Abstract: Rectilinear vertical reciprocating movement is transmitted to the needle-holder beam of a needling machine by a crank mechanism preferably comprised of two horizontal auxiliary connecting rods hinged to a support of the beam. The two auxiliary connecting rods are mounted to the two sides of the needle-holder beam and support. Each auxiliary rod includes an end hinged to a related main connecting rod, with the other end being joined to the structure of the machine by a sliding block and two conjugate profiles. One of the profiles is fixed and the other profile is mobile. The profiles form a rolling coupling, so that each sliding block that is hinged to the related ancillary connecting rod slides when the crank mechanism runs between two extreme axial positions.