The flying shuttle was thrown by a leaver that could be operated by one weaver. .
John Kay was the twelfth child of a farmer and born in Lancashire on July 16, 1704. In 1753, his home was attacked by textile workers who were angry that his inventions might take work away from them. Kay fled England for France where he died in poverty around 1780. .
Kay's invention paved the way for mechanical power looms, however, the technology would have to wait another thirty years before a power loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1787. .
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Spinning Jenny - James Hargreaves .
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Several inventions in textile machinery occurred in a relatively short time period during the industrial revolution: the flying shuttle, spinning jenny, sinning frame, and cotton gin. These inventions facilitated the handling of large quantities of harvested cotton. In 1764, a British carpenter and weaver named James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, a hand-powered multiple spinning machine that was the first machine to improve upon the spinning wheel. .
James Hargreaves was born in Oswaldtwistle, England in 1720, he received no formal education and was never taught how to read or write. Legend has it that Hargreaves' daughter Jenny knocked over a spinning wheel and as Hargreaves watched the spindle roll across the floor the idea for the spinning jenny came to him. However, that story is just a legend. Jenny was the name of Hargreaves' wife and he named his invention after her. .
The original spinning jenny used eight spindles instead of the one found on the spinning wheel. A single wheel on the spinning jenny controlled eight spindles which created a weave using eight threads spun from a corresponding set of rovings. Later models had up to one-hundred and twenty spindels. .
Hargreaves patented a sixteen spindle spinning jenny on July 12, 1770. The courts rejected his patent application for his first spinning jenny because he had made and sold several too long before he filed for a patent.
