Sewing machines- mechanism and

settings

Prepared by:
Hassan Mussana
Historical background
 In 1830, a French tailor, Barthélemy Thimonnier
obtained a patent for his sewing machine that
sewed straight seams using chain stitch. He later
went on to stitch sewing uniforms for the French
army in 1841 with a capacity of 80 machines. His
success was limited as French tailors who were
afraid of losing their business started riots and
destroyed his factory.
 Walter Hunt invented the lockstitch sewing
machine in 1833. The machine developed by Hunt
employed an eye-pointed needle (with the eye
and the point on the same end) carrying the
upper thread and a shuttle carrying the lower
thread.
Cont…
 James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829–1902), a farmer
from Raphine in Rockbridge County,Virginia
patented the first chain-stitch single thread
sewing machine on June 2, 1857. In partnership
with James Wilcox, Gibbs became a principal in
Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company whose
commercial machines are still used in the 21st
century.
 First electric machines started to appear with
more lavish decoration. Singer Sewing Co.
developed the first electric sewing machine and
introduced it in 1889. This machine had a motor
strapped on the side.
Classification of sewing machines
 Sewing machine classification based on bed type:
Sewing machines are mainly classified based on the bed
type. Bed is the base of the sewing machine or it is actually
the part on which the fabric rests while it is being sewed.
The difference in bed types is attributed to the way the
fabric moves with respect to the bed while being sewed.
The major bed type categories are the horizontal and
vertical bed.
Horizontal bed sewing machines:
Flat bed/ Fully submerged bed:
The name flat bed refers to
the sewing machine frame
which is built in a manner to
enable the frame of the
machine to be supported by
the bottom side or the
underside of the machine bed.
In the flat bed type, the bed is
mounted on a sewing machine
table with the working surface
of the bed coincides with the
table top. When the machine
table supports the bed arm of
the machine, it is called as flat
bed type.
Semi-submerged bed
 Semi-submerged bed type
has half of the sewing
machine submerged
below the table (mostly
the oil tank is kept below
the table) and the
remaining part of the
machine is kept above the
table. Over lock machine
is an example for semi-
submerged machine type
and normally the semi-
submerged bed machines
are used for sewing larger
parts of the garments.
Raised bed
 Raised bed type has the sewing machine frame
supported by a frame section whose plane is below the
bed arm section. In this type, the entire machine is
mounted on the top of the table. It is used in the case
where the requirement is for the garment to drape
away from the needle for better handling.
 Post bed
 Post-bed sewing machine
frame has the machine bed at
the top of the post, and it
sets vertically on the lower
arm of the machine directly
under the needles of the
machine. The complementary
stitching mechanism is
housed in the post when the
machine has a feed system.
Post bed machine which has
the needle plate and foot
mounted on a tall post
enables sewing in tight spaces
like inside sleeve cap, or
shoes as the sewed part can
follow its geometric
inclination to cover this bed
area as it is sewed.
Cylinder bed
 Cylinder bed is a sewing
machine frame which
permits one to sew a
cylindrically shaped item.
 It has a horizontal arm-
shaped bed as well as
increased working height. It
is most suited for sewing
tubular components like
sleeves, cuffs and trouser
legs, and can also be utilized
for button sewing and bar
tacking.
Off – the – arm machine:
 The frame has a tube
like section for the bed
of the machine. This
tubular bed may be
exactly the same size as
the bed arm of a length
cylinder bed. The fabric
travels on to the bed
arm of a length cylinder
bed. Such machine
permits an operator to
sew cylinder, such as
sleeves with lapped type
seams.
Sewing machine – classification
based on operator control
In general the machines are classified as
follows with respect to operator interface.
 Manual control:
The operator controls manually all the
phases of the sewing cycle. Initially from the
picking up of the fabric, positioning the
fabric in the sewing machine, all sewing and
re-positioning of the fabrics during sewing,
extracting and discarding the fabric after
sewing.
Semi-automatic sewing machine
In these machines, sewing is controlled
automatically by the machine after the operator
actuates the machine such as buttonhole machines
and bar tack machines. These machines are called
stop motion machines. There are two sub classes in
semi-automatic machines.
 (i) Operator picks the part to be sewed, positions
initially, extracts and moves manually
 (ii) Operator picks up the part to be sewed,
positions initially but the machine extracts and
moves automatically after the sewing phase
completed
Automatic sewing machine
 In this machine the operator merely loads
a hopper in the machine with the stack of
garment parts. The machine automatically
picks up, positions, sews, extracts and
moves the sewed pieces. For example in
the case of auto back pocket attach
machine.