Jacquard perforating machine, illustration. The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade and damask. The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804. This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware, having inspired Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. From Appleton's Dictionary of Machines, Mechanics, Engine-Work, and Engineering: Illustrated with four thousand engravings on wood; in two volumes by D. Appleton and Company (1873).