First American patent for a sewing machine

Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the quantum of manual sewing done in garment industries.

The first practical and widely used sewing machine was patented in France by Barthélemy Thimonnier, a French tailor, on July 17, 1830. The machine is made of wood and uses a barbed needle which passes downward through the cloth to grab the thread and pull it up to form a loop to be locked by the next loop.

On February 21, 1842 the first American patent was issued, to John Greenough, for an invention actually called a ‘sewing machine’. The model used a needle with two points and an eye in the middle. To make a stitch, the needle would completely pass through the material by means of a pair of pinchers on either side of the seam. The pinchers traveled on a rack and opened and closed automatically.

Greenough worked at the Patent Office from 1837 to 1841, supervising draftsmen who were restoring the patent drawings lost in the disastrous 1836 fire. Later he became an attorney working mostly on patent cases, and established a patent agency in New York City.

In 1873 Isaac M. Singer established his sewing machine factory on Newark bay. The factory was built on a 32-acre plot and once had a workforce of six thousand. In 1889, the machines run by electricity were designed with motors fixed in them.
First American patent for a sewing machine

Invention of paper clip

The first version of paper clip was patented by Samuel Fay in 1867. Named the ‘Ticket Fastener’, his product was originally meant to attach tickets to fine fabrics without creating the damaging holes as the commonly used pins. He also mentioned in his patent application that it could also be used to hold papers together.

Ten years later, Erlman J, Wright patented his ‘Wright Paper Clip’ meant specifically to fasten loose papers and documents.

The first patent for a product specifically called paper clip was granted to Pennsylvanian, Mathew Schooley, in 1898. However, Schooley’s paperwork mentions other clips of slightly different design that were already in the market.

The most successful paper clip design and the one that has become virtually synonymous with ‘paper clip’ was never patented.

Indeed the concept of what has come to be known as the Gem clip existed in the late 19th century because a patent was issued to William Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut from a machine for making paper clips and the patent drawings clearly show a fully formed Gem as the raison d’etre of the machine.

In 1899, John Vaaler received a patent for several possible paper clip shapes including one similar to the Gem. His patent application was for a clip made from ‘a spring material, such as a piece wire, that is bent to rectangular, triangular or otherwise shaped hoop, the end of which wore piece form members or tongues lying side by side in contrary directions.

One of the challenges to the Gem was patented in 1934 and has become to be known as the Gothic clip.
Invention of paper clip

Invention of microwave oven by Percy L. Spencer (1894-1970)

Percy Spencer worked with Raytheon after World War II. One day he noticed that a candy bar in his pocket started to melt, when he walked near one of the magnetrons, even though he felt no heat.

Spencer was curious. Spencer asked for a bag of popcorn and he placed popcorn kernels beside the magnetron. He quickly discovered that the microwaves from magnetron could pop the corn.

Spencer immediately saw the possibilities for cooking, and he filed a patent on 8th October 1945 for the treatment of foodstuffs using electromagnetic energy that led to the development of the microwave oven.

Of the 130 patents, Percy Spencer was awarded, the one for microwave cooking is No. 2,495,429, Method of Treating Foodstuff. It is just 2.5 pages long and one of them is a simple, full page diagram.

Spencer and his team developed the first microwave oven, the RadaRange, in 1947.

The first microwave oven was sold to a restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1947. It cost $3000 and weighed 750 pounds and stood five and half feet tall.

The sale of the microwave oven was slow initially, with limited commercial applications, until the introduction of the domestic microwave oven in the 1960s.

In 1955, Tappan, in Ohio stove manufacturer, introduced the first home microwave oven. It was 24 inches wide, operated on 220 volts, and was price at around $1,200.
Invention of microwave oven by Percy L. Spencer (1894-1970)

History of remote control

Remote controls were actually the brainchild of famed inventor Nikola Tesla.

In 1893, Tesla showed what wireless telegraphy was like, eight years after Hertz discover electromagnetic waves. In 1898, he used his remote control to power a toy boat that he could sail on lakes around his house. He predicted the imminent completion of a system that could transmit both power and intelligence over long distances with wires.

In 1896, wireless signals were being transmitted up to 30 miles in distance. Tesla patented the first four tuned circuit wireless system.

The first-ever remotely operated ‘controller’ for television set was something called a ‘Telezoom’ installed in one model of televisions made by the Garod Corporation of Newark, New Jersey.

The Lazy Bones was introduced by Zenith (Zenith Radio Company) in 1950. It was s attached to the set by a cord. It soon disappeared off the market for safety reason.

In 1955, Eugene Polley from Chicago had invented the first-ever powerless remote controller for television sets, which he dubbed the ‘Flash Matic’.

In 1956, Robert Adler developed the Space Commander 600 remote control. This clever remote actually worked without batteries. The remote had a mini xylophone inside, and hitting a button caused a tiny hammer to strike an aluminum rod.

Today’s remote controls use either infrared light or radio signals.
History of remote control