Multiple Box Flyshuttle Beaters

How to do Summer-and-Winter without really trying.

Whether you weave with one, two, or four shuttles, only AVL can offer you a shuttle system that allows you to complete the task with a mere switch on the beater.

The flyshuttle was developed in 1733, by a reed-maker called John Kay in Bury England. Unfortunately for Kay, his invention displaced thousands of young boys who threw the shuttle back-and-forth. He eventually was hounded out of England and died penniless in France. But that’s not the end of the story. His son, also named John Kay, came back to England and was the developer of the multi-box shuttle system. By this time, people were more accepting of the Industrial Revolution; so John Kay the Younger ended up doing quite well.

When AVL and Jim Ahrens started developing our version of the flyshuttle system, we retained a great deal of both Kays’ original designs, with one startling difference. Mr. Ahrens reasoned that if he counter-balanced the boxes (that hold the shuttles) it would be very easy to make the shift. As the two or four boxes on the right go down; the two on the left go up and vice versa. Not only is it easy but by moving the boxes, it is impossible to throw into a filled box – a very good thing.

And that’s not all; the shift handle for the AVL multi-box system is located in the middle of the beater so you never need remove your hand from the beater, thus helping to insure a smooth uninterrupted flow. So when weaving “pick-and-pick” as in overshot or Summer-and-Winter, the speeding shuttle can achieve speeds unavailable on other looms.