US 4,375,196 AGranted

Cutting mechanism for cut pile tufting machine

AssigneeTuftco Corporation

InventorMax M. Beasley

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A loop cutting apparatus for a cut pile tufting machine including looper hooks, for cooperating with corresponding reciprocal needles, mounted in a hook bar supported on a looper rocker arm for pivotal movement about a hook shaft, the knives cooperating with the looper hooks being fixed in a knife bar supported on a lever member mounted for pivotal movement on the looper rocker arm, and a drive mechanism operatively connected to the looper rocker arm and the lever member for reciprocally moving the rocker arm and lever member simultaneously in opposite directions for cooperative movement of the knives and hooks to form cut pile. The loop cutting apparatus is further characterized by locating the pivotal axis of the lever member at an elevated position upon the looper rocker arm so that the movement of the knives relative to the looper hooks is substantially vertical, thereby requiring less reciprocal movement of the hooks and knives for effectively cutting the loops seized by the hooks.

Claims9

Dependent claims

In a cut pile tufting machine having means for supporting the base fabric for longitudinal movement in a feeding direction through the machine, a plurality of transversely spaced reciprocal needles for introducing yarns through one side of the base fabric to form loops, a looper hook for each needle mounted on a transverse hook bar, a looper rocker arm supporting the hook bar for reciprocal movement on the other side of the base fabric, and looper drive means for reciprocally moving the rocker arm to cause the looper hooks to cooperate with the corresponding needles for seizing the yarn loops from the needles, a loop cutting apparatus comprising:

(a) a lever member having a pivotal portion and driven portion spaced from said pivotal portion,
(b) journal means pivotally connecting said pivotal portion to the looper rocker arm at a transverse pivotal axis spaced a proximal distance from the feeding path of the base fabric and spaced longitudinally from the looper hook a distance substantially greater than said proximal distance,
(c) a transversely extending, elongated knife bar mounted on said lever member,
(d) a knife for each looper hook mounted on said knife bar for cooperative engagement with a corresponding looper hook for cutting a loop thereon, and
(e) knife drive means operatively connected to said driven portion for reciprocally swinging said lever member about said pivotal axis synchronously with the movement of the looper rocker arm.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.