Rotary needling process and support for making needled fibrous structures

摘要

The invention relates to rotary needling processes in which a multitude of felting needles are repeatedly driven into a fibrous structure disposed on a surface of a needle penetrable support as the support is rotated about an axis of rotation. The process according to the invention comprises the steps of removably fixing a needle penetrable sheet to a rotary needling support, the rotary needling support defining a face disposed beneath a multitude of felting needles and having a needle penetrable area, the needle penetrable sheet covering the face and being fixed to the rotary needling support outside the face; rotating the needle penetrable sheet about an axis of rotation; depositing at least a first fibrous layer on the needle penetrable sheet; cohering the first fibrous layer and the needle penetrable sheet by repeatedly driving the multitude of felting needles into the first fibrous layer and the needle penetrable sheet; and, removing the first fibrous layer and the needle penetrable sheet from the rotary needling support subsequent to the first fibrous layer and the needle penetrable sheet being cohered. According to a further aspect of the invention, a rotary needling support for use in the process is also provided.