Heddle

The heddles are responsible for the movement of the warp threads; each heddle consists of a wooden frame with vertical meshes (metal wires), equipped with eyelets, through which the groups of warp threads pass. The information read by the needles of the Jacquard machine from punch cards translates into the lifting of the heddles that govern the selected threads. The heddles are kept in tension by a weight (called "melanzana", eggplant); they can alternatively be fixed to the floor and moved by means of semi-mobile wooden strips ("calcolini").