What is a Weaving Heald Frame?
Weaving heald frame is one of the most important components of a loom. It aids in the processing of yarn in the weaving loom with the help of shedding mechanism.
Most of the modern day looms have heald frame accessories which separate and raise some warp yarns above others. This process of segregation or separation is basically known as shedding and enables a shuttle to pass through the weave shed along with the weft thread. The motion of shuttle is always in perpendicular direction to the warp yarns so that weft can be easily interlaced into these threads and fabric can be woven fast. However the position of warp yarns and weft yarns are altered after movement of the shuttle every time.
When it comes to the structure, heald frame is rectangular in shape and supported well by a set of thin wires known as healds or heddles. These heddles remain attached to the heddle frame in a vertical manner and threads move through their eye holes to start weaving fabric. The weaving style or pattern decides which frame will control how much threads and in which section. Moreover the number and function of heald frames or harnesses depend on the complexity or simplicity of the weaving process. Two widely used methods of moving the heald frame are 7 order polynomial and simple harmonic. However the first one is a better choice than the second one for movement of heddle frames in speedy weaving looms.
Heddle frames are now available in metal finish and can be used for weaving in Airjet looms, rapier looms, shuttle looms, waterjet looms, shuttleless looms and projectile looms. Their length varies from 100 to 800 mm and gauge from 16 to 32. They are also available in various shapes including inserted, twisted, twisted and inserted with all eye hole size options. In addition to this, heald frame is reinforced with nickel or tin plating to provide strong support to demanding weaving tasks. It is made of light weight materials and ensures durability all the time.