December 19, 2017 Tuesday
Bedtime Story
First Automation Attempt by Basile Bouchon
It would be essentially the idea of
Al-Jazari that would be used by Joseph Jacquard in his first attempt at the
automation of the loom.
Much before Jacquard, in 1725, another
textile worker from Lyon by the name of Basile Bouchon had thought and devised
of an original way to control the weaving in a mechanical loom.
Before the advent of automation in the silk
loom industry an independent operator would have had to lift the warp yarn
using cords.
Bouchon saw that the holes in a paper could
act analogous to the cams in a camshaft.
Bouchon for the first time introduced
perforated paper tape in the loom machine.
To exploit the perforations on the paper
tape, the needles or hooks had to be arranged in series and had to be mobile.
The yarn of the warp was threaded through
eyes of horizontal needles that were so arranged that it was possible for them
to slide across in a box.
Then it would be holes on the paper tape
that would determine which needle would be raised and which one kept lowered.
Not only was the perforated tape paper his
invention but the idea of using rows of hooks to attain the goal was his
original one.
The hook was used pretty ingeniously and
you will agree with me after you hear me out.
The rows of hooks had their curved parts
going under and thereby snagging the taught warp yarns.
The straight part of each hook was pressed
against the punched paper which in its turn was draped around a perforated
cylinder.
Whenever the hook pressed against the solid
paper, pushing the cylinder forward would raise the corresponding warp threads.
On the other hand when the hooks
encountered the hole, then when the cylinder would be pushed forward, the holes
would allow the needles to come out in the cylinder thereby keeping the
corresponding warp threads in their original position and not be elevated.
It is, I would agree, difficult to imagine
what I have described merely by words and unless you see such a loom working,
it would be almost impossible to appreciate the intricacies.
I will try to get the image of Bouchon’s
loom if I can because it is imperative that you get a sense what I have
described as rest of the story depends on the working of automated loom.
Bouchon’s was a terrific invention and a
great leap in automation but there were difficulties in its application.
The paper as you know is a fragile material
and perforated papers even more so.
Furthermore, the weavers in the silk
industry are not really a delicate breed of craftsmen who are nimble enough to
handle thin and fine perforated papers.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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