Kay, John

Kay, John, 1704–64, English inventor. He patented (1733) the fly shuttle, operated by pulling a cord that drove the shuttle to either side, freeing one hand of the weaver to press home the weft. Workers in the weaving industry who regarded Kay's invention as a threat to their jobs mobbed Kay and destroyed his model. Various factory owners duplicated his device but managed not to pay him a royalty. Kay went to France, resumed his work, and tried unsuccessfully to win recognition in England. Although he was the inventor of one of the most important principles of modern mechanical weaving, he died in poverty.

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Kay, John

(born July 16, 1704, near Bury, Lancashire, Eng.—died 1764?, France) British machinist and engineer. In 1733 he received a patent for a “New Engine or Machine for Opening and Dressing Wool” that incorporated his flying shuttle, an important step toward automatic weaving. Kay's invention so increased yarn consumption that it spurred the invention of spinning machines (including the spinning jenny and spinning mule), but its true importance lay in its adaptation in power looms.