Tufting machine drive system

摘要

A tufting machine has a needle bar for carrying a plurality of needles for reciprocating into and out of a base material. A sliding needle bar shift mechanism may shift the needle bar laterally according to a pattern. The needle bar is mounted for reciprocation and for lateral movement relative to the direction of reciprocation by a drive system including a first directional drive component having a foot secured to a respective push rod of the tufting machine and a second directional drive component connected to the shift mechanism. The first and second drive components will connect to the needle bar through linear bearings or bushings so that the motion of the needle bar in multiple different directions is controlled while permitting greater machine operating and needle bar shifting speeds.

主权项

1. A tufting machine for forming tufted articles, comprising:
a frame; at least one needle bar having a plurality of needles carrying a series of yarns mounted therealong; backing feed rolls feeding a backing material through the tufting machine; and a needle bar drive system for controlling movement of the at least one needle bar in multiple directions, the drive system comprising a first directional drive component including a series of push rods mounted to the at least one needle bar by a series of needle bar support brackets and driving the at least one needle bar along a vertically reciprocating stroke so that the needles penetrate the backing material, and a second directional drive component for moving the at least one needle bar in a direction substantially transverse to its vertically reciprocating stroke; wherein the needle support brackets of the first directional drive component each include a linear motion bearing guide having a series of linear motion bearings arranged therealong and through which a guide track mounted to the at least one needle bar is slidably received to control the transverse movement of the at least one needle bar as the at least one needle bar is reciprocated vertically; and wherein the second directional drive component comprises at least one horizontally reciprocable drive rod slidably supported on the frame by a series of linear motion bearing assemblies for guiding transverse movement of the at least one needle bar as the at least one needle bar is reciprocated vertically.