Description:
The invention relates to hooks for the hand hooking of rugs.
An object of the invention is to provide a hook for the hand hooking of rugs in which a hook portion becomes successively opened and closed automatically by insertion of the hook in one direction between adjacent warp fibers in the course of hooking.
According to the invention there is provided a hook which comprises a body including a hook portion which is open at one side of said body, and a member pivotably connected to said body for opening and closing said hook portion, said member including a projection extendable from the other side of the body and located with respect to the hook portion to produce successive opening and closing of the hook portion by the insertion of the body in one direction between adjacent warp fibers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a portion of a rug backing showing the warp and weft threads;
FIG. 2 shows a thread hooked in the backing of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 diagrammatically illustrates the manner of hooking a thread in the rug backing;
FIG. 4 shows a conventional needle employed in rug hooking;
FIG. 5 shows a conventional hook employed in rug hooking;
FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of a hook according to the invention in closed position;
FIG. 7 shows the hook in open position;
FIG. 8 shows a portion of the hook of FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX--IX in FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 shows the hook at one stage of a hooking operation;
FIG. 11 shows the hook at a subsequent stage of the hooking operation;
FIG. 12 shows the hook at a still further stage of hooking operation; and
FIG. 13 shows in side elevation an end of the hook remote from the hook portion thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Hand hooking, employed for example in the making of rugs known as "hooked rugs," is associated with a canvas forming the rug backing or foundation, and heretofore has been performed with a needle, by means of which threads of a textile, usually wool, were knotted onto the said canvas.
FIG. 1 shows such a canvas made up of warp threads 1 and weft threads 2.
The hooking is achieved by introducing fibers, generally of wool, into the canvas, along the path shown in FIG. 2.
An "end" or length of wool fiber 3 is inserted from top to bottom with regard to the drawing, that is toward the operator located in front of the canvas, under the weft thread 4, in such a way as to leave a tuft of fiber hanging out, this corresponding to the reference number 3. The excess is then threaded behind weft thread 5 but immediately to the right of thread 4 and on the row before, coming out therefrom at 6.
FIG. 2 shows the knot loose, and the knot is pulled tight by exerting tension on the tuft 6.
Tufts 3 and 6 are then pulled perpendicularly to the plane of the canvas and cut to the same length.
By repeating the operation to the left under weft threads 7 and 8 a second knot will be produced, and the procedure is repeated over the whole width of the canvas.
When one row is completed in this manner, the operation is repeated, always from right to left, immediately above the row previously knotted, and so on.
In this way a multiplicity of adjacent tufts such as 3 and 6 is obtained, which are all drawn and cut to uniform height to provide a uniform rug surface.
The arrows 9 and 10 in FIG. 3 show that each knotting requires two successive passages under weft threads, toward the weaver.
This work has been performed with a comparatively large needle as shown at 11 in FIG. 4, with a large eye 12, allowing fairly thick wool fiber to be threaded through it.
To avoid having to undergo such threading with each knot, a comparatively long wool thread has been used, allowing several knots to be made and after the pass in the direction of arrow 10, the continuation was the forming of a loop 13 (FIG. 3) working then from left to right, the opposite of what has just been described.
Then by cutting all the loops such as 13, tufts such as 3 and 6 of FIG. 2 were obtained.
In a later development, this method was superseded by the use of short woolen ends just long enough in practice to make a knot. Since, it would be impractical to thread such thick wool into the needle for each knot, a so-called tongued hook as shown in FIG. 5 was developed.
Such hooks are known and are used in knitting machines and particularly for invisible mending.
A pivotal tongue or blade 14 closes the mouth of the hook 15, when the latter is drawn forward and opens by falling back when the hook is pushed away. For hand work, these hooks are fitted individually on a shaft 16.
To make a knot, the hook is pushed away under the weft thread. The blade opens, the wool tuft is passed into the hook and drawn backward. The blade shuts and the hook carries the wool tuft along with it.
Compared with the needle 11, such hooks exhibit the following drawbacks: a reciprocating motion has to be made (arrow 17), while the needle works only in one direction (arrow 18); and a special wide-meshed canvas must be available, allowing the insertion of the wide hook.
An object of the invention is to provide a hook of a similar type, but which avoids these drawbacks, and permits quick and unidirectional operation.
The hook according to the invention comprises a body tapering from a hook portion to the opposite end and closed by a pivotal finger exhibiting in its closed position a knuckle protruding from the body at the surface thereof opposite the hook opening, so that a pressure applied onto said knuckle has the effect of pushing the finger back into the open position, said knuckle being located further back with respect to the hook portion, than the portion of the finger forming the closure of the hook portion.
The hook shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 comprises a flat body 19, which tapers in width in a direction away from the hook portion 20 to the opposite end 21 where it almost comes to a point.
In the portion of body 19 located below hook portion 20, there is provided a central longitudinal slot 22 extending through the entire width of the body as seen in FIG. 9 where the thicknesses are greatly exaggerated so as to make the graphic presentation clear.
Inside the slot 22 is a part 23 having an aperture 24 at one of its ends mounted on a riveted pin 25 (FIG. 9).
The part 23 has the form of a very squat V as seen in FIG. 8 whose vertex 26 forms a hump or knuckle opposite which is a tapered arm 27 constituting the end opposite the joint at 25.
In the so-called closed position of FIG. 6, the arm 27 closes the hook portion 20, in the manner of the tongues on the known hooks, while the knuckle 26 emerges from the section of the body opposite the tongue (FIG. 6). In this position, one wool tuft 28 can be held inside the closed hook portion.
By pressing the knuckle 26 inwardly into the slot 22 in body 19, as shown in FIG. 9 the part 23 is pivoted about pin 25 to open the hook and enable a woolen tuft to be introduced into it without difficulty.
The operation of the hook described is as follows:
Whether open or shut, the hook is passed under a weft thread 29 by pushing it forward (FIG. 10) exactly as in the conventional procedure with the needle. The pointed end 21 of the hook makes this operation easy, and it can be made still easier by slightly inclining the pointed end away from the plane of the body at 21' as shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 10 intentionally shows the hook closed.
As the hook is advanced in the canvas, the knuckle 26 of this hook passes into the canvas mesh, which pushes the knuckle into the body 19 and causes the arm 27 to pivot and open the hook portion 20 as shown in FIG. 11. It is then easy to introduce the wool staple into the open hook portion.
Upon continued advance of the hook, it is finally brought to the position as shown in FIG. 12 where the threads of the canvas cause the hook to close. The wool staple is held in the hook portion and all that remains is to pull the hook forward and make it pass under the weft thread.
In contrast therefore to all known existing hooks of this type, which open in one direction of motion and close upon being moved in the opposite direction, the hook according to the invention opens on encountering the threads of the canvas at a given point of its travel, and closes after having accomplished a further movement in the same direction, its motion being therefore unidirectional, as with the needle method.
This considerably increases the rate of work compared with the known hooks, and moreover allows working with a closer-woven canvas, that is with very small openings between the meshes, thus giving the carpet an increased foundation strength, while allowing the use of one wool staple per knot, which facilitates changes of color and consequently the execution of varied designs.
This hook therefore combines the advantages of the needle and of the conventional hook.
It must be noted that, as with the conventional hooks, the closure position of arm 27 could be determined by its contact with the end 20 of the hook portion. This would, however, provide the possibility of fine tufts of canvas or also of the staple being improperly twisted during the working operation. For this reason, it is preferable to establish the closing position by using the inside wall of slot 22 as a stop at 22'. This allows the closing position to be fixed so as to ensure easy and accurate slipping of the hook across the canvas.
As described at the beginning of this specification one direction of work from right to left for needle hooking was mentioned and from left to right for hooking with the conventional hook or with the hook according to the present invention. These indications are not however limitative, though customary, since the knot is most generally made as shown in FIG. 2. There is nothing, however, to prevent reversing it from left to right and to work in the direction opposite to the directions generally accepted in practice.
The drawing illustrates the hook according to the invention on greatly enlarged scale, the normal size of the hook being about 8 cm in length.