After French revolution woven silk, especially silk with elaborate brocades or design, was in demand both in France and abroad. Weaving designs into silk was an extremely time consuming process.
A skilled weaver and drawboy using the best equipment available could produce only about an inch (2.54 cm) of designed silk cloth a day.
The Jacquard Loom, developed in 1801 invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard, is often quoted as a source of prior art. It is a mechanical loom, which used the holes punched in pasteboard punch cards to control the weaving of patterns on fabric.
The loom enabled even amateur weavers to weave complex designs. Each punch card corresponds to one row of the design and the cars were strung together in order.
Punching holes in a card was a much faster and more reliable process than tying up the leashes to the warp threads.
He patented this improved loon that could create silk fabric decorated with small, simple patterns without the help of a drawboy.
In 1804 Jacquard unveiled the loom that now bears his name. The Jacquard Loom incorporated ideas from other, experimental looms, but in a way that created a uniquely practical machine.
The device was an immediate success and by 1812 there were 11,000 Jacquard Looms in use in France.
Herman Hollerith refined the machine and invented the Hollerith punched card, the card reader, and the key punch machine.
In 1830s, a British scientist, Charles Babbage attempted to build something he called Analytical Engine a precursor to the modern computer by using the idea of Jacquard Looms.
Modern Jacquard Looms are still in use were soon applied to other machines, including early information-storage systems.
Jacquard Loom by Joseph Marie Jacquard
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