Jacquard loom

In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard, a silk-weaver, invented an improved textile loom. The Jacquard loom was the first machine to use punched card. These punched cards controlled the weaving, enabling an ordinary workman to produce the most beautiful patterns in a style previously accomplished only with patience, skill, and hard work.   Invention: Jacquard Loom in 1801 Function: noun /  a weaving loom named after its inventor Definition: Jacquard's loom mechanism is controlled by recorded patterns of holes in a string of cards, and allows, what is now known as, the Jacquard weaving of intricate patterns. Patent: The French government claimed the loom to be public property. Inventor: Joseph Marie Jacquard Criteria: First to invent. First practical. Entrepreneur. Birth: July 7, 1752 in Lyon, France Death: August 7, 1834 in Oullins, France Nationality: French Milestones: CAPS: Jaquard, Joseph Marie Jacquard,  ARY,  loom, Jacquard, loom, weaving, computer, SIP, history, biography, inventor, invention, story, facts.
Joseph-Marie Jacquard, born in Lyons, France in 1752, was born into a family of weavers.  The weaving profession was a long and tedious process, often taking long periods of time to produce the fine woven fabrics of that era.  When his parents passed away, Joseph inherited the family weaving business. The amount of time that was put into such a profession almost eliminated the profit of the fabric, so Joseph saw it fit to invent a loom that would design such patterns automatically. Previously, in order to make the intricate patterns of the fabric, there was a need for a drawboy, the least glamorous of any position in the weaving industry. The drawboy was to sit inside the loom and lift or move a number of threads according to the directions of the master weaver. After lifting or moving the threads, the shuttle pulled a thread through, showing only where the master weaver instructed.  Joseph began his invention, and was interrupted by the French Revolution, and then afterwards completed his invention in 1801.  He presented his invention in Paris in 1804, and was awarded a medal and patent for his design, however the French government claimed the loom to then be public property, giving Jacquard a slight royalty and a small pension.
Jacquard’s invention helped not only the textile industry, but helped in the advance of technology.  The Jacquard loom not only cut back on the amount of human labor, but also allowed for patterns to now be stored on cards and to be utilized over and over again to achieve the same product.The idea behind the Jacquard-loom was a system of punch cards and hooks.  The cards were made very thick and had rectangular holes punched in them.  The hooks and needles used in weaving were guided by these holes in the cardboard.  When the hooks came into contact with the card they were held stationary unless it encountered one of the punched holes.  Then the hook was able to pass through the hole with a needle inserting another thread, thus forming the desired pattern.  Intricate patterns were achieved by having many cards arranged one after the other and/or used repeatedly. This idea of punch cards was revolutionary because it used the idea of a machine having the ability to follow an algorithm. These punch cards were innovative because the cards had the capability to store information on them. This ability to store information was what helped spark the computer revolution. Jacquard's punch card system proved to be such a useful idea that it was incorporated into the ideas of many computer scientists that followed.