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

Wilcom Pty Ltd, "An improved tufting machine" (EP2077348B1)

Patent · not yet checked at the source

Made by: William Brian Wilson, Mile Jez, Joseph Van Woerkom; Wilcom Pty Ltd
Date: AU priority 4 Jan 2008 (AU2008900045); B1 granted 31 Aug 2011
Place: Australia (EP filing)
Number: EP2077348B1
Themes: Hand-tufting tools & the gun, Tools & equipment, Global diffusion of tufting

View at the source Cited in chapter 9, note 38 Cited in chapter 12, note 26

Cite this source

Wilcom Pty Ltd, “An improved tufting machine” (EP2077348B1), AU priority 4 Jan 2008 (AU2008900045); B1 granted 31 Aug 2011. patents.google.com/patent/EP2077348B1/en.

Research notes

This is Wilcom's second-generation computer-guided tufting head, able to vary pile height. Its main value here is the background statement naming the two best-known German hand guns: "a traditional hand tufting gun for instance, Hofmann™ or Hartleb™, each of which are limited to tufting along an outline at a constant pile height". It is the only patent text found that names Hofmann. US counterpart: US8225727B2 (filed 3 Dec 2008, granted 24 Jul 2012). Trade press: Textile World (July 2012) covered Wilcom's AutoTuft pneumatic tufting head. Verified Oct 2026 by web search only. patents.google.com and Espacenet could not be opened from the sandbox, so I did not read the document itself. The B1 number, title, grant date and priority come from the EPO Global Patent Index. I did not see the A1 publication date (probably 2009), so the B1 is cited. Research note (Oct 2026): found through search results; the patent document itself wasn't opened. The Patent drawings job fetches the document from Google Patents; if drawings appear on this record, the number is confirmed.