The
Jacquard loom is a mechanical
loomA loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used looms as early as 4000 BC.The basic purpose of any loom is to...
, invented by
Joseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom , which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as computers.- Early life :First, it should be noted that...
in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade,
damaskDamask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
, and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punchcards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row of the design. Multiple rows of holes are punched on each card and the many cards that compose the design of the textile are strung together in order.
The
Jacquard loom is a mechanical
loomA loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used looms as early as 4000 BC.The basic purpose of any loom is to...
, invented by
Joseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom , which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as computers.- Early life :First, it should be noted that...
in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade,
damaskDamask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
, and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punchcards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row of the design. Multiple rows of holes are punched on each card and the many cards that compose the design of the textile are strung together in order. It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen
Basile BouchonBasile Bouchon was a textile worker in the silk center in Lyon who invented a way to control a loom with a perforated paper tape in 1725. The son of an organ maker, Bouchon partially automated the tedious setting up process of the drawloom in which an operator lifted the warp threads using...
(1725), Jean Falcon (1728) and Jacques Vaucanson (1740).
Principles of Operation
Each hole in the card corresponds to a "Bolus" hook, which can either be up or down. The hook raises or lowers the harness, which carries and guides the
warpIn weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end. Warp means "that which is thrown across" .When weaving with a loom, the warp yarns are fully attached before weaving begins.Warp is spun fibre...
thread so that the
weftIn weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn under and over parallel warp yarns to create a fabric. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn", and in India, it is referred to as "baana", which is derived from another hindi word "bun na" or "bunai"...
will either lie above or below it. The sequence of raised and lowered threads is what creates the pattern. Each hook can be connected via the harness to a number of threads, allowing more than one repeat of a pattern. A loom with a 400 hook head might have four threads connected to each hook, resulting in a fabric that is 1600
warp endsIn weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end. Warp means "that which is thrown across" .When weaving with a loom, the warp yarns are fully attached before weaving begins.Warp is spun fibre...
wide with four repeats of the weave going across.
The term "Jacquard loom" is a misnomer. It is the "Jacquard head" that adapts to a great many
dobby loomA Dobby Loom is a type of floor loom that controls the whole warp threads using a device called a dobby. Dobby is short for "draw boy" which refers to the weaver's helpers who used to control the warp thread by pulling on draw threads....
s such as the "Dornier" brand that allow the weaving machine to then create the intricate patterns often seen in
Jacquard weavingJacquard weaving makes possible in almost any loom the programmed raising of each warp thread independently of the others. This brings much greater versatility to the weaving process, and offers the highest level of warp yarn control...
.
Jacquard looms, whilst relatively common in the textile industry, are not as ubiquitous as dobby looms which are usually faster and much cheaper to operate. However unlike jacquard looms they are not capable of producing so many different weaves from one
warpIn weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end. Warp means "that which is thrown across" .When weaving with a loom, the warp yarns are fully attached before weaving begins.Warp is spun fibre...
. Modern jacquard looms are controlled by computers in place of the original punched cards, and can have thousands of hooks.
The threading of a Jacquard loom is so labor intensive that many looms are threaded only once. Subsequent
warpIn weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end. Warp means "that which is thrown across" .When weaving with a loom, the warp yarns are fully attached before weaving begins.Warp is spun fibre...
s are then tied in to the existing warp with the help of a knotting robot which ties each new thread on individually. Even for a small loom with only a few thousand
warp endsIn weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end. Warp means "that which is thrown across" .When weaving with a loom, the warp yarns are fully attached before weaving begins.Warp is spun fibre...
the process of re-threading can take days.
Importance to Computing
The Jacquard loom was the first machine to use punch cards to control a sequence of operations. Although it did no computation based on them, it is considered an important step in the
history of computing hardwareThe history of computing hardware is the record of the constant drive to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and store more data.Before the development of the general-purpose computer, most calculations were done by humans. Tools to help humans calculate are generally called calculators...
. The ability to change the pattern of the loom's weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of
computer programmingComputer programming is the process of writing, testing, debugging/troubleshooting, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in a programming language. The code may be a modification of an existing source or something completely new...
. Specifically,
Charles BabbageCharles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, a perfectly functioning difference engine was...
planned to use cards to store programs in his
Analytical engineThe analytical engine, an important step in the history of computers, was the design of a mechanical general-purpose computer by the British mathematician Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837, but Babbage continued to work on the design until his death in 1871. Because of financial,...
.
See also
- Timeline of clothing and textiles technology
Timeline of clothing and textiles technology.*pre-history – spindle used to create yarn from fibres.* – loom.*c. 27000 BC – Impressions of textiles and basketry and nets left on little pieces of hard clay....
- Luddite
The Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their entire way of...
- Jacquard weaving
Jacquard weaving makes possible in almost any loom the programmed raising of each warp thread independently of the others. This brings much greater versatility to the weaving process, and offers the highest level of warp yarn control...