The Bobbin Battery

The Bobbin Battery

The bobbin battery, one of the mo

important features in the development of the

automatic loom,

was the invention of James Northrop. The top picture was taken at

the Boott Mill,

, by Don Barton. The lower one is from

the Little Red Shop. If you'd like to see

Draper looms at work, the Lowell park is the

place to go. They have 88 looms and whenever I've

been there, they've had a dozen

or so running.

Before the development of the Northrop loom, when the thread in the bobbin ran out

after being

carried back and forth by the shuttle, the loom would have to be stopped,

the empty bobbin

removed from the shuttle, and a new bobbin inserted. With this

device, when the loom was started,

it would have many bobbins in the battery. As a

bobbin ran out of thread, a new one would

automatically push the empty one out of

the shuttle and take its place. The loom wouldn't have to

be stopped and the mill

could operate with fewer employees.