Method of forming a patterned carpet in a tufting machine

A method of forming a patterned carpet in a tufting machine, the tufting machine comprising a means for feeding a backing medium through the tufting machine in a longitudinal direction;

• a sliding needle bar comprising a plurality of needles, the bar being slidable in a transverse direction and reciprocal in a vertical direction so that the needles penetrate the backing medium being fed through the machine thereby forming tufts of yarn;
• the method comprising:
• identifying a transitional line of tufts in which the needle bar makes its final tufts before changing transverse direction;
• analysing the desired pattern data to determine, for each needle in the transitional line, whether it is required to form a tuft for a first predetermined number of reciprocations of the needle bar prior to the transitional line and to form a tuft for a second predetermined number of reciprocations of the needle bar after to the transitional line;
• and wherein, if a needle in the transitional line is not required to form a tuft for more than the first and second predetermined number of reciprocations of the needle bar;
• either changing, or alerting a user to allow the user to change, the colour of a tuft from that required by the desired pattern data to create actual pattern data in which the needle in the transitional line is not required to form a tuft for more than the first or second predetermined number of reciprocations of the needle bar;
• and
• tufting the carpet according to the actual pattern data.