Pliny Earle I (December 17, 1762 – November 19, 1832) was an American inventor who made wool and cotton carding pickers.

Among the many obstacles encountered by Samuel Slater in the introduction into the United States of the manufacture of cotton by machinery was the difficulty of procuring card clothing for his machines.

This led him to the invention of the machine for pricking "twilled" cards, by which the labor of a man for fifteen hours could be performed in as many minutes.

He was a member of the Society of Friends, and, apart from his inventive genius, made extensive attainments in science and literature.

At the time of his death he was engaged in a translation of Sismondi's Italian Republics, and in the compilation of a Grammatical Dictionary of the French and the English Languages.