The records behind a bagSourced
Her drawings helped establish who designed the machine
Margaret Knight developed a machine to make flat-bottomed paper bags automatically. After someone else patented the design first, she presented drawings, models and witnesses in a patent dispute. She won and received her patent in 1871. Careful records supported the invention.
The documentation mattered alongside the working machine.
Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0
Source and reuse details
Margaret E. Knight · Wikimedia contributors
Adapted, summarized and translated from the source. Adapted text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Reviewed: 2026-10-05