Jacquard machine
The Jacquard machine (French: [ʒakaʁ]) is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé.
The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804,[4][5][6][7] based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740).
The term "Jacquard" is not specific or limited to any particular loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning.
[10] This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware, having inspired Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.
The first prototype of a Jacquard-type loom was made in the second half of the 15th century by an Italian weaver from Calabria, Jean le Calabrais, who was invited to Lyon by Louis XI.
[13] An improvement of the draw loom took place in 1725, when Basile Bouchon introduced the principle of applying a perforated band of paper.
At each quarter rotation, a new card is presented to the Jacquard head which represents one row (one "pick" of the shuttle carrying the weft).
[16] A loom with a 400-hook head might have four threads connected to each hook, resulting in a fabric that is 1600 warp ends wide with four repeats of the weave going across.
Modern jacquard machines are controlled by computers in place of the original punched cards and can have thousands of hooks.
Originally, Jacquard machines were mechanical, and the fabric design was stored on a series of punched cards which were joined to form a continuous chain.
The computer-controlled machines significantly reduce the down time associated with changing punchcards, thereby allowing smaller batch sizes.
Larger machines accommodating single-end warp control are very expensive and can only be justified when great versatility or very specialized designs are required.
For example, they are an ideal tool to increase the ability and versatility of niche linen Jacquard weavers who remain active in Europe and the West, while most large batch commodity weaving has moved to low-cost production.
[21] A pinnacle of production using a Jacquard machine is a prayer book, woven in silk, entitled Livre de Prières.
Tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle.
Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard machines and planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical Engine.
A large data processing industry using punched-card technology was developed in the first half of the twentieth century—dominated initially by the International Business Machine corporation (IBM) with its line of unit record equipment.
Some early computers, such as the 1944 IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Mark I) received program instructions from a paper tape punched with holes, similar to Jacquard's string of cards.
