Flying shuttle
The flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It was patented by John Kay (1704–1764) in 1733.
It helped revolutionise the weaving industry; 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.
Relation to Textiles:
The flying shuttle was the first in a series of innovations which helped drive the textile industry’s modernisation. In particular, it sped up the process of weaving but not spinning, which helped drive innovation in the spinning process.
Like many of the inventions around weaving, the introduction of the flying shuttle was controversial; it allowed a single operator to produce much larger quantities of cloth, as well as simplifying the work required. It was also occasionally quite dangerous; the shuttle occasionally decided to take the “flying” part of its name literally and shoot off of the loom and through the air, maiming workers.
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Read more about Flying shuttle on Wikipedia.