The needle machine consists of a needle board that moves vertically in rapid strokes, with the needles piercing a needle grid in the lower vertical movement. The fiber fleece is pulled through horizontally between a hold-down device and the needle grate at a defined speed.
Barbs on the needles bring the fibers from the fleece surface through it, which creates a vertical entanglement of the fibers within the fiber fleece. Depending on the number of strokes, puncture depth and the withdrawal speed of the fiber fleece, the needling can be more or less pronounced, with which, depending on the use of the goods, correspondingly harder or softer needle felts can be produced.