MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HERITAGE NO.15

Chain-Stitch sewing machine for the production of straw hats

In the early 1920s, when the Japanese sewing machine market was solely occupied by Singer, brothers Masayoshi and Jitsuichi Yasui, who founded Brother Industries, Ltd. started to develop manufacturing technology for a chain-stitch sewing machine for the production of straw hats. In particular, a heat-treatment method for the surface hardening of sewing machine parts requiring wear resistance and shock resistance was mandatory, but such a method had not yet been disseminated in Japan at that time.

The Yasui brothers established the heat treatment technique of carburizing and quenching as a result of trial and error and they also developed a machining technique for the shuttle (middle) hook, the most important component of a sewing machine. Finally, they completed and launched the durable ‘Showa 3 Chain-Stich Sewing Machine’, whose quality was unsurpassed by foreign-made machines in 1928. The manufacturing technique became the foundation for the growth of Brother Industries.

On exhibition (Reservation required)

Brother Communication Space

Hours open:
10:00–17:00 (Entry closes at 16:30.)
Admission fee:
Free
Days closed:
Sundays, public holidays, Japanese Golden Week holidays, summer holidays, year-end and New Year holidays
Address:
5-15 Shioiri-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 467-0851
Tel:
+81-52-824-2227
URL:
http://www.brother.co.jp/bes/
Access:
2 mins. on foot from Horita Sta. (for Okazaki/Toyohashi), Meitetsu Nagoya Line
– 2 mins. on foot from Horita Sta. Transfer to Meitetsu Nagoya Line (for Okazaki/Toyohashi) at Kanayama Sta., JR Tokaido/Chuo Line
– 3 mins. on foot from Horita Sta., Subway Meijo Line

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