FABRICS AND CARPETS PRODUCED ACCORDING TO THIS METHOD

This invention relates on the one hand to a method for producing carpets with fringes in which a carpet is woven on a weaving machine from warp yarns and weft yarns, said carpet having fringes on two opposite edges in the warp direction or weft direction, said fringes in the warp direction or weft direction respectively consisting of non-bound lengths of warp yarns or weft yarns respectively of said carpet. On the other hand, this invention relates to a fabric produced according to this method, and this invention also relates to a carpet produced according to this method.

Traditionally carpets are generally provided with fringes on two opposite edges. Such fringes are thereby generally produced on the two narrowest opposite edges of a carpet.

In the conventional method of machine production of carpets with fringes, these fringes are produced separately on suitable machines, after which these fringes are attached to the edge of the carpet using an appropriate connection technique, generally by means of a sewing machine.

This conventional method for producing carpets with fringes requires an additional processing step with the corresponding logistic requirements and manual labour after completion of the weaving process. The addition of the fringes during the weaving process is an interesting cost-saving solution.

Furthermore efforts are made, with the conventional machine-woven carpets, to imitate the appearance of a hand-woven carpet as closely as possible. Fringes that are directly provided on a carpet are a good example of a typical aspect of a hand-woven carpet. With the subsequently attached fringes, the attachment means are always visible so that it is immediately clear that the carpets in question were produced by machine. US 1,394,869 describes how light-coloured filling warp yarns are added to a carpet structure so that fringes can be produced from these. The light-coloured filling warp yarns run through unbound into the fabric after completion of the carpet. After the end zone of the fabric with pattern-forming pile- warp yarns, a flat fabric is formed on the pile side with the unused pile-warp yarns and the dark-coloured chain warp yarns. This flat fabric is then folded over and serves as the edge of the carpet.

The method for producing carpets with fringes described in US 1,394,869 is not, however, suitable for modern carpet weaving machines. On modern carpet weaving machines, woven carpets are transported forward by means of draw rollers with pins, the "picker rolls". These pins pull on the rear side of the fabric via the wefts woven into the backing fabric. The filling warp yarns hanging loose on the rear side as described in US 1,394,869 tend to catch on these pins. Furthermore, there is a large zone in which there are no wefts, namely a zone that has at least twice the length of the provided fringes, once for the leading end and once for the trailing end of the carpet. In these zones the pins cannot engage with the fabric to transport it forwards so that carpets are displaced relative to one another. The warp fringes hanging loose can also pose problems during the finishing of such carpets.

US 5,389,421 describes a method for producing a carpet woven over wires with woven-on fringes made with pile-warp yarns. This has the disadvantage that the fringes always have to have the same colour as the pile yarns. This represents a problem also for the weaving of face-to-face woven carpets as here normally half the colours are bound into the one carpet and the other half into the other carpet resulting in carpets with different fringes. The method described in US 5,389,421 also demands a large number of manual interventions, such as the removal of wefts. With pile fabrics, a decorative strip also has to be added at the level of the end zone of the fabric with this method so that the glue applied to the end zone to prevent further unravelling of the pile yarns is hidden. The object of this invention is then also to provide a method for producing carpets with fringes in which these fringes can be provided on a carpet during the weaving process, in which modern carpet weaving machines can be employed and with which the problems described above are solved.

The object of this invention is achieved by providing a method for producing carpets with fringes in which a carpet is woven on a weaving machine from warp yarns and weft yarns, said carpet having fringes on two opposite edges in either the warp direction or weft direction, said fringes in the warp direction and weft direction respectively consisting of non-bound lengths of warp yarns and weft yarns respectively of said carpet, and in which a fabric is woven on said weaving machine comprising:

a weaving zone comprising the part of said carpet to be provided with fringes in which a first length of the warp or weft yarns respectively is bound by means of weft or warp yarns respectively;

a edge zone adjoining this weaving zone in which a second length of at least one part of the warp or weft yarns respectively is not bound in order to form the fringes;

- a holding zone adjoining the edge zone located on the opposite side of the weaving zone relative to the edge zone comprising a holding fabric in which a third length of the warp or weft yarns respectively is bound by means of additional weft or warp yarns respectively.

In order to prevent the length of at least part of the warp or weft yarns respectively provided for the fringes being bound into the carpet, the warp yarns in the edge zone can be controlled in each case by an electronically programmable shed forming mechanism such as an electronic jacquard, an electronic dobby, or a servo-controlled heddle frame drive. Thanks to such holding fabrics, finishing of the carpets can take place without problems as there are no fringes hanging loose during the production process. The holding fabric is cut off and the fringes are exposed only after completion of the finishing.

The zones in which warp or weft yarns respectively are unbound can also be limited to a length corresponding more or less to the desired length for the fringes. Thanks to the fact that these zones with unbound warp or weft yams respectively have a limited length and are limited on the one hand by the part of the carpet to be provided with fringes, and on the other hand by the holding fabric, picker rolls can always engage in either this part of the carpet to be provided with fringes or in this holding fabric.

The holding fabrics which hold the fringes beyond the desired length can then be located between two edge zones with fringes, namely an edge zone at the end of the previous carpet and an edge zone at the beginning of the following carpet when the fringes are provided in the warp direction, or edge zones of carpets woven diagonally alongside one another if the fringes are provided in the weft direction.

In a first specific inventive method, the fringes are formed from weft yams.

This is the case when a carpet is woven transversely and the fringes are provided in the weft direction.

The holding fabrics which hold the fringes beyond the second length are then located on the left and right outer side of the fabric in the weaving machine, and possibly also between two edge zones with fringes when several carpets are woven alongside one another.

A great advantage of the forming of fringes from weft yams here is also that the colour of the fringes can be chosen. This can be effected using a weft selection device.

In a second specific inventive method, the fringes are formed from warp yams. The fringes are then also provided in the warp direction.

If several carpets are woven in succession in this warp direction, the holding fabrics which hold the fringes beyond the desired length are then located between two edge zones of fringes, namely the edge zone at the end of the previous carpet and the edge zone at the beginning of the following carpet.

With this method, larger carpets can be woven than when the fringes are formed from weft yarns.

If fringes are formed from warp yarns, the weft density in the different zones (weaving zone, edge zone, holding zone) can furthermore be adapted as desired by means of a servo-controlled weft regulator. In a preferred inventive method, said holding fabric is cut off from the carpet with the fringes between the edge zone and the holding zone in order to form the carpet after weaving of the fabric on the weaving machine.

In a further preferred inventive method, the carpet has a rear side and during weaving of the fabric on said weaving machine an edge fabric is woven in each edge zone, on one side relative to said non-bound warp or weft yarns, towards the rear side of the carpet, with a second length of a part of the warp or weft yarns respectively being bound into this edge fabric by means of weft or warp yarns respectively. The rear side of a carpet is the side of the carpet that is not visible when the carpet is in use. In the case of a carpet that is laid on the floor, this is the side of the carpet that lies on the floor. In the case of a carpet that is hung on or in front of a wall, this is the side of the carpet that faces towards the wall. With pile fabrics the rear side is the side opposite the pile side. The pile side of a pile fabric is the side where the pattern- forming pile yarns are predominantly to be found relative to the backing fabric formed by the weft yarns and ground warp yarns. Such edge fabrics help to ensure that finishing of the carpets can take place without problems in that the non-bound warp or weft yarns respectively that will form the fringes are also protected on the rear side of the carpet during the production process. With pile fabrics, this edge fabric also prevents the fringes being glued together during the application of the glue layer to the rear side of the carpet which serves to guarantee the anchoring of the pile yarns in the carpet fabric.

These edge fabrics also form an additional contact point for the picker rolls in order to transport the carpets forwards.

If the carpet has a rear side and an edge fabric, the edge fabric is preferably folded over after cutting off the holding fabric and fastened to the rear side of the carpet.

For this, this edge fabric can be fastened to the rear side of the carpet, for example, by means of glue.

In a particular inventive method, the carpet comprises a pile fabric.

In the inventive methods described above, all types of weaving machine can be employed, such as Axminster, face-to-face, wire weaving, loop pile or flat weaving machines.

The object of this invention is also achieved by providing a fabric produced by means of an inventive method described above.

The object of this invention is furthermore achieved by providing a carpet with fringes produced by means of an inventive method in which an edge fabric is woven. More specifically this carpet then comprises a pile fabric.

This invention will now be explained further by reference to the following detailed description of an inventive method, fabric and carpet with fringes. The object of this description is purely to give an illustrative example and to indicate further advantages and special features of this invention, and can therefore in no way be interpreted as a limitation of the field of application of the invention or of the patent rights asserted in the claims.

In this detailed description, reference is made by means of reference numbers to the attached drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows schematically and in perspective part of a first embodiment of an inventive fabric comprising holding fabrics and edge fabrics in which the fringes are formed from warp yarns;

Figure 2 shows schematically and in perspective a second embodiment of an inventive fabric comprising holding fabrics and edge fabrics in which the fringes are formed from weft yarns;

- Figure 3 shows a first embodiment of an inventive carpet comprising fringes formed from weft yarns and comprising edge fabrics which are fastened to the rear side of the carpet;

Figure 4 shows schematically and in perspective a third embodiment of an inventive fabric comprising holding fabrics in which the fringes are formed from weft yarns;

- Figure 5 shows schematically and in perspective a second embodiment of an inventive carpet comprising fringes which are formed from weft yarns.

In an inventive method for producing carpets (1) with fringes (5, 5') on two opposite edges, a fabric (6) such as that illustrated in Figures 1 , 2 and 4 is first woven from warp yarns and from weft yarns on a weaving machine. All types of weaving machine can be employed as weaving machine, such as Axminster, face-to-face, wire weaving, loop pile or flat weaving machines.

The fabrics (6) such as those illustrated in Figures 1 , 2 and 4 comprise one or more weaving zones (A, A'), two or more edge zones (B, B', B") and two or more holding zones (C, C). In the fabric (6) shown in Figure 1 , the warp yarns extend in longitudinal direction of the carpet (1). The fringes (5, 5") are hereby formed from warp yams in the warp direction (X). In the fabrics (6) shown in Figures 2 and 4, the weft direction (Y) is the longitudinal direction of the carpets to be formed (1). The fringes (5, 5') are hereby formed from weft yams in the weft direction (Y).

A weaving zone (A, A') also comprises a part (2, 2') of a carpet (1) to be provided with fringes (5, 5'). This part (2, 2') can consist, for example, of a pile fabric. In the figures shown, this part is higher in each case than the parts of the fabric (6) in the other zones to indicate that pile is formed in this zone. This can, however, equally be a decorative part of a carpet (1) produced without pile. An edge zone (B, B', B") also comprises a length of warp or weft yams which are not bound and which are provided to form the fringes (5, 5', 5") of the carpet (1). Warp or weft yams respectively in this edge zone (B, B', B") that are not provided to form fringes (5, 5', 5") can be bound into an edge fabric (4, 4', 4") by means of weft or warp yams respectively, as with the fabrics (6) as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

A holding zone (C, C) also comprises a holding fabric (3, 3').

In order to obtain the fabric (6) as illustrated in Figure 1 , a first length of the warp yams from which the fabric (6) is woven is bound in to the weaving zone (A) by means of weft yams to form a decorative part (2) of a carpet (1). In the edge zone (B) adjoining this weaving zone (A), a second length of a part of the warp yams is not bound in to form the fringes (5). This can be achieved by controlling these warp yams using an electronically programmable shed forming mechanism such as an electronic jacquard, an electronic dobby, or a servo-controlled heddle frame drive. This second length has at least the desired length of the fringes (5) to be formed. In this same edge zone (B), a second length of the remaining warp yams that are not provided to form the fringes (5) are bound in by means of weft yarns to form an edge fabric (4), this on one side relative to said non-bound warp yarns and towards the rear side of the carpet (1). Adjoining this edge zone (B), a third length of the warp yarns are bound in by means of weft yarns to form a holding fabric (3) in a holding zone (C).

On the edge not illustrated of the decorative part (2) of the carpet (1) located on the opposite side of the illustrated edge relative to the decorative part (2), an identical edge zone (Β') was formed with fringes (5') and an edge fabric (4') prior to the forming of this decorative part (2) and adjoining the weaving zone (A), and, prior to this, on this edge zone (Β') in turn an adjoining identical holding zone (C) was formed with a holding fabric (3').

A carpet (1) can later be formed with the part of the fabric (6) located in the weaving zone (A) and the adjoining edge zones (B, B'). Thanks to the holding fabrics (3, 3') in the holding zones (C, C), the fringes (5, 5') do not hang loose and the fabric (6) can be transported forwards on weaving machines by means of picker rolls.

Following the illustrated holding fabric (C), a following length of a part of the warp yarns are not bound into an identical following edge fabric (B") in order to form the fringes (5, 5') of a following carpet (1) of which the decorative part (2') is woven into a following weaving zone (Α') from a further following length of warp yarns and weft yarns. In the edge fabric (B") the remaining part of the warp yarns is again bound in by means of weft yarns to form an edge fabric (4"). In this way successive carpets (1) are woven on a weaving machine, with holding fabrics (C, C) between the carpets (1) in each case ensuring that the fringes (5, 5', 5") do not hang loose and the fabric (6) can be transported forwards by means of picker rolls.

By means of a servo-controlled pick regulator, the weft density in the different zones (A, A', B, B', B", C, C, C") can be adapted as desired. In order to obtain fabrics (6) as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4, a weaving zone (A), on both edges of which an edge zone (B, B') and adjoining these edge zones (B, B') a holding fabric (C, C) are woven alongside one another at the same time with weft yarns and warp yarns. In the weaving zone (A), a first length of the weft yarns from which the fabric (6) is woven are bound in by means of warp yarns to form a decorative part (2) of a carpet (1). In the edge zones (B, B') adjoining this weaving zone (A) on two opposite sides, a second length of at least one part of the weft yarns is not bound in at the same time to form the fringes (5, 5'). In order to prevent these weft yarns being bound in, the warp yarns in this edge zone (B, B') can be controlled by an electronically programmable shed forming mechanism such as an electronic jacquard, an electronic dobby, or a servo-controlled heddle frame drive. This second length has at least the desired length of the fringes (5, 5') to be formed. In the embodiment as illustrated in Figure 2, a second length of the remaining weft yarns that are not provided to form the fringes (5, 5') are bound up in these same edge zones (B, B') by means of warp yarns to form an edge fabric (4, 4'), this on one side relative to said non-bound weft yarns and towards the rear side of the carpet (1) to be formed. Following these edge zones (B, B') on one side relative to these edge zones (B, B') opposite the side of the weaving zone (A), both in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 and in Figure 4, a third length of the weft yarns is bound in by means of warp yarns into a holding fabric (3) in a holding zone (C). These holding fabrics (C, C) ensure that the fringes (5, 5', 5") do not hang loose and that the fabric (6) can be transported forwards by means of picker rolls.

The forming of fringes (5, 5') in this way from weft yarns allows the colour of the fringes (5, 5') to be chosen. This can be effected using a weft selection device.

The carpets (1) as illustrated in Figures 3 and 5 are thus obtained from fabrics (6) according to this invention by cutting off the holding fabrics (3, 3') from the carpet (1) with the fringes (5, 5', 5") between the corresponding edge zones (B, B', B") and holding zones (C, C) and by folding over possible edge fabrics (4, 4', 4") and fastening them to the rear side of the carpet (1). For this, these edge fabrics (4, 4', 4") can be fastened to the rear side of the carpet (1), for example, by means of glue.

In this way a carpet (1) such as that illustrated in Figure 3 can be obtained from a fabric (6) such as that illustrated in Figure 2. By analogy, a carpet (1) such as that illustrated in Figure 5 can be obtained in this way from a fabric (6) such as that illustrated in Figure 4.