- Water frame
The water frame is the name given to the
spinning frame , when water power was used to drive it. Both are credited toRichard Arkwright whopatent ed and exploited thetechnology in1762 . It was based on aninvention byThomas Highs and the patent was later overturned. John Kay, a clock maker and mechanic who helped Highs build the spinning frame, sold the design to Arkwright (for what might be considered a derisory sum). It was Arkwright, however, who made the system work, realising that account had to be taken of the fibre lengths in the batch being spun.The water frame is derived from the use of a
water wheel to drive a number of spinning frames. The water wheel provided more power to the spinning frame than human operators, reducing the amount of human labor needed and increasing the spindle count dramatically. However, unlike thespinning jenny , the water frame could only spin one thread at a time untilSamuel Crompton combined the two inventions into hisspinning mule in1779 . However the water frame could be assembled with hundreds of spinning heads in a single building and was easy to operate.In
1771 Arkwright installed the water frame in hiscotton mill atCromford ,Derbyshire , on the River Derwent, creating one of the first factories that was specifically built to housemachine ry rather than just bringingworker s together.Called by his contemporaries "The father of the factory system", he is considered an innovator as he combined water power,the water frame and continuous production with modern employment practices.
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