1843 - Benjamin W. Bean's Patent Model of a Sewing Machine

Object Details

Description: Sewing Machine Patent Model. Patent No. 2,982 issued March 4, 1843.; Benjamin W. Bean of New York, New York; The second American patent (Patent No. 2,982) for a sewing machine was granted to Benjamin W. Bean on March 4, 1843. Bean’s machine made a running stitch by feeding the fabric between the teeth of a series of gears and onto a threaded bent needle. Turning the crank-handle from left to right moves the gearing in a similar motion to a crimping machine. The stationary crooked needle lays in a groove in the gears, with a point at one end and an eye at the other. A wooden screw clamp secures the machine to the worktable.; This invention was similar to Greenough’s in making a running stitch, but the approach was different. Bean’s method, like Greenough’s, was yet another attempt to emulate hand sewing. Although Bean’s running stitch machine had little commercial success, small inexpensive machines were later sold in the 1860s for household use based on this principle. It remained for Elias Howe, three years later, to patent a sewing machine using a lockstitch that functioned differently from the movements of hand sewing.
Location: Currently not on view

Physical Description: wood (overall material); metal (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 7 1/2 in x 10 in x 9 in; 19.05 cm x 25.4 cm x 22.86 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

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-33fb-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa