In 1763, Kay was a married clockmaker in Leigh and his neighbor was Thomas Highs who also was an inventor. In 1753, Kay’s home was attacked by textile workers and Kay has to run to France where he died in 1870 due to poverty. In 1738, Kay obtained royalty collection from Leeds which was 15 shillings per shuttle as an annual license fee. He spent the next two years improvising it further than the patented device. He also tried to promote his invention in Bury but woolen manufacturers were not convinced to accept that it is more robust. But by September 1773, the flying shuttle was protested by Colchester weavers as they were concerned for their livelihood and pleaded King to stop this invention. Kay formed a collaboration in Colchester of Essex to start manufacturing of flying shuttle in July 1773.No competition from industry was expected as it was the first kind of device in that modern era to improve productivity. It greatly accelerated weaving saving both labor and time. Using his invention only one weaver could weave more wide fabrics in less time. Kay mounted his shuttle on wheels in a track and paddles were used to shoot when the cord was jerked by the weaver. In traditional looms, the shuttle was passed through a warp thread manually by hands and wide fabrics required two weavers side by side who passes the shuttle from left to right and vice-a-versa. ![]() In May 1773, Kay obtained a patent of his most revolutionary invention called as the wheeled shuttle for the handloom. He continued with the improvisation of the textile machinery and Bury and in 1730 he also patented a cording and twisting machine for worsted. They bore a daughter Lettice in 1726 and a son Robert in 1728. Later traveling many countries along with making and fitting of reed wires, he returned to Bury in 1725 to marry a Bury woman. With this learning, he designed a metal substitute for the natural reed which became popular enough to be sold in England. He indentured with a handloom reed maker but returned home within a month becoming master in the business. He improvised dressing, batting and carding machinery in the mill. Then he joined his father’s woolen manufacturing mill to take in charge at a young age. He was only educated by his mother until the age of 14. John Kay was born in Bury, Lancashire in England and was the fifth one of the 10 children to his father Robert.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |