  the jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by joseph marie jacquard, first demonstrated in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelasse.eric hobsbawm, "the age of revolution", (london 1962; repr. 2008), p.45. the loom 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. several such paper cards, generally white in color, can be seen in the images below. chains, like the much later 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)c. razy p.120 (1913) a static display of a jacquard loom is the centrepiece of the  in lyon. 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. ==principles of operation== each position in the card corresponds to a "bolus" hook, which can either be raised or stopped dependent on whether the hole is punched out of the card or the card is solid. the hook raises or lowers the harness, which carries and guides the warp thread so that the weft will either lie above or below it. the sequence of raised and lowered threads is what creates the pattern. each hook can be connected to a number of threads, allowing more than one 
1804_introductions History_of_technology Textile_machinery Weaving_equipment