Edson P Foster

41108752, Sep 5, 1978

May 23, 1977

5/799484

Edson Perkins Foster - Cato WI

Foster Needle Company - Manitowoc WI

D04H 1800

28115

A felting needle, having a body with a crank at one end, a tip at the opposite end, and a blade between crank and tip, the formed end of the blade having a generally "H" shaped cross-sectional configuration to provide opposed longitudinal grooves adjacent the tip, and having a slot in the tip to define two points with the slot aligned with the grooves in the blade portion.

41563050, May 29, 1979

Sep 19, 1977

5/834315

Edson P. Foster - Cato WI

Foster Needle Company - Manitowoc WI

D04H 1800

28115

A felting needle, with thousands of its counterparts, must be identically reproducable and uniform so that consistent duplication of the finished product of felted material is possible. The method of the present invention, as well as the apparatus of this invention for practicing the method, have the capability, for the first time, of exact duplication of a felting-needle barb, with rounded contours on all faces and edges which contact the fibers, and with uniform size, shape and finish, all produced by a method which is essentially a one-step process reducing the number of steps of the manufacturing procedure to a minimum. Thus the apparatus and process provide a barb-forming tool which has a recess or cavity formed therein which is the exact mirror image or mating counterpart of the shape or outline of the barb and barb-recess to be formed in the needle, and which, with such contour-controlling and material-constraining cavity, produces an exact cavity, throat and barb each time the tool strikes the needle. Moreover, the complete forming of the throat and barb, including the depth, barb angle, face width, face angle, kickup (if any) and radii on the edges of the adjoining surfaces is accomplished simultaneously, in a single stroke of the forming tool.

40372979, Jul 26, 1977

Jun 15, 1976

5/689394

Edson Perkins Foster - Cato WI

Foster Needle Company, Inc. - Manitowoc WI

D04H 1800

28115

A felting needle, having a body with a blade, a tapered point at the outer end of the blade, the blade being non-circular in cross-section and the point being circular in cross-section near the tip, and at least one barb formed in the point area beyond the blade, said barb including a throat and a face, the throat disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the needle, and the face disposed at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of the needle.

40659550, Jan 3, 1978

Jun 15, 1976

5/689393

Edson Perkins Foster - Cato WI

Foster Needle Company, Inc. - Manitowoc WI

B21G 106

72476

A felting needle, with thousands of its counterparts, must be identically reproducible and uniform so that consistent duplication of the finished product of felted material is possible. The method of the present invention, as well as the apparatus of this invention for practicing the method, have the capability, for the first time, of exact duplication of a felting-needle barb, with rounded contours on all faces and edges which contact the fibers, and with uniform size, shape and finish, all produced by a method which is essentially a one-step process reducing the number of steps of the manufacturing procedure to a minimum. Thus the apparatus and process provide a barb-forming tool which has a recess or cavity formed therein which is the exact mirror image or mating counterpart of the shape or outline of the barb and barb-recess to be formed in the needle, and which, with such contour-controlling and material-constraining cavity, produces an exact cavity, throat and barb each time the tool strikes the needle. Moreover, the complete forming of the throat and barb, including the depth, barb angle, face width, face angle, kickup (if any) and radii on the edges of the adjoining surfaces is accomplished simultaneously, in a single stroke of the forming tool.

43098002, Jan 12, 1982

Aug 2, 1979

6/063294

Edson P. Foster - Cato WI

Foster Needle Co. - Manitowoc WI

D04H 1800

28115

A felting needle having a wedge-like tip with an open double barb formed in the leading edge of the tip. The double barb includes a pair of opposed outwardly diverging fiber-engaging surfaces with precisely formed angles. One outwardly diverging barb angle extends to one side of the needle, and the other outwardly diverging barb angle is disposed symmetrically and diametrically opposite thereto. Unlike ordinary barbs formed in a lateral edge of a felting needle, the double-barb of the present invention allows fibers to slip off to either side of the needle and thus prevent fiber damage.