Spencer Wright Industries, Inc.

Gary Crossley

Neale Kenneth Bennett

Alan Reid

Ian Corson

A tufting machine configured to provide needles co-linearly along a tufting plane from opposing needle holders provided in a needle module. The needle holders may be selectively latched with latch pins connected to limbs extending from a yoke connected to the push rod of the tufting machine. The needle holders are biased in a dis-engaged position with compression springs which extend between caps on the needle holders and a guide plate which locates the needle holders laterally while spacing the opposed needle holders from one another.

Inline needle tufting machine with needle modules

A tufting machine has a yarn feed roller assembly with a plurality of rotatable driver rollers driven at different speeds and a plurality of actuators in the form of a pivotable arm having in one embodiment a pair of yarn feed reels one of which is arranged to selectively press yarn into engagement with one of the drive rollers and the other arranged to selectively press yarn into engagement with another drive roller. Yarn is engaged by each actuator and a selected drive roller for a period of time determined by a pattern. The longer the actuator engages the high speed roller during the stroke of a tufting machine needle the greater will be the pile height of the tufts produced and alternatively the longer the actuator engages the lower speed roller during the needle stroke the lower will be the pile height. Pile height variations between a high pile and a low pile may be obtained by controlling the proportion of time during the stroke that the yarn engages with the high and low speed rollers.

Growing community of inventors

Lancashire, United Kingdom

Gary Crossley