Welcome! 

Register :: Login
Manufacturers Index - London, Berry & Orton
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
D4,145 Jun. 07, 1870 Design for a band-saw frame John Richards Philadelphia, PA
104,770 Jun. 28, 1870 Improvement in band-sawing machines John Richards Philadelphia, PA This machine is very similar to that in patent 114,043.
A bandsaw with this patent date is labeled "The Berry & Orton Company / Atlantic Works / Philadelphia USA". Another example, shown in the VintageMachinery.org Photo Index, is labeled "London Berry & Orton / The Atlantic Works / Philadelphia USA", plus the patent dates June 7 1870 (4,145), June 28 1870, April 25 1871 (114,043), and May 9 1871 (114,710).
    Improvement in band-sawing machines William H. Thorne Philadelphia, PA  
113,113 Mar. 28, 1871 Improvement in apparatus for transmitting power to machinery William H. Thorne Philadelphia, PA Inventor Thorne was a partner in Richards, Thorne & Co., which established The Atlantic Works in Philadelphia in 1860, and operated it until William S. Kelley bought out Thorne in July of 1870. Interestingly, Kelley is a witness on this patent. After a couple more steps, the owner of The Atlantic Works was London, Berry & Orton; the other witness on this patent was a partner in the latter incarnation.
This invention was used in conjunction with patent 114,229 to create a portable radial drill, used for drilling rivet holes in boiler plates, that was made by Thorne & De Haven. The product was obviously successful as within three years they had 40 employees based primarily on that one product.
114,043 Apr. 25, 1871 Improvement in saw-mills John Richards Philadelphia, PA The machine appears to be a refinement of that in patent 104,770.
A bandsaw with this patent date is labeled "The Berry & Orton Company / Atlantic Works / Philadelphia USA"
114,710 May. 09, 1871 Improvement in band sawing-machines John Richards Philadelphia, PA Invention is a method of constructing bandsaw wheels: "its objects being to more effectually guard against the breaking of the saw-blades by securing a greater degree of elasticity than in such wheels as hitherto constructed, and a sufficient strength with much less weight and material."
264,959 Sep. 26, 1882 Planing-machine Lucien H. Berry Philadelphia, PA
    Planing-machine Lyman O. Orton Philadelphia, PA  
272,838 Feb. 20, 1883 Saw-mill dog George F. Knight Hicksville, OH Improvement to patent 233,627.
286,630 Oct. 16, 1883 Cutter for planing-machines Lyman Osgood Orton Philadelphia, PA
288,727 Nov. 20, 1883 Saw-guide Lymon O. Orton Philadelphia, PA "My invention consists in the provision, in a band sawing machine, of means for moving the saw in order to avoid contact with the timber while running back or jigging the carriage on which the same is supported."
D. C. Prescott's 1910 monograph, "The Evolution of Modern Band Saw Mills for Sawing Logs", says, "Up to 1888, London, Berry & Orton of the Atlantic Works, Philadelphia, were builders of log Band Mills and enjoyed quite an extensive trade, and some of them found their way into the northwest... The wheels were six feet in diameter with wood rims attached to a metal rim inside of them; the faces were rubber and the saws were six inches wide."
288,728 Nov. 20, 1883 Governor Lyman O. Orton Philadelphia, PA
288,729 Nov. 20, 1883 Table for planing-machines Lyman O. Orton Philadelphia, PA Patent seen in 1893 Berry & Orton catalog: "Hand feed jointing and planing machine."
294,452 Mar. 04, 1884 Band-saw machine Wallace H. Dodge Mishawaka, IN This safety device that catches the blade when it runs off the wheel was seen on page 188 of the 1888 London, Berry & Orton catalog, as their "Independence Band-Saw Catcher", and it is claimed that "Saving a saw once or twice frequently pays for the Catcher" in avoiding blade damage.
The inventor was owner of the Dodge Mfg. Co., makers of wood specialties and wood pulleys. In 1884 they were manufacturing only the "Dodge Independence Wood Split Pulley" (the use of the "Independence" name for both the saw catcher and the pulley provides some evidence that the catcher may actually have been manufactured by Dodge and was merely sold by London, Berry & Orton). By 1890 Dodge Mfg. Co. were making a more complete line of power transmission equipment. By 1902 their manufacturing facilities covered over 64 acres and 40 buildings. And in 1894 Lyman O. Orton of London, Berry & Orton had a patent assigned to Dodge: see patent 530,715.