Jacquard loom

The Jacquard machine (French: [ʒakaʁ]) is a device fitted to a power loom that
simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as
brocade, damask and matelassé.[3] It was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in
1804.[4] The loom was controlled by a "chain of cards"; a number of punched cards
laced together into a continuous sequence.[5] Multiple rows of holes were punched
on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.
Several such paper cards, generally white in color, can be seen in the images below.
Chains, like Bouchon's earlier use of paper tape, allowed sequences of any length to
be constructed, not limited by the size of a card.

It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean

Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740).[6] A static display of a
Jacquard loom is the centrepiece of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs in
Lyon.[7] Live displays of a Jacquard loom are available at a few private museums
around Lyon and also twice a day at La Maison des Canuts, as well as at other
locations around the world.

Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their This portrait of Jacquard was woven
inventor. This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving inventions in silk on a Jacquard loom and
as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties required 24,000 punched cards to
of pattern weaving. The term "Jacquard" is not specific or limited to any particular create (1839). It was only produced
to order. Charles Babbage owned
loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning.
one of these portraits; it inspired him
The process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles, in using perforated cards in his
such as jerseys.[8] analytical engine.[1] It is in the
collection of the Science Museum in
This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is
London, England.[2]
considered an important step in thehistory of computing hardware.

Contents
History
Principles of operation
Mechanical Jacquard looms
Electronic Jacquard looms
The Woven Silk Prayer Book
Importance in computing
Examples
See also
References
Sources
External links

History
Traditionally, figured designs were made on a drawloom. The heddles with warp
ends to be pulled up were manually selected by a second operator, the draw boy, not
the weaver. The work was slow and labour-intensive, and the complexity of the
pattern was limited by practical factors.

An improvement of the draw loom took place in 1725, when Basile Bouchon
introduced the principle of applying a perforated band of paper. A continuous roll of
paper was punched by hand, in sections, each of which represented one lash or tread,
and the length of the roll was determined by the number of shots in each repeat of
pattern. The Jacquard machine then evolved from this approach.

Joseph Marie Jacquard saw that a mechanism could be developed for the production
of sophisticated patterns. He possibly combined mechanical elements of other
inventors, but certainly innovated. His machine was generally similar to Vaucanson's
arrangement, but he made use of Jean-Baptiste Falcon's individual paste board cards
and his square prism (or card "cylinder"): he is credited with having fully perforated
each of its four sides, replacing Vaucanson's perforated "barrel". Jacquard's machine
also contained eight rows of needles and uprights, where Vaucanson had double row, 19th century Jacquard loom
a modification that enabled him to increase the figuring capacity of the machine. In
his first machine, he supported the harness by knotted cords, which he elevated by a
single trap board.

One of the chief advantages claimed for the Jacquard machine was that unlike previous damask-weaving machines, in which the
figuring shed was usually drawn once for every four shots, with the new apparatus, it could be drawn on every shot, thus producing a
fabric with greater definition of outline.[9]

Jacquard's invention had a deep influence onCharles Babbage. In that respect, he is viewed by some authors as a precursor of modern
computing science.[10]

Principles of operation
On the diagram to the right, the cards are fastened into a continuous chain(1) which
passes over a square box. At each quarter rotation a new card is presented to the
Jacquard head which represents one row. The box swings from the right to the
position shown and presses against the control rods(2). Where there is a hole the rod
passes through the card and is unmoved whereas if the hole is not punched the rod is
pushed to the left. Each rod acts upon a hook(3). When the rod is pushed in the hook
moves out of position to the left, a rod that is not pushed in leaves its hook in place.
A beam(4) then rises under the hooks and those hooks in the rest location are raised;
the hooks that have been displaced are not moved by the beam. Each hook can have
multiple cords(5). The cords pass through a guide(6) and are attached to their
heddle(7) and a return weight(8). The heddles raise the warp to create the shed
through which the shuttle carrying the weft will pass. 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.

The term "Jacquard loom" is somewhat inaccurate. It is the "Jacquard head" that
adapts to a great many dobby looms that allow the weaving machine to then create Jacquard 2
the intricate patterns often seen inJacquard weaving.
Jacquard looms, although 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
warp. 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 warps are then tied into
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 ends the process of re-threading can take days.

Mechanical Jacquard looms

Originally the Jacquard machines were mechanical, and the fabric design was stored
in a series of punched cards which were joined to form a continuous chain. The
Jacquards often were small and only independently controlled a relatively few warp
ends. This required a number of repeats across the loom width. Larger capacity
machines, or the use of multiple machines, allowed greater control, with fewer
repeats, and hence larger designs could be wovenacross the loom width.

A factory must choose looms and shedding mechanisms to suit its commercial
requirements. As a rule the more warp control required the greater the expense. So it
is not economical to purchase Jacquard machines if one can make do with a dobby
mechanism. As well as the capital expense, the Jacquard machines are more costly
to maintain, as they are complex and require higher skilled personnel; an expensive
design system is required to prepare the designs for the loom, and possibly a card-
cutting machine. Weaving is more costly since Jacquard mechanisms are more likely
to produce faults than dobby or cam shedding. Also, the looms will not run as
quickly and down-time will increase because it takes time to change the continuous Punched cards in use in a Jacquard
chain of cards when a design changes. For these reasons it is best to weave larger loom.
batches with mechanical Jacquards.

Electronic Jacquard looms

It is recorded that in 1855 a Frenchman [11] adapted the Jacquard mechanism to a
system by which it could be worked by electro-magnets. There was significant
interest, however trials were not successful, and the development was soon lost in
history.

Bonas Machine Company Ltd.[12] launched the first successful electronic Jacquard
at ITMA,[13] Milan in 1983. Although the machines were initially small, modern A punch for Jacquard cards
technology has allowed Jacquard machine capacity to increase significantly, and
single end warp control can extend to more than 10,000 warp ends. This avoids the
need for repeats and symmetrical designs and allows almost infinite versatility. The computer-controlled machines significantly
reduce the down time associated with changing punched paper designs, thus allowing smaller batch sizes. However, electronic
Jacquards are costly and may not be required in a factory weaving large batch sizes, and smaller designs. The larger machines
allowing single end warp control are very expensive, and can only be justified where great versatility is required, or very specialized
design requirements need to be met. For example, they are an ideal tool to increase the ability and stretch the versatility of the niche
linen Jacquard weavers who remain active in Europe and the West, while most of the large batch commodity weaving has moved to
low cost areas.

Linen products associated with Jacquard weaving are linen damask napery
, Jacquard apparel fabrics and damask bed linen.
Jacquard weaving of course uses all sorts of fibers and blends of fibers, and it is used in the production of fabrics for many end uses.
Research is under way to develop layered and shaped items as reinforcing components for structures made from
composite materials.

The Woven Silk Prayer Book

A pinnacle of production using a Jacquard loom is a prayer book, woven in silk. The book's title is "Livre de Prières tissé d'après les
enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVI siecle".[14][15][16] All 58 pages of the prayer book were made of silk, woven on a
Jacquard loom, using black and gray thread. The pages have elaborate borders with text and pictures of saints. It is estimated that
200,000 to 500,000 punch cards were necessary to encode the pages, at 160 threads per cm (400 threads per inch).

It was issued in 1886 and 1887, in Lyon, France. It was publicly displayed at the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair). It was
designed by R.P.J. Hervier, woven by J.A. Henry and published by A. Roux. It took 2 years and almost 50 trials to get correct. An
estimated 50 or 60 copies were produced.

Importance in computing
The Jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations. It is considered an important step in the
history of computing hardware.[17] 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 programming and data entry. Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard looms and
planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical Engine. In the late 19th century, Herman Hollerith took the idea of using
punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for
the 1890 U.S. Census. A large data processing industry using punched-card technology, 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. The
cards were used for data, however, with programming done byplugboards.

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. Later computers executed programs from
higher-speed memory, though cards were commonly used to load the programs into memory. Punched cards remained in use in
computing up until the mid 1980s.

Examples
Austrian Jacquard Close-up view of comber Punched cards in use in weaving shuttle on a
handloom, end of 19th board, harness, mails, a Jacquard loom. jacquard sample
century, National weights (Lingoes) and German Museum of
Museum of textile warp with 1040 ends Technology, Berlin
Industry, Sliven, Bulgaria

Punched card loom Weaver in a silk-weaving Close-up view of the 8 × Jacquard looms in the
mechanism in silk- workshop; Varanasi, 26 hole punched cards— Textile Department of the
weaving workshop; Uttar Pradesh, India one card per pick (weft) Strzemiński Academy of
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, in the fabric Fine Arts in Łódź,
India Poland.
 Weaving on a jacquard Following the pattern, Detail of Dove and Rose Punched paper tape
loom with a flying shuttle holes are punched in the jacquard-woven silk and used to instruct the 1944
at the Textile Department appropriate places on a wool double cloth Harvard Mark I computer
of the Strzemiński jacquard card at the furnishing textile,
Academy of Fine Arts in Department of Textile Art designed by William
Łódź, Poland. at Strzemiński Academy Morris
of Fine Arts in Łódź,
Poland.

Detail of Jaquard loom at Four Hattersley looms Carpet loom with

TextielMuseum Tilburg with the distinctive Jacquard apparatus by
Jacquard head Carl Engel, around 1860.

See also
Thomas Ferguson & Co Ltd, Jacquard Weaver

References
1. Hyman, Anthony, ed. Science and Reform: Selected Works of Charles Babbage
, Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press, 1989, p. 298.
2. Delve (2007), p. 99.
3. "Fabric Glossary" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090105170019/http://www .christinalynn.com/fabric-glossary.shtml).
Archived from the original (http://www.christinalynn.com/fabric-glossary.shtml) on January 5, 2009. Retrieved
2008-11-21.
4. Eric Hobsbawm, "The Age of Revolution", (London 1962; repr
. 2008), p.45.
5. "The London journal of arts and sciences (and repertory of patent inventions)"
(https://books.google.com/books?id=E
lUEAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22chain+of+cards%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s) . June 1, 1866: 334.
6. C. Razy p.120 (1913)
7. "Musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs"(http://www.museedestissus.com). Museedestissus.com. Retrieved
2013-10-05.
 8. Parrillo Chapman, Lisa (2008).Textile Design Engineering Within the Product Shape (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=QaHxO8qgZFYC&pg=PA69&dq=jacquard+knitting&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1K8YUbyEJ4yo0AXOkoDgDg&redir_esc=
y#v=onepage&q=jacquard%20knitting&f=false) . ProQuest. pp. 69–70.ISBN 1109003986.
9. Bradbury, Fred (1912). Jacquard Mechanisms and Harness Mounting
. John Heywood Ltd., Technical Book Depot,
Halifax, Yorks.
10. Essinger, James (2004). Jacquard's web. Oxford University Press, Oxford.ISBN 978-0-19-280578-2
11. The Irish Linen Trade Hand-Book and Directory (https://archive.org/stream/irishlinentrade00smitgoog#page/n110/mo
de/2up/)
12. Bonas.co.uk (http://www.bonas.co.uk/)
13. Cematex.org (http://www.cematex.org/)
14. Hindman, Sandra. "Meet Me at the World's Fair" (https://www.abebooks.com/books/livre-tisse-paris-1889-exposition/i
ndex.shtml). AbeBooks.com. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
15. "At Walters Art Museum, a 19th-century prayer book connected to computer pioneers"(https://www.baltimoresun.co
m/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-silk-book-computers-20190111-story
.html?fbclid=IwAR0hQA2VRrw0Jo0pfINXjCKbsVPC
A6qXPxm_ZoowsE3wHgTxlhM3fHuC5pA). Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
16. "A Prayerbook Entirely Woven by the Jacquard Loom: The First Book Produced by a Program or Digitally Produced
Book?" (http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=1870). Jeremy Norman's HistoryOfInformation.com.
Retrieved 11 February 2019.
17. Essinger, James (2004). Jacquard's Web: How a hand-loom led to thebirth of the information age. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-280577-0.

Sources
Nelson, Hector William (1909).Jacquard machines; instruction paper. Chicago: American School of
Correspondence.
Posselt, Emanuel Anthony (1887).The Jacquard machine analyzed and explained: with an appendix on the
preparation of Jacquard cards. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania museum and school of industrial art.
Posselt, Emanuel Anthony (1893).The Jacquard Machine Analyzed & Explained. The preparation of Jacquard cards
and practical hints to learners of Jacquard designing
. Philadelphia.
Razy, C. (1913). Étude analytique des petits modèles de métiers exposés au musée des tissus. Lyon, France:
Musée historique des tissus.

External links
Posselt, Emanuel A. (1892)The Jacquard machine analyzed and explained: the preparation of Jacquard cards and
practical hints to learners of Jacquard designing- digital facsimile from theLinda Hall Library

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