THE SEWING MACHINE 347 



tinned by the other members until the expiration of the 

 Bachelder patent in 1877. 



The sewing machines manufactured prior to the Singer 

 and many of them long after, used the vibrating arm for 

 imparting motion to the needle. This result was accom- 

 plished either by means of the vibrator}^ arm actuating 

 a needle bar carr>dng a straight needle, or by means of the 

 vibrator}^ arm and curv^ed needle. It is obvious that sew- 

 ing machines constructed on either of these principles could 

 not be enlarged or decreased in size without destroj^ing their 

 effectiveness; on the one hand the lengthening of the arm 

 would naturally increase both the power required to operate 

 it, and its liability to spring, and thus affect the proper 

 action of the needle; on the other hand, decreasing the size 

 of the arm would necessarily increase the curv^e of the needle 

 and contract the space for turning and handling the work. 

 Singer's arrangement of the rigid overhanging arm made it 

 practicable to enlarge the machine to any desired extent, 

 and added great solidity and strength to the machine, thus 

 making it available either for doing the heaviest kind of 

 work or for sewing the lightest fabrics. The general style of 

 the original Singer machine has been universally copied, 

 and serves as a model for most of the machines now man- 

 ufactured. 



The work of adapting the sewing machine to the various 

 kinds of stitching required in the variet}^ of manufacturing 

 and mechanical industries to which it has been applied, was 

 early taken up by Isaac M. Singer, Allen B. Wilson and 

 others, and has been successfully continued by later inventors. 

 IMachines for stitching with waxed thread have been per- 

 fected for use in the factory manufacture of boots and shoes, 

 as well as in the manufacture of saddlery and harness and 

 various other articles of leather. Heav}^ power machines 

 are used in the manufacture of awnings, tents, sails, canvas 

 belts, and articles of a like nature. Specially constructed 

 machines for stitching gloves, and others for sewing the 

 seams of carpets, sewing the ends of filled bags, stitching 

 brooms, embroidering, and doing various other work, are 

 produced by the leading sewing machine manufacturers. 



