The Development History of Embroidery Machines in the 19th Century

1828
Joshua Heilman produced the first hand operated embroidery machine. It was made by Koechlin of Mulhouse and sold to Houldsworth in Manchester, England, a year later.
1834
The hand embroidery machine was exhibited at the Paris Exposition and won the Legion of Honor Gold Award.
1860
Swiss jacquard weaver Isaac Groebli was interested in combining hand embroidery machine technology with sewing machine (or locking needle) technology at the time in one machine. His goal is to develop a machine that can use continuous wires (wound around a wire axis). The use of locking needles will undoubtedly bring a complete and thorough revolution to machine embroidery.
1864
Groebli developed the first experimental prototype with the support of Mr. M. Wehrli from St. Gallen, Switzerland. Due to its shuttle shape resembling a small boat, it was called a "Schiffli machine" (in Swiss and German dialects, Schiffli means a small boat), which is translated as "flying shuttle embroidery machine" in Chinese. This machine has 24 needles, 1 1/2 yards long, and only one needle can work properly. Mr. Reiter, a machine manufacturer from Winterthur, Switzerland, has taken over the development work of Schiffli.
1865
Reiter launches the first Reiter type Schiffli machine. The factory's production capacity is not sufficient to meet orders. The characteristics of this machine are as follows:
4 1/2 yards long
28 rpm
Driven by jacquard machine
1867
The first shuttle embroidery machine was showcased at the Paris World Exhibition and was awarded a recognized award.
1870
Schnoor and Steinhouse, a German firm based in Plauen, have developed a hand operated embroidery machine similar to Rittmeyer. This business has achieved success, selling 2325 units in 1982 alone.
Later, more famous hand embroidery machine manufacturers include Martini Company, Tanner Company, and Adolph Saurer Company.
1873
Kursheedt Co. in New York imported 12 hand embroidery machines, and Jacob Klaus came to the United States as a mechanic.
1875
The first export order for the shuttle embroidery machine was for Kursheedt Co. in the United States, with 18 units per order. The mechanic who came randomly this time is Arnold Groebli and Isaac's son. Kursheedt also purchased the patent rights in the United States.
1878
Saurer and Sons in Arbo, Switzerland