Low pile forming apparatus for tufting machine

Claim 1

In a staggered needle tufting machine having means for supporting the base fabric for longitudinal movement in the feeding direction through said machine, a first row of transversely spaced reciprocal front needles for introducing yarns through the base fabric to form front loops, a second row of transversely spaced reciprocal rear needles, spaced longitudinally behind, and uniformly staggered relative to, said first row of needles for introducing yarns through the base fabric to form rear loops, a low-pile tufting apparatus comprising: (a) a needle plate having a plurality of needle plate fingers projecting rearward, each needle plate finger having a top surface, (b) each of said needle plate fingers being in substantial longitudinal alignment with the reciprocal path of a corresponding rear needle, each of said needle plate fingers terminating adjacent to and slightly spaced in front of said corresponding rear needle path, (c) a looper apparatus including a looper for each needle having a bill adapted to cooperate with a corresponding needle to form pile loops in operative position, each bill having a top surface, and (d) means supporting said looper apparatus for reciprocable movement so that each looper bill cooperates with a corresponding needle, and the top surface of said looper bills are coplanar with the top surfaces of said needle plate fingers to support the base fabric upon the top surfaces of the loopers and the needle plate fingers when said loopers are in operative position and as the base fabric moves longitudinally in the feeding direction through the machine.