<P> The first ideas for an automatic loom were developed in 1678 by M. de Gennes in Paris and by Vaucanson in 1745 , but these designs were never developed and were forgotten . In 1785 Edmund Cartwright patented a power loom which used water power to speed up the weaving process , the predecessor to the modern power loom . His ideas were licensed first by Grimshaw , of Manchester who built a small steam - powered weaving factory in Manchester in 1790 , but the factory burnt down . Cartwright 's was not a commercially successful machine ; his looms had to be stopped to dress the warp . Over the next decades , Cartwright 's ideas were modified into a reliable automatic loom . </P>
<P> The first ideas for an automatic loom were developed in 1678 by M. de Gennes in Paris and by Vaucanson in 1745 , but these designs were never developed and were forgotten . In 1785 Edmund Cartwright patented a power loom which used water power to speed up the weaving process , the predecessor to the modern power loom . His ideas were licensed first by Grimshaw , of Manchester who built a small steam - powered weaving factory in Manchester in 1790 , but the factory burnt down . Cartwright 's was not a commercially successful machine ; his looms had to be stopped to dress the warp . Over the next decades , Cartwright 's ideas were modified into a reliable automatic loom . </P>
who invented the mechanical loom which was powered by a horse or a water wheel
who invented the mechanical loom which was powered by a horse or a water wheel
Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright