Patent 7624763 was granted and assigned to Groz-Beckert on December, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In the heald shaft (1) according to the invention, a coupling device (8) is provided which serves for connecting the end binder (4) with the shaft rod (3) and which has a spring-biased clamping member (18) for frictionally holding a coupling element (20) in the shaft rod (3). When required, the clamping member (18) may be moved into its releasing position against the force of the spring element (30) for releasing the coupling element (20), so that the latter may be pulled out of the shaft rod (3) alone, or possibly together with other components of the coupling device (8). Operating such a coupling device is particularly simple and requires neither particular skill nor particular attention. The coupling device (8) is adapted for shaft rods of lightweight construction.