Inventions

Inventions

One of the earliest innovations was, the flying shuttle. John Kay invented this flying shuttle in 1733. The original shuttle had a bobbin on to the weft in which the yarn was wound. John Kay was born in Lancashire in 1704. His house was attacked by textile workers because they were jealous of his work, they thought that his work would work above of theirs. He died in poverty in 1780. 

 This image above is showing different shuttles. A weaver using Kay's flying shuttle could produce much wider cloth at faster speeds than before. Before the shuttle, they used to throw the shuttle with their hands in which it required a constant extension of the hands to each side of the warp. 

He brought his invention to his town and introduced it among the weavers. John Kay's son, Robert, invented  the drop-box where the weaver can use any of the three shuttles that each contained a different coloured weft.

Jethro Tull was an inventor that had invented the seed drill in 1701. He also invented the horse-drawn hoe and an improved plough. He studied in Law in Oxford and later on he studied agriculture during his travel to Europe. He practiced his agricultural studies where he had inherited land in southern part of England. The seed drill would sow seed in rows and then cover the seed of the rows. The first prototype seed drill was built from the foot pedals of Jethro Tull's local church organ.   

 

Bibliography:

Flying Shuttle - John Kay. 2013. Flying Shuttle - John Kay. [ONLINE] Available at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blflyingshuttle.htm. [Accessed 09 April 2013].

Jethro Tull. 2013. Jethro Tull. [ONLINE] Available at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljethrotull.htm. [Accessed 09 April 2013].