Sewing – Special machines – Embroidering
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-01
2001-07-17
Izaguirre, Ismael (Department: 3765)
Sewing
Special machines
Embroidering
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260493
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a hand-held tufted carpet mender and more particularly to such a mender having the capability of selectively mending at two pile heights.
In the manufacture of tufted carpet when a defect caused by the failure of a tufting machine needle to tuft a loop into the backing material occurs, as when the needle unthreads or the strand of yarn fed to the needle is broken, the carpet is often mended by means of a hand-held mender known in the art as a mending gun.
Typically, an operator standing behind the tufting machine inspects the fabric as it leaves the tufting machine, and if a defect is sighted, a mending gun would be utilized to repair the defect. Traditional mending guns, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,388,881, and 5,555,826, are pneumatically powered to reciprocate a needle into and out of the tufted fabric at the location of the missing loops of yarn, and a strand of yarn is constantly fed to the needle. The operator may then “mend” the locations where the defect is located. However, these mending guns are configured to mend at a single pile height.
A number of years ago, tufting machines were configured to tuft carpet with at least two loop height levels to create a patterned rug effect. The need to provide a single mending gun with the ability to selectively mend two different pile heights was then created. Stopping to manually adjust the settings on a single traditional mending gun every time the pile height changed or requiring multiple mending guns with different pile height settings were not believed to be satisfactory solutions.
One prior art solution utilized a remote electrical control box which allowed a spotter to watch from the finished side of the carpet as an operator utilized the mending gun on the backing side. The operator would continuously mend the carpet as instructed by the spotter, while the spotter would remotely control a solenoid on the mending gun which switched the pile height setting from high to low upon the continuous depression of a switch. When the spotter released the switch, the solenoid would automatically return to the high pile height position. There was no provision for the remote electronically controlled mending gun to remain in a low-pile height tufting position without continuous depression of a switch by the second individual, i.e., the spotter, with the remote.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a mending gun for tufted fabric which may repair defects at two pile heights selectively, wherein a single operator may rapidly switch between the two pile height levels without requiring a separate operator for remote operation of the mending gun.
Another object of the present invention is to allow the mending gun to remain in either a high or low pile height setting without continuous depression of a switch by an operator.
At least two advantages of the present invention are known. First, a single operator may mend two-pile height carpet since the operator now has control of the pile height level. Using a light source on the opposing side of the carpet, the light and shadows will reveal to the operator which pile height should be selected based on the amount of light transmitted through the carpet in the areas proximate to the defects. Second, the mending gun of the present invention can remain in a low-pile height setting without requiring an individual to physically maintain a switch in a depressed condition.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tufting mender wherein the operator may rapidly switch from a low to a high pile height setting and visa-versa. In fact, the mending gun of the present invention may be switched from high to low pile height during the mending process.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a pneumatically powered hand-held mending gun for tufting stitches into a backing material, the gun having a needle driven by a first drive mechanism to reciprocate out and in relative to the body of the gun. A control valve is utilized to position an air driven shuttle valve to one of two positions: a low and a high pile height configuration. The air driven shuttle valve operates a second drive mechanism to move a yarn feed disk via a piston across a drive disk between two locations. The yarn feed disk assists providing yarn from a yarn source to the needle of the mending gun. Since the drive disk rotates at a constant speed, the closer the yarn feed disk is to the center of the drive disk, the slower it rotates. Therefore, the lower pile height position locates the yarn feed disk closer to the center of the drive disk than the higher pile height position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3389667 (1968-06-01), Mueller
patent: 5555826 (1996-09-01), Satterfield
patent: 2621360-A (1977-11-01), None
patent: 2815801-A (1979-10-01), None
Izaguirre Ismael
Ruderman Alan
Spencer Wright Industries, Inc.
Stark Stephen J.
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