Apparatus for changing the needle boards of a needling machine

In an apparatus for changing the needle boards 3 of a needling machine, needle boards are arranged adjacently one behind the other and are coupled to each other in a tension-proof manner, for example by spring-loaded coupling hooks (14, figure 4). The needle boards 3 are supported in a feeding guide 2 and are provided with centring bushes (10, figure 2). These bushes are engageable by centring pins 9 of a step conveyor 5 which aligns the boards and moves them in the required direction. Preferably, each needle board has two sets of centring bushes spaced equally at half the board length, the conveyor step corresponding to this length.