Flying shuttle
Flying shuttle showing metal capped ends, wheels, and a pirn of weft thread
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving. It
allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics, and it could be mechanized, allowing for
automatic machine looms. It was patented by John Kay (1704–c. 1779) in 1733.
Before the flying shuttle
In order to understand the importance of this invention, it is useful to review the action of
weaving prior to it. In a typical frame loom, the operator sits with the newly woven cloth before
him or her. Using treadles or some other mechanism, the heddles are raised and lowered to
open the shed in the warp threads. The operator must then reach forward, holding the shuttle in
one hand, and pass it through the shed; the shuttle carries a bobbin for the weft. The shuttle
must then be caught in the other hand, the shed closed, and the beater pulled forward to push
the weft into place. This action (called a "pick") requires a lot of bending forward over the fabric;
more importantly, however, the coordination between the throwing and catching of the shuttle
requires more than one operator if the width of the fabric exceeds that which can be reasonably
reached across (typically 60 inches (150 cm) or less).
How the flying shuttle works

Watch video #1: Demonstration of fly shuttle
In one respect, the term is somewhat misleading, as the shuttle itself is only a component in a
new system attached to the loom as part of the beater. A board called the "race" runs along the
front of the beater, from side to side, forming a track on which the shuttle runs. At each end of
the race, there is a box which catches the shuttle at the end of its journey, and which contains a
mechanism for propelling the shuttle on its return trip. The shuttle itself has some subtle
differences from the older form. The ends of the shuttle are bullet-shaped and metal-capped,
and the shuttle generally has rollers to reduce friction. The weft thread is made to exit from the
end rather than the side, and the thread is stored on a pirn (a long, conical, one-ended, nonturning bobbin) to allow it to feed more easily. Finally, the flying shuttle is generally somewhat
heavier, so as to have sufficient inertia to carry it all the way through the shed.
In manual operation, a cord runs to each box from a handle held by the operator. To start the
pick, the shed is opened as before; however, instead of throwing the shuttle, the operator jerks
the cord for the box containing the shuttle. This causes the mechanism in the box to shoot the
shuttle along the race to the other box; then the shed is closed and the beater is used to complete
the pick as before. The operator does not need to touch the shuttle until it needs to be reloaded,
so fabrics of great width can be woven; but more importantly, the movements needed are greatly
reduced.
Even more important was the fact that this mechanism could be automated and powered; all the
operator needed to do was monitor the machine for failures and keep it supplied with pirns of
weft thread, a job that was simplified with the invention of the Northrop Loom, which reloaded
the shuttle automatically. Kay's son developed a modification that allowed the use of an array of
different shuttles.
Social effects
The increase in production due to the flying shuttle exceeded the capacity of the spinning
industry of the day, and prompted development of powered spinning machines, beginning with
the spinning jenny and the waterframe, and culminating in the spinning mule, which could
produce strong, fine thread in the quantities needed. These innovations transformed the textile
industry in Great Britain. All were attacked as threats to the livelihood of spinners and weavers,
and Kay's patent was largely ignored. It is often incorrectly written that Kay was attacked and
fled to France, but in fact he simply moved there to attempt to rent out his looms, a business
model that had failed him in England. The flying shuttle itself produced a new source of injuries;
if deflected from its path, it could be shot clear of the machine, potentially striking workers.
Turn of the century injury reports abound with instances in which eyes were lost or other
injuries sustained, and in several instances (for example, an extended exchange in 1901) the
British House of Commons was moved to take up the issue of installing guards and other
contrivances to reduce these injuries.
Obsolescence
The flying shuttle dominated commercial weaving through the middle of the twentieth century.
By that time, other systems began to supplant it. The heavy shuttle was noisy and energyinefficient (since the energy used to throw it was largely lost in the catching); also, its inertia
limited the speed of the loom. Projectile and rapier looms eliminated the need to take the
bobbin/pirn of thread through the shed; later, air- and water-jet looms reduced the weight of
moving parts further. Flying shuttle looms are still used for some purposes, and old models
remain in use.
References
1.
House of Commons of the United Kingdom (January - August 1901). "Factories and
workshops: Annual report for 1900". Sessional Papers (H. M. Stationery Off.) X: 289–
290. OCLC 4689281.
http://books.google.com/?id=3zpBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA289&lpg=PA289&dq=%22flying
+shuttle%22+injury+-space. "During the past year I have investigated many shuttle
accidents, and on no occasion where serious injury had resulted, has the shuttle guard
been placed in that position for which it was intended."

Handbook of technical textiles. Woodhead Publishing. 2000. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-185573-385-5.
http://books.google.com/?id=pq1EhoWIAzkC&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=pirn+weaving
.

"Leclerc Loom Options: Flying Shuttle Option". Camilla Valley Farm Weavers' Supply.
http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/weave/loomoptions.htm#1.

"John Kay 1704-1780: Inventor of the Flying Shuttle". New Opportunities Fund.
http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageid=605.

Broudy, Eric (1993). The Book of Looms. University Press of New England. pp. 148, 151.
ISBN 0-87451-649-8.

"Flying Shuttle". Master Weaver. November-December 1961.
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/articles/zmw_60_1.pdf.

McNeil, Ian (1990). An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology. Taylor & Francis.
pp. 821–822. ISBN 0-203-33017-X