Thimmonier's Chainstitch

Thimmonier's first patent appeared in 1831. It is believed that he developed his machines to the point where they could complete over 200 stitches per minute.
A model of a Thimmonier machine held by the Science Museum, Kensington, London.

 

The wooden cover plate has been removed in the picture on the immediate right so that the thread guide can be seen. A lever mechanism, just visible in the picture on the far right, causes this and the needle to oscillate about a vertical axis.
Close up of the needle bar which passes through a tube acting as the presser foot.

 

 

 

 

He used a barbed needle which formed a simple chain stitch on the top of the material.
The Parts
The needle passed down through the cloth and with the barb at right angles to the cloth's motion (towards us) caught a thread on its way up. In order to pass through the loop it made previously it turned the barb toward the open end of this loop. After pulling the thread through the loop to lock it the needle turns through 180 degrees so that the new loop is held whilst the cloth is moved on. The needle then descends through this new loop to pick up the thread again from under the cloth.
The chainstitch using a barbed needle.
 
The complete stitch