have proved problematic. Further, the release of yarn from a yarn supply without tension has proved extremely difficult to achieve.
Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to overcome some or all of these problems associated with the prior art hand-held tufting machines. In particular, the invention aims to produce a supply of yarn to the fabric, in which the tufts are to be produced, substantially free from tension via an extremely neat and simply apparatus.
According to the present invention there is provided a hand-held tufting machine comprising a tubular member mounted in a body for reciprocating motion therein, drive means for the tubular member, a support for a supply of yarn and rotatable means for releasing, in use, yarn from a supply of yarn mounted on the support such that the yarn, in use, passes through the support and the tubular member substantially free from tension.
The arrangement of this apparatus is fundamentally different from that of the known prior art hand-held tufting machines. Further, the simplicity of a hand-held tufting
machine according to the invention facilitates operation of the machine and enables the manufacturing costs to be reduced substantially.
Preferably the rotatable means is removable to provide access to the support for removal or replacement of a supply of yarn. In a most preferred embodiment, the support and rotatable means are both adapted to receive a bobbin of yarn by means of push-fit joints. Alternatively, however, the support may include a hollow cylinder which, in use, passes through the centre of the bobbin and receives the rotatable means on its free end.
The rotatable means preferably comprises a roller bearing upon which a yarn guide is free to rotate. The yarn guide may comprise a loop radially separated from the roller bearing by means of a stiff wire or the like. Alternatively, the yarn guide may comprise a disc mounted on the roller bearing, which disc has either a guide hole therein or a circumferential guide groove, or both, for receiving and guiding a length of yarn. Preferably the separation of the yarn guide from the axis of the roller bearing is greater than the radius of the yarn supply (e.g. bobbin) . This ensures that yarn may be readily removed from the yarn supply without catching or snagging on the end of the bobbin or the like. Furthermore, to enable the yarn to pass through the yarn support, the rotatable means has an axial hole whic preferably has a smooth curved entrance to reduce friction with the yarn as it passes therethrough.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a handle is provided for holding the machine during use, which handle contains the drive means for the tubular member. This arrangement is a marked improvement over the prior art wherein a user of the tufting machine held the machine by its tip like a pen or pencil, ' which was not comfortable due to the weight of the machine. In the present instance, with a handle being positioned below the body of the machine, the machine can be held like gun with the yarn being fired out of the front thereof.
Preferably the drive means includes a pin, driven by a motor, which slides in a groove integral with, and perpendicular to the axis of, the tubular member.
A nozzle may be provided which has an adjustable effective length, thus enabling, in use, the size of yarn loops produced by the machine to be varied. To achieve this result, the nozzle may include a screw thread.
Specific embodiments of the present invention are now described purely by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a schematic side elevation of a hand-held tufting machine according to the present invention.
With reference to the drawing, a hand-held tufting machine comprises a tubular member 1 mounted in a body 2 for reciprocating motion therein. A hollow needle (not shown) may be attached to an end la of the tubular member 1 such that the hollow needle protrudes from, and is withdrawn into, a nozzle 4 during use of the tufting machine. The maximum protrusion of the needle from the nozzle 4 may be varied by adjusting the relative position of the nozzle 4 to the body 2 of the tufting machine. This may be effected by virtue of the nozzle 4 having a screw thread 5, for engaging a corresponding screw thread in the body 2, which enables the nozzle 4 to be screwed inwards or outwards the required distance to produce yarn loops of appropriate size.
The tubular member 1 is driven by means of a motor and gears (not shown) situated in a handle 6 attached to the body 2 of the tu_fting machine. The motor drives a circular drive disc 8 having a nub 10 extending from the circumference thereof. The nub 10 slidingly engages a groove integral with, and perpendicular to the axis of, the tubular member 1. The groove is formed by two flanges 12a, 12b of a plastics moulding or the like which may be fixed on to the tubular member 1. In use,, as the circular drive disc 8 rotates, the nub 10 slides between the flanges 12a, 12b and urges the tubular member 1 forwards and backwards within the body 2. Bearings. 14, 16 guide the tubular member 1
during its reciprocating motion.
A mount 18 attached to the body 2 of the tufting machine is adapted to receive a bobbin of yarn 20. Bobbins 20 having different diameter holes 21 therethrough may be accommodated by the mount 18 due to the mount 18 being stepped as shown in the drawing.
At the end of the axial hole 21 through the bobbin 20 opposite to the mount 18., a rotatable means 22 for releasing yarn from the bobbin is provided. The rotatable means 22 includes a short length of tube 24 for push-fitting into the axial hole 21 of the bobbin, a roller bearing 26 mounted on the outside of the tube 24 and a disc 28 mounted on the outside of the roller bearing 26. This arrangement enables the disc 28 to rotate whilst the bobbin 20 is stationery. The roller bearing 26 comprises a number of ball bearings forming a ring.
The disc 28 includes a guide hole 30 near its circumference through which yarn from the bobbin 20 may pass. Alternatively, the disc 28 may include a notch in its circumference for guiding the yarn during use. In either event, the disc 28 also has an axial 31 hole to enable the yarn to pass through the axial hole 21 of the bobbin 20, through the mount 18, through the tubular member 1, out of the hollow needle and into a fabric wherein the tufts of yarn are to be formed. The axial hole 31 of the disc 28 has a curved entrance to facilitate smooth running of the yarn 32.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the disc 28 may be replaced by a length of stiff wire, mounted for rotation about the roller bearing, having a loop at its end distant from the roller bearing. In such an embodiment, the yarn 32 would pass through the loop before entering the axial hole 21 of the bobbin 20 through the axial hole of the roller bearing as before. To facilitate easy running of the yarn from the bobbin through the roller bearing, the guide hole, groove or loop for the yarn is at a greater distance from the axis of the bobbin than the yarn itself mounted on the bobbin. This
arrangement ensures that yarn leaving the bobbin does not snag or catch on the yarn remaining on the bobbin.
In use, due to the free running nature of the roller bearing and the smooth path for the yarn through the machine, the force exerted by the fabric in which the tufts of yarn are being produced is sufficient to withdraw yarn from the bobbin without the tufts in the fabric being pulled therefrom. As the yarn is removed from the bobbin, the guide hole 30 rotates about the axis of the bobbin to ensure that the yarn is always simply and easily removed from the bobbin. Since the force required to rotate the guide hole is so small, the total tensional force within the yarn during use needs only to be small also. Accordingly, the problems of the prior art are overcome. In a tufting machine according to the present invention, it will be appreciated that the yarn follows a very simple path which does not require the yarn to be pinched at any point, to prevent unwanted withdrawal of yarn from the tufts in the fabric, as was the case in the prior art. Further, the arrangement whereby the motor and gears for the machine are accommodated in the handle 6 is neat and compact, and enables the user of the machine to handle and use the machine in a comfortable and easy fashion by grasping the handle itself. It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example and that modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.