Robert Kay

Robert Kay (1728–1802) was an English inventor, best known for designing a drop box to improve the capability of weaving looms.

Robert Kay was born in 1728 to John Kay and Ann Holt. The flying shuttle, also known as the wheel-shuttle, had been invented by John senior around 1733 but his commercial acumen did not match his engineering ingenuity and financial problems may have contributed to the move abroad. Robert had returned to Bury probably in 1759 and in either that year or 1760, He did not patent the invention but went on to produce other improvements to the shuttle that assisted in producing checked material and ticking for beds, as well as a mechanism for manufacturing the cards used in carding machines.