Witherby, Rugg & Richardson - Assigned Patents

Manufacturers Index - Witherby, Rugg & Richardson

Witherby, Rugg & Richardson
Worcester, MA, U.S.A.
Manufacturer Class: Wood Working Machinery

Patents

This page contains information on patents issued to this manufacturer.

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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
10,464	Jan. 24, 1854	Mortising-machine	John E. Brown	Woonsocket, RI	Witherby, Rugg & Richardson advertised a Bartlett's patent power mortise machine, and Stephen S. Bartlett is the only Bartlett with mortiser patents in the right time frame. He also held patent 33,330.
		Mortising-machine	Stephen S. Bartlett	Woonsocket, RI
11,037	Jun. 06, 1854	Lathe	Harrison O. Clark	Worcester, MA	An undated (but likely dating from 1875 to 1880) broadsheet from Witherby, Rugg & Richardson shows a "patent concentric lathe", "calculated for turning tapering, swelled and straight work; is self-centering and self-releasing, and is not stopped to put in or take out work. It turns broom, rake, hoe, brush and other handles, buggy thills, fence pickets, chair work, whip stocks, etc." This patent is the closest match we have found to the machine shown.
14,272	Feb. 12, 1856	Gearing for feed-rollers of planing-machines	Charles Burleigh	Fitchburg, MA	This feed-roll gearing is mentioned in an 1875 "Manufacturer & Builder" article on Witherby, Rugg & Richardson's new combination planing, tonguing and grooving machine. This patent is an improvement on patent 5,191. According to the 1873 "Subject-matter index of patents for inventions issued by the United States Patent Office", this patent was granted an extension.
33,330	Sep. 24, 1861	Improved mortising-machine	Stephen S. Bartlett	Woonsocket, RI	Witherby, Rugg & Richardson advertised a Bartlett's patent power mortise machine, and Stephen S. Bartlett is the only Bartlett with mortiser patents in the right timeframe. He also held patent 10,464.
RE1,852	Jan. 17, 1865	Improvement in mortising-machines	Stephen S. Bartlett	Providence, RI	Witherby, Rugg & Richardson advertised a Bartlett's patent power mortise machine, and Stephen S. Bartlett is the only Bartlett with mortiser patents in the right timeframe. He also held patent 10,464.
60,787	Jan. 01, 1867	Improvement in planing-machines	Seneca M. Richardson	Worcester, MA	This patent covers a design for side-cutters for tonguing and grooving as well as a chip-breaker for those cutter-heads. The idea behind those chip-breakers was due to John Tarr of Chicago who had been granted patent 55,389 for that invention, but that patent was written too narrowly which gave room for Seneca Richardson to patent a minor variation on the same idea. A 1905 catalog of Cowan & Co. features "The Cowan Patent Matching Heads, with the Richardson Patent Cutters". The Cowan patent head is seen in patent 49,432.
61,264	Jan. 15, 1867	Improvement in planing machines	Gilbert J. Rugg	Worcester, MA	The improvement is a method for weighting the planer feed-rolls, and is mentioned in an 1875 "Manufacturer & Builder" article about Witherby, Rugg & Richardson's new combination planing, tonguing and grooving machine.
76,677	Apr. 14, 1868	Improvement in saw-mills	Londus B. Walker	Chicago, IL	"My said invention relates to that class of sawing-machines which are designed to saw siding or clapboards, or other thin stuff, from lumber which has previously been sawed in ordinary saw-mills, into pieces of proper size; and it consists in so pivoting or attaching the frame which contains the feed-bed and rollers to the permanent frame of the machine supporting the saw, that the lumber being sawed may be fed to the saw in such a position with reference to the saw as that the edges of the siding may be of different thicknesses, the saw passing through the pieces being resawed diagonally..." This patent date was seen on a circular ripsaw marked, "Witherby, Rugg & Richardson / Makers, Worcester, Mass."
89,245	Apr. 20, 1869	Improvement in tenoning-machine	Seneca M. Richardson	Worcester, MA	An example of this machine is on display at Sauder Village in Archbold, OH. The American Precision Museum in Windsor, VT, also has one.
201,657	Mar. 26, 1878	Improvement in mitering-machines	William E. Eastman	Worcester, MA	Examples are marked "Eastman's Patent March 26, 1878 Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, Sole manufacturer, Worcester Mass."
243,533	Jun. 28, 1881	Mitering-machine	William E. Eastman	Worcester, MA	An example of this trimmer can be seen on VintageMachinery.org, labeled, "Eastman's patent, March 28, 1878. Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, sole manufacturers, Worcester, Mass."
280,113	Jun. 26, 1883	Floor-clamp	Frederick E. Allen	North Grafton, MA	An illustrated advertisement in the March 1887 Carpentry and Building features "F. E. Allen's Patent Floor Clamp, for Carpenters' and Builders' use, Manufactured exclusively by Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, 26 Salisbury St., Worcester, Mass, U. S. A." The patent date is given under the illustration, which shows some refinements to the design in the patent. For example, the lever D in the Witherby, Rugg & Richardson version has a elongated central slot through which bar G passes, and this change would prevent the mechanism from twisting sideways as the lever is forced down.
313,885	Mar. 17, 1885	Planer presser-roll	Seneca M. Richardson	Worcester, MA