R. Ball & Co. - Assigned Patents | VintageMachinery.org

Manufacturers Index - R. Ball & Co.

R. Ball & Co.
Worcester, MA, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery

Patents

This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

Submitting Patent Information

If you find a patent number or patent date by this manufacturer that is not on this list, please contact the Site Historian.

Key to Links for Patent Information

USPTO = U.S. Patent Office . Images of the actual patent can be viewed on the U.S. Patent Office web site but a special TIFF viewer must be installed with your browser in order properly work. More information on how to configure your computer to view these patents can be found at TIFF image Viewers for Patent Images.
DATAMP = Directory of American Tool And Machinery Patents . A sister site to VintageMachinery.org with information on patents related to machinery and tools. A much easier user interface than the USPTO's for finding information on machinery patents.

Patent Number	Date	Title	Name	City	Description
16,534	Feb. 03, 1857	Machine for cutting tenons on blind slats	Seth C. Ellis	Albany, NY	The 25 October 1857 issue of Scientific American describes this machine was follows: "In this machine the slats are inserted edgewise in a deep groove in the side of a suitable long cylinder, or, rather, in a series of small wheels mounted on one shaft, and the whole is then revolved so as to present every side of the projecting ends to the action of rapidly rotating cutters. The cutters employed in practice are simply circular saws, mounted side by side. The stands in which they are supported may be placed at any required distances apart, so as to produce slats of all ordinary lengths. As many as forty-eight slats have been tenoned with tolerable perfectionâ€”the cutting-off of the ends being, of course, performed at the same operationâ€”in the course of one minute." Ellis applied for, and was ultimately granted, an extension to this patent. The report for the patent commissioner is very interesting reading. See the "Vintage Machinery" link elsewhere on this page for details. An April 1876 catalog from Power, Tainter & Co. has an illustration of this "Self-Feed Blind-Slat Tenoner", complete with patent date. The price as $115, or $100 for the hand-feed version. It's not certain whether this machine was made by Power, Tainter & Co., or by someone else.
20,999	Jul. 27, 1858	Stock for holding the cutters in rotary planing-machines.	Ivers Gibbs	Worcester, MA	Extended 7 years, and reissued shortly after the extension kicked in. Innovation is primarily the fact that the stock is hollow. The reissue clarified that the shape of the stock is designed to minimize air resistance. This patent cutter arm was seen in an 1869 catalog from R. Ball & Co., which makes it very likely that it was also manufactured by that company's predecessor, Ball & Williams (active 1858 to 1865). It seems as likely as not that R. Ball & Co.'s successor, Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, also manufactured this arm but we do not have confirmation.
57,191	Aug. 14, 1866	Improvement in planing-machines	James J. Russ	Worcester, MA	R. Ball & Co.'s 1869 catalog featured this machine. See also patent 75,984.
59,514	Nov. 06, 1866	Improvement in feed-rollers for planing-machines	Frank J. Plummer	Worcester, MA
66,519	Jul. 09, 1867	Improvement in planing machines	Frank J. Plummer	Worcester, MA
68,298	Aug. 27, 1867	Improvement in mortising machines	D. L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA
68,108	Aug. 27, 1867	Improvement in clutch-shippers	Frank J. Plummer	Worcester, MA
75,984	Mar. 24, 1868	Planing machine	James J. Russ	Worcester, MA	See also patent 204,056. By 1869 this machine was manufactured by R. Ball & Co. An article in the 1870-01-01 issue of Scientific American describes this planer-molder and refers the reader to R. Ball & Co. as the manufacturer. R. Ball & Co.'s 1869 catalog referred to it as "Russ' Patent 'Monitor' Moulding Machine". See also patent 57,191.
76,052	Mar. 31, 1868	Improvement in cutter-heads for tenoning blind-slats	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA	This patent cutterhead is mentioned on page 70 of R. Ball & Co.'s 1869 catalog.
77,877	May. 12, 1868	Improvement in mortising-machines	D. L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA
79,682	Jul. 07, 1868	Improvement in circular-saw mills	Frank J. Plummer	Worcester, MA	In the 1871 Worcester Directory, Frank J. Plummer does not have an occupation listed. His residence was at 6 Westminster. By 1878 he was partnered with Edwin N. Boynton in the firm of Boynton & Plummer.
79,640	Jul. 07, 1868	Improvement in machines for boring wood	George Dryden	Worcester, MA	"My invention relates to those boring-machines used for boring for mortises and similar purposes, and consists in pivoting the mechanism that drives the auger to a plate or frame sliding on the base of the machine, and operated by a rack and pinion to adjust it for boring the different holes successively, and also in arranging a central elevating-gear permanently in mesh, with a stationary rack attached to the standard, with such form and construction of parts as to make a convenient and effective boring-machine."
80,392	Jul. 28, 1868	Improvement in blind-slat-tenoning machine	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
D3,189	Sep. 01, 1868	Design for base of a mortising-machine	Dalphon L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA	Inventor Gibbs had patents assigned to J. A. Fay & Co. (1856), C. B. Rogers & Co. (1862), and R. Ball & Co. (1869, 1871, 1874). This patent is not assigned, but we assume it was used by R. Ball & Co. because the foot design is visible in that company's patent 86,389.
82,257	Sep. 15, 1868	Improvement in sawing machines	Hiram Thompson	Worcester, MA	The saw is a double-arbor tablesaw, similar to Wardwell's patent 16,814. The innovation here is a means of supporting both ends of the saw-arbors, plus a means of holding the driving-shaft integrally with the frame of the saw rather than via a separate floor-mounted frame.
84,817	Dec. 08, 1868	Improvement in mortising-machine	D. L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA
86,389	Feb. 02, 1869	Improvement in mortising-machines	Dalphon L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA
89,207	Apr. 20, 1869	Improvement in wood-working machines	George Dryden	Worcester, MA	Machine is a matcher.
89,990	May. 11, 1869	Improvement in planing-machine	Eminel Potter Halsted	Worcester, MA	Improvement is to feed-roll support.
93,056	Jul. 27, 1869	Improvement in cutter-heads	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
98,124	Dec. 21, 1869	Improvement in cutter-head	Hiram Thompson	Worcester, MA
100,118	Feb. 22, 1870	Improved blind-slat	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
102,222	Apr. 26, 1870	Improvement in cutter-head	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
115,603	Jun. 06, 1871	Improvement in tenoning-machines	Eminel Potter Halsted	Worcester, MA
118,907	Sep. 12, 1871	Improvement in cutter-heads for molding-machines	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
118,931	Sep. 12, 1871	Improvement in cutter-heads for wood-working machines	Eminel Potter Halsted	Worcester, MA
120,737	Nov. 07, 1871	Improvement in mortising-machines	Dalphon L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA
RE4,737	Feb. 06, 1872	Improvement in planing-machines	James J. Russ	Worcester, MA
131,666	Sep. 24, 1872	Improvement in molding-machines	Milton W. Clark	Worcester, MA
RE5,329	Mar. 18, 1873	Improvement in stocks for holding cutters in planing-machines	Ivers Gibbs	Worcester, MA	Extended 7 years. The reissue seems to be simply to improve the wording, and emphasize that the shape of the stock is designed to provide the necessary strength and stiffness while minimizing air resistance.
143,538	Oct. 07, 1873	Improvement in adjustable ratchet-rods	Edward H. Smith	Worcester, MA
149,466	Apr. 07, 1874	Improvement in mortising-machines	Dalphon L. Gibbs	Worcester, MA