Heddle frame with adjustable center brace assembly

A heddle frame for supporting a plurality of heddles, said frame comprising:

• a top rail and a bottom rail, and end members connecting said top rail and said bottom rail to form a generally rectangular frame structure therewith;
• a top and a bottom heddle bar longitudinally supported on said frame structure for supporting heddles within said frame structure;
• a vertically adjustable center brace assembly extending between said top rail and said bottom rail intermediate of said end members for maintaining parallelism of said top and bottom rails, said center brace assembly further comprising
• an elongated brace extending through said top rail and having a bottom end adjustably and lockingly engaged with said bottom rail, said brace comprising a top end having a head with a width sized to be engaged and rotated by a drive tool without contacting adjacent heddle frames;
• a locking block disposed over said head and removably attached to said top rail, said locking block having a recess defined therein with a width corresponding generally to that of said head, and
• wherein in a locked configuration of said center brace assembly, said locking block is fixedly mounted to said top rail with said head residing within said recess of said locking block thereby preventing rotation of said head and brace by sides of said recess clamping against said head, and in an adjusting configuration of said center brace assembly said locking block is removed from said top rail and said head is rotatable for vertically adjusting said brace without interfering with adjacent heddle frames;
• and
• wherein said recess in said locking block has a height generally less than that of said head, and in said locking configuration said locking block is bolted to said top rail causing said locking block to bow and clamp against said head.