A carding machine incorporating a train of co-operating rollers (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76), each roller incorporates angled forward (118) and backward (119) facing teeth and each roller rotates in the opposite direction to and with a surface speed substantially faster than its predecessor, thus causing in said train at least one slower input section (42, 43) and a faster output section (73, 74, 75, 76). The machine incorporates interleaved rings of teeth (14) in precise construction to increase the feed of fibers from the slower entry end of the train to take advantage of the (potentially) faster output of the fibers at the exit end of the train. The carding is done in a substantially rectangular manner as the fibers pass through the train. It is preferred that at least in the slower input section of the train each roller incorporates rings of forward-backward teeth (120, 121) which are integral with the special outer part (81) of the rollers (79). One construction includes a device to remove the fibers at high speed from the exit end of the train. This device includes a doffer (152), first (153) and second (154) take-off rollers and air jets (156, 157) passing between the doffer, the second take-off roller and the first take-off roller.

In a carding machine for making non woven fiber laps and natural or synthetic fiber webs there are provided either a single carding unit or multiple carding units, each carding unit including a first carding drum and a conveyor cylinder cooperating with the first carding drum, as well as a second carding drum. Between the first and second carding drums there are arranged, after the conveyor cylinder, two or more combing cylinders for conveying the half-finished fiber web to the second carding drum. Each combing cylinder, supplied by a single conveyor cylinder, is followed by a distributor cylinder cooperating with a further cylinder for removing the carded webs or laps. As the carding machine includes multiple carding units, each drum is followed by a conveyor cylinder supplying two or more combing cylinders, the carding drum also including several operating assemblies for evenly spreading the fibers on the drums.

In a nonwoven card for the production of nonwoven fabric of fiber material, with a drawing-in means (2,4), a licker-in (6), a main cylinder (16), and at least one fiber doffer means (18) engaged with the main cylinder (16), for doffing a card web, the drawing-in means (2,4) transferring the fiber material to the licker-in (6) and a transfer means (8) transferring the fiber material at least double from the licker-in (6) to the main cylinder (16) via rollers (10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 12, 12a, 12b, 14), it is provided that at least one of the rollers (10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 12, 12a, 12b, 14) of the transfer means (8) is a random roller (10, 10a, 10b, 10c) rotating in the same direction as the main cylinder (16) and the licker-in (6).

A fiber web is formed by the airlay technique on a web forming and transport surface by dispersing and projecting individualized fibers onto said surface by means of a flow of air, and the fibers are subjected to a carding operation prior to being inserted into the flow of air. According to an essential characteristic of the invention, action is taken on the fiber feed rate by means of one or more regulator systems between the carding operation and the insertion of the fibers into the air flow so as to make said fiber feed rate more regular. In a preferred variant of the invention, a regulator system comprises at least a combing cylinder which is designed to be rotated to have a circumferential speed that is strictly less than that of the carding cylinder and that rotates in a direction of rotation that is opposite to that of the carding cylinder, and that is coated on its periphery with a covering whose teeth or spikes point backwards, i.e. in the opposite direction to its direction of rotation.