Patents and Inventors

Patents & Inventors from Lawrence County Ohio Pioneers

Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, 25 March 1856 pg 2 – The Commissioner of the Patent Office has received from the Hon. O.F. Moore, of Ohio, a statement recently forwarded to that gentleman from a source in which he places entire confidence, of the iron furnaces in the vicinity of Portsmouth, Scioto county, in that State.

This statement embraces the names of fifty-five furnaces, the names of those who conduct them, their post offices, the river landing or railroad station of each, the number of miles from Portsmouth, &c. (this article continues……)

• 29 November 1859 – P. Davey of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, invented a useful improvement in Buttons. The nature of my invention related to a mode of forming buttons, through which buttons may be secured upon cloth without the aid of thread as hereinafter set forth and represented.
• 4 August 1868 – William C. Frailey of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, invented certain useful improvements in Chimney Caps or Cowls.
• 22 December 1885 – Lewis Lewis of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, invented and patented a new, improved hitching device. Referring to the drawings, A represents the main body or stock of the device. To the opposite edges of this are secured the spring hooks or jaws B B, which are adapted to be opened, as shown in Fig. 2, or closed, as shown in Fig. 1, in which latter position the jaws are adapted to grasp a hitching-post, tree, or other objects for holding the horse.
• 15 February 1887 – George H. Holliday of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio assignor of one-half to Foster Stove Company of the same place. The invention of certain new and useful improvements in ranges and cooking stoves.
• IR Mar. 1, 1888 – W. S. Kirker has been in Washington City for the past week.  He is interested in the application for a patent that is said to be a very valuable one.  It is a new design and idea for heating railroad cars; good judges pronounce it as needed.  If so, there is big money in it.
• IR Apr. 19, 1888 – John B. Hastings tells us his wire nail machine will be a success.  It will be manufactured by the Hamden Machine Co. and operated in the Jackson nail mill.  He says he will bring one of the machines to Ironton as soon as completed.  He talks with enthusiasm and hope of the Jackson mill, where he will make everything from a spike to a tack – wire, steel, and iron nails.  The mill will run on gas made from slack.
• 14 October 1892 – James Henry Blake of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, invented a new and useful Bag-Holder of which the following is a specification. My invention Supports racks, stands, posts, and the like for holding refuse receptacles for flexible receptacles, e.g., bags and sacks—the assignor of one-half to Albert G. Clark of the same place.
• IWR Mar. 4, 1893 – Officer Clark’s Invention – Police Officer Henry J. Clark of Ironton invented a fire escape for buildings and applied for a patent.  It consists of a wire-rope ladder designed to be rolled up on a reel under a window and inside the building, where it is permanently fixed.  When needed, the window is hoisted, and the reel is thrown out when the ladder instantly unwinds itself and affords a safe and substantial escape.  It is also designed so that the instant it is thrown out, it forms a connection with an electric alarm which can be made to communicate with any part of a building or with the fire department, thus serving as a fire alarm as well as escape.  It is an ingenious contrivance, and the patent attorneys who have made an examination at the patent office find nothing on which it infringes. Mr. Clark is assured of getting a patent.
• IWR 01 Apr. 1893 – Ironton Inventors – Messrs. E. H. Lomasney of the shoe factory and Elmer Sample have invented the machine for burnishing the heels of shoes which does that work far more rapidly than the usual way with the felt wheel, and puts a burnish on a shoe heel such as could never before be secured.  The work is done in the heated iron wheel, and the result is so superior to the old method that this machine is confidently expected by its inventors to supersede all others and make them a fortune.  One is now used at the shoe factory, and a patent has been applied.
• IR May 2, 1895 – Mr. I. V. Kelly was in town the other day with a model of his patent freight car door.  It is certainly an ingenious affair and seems fully suited to perform the duty for which it is designed.  It will, no doubt, come into general use someday.
• 14 September 1897 – John F. Hayes, a citizen of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, invented certain new and useful improvements in Forms for Florists’ Designs. This invention relates to forms for floral designs. It consists, essentially, of a metal blank struck up into the proper contour and having throughout the body a series of regularly-formed openings primarily constructed in the metal preferably before the device is arranged in the desired shape. See the design here.
• IR Apr. 27, 1899 – Jacob James obtained a patent on a heating sheet, and tin plate rolls device by utilizing the waste heat from heating furnaces.  He will make practical demonstrations of the device in Pittsburgh mills.
• 24 January 1903-Frank J. Compliment and James O. Robinson, citizens and residents of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio, have invented a new and improved Axle-Gage. This invention relates to improvements in devices for gaging railway-car axles to ascertain whether or not the axle has become bent or sprung by accident or by pressure in traffic. The object is to provide a simple and inexpensive construction device that a train inspector or other person may easily handle. This invention was made with singer William McKee of Ironton.
• 23 July 1907– Arthur F. Elkins and Henry Hunter of Ironton, Ohio, assignors of one-fourth to Frank L. McCauley and one-fourth to Thomas J. Kennedy, both of Ironton. Invented related to improved safety appliance for moving picture apparatus.
• IR Aug. 20, 1908 – Invented by Ironton Man. – A lawn swing of the new design is to be seen in the Lenz and Carter blacksmith shop on Vernon street, which is a great improvement over the old pattern, in that it can be operated with ease by drawing gently on rings with the hands.  Who has not wanted to swing with his body comfortably quiet?  One pair of rings operate it from one seat, and another pair is assigned to the other.  There are some interesting principles of physics involved in the action.  The local pugilist Charles Miller invented the swing, and the model was carefully constructed at the blacksmith shop.  Drawings of it were made by J. T. Egerton Monday, and an application for a patent has been forwarded.  The model allows an adjustment of the seats to a straight or reclining position, a lengthening or shortening of the swing body, and permits it to be built up as a bed and locked to prevent disturbing the dreamer.
• 13 November 1924 – Herbert M. Reeves and Carl E. Froelich, of Ironton, Ohio, Assignors to the Ironton Stove and Manufacturing Co., of Ironton, Ohio, a Corporation of Ohio. Premix gas burners, i.e., gaseous fuel, are mixed with combustion air upstream of the combustion zone induction type, e.g. Bunsen burner with elongated tubular burner head.
• 18 December 1936 – Homer J. Loftis of Ironton patented electrical equipment mounting. It was the assignor to Henrite Products Corporation of Ironton, Lawrence county, Ohio. The principal object of the present invention is to provide a motor or other electrical equipment mounting that is not only resilient for absorbing noise and shocks but which also serves to dissipate static electricity while at the same time providing proper electrical insulation for the equipment supported, thereby to prevent the breakdown of the equipment due to shorting of the power supply through the mounting.