Falcon

SUBJECT AREA: Textiles

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fl. c.1728 France

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French improver of the pattern-selection apparatus of Bouchon for weaving.

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In 1728, Falcon used punched cards, one for each pick, to replace the roll of pierced paper that Bouchon had used for storing the pattern to be woven. The selection of the leashes was the same as the method used by Bouchon. The appropriate card was pressed against a set of horizontal needles at the side of the loom by the drawboy, who then lifted those leashes that had been selected ready for the weaver to send the shuttle across for that pick. The cards could be sewn up into an endless loop so the pattern could be repeated time after time. This apparatus could select a greater width of pattern than Bouchon's because the cards were pressed against the needles by a square block of wood known as the prism or cylinder. This meant that rows of needles could be mounted below each other, allowing for many more to be fitted into the space. Vaucanson tried to make alterations to this apparatus, but the Falcon method remained in use until 1817 at Lyon and formed the basis for the later improvements by Jacquard.

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Further Reading

M.Daumas (ed.), 1968, Histoire générale des techniques, Vol. III, L'Expansion du machinisme, Paris.

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, 1942, Catalogue du musée, section T, industries textiles, teintures et apprêtes, Paris (includes a picture of a model of Falcon's apparatus in the museum).

RLH