Patent 7287554 was granted and assigned to Groz-Beckert on October, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An improved heald consists of a flat material, such as tempered steel. It has closed (O-shaped) end eyelets (5, 6) which are one-piece parts of the heald body (4). An edge (10) which extends along the full length of the heald (1), is of entirely straight configuration. In contrast, the oppositely-located edge (11) consists of offset straight portions. A particularity of the heald according to the invention resides in the fact that the openings (15, 16) provided in the end eyelets (5, 6) for receiving the shaft staves are eccentrically arranged, whereby the two webs (17, 18) bordering the openings (15, 16) have unlike widths. With a reduced material input and weight a heald is obtained which, as concerns stability and possibility of utilization in existing weaving systems is at least equivalent to conventional healds.