A power loom is a mechanized loom, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution. The first power loom was designed and patented in 1785 by Edmund Cartwright.[1] It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by the Howard and Bullough company made the operation completely automatic. This device was designed in 1834 by James Bullough and William Kenworthy, and was named the Lancashire loom.
By the year 1850, there were a total of around 260,000 power loom operations in England. Two years later came the Northrop loom which replenished the shuttle when it was empty. This replaced the Lancashire loom.
- ^ Bentley, Jerry; Ziegler, Herbert; Streets-Salter, Heather (2017). Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 669. ISBN 978-0-07-668128-0.