Muskegon Iron Works, Rodgers Iron Manufacturing Co. - Assigned Patents

Manufacturers Index - Muskegon Iron Works, Rodgers Iron Manufacturing Co.

Muskegon Iron Works, Rodgers Iron Manufacturing Co.
Muskegon, MI, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Steam and Gas Engines

Patents

This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

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Patent Number	Date	Title	Name	City	Description
81,432	Aug. 25, 1868	Improvement in machine for turning logs in sawmills	Esau Tarrant	Muskegon, MI	This patent was ultimately the subject of a major lawsuit between Torrent & Arms Lumber Co. versus Alexander Rodgers; see the description at patent 5,487. There we learn that this patent was assigned to Alexander Rodgers, though not indicated as such on the patent specification. The patent was improved by Alexander Rodgers in patent 124,763, and reissued as patent 5,487. It was the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that the reissue expanded the scope of the original patent in a way that was designed to make Torrent & Arms infringe on Tarrant's earlier patent that was assigned to Rodgers.
124,763	Mar. 19, 1872	Improvement in machines for turning logs in saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
139,264	May. 27, 1873	Improvement in saw-mill head-blocks	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
139,578	Jun. 03, 1873	Improvement in machines for moving logs	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
		Improvement in machines for moving logs	George M. Hinkley	Milwaukee, WI
140,647	Jul. 08, 1873	Improvement in machines for sawing laths	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
RE5,487	Jul. 15, 1873	Improvement in machines for turning logs	Esau Tarrant	Muskegon, MI	A dispute over this patent went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. "Torrent & Arms Lumber Co. v. Rodgers", 112 U.S. 659 (1884). "This was an action at law brought June 25, 1879, by Alexander Rodgers, the defendant in error, against the Torrent & Arms Lumber Company, the plaintiff in error, to recover damages for the infringement of reissued letters patent for 'a new and improved machine for rolling saw-logs,' dated June 25, 1873 (sic, should be July 15, 1873), granted to Rodgers as the assignee of Esau Torrent, the original patentee. The lumber company pleaded the general issue, with notice that, among other things, it would give in evidence, and insist in its defense, 'that the said patentee and his assignee, the plaintiff, unjustly obtained the reissued patent for matters and principles embraced in such reissue not included in the original patent or specification therefor, and for what was in fact invented by another, to-wit, John Torrent, of the city of Muskegon, who was using reasonable diligence in adapting and perfecting the same;' that John Torrent 'made his application for a patent therefor on January 29, 1873, and his patent was granted August 12, 1873 (patent 141,739), and the plaintiff and his assignee had knowledge prior to the application for such reissue of the aforesaid application for patent by the said John Torrent, and the said principles so patented by the said John Torrent had (by him) been used at the city of Muskegon, aforesaid, by said John Torrent and others.' Upon the trial in the circuit court, Rodgers, to maintain the issue on his part, introduced in evidence the original letters patent, dated August 25, 1868 (patent 81,432), granted to Esau Torrent for 'a new and improved machine for rolling saw-logs,' the assignment of said letters patent by the patentee to Rodgers, and the reissued letters patent granted to Rodgers as the assignee of Torrent, applied for June 25, 1873, and issued and dated July 15, 1873. The specification and claims of the original and reissued patents were both illustrated by the annexed drawings." The decision of the Supreme Court was in favor of Torrent & Arms, and they ordered the case back to circuit court for retrial.
141,736	Aug. 12, 1873	Improvement in log-turners	Esau Tarrant	Muskegon, MI	An 1874 ad from Rodgers Iron Mfg. Company says that they were "Manufacturers of Tarrant's Patent Log Center". This patent is the most likely candidate.
142,280	Aug. 26, 1873	Improvement in log-canting machines	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
142,816	Sep. 16, 1873	Improvement in cranks for saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
151,622	Jun. 02, 1874	Improvement in journal-boxes for saw-mill carriages	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
152,171	Jun. 16, 1874	Improvement in saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI	The primary innovation of this patent addresses the problem of keeping the arbor bearings cool: the frame of the saw is hollow, and cooling water runs through the frame.
154,912	Sep. 08, 1874	Improvement in machines for moving and barking logs	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
161,279	Mar. 23, 1875	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI	An improvement to the inventor's patent 139,264.
161,903	Apr. 13, 1875	Improvement in machines for moving logs	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
163,259	May. 11, 1875	Improvement in saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
171,173	Dec. 14, 1875	Improvement in saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
176,409	Apr. 18, 1876	Improvement in devices for moving the log-carriages of saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
192,015	Jun. 12, 1877	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
213,953	Apr. 01, 1879	Improvement in log-rollers	Esau Tarrant	Muskegon, MI
228,937	Jun. 15, 1880	Head-block	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
251,269	Dec. 20, 1881	Feeding appliance for saw-mills	Gilbert Mee	Muskegon, MI
257,979	May. 16, 1882	Presser-roller for gang-saw mills	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
279,660	Jun. 19, 1883	Log-canter	Gilbert Mee	Muskegon, MI
307,680	Nov. 04, 1884	Boring-machine	Hubert M. Perry	Muskegon, MI	"Heretofore it has been common in car-shops and other places where similar heavy joiner's work was performed by the aid of machinery to have the machines by which the operations of boring and mortising were performed separately from each other... The object of the present invention is, therefore, to produce a boring-machine capable of boring holes at any desired angle which may be attached to a mortising-machine in such a manner that the same table shall be common to both..."
310,321	Jan. 06, 1885	Edging-cutter	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
320,217	Jun. 16, 1885	Log-loader	John Campbell	Muskegon, OR
322,396	Jul. 14, 1885	Circular-sawing machine	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI	"This invention relates to an improvement in that class of machines employed in sawmills for the purpose of reducing edgings and other refuse to such short lengths as will enable them to be readily moved from the mill by an ordinary endless conveyer to the refuse-burner, such division also greatly assisting in their combustion after being deposited in the burner, thus allowing a small burner to do the work of a much larger one that receives the edgings in long pieces."
324,273	Aug. 11, 1885	Reciprocating sawmill	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI	Gang-saw mill.
330,803	Nov. 17, 1885	Lumber-trimmer	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
337,705	Mar. 09, 1886	Log-turner	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
342,228	May. 18, 1886	Feed-roll	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI
428,785	May. 27, 1890	Bandsaw mill	Alexander Rodgers	Muskegon, MI	Multiple pulleys are used instead of the usual upper wheel. The short local bending radii on the small wheels would surely lead to premature blade failure. The purpose of the multi-wheel replacement for the usual upper wheel is to reduced the required band length by allowing the lower and upper carriages to be closer together. (We would have expected the main purpose of this design would be to reduce the inertia of the upper "wheel" and thus reduce problems of blade buckling when the cut meets with unusually high resistance, but this apparent advantage is not mentioned in the specification.)
430,319	Jun. 17, 1890	Log-rolling machine	Gilbert Mee	Muskegon, MI	The specification misspells the name of the assignee as "Rogers Iron Mfg. Co."