science · 15 July 1879 · 145 years ago
In 1879, a patent for the first American "dobby" loom (U.S. No. 217,589) was issued to Horace Wyman and George Crompton of Worcester, Mass. This was a type of loom on which small, geometric figures can be woven in as a regular pattern as exemplified in Turkish towelling. The harness frames are elevated by hooked jacks and depressed by springs. Originally this type of loom needed a dobby boy who sat on the top of the loom and drew up warp threads to term a pattern. Wyman was an American inventor who in his life held 260 patents related to textile machinery. He assigned the patent to George Crompton.
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