1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 213 Sewing Machine

Walter heard that the tense expression on his face gradually relaxed, and his perception of Liang Yao became better and better.

Being able to accurately say that he invented the lock-type single-needle sewing machine shows that Liang Yao has carefully read his drawings.

Walter was relieved and touched that Liang Yao, a rich man and politician with a lot of things to do every day, could carefully examine his patent drawings.

In this world, there are still people who know the goods.

"If I accept this award in the name of a reformer, I would be more than happy to accept it."

Having said that, Walter felt a little dejected.

"However, you should be clear that the sewing machine patent is not in my hands, although I have improved the sewing machine before 1834, produced a prototype, and completed the drawings and instructions.

But at that time, because I was worried that the appearance of the sewing machine would make a large number of tailors lose their livelihoods, I did not immediately submit a patent to the Patent Office.

The patent you got, I submitted to the patent office in 1849. Both Alex and Isaac filed patents on sewing machines before me.That said, my ownership of the sewing machine patent is at issue. "

Of course Liang Yao knew this. The five-year sewing machine patent dispute from 1849 to 1854 was one of the famous patent disputes in American history.

This patent dispute directly promoted the revision of the US patent law.

The three important players in the sewing machine patent dispute are Walter, Erics and Isaac.

The first out of the three was Walter. Although Walter had produced a prototype of an improved sewing machine as early as 1834, because Walter had not registered a patent with the Patent Office, the Patent Office did not recognize that Hunter had a patent on sewing machine technology.

After several fruitless appeals, the exhausted Walter abandoned his appeal in 1854.

Erics and Isaac had made a small fortune opening factories making sewing machines and afforded dedicated New York patent attorneys.

Especially Isaac's patent attorney Edward, who is a well-known patent dispute Pizza Hut in New York.

Walter, on the other hand, had difficulty supporting his family, so he couldn't afford to hire a patent lawyer to help him with the lawsuit, so he reluctantly gave up the sewing machine patent.

The last two players in the sewing machine patent battle continued to compete for the sewing machine patent.

Erics sued Isaac for infringement of his lockstitch patent. Since Walter had given up the patent on sewing machines, the court held that the lockstitch patent belonged to Erics, and finally ruled that Isaac was infringed. Isaac Compensation for Erics $15000.

Erics didn't have the last laugh either. Under Edward's guidance, Isaac made magical changes to the patented sewing machine technology. The sewing machine produced by Isaac's Singer Company is still Erics' Bridgeport machine. The company's most serious competitor.

The two parties continued to litigate on this matter, and the court did not make a clear judgment until the patent expired in 1869.

Liang Yao also saw Eric's sewing machine patent at the Patent Office. Eric's sewing machine patent was applied for and approved in 1846. The patented technology is almost exactly the same as Walter's patent.

If the two inventors did not agree with each other, there is only one explanation, that is, Erics plagiarized Walter's patent.

Of course, Alex himself will certainly not admit his plagiarism.

"Is the sewing machine prototype you made back then still there?" Liang Yao asked Walter.

"Yes, I'll take you to have a look."

Walter nodded, and then led Liang Yao up to the attic on the top floor.

Walter's home was very messy. There were more than [-] people living in a small four-story building, which was already overcrowded.

In the house and in the aisles were so many of Walter's inventions that it was difficult to find a place to lay his feet.

Walter himself was very fond of these things he invented, so he led Liang Yao up to the attic on the top floor, and soon found the sewing machine covered in rags among a pile of messy equipment.

There are very few people in the United States who are taller than 6 feet in this era. Unfortunately, Walter and Liang Yao are one of the rare people.

In particular, Walter's huge body of more than 190 centimeters can hardly stretch his limbs in the small attic. If he moves a little too much, his hands will touch the wall and his head will touch the ceiling.

In order to view and test Walter's sewing machine more conveniently, the two decided to move the sewing machine to the relatively spacious first floor for testing.

After moving the sewing machine to the first floor, Liang Yao finally saw the whole picture of the sewing machine clearly.

It is different from the pedal sewing machine that Liang Yao came into contact with when he was a child. This is a hand-operated sewing machine. There is a huge metal wheel on the left side of the machine. There is a handle on the metal wheel, which is specially used to hold and turn the metal wheel to drive the sewing machine. Work.

"Dad, the wooden stand for the sewing machine."

Walter's young son staggered down the attic with the wooden frame in his arms.

"Just put it on the ground."

Walter smiled gratifiedly and said to his younger son.

"Is this sewing machine still working?"

Liang Yao held the handle on the running wheel and tried to turn the sewing machine. Perhaps because it hadn't been used for many years and the mechanical gears had rusted, the running wheel got stuck before turning it a full circle.

"It hasn't been used for too long, the mechanical parts inside may have been rusted, please wait a moment."

Walter turned and took a bottle of whale oil from the bottles on the shelf behind him.

He skillfully disassembled the sewing machine, lubricated the sewing machine carefully, then installed the wooden frame and fixed the sewing machine on the wooden frame.

Liang Yao opened the cover on the pocket watch, from dismantling and oiling the installation, to fixing the sewing machine on the special wooden frame, it only took Walter 35 minutes in total, which can be called super fast.

"Now try again." Walter said to Liang Yao.

Liang Yao tried to turn the handle again, and it was much smoother.

"How many stitches can this sewing machine sew in one minute? How many times more than hand sewing?" This is the question Liang Yao is most concerned about.

"If I remember correctly, about 300 stitches can be sewn in one minute, and the efficiency is about 5 times higher than that of manual sewing.

This is just a comparison with a very skilled old tailor. If it is a new tailor, a sewing machine can do at least eight or nine new tailors' jobs.

I myself was horrified by the efficiency of the sewing machine, fearing that the introduction of such a thing would put those poor tailors out of a job, so I put it on the shelf until today. "

Speaking of which, Walter looked around the sewing machine, as if looking for something, muttered in his mouth.

"Damn it, the needle is missing."

Walter couldn't find a needle, so he had to make one on the spot, put it on the sewing machine and thread it on.

When the preparations were complete, Walter reached up and ripped the diaper from his grandson's crotch.

Walter pressed the diaper on the sewing machine and said to Liang Yao.

"Sir, please time."

Liang Yao nodded, looking at the time on his pocket watch.

A minute later, Liang Yao yelled, "It's time."

Walter stopped what he was doing, and Walter handed over the diaper, Liang Yao said to Connie.

"Connie, count the stitches in your diaper."

Connie had to take the diaper, bowed his head and counted the stitches on the diaper carefully.

"307 stitches, sir."

"It seems that my memory is not bad." Walter moved his sore arm.

"This sewing machine can be faster! Less labor!" Liang Yao said.

"Faster and less labor?" Walter was puzzled, "Do you have any better ideas?"

Without saying much, Liang Yao asked Walter for a blank paper, took out a pen and began to draw on the white paper.

Hand-operated sewing machines are great, but there is an even better option, the pedal-operated sewing machine.

This hand-operated sewing machine is mature enough that it can be converted into a pedal-operated sewing machine with minor modifications, directly bypassing the disputed patent.

What Liang Yao wants is to start production quickly to form productivity, which is efficiency. He is not in the mood to fight a patent lawsuit with Erics and Isaac.

Relying on the memory of later generations, Liang Yao drew a sketch of the pedal sewing machine on white paper.

Liang Yao is no stranger to pedal sewing machines. In his last life, his mother married from Fujian to Zhuhai, and her dowry included a Minjiang brand sewing machine.

When he was a child, Liang Yao was cheap and liked to touch everything. He secretly played with the sewing machine when the adults were away.

He even put his finger on the sewing machine to play with it and pricked it.

Liang Yao followed the memory of his childhood to draw a gourd and scoop, and drew a pedal sewing machine.

A layman may not understand what Liang Yaohua is up to, but Kony looked at Liang Yao's sketch with a puzzled expression on his face.

Walter just stared at it for a moment, and suddenly realized that he shook Liang Yao's shoulder excitedly and shouted.

"Genius design! Genius design! Mr. Liang, you are a genius!
It is more labor-saving to drive the sewing machine with the pedal!Don't have to worry about sore hands anymore!

let me think
If you follow the design on your drawing, the runner can be made smaller, and the conveyor belt is used to connect the runner to drive
Totally doable!Totally doable!This pedal-operated sewing machine has more potential than a hand-operated sewing machine!Efficiency should be higher too! "

As expected of a genius inventor, Walter figured out the working principle of the pedal sewing machine just through a very simple drawing.

"Can a prototype of this sewing machine be manufactured?"

Liang Yao smartly put the pen back into his pocket and asked Walter.

"Absolutely!" Walter said confidently, staring at the blueprints on the table.

With the basis of hand-operated sewing machines and ready-made drawings, it is not difficult to make pedal-operated sewing machines.

Liang Yao also believed that Walter had this ability.

"How long will it take to make it?" Liang Yao asked.

"Give me a quiet working environment and enough tools and materials, and I can make it within a week!" Walter promised, patted his chest.

"Mr. Vanderbilt's manor is quite quiet. I asked Mr. Vanderbilt to vacate a quiet room for you to use as a studio. If you need anything, just tell me." Liang Yao said to Walter.

"I need an artist to help me with my sketches so I can file for a patent," Walter said.

"No problem." Liang Yao happily agreed to Walter's request.

(End of this chapter)