Object Details
- inventor
- Avery, Otis
- 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
- ID Number
- TE.T06114
- catalog number
- T06114.000
- patent number
- 009338
- accession number
- 89797
- Object Name
- sewing machine patent model
- Object Type
- Patent Model
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 9 in x 13 in x 10 in; 22.86 cm x 33.02 cm x 25.4 cm
- Related Publication
- Janssen, Barbara Suit. Patent Models Index
- Cooper, Grace Rogers. The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Development
- Related Web Publication
- http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/HST/Cooper/CF/view.cfm
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Textiles
- Patent Models, Sewing Machines
- Sewing Machines
- Textiles
- Patent Models
- National Museum of American History
- subject
- Patent Models
- Invention
- Record ID
- nmah_1070429
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-3526-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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