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The spinning jenny is also – A hand operated spinning machine having several spindles which facilitated spinning a number of yarns.
The inventor of spinning jenny was James Hargreaves of England. It was also known as ‘James Hargreaves Spinning Jenny’ or ‘Hargreaves Spinning Jenny’, after the inventor’s name. The spinning frame comprised of 8 spindles onto which the thread was spun from a corresponding set of rovings. The operator would turn the single wheel and spin eight threads at once. The name ‘Spinning Jenny’ is attributed to a legend in which Hargreaves' daughter named Jenny knocked over a spinning wheel. The wheel lying on the floor inspired the invention and the name as well. It is also connected to Hargreaves' wife whose name was Jenny. The most accepted view is that of it being the abbreviation of engine. None of these have been, however, accepted.
Before the invention of spinning jenny, the spinning wheel was used to spin thread or yarn from natural fibres. But it could only spin one yarn at one time. The demand for cotton yarn was far more than the supply especially due to slow processing of cotton. The weavers had to go through a length process and didn’t earn as much. In 1738 John Kay invented the ‘Fly-Shuttle’ which allowed one to increase his output two-folds. It enabled faster and wider weaving. The invention opened doors for yet-unknown modifications and developments in spinning.
One of the people who made an effort towards this cause was James Hargreaves. Hargreaves was a weaver and carpenter based in Lancashire, England. It is widely considered that one day Hargreaves’s daughter accidentally knocked over the family spinning wheel. The spindle continued to revolve in a pointed upright position. Witnessing this, it occurred to Hargreaves that the spindles could be placed vertically in a row instead of horizontal placement. James Hargreaves took a practical approach to his idea. And in 1764 James Hargreaves created his machine at Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England. He developed a metal frame with eight wooden spindles at one end.
The frame facilitated with eight spindles enabled attachment of eight rovings to a beam on the frame itself. The rovings when extended passed through two horizontal bars of wood that could be clasped together. These bars could be drawn along the top of the frame by the spinner's left hand thus extending the thread. By turning a single wheel with his right hand the operator revolved all the spindles and eight threads were spun at once. A pressing wire (faller) was used to guide the threads onto the right place on the spindle
The original spinning jenny was used by Hargreaves and his family only. It was not made public and when he started selling these machines, he was met with resistance from the spinning community in Blackburn. The price of yarn fell down and the community felt that machines would make them unemployed. People broke into his house and destroyed his machines forcing him to flee to Nottingham in 1768. There he setup a shop, secretly producing the machines for a client named Mr Shipley with help from a joiner named Thomas James. He and James set up a textile business in Mill Street. On 12 July 1770, the spinning jenny inventor applied for a patent (no. 962) for his 16 spindle spinning jenny. But the patent was refused as Hargreaves had sold several machines before filing for a patent.
As Hargreaves did not have the patent, his machine was copied and modified by many. Several improvements to the spinning jenny were made; it included the increase of number of threads from 8 to 80. Later models of spinning jenny had up to 120 spindles. Though it saved the need for labour, there were some drawback and limitations. The thread produced by spinning jenny was coarse and lacked strength. It was only suitable for the filling of weft (threads woven across the warp). The machine required the rovings to be prepared on a wheel, and this was limited by the need to card by hand.
The nest big step for spinning industry was the Water Frame, a type of spinning frame using the power of water power. It used water wheel to drive a number of spinning frames. It was the product of Sir Richard Arkwright and was patented in 1769. Along with John Kay, a watchmaker of Warrington, World's first water-powered mill was built in Cromford in 1771.
In 1779, Samuel Crompton combined the principles of spinning jenny and water frame to invent the Spinning Mule or Mule Jenny. It produced strong, thin yarn, suitable for any kind of textile.
Till 1810, the spinning jenny was used by the cotton and fustian industry. After that it was adapted for process of slubbing, being the basis of the Slubbing Billy.
In 1825, Richard Roberts developed Self-Spinning Mule which allowed automatic spinning.
In 1830, Roberts Loom, a cast iron power loom was patented by Richard Roberts.
