Tufting needle modular unit

Claim 2

A tufting needle module comprising a body member having front and rear longitudinally extending surfaces, a plurality of similarly disposed elongated needles integrally formed with the body member and having point portions depending therefrom, said needles being equally spaced apart longitudinally along the body member, the spacing between adjacent needles defining the pitch of the needles of said module, protuberance means defining at least one male formation on one of the front and rear surfaces, recess means defining a like number of female formations on the other of said surfaces, said male formations being offset longitudinally from said female formations by a distance equal to an odd number multiple of one-half the pitch of the needles, said female formations being sized to cooperatively receive a male formation, and each of said male and female formations being at like equal spacing longitudinally along respective faces, whereby two such modules may be cooperatively arranged in a two row assembly with the front surface of one in engagement with the rear surface of the other and needles in one row offset from those in the other row by one-half the pitch of the needles of each module.

Claim 3

A tufting needle module as recited in claim 1 wherein there are two male and two female formations.

Claim 4

A tufting needle module as recited in claim 1 wherein said odd number is equal to one.

Claim 5

A tufting needle module as recited in claim 1 wherin said body member includes means defining an elongated aperture, said aperture having a major axis extending longitudinally relative to said surfaces for receiving a common mounting member through two such modules in a two row assembly.

Claim 6

A tufting needle module as recited in claim 1 wherein said surfaces having said male formations includes a rebated step at its lower edge, and the surface having said female formations includes a protruding lip of equal dimension to said step.

Claim 7

A needle assembly comprising at least two rows of needle modules arranged one behind the other, each module comprising a body member having front and rear longitudinally extending surfaces, a plurality of similarly disposed elongated needles integrally formed with the body member and having point portions depending therefrom, said needles being equally spaced apart longitudinally along the body member, the spacing between adjacent needles defining the pitch of the needles of each module, protuberance means defining at least one male formation on one of the front and rear surfaces, recess means defining a like number of female formations on the other of said surfaces, said male formations being offset longitudinally from said female formations by a distance equal to an odd number multiple of one-half the pitch of the needles, said female formations being sized to cooperatively receive a male formation from a module in an adjacent row, and each of said male and female formations being at like equal spacing longitudinally along respective faces, whereby the front surface of the modules in one row cooperatively engage the rear surface of respective modules in an adjacent row and the modules of one row are off-set in relation to the respective modules in the other row by one-half the pitch of the needles of each module.

Claim 8

A needle assembly comprising at least two rows of needle modules arranged one behind the other, each module comprising a body member having front and rear longitudinally extending surfaces, a plurality of similarly disposed elongated needles integrally formed with the body member and having point portions depending therefrom, said needles being equally spaced apart longitudinally along the body member, the spacing between adjacent needles defining the pitch of the needles of each module, protuberance means defining at least one male formation on one of the front and rear surfaces, recess means defining a like number of female formations on the other of said surfaces, said male formations being offset longitudinally from said female formations by a distance equal to an odd number multiple of one-half the pitch of the needles, said female formations being sized to cooperatively receive a male formation from a module in an adjacent row, and each of said male and female formations being at like equal spacing longitudinally along respective faces, whereby the front surface of the modules in one row cooperatively engage the rear surface of respective modules in an adjacent row and the modules of one row are off-set in relation to the respective modules in the other row by one-half the pitch of the needles of each module.

Claim 9

A needle assembly as recited in claim 6 wherein each row of modules comprises a multiplicity of longitudinally abutting modules.

Claim 10

A needle assembly as recited in claim 6 wherein each module includes two male and two female formations.

Claim 11

A needle assembly as recited in claim 6 wherein the body member of each module includes means defining an elongated aperture, said aperture having a major axis extending longitudinally relative to said surfaces for receiving a common mounting member through respective modules in adjacent rows.

Claim 12

A needle assembly as recited in claim 6 wherein said surface having said male formations includes a rebated step at its lower edge, and the surface having said female formations includes a protruding lip of equal dimension to said step, whereby the protruding lip of the modules in one row cooperatively engage the rebated step of respective modules in an adjacent row.