Information, Technology and Society, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1966 January
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Servodyne Corporation Records, 1955-1971, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Papers documenting the invention and patenting of the Peery Typesetter.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Inventor of an experimental photo typesetting machine.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research access on site by appointment.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers document the professional career of mechanical engineer, Charles Richardson Pratt. The papers include correspondence, patents, patent application materials, agreements, photographs, publications, and blueprints for many of Pratt's inventions, especially his work on elevators.
Scope and Contents:
These papers contain personal materials of Charles R. Pratt; letterpress copybooks; engineering notebooks; diaries; material relating to the development of the heavy-duty, high-rise electric elevator; material concerning elevator cable equalizers and safety devices, Morton-Jacobsen and other lathe chucks, lathe drives and the Pratt Driver, the hydraulic transmission of power in trucks, and ship steering gear; and studies reports, drawings, photographs, catalogs, and trade literature concerning mechanical engineering.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1: Personal Materials, 1875-1935
Series 2: Diaries, 1894, 1928-1931
Series 3: Correspondence, 1872-1920
Series 4: Notebooks, 1880, 1889, 1900
Series 5: Inventions, 1860-1927
Series 6: Photographs, 1890-1902
Series 7: Publications, 1895-1929
Series 8: Drawings, 1878-1929
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Richardson Pratt (1860-1935), was born in Massachusetts to John C. and Mary Anne Richardson. He graduated from the Hopkins School of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1879. Pratt worked at Whittier Machine Company of Boston (1882-1890) where he designed and built the first electric elevator in 1888. The elevator was installed in the Tremont House, Boston. Pratt also worked as an agent and later as a consulting engineer for the Otis Elevator Company, the inventors of the hydraulic elevator.
Pratt was best known for his development of the first electrically powered elevator. In 1892, inventor Frank Sprague (1857-1934) founded the Sprague Electric Elevator Company, and with Charles R. Pratt developed the Sprague-Pratt Electric Elevator. They demonstrated that electrically powered elevators were capable of competing with hydraulic elevators. Pratt held several engineering positions and worked for the Marine Engine Company of Newark, New Jersey (1902-1905) developing elevator systems; consulting engineer to the Universal Speed Control Company of New York City (1906-1919); consultant to the American Engineering Company of Philadelphia (1912); mechanical superintendent at the Crocker Wheel Company of Ampere, New Jersey (1919); engineer for the E. Horton and Sons Company of Connecticut (1920-1923); the General Tractors Corporation (1924-1927); and was associated with the Watson Elevator Company of New York City (1928-1930). Pratt patented many of his ideas, earning over thirty-five patents related mostly to elevators,
Pratt was a member of the Masons, the Sons of the American Revolution, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the MIT Club of New Jersey, and the Motor Club of London. He married Mary Byron Ladd and they had two children, Gertrude Ladd Pratt and Donald Richardson Pratt.
Provenance:
This collection was purchased from Charles R. Pratt's daughter, Gertrude Pratt Vance, in 1973.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Charles Richardson Pratt Papers, 1860-1935, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Charles Richardson Pratt Papers, 1860-1935, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
This series consists of materials related to Pratt's inventions. The materials include correspondence, patents, patent applications, sketches, calculations, blueprints, and some photographs. The materials are arranged chronologically by patent issue date. Researchers should consult Series 3: Correspondence for additional information.
There is substantial documentation about Pratt's cable tension equalizing device which he co-patented with John Heslip on November 30, 1923 (US 1,474,911) and the subsequent patent interference case. The patent, filed on April 6, 1921, was intended, "to provide an improved apparatus whereby the tension on several load carrying cables may be maintained substantially uniform while operating." The invention would be most valuable to elevators whose load needs to be properly distributed.
Edward E. Wright of Detroit patented an equalizer (US 1,465,705) on August 21, 1923, three months before Pratt. Wright suggested to Pratt that he abandon his pursuit of filing a patent and that he was the rightful inventor. According to Pratt's records, namely his sketches, he and Heslip conceived of the idea in Kansas City first, implementing their invention in the Commerce Trust Building. Pratt's November 30, 1920 sketch, made on the back of a menu for the Hotel Baltimore in Kansas City, details his elevator rope equalizer. Wright began an patent interference with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Edward E. Wright v. Charles R. Pratt (Interference No. 48, 278) on November 16, 1922. An interference proceeding, also known as a priority contest, is a proceeding before patent judges to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications. On March 16, 1923, Pratt and Wright resolved their patent interference with the following agreement: Wright paid Pratt $500 in cash; Pratt would no longer pursue the patent interference; and Wright would grant Pratt an exclusive license to manufacture, use, and sell all forms of the equalizer except the form shown in Wright's patent
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Charles Richardson Pratt Papers, 1860-1935, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Cady, Walter Guyton, 1874-1973 (physicist) Search this
Collection Source:
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1914-1974
Scope and Contents:
The patent records consist of letter patents issued to Cady and copies from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, patent applications, specifications, notes, and invention disclosure statements from the Office of Naval Research. Cady worked with the Office of Naval Research while at the Scott Laboratory, Wesleyan University during the 1940s and 1950s.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Walter Guyton Cady Papers, 1903-1974, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Edison's Record, Volume 2, a bound volume prepared as a court exhibit includes patent applications and drawings)
Collection Source:
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Collection Creator:
Hammer, William J. (William Joseph), 1858-1934 (electrical engineer) Search this
Container:
Box 90
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
William J. Hammer Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Container:
Box 498, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1918-1923
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection remains unprocessed and is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
George H. Clark Radioana Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Container:
Box 498, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1926-1935
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection remains unprocessed and is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
George H. Clark Radioana Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Case no. 5: Lee DeForest, patent application materials and references to related matters. Wireless Telegrams and Telephone Systems. Includes DeForestÿs notes re: his invention (#1,507,017)
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Container:
Box 498, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1914-1924
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection remains unprocessed and is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
George H. Clark Radioana Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1861-1949
Scope and Contents note:
Series 125 contains copies of United States patents relating to radio and related electrical technologies, arranged by patent number [c. 32,471 (1861)- 2,326,836 (1941)]. Also included is a separate section of Fessenden Patents. Several boxes contain information on patent practices: materials include articles; booklets; correspondence 1907-1913; 1918-26;1929-1930; 1949 diagrams; defendants' exhibits; news clippings; pamphlets; patent applications (U.S., British, and German); patent specifications; periodical clippings; and several photographs. There are also materials relating to various patent suits: Langmuir Patent Record and Argument; Canadian General Electric vs. Fada Radio, 1927. Record of suits on wireless patents (1922-1929). Brody Patent Collection (see list in box).
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection remains unprocessed and is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs, negatives, and slides.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
George H. Clark Radioana Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Silver gelatin on paper., 9.5" x 7.6".)
Container:
Box 405, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Patent applications
Date:
undated
Scope and Contents:
Patent application filed 27 August 1906.
Local Numbers:
AC0055-0000020.tif (AC Scan)
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Medical History, Division of (NMAH, Smithsonian Institution). Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (9 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Drawings
Patents
Blueprints
Advertisements
Date:
1936-1970
Summary:
Blueprints, drawings, patent applications, patents, product photographs, correspondence, bills and receipts, advertising, and published articles related to the Kerns' products. The bulk of the material, 1949-1958, is from George Kern's files. It primarily relates to the development and marketing of the Dentagraph and high speed dental drills before the formation of the Fairfax Manufacturing Company in 1957.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes blueprints and drawings, patent applications, patents, product photographs, correspondence, bills and receipts, advertising, and published articles related to the Kern's products. The bulk of the material, dating from 1949 to 1958, is from George Kern's files. It primarily relates to the development and marketing of the Dentagraph and high speed dental drills before the formation of the Fairfax Manufacturing Company in 1957. Most of the FMC material document's Kern's role as a stockholder.
However, a large portion of the blueprints and drawings were created by his son or other FMC employees. Several of the patents are George Kern, Jr.'s, and there are copies of other people's patents that relate to the Kerns' patents or inventing activities. The collection has been arranged in chronological order within five series.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into five series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, 1952-1959
Series 2: Product Files, 1945-1968
Series 3: Marketing Records, 1936-1962
Series 4: Client Files, 1949-1958
Series 5: Competitor Files, 1957
Biographical / Historical:
George Robert Kern was born in 1894 and died in 1962. He was an Arlington, Va., area cabinet maker and machinist who went on to invent several pieces of dental equipment that helped revolutionize the field of dentistry in the early 1950s he was joined in these endeavors by his son, George Kern, Jr.
The elder George Kern began working with dental equipment according to his promotional material because of his own experience with poor fitting dentures. As a machinist accustomed to tight tolerances, he knew it must be possible to make dentures fit better. The result of his work was the Dentagraph and his first patent, granted in 1950. In 1948 a company, Kern
laboratory, was incorporated to manufacture the Dentagraph and license the "Dentagraph Tech nic." He also sold dental laboratory benches and dental molding materials under the name Kern Laboratory Equipment Company. Kern's Dentagraph was used by the National Standards Laboratory to test denture materials and the laboratory further improved the device. Apparently Kern received the rights to produce and market this improved tool.
In the early 1950s he began working on high speed dental drills. He developed both a water turbine drill and an air turbine drill. The water turbine drill was manufactured by Bowen Company of Maryland under the trademarked name Turbo Jet. In 1957 the company acquired the rights to this tool and its trademark.
Kern and his son improved on the water turbine drill, and in 1957 formed Fairfax Manufacturing Company (FMC) to produce an air turbine drill and the improved water turbine drill. The senior Kern was a participating stockliolder, receiving stock in return for rights to his inventions. George Kern, Jr., L. W. Hazleton (President of Hazleton Laboratories, a biological
(research and development company), and R. G. Henninger (General Manager of Hazleton Laboratories) were the company officers. The stockholders included dentists who also tested the companies new products. Densco, Inc., a Colorado dental equipment company, marketed Kern's products from around 1954, and in 1957 the company began to market Fairfax Manufacturing Company's products.
George R. Kern, Jr., was born in 1919. He left public school in the tenth but took courses in industrial electricity and industrial engineering. He worked for worked the National Bureau of Standards for two years building and installing laboratory equipment. In 1951 he began working at Hazelton Laboratories as Superintendent of Maintenance. He patented several pieces of
Dental equipment and specialized parts for dental equipment. He died in 1987.
Related Materials:
The Division of Medicine and Science has several examples of the Kerns' dental equipment, including a Dentagraph and a number of hand pieces.
Provenance:
Collection donated by John Kern, 1992, December 22.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Usage or copyright restrictions in effect. Contact the repository for details.
United States. National Bureau of Standards Search this
Extent:
5.5 Cubic feet (14 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Patents
Photographs
Engineering drawings
Date:
1947-1990
Summary:
The collection documents three major areas of Jacob Rabinow's work in improvement of electronic and other devices: phonograph record players, optical character recognition (reading machines) and automatic self regulation of watches and clocks.
Scope and Contents:
This collection comprises material from three major areas of Jacob Rabinow's work in improvement of electronic and other devices: phonograph record players, optical character recognition (reading machines) and automatic self regulation of watches and clocks. Included are technical descriptions, engineering drawings and sketches, numerous patent applications, patents, photographs of devices and voluminous correspondence, often related to patents and financial claims arising from them. The papers are grouped into the three areas of product innovation in approximate chronological order. In addition to many U.S. patents, Rabinow was granted numerous foreign patents, including British, French, German, Canadian and Japanese which are part of the collection. The patents as early as 1910 1917 were collected and assembled by Rabinow in his search of previous inventors' work.
Arrangement:
The papers are arranged into three series.
Series 1, Straight Line Photograph Arm, 1910-1917; 1947-1988
Subseries 1.1, Patents, 1910-1917; 1947-1988
Subseries 1.2, Litigation and Royalties, 1954-1980
Subseries 1.3, Brochures, Publicity, Photo Prints, and Advertisements, 1954-1980
Subseries 1.4, General Correspondence, 1954-1978
Series 2, Reading Machine, 1956-1990
Subseries 2.1, Patents, 1957-1958
Subseries 2.2, Brochures, Publicity, and Photo Prints, 1954-1970
Subseries 2.3, Correspondence, 1956-1960
Subseries 2.4, General Correspondence, 1954-1978
Series 3, Automatic Regulation of Watches and Clocks, 1948-1981
Subseries 3.1, Patents, 1948-1975
Subseries 3.2, Patent Right Litigation and Royalties, 1948-1976
Subseries 3.3, Brochures, Publicity, and Photo prints, 1953-1964
Subseries 3.4, General Correspondence, 1948-1981
Biographical / Historical:
Jacob Rabinow was born Jacob Rabinovich in the Kharkov, Ukraine in 1910 and moved with his family to Siberia in 1917 during the Bolshevik Revolution. In 1919, the Rabinow Family moved to China, where his father died. With his mother and brother, Rabinow then immigrated to the United States in 1921, where his mother established a corset shop in New York City. Rabinow graduated from the City College of New York with a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (1933) and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering (1934). After graduation in 1934, he worked at diverse jobs until he was hired by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) and now known as National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST in 1938. At NBS Rabinow calibrated flow meters and then, with the outbreak of World War II, designed proximity fuses for Army bombs and rockets. To calculate the velocity of the falling fuses, he devised an acceleration integrator. He also worked on bombing techniques. Rabinow eventually became Chief of the Electro-Mechanical Ordnance Division at NBS before leaving in 1954 to form his own company, Rabinow Engineering.
At Rabinow Engineering, projects included the development of automatic winding equipment and test equipment for Sprague Electric; design of a letter sorter later built by Burroughs; a digital computer for the U.S. Post Office; and the construction of reading machines for RCA, UNIVAC, and others. When servicing machines began to require too much staff and travel, Rabinow sold his company and became a consultant. In 1964, Rabinow Engineering eventually became part of Control Data Corporation (CDC) where Rabinow was head of the Rabinow Advanced Development Laboratory. In 1968, Rabinow formed RABCO Company to manufacture his straight-line phonographs. RABCO was later acquired by the Harmon-Kardon Corporation. In 1972, Rabinow rejoined NBS where he was Chief Research Engineer. In 1975, he retired, but acted as a consultant.
Rabinow held 230 United States Patents on a wide variety of mechanical, optical and electrical devices. Of note is his magnetic particle clutch (1956) used in tape and disk drives; first automobile clutch to work by magnetic and not electrostatic charge (1956); first phonograph whose cartridge moved along a straight track rather than at the end of a swinging arm (1959); first self-regulating clock (1960); and his best known invention, a Reading Machine (1960). Rabinow was honored for his scientific work with the Naval Ordnance Development Award (1945); the President's Certificate of Merit (1948); the IEEE's Harry Diamond Award (1977); and the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award (1998) Rabinow died September 11, 1999.
Related Materials:
The Division Medicine and Science holds the Rabinow Scanned Comparison Reading Machine (Accession #: 1982.0393.01).
Provenance:
Collection donated by Jacob Rabinow, 1990, Decmeber 17.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Engineering and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI. Search this
Container:
Box 11, Folder 10
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1959 -1964
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Jacob Rabinow Papers, 1947-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
