Stearns Manufacturing Co. - Assigned Patents

Manufacturers Index - Stearns Manufacturing Co.

Stearns Manufacturing Co.
Erie, PA, 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
14,700	Apr. 15, 1856	Head and tail block for sawmills	Edward H. Stearns	Cincinnati, OH	According to the 1873 "Subject-matter index of patents for inventions issued by the United States Patent Office", this patent was granted an extension.
27,081	Feb. 07, 1860	Method of rossing saw-logs	E. H. Stearns	Cincinnati, OH
52,904	Feb. 27, 1866	Improvement in head-blocks for sawmills	E. H. Stearns	Erie, PA
56,459	Jul. 17, 1866	Improvement in Hollow Augers	J. H. Smith	Pineville, PA
60,648	Dec. 18, 1866	Improvement in sawmills	E. H. Stearns	Erie, PA
81,837	Sep. 01, 1868	Improvement in head-blocks	E. H. Stearns	Erie, PA	D. C. Prescott's 1910 monograph, "The Evolution of Modern Band Saw Mills for Sawing Logs", says of E. H. Stearns, "To him more than any other man living or dead, are the lumbermen of this country indebted for the mill equipments which brought the greatest success to them. He was the first man to give grace and beauty of design as well as strength to saw mill machinery. He was the first to produce carriages with accurately setting head blocks with self-receding knees, in place of the old time wooden head blocks with screw sets. "The eccentric setting blocks, and subsequently the double acting set works, which we all now copy, came on the market through him. The big circulars with reversed top saw models of construction, came from him. Live Rollers and labor saving machines originated with him, as also did the splendid Gang Edgers which we now have in place of the old single saw edger with its traveling table...And yet, with all the splendid service he rendered the lumbermen of this country, he was allowed to go down to his death with not enough to pay his funeral expenses, and few to do him honor. The men with whom he dealt are now mostly dead, but the living successors should remember that to him they are largely indebted for the full measure of prosperity that they now enjoy."
110,398	Dec. 20, 1870	Improvement in machines for turning logs	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
111,093	Jan. 17, 1871	Improvement in edging-machines	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
115,903	Jun. 13, 1871	Improvement in saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
117,828	Aug. 08, 1871	Improvement in machines for turning logs	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
RE4,551	Sep. 12, 1871	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA	Extended 7 years.
RE4,625	Nov. 07, 1871	Improvement in head-blocks	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
RE4,979	Jul. 16, 1872	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
141,672	Aug. 12, 1873	Improvement in circular-saw mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
143,264	Sep. 30, 1873	Improvement in edging-machines	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
144,154	Oct. 28, 1873	Improvement in sawing-machines	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
145,031	Nov. 25, 1873	Improvement in saw-mill dogs	John Torrent	Muskegon, MI
145,026	Nov. 25, 1873	Improvement in saw-mill dogs	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
147,523	Feb. 17, 1874	Improvement in log-turners for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
148,771	Mar. 17, 1874	Improvement in saw-mill dogs	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
199,667	Jan. 29, 1878	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
RE8,162	Apr. 09, 1878	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	John Cain	Sandy Lake, PA
RE8,289	Jun. 18, 1878	Improvement in head-blocks for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
213,002	Mar. 04, 1879	Improvement in saw-mill dogs	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
215,254	May. 13, 1879	Improvement in feed and gig mechanisms for saw-mills	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
215,255	May. 13, 1879	Improvement in saw-guides	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
RE9,074	Feb. 17, 1880	Head-block for saw-mills	John Cain	Pittsburgh, PA
RE9,130	Mar. 30, 1880	Hollow auger	J. Heston Smith	Three Tons, PA	Hollow auger for cutting tenons upon wagon-spokes and similar articles. The original patent 56,459 was split into this patent and patent 9,131.
RE9,131	Mar. 30, 1880	Hollow auger	J. Heston Smith	Three Tons, PA	Hollow auger for cutting tenons upon wagon-spokes and similar articles. The original patent 56,459 was split into this patent and patent 9,130.
238,815	Mar. 15, 1881	Lumber-trimming machine	Edward H. Stearns	Erie, PA
272,190	Feb. 13, 1883	Lumber-edging machine	Henry R. Barnhurst	Erie, PA	The manufacturer is inferred from the fact that the inventor was the treasurer and general manager of Stearns Mfg. Co.
281,750	Jul. 24, 1883	Saw-mill head-block	Henry R. Barnhurst	Erie, PA	The manufacturer is inferred from the fact that the inventor was the treasurer and general manager of Stearns Mfg. Co.
294,710	Mar. 04, 1884	Saw-mill dog	William M. Wilkin	East Saginaw, MI
294,711	Mar. 04, 1884	Saw-mill dog	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
301,472	Jul. 08, 1884	Saw-mill head-block	Henry R. Barnhurst	Erie, PA	The manufacturer is inferred from the fact that the inventor was the treasurer and general manager of Stearns Mfg. Co.
304,983	Sep. 09, 1884	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
327,574	Oct. 06, 1885	Band-saw mill	James S. Miller	Erie, PA	D. C. Prescott's 1910 monograph, "The Evolution of Modern Band Saw Mills for Sawing Logs", says, "...The operation of all these mills did not escape the careful attention of the men who were builders of the machinery found in the great lumber mills, realizing that they did that the right kind of a Band Mill for sawing logs was yet to be created, and they went at it. "And to the Stearns Mfg. Co., of Erie, Pa., must the credit be given for the first vigorous measures taken to introduce the band saw into the large mills of the country, and for their efforts to convince lumbermen of their usefulness and value. To that end they built a mill having wheels nine feet diameter for saws eight inches wide. The rims were of wood with rubber faces, and the spokes were of wrought pipe. It was their belief that a band saw would be less liable to crack if run on large wheels. "In combination with this mill they mounted on the same frame a large circular arbor so that a lumberman could use either a Band or a Circular should he so desire. "Mr. Wellington Cummer, of Cadillac, Mich., was the first to install one of them in his mill; and no lumberman in this country has been more ready to adopt improved methods than he. Mill men generally do not wish to try machines they look upon as experimental in any respect, no matter how good they may appear; usually they want somebody else to try them first, overlooking the fact that an inventor must find some one broad enough to permit their mills to be used, or one who is willing perhaps to invest in a machine that apparently is a good thing. Mr. Cummer was just the man for Mr. Stearns to apply to in the effort to in the effort to introduce his new Band Mill... "Other mills of the Stearns Company were put in at Pequaming and Menominee, Mich., and also at Minneapolis, Minn. But these mills were not a complete success. They did serve, however, to open wide the eyes of the lumber world generally and set the pace for other machinery builders to follow. "The Stearns Company finally abandoned this construction and adopted a plan modeled on the Hoffman mill (see patent 192,917), which they advertised in the Northwestern Lumberman, January 29, 1887. Their first mill, however, was the better of the two."
332,161	Dec. 08, 1885	Saw-mill	Edward Lapham	Cadillac, MI
		Saw-mill	James S. Miller	Erie, PA
336,192	Feb. 16, 1886	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
336,193	Feb. 16, 1886	Combined edger and cant sawing machine	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
336,194	Feb. 16, 1886	Saw-mill dog	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
338,017	Mar. 16, 1886	Bandsaw mill	Henry R. Barnhurst	Erie, PA	Yet another patent that tries to prevent blade buckling caused by the upper (idler) wheel over-running the lower (driving) wheel. This invention is for a paddle-wheel attached to the idler wheel, the paddle-wheel being contained within a sealed container filled with fluid. The manufacturer is inferred from the fact that the inventor was the treasurer and general manager of Stearns Mfg. Co.
338,170	Mar. 16, 1886	Bandsaw mill	Albert F. Griswold	Erie, PA	Yet another patent that tries to prevent blade buckling caused by the upper (idler) wheel over-running the lower (driving) wheel. This invention is for a pair of friction-disks that provide a drag on the motion of the idler wheel. The manufacturer is inferred from the fact that the inventor was the treasurer and general manager of Stearns Mfg. Co.
		Bandsaw mill	Henry R. Barnhurst	Erie, PA
338,124	Mar. 16, 1886	Reciprocating-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
338,125	Mar. 16, 1886	Saw-sash for reciprocating saw-mills	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
380,235	Mar. 27, 1888	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
380,236	Mar. 27, 1888	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
389,126	Sep. 04, 1888	Saw-hanging device for gang-saws	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
406,322	Jul. 02, 1889	Bandsaw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
406,323	Jul. 02, 1889	Band-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
406,324	Jul. 02, 1889	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
482,828	Sep. 20, 1892	Locomotive	Charles L. Heisler	Dunkirk, Chautauqua County, NY	This was the original patent for the Heisler logging steam locomotive. Dunkirk Engineering Co. built the first Heisler locomotive in 1891. Stearns from 1894 to 1907 and Heisler from 1907 to 1941. The three companies in Erie, PA, were all reorganizations of the same manufacturing firm. Foster Freeman patent attorney.
539,320	May. 14, 1895	Bandsaw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
549,557	Nov. 12, 1895	Band-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
616,219	Dec. 20, 1898	Bandsaw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
812,539	Feb. 13, 1906	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
869,537	Oct. 29, 1907	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
960,472	Jun. 07, 1910	Gang-saw mill	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA	This sawmill is featured in a 1912 ad from Stearns Mfg. Co.: "W. M. Wilkin New Gang (patented). Entirely self-contained, double pitmans which connect with horns of lower girt, oscillation to lower end of sash in heads of these pitmans, which have solid ends with wedge and bolt to take up lost motion. Oscillation to upper end of sash obtained by rods which connect upper end of pitmans with the eccentrics in upper boxes. These rods have solid ends with bronze bushings, leaving no joints to take up or adjust to give double oscillations to sash..."
999,475	Aug. 01, 1911	Resawing-machine	William R. Wilkin	Erie, PA
1,029,482	Jun. 11, 1912	Log-turning mechanism	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA
1,262,421	Apr. 09, 1918	Gang Saw Machine	William M. Wilkin	Erie, PA