irregular nature of the leather 10 this arrangement is preferable generally the basic elements of the needle punching machine are a web feeding mechanism 130 which includes drawing in rollers 131 a needle zone 150 including a needle beam 151 with a needle board 152 and needles 153 ranging in number from 500 per meter to 7500 per meter of machine width a stripper plate 155 a bed plate 156 and a fabric take up mechanism 160 including drawing off rollers 133 and 134 the fiber web 20 sometimes carried or reinforced by a scrim or other fabric is guided between the metal bed 156 and the stripper plates 155 which have openings corresponding to the arrangements of needles in the needle board a main drive 140 moves the needle beam 151 needle board 152 and needles 153 vertically through the leather and at least a portion of the fiber batt 20 and then back out of the leather in a repeating cycle needle punch non wovens are created by mechanically orienting and interlocking the fibers of a spunbonded or carded web this mechanical interlocking is achieved with thousands of barbed felting needles repeatedly passing into and out of the web fig4 shows a needle with barbs 153 a and 153 b which pulls fibers of the fiber web into the leather matrix the barbs pull the fibers and the needle penetrates into the leather dragging the fibers.