Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Tapistron International: computerised yarn placement (CYP) tufting, Ringgold, Georgia

Company · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: Tapistron International, Inc.; Gary L. Ingram (inventor)
Date: founded 1986 (Bloomberg); CYP dated 1992 (one trade article); bankruptcy filed 1996; sold at auction 2001
Place: Ringgold, Georgia
Held by: Tapistron International, Inc.
Themes: Machine tufting & Dalton, Companies & modern tufting, Tools & equipment

View at the source Cited in chapter 12, note 16

Cite this source

Tapistron International, Inc.; Gary L. Ingram (inventor). “Tapistron International: computerised yarn placement (CYP) tufting, Ringgold, Georgia,” founded 1986 (Bloomberg); CYP dated 1992 (one trade article); bankruptcy filed 1996; sold at auction 2001. Tapistron International, Inc. chattanoogan.com/2001/7/10/10705/Tapistron-International-Being-Sold-At.aspx.

Research notes

Tapistron made the CYP (Computerized Yarn Placement) machine, a hollow-needle tufting machine that places individual coloured yarns to make patterned, coloured and textured carpets and rugs. Bloomberg gives its founding date as 7 Feb 1986 and its address as Ringgold, Georgia. A FloorDaily article on servo drives says Tapistron developed the CYP in 1992 for large-scale patterns. It describes the machine as slow but able to make woven-looking patterns by tufting, with scroll motors controlling yarn placement and six component colours. Tapistron's patents go back further. Gary L. Ingram's US4991523 ('Tufting apparatus', dated 12 Feb 1991) was assigned first to Textile Corporation of America, then to Tapistron, then to Frontier Bank. US5165352 (hollow-needle apparatus, filed Dec 1991) followed, with later patents by Davis (US5588383, 1996) and Samilo (US6293211, granted 25 Sep 2001). In a 2000 press release the company said it had installed seven of its patented simultaneous cut-and-loop CYP systems with leading manufacturers in ten months, including a sale near Dalton. Chattanoogan.com reported in July 2001 that Tapistron had filed for bankruptcy in Atlanta in 1996, had kept operating, had sold equipment to Shaw Industries, and was being sold at auction. A US5158027 record shows its patents later assigned to CYP Technologies, LLC (Tennessee). Conflicts: the 1992 'developed' date comes from one article and is later than Ingram's 1989–91 patents. Leadership is unclear: Rodney C. Hardeman Jr. is named CEO in 2000, and Larry Pierce in an undated item. Why it matters: Tapistron's machine placed individual coloured yarns under computer control, a full generation before ColorPoint. Sources: https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/TAPI:US · https://www.just-style.com/news/usa-tapistron-international-announces-placement-of-advanced-model-cyp-system/ · https://floordaily.net/?p=20962 · https://www.chattanoogan.com/2000/11/7/6611/Tapistron-Has-New-High-Speed-Tufting.aspx · https://patents.justia.com/assignee/tapistron-international-inc Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.