this latter is inclined backwards relative to the direction of circulation to provide on its contact with the convex bar 17 a jamming or interference effect the strips 40 and the bars 17 are arranged so that the needles 24 of a bar place themselves into the gaps between the flexible lips of two consecutive strips 40 thus the sliver 2 coming from the food cylinders not shown is supported and controlled by the lower endless element 8 and the upper endless element 7 in order to be drawn by the drawing cylinders 15 16 and to emerge as a drawn sliver 2a it can easily be seen that thanks to such a combination of means the fibres are well held and controlled by the interacting action of the convex bars 17 having needles 24 and of the flexible lips 40 and wall parallelised and in more regular bunches through the effect of the needles up to the point a the last line of strong pinching between the fields 7 and 8 before the drawing cylinders 15 and 16 the fibres are well held and it is only between the points a and b b being the line of nip of the said drawing cylinders that the drawing process takes place in fig9 there has been shown the configuration which is assumed by a strip 40 having a flexible lip which exerts on the sheet of fibres 2 being treated a pressure which is greater the greater the thickness of the sliver in the middle of the sliver that is to say at the.