Sears | Craftsman - Assigned Patents

Manufacturers Index - Sears | Craftsman

Sears | Craftsman
Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
Company Website: http://www.sears.com
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery & Metal Working Machinery

Patents

This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

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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
1,210,145	Dec. 26, 1916	Folding grindstone-frame	Lawrence V. Calhoun	Glenellyn, IL
2,073,704	Mar. 16, 1937	Drill press	Walter G. Mitchell	Oak Park, IL	This patent covers an intermediate pulley mounting ("slow-speed attachment") for providing lower speeds on a variable-speed drill press; the mounting used an expansion plug that fit into the top of the drill press column. This device was available as an accessory for all 101.03xxx model Craftsman drill presses, which were built by Atlas Press. Given the inventor's location, he was most likely a Sears employee, but the patent is not assigned to Sears or to Atlas Press. We do not know for certain who actually manufactured it; we assume here that it was made by Atlas Press. A 1946 patent, #2,395,896, was granted to our inventor, Walter G. Mitchell, and assigned to Sears. Another 1946 patent, #2,402,972, was granted to Mitchell and assigned to Independent Pneumatic Tool Co. Based on patent application dates, Mitchell likely changed employment in 1943 or '44. This drill press patent is, as far as we can tell, Mitchell's first patent of more than two dozen he would be granted.
D108,245	Feb. 01, 1938	Design for a band saw	John R. Morgan	Oak Park, IL	This is the design for Sears' Craftsman 10" bandsaw. It was manufactured by Central Specialty Co., and then by King-Seeley Corp. after that firm bought Central Specialty in 1944.
D115,575	Jul. 04, 1939	Design for a motor casing	John R. Morgan	Oak Park, IL	Seen on a 1/2 HP induction motor from Sears, model number 315.1952. The maker's prefix of 315 corresponds to Diehl Mfg. Co., "Ryan", and Ryobi. By far the most likely match is Diehl, which was a motor manufacturer active at the time. They were best known for supplying motors for Singer sewing machines.
2,349,162	May. 16, 1944	Wood-planing machine	Otto P. Haisch	Ann Arbor, MI	This unusual open-sided planer was sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co. as the Craftsman 6-inch Thickness Planer, model number 103.23700. The planer was manufactured by King-Seeley Corp., which had acquired the assignee, Central Specialty Co., and was operating it as the Central Specialty Division of King-Seeley Corp. This planer was featured in the 1941 Sears catalog under the Craftsman brand.
		Wood-planing machine	Walter L. Gaskell	Ypsilanti, MI
2,716,350	Aug. 30, 1955	Slow speed converter motor drive	Robert D. Phares	Phoenix, AZ	This is the patent for the Craftsman "Slo-Speed Converter" that was sold by Sears, Roebuck & Co. to convert a wood-cutting bandsaw to a metal-cutting saw. Every example we have seen is marked "PAT. PENDING". We have seen a couple of examples marked with the assignee's name, Savage Mfg. Co. That firm got into financial difficulty within a few years of this patent being issued, and this product's manufacture was taken over Savage Mfg.'s landlord, the Gilbert Engineering Co. "This invention pertains to improvements in a slow speed converter motor drive applicable to electric drive motors for machine tools and other devices. ...easy to install...may be installed without any special machining or special brackets or fixtures or modification of the motor or machine...mounted on the drive shaft of the motor and supported by torque arms connectable to the mounting supports for the motor...readily shifted manually from a low speed drive to a high speed drive or vice versa with any special apparatus or skill..."
3,208,318	Sep. 28, 1965	Quick Release For Socket Wrenches	Peter M. Roberts	Gardner, MA	A spring-loaded central pin in the center of a ratchet driver has a indentation into which the spring ball or detent which holds a socket can retract. The patent was the basis for SEARS, ROEBUCK & Co.'s quick release feature on CRAFTSMAN ratchets, and the center of protracted litigation between SEARS and the inventor. Links point to "archived" newspaper accounts from the Los Angeles Times (1986) and an Associated Press piece that appeared in the Eugene, Oregon REGISTER-Guard (1989).