MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HERITAGE NO.47

Toyoda Power Loom

This is the oldest existing narrow-width power loom for cotton cloth and it was invented by Sakichi Toyoda in 1897. The machine is a wood–iron hybrid power loom, the major moving parts of which, such as gear wheels and shafts, are made of iron and the frame of which is made of wood. It features automatic devices such as the broken weft automatic stopping device and a warp feeding device, and brought about a revolution in improving productivity and the quality of fabric. Thanks to productivity 20 times that of conventional handlooms and a low cost of about 1/20th of foreignmade loom, it was widely disseminated throughout the country, significantly bolstering the cotton fabric industry in Japan.

The power loom is a heritage that shows the excellence of domestic technologies and it contributed to the development of textile machinery technologies in Japan.

On exhibition

Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology

Hours open:
9:30–17:00 (Admission until at 16:30.)
Admission fee:
500 yen for adults, 300 yen for junior/senior high schoolers, 200 yen for elementary school children. Free for persons aged 65 and older.
Days closed:
Mondays (the following day if falling on a holiday), year-end/New Yearʼs holidays
Address:
4-1-35 Noritake-shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 451-0051
Tel:
+81-52-551-6115
URL:
http://www.tcmit.org/
Access:
3 mins. on foot from Sako Sta., Meitetsu Nagoya Line

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