Model of Falcon's loom
Model of Falcon's loom, 1728, with a jacquard type system. This loom was the first machine of any kind to be controlled by punch cards, following Frenchman Basile Bouchon's use of perforated paper rolls in 1725. Falcon's loom used perforated cards tied together in an endless chain. The pattern reproduced on the woven cloth was produced by the loom's rear harness controlled by the punch-card. A draw boy was still required to present the cards to the assembly of horizontal wires. Falcon's method was refined by Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) in 1804.