1852 - Otis Avery's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine
date: label: model constructed
content: before 1852-10-19
label: patent date
content: 1852-10-19
name: label: inventor
content: Avery, Otis
notes: label: Description
content: Sewing Machine Patent Model
label: Description
content: Patent No. 9,338, issued October 19, 1852
label: Description
content: Otis Avery of Honesdale, Pennsylvania
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Patent Models
label: classified
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models, Sewing Machines
label: See more items in
content: Sewing Machines
label: See more items in
content: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Janssen, Barbara Suit. Patent Models Index
label: Related Publication
content: Cooper, Grace Rogers. The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Development
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/HST/Cooper/CF/view.cfm
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T06114
label: catalog number
content: T06114.000
label: patent number
content: 009338
label: accession number
content: 89797
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sewing machine patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 in x 13 in x 10 in; 22.86 cm x 33.02 cm x 25.4 cm