An illustration of James Noble's wool combing machine, called the Noble Comb, from Popular Science in1891.

The wool combing machine was invented by Edmund Cartwright, the inventor of the power loom, in Doncaster. The machine was used to arrange and lay parallel by length the fibers of wool, prior to further treatment.[1][2][3][4]

Cartwright's invention, nicknamed "Big Ben," was originally patented in April 1790, with subsequent patents following in December 1790 and May 1792 as the machine's design was refined by Cartwright.[1][2][5][4] This machine is the first example of mechanization of the wool combing stage of the textile manufacturing process, and a significant achievement for the textile industry.[2][5] Cartwright's machine was described as doing the work of 20 hand-combers.[6]

The wool combing machine was improved refined by many later inventors, including Josué Heilmann, Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Isaac Holden, and James Noble.[2][4][7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Lamb, James H. (1911). Textile Industry of the United States: Embracing Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and a Historical Resumé of the Progress of Textile Manufacture from the Earliest Records to the Present Time. J.H. Lamb Company. pp. 78–79.
  2. ^ a b c d Barker, Derek (2013). "Research Note 'Lost in Oblivion': James Noble of the Noble Comb". Textile History. 44 (2): 214–234. doi:10.1179/0040496913Z.00000000029. ISSN 0040-4969. S2CID 192151267.
  3. ^ "CHAPTER SEVEN. Processes and Inventions", A Short History of Wool and Its Manufacture, Harvard University Press, pp. 118–151, 1953-12-31, doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674337121.c8, ISBN 978-0-674-33665-0, retrieved 2022-10-05
  4. ^ a b c Lemon, Hugo (1963). "The Hand Craftsman in the Wool Textile Trade". Folk Life. 1 (1): 66–76. doi:10.1179/043087763798255060. ISSN 0430-8778.
  5. ^ a b Usher, Abbott Payson (1960). "The Industrialization of Modern Britain". Technology and Culture. 1 (2): 109–127. doi:10.2307/3101054. JSTOR 3101054.
  6. ^ Yarwood, Doreen (1978). Encyclopaedia of World Costume. Batsford. p. 407.
  7. ^ "Looms burned". Newark Advertiser. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016.
  8. ^ Peel, A. Geoffrey (1955). "James Noble—1853–1953". Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings. 46 (10): P688–P691. doi:10.1080/19447015508665130. ISSN 1944-7019.
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