METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FIBROUS ARTICLE ENGAGEMENT AND DISENGAGEMENT INCLUDING TWO DIFFERENT NEEDLE TYPES

摘要

A succession of fibrous sheet segments (10) are supplied from a rotary magazine (12) to a rotating bowl (14). Segments are added tot the bowl with their adjacent radial edges abutting each other and are passed beneath a reciprocating needle board (20), whereby filaments from the segments in upper layers are displaced into segments in lower layers to bind the segments together and form a self-supporting preform. Two needle heads (22) are able to move up and down and rotate in order to pick up a segment from the store and deposit that segment on the bowl. A few barbed needles (22A) pick up the segment and more grooved needles (22B) push through fibre to tack the segments down. A conical roller (28) bears against the top of the segments after they leave the needle board to bear against the preform to compress the fibres and also to provide a monitor of the distance between the needle board or the mounting block and the top layer of the preform.