Tufting machine belt driven drive assembly

In a tufting machine for carrying out a tufting operation in which a series of successive tufts are made in a backing material advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame, an elongate rotatable tufting machine drive shaft supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the tufting machine drive shaft, an elongate gauging element drive shaft having a spaced series of gauging elements disposed thereon with respect to the tufting zone, the gauging element drive shaft being rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft, the improvement comprising:

• a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having a spindle support and an elongate spindle shaft extending about a longitudinal axis and being rotatably supported on said spindle support, said spindle shaft extending parallel to the gauging element drive shaft;
• drive means for transmitting the rotational movement of the tufting machine drive shaft to said spindle shaft;
• an adjustable cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft;
• a timing disc affixed to said spindle shaft adjacent said cam assembly, said timing disc having a timing reference mark defined thereon;
• an elongate drive pinion operably fastened to said cam assembly for being reciprocated thereby;
• and
• an elongate drive lever pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends on the gauging element drive shaft for transferring the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion into a rocking motion of the gauging element drive shaft, and of the gauging elements thereon, toward and away from the tufting zone.

In a tufting machine for carrying out a tufting operation in which a series of successive tufts are made in a backing material advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame, an elongate rotatable tufting machine drive shaft supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the tufting machine drive shaft, an elongate gauging element drive shaft having a spaced series of gauging elements disposed thereon with respect to the tufting zone, the gauging element drive shaft being rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft, the improvement comprising:

• a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having a spindle support and an elongate spindle shaft extending about a longitudinal axis and being rotatably supported on said spindle support, said spindle shaft extending parallel to the gauging element drive shaft;
• drive means for transmitting the rotational movement of the tufting machine drive shaft to said spindle shaft;
• an adjustable cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft;
• an elongate drive pinion operably fastened to said cam assembly for being reciprocated thereby;
• said cam assembly having a first stub shaft extending therefrom parallel to the axis of the spindle shaft, said stub shaft being offset with respect to the axis of said spindle shaft for movement in an orbital path about the axis of said spindle shaft, said drive pinion being pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said stub shaft for being reciprocated thereby as the first stub shaft orbits the axis of the spindle shaft;
• and
• an elongate drive lever pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends on the gauging element drive shaft for transferring the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion into a rocking motion of the gauging element drive shaft, and of the gauging elements thereon, toward and away from the tufting zone.

In a tufting machine for carrying out a tufting operation in which a series of successive tufts are made in a backing material advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame, an elongate tufting machine drive shaft rotatably supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the first drive shaft, and an elongate gauging element drive shaft spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft and being rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame, the improvement comprising:

• a) a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having a spindle support and an elongate spindle shaft rotatably supported thereon, said spindle shaft extending along a longitudinal axis parallel to said gauging element drive shaft;
• b) drive means for transmitting the rotational movement of the drive shaft to said spindle shaft;
• c) an adjustable cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft, said cam assembly including:
• a stub shaft, said stub shaft being offset from and parallel to the axis of the spindle shaft for movement in an orbital path about the axis of the spindle shaft,
• a timing disc affixed to said spindle shaft, said timing disc having a timing reference mark defined thereon;
• a split face clamp fastened to the spindle shaft adjacent said timing disc, said split face clamp having a spaced series of timing indicia defined thereon, said timing indicia being in at least partial registry with the timing reference mark on said timing disc,
• wherein said split face clamp is constructed and arranged for movement about said spindle shaft as said timing indicia are moved relative to the timing reference mark on the timing disc so that the rotational position of said cam assembly and said stub shaft about said spindle shaft is varied with respect to the rotational position of the first drive shaft;
• d) an elongate drive pinion having a first end and a spaced second end, the first end of said drive pinion being pivotally fastened to said stub shaft for transmitting the orbital motion of said stub shaft as a reciprocating motion;
• and
• e) an elongate drive lever having a first end and a spaced second end, the first end of said lever being pivotally fastened to the second end of said drive pinion and being fixed at its second end on the gauging element drive shaft for transferring the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion into a rocking motion of the gauging element drive shaft.

A tufting machine for carrying out a tufting operation in which a series of successive tufts are sewn into a backing material being advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, said tufting machine comprising:

• a frame;
• an elongate rotatable tufting machine drive shaft supported on an upper portion of the frame;
• drive means for rotating said drive shaft;
• at least one elongate rotatable gauging element drive shaft mounted on a lower portion of the frame, said at least one gauging element drive shaft being spaced from and parallel to said tufting machine drive shaft;
• a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the at least one gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having an elongate spindle shaft rotatably supported thereon;
• a drive sprocket mounted on the drive shaft;
• a driven sprocket mounted on the spindle shaft;
• a flexible drive member encircling said drive sprocket and said driven sprocket for rotating said spindle shaft in timed relationship with the rotation of the tufting machine drive shaft;
• a timing disc affixed to said spindle shaft;
• an adjustable cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft adjacent said timing disc;
• an elongate drive pinion operably fastened at one of its ends to said cam assembly for being reciprocated by said first cam assembly as it rotates about said spindle shaft;
• an elongate drive lever operably fastened at one of its ends to said drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends on the at least one gauging element drive shaft for transferring the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion into a rocking motion of the at least one gauging element drive shaft.

A method of tufting a series of successive tufts in a backing material being advanced through a tufting zone on a tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame with a tufting machine drive shaft rotatably supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the drive shaft, at least one elongate gauging element drive shaft rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft, the at least one elongate gauging element drive shaft having a spaced series of gauging elements disposed thereon with respect to the tufting zone, said method including the steps of:

• rotating an elongate spindle shaft formed about a longitudinal axis and supported on a spindle assembly mounted on the frame in timed relationship with the rotation of the tufting machine drive shaft;
• mounting a cam assembly on the spindle shaft and carrying a stub shaft, the stub shaft protruding from the cam assembly and being parallel to and offset from the axis of the spindle shaft, on said cam assembly;
• orbiting said stub shaft about the axis of the spindle shaft;
• varying the offset of said stub shaft about the axis of said spindle and varying the timed relationship of the at least one gauging element drive shaft with respect to the rotation of the tufting machine drive shaft in response thereto;
• reciprocating an elongate drive pinion pivotally fastened to said stub shaft in response thereto;
• and
• rocking the at least one gauging element drive shaft and the gauging elements carried thereon toward and away from the tufting zone with an elongate drive lever pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends on the at least one gauging element drive shaft.

A tufting machine gauging element drive assembly for use in carrying out a tufting operation on a tufting machine in which a series of successive tufts are made in a backing material advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame, an elongate tufting machine drive shaft rotatably supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the drive shaft, at least one elongate gauging element drive shaft rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft, the at least one gauging element drive shaft having a spaced series of gauging elements disposed thereon with respect to the tufting zone, said gauging element drive assembly comprising:

• a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the at least one gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having a spindle support and an elongate spindle shaft rotatably supported thereon, said spindle shaft extending along a longitudinal axis and being parallel to the at least one gauging element drive shaft;
• drive means for transmitting the rotational movement of the tufting machine drive shaft to said spindle shaft;
• a cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft;
• a timing disc affixed to said spindle shaft adjacent said cam assembly, and a timing reference mark defined on said timing disc;
• said cam assembly comprising a split face clamp fastened to said spindle shaft adjacent said timing disc, said split face clamp having a stub shaft extending therefrom, said stub shaft being offset from the axis of said spindle shaft for orbiting said axis during rotation of the spindle shaft, said split face clamp further comprising a spaced series of timing indicia defined on at least a portion thereof, said timing indicia being positioned adjacent the timing reference mark on said timing disc, and wherein said split face clamp is constructed and arranged for rotational movement about said spindle shaft as said timing indicia are moved relative to the timing reference mark of the timing disc so that the rotational position of said cam assembly and the stub shaft thereof about said spindle shaft may be varied with respect to the rotational position of the tufting machine drive shaft for adjusting the relative position of the at least one gauging element drive shaft with respect to the tufting machine drive shaft
• an elongate drive pinion pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said cam assembly for being reciprocated thereby as the spindle shaft is rotated by said drive means;
• and
• an elongate drive lever pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said first drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends to the at least one gauging element drive shaft for transmitting the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion as a rocking motion of said gauging element drive shaft, and of the gauging elements thereon, toward and away from the tufting zone.

A tufting machine gauging element drive assembly for use in carrying out a tufting operation on a tufting machine in which a series of successive tufts are made in a backing material advanced through a tufting zone on the tufting machine, the tufting machine having a frame, an elongate tufting machine drive shaft rotatably supported on an upper portion of the frame, a drive motor for rotating the drive shaft, at least one elongate gauging element drive shaft rotatably supported on a lower portion of the frame spaced from the tufting machine drive shaft, the at least one gauging element drive shaft having a spaced series of gauging elements disposed thereon with respect to the tufting zone, said gauging element drive assembly comprising:

• a spindle assembly mounted on the frame with respect to the at least one gauging element drive shaft, said spindle assembly having a spindle support and an elongate spindle shaft rotatably supported thereon, said spindle shaft extending along a longitudinal axis and being parallel to the at least one gauging element drive shaft;
• drive means for transmitting the rotational movement of the tufting machine drive shaft to said spindle shaft;
• a cam assembly mounted on said spindle shaft;
• an elongate drive pinion pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said cam assembly for being reciprocated thereby as the spindle shaft is rotated by said drive means;
• and
• an elongate drive lever pivotally fastened at one of its ends to said first drive pinion and fixed at the other of its ends to the at least one gauging element drive shaft for transmitting the reciprocating motion of said drive pinion as a rocking motion of said gauging element drive shaft, and of the gauging elements thereon, toward and away from the tufting zone;
• said drive lever including an elongate slot defined therein and extending therethrough, said slot extending in the direction of the length of said lever, and wherein an elongate link pin is pivotally held at one of its ends on an end of said drive pinion opposite the end thereof pivotally fastened to said cam assembly, the other end of said link pin being passed transversely through said slot and being affixed to said drive lever along said slot for adjusting the relative position of the at least one gauging element drive shaft with respect to said spindle shaft.