What (who) is Jacquard looms - definition
![19th century [[Engineering drawing]] of a Jacquard loom.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Telaio Jacquard 1849.jpg?width=200 "19th century [[Engineering drawing]] of a Jacquard loom.")
![Austrian Jacquard [[handloom]], end of 19th century, National Museum of textile Industry, [[Sliven]], [[Bulgaria]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Hand-driven-jacquard-loom.jpg?width=200 "Austrian Jacquard [[handloom]], end of 19th century, National Museum of textile Industry, [[Sliven]], [[Bulgaria]]")
![[[Punched card]]s in use in a Jacquard loom. [[German Museum of Technology]], [[Berlin]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin February 2008 0013.JPG?width=200 "[[Punched card]]s in use in a Jacquard loom. [[German Museum of Technology]], [[Berlin]]")
![Weaving shuttle]] on a jacquard sample](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Textile-Shuttle.jpg?width=200 "Weaving shuttle]] on a jacquard sample")
![Jacquard looms in the Textile Department of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in [[Łódź]], [[Poland]].](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/JacquardLoomsSAFALodzPoland.jpg?width=200 "Jacquard looms in the Textile Department of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in [[Łódź]], [[Poland]].")
![Weaving on a jacquard loom with a [[flying shuttle]] at the Textile Department of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Poland.](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/JacquardWeavingPoland.jpg?width=200 "Weaving on a jacquard loom with a [[flying shuttle]] at the Textile Department of the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Poland.")
![Detail of ''Dove and Rose'' jacquard-woven silk and wool [[double cloth]] furnishing textile, designed by [[William Morris]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Morris Dove and Rose Detail.jpg?width=200 "Detail of ''Dove and Rose'' jacquard-woven silk and wool [[double cloth]] furnishing textile, designed by [[William Morris]]")
![Punched paper tape used to instruct the 1944 [[Harvard Mark I]] computer](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Harvard Mark I program tape.agr.jpg?width=200 "Punched paper tape used to instruct the 1944 [[Harvard Mark I]] computer")
Wikipedia
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 resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was patented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a "chain of cards"; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.
Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their inventor. This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving innovations as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of complex pattern weaving. The term "Jacquard" is not specific or limited to any particular loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning. The process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles such as jerseys.
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.
