Tennessee Patent of the Month – January 2022
Carpet manufacturers are trying to keep up with ever changing trends. Tufted carpet is a type of carpet with little pieces of cut or looped yarn poking up through a backing. It can be difficult to achieve precision patterns within a tufted carpet due to the production process itself. Card-Monroe Corp. has been a leader in the tufted carpet industry since 1981. By 1982, they had shipped and delivered their first tufting machine for use in carpet production.
The company has since expanded their line to incorporate innovative tufting technology of all types. Recently, they have designed a new tufting machine capable of producing patterned tufted carpets – or other products – with incredible control. The machine is capable of producing a carpet with multiple tuft heights, textured effects, and yarn types. The machine has a series of needles set up within the tufting machine to pull yarn through a backing material in the traditional tufted loop style. The needles are controlled by gauge parts which can be selectively controlled to pick up or skip a loop as needed for the pattern.
Through intense development, they have designed the system to produce a patterned carpet with no buried ends and pinpoint stitch accuracy. By modifying pile height, the machine can produce sculptured carpets. For instance, having a greater pile height in repeated diamond shapes, and shorter pile heights in criss-crossed lines can lead to a pretty and plush carpet with a classic argyle design. This design could also be achieved with the same pile height but varying colors. Whatever the end goal, Card-Monroe’s tufting machine has significantly improved the process to achieve it.
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