Patent ID: 7562426

Claim:
A method of forming a loop product, the method comprising introducing a sheet-form substrate and a layer of polymeric fibers into a needle loom, with the fibers disposed on a first surface of the substrate; and needling the fibers through the substrate to form hook-engageable loop structures of the fibers extending from a second surface of the substrate through holes formed in the substrate by the needling, wherein needling the fibers includes piercing the substrate with a plurality of needles while advancing the substrate in a machine direction at a predetermined speed, the needles being configured to form the hook-engageable loop structures, while cyclically advancing the needles in the machine direction, during piercing of the substrate, in a manner that causes the needles to travel in a substantially elliptical path, such that while the needles extend through the substrate the needles are moving in the machine direction.