Patenting of the Spinning Frame

In 1769 Arkwright patented the spinning frame, a machine which produced twisted threads, initially for warps only, using wooden and metal cylinders rather than human fingers. The invention had been developed in 18th-century Britain by Arkwright and John Kay, who had worked on a spinning machine together in rented rooms on Stoneygate in Preston during 1768. The machine was initially powered by horses, though Arkwright experimented with horses before deciding to employ the water wheel, which gave the invention the name 'water frame'. The patent is also noted in scholarship as Sir Richard Arkwright's patent granted in 1769.