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Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsThe complete set of patent drawings as reproduced in the first printing of Cartwright's patent. Cartwright's first and later versions of the power loom were extremely problematic, but he was the first to attempt to mechanize the weaving process--so critical in the Industrial Revolution.
.jpg "This schematic from Cartwright's first patent was the first visual conception of the power loom.")
Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative CommonsThis schematic from Cartwright's first patent was the first visual conception of the power loom.
In 1786 English inventor Edmund Cartwright patented the first power loom. His first of several patents for this invention was specification No. 1565 (1786) for what he called a "Newly Invented Weaving Machine." Cartwright's first attempts and his later attempts to improve the power loom were problematic, but the technical obstacles were gradually solved by other inventors and entrepreneurs, and by 1850 there were 260,000 power looms in operation in England.
