Invalidity dossier
US 253486
James f
Added 9/20/2026, 5:17:13 AM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 253,486
Title: Sewing-Machine Attachment
Patentee: James F. Snediker, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Assignee: John O. Love, of the same place (as recorded on the specification)
Patent Date: February 7, 1882
Application Filed: January 14, 1882 (No model)
Purpose: The invention supplies an attachment for an ordinary sewing machine—a Singer machine being named as an example—whereby "a lateral reciprocating motion is imparted to the needle for making a zigzag stitch."
Plain-language scope: A block (D) at the lower end of the vertical needle-bar (B) carries a sliding plate (a) fitted with one or more needles. Lugs (c c) on the back of the slide receive one arm of a lever (F) pivoted to a bearing (d) on block D. A plate (J) fixed to the stationary head (A) carries a pivoted three-armed lever (e), arms i, i′, i″, whose top forms two inclined planes meeting at a wedge-shaped apex; a spring-stud (m) slides in a tubular projection on plate J and bears on those planes. As the needle-bar rises, lever F strikes an inclined face of the tappet lever, shifting the needle slide laterally; continued rise turns lever e past center against the spring, and on descent the spring reverses lever e so the opposite inclined face acts on lever F, reversing the lateral movement on the next upward stroke. The stated result is a zigzag stitch produced by alternating lateral needle motion.
Claim scope (two claims): (1) In a sewing-machine attachment, the combination of a retaining-spring, pivoted tappet or lever, needle-carrying bar or slide (a), block (D), arm or lever (F), and devices for operating the tappet or lever; (2) the combination of the needle-bar and its block (D), having slide (a) and lever (F), with plate (J) carrying the pivoted spring-lever (e) with three arms, as specified.
The specification expressly disclaims the specific combination of the pivoted three-armed spring-lever with the needle-carrying slide and lever F, stating that combination is claimed in a separate application.
Not established by this excerpt: the separate application's number or outcome; the machine's precise stitch geometry; whether any claim was allowed, rejected, or amended during prosecution; and the full drawing details, since the figures are only described.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US253486](/patent/US253486)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:02:58 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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