The first successful mechanized loom was perfected by another

British inventor, Edmund Cartwright, who patented the first power

loom in 1786. In subsequent years he and other engineers made

certain improvements on the loom, and by the early 19th century the

power loom had come into general use. The power loom essentially

resembles the hand loom, but has several accessories, such as

mechanisms to stop the loom if the warp or filling breaks or if the

shuttle does not travel the entire distance across the loom, and a

mechanism for changing shuttles without stopping the loom. At one

end of these looms, a magazine containing several full spools of

thread is placed; the loom has a device that rejects an empty spool

and substitutes a full spool.1

1"Loom," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.