Patent Models: Textile and Sewing Machines - Introduction
For much of the nineteenth century, inventors submitted a model with their patent application to the United States Patent Office. The National Museum of American History’s patent model collection began with the acquisition of 284 models from the Patent Office in June 1908, and reached more than 1,000 models by the end of that summer. In 1926, Congress decided to dispense with the stored collection of models and gave the Smithsonian Institution the opportunity to collect any models it wanted. Today, the Museum’s collection exceeds 10,000 patent models dating from 1836 to 1910.
The Museum’s Textile Collection contains over four thousand patent models. The collection includes many examples of carding machines, spinning machines, knitting machines, rope making machines, looms, baskets, carpets, fabrics, and sewing machines. Even the simple clothespin is well represented, with 41 patent models.
This sampling of patent models from the Textile Collection describes the two major groupings, textile machinery and sewing machines. In both groups, the examination of the models begins with the earliest of the inventions. In this early group of patent models, the textile machinery models date from 1837 to 1840, and the sewing machine models from 1842 to 1854.
For more information about the Museum’s patent model collection, see Patent Model Index, Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of American History.
"Patent Models: Textile and Sewing Machines - Introduction" showing 41 items.
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1853 Wickersham's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine
- Description
- Sewing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 9,679 issued April 19, 1853
- William Wickersham of Lowell, Massachusetts
- Wickersham exhibited his boot and leather sewing machine at the “New York Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations” in 1853. His address in the catalogue for the exhibition was listed as 20 Bulfinch Street, Boston.
- In 1853 and 1854, Butterfield & Stevens Mfg. Co., of Boston.
- Massachusetts, manufactured sewing machines based on his patent of April 19, 1853. In his patent specification, Wickersham wrote, “My machine for sewing cloth, leather, or other material is calculated to sew either a chain stitch (the formation of which is well understood) or a stitch . . . formed of two threads, and so that the loops of one . . . shall alternately pass through or be interlocked with those of the other . . . .” Although he mentions sewing cloth, it was for sewing leather for boots and shoes that his sewing machine became important. Wickersham’s patents introduced the method that allowed for the use of sewing leather with waxed thread. The development of mechanisms that would allow for sewing with wax thread was crucial to the industrialization of the shoe making industry.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1853-04-19
- patent date
- 1853-04-19
- inventor
- Wickersham, William
- ID Number
- TE*T06117
- catalog number
- T06117.000
- patent number
- 009679
- accession number
- 89797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1852 Avery's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine
- Description
- Sewing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 9,338, issued October 19, 1852
- Otis Avery of Honesdale, Pennsylvania
- Otis Avery was born in Bridgewater, New York, on August 19, 1808. He learned the watchmaker’s trade from his father John, a silversmith and watchmaker. Otis opened a watch repair shop in Bethany, Pennsylvania, in 1827.
- Later, he studied dentistry under a Dr. Ambler in New Berlin, New York, and received a dental certificate of qualification in 1833. In 1850, he settled in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where he practiced dentistry until his death in 1904.
- Avery was mechanically talented, making many of his own dental tools. He designed a self-cleaning cuspidor and devised improvements to a typesetting machine. On October 19, 1852, he received Patent No. 9,338 for improvements on a sewing machine. The chain stitch he used was enlarged on his patent drawing and he described it in the specification as “two threads having a double lock with each other, and in practice almost every alternate stitch may be cut or broken, and yet the material will not . . . ‘rip out.’” A common problem with the chain stitch was that it could easily be unraveled. His patent claims were for the working combination of needle-bars, spring-holders, and adjustable guides, which regulated the length of the stitch together with a weight for moving the cloth forward.
- The catalogue for the 1853 New York Exhibition noted that three sewing machines were exhibited by the Avery Sewing Machine Co. of New York City. Each machine was adapted for sewing different materials, such as wool, muslin, linen, and leathers. He continued to improve his machine and received Patent No. 10,880, issued May 9, 1854, and Patent No. 22,007, issued November 9, 1856.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1852-10-19
- patent date
- 1852-10-19
- inventor
- Avery, Otis
- ID Number
- TE*T06114
- catalog number
- T06114.000
- patent number
- 009338
- accession number
- 89797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1837 Harvey's Patent Model of a Hair Cloth Loom
- Description
- Hair Cloth Loom Patent Model
- Patent No. 490, issued November 25, 1837
- Charles R. Harvey of Poughkeepsie, New York
- Weaving with horsehair was difficult and slow because the weaver had to select an individual horsehair for each weft and insert it into the warp. Harvey’s loom was a step toward mechanizing this process. But Harvey dealt only with changing from a hand loom to a power loom, not with the problem of weaving with horsehair. Even in his patent specification, he mentioned that the “hook” (a simple wooden rod with a hook at one end by which the horsehair was drawn in to be woven) is “made in the usual way.” Harvey detailed his improvements as the application of power to both the movement of the hook and the operation of the loom overall.
- At the tenth Annual Fair of the American Institute in 1837, Harvey was awarded a gold medal for his “hair seating loom.” The Journal of the American Institute, published in 1838, remarked that “this is the first application of power to weaving hair cloth; and concerning the extent of the article [hair cloth] now used for furniture, we think the loom is entitled to the highest consideration.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1837-11-25
- patent date
- 1837-11-25
- inventor
- Harvey, Charles R.
- ID Number
- TE*T11411.035
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11411.035
- patent number
- 490
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Bigelow's Patent Model of a Loom
- Description
- Loom for Weaving Knotted Counterpanes Patent Model
- Patent No. 546, issued January 6, 1838
- Erastus B. Bigelow of West Boylston, Massachusetts
- Erastus B. Bigelow primarily claimed the mechanism that raised the knots that formed the figures or patterns on the counterpane. His patent specification was lengthy, five pages of drawings and nine pages of written specifications.
- In 1840, the editor of the Journal of the Franklin Institute wrote, “. . . the goods produced in this loom are of a quality very superior to such as are produced in the hand loom; at all events we have not met with any thing of the kind in the shops that will compare with them for texture, and for beauty and regularity of pattern. . . . We anticipate that at a very early day, American counterpanes will become as general as berths on board steamboats, and as beds at hotels. The articles are for sale in all our large cities, and as soon as there is a sufficient supply, will make their way into every part of the Union.”
- Bigelow was a prolific inventor, patenting at least 33 loom improvements. In 1842 he revolutionized carpet manufacture by a series of inventions that made the carpet loom automatic. The automatic features enabled manufacturers to replace male weavers with less costly female weavers or boys. His inventions for the power weaving of Brussels, Jacquard, Ingrain, and Wilton carpet were quite successful. Before the mid-19th century, the importance of these inventions was recognized both in the United States and in Europe.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-01-06
- patent date
- 1838-01-06
- inventor
- Bigelow, Erastus Brigham
- ID Number
- TE*T11411.128
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11411.128
- patent number
- 546
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1840 Thorp and Angell's Patent Model of a Loom Heddle
- Description
- Loom Heddles Patent Model
- Patent No. 1,498, issued on February 26, 1840
- John Thorp and William G. Angell of Providence, Rhode Island
- These heddles, both wire and twine, were exhibited in the Patent Office in a round wooden frame. In the patent specification, Thorp and Angell described the dimensions of heddles for use on a common power loom. A chain of the heddles was formed by taking two pieces of wire or twine and tying them with a common square knot, “which will unite them in the same way and manner that a lady ties her apron strings or a child his shoestrings.” The placement of the knots resulted in the formation of the eyes of the heddles, which raise and lower warp threads in weaving cloth.
- Thorp and Angell did not include a patent drawing with the specification. The 1841 Journal of the Franklin Institute remarked of this omission: “We must suppose . . . that the description, although to us somewhat obscure, would be clear to a professional weaver.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1840-02-26
- patent date
- 1840-02-26
- inventor
- Thorp, John
- Angell, William G.
- ID Number
- TE*T11409.032
- catalog number
- T11409.032
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 1,498
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1839 Pratt's Patent Model of a Reeling, Spinning, and Twisting Silk Machine
- Description
- Reeling, Spinning, and Twisting Silk Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 1,367, issued October 12, 1839
- Jacob Pratt of Sherborn, Massachusetts
- Pratt is an example of an inventor who thought he had a more complicated original invention than he actually had. In his patent application file, his specification makes four claims. Out of those four, only one was approved by Charles M. Keller, the patent examiner, and that claim was for using a trough of zinc. The trough held spools of silk fibers prior to spinning and was filled with warm water, which kept the fibers from sticking together.
- The Journal of the Franklin Institute, 1840, commented: “Its construction is, in general, similar to such as is well known, and is not claimed as new . . . No particular reason is given for making the troughs of zinc, and we suppose that copper would do equally well; but from the special mention of this metal we were led to look for some ground of preference to it.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1839-10-12
- patent date
- 1839-10-12
- inventor
- Pratt, Jacob
- ID Number
- TE*T11426.020
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11426.020
- patent number
- 001367
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Howarth and Jones's Patent Model of a Cotton Flyer
- Description
- Spindle and Flyer Patent Model
- Patent No. 1,043, issued December 28, 1838
- John Howarth and Nathan F. Jones
- Howarth’s and Jones’s patent covered certain improvements on flyers and spindles attached to machinery (such as throstles or spinning frames) where a twisting apparatus was needed. The improvements were useful for roving and spinning cotton or other fibers.
- They experienced some delay in obtaining a patent and hired R. H. Eddy of Boston, a patent attorney, to represent them. Their original claims were abridged and condensed. In the last letter (December 1, 1836) from Eddy to Commissioner of Patents Henry Ellsworth, Eddy returned the amended specification without any other essential changes in it and said “. . . leaving it to your discretion to reject or admit the claim. . . . But I supposed that the arrangement and combination of these different parts with each other might show sufficient novelty to constitute and claim to a patent.” Presumably with Eddy’s help, Howarth and Jones were able to receive their patent.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-12-28
- patent date
- 1838-12-28
- inventor
- Howarth, John
- Jones, Nathan F.
- ID Number
- TE*T11421.069
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11421.069
- patent number
- 001043
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1852 Wilson's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine
- Description
- Sewing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 9,041, issued June 15, 1852
- Allen Benjamin Wilson of Watertown, Connecticut
- Allen B. Wilson was one of the most creative and innovative of the early inventors. Born in Willett, New York, in 1824, he was apprenticed at age sixteen as a cabinetmaker. Later in 1847, he moved to Adrian, Michigan, and worked as a journeyman cabinetmaker. It was here, far removed from New England and the efforts by other inventors, that he began to design a different sewing machine. After recovering from an illness, he moved back east to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and began to perfect his new concept for a sewing machine.
- In 1850, Wilson developed a prototype for a reciprocating-shuttle machine. When the needle went through the cloth, it formed a loop below the seam. A shuttle that was pointed on both ends held a second thread that was passed through the loop and as the tension on the thread was tightened, a lockstitch was made. This shuttle could be moved both forward and backwards to form a stitch on both movements, unlike the shuttles of Hunt and Howe, which only created a stitch in one direction.
- Based on these same ideas, he made a second machine that he submitted to the U.S. Patent Office and was granted Patent No. 7,776 on November 12, 1850. Presumably, Wilson’s skills as a cabinetmaker came into use with this model as it is almost entirely made out of wood and painted black to look like metal. Constructing a model out of wood, rather than metal, was a less expensive and easier way to build, requiring fewer specialized tools. On the underside of the metal raceway is stamped “Deall & Sons,” evidence that Wilson used a machinist to fabricate this part.
- Fortunately, Wilson met Nathaniel Wheeler, partner of the firm of Warren and Woodruff of Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to Watertown to join in the partnership and to continue to perfect his sewing machine.
- In his second patent (Patent No. 8,296, issued August 12, 1851) Wilson developed the rotary hook and bobbin to replace the shuttle mechanism in his first patent (Patent No. 7776, issued November 12, 1850.) The rotary hook opened the loop of the needle thread, while a reciprocating bobbin carried the second thread through the loop to complete the lockstitch.
- In order to avoid patent litigation that the reciprocating bobbin might have caused, Wilson developed his third unique invention, the stationary bobbin (Patent No. 9,041, issued June 15, 1852.) In Wilson’s rotary hook and stationary bobbin, the lockstitch was made by locking the needle thread with the bobbin thread by passing the needle thread loop under the bobbin. The driving shaft carried the circular rotary hook, which resulted in a revolutionary method of sewing.
- For his patent model, Wilson submitted a commercial Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine that had been manufactured the previous year. The evolution of his ideas from the simple wooden model to the successful manufactured machine beautifully illustrates the progress of his novel inventions.
- In 1853 the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company was organized to manufacture sewing machines based on Allen Wilson patents. In 1856, the company moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and became the largest and most successful manufacturer of sewing machines in the 1850s and 1860s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1852-06-15
- patent date
- 1852-06-15
- inventor
- Wilson, Allen B.
- ID Number
- TE*T06055
- catalog number
- T06055.000
- patent number
- 009041
- accession number
- 48865
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1851 Wilson's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine
- Description
- Sewing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 8,296, issued August 12, 1851
- Allen Benjamin Wilson of Watertown, Connecticut
- Allen B. Wilson was one of the most creative and innovative of the early inventors. Born in Willett, New York, in 1824, he was apprenticed at age sixteen as a cabinetmaker. Later in 1847, he moved to Adrian, Michigan, and worked as a journeyman cabinetmaker. It was here, far removed from New England and the efforts by other inventors, that he began to design a different sewing machine. After recovering from an illness, he moved back east to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and began to perfect his new concept for a sewing machine.
- In 1850, Wilson developed a prototype for a reciprocating-shuttle machine. When the needle went through the cloth, it formed a loop below the seam. A shuttle that was pointed on both ends held a second thread that was passed through the loop and as the tension on the thread was tightened, a lockstitch was made. This shuttle could be moved both forward and backwards to form a stitch on both movements, unlike the shuttles of Hunt and Howe, which only created a stitch in one direction.
- Based on these same ideas, he made a second machine that he submitted to the U.S. Patent Office and was granted Patent No. 7,776 on November 12, 1850. Presumably, Wilson’s skills as a cabinetmaker came into use with this model as it is almost entirely made out of wood and painted black to look like metal. Constructing a model out of wood, rather than metal, was a less expensive and easier way to build, requiring fewer specialized tools. On the underside of the metal raceway is stamped “Deall & Sons,” evidence that Wilson used a machinist to fabricate this part.
- Fortunately, Wilson met Nathaniel Wheeler, partner of the firm of Warren and Woodruff of Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to Watertown to join in the partnership and to continue to perfect his sewing machine.
- In his second patent (Patent No. 8,296, issued August 12, 1851) Wilson developed the rotary hook and bobbin to replace the shuttle mechanism in his first patent (Patent No. 7776, issued November 12, 1850.) The rotary hook opened the loop of the needle thread, while a reciprocating bobbin carried the second thread through the loop to complete the lockstitch.
- In order to avoid patent litigation that the reciprocating bobbin might have caused, Wilson developed his third unique invention, the stationary bobbin (Patent No. 9,041, issued June 15, 1852.) In Wilson’s rotary hook and stationary bobbin, the lockstitch was made by locking the needle thread with the bobbin thread by passing the needle thread loop under the bobbin. The driving shaft carried the circular rotary hook, which resulted in a revolutionary method of sewing.
- For his patent model, Wilson submitted a commercial Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine that had been manufactured the previous year. The evolution of his ideas from the simple wooden model to the successful manufactured machine beautifully illustrates the progress of his novel inventions.
- In 1853 the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company was organized to manufacture sewing machines based on Allen Wilson patents. In 1856, the company moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and became the largest and most successful manufacturer of sewing machines in the 1850s and 1860s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1851-08-12
- patent date
- 1851-08-12
- inventor
- Wilson, Allen B.
- ID Number
- TE*T06112
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T06112.000
- patent number
- 8296
- 008296
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Parsons's Patent Model of a Cloth Shearing Machine
- Description
- Cloth Shearing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No 1,015, issued November 25, 1838
- Seth Parsons of Hoosick Falls, New York
- Seth Parsons’s Patent No. 1,015 was an improvement on his earlier patent, 3082x, granted in 1819. The later patent resembled the earlier one but differed from it by its ability “to shear broad and narrow cloths, the machine operating upon [the cloth] in its passage back and forth both ways without changing it from end to end, thereby saving much time . . .” Also claimed in the patent specification was the motion of a brush that would brush up the nap in either direction, and a few other minor construction details.
- Parsons’s Patent No. 3082x had claimed to be an improvement on Samuel Dorr’s 1794 patent cloth shearing machine, which was called the “wheel of knives.” The “wheel of knives” refers to the shearing cylinder that was wrapped with blades in a spiral pattern. Parsons said of his improvement that it could be “composed of frame of suitable size, about 3 feet 7 inches long; 2 feet 4 inches wide and 4 feet high. Instead of knives on a large circle it should be a small one, about 2-1/2 inches in diameter . . .”
- In the 1820 Manufacturers Census, there is a reference to Parsons’s first shearing machine being used by a woolen manufacturer, Shearwood and Goreham, from Rensselaer County, New York. This earlier machine is also mentioned in an account of the Patent Office fire of 1836 as being one of several models of valuable improvements in shearing and napping cloth. At the twelfth Exhibition of American Manufacturers, in 1842, Parsons and Wilder were awarded certificates of Honorable Mention for their improved cloth shearing machines.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-11-25
- patent date
- 1838-11-25
- inventor
- Parsons, Seth
- ID Number
- TE*T18569
- accession number
- 1978.2538
- catalog number
- T18569.000
- patent number
- 001015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center