Border, edge or pattern carpet tile design, manufacture and installation
AssigneeInterface, Inc.
InventorsDavid D. Oakey, Carson Machell-Archer, Sydney D. Daniel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Design and manufacture of tufted articles, carpet tile webs and carpet tiles, and installation of carpet tiles, having different color, pile height, pile texture or other characteristics that, together with similar other such tiles, may be installed to create borders, edges or other multiple-tile designs, usually without any of the tiles looking out of place or improperly oriented relative to nap or the direction the tile is “facing.”
Claims62
A tufted article, comprising:
- a primary backing,
- yarns tufted into the primary backing to form tufts that protrude from at least one side of the primary backing, wherein:
- (a) in at least a first area of a first portion of the article, tufts of a first yarn color having a maximum tuft height are present,
- (b) in at least a second area of the first portion of the article, tufts of a second yarn color having a maximum tuft height are present, and
- (c) in at least a third area of the first portion of the article interposed between the first area and second area, progressing from the first area to the second area intermediate tufts of the first yarn color are progressively shorter and intermediate tufts of the second yarn color are progressively taller and wherein intermediate tufts of the first yarn color alternate with intermediate tufts of the second yarn color across at least a portion of the third area.
A tufted carpet tile having a pattern and comprising:
- a. a primary backing,
- b. first and second yarns tufted into the primary backing to form tufts that protrude from a side of the primary backing, wherein the tufts have a tuft height and wherein:
- i. the first and second yarns are different in appearance with respect to at least one characteristic;
- ii. a first area of the carpet tile comprises tufts of the first yarns, wherein tufts of the first yarns in the first area comprise a maximum tuft height;
- iii. a second area of the carpet tile comprises tufts of the second yarns, wherein tufts of the second yarns in the second area comprise a maximum height;
- and
- iv. an intermediate area extends between the first and second areas and comprises tufts of the first and second yarns, wherein the tuft height of the first yarns progressively decreases in the intermediate area from the first area toward the second area and wherein the tuft height of the second yarns progressively increases in the intermediate area from the first area toward the second area and wherein tufts of the first yarn alternate with tufts of the second yarn across at least a portion of the intermediate area.
A method of making a collection of carpet tiles, each tile comprising a tile face and a first edge having a length, a second edge having a length, a third edge having a length, and a fourth edge having a length, wherein the first and third edges of each tile oppose each other and the second and fourth edges of each tile oppose each other, the method comprising:
- tufting a plurality of carpet webs such that each of the plurality of carpet webs bears at least one of a first visual field or a second visual field different from the first visual field;
- and
- cutting the plurality of carpet webs into the collection of carpet tiles comprising:
- a. a plurality of first carpet tiles, wherein the tile face of each of the plurality of first carpet tiles comprises a portion of the first visual field extending continuously across the entirety of the tile face of the first carpet tile;
- and
- b. a plurality of the second carpet tiles, wherein the tile face of each of the second carpet tiles comprises:
- i. a first portion that comprises a portion of the first visual field, wherein the first portion of the tile face extends along at least a portion of the length of the first edge of the second carpet tile but does not extend along a portion of the length of the third edge of the second carpet tile;
- and
- ii. a second portion that comprises a portion of the second visual field that extends along at least a portion of the length of the third edge of the second carpet tile but does not extend along a portion of the length of the first edge of the second carpet tile;
- and
- iii. a third portion interposed between the first portion and the second portion so as to extend along a portion of the length of the second edge and the fourth edge of the second carpet but so as not to extend along either the first edge or the third edge of the second carpet tile, wherein the third portion comprises a non-linear transition from the first visual field to the second visual field in a direction from the first portion towards the second portion such that portions of the first visual field and the second visual field are present within the third portion.
A collection of carpet tiles, each tile in the collection of carpet tiles comprising a tile face and a first edge having a length, a second edge having a length, a third edge having a length, and a fourth edge having a length, wherein the first and third edges of each tile oppose each other and the second and fourth edges of each tile oppose each other, wherein the collection of carpet tiles comprises:
- a. a plurality of first carpet tiles, wherein the tile face of each of the plurality of first carpet tiles comprises a portion of a first visual field formed via tufting and extending continuously across the entirety of the tile face of the first carpet tile;
- and
- b. a plurality of second carpet tiles, wherein the tile face of each of the second carpet tiles comprises:
- i. a first portion that comprises a portion of the first visual field, wherein the first portion of the tile face extends along at least a portion of the length of the first edge of the second carpet tile but does not extend along a portion of the length of the third edge of the second carpet tile;
- and
- ii. a second portion that comprises a portion of a second visual field different from the first visual field, wherein the second portion of the tile face extends along at least a portion of the length of the third edge of the second carpet tile but does not extend along a portion of the length of the first edge of the second carpet tile;
- and
- iii. a third portion interposed between the first portion and the second portion so as to extend along a portion of the length of the second edge and the fourth edge of the second carpet tile but so as not to extend along either the first edge or the third edge of the second carpet tile, wherein the third portion comprises a non-linear transition from the first visual field to the second visual field in a direction from the first portion towards the second portion such that portions of the first visual field and the second visual field are present within the third portion,
- wherein portions of the first and second visual fields on the tile face of each second carpet tile is formed via tufting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.