Apparatus for producing stitch bonded fabric

Abstract

Apparatus for producing stitch bonded fabric and having needles which penetrate a fleece and receives threads which are controlled by thread guides and also including wires which enter but do not completely penetrate the fleece whereby a loop of fibers are formed around a hook of the needle and retained thereby. The threads lock the interengaged stitch loops and means are provided to permit a thread to be passed over the hook formation of the needle to form a .[.tricot-.]. stitch seam to the fleece. .Iadd.

I claim: 
     
       1. An apparatus for producing a stitched bonded fabric from a fleece, said apparatus comprising a frame, a series of needles mounted in a spaced relation on said frame in a position to penetrate the fleece, a hook formation at the end of each needle, the hook formation being adapted to gather loops of fiber from the fleece upon withdrawal of the needle from the fleece, a corresponding number of thread guides mounted in the same plane as that of the needles and being reciprocally movable transversely on said frame to place threads on the hook formation at the end of each of said needles after penetrating said fleece, a rod positioned in each of said needles and being adapted to be moved partially through said fleece independently of said needles for mating engagement with said hook formations, a retention bar located below the level of the needles, and a series of support pins mounted on said frame and having their free ends cranked and positioned behind said retention bar to allow a thread on transverse movement of one of said thread guides to slide freely over the hook formation of one needle to the adjacent needle, whereby tricot stitches are formed and are locked into the fabric. .Iadd. 2. An apparatus for producing a stitched bonded fabric from a fleece, said apparatus comprising a frame, a series of needles mounted in a spaced relation on said frame in a position to penetrate the fleece, a hook formation at the end of each needle, the hook formation providing means to gather loops of fiber from the fleece during withdrawal of the needle from the fleece, a corresponding number of thread guides mounted in the same plane as that of the needles and being reciprocally movable transversely on said frame to place threads on the hook formation at the end of each of said needles after penetrating said fleece, a rod positioned in each of said needles and being movable partially through said fleece independently of said needles for mating engagement with said hook formations, a retention bar located below the level of the needles, and a series of support pins mounted on said frame and having their free ends cranked and positioned behind said retention bar. .Iaddend..Iadd. 3. An apparatus for producing a stitched bonded fabric from a fleece, said apparatus comprising a frame, a series of needles mounted in a spaced relation on said frame in a position to penetrate the fleece, a hook formation at the end of each needle, the hook formation providing means to gather loops of fiber from the fleece during withdrawal of the needle from the fleece, a corresponding number of thread guides mounted in the same plane as that of the needles and being reciprocally movable transversely on said frame to place threads on the hook formation at the end of each of said needles after penetrating said fleece, a rod positioned in each of said needles and being movable partially through said fleece independently of said needles for mating engagement with said hook formations, a retention bar located below the level of the needles and extending along the series of needles, and a series of support pins mounted on said frame and having free ends disposed toward said retention bar. .Iaddend..Iadd. 4. An apparatus for producing a bonded fabric from a fleece, said apparatus comprising a frame, a series of needles mounted in a spaced relation on said frame in a position to penetrate the fleece, a hook formation at the end of each needle, the hook formation providing means to gather loops of fiber from the fleece during withdrawal of the needle from the fleece, a rod positioned in each of said needles and being movable partially through said fleece independently of said needles for mating engagement with said hook formations, a retention bar located below the level of the needles, and a series of support pins mounted on said frame and having their free ends cranked and positioned behind said retention bar. .Iaddend.  .Iadd. 5. An apparatus for producing a bonded fabric from a fleece, said apparatus comprising a frame, a series of needles mounted in a spaced relation on said frame in a position to penetrate the fleece, a hook formation at the end of each needle, the hook formation providing means to gather loops of fiber from the fleece during withdrawal of the needle from the fleece, a rod positioned in each of said needles and being movable partially through said fleece independently of said needles for mating engagement with said hook formations, a retention bar located below the level of the needles and extending along the series of needles, and a series of support pins depending from a support bar mounted on said frame above the level of the needles, said pins being disposed toward said retention bar. .Iaddend..Iadd. 6. A method of producing stitch bonded fabric having fleece and fibers including the steps of passing a series of needles through a fleece, halting a rod or wire associated with each needle within the fleece, halting the needles after penetration of the fleece and before they have penetrated to an extent such that the greatest height of the needle has passed through the fleece, laying a thread over the hook of each needle, retracting the needles to draw the threads through the fleece in the form of loops, and simultaneously to collect by the inherent resiliency of the fleece a bundle of fibers from the region of the face of the fleece from which the needle hooks have projected, closing the hooks of the needles by said wires or rods to retain the threads and the fiber bunches in the needle hooks, retracting the needles together with said collected fibers and thread in said hooks, opening the needle hooks after retraction of the needles from the fleece, progressing the fleece in the take up direction, decreasing the thickness of the fleece by tightening of the stitches and by compressing the fleece between fleece guide arms and cranked support pins, and continuously repeating the cycle begun by passing the needles through the fleece to produce lines of fiber-locked stitches of thread to produce a fabric. .Iaddend..Iadd. 7. A textile comprising a fleece having a plurality of loose fibers, and a system of interlocking stitches of yarn having interlocked thread loops on one face of said fleece and connecting thread legs on the other face of said fleece, said yarn being locked against removal from the fleece by entanglement of said yarn and loose fibers in said stitches. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 8. The textile of claim 7 wherein said stitches are tricot stitches. .Iaddend.